Cl)e Liftrarp of tift a3nit3et!Sitp of iSortli Carolina 9 Collection ot jl^ortfi Caroliniana finHotoeli bp 3o6n feprunt l^ill of t|)e Claris of 1889 C6 UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 00032703030 This book must not be taken from the Library building. laiS IITLE Hi? 3 BEEi'l MiCROI-ll.MED \r_ /.-ri ENGLISH SCHOOL-CLASSICS Edited by FRANCIS STORR, M.A., CHIEF MASTER OF MODERN SUBJECTS AT MERCHANT TAYI.ORS' SCHOOL, LATE SCHOLAR OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND BELL UNIVERSITY SCHOLAR. Sniall %vo. Thomson^ s Seasons: Winter. With an Introduction to the Series. By the Rev. J. Franck Bright, M.A., Fellow of University College. \s. CoWper's Task. By Francis Storr, M.A. ^s. Part I. (Books I. and II.), 9^. Part II. (Books III. and IV.), qd. Part III. _ (Books V. and VI.), qd. Sifnple Poems from CoWper. By Francis Storr, M.A. 15. Scotfs Lay of the Last Minstrel. By J. SuRTEEs Phillpotts, M.A., Head Master of Bedford School. 2s. 6d. Part I. (Canto I. with Introduction), gd. Part II. (Cantos II. and III.), 9ft?\" Unfortunately the sum of money wanted was so large that it had to be levied from both rich and poor. When the question of the subsidy was settled, the House proceeded, on the 20th November, to make a complaint against monopolies. These monopolies Avere the means by which the Queen rewarded her favourites, and were heavy bur- dens upon the people. The growing boldness of Parliament is shown by its daring to raise its voice against them. One member spoke of a "country that groaned under the burden of monstrous and unconscionable substitutes to mo- nopolitans of starch, tin, fish, cloth, oil, vinegar, salt, and what not." Ealegh rose to answer as regarded tin; and stated that since he had held the office of Lord- Warden of the Stannaries the wages of the workmen in the tin mines had in- creased from two sliillings a w^eek to four shillings. " There is no poor that will work there but may, and have that wages;" but he ended by saying, "Yet if all others may be repealed, I will give 136 S//^ WALTER RALEGH. [1601 my consent as freely to the cancelling of this as any member of this House." The advisers of the Crown met the complaints by saying that the granting of monopolies was a branch of the pre- rogative. But the House was determined. A petition on the subject was sent to the Queen, who saw the wisdom of giving way. She promised to revoke all illegal patents, and her concession was received by the House with extravagant re- joicings. Her promise, however, does not seem to have been strictly carried out. On several occasions during this session Ealegh spoke out strongly for the freedom of the in- dividual. An act was brought in to compel men to sow a certain proportion of hemp on their land; and Ealegh, speaking on this point, said, "For my part I do not like this constraining of men to manure or use their ground at our wills, but rather let every man use his ground to that which it is most fit for, and therein use his own discretion." The bill was thrown out, and later on it was proposed to repeal the Bill of Tillage, made in a time of dearth, according to which every man was obliged to plough the third part of his land. Ealegli spoke in favour of the repeal : " Many poor men," he said, " are not able to find seed to sow so much ground as they are bound to plough, which they must do or incur the penalty of the law. Besides, all nations abound with corn. . . . And therefore I think the best course is to set it at liberty, and leave every man 1601] PARLIAMENTARY MEASURES, 137 free, which is the desire of a true Englishman." These statements sound to us like truisms; but they were by no means looked upon as such in those days of monopolies, protection, and over- busy legislation on all points. Ealegh himself by no means fully adopted the principles of free trade. In this same Parliament he spoke in favour of re- straining the export of ordnance, saying, "I am sure heretofore one ship of her Majesty's was able to beat ten Spaniards ; but now, by reason of our o^vn ordnance, we are hardly matched one by one. I say there is nothing does so much threaten the conquest of this kingdom as the transportation of ordnance/' The same man who spoke so strongly for repeal of the Statute of Tillage was in favour of a bill forbidding the export of ordnance. Ealegh also spoke with much force on a bill for the more diligent resort to church on Sundays. He opposed the bill, and showed how it must remain a dead letter, unless an enormous amount of worlv were thrown on the churchwardens, who would have to appear at the assizes to give information to the grand jury. He calculated that about four hundred and eighty persons would have to appear at each assize on this subject. " What great multitudes this will bring together," he exclaimed, " what quarrelling and danger may happen, besides giving authority to a mean churchwarden; liow prejudicial this may be." The bill was finally thrown out by one vote. Whilst Parliament was debating the question of 138 S/J? WALTER RALEGH. [1603 the subsidy, a new deputy, Lord Mountjoy, was subduing the rebels in Ireland. He defeated the joint forces of the Spaniards and Irish, and com- pelled Tyrone to submit. Tyrone's final submission came in immediately after Elizabeth's death. She had been failing in mind and body ever since the execution of Essex. To the last she persisted in taking her usual exercises of hunting and riding ; and when in March, 1603, she grew really ill, she refused to take any sustenance or go to bed. Her kinsman, Eobert Carey, went to visit her about this time, and says that he " found her sitting low upon her cushions. She took me by the hand and wrung it hard, and said, 'No, Eobin, I am not weir . . . and in her discourse she fetched not so few as forty or fifty great sighs. I was grieved to see her in this plight ; for in all my lifetime I never knew her fetch a sigh, but when the Queen of Scots was beheaded." On the 23rd of March she grew speechless, and on Thursday morning her spirit passed away, after she had been supposed to indicate by signs that she wished James VI. of Scotland to succeed her. So died the great Queen. She had done her work well and nobly, though she could not understand or enter into its results. Whatever may be said of her personal failings, it is at least clear that she had guided England wisely through troublous times. How she had strengthened the people's character was to be seen in ways she little dreamt of — in the struggle for freedom against Charles I. CHAPTER X. ^cttssian of J^mta 5. A FEW hours after Elizabeth's death, a meeting was held at Whitehall, consisting of the Privy Councillors, such Peers as were in London, the Lord Mayor, and a few other persons. To them Cecil submitted a proclamation, which he had prepared, announcing the accession of James YI. of Scotland to the throne of England. As Elizabeth had never married, the direct line of Henry VITI. came to an end at her death. All through her reign much anxiety had been caused by uncertainty about the succession. Elizabeth could never be persuaded to name her successor. At first this policy was wise, especially during the lifetime of Mary Queen of Scots. The recog- nition of a Catholic successor would have given a dangerous head to the intrigues of Spain ; the recognition of any successor at all would have created a centre for malcontents, and would have weakened the Queen's position. But towards the end of Elizabeth's reign much anxiety might have been spared had the Queen clearly recognised I40 SIR WALTER RALEGH. James VI. of Scotland as her successor. Still the thought of any successor was distasteful to her. She was afraid lest, if she acknowledged the claim of James VI., he would try to interfere with English affairs ; and so she adhered to the policy which had become a habit to her. But her refusal to consider the question of the succes- sion could not keep her subjects from doing so. It was discussed in secret, books were written about it, and many intrigues were carried on. Many different claims were put forward. Essex had accused Cecil of favouring the claim of the Infanta Isabella, daughter of Philip II. But this claim, though it was a good deal talked about, obtained no countenance except from some of the most violent Catholics. It had been put forward by them, because they saw no other chance of getting a Catholic sovereign. To find any grounds for her claim, they had to trace her descent from Eleanor, daughter of Henry II., who had married Alphonso IX. of Castile. Few even of the Ca- tholics would have been willing to recognise a claim such as this, which ignored the rights of the House of Tudor, and would have handed over England to a foreigner. The real question lay between the Houses of Suffolk and of Stuart, which both sprung from sisters of Henry VIIL, as will be seen in the genealogical table. The parliamentary title belonged to the House of Suffolk. An Act of Parliament had given Henry VIII. the right of disposing of the succession TABLE OF SUCCESSION. 141 CO ;i WO II- toW :S as -I- c3 a 142 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1603 by will, and he had declared in his will that after his own children and their issue the crown should pass to the House of Suffolk. This will led to the ill-fated attempt to jjlace Lady Jane Grey upon the throne. After her execution the claim of the House of Suffolk passed to her sister Catherine, and then to her son Lord Beauchamp. But his claim had been rendered doubtful by uncertainty as to the validity of his parents' marriage. In reality, after the death of Mary Queen of Scots had removed all fear of the succession of a Eoman Catholic, little doubt remained as to the right of the House of Stuart. The House of Stuart derived its claim from Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII.'s sister, who had married James IV., king of Scotland. James VI. of Scotland was the great grandson of Margaret Tudor. But from time to time the claim had been advanced of another descendant of Margaret's, by her second marriage with the Earl of Angus. This was Arabella Stuart, the second cousin of James VI. An opinion was held by some, on legal grounds, that her claim was the better, because she had been born in England. But she was without ambition for herself, and her claim was never seriously brought forward. It was indeed nothing but a burden to her by making her an object of suspicion — first to Elizabeth, and then to James. It is not strange that amidst these various 1603] JAMES* SUCCESSION. 143 claims men had looked forward to the death of Elizabeth as likely to produce serious disturb- ances. James himself had never dared to hope that he would succeed peaceably. He had tried to prepare the way for his succession by making a party for himself in England ; and with this view had entered into correspondence with Essex and others, and had shown himself ready to take any steps which might ensure his succession. His correspondents, of course, took this opportunity of laying stress upon their own importance, and the use they might be to him, and of blackening the characters of their rivals at Court or in the government. One of the chief of these corre- spondents was Lord Henry Howard, Ealegh's bit- terest enemy, and a man who thought no lie too base to be uttered, if he could only do harm to an enemy or advance himself. In his letters he indulged in the most venomous slanders against Ealegh, and managed to fill James's mind with suspicion and fear of him. Amongst others, Eobert Cecil entered into cor- respondence with James. He thought it wise to prevent him from taking any foolish steps with a view to ensuring his succession. He told him that if he would remain quiet, and do nothing rash, his succession ^vould follow as a matter of course. James had been prejudiced against Cecil by Essex, who had always maintained that Cecil favoured the title of the Infanta. He was now delighted to find him amongst his friends. He 144 -S-Zi^ WALTER RALEGH. [1603 listened to his advice, and quietly bided his time. Their correspondence was kept secret from Elizabeth; but the knowledge of Cecil's support sufficed to keep James from taking any unwise steps. News was at once sent to Edinburgh of Eliza- beth's death, and of the proclamation of James. All suspense was soon at an end ; for by the 5th of April letters were received from James con- firming all officers in their places tiU he could reach London. James set out from Edinburgh on the 5th April. On his way south every country house was throw^n open to him, and all kinds of festivities were pre- pared for his amusement. The English gentry, accustomed to the elaborate manners which Eliza- beth liked her courtiers to display, must have been a little shocked at the appearance and manners of James. His ungainly figure, his rolling walk, his spluttering way of talking, were the reverse of kingly; whilst his broad Scottish pronunciation offended English ears. But he was good-humoured, and full of desire to rule his kingdom well De- lighted with the warm reception with which he met, he did his utmost to make himself agreeable to his new subjects. James was now in his thirty-seventh year, and up till this time had been kept entirely under the power of the Presbyterians in Scotland. Still smarting under the restraints which he had en- dured at their hands, he came away from Scotland 1603] JAMES I. 145 with a strong dislike to Presbyterianism, and a decided leaning to Episcopalianism. He had very considerable intellectual powers, and his ambition was to be regarded as the most learned man in the two kingdoms. His knowledge and reading, especially in theology, were considerable. He was pedantic ; but in those days, when the revival of learning had opened up again the study of the Greek and Latin languages, knowledge was apt to make even the greatest students pedantic. The new learning had not yet been brought into accord with actual life. The possession of it seemed to make a man something apart from his fellows. James was shrewd, and possessed of strong com- mon-sense. He could read other men's characters; he could trace the causes of disorder and disturb- ance, and could lay down principles of calm wis- dom, which he did not always apply to his own conduct. He was constitutionally timorous, and had no sympathy for the spirit of enterprise, the love of energy and activity, which Elizabeth had encouraged in her subjects. He wished to bind men to him by personal favours, and get them to do his will ; not to take men as he found them, and give them opportunities for using their abilities for the good of their country. He was himself incapable of a strong enthusiasm, or of a noble passion, and could not understand it in others. He had not the practical wisdom that enabled Elizabeth to choose out men of merit for state employment ; to get every man about her L 146 S//^ WALTER RALEGH. [1603 to do his best to distinguisli himseK in tlie eyes of his sovereign and his country. He had a high estimation of the royal power : it was in his reign that the idea of the divine right of kings grew up. He wished above all things to advance the monarchy in England. He disliked Parliament; for, as he once said, five hundred kings were as- sembled there, and he thought it his duty to resist its power. His influence on the fate of England was very gTcat ; for his views gave the tone to the policy of the House of Stuart — a policy which the Englishmen whom Elizabeth, unconsciously to her- self, had helped to nurture in the love of freedom could not endure. James's private life was strictly moral, but he had not the strength of character to make his Court moral. His one passion was for hunting, though he was a bad rider, and this led him to spend the greater part of the year in his country seats. His leisure time was spent either in hunting or in study ; and in the midst of these occupations at one of his country seats, great questions of politics used to be discussed and settled. During the first part of his reign the government was left entirely in the hands of Cecil, who gained the King's complete confidence. Cecil met James at York on his way to London, and as no one knew of the intercourse which had existed between the two, everyone was sm^prised to see the cordiality with which James greeted him. Men on all sides flocked to meet the new King, till the Council 1603] JAMES L AND RALEGH. 147 thought it wise to forbid the general resort to him. Sir Walter Kalegh, as Captain of the Guard, went as far as Burghley, in Lincolnshire, to meet James. He had always believed that the accession of James was the best thing which could happen for England; but he had not entered into any correspondence with James. He had tried to speak to Cecil about James's accession; but Cecil had refused him his confidence, telling him that he for one had no intention of looking forward to such an event as his mistress's death, Ealegh had no man at all his equal in position who shared his views, who could appreciate his genius, who would be willing to aid him in car- rying out his great schemes. With the people he was extremely unpopular on account of his haughty manners ; the great nobles regarded him as an adventurer ; his equals in birth amongst the courtiers feared him as a dangerous rival. He does not seem to have been a lovable man; he was reserved and proud, and did not open himself out to many. It was only some of those who had served under him, and had gone through perils and difficulties with him, who seem to have learned what he really was, and clung to him with true devotion. James was strongly prejudiced against him. Essex in his letters had done his utmost to preju- dice the King's mind against his own opponents at Court; and when Cecil undeceived James's mind 148 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1603 about himself, he made no attempt to do so about Ealegh. It is difficult to understand what was exactly Cecil's attitude towards Ealegh. As long as Eliza- beth lived he seems to have wished to behave to him as a firm and confidential friend. It is prob- able that in those days he looked upon him as a useful foil to Essex, and that he did not wish needlessly to quarrel with anyone who stood high in the Queen's estimation. But there was no real cordiality towards Ealegh in his heart. Cecil, a cautious, industrious man of business, could not understand Ealegh's fiery nature. He could feel no sympathy with his far-reaching views, and en- tirely failed to appreciate his genius. Ealegh's strength of character, his wide schemes, his grand ideas, seemed to him exaggerated. He thought him a dangerous character, as the small man often thinks a greater than himself to be. It was not difficult to make James look upon 'any one with suspicion. Essex, whom he greatly admired, had told him that Ealegh was a dangerous character, who in heart was opposed to his succession. It is a melancholy thought that these futile suspicions should have put a stop to Ealegh's active useful- ness. Hardly past the prime of life, with full and mature experience, great knowledge, true patriotism, and a fertile mind ever devising new schemes for her advancement, it would be impossible to find a man who might be more useful to his King and country. But none of this brilliant promise was 1603] JAMES I. AND RALEGH. 149 to bear fruit ; and in reality Ealegh's active life ended with Elizabeth's death. At Burghley, James I. received him coldly, and greeted him with a stupid pun upon his name. " By my saul, maun," he said, " I have heard but rawly of thee." Ealegh did not stay long; he needed royal letters t() enable him to proceed in some affairs connected with the duchy of Cornwall. James bade his secretary hasten the preparation of these letters, saying, " Let them be delivered speedily, that Ealegh may be gone again." The secretary wrote to Cecil, saying, " To my seeming, Ealegh hath taken no great root here." A fort- night , afterwards, toward the end of May, Ealegh was summoned to attend the Council Chamber, and was told that it was the King's pleasure that he should resign his oftice as Captain of the Guard. The reason given was that the King wished one of his own countrymen, Sir Thomas Erskine, to fill this office of trust about his person. To make up for the loss of this post, a condition attached to Ealegh's patent as Governor of Jersey, reserving' £300 annually of his salary to the Crown, was remitted. But the ofi&ce of Captain of the Guard, though not profitable, was considered a post of great honour, and it gave its holder an important position at Court. Ealegh was bitterly grieved at losing it, and attributed the loss to Cecil. He would not seize this opportunity of shaking him- self free from Court intrigue, but made a wild attempt to discredit Cecil in James I.'s eyes. He I50 S/J^ WALTER RALEGH. [1603 wrote the King a letter, in which he threw all the blame of Essex's death upon Cecil, and even went further back, to lay the blame of the execution of Mary Queen of Scots upon Cecil as well as his father. The authenticity of this letter has been con- sidered doubtful; but the French Ambassador, Beaumont, in a despatch written on May 2nd, says that Ealegh was in such a rage at being dis- missed that he went to the King and protested that he would declare to him, and show him in writing, all the intrigues and the stories that Cecil had got up in his x^rejudice. This statement makes it very likely that Ealegh wrote the letter. . But at all events it is certain that he gained nothing by doing so, and probably only excited Cecil's animosity against himself. Ealegh was not the kind of man whom James could have liked under any circumstances. He was too indepen- dent, energetic, and impetuous to suit the cautious King. He was as eager as ever for war with Spain, and hoped to make James share his views. At an interview which he had with him at Beddington Park, where James was the guest of Sir Nicholas Carew, Ealegh offered to raise 2,000 men at his own expense and lead them to invade Spanish territory. This sort of talk was very distasteful to James. He had a profound dislike for war; lie had won his crown peacefully, and meant to hold it peacefully. It had no doubt been neces- sary for Elizabeth, whose legitimacy was doubtful, 1603] E MB ASS FES TO JAMES L 151 to make war to defend her throne. He, on the contrar}^, was a legitimate monarch, and his fondest desire was to be recognised as snch by all powers, Protestant and Catholic alike. But there was a strong party in England who, like Ealegh, wished him to continue the war with Spain, and above all not to desert the cause of the Nether- lands. Philip II., just before his death, had hoped to make the settlement of affairs in the Netherlands more easy, by giving over his sovereignty there to his eldest daughter Isabella and her husband, the Archduke Albert, a younger brother of the Emperor Eodolph II. But the Netherlanders were no more inclined to submit to the Archdukes, as Isabella and her husband were called, than to tlie Spanish King himself; for the Archdukes, supported by Spanish troops, were clearly only tools in the hands of Spain. Ambassadors from the different powers now hastened to the Court of James to congratulate him on his accession, and to gain him, if possible, for their ally. First came an important embassy from the Dutch Eepublic; amongst its members was the greatest statesman of the Eepublic, John of Olden Barneveldt. James answered their demands for alliance with commonplaces, and made no pro- mises. Before the Dutch Embassy had left London, a French ambassador, De Eosny, arrived with a splendid suite of two hundred gentlemen. The special object both of Barneveldt and De Eosny 152 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1603 was to obtain such help from James as would prevent Ostend, which was then besieged by Spanish troops, from falling into the hands of Spain. De Rosny wished to bring about a secure alHance between England and France; he pro- posed a double marriage between the two royal houses ; the Dauphin was to marry James's only daughter, Elizabeth, whilst Prince Henry, James's eldest son, was to marry Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of the Kino of France. James listened, but promised nothing. The children were still young, and he shrank from taking any step which would commit him to any decided course of action. All that could be got from him was a promise to allow the levy of soldiers in England and Scotland for the defence of Ostend. Cecil, as well as James, seems to have been averse to war with Spain. He cordially disliked Spain ; but as a statesman he saw great difficulties in the way of war. England was poor. Eliza- l^eth had always been obliged to use the strictest economy, so as to keep order in financial affairs. The revenue of the Crown was decreasing, and it was clear that the country would not easily l^ear the burden of war. Financial matters were to be made still more difficult as time went on by the extravagance of James's Court, and the lavish way in which he spent money on his favourites. Under these circumstances, Ralegh's talk of war with Spain was very distasteful to James. But RALEGH AT COURT. 153 though he met with no favour from the King, Ealegh still stayed about the Court, hoping doubtless that some way might appear for him again to take an active part in affairs. CHAPTER XI. (IDonfiptraciefi asainst S'anted 1. THE disfavour with which Ealegh was regarded was shown, amongst other things, hy the way in which he was deprived of his London house. Durham House was situated in the Strand. It had originally belonged to the Bishops of Durham, but had been resigned to the Crown in the time of Henry VIII. In 1584 Queen Elizabeth had granted a lease of the house to Ealegh, who spent much money in repairing it. Immediately on James I.'s accession, the Bishop of Durham claimed the house as its rightful owner, and Sir Walter Ealegh was ordered by royal warrant to deliver quiet possession of it to him. He was bidden to clear out witli all his goods in a fort- night, a hardship of which he bitterly complained; for he had stocked the house with provisions for forty persons, and hay and oats for twenty horses for the spring. Some years afterwards, in 1608, on the site of the yard and tumble-down offices of Durham House, arose a mighty building, founded at the suggestion of Eobert Cecil, and called the New Exchange. Below were cellars PLOT AGAINST JAMES T. 155 in which to store goods ; and above, a well-paved walk, with rows of shops. The place became a fashionable resort, and is often spoken of in the plays and other writings of the day. There were many discontented minds in Eng- land on the accession of James T., and a plot greeted the new King at the very beginning of his reign. The most striking thing about this plot is its entire futility. The truth is that there was no great cause to struggle for, and only small men tried to find occupation for their restless brains by plotting. The Catholics had hoped much from the acces- sion of James I., but as yet had obtained nothing. One William Watson, a secular priest, a vain, foolish man, who was chiefly influenced by bitter animosity to the Jesuits, had struggled to make himself the mouthpiece of the Catholic gentry, and gain promises of favour from James. But the King was in no hurry to do anything, and Watson, in his impatience to obtain distinction, began to talk over his grievances with other Catholics. The chief of his confidants were Sir Griffin Markham, a Catholic gentleman, and George Brooke, the younger brother of Lord Cob- ham, who, though a Protestant, was quite ready to have a share in any mischief. The idea of the conspirators was to gain possession of the King's person, and then obtain from him such promises as they desired. A number of Catholics were drawn into the 156 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1603 plot, and even Lord Grey de Wilton was per- suaded to join it. He was a brave, impetuous young nobleman, son of Lord Grey de Wilton, who had been lord- deputy in Ireland when Ealegh fought there. He was a Puritan, and was persuaded to join this Catholic plot on the plea that perfect tolerance was to be extorted from the King for Catholics and Puritans alike. The plot never reached any important dimensions. By the end of June the government was aware of its existence, and the conspirators fled from London, but were taken one by one. The examination of the prisoners brought to light the existence of another conspiracy, in which Ealegh's enemies accused him of having a share. The whole story of this conspiracy is covered with mystery, and the real truth about it will probably never be known. Suspicion was at once directed against Lord Cobham by the fact that his brother was one of the conspirators in the Catholic plot. Ralegh was at that time in attendance on the Court at Windsor Castle. One day in the middle of July he came out on to the castle terrace ready to go hunting with the royal party. As he paced the castle terrace Cecil came to him, and bade him stay, that he might attend upon the Lords of the Council Chamber, who wished to ask him some questions. In answer to these questions, Ealegh told the Lords of the Council that he knew nothing of any plot to surprise the King's person, nor of any plot contrived by Lord Cobham. 1603] RALEGH COMMITTED TO THE TOWER. 157 Shortly after this Ealegh wrote, first to the Lords of the Council and then to Cecil, saying that he believed Cobham had had dealings with Aremberg, the ambassador who had just come over from the Archduke Albert. From Durham House he had seen Cobham rowed across the river to a house where a well-known agent of Aremberg's, Kenzi, lived. This letter of Ealegh's was shown to Cobham, and excited in him violent anger against Ealegh. He thought Ealegh had betrayed him. In reality his brother, George Brooke, had already made known his connection with Arem- berg. Writing about this letter afterwards, Ealegh says, " The same was my utter ruin ; I did it to do the King service." Cobham now looked upon Ealegh as his bitter enemy. In his examination he confessed that he had conferred with Arembersr about receivinix money from the King of Spain, to be distributed amongst the discontented in England ; but he said that his chief instigator in his dealings with Spain had been Sir Walter Ealegh. Immediately after this statement of Cobham's, Ealegh himself was committed to the Tower. Then followed the ex- amination of all the supposed conspirators. It went on through the remainder of Jidy and nearly the whole of August ; to try and discover the truth of the matter out of the confused and con- tradictory answers received is a hopeless task. Both George Brooke and Cobham seem to have answered without any regard to truth. They con- 158 SJR WALTER RALEGH. [1603 tradicted themselves and enlarged upon their first statements in the most reckless manner. To found any charge against Ealegh upon their statements would be most unjust. Clearly it was their desire to ruin him, and, if possible, by accusing others, to save themselves. It is difficult to discover what Cobham had really plotted to do. He seems to have chafed at the supremacy of Cecil and the Howards with the King, and to have hoped by some change of government to have the pleasure of humbling them. He thought of trying to raise the Lady Arabella Stuart to the throne. He negotiated with Aremberg before his arrival, and obtained the promise of money from him. After Aremberg's arrival he continued his intercourse with him, and even offered to go to Spain, with a view of persuading the King of Spain to listen to his projects. He was accused of having talked of destroying "the King with all his cubs;" but this statement George Brooke afterwards denied on the scaffold. Suspicions were at first directed against Ealegh on account of his well-known intimacy with Cob- ham, as weU as by the fact that he was known to be extremely discontented with the state of affairs generally, and with the treatment which he had received. He probably knew more of Cobham's plottings than he cared to disclose; but there seems no evidence that he had shared them. lie had been offered some of the money which Arem- berg promised Cobham, but had refused it at ones. 1603] RALEGH ATTEMPTS SUICIDE. 159 It is not likely that a man of Kalegh's ability, if he had plotted at all, would have plotted in such a feeble manner as did Cobham. He may have talked over with him possible courses to take, with a view of recovering power and influence; but, considering the hatred with which he regaided Spain, it is not likely that he would have entered into negotiations with the Spanish Court. It is well known that the Spaniards always regarded him as their bitterest foe in England. " God doth know," he says, writing to the Lords of the Coun- cil, "that I have spent forty thousand pounds of mine own against that King and nation; . . . . that I have been a violent persecutor and furtherer of all enterprises against that nation Alas ! to what end should we live in the world, if all the endeavours of so many testimonies shall be blown off with one blast of breath, or be prevented by one man's word." Confinement, and the accusations which were brought against him, so told upon his health and spirits that, after he had been in the Tower a fortniglit, he tried to put an end to his life, but fortunately without success ; for he only inflicted a slight wound from which he soon recovered. In a long letter which he wrote to his wife to bid her farewell, he explained his reasons for this attempted suicide. " lieceive from thy unfortunate husband," he writes, "these his last Lines; these the last words that ever thou shalt receive from him, that I can live never to see thee and my i6o S/J^ WALTER RALEGH. [1603 child more ! I cannot. I have desired God and disputed with my reason, but nature and com- passion hath the victory. That I can live to think how you are both left a spoil to my enemies, and that my name shall be a dishonour to my child — I cannot endure the memory thereof. Unfortunate woman, unfortunate child, comfort yourselves; trust God, and be contented with your poor estate ! I would have bettered it if I had enjoyed a few years. Thou art a young woman, and forbear not to marry again. It is now nothing to me ; thou art no more mine nor I thine. To witness that thou didst love me once, take care that thou marry not to please sense, but to avoid poverty and to preserve thy child. . . . "For myself, I am left of all men, that have done good to many. AU my good turns are for- gotten; all my errors revived and expounded to all extremity of ill. All my services, hazards, and expences for my country — plantings, discoveries, fights, councils, and whatsoever else . . . malice hath now covered over. I am now made an enemy and a traitor by the word of an unworthy man. He hath proclaimed me to be a partaker of his vain imaginations, notwithstanding the whole course of my life hath approved the contrary, as my death shall approve it. Woe, woe, woe be unto him by whose falsehood we are lost ! He hath separated us asunder; he hath slain my honour, my fortune ; he hath robbed thee of thy husband, thy child of his father, and me of you 1603] LETTER TO HIS WIFE. i6i both. God, Thou dost know my wrongs ! . . . But, my wife, forgive them all as I do. Live humble; for thou hast but a time also. God forgive my Lord Harry; for he was my heavy enemy: and for my Lord Cecil, I thought he would never forsake me in extremity ! I would not have done it him, God knows. But do not thou know it ; for he must be master of thy child, and may have compassion of him. Be not dis- mayed that I die in despair of God's mercies. Strive not to dispute it, but assure thyself that God hath not left me nor Satan tempted me. Hope and despair live not together. I know it is forbidden to destroy ourselves ; but I trust it is forbidden in this sort, that we destroy not our- selves despairing of God's mercy. The mercy of God is immeasurable; the cogitations of men comprehend it not. " In the Lord I have ever trusted ; and 1 know that my Eedeemer liveth. Far is it from me to be tempted with Satan ; I am only tempted with sorrow, whose sharp teeth devour my heart. God, Thou art goodness itself ! Thou canst not but be good to me! God, Thou art mercy itself ! Thou canst not but be merciful to me ! " Then, after a few words about his debts, he goes on : " Oh, intolerable infamy ! God, I cannot resist these thoughts ! I cannot live to think how I am derided, to think of the expectations of my enemies, the scorns I shall receive, the cruel words of the lawyers, the infamous taunts and M l62 SII^ WALTER RALEGH. [1603 despites to be made a wonder and a spectacle. death, hasten thou unto me, that thou mayest destroy the memory of these, and lay me up in dark forgetfulness ! death, destroy my memory, which is my tormentor; my thoughts and my life cannot dwell in one body ! But do thou forget me, poor wife, that thou mayest live to bring up my poor child. ... I bless my poor child ; and let him know his father was no traitor. Be bold of my innocence; for God, to whom I offer life and soul, knows it. And whosoever thou choose after me, let him be but thy politique husband. But let my son be thy beloved ; for he is part of me, and I live in him ; and the difference is but in the number and not in the kind. And the Lord for ever keep thee and them, and give thee comfort in both worlds." The Lord Harry mentioned in this letter was Lord Henry Howard, who, by his secret corre- spondence with James before Elizabeth's death, had succeeded in prejudicing the King's mind against Ealegh. He had ingratiated himself with James by means of the vilest flattery. He became an ally of Cecil's, to whom he was recommended by James ; and it seems as if, after his connexion with Howard, Cecil's feelings towards Ealegh had steadily grown more hostile. After James's accession, Howard became a member of the Council, and was made Earl of Northampton in 1604. He continued to pursue Ealegh with bitter animosity. 1603] RALEGH AND COBHAM. 163 Ealegli speedily recovered from his slight wound. He saw now that his one hope was to succeed in persuading Cobham to retract his false statements regarding him. He managed to have a letter con- veyed to Cobham, in which he implored him to speak the truth. This letter was tied round an apple, and thrown through the window into the room in the Tower where Cobham was imprisoned, by Cotterell, an attendant of Ealegh's in the Tower. Cotterel brought back the answer, which Cobham had thrust under his door. In this Cobham said : " I never had conference with you in any treason, nor was I ever moved by you to the things I here- tofore accused you of; and, for anything I know, you are as innocent and as clear from any treasons against the King as is any subject living God so deal with me, and have mercy on my soul, as this is true." But even this was not to help Ealegh ; and once more before Ealegh's trial Cobham had withdrawn his retractation, and made new charges against his old friend. CHAPTER XIL Ealeffl^'fii Crial at OSainc^efiter. AS the plague was at that time raging in London, it was determined that the trial of the conspirators should be conducted at Win- chester. On the 12th of November Ralegh was brought out of the Tower to be taken to Win- chester, under the charge of Waad, Lieutenant of the Tower. So great was Ralegh's unpopularity amongst the citizens that he was greeted as he passed through the streets by the execrations of the mob. " It was hob or nob," Waad told Cecil, " whether or not Ralegh should have been brought alive through such multitudes of unruly people as did exclaim against him If one hare- brained fellow amongst the multitudes had begun to set upon him, as they were very near to do it, no entreaty or means could have prevailed, the fury and tumult of the people was so great." We shall see that in the end Ralegh's misfortunes taught the people to know him as he reaUy was, and to reverence him in the days of his fall as much as they had hated him in the days of his prosperity. 1603] RALEGH'S TRIAL. 165 On the 17tli of November Ealegh was placed at tlie bar at Winchester on a charge of high treason. The trial was conducted before a special commission, in which sat, amonjTst others, Lord Henry Howard, Cecil, and some other lords ; Chief Justice Popham, and three other judges. The prosecution was in the hands of Sir Edward Coke as Attorney-General. He behaved through- out the trial with great asperity and violence to Ralegh ; so much so, that he called upon himself the censure even of Cecil. The trial throughout was conducted in a man- ner which would now seem utterly unjust. At the present day, in a criminal trial, the accused is considered innocent until he is proved guilty, and he is allowed to choose able counsel to de- fend him from the accusations brought against him. At that time things were very different. The burden of the proof lay with the accused. He was all along considered guilty, unless he could prove himself innocent ; and he was allowed no counsel, but was obliged to answer himself, without any preparation, the charges brought against him. Sir Walter pleaded "Not guilty." He was asked whether he wished to challenge any of the jury, and answered : " I know none of them, but think them all honest and Christian men. I know my own innocency, and therefore will chal- lenge none. All are indifferent to me. Only this I desire : sickness hath of late weakened me, and i66 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1603 my memory was always bad ; tlie points in the indictment are many, and perhaps in the evidence more will be urged. I beseecli you therefore, my lords, let me answer the points severally as they are delivered; for I shall not carry them all in my mind to the end." Coke tried to make objections to this request; but he was partially overruled by the Commis- sioners. After a few preliminary proceedings, Coke proceeded to make a long and violent speech, in which he summed up the charges against Ealegh. But he introduced besides all sorts of matters relative only to the "Surprising Treason," as it was called, of Watson and Markham, which had nothing to do with the accusations ag^ainst Ealegh. He was several times interrupted by Ralegh, who asked how he was affected by all this ; and at last Ealegh exclaimed : " Your words cannot condemn me ; my innocency is my defence. Prove against me any one thing of the many that you have broken, and I will confess all the indictment, and that I am the most horrible traitor that ever lived, and worthy to be crucified with a thousand torments." Then Coke rejoined furiously : " Nay, I will prove all. Thou art a monster; thou hast an English face, but a Spanish heart. You would have stirred England and Scotland both. You incited the Lord Cobham as soon as Count Arem- berg came into England to go to him. The night he went, you supped with the Lord Cobham, 1603] COKE'S ACCUSATIONS. 167 and he brought you after supper to Durham House; and then, the same night, by a back way, went with Eenzi to Count Aremberg, and got from him a promise of the money. After this it was ar- ranged that the Lord Cobham should go to Spain, and return by Jersey, where you were to meet him to consult about the distribution of the money, because Cobham had not so much policy or wick- edness as you. Your intent was to set up the Lady Arabella as titular Queen, and to depose our present rightful King, the lineal descendant of Edward IV. You pretend that this money was to forward the peace with Spain. Your jargon was peace, which meant Spanish invasion and Scottish subversion." When Coke proceeded to dwell on Cobham's treason, Ealegh interposed : " What is that to me ? I do not hear yet that you have spoken one word ac^ainst me. Here is no treason of mine done. If my Lord Cobham be a traitor, what is that to me ?" Then Coke broke out : " All that he did was by thy instigation, thou viper. ... I will prove thee the rankest traitor in all England." This was more than Ealegh could stand. " No, no. Master Attor- ney," he replied, " I am no traitor. Whether I live or die, I shall stand as true a subject as ever the King hath. You may call me a 'traitor' at your pleasure ; yet it becomes not a man of quality or virtue to do so. But I take comfort in it. It is all you can do ; for I do not yet hear that you charge me with any treason." 1 68 S/J? WALTER RALEGH. [1603 After this Coke proceeded to bring forward his proofs, which were chiefly the results of Cobham's examination. Ealegh in his answer confessed that he had long suspected Cobham of dealings with Aremberg ; but he went on to show how utterly- unlikely it was that he should have shared in Cobham's plotting. " It is very strange," he said, "that I at this time should be thought to plot with the Lord Cobham, knowing him a man that hath neither love nor following, and myseK at this time having resigned a place of my best command in an office I had in Cornwall. I was not so bare of sense, but I saw that, if ever this State was strong, it was now that we have the kingdom of Scotland united, whence we were wont to fear all our troubles ; Ireland quieted, where our forces were wont to be divided ; Den- mark assured, whom before we were always wont to have in jealousy ; the Low Countries, our nearest neighbour. And instead of a Lady, whom time had surprised, we had now an active King, who would be present at his own businesses. For me at this time to make myself a Eobin Hood, a Wat Tyler, a Kett, or a Jack Cade, I was not so mad ! I knew the state of Spain well : his weakness, his poorness, his humbleness, at this time. I knew that six times we had repulsed his forces ; thrice in Ireland; thrice at sea; once upon our coast ; and twice upon his own. Thrice had I served against him myself at sea, wherein for my country's sake I had expended of my own property 1603] RALEGH ON THE STATE OF SPAIN. 169 forty thousand marks. I knew that when before- time he was wont to have forty great sails at the least in his ports, now he hath not past six or seven. And for sending to his Indies, he was driven to have strange vessels — a thing contrary to the insti- tutions of his ancestors, who straitly forbade that, even in the case of necessity, they should make their necessity known to strangers. I knew that of twenty-five millions which he had from his Indies, he had scarce any left. Nay, I knew his poorness to be such at this time as that the Jesuits, his imps, begged at his church-doors. I knew his pride so abated that, notwithstanding his former high terms, he was become glad to congratulate his Majesty, and send unto him. Whoso knew what great assurances he stood upon with other states for smaller sums, would not think he would so freely disburse to my Lord Cobham six hundred thousand crowns! .... And to show I am not * Spanish,' as you term me, at this time I had writ a treatise to the King's Majesty of the present state of Spain, and reasons against the peace. For my inwardness with the Lord Cobham it was only in matters of private estate, wherein, he conununicating often with me, I lent him my best advice." In these eloquent terms Ealegh described the condition of Spain, and his indignation that any- one should think that he could have changed his lifelong hatred of the Spaniard for traitorous ne- gotiations with him. His words are said to have I70 STR WALTER RALEGH. [1603 produced a great effect upon the listeners, who had all come there deeply prejudiced against him. Coke merely repeated his accusations. Then Ea- legh demanded to have Cobham brought, that he might speak "face to face." Referring to past statutes, and even to canon law, he demonstrated that there must be at least two witnesses to prove a man guilty of treason ; and concluded by again begging that Cobham might be sent for. The lawyers denied that he had any right to demand witnesses to prove his treason, and Coke went on with his proofs. Portions of the confessions of the conspirators in the "Surprising Plot" were read, all pointing vaguely to Ralegh's supposed connection with Cobham. Ralegh continued to press that Cobham should be brought ; and Cecil seems to have been anxious that this should be done, if the law allowed it. In fact all along Cecil seems to have wished to see Ralegh treated with justice, and given every chance of proving his in- nocence, though he himself was fully persuaded of his guilt. The expression made use of by Brooke, "that the King and his cubs" ought to be destroyed together, was brought up against Ralegh, who ex- claimed indignantly, " barbarous ! If they, like unnatural villains, spoke such words, shaU I be charged with them ? I will not hear it. . . . Do you bring the words of those hellish spiders, Clarke, Watson, and others, against me?" Coke broke out in a rage, " Thou hast a Spanish heart, 1603] PROOFS AGAINST RALEGH. 171 and thyself art a spider of hell. For thou con- fessest the King to be a most sweet and gracious Prince, and yet'^thou hast conspired against him." More evidence which proved nothing was pro- duced. Then the results of the examination of Keymis, Ealegh's trusted friend, who had been with him in Guiana, were read. He confessed that he had taken a message and a letter from Ealegh to Cobham, when both were in the Tower, biddfng Cobham not be afraid, since one witness could not hurt him. This Ealegh denied, and by so doing put himself in the wrong; for it was clear that Keymis was not likely to have invented the story. Ealegh professed that the statement had been extorted from Keymis by the sufferings arising from his close imprisonment, and by the threat" of the rack. On the whole, however, the evidence against Ealegh proved nothing. The most absurd things were dragged in to prove him guilty ; amongst others, the remark of a Portu- guese sailor at Lisbon, that James would never be crowned, because before that "his throat will be cut by Don Ealegh and Don Cobham." In sum- ming up, Serjeant Philips said that the question for the jury was, who they should believe, Ealegh or Cobham. It was Ealegh's business to prove the falsehood of Cobham's accusation, and this he had not done. Coke said that even though " Cob- ham had retracted, yet he could not rest nor sleep till he had confirmed." He then read a letter from Cobham to the Commissioners, in which Cobham 172 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1603 withdrew liis retractation, and repeated his ac- cusations against Ealegh. The reading of this letter was a great blow to Ealegh, who had not suspected that even Cobham could be guilty of such falsehood ;'but he produced from his pocket the letter which Cobham had written him in the Tower ; this was read aloud by Cecil, tliough Coke tried to prevent it. Then Ealegh turned to the jury, and said, "Now, my masters, you have heard both. That showed against me is but a voluntary confession. This is under oath and the deepest protestations a man can make. Therefore believe which of these hath the most force." The jury then retired ; they were only absent a quarter of an hour, and returned with a verdict of " guilty." Ealegh spoke calmly. " My Lords, the jury have found me guilty. They must do as they are directed. I can say nothing why judgment should not proceed. You see where- of Cobham hath accused me. You remember his protestation that I was never guilty. I desire the King should know the wrong I have been done to since I came hither." Chief Justice Popham, in passing judgment, was not content with abusing Ealegh for his so- called horrible treasons, but went on to abuse him for the heretical opinions ^vhicll he was sup- posed to hold. He concluded by passing sentence of death. Ealegh's bearing remained perfectly dignified to the end. He had so behaved through- out the trial, that many of those who had come to 1603] RALEGH'S BEARING AT HIS TRIAL. 173 it full of hostile feelings towards him went away with changed minds, full of sympathy for a man whose greatness they could not fail to see. One man who was present, writing about it, said " that when he saw Sir Walter Ealegh first he was so led with the common hatred that he would have gone a hundred miles to see him hanged ; but ere they parted he would have gone a thousand to save his Kfe." Another says, that " never was a man so hated and so popular in so short a time." In after years, even one of the judges who sat on the bench at the trial said, that " never before was English justice so injured or so degraded" as then. Posterity has agreed with this opinion, and with one voice pronounced Ealegh innocent. For the jury it may be said in excuse that prob- ably they were unable to see the enormous differ- ence between two such men as Cobham and Kalegh. To them the question was which of the two they should believe. The lawyers told them to believe Cobham, and they obeyed. The truth of the matter seems to be that Kalegh had listened to Cobham's talk about his dealings with Aremberg. Then, when suddenly questioned at Windsor, he had thought to put an end to all suspicion by denying the existence of any understanding between Cobham and Arem- berg. Afterwards he had seen that the truth must come out, and had confessed what he knew. But this contradiction had of course tended to diminish men's belief in his veracity, and had 174 -S-//? WALTER RALEGH. [160S helped the lawyers to get his condemnation from the jury. Ealegh's trial took place on the 17th November. A few days after, Cobham and Grey were both tried, and also convicted of high treason. The persons implicated in the "Surprising Treason" had been tried and condemned before. Early in December, Brooke and the two priests, Clerk and Watson, were executed at Winchester. The King was supposed to be full of hesitation as to the fate of the other condemned persons. He prob- ably never intended that they should be executed ; but his timid mind was afraid lest they should know of more treasons than they had confessed. He hoped that perhaps at the hour of death they might be led to confess more. Each, therefore, was made to believe that he was actually to be executed. The 10th of December was fixed for the execution of Markham, Grey, and Cobham; the 13th for the execution of Kalegh. For a few days Ealegh's wonted courage de- serted him. He wrote letters to Cecil, to the Lords of the Council, and to the King, in which he begged for life in terms of abject humility, which were quite unworthy of him. His letter to his wife, written later, is very different in tone. It seems strange to us, when we read it, to think that the man who wrote it could have been generally supposed to be an unbeliever and a scoffer at re- ligion. After deploring that he has been unable to provide for her as he would have wished, he 1603] LETTER TO HIS WIFE. 175 goes on to say : '* But God hath prevented all my determinations — the great God that worketh all in all. If you can live free from want, care for no more ; for the rest is but vanity. Love God, and begin betimes to repose yourself on Him; therein shall you find true and lasting riches and endless comfort. For the rest, when you have travelled and wearied your thoughts on all sorts of worldly cogitations, you shall sit down by sorrow in the end. Teach your son also to serve and fear God while he is young, that the fear of God may grow up in him." He then speaks about various moneys which were owed to him, and adds, "And howsoever, for my soul's health, I beseech you pay all poor men." By this time he repented bitterly for the unworthy way in which he had sued for life. He bids his wife, " Get those letters, if it be possible, which I wrote to the lords, wherein I sued for my life ; but God knows that it was for you and yours that I desired it; but it is true that I disdain myself for begging it. And know it, dear wife, that your son is the child of a true man, and who in his own respect despiseth death, and all his misshapen and ugly forms. I cannot write much. God knows how hardly I steal this time when all sleep; and it is time to separate my thoughts from the world. ... I can write no more. Time and death call me away. The ever- lasting, infinite, powerful, and inscrutable God — that Almighty God that is goodness itself, mercy itself, the true life and light— keep you and yours, 176 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1603 and have mercy on me, and teach to me to forgive my persecutors and false accusers, and send us to meet in his glorious kingdom. My true wife, farewell. Bless my poor boy ; pray for me. My true God hold you both in his arms. " Written with the dying hand of some time thy husband, but now, alas, overthrown ! " Yours that was, but now not my own, "W. Ealegh." Lady Ealegh herself was doing all that she could to save her husband's life. She wrote to Cecil : " If the grieved tears of an unfortunate woman may receive any favour, or the unspeakable sorrows of my dead heart may receive any comfort, then let my sorrows come before you, which if you truely kne^s^, I assure myself you would pity me, but most especially your poor unfortunate friend, which relyeth wholly on your honourable and wonted favour." Her mental sufferings seem to have broken down her health; for she concludes her letter by saying, "I am not able, I protest before God, to stand on my trembling legs, other- wise I would have waited now on you, or be directed wholly by you." On the 10th of December all was ready for the execution of Markham, Grey, and Cobham. From the window of the room where he was confined, Ealegh could see the scaffold, and watched the strange scene which went on. Markham had just made himself ready for the executioner, when there was a stir in the crowd of bystanders. An 16d3J SCENE ON THE SCAFFOLD. 177 unknown Scotchman had arrived in great haste. He spoke a few words with the sheriff, who then, turning to Markham, told him he was to have two hours' respite, and had him led away. Next Grey was brought on to the scaffold. He was a very popular man, and his friends were there in great numbers to give him courage to the last. He had never demeaned himself by asking for life, and now seemed calm and cheerful. He made a long prayer, but no confession of importance. Then again the sheriff approached, said Grey was to have a little respite, and had him also led away. Cobham next appeared, and the same scene was acted over again. From him too no new confession was ex- torted, and he only repeated his former accusations against Ealegh. He.. seemed prepared to meet death with boldness and contempt. Whilst he still remained upon the scaffold Markham and Grey were sent for, and the sheriff then told them that the King had given them their lives; this information was greeted by the spectators with much applause. Ealegh was also told that he was reprieved ; and then he, Cobham, and Grey were all removed to the Tower. Markham and some others of the conspirators were ordered to leave the kingdom. Even before Ealegh's trial his offices of Governor of Jersey, Lord Warden of the Stannaries, and Lieu- tenant of Cornwall, had been declared forfeited, and had been awarded to others. Now his wine patent was taken away; and he would probably N 178 SIR WALTER RALEGH. have been left destitute but for Cecil's kindly ofi&ces. Cecil seems to have acted the part of a true friend, and to have earned the gratitude of both Sir Walter and Lady Ealegh. He saved Ealegh's manor of Sherborne from confiscation, though many were eager in their suits for it. Cecil says there were no fewer than a dozen asking for it. All that Ealegh lost at present with regard to it was his life interest. He had executed a conveyance in the last days of Elizabeth, in which he made over the estate to his wife and son after his death. This he trusted would still hold good. We shall see in the future how his wish to hand down to his son the beautiful estate, which he had planted with such care and loved so dearly, was to be disappointed with all his other hopes. CHAPTER XIII. EaUffl) in tje S^otoer* SIR WALTER RALEGH expressed his grati- tude to James I. for saving his life, in two letters, which seem to us unworthy of their waiter on account of the high-flown and exaggerated lan- guage in which they are written. But we must remember that this was the fashion of the day; and that what appears to us absurd, and almost revolting, was then looked upon as quite natural. To Cecil also Ralegh expressed his gratitude, and added entreaties that he would go on exerting himself in his favour. "Good my Lord," he writes, " remember your poor ancient and true friend, that I perish not here, where health wears away, and whose short times run fast on in misery only. Those which plotted to surprise and assail the person of the King, those that are Papists, are at liberty. Do not forget me, nor doubt me." During the first year of his imprisonment he seems to have still cherished the hope that he might be allowed to leave the Tower, if not to i8o SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1604 enjoy complete liberty. He asked Cecil if lie might not be allowed to live at Sherborne; adding, "or if I cannot be allowed so much, I shall be contented to live in Holland, where I shall perchance get some employment in the Indies." He was willing even to be put under the care of some bishop or nobleman, as was then sometimes done with state prisoners. He was in bad health, and was anxious to go to Bath to drink the waters. " God doth know," he writes, " that if I cannot go to Bath this fall, I am undone for my health, and shall be dead or disabled for ever." But all his hopes were to be disappointed. Cecil had done all he meant to do for him. His policy seems to have been to keep out of the way all such men as he feared might ]3rove dangerous rivals. He bore Kalegh no malice; but he was afraid of his genius, and very likely honestly thought that he might be dangerous to the state. Cecil wished to keep all the chief power of the state in his own hands, and he succeeded in so doing. The King himself submitted to his guid- ance, and trusted everything to him. Cecil was afraid of all violent measures, and profoundly believed that his own policy was the only true policy. He was afraid of Bacon in the same way that he was afraid of Ealegh ; for he did not be- lieve in the schemes of reform which Bacon advo- cated, and so did his utmost to prevent Bacon from exercising too much influence at Court. If we look at Cecil in this way, we shall easily under- 1604] THE TOWER. iSi stand his conduct to Ealegh, and shall not need to suspect him of base motives. By degrees it became clear to Ealegh that he could hope for no more mercy from the King and Cecil. Once, in March, 1604, he was removed from the Tower for a short period ; but only to be taken to the Fleet. This was because King James wished to celebrate Easter by coming with all his Court to a grand bear-baiting at the Tower. To commemorate his visit, he wished to pardon all the prisoners then in the Tower; but in order that Ealegh, Cobham, and Grey might not be included in the general pardon, he had ordered them to be removed to the Fleet during his visit. Ealegh did not waste the time of his imprison- ment in vain regrets; and as he was no longer able to take part in the active work of life, he devoted his energies to study. A great deal of liberty was allowed in most cases to the state prisoners in the Tower. They had their own ser- vants to attend upon them; visitors might come and see them; and they were allowed to take exer- cise within the enclosure of the Tower. The mass of buildings known as the Tower covers twelve acres of land. In the centre, in the Inner Ward, stands the White Tower, the oldest part of the building, and adjoining it were the royal apartments, with the royal garden. Here at times the English sovereigns had Hved, undisturbed by the neighbourhood of their prisoners. Around the White Tower is a circuit of walls with towers, 182 S//^ WALTER RALEGH. [1604 and in these the state prisoners were lodged. Outside them comes an open space, and then the outer circuit of walls. The tower in which Ealegh was lodged was called the Bloody Tower. The origin of the name is not known, though tradition ascribes it to the fact that in it the boy-king, Edward V., and his brother were murdered. From this tower on one side Ealegh looked over the river, and could watch the boats and shipping as they passed by, and gaze out on the wide expanse of country beyond ; behind, he had access into a garden, called the lieutenant's garden ; and there was also a pleasant walk along the top of a wall which he used frequently to pace, and which still is caUed "Ealegh's Walk." During some part of Ealegh's imprisonment his wife and his son Walter were allowed to be with him. At other times Lady Ealegh lived in a house on Tower Hill, which she had hired so as to be near her husband; and here probably, in the spring of 1605, she gave birth to a second son, who was named Carew. The Tower was not a healthy spot, and the plague which had been ravaging London lingered long within its walls. Ealegh's own health suffered severely, and he wrote to Cecil in 1604, begging that he would remember his "miserable estate, daily in danger of death by the palsy, nightly of suffocation by wasted and obstructed lungs ; and now the plague being come at the next door unto me, only the narrow passage of the way between us, my poor 1607] RALEGH'S CHEMTCAL STUDIES. 183 child having lien this fourteen days next to a woman with a running plague sore, and but a paper wall between, and whose child is also this Thurs- day dead of the plague." In spite of the plague, Ealegh had to stay on in his unhealthy prison. It was fortunate for him that he had the garden in which to take exercise. Here he built a small laboratory, and devoted himself to chemical studies. The use of this garden was granted him by Sir George Harvey, then Lieutenant of the Tower, who treated his prisoner with great kindness. Harvey frequently dined with him, and allowed his friends easy access to him. But in 1605 Harvey was succeeded by Sir William Waad, who had no such friendly feelings towards Ealegh. He ob- jected to the notice which Ealegh attracted, for he could be seen by passers-by in the garden, and wrote to Cecil, who was now Earl of Salisbury : " Sir Walter Ealegh hath converted a little hen- house in the garden into a still, where he doth spend his time aU the day in his distillations. I desire not to remove him, though I want by that means the garden. ... If a brick wall were built, it would be more safe and convenient." Waad seemed anxious to make the prisoners feel their position, and in 1607 brought out a new code of ordinances for the government of the Tower, which, though they made no important differences, imposed aU kinds of small and vexa- tious restrictions on the liberty of the prisoners. Ralegh grew famous as a chemist. The Queen, 184 -5"/^ WALTER RALEGH. [1606 Ann of Denmark, believed that she owed her recovery from a dangerous illness to a bottle of cordial sent her by him. The Countess of Beau- mont, wife of the French Ambassador, coming to the Tower one day to see the lions which were kept there, saw Ealegh in his garden, and stopped to speak with him, and ask him for the gift of one of his bottles of balsam. Thomas Hariot, the mathematician, was one of Ealegh's most intimate friends. He visited him frequently in the Tower, and no doubt aided him in his scientific studies. In 1606 Ealegh's health was again worse, and his physician suggested that he should be removed to a little room which he had had built in the garden adjoining his still-house, where he would be warmer and drier than in his damp lodging in the Bloody Tower. Accordingly in this garden- house he spent part of his imprisonment. His sufferings were much, increased by the thought of the position into which liis wife and children were brought by his misfortunes. His wife did not always show herself a brave woman in the midst of their trials, and seems even to have gone so far as to blame Ealegh for negligence. Once, writing to Cecil, he says: "I shall be made more than weary of life by her crying and bewailing She hath already brought her eldest son in one hand, and her sucking child in another, crying out of her and their destruction, charging me with unnatural negligence; and that, having provided for my own life, I am without sense and com- 1606] PRINCE HENRY. 185 passion of theirs." But this was only a passing cloud. On the whole the husband and wife seem to have clung closely together, and to have been a source of strength and consolation to one another through all their trouble. Ealegh would not submit to be cut off from all share in the interests of his fellow-countrymen. He hardly hoped that he would ever again enjoy power and influence ; he knew, he said, writing to Cecil, " that the best of men are but the spoils of time, and certain images wherewith fortune useth to play, kisse them to-day and break them to- morrow." Fortune was not likely to kiss him again; but yet a little hope must have dawned upon him when he saw that Prince Henry, James's eldest son, as he ripened into manhood, learnt to appreciate his intellect and court his friendship. Prince Henry was the brightest hope of the nation. Full of the vigour and freshness of youth, he was ready, as Elizabeth had been, to identify himseK with the nation, instead of going against it as his father so often did. He was full of sympathy for all that was noble and good, and, far from being timid like his father, his brave spirit delighted in military exercises. He was full of enthusiasm for the English seamen who had defied the Spanish power in Elizabeth's reign. Amongst living men, none showed to so great perfection as Ealegh the qualities which had led men to do deeds of bravery for Elizabeth and for England, and it is easy to understand the ad- i86 S//? WALTER RALEGH. [1604 miration which the young Henry felt for him. He was not afraid of openly expressing this ad- miration at Court. No king but his father, he said, would keep such a bird in a cage. Henry took a special interest in all that had to do with the navy and with shipbuilding. He would go down and himself watch the building of the ships, and take a personal interest in the shipwrights. He asked Ealegh to give him his advice about a ship which he meant to build ; and an interesting letter from Ealegh to the Prince exists, in which he tells him all the points to be observed in build- ing a good ship. Prince Henry also asked Ealegh's advice about a still more important matter, the question of his marriage. In the unsettled state of European politics, the different princes were continually trjdng to strengthen their position by the mar- riages of their children. France, England, and Spain were each anxious to secure one another's friendship by marriage treaties, and engaged in endless negotiations for this purpose. This was just the sort of thing that James delighted in ; to treat as an equal with the great European monarchs made him feel the grandeur of his position. But there were difficulties in the way both of a marriage with Spain and a marriage with France. The great mass of the English were by no means very friendly to Spain. In 1604 a peace had been concluded with Spain, which, on the whole, left matters as it had found them. 1606] PHILIP III. OF SPAIN. 187 The death of Philip IL, in 1598, had greatly altered the attitude and policy of Spain. Philip 1 1, had laboured to obtain supremacy in European affairs, that with him the Catholic faith might triumph. With his view he indulged in schemes which kept Europe in constant anxiety ; for none felt themselves safe from his aggressions. His death threw all the power in the state into the hands of a man quite unable to carry on his vast schemes. Philip II.'s son, Philip III., who succeeded him, was of a gentle, timid nature, equally free from either vices or virtues ; without particular tastes, without strong passions, with no interest but in religion. He could not be roused even to take an interest in his own marriage ; and when his father put before him the portraits of three princesses, one of whom he might choose for his bride, he declined to choose for himself, and only said that ** his father's will was his taste." A man of this kind was sure to be ruled by some one, and Philip III. fell entirely under the influence of the Count of Lerma, a courtier whom his father had appointed to attend upon his person. His first order on his accession was that Lerma's signature should be as vaHd as his own. Everything was left in the hands of Lerma, who watched jealously and anxiously lest any one else should step between him and the King. He allowed only persons whom he knew to be entirely devoted to him to approach Philip III. ; he forbade even the Queen to speak with her husband about l88 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1606 state affairs. He filled all the important offices with his creatures, and exalted his own family to high positions. Lerma was entirely in favour of peace ; he had no warlike tastes, and the finances of the country were so exhausted by long years of war that he saw that peace had become an absolute necessity. But though he tried to economise by making peace, he introduced a most extravagant expenditure at home. He ingratiated himself with the Spanish grandees by restoring the splendour of the Court, which Philip II.'s stern and unbend- ing character had banished. It was under his influence that the luxury and ceremony of the Spanish Court reached an exaggerated develop- ment, and became a model for all other Courts. On Court festivities, and on the magnificence with which he surrounded the King, Lerma spent as much as Philip II. had spent before on war, so that no order was introduced into finances, and the real weakness of Spain was unchanged. The people suffered terrible poverty and misery, whilst their rulers revelled in unexampled luxury. Lerma's foreign policy had the result of slowly diminishing the influence of Spain in European affairs. Philip II. had struggled to identify his interests with those of the Empire, which was in the hands of another branch of his own family. Charles V. had ruled over the Empire, Spain, and the Netherlands. He had been succeeded by his son Philip II. in Spain and the Netherlands ; by his brother Ferdinand in the Empire. The posses- 1606] VIEWS OF LERMA. 189 sions of the House of Austria had been further broken up by the cession of the Spanish Nether- lands to the Infanta Isabella. Spain and the Empire together were strong enough to resist all Europe ; but Lerma's mind could not grasp great schemes. He did not think of the common in- terests of the House of Austria. He only wanted peace for Spain; and with this view he tried to form firm alliances with England and with France, and consented to make a treaty with the Dutch Eepublic, by which he recognized its independ- ence. Lerma hoped to bring about a firm alliance with England by means of a marriage between young Henry and the Infanta ; and he tried to win over by Spanish gold the leading men in the English government, and at the English court. The list of names of those who were in receipt of pensions from Spain includes most of the men who then influenced English affairs. Cecil him- self accepted a pension of five thousand crowns. It is difficult to see what can have induced him to do so ; and though he accepted Spanish money, he did not let himself be won over to Spanish in- terests. He wished for peace with Spain ; but he wanted no alliance, and no marriage. The^ dis- covery of the Gunpowder Plot, in 1606, showed the English how little Spain's friendship was to be trusted ; for the conspirators had been in treaty with Spain, and had hoped for aid from her. For a time all talk of a marriage was at an end. The igo SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1606 Spaniards then hoped to bind themselves to France by marriage alliances. " They offer their Infanta to everybody," James said scornfully. But Henry IV. of France was not at all inclined to listen to the overtures of Lerma. During his whole reign he had set himself with vigour to resist the power of the House of Austria. He had fought his way to the crown of France in the teeth of the opposition of Philip II., supported by a strong Catholic party in France. When at last Henry, feeling that in no other way could he become King of France, became a Catholic, Philip II. vainly tried to prevent the Pope from removing the ban of excommunication which had been laid upon him. Henry became King, and a stronger King than there had been in France for some time. Once more there was a King in Europe who was able to offer real resistance to the encroachments of Spain. Henry and his great minister, the Duke of Sully, who always remained a Protestant, worked together with one purpose. They wished to give France the blessing of reli- gious toleration, as far as it was then understood, and to bring back prosperity to the people by encouraging industries and agriculture. Abroad they wished to separate, as far as possible, the different branches of the House of Austria, which ruled in Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands, and by uniting themselves with the smaller powers in Europe — with the Protestant Princes of Germany, the Dutch Ptepublic, the Duke of Savoy, and, if 1610] DEATH OF HENRY IV. 191 possible, the King of England — to prevent Spain from proceeding with her schemes of aggrandize- ment. In foreign politics Henry IV. worked in perfect accord with Barneveldt, the great Dutch statesman. He profited, as well as the Dutch Kepublic, when Spain was forced to recognize its independence ; for in the Dutch EepubHc he gained a certain ally against Spain under all emergencies. In 1610 the face of European politics was changed. Henry IV., who was just preparing to strike a great blow at the House of Austria, perished by the hand of an assassin, as he rode in his coach through the streets of Paris. His son, Louis XIII., who succeeded him, was a minor, and the Queen, Mary dei Medici, was appointed regent. She \Aas entirely opposed to her husband's views, and had always wished for the Spanish alliance. The much-talked-of double marriage with Spain was concluded under her auspices. The young King was married to the Infanta Ann, and the Princess Elizabeth to the Infante Philip of Spain. The Infanta was disposed of; but still Spain was anxious to keep up negotiations with England. Lerma probably never seriously meant that there should be a marriage. The religious difficulty could not be got over; for the Spanish King would not give his daughter to a heretic, and there was no chance that Henry would turn Catholic. All Lerma wanted was, by tempting James with these hopes of a Spanish marriage, to 192 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1611 prevent a marriage which would be contrary to the interests of Spain. Now when Lerma again offered another Infanta, only six years old, Digby, the English Ambassador in Spain, advised James to listen to him no longer. This was what Salis- bury wanted. " The Prince," he said, " could find roses elsewhere ; he need not trouble himself about this Spanish olive." Meanwhile, Ambassadors from the Duke of Savoy proposed that a double marriage should be concluded between the son and daughter of the Duke and the son and daughter of the King of England. Henry asked Ealegh's advice on this point, and Ealegh wrote at his request two dis- courses — one on a marriage between the Lady Elizabeth and the House of Savoy, and the other on a marriage between Prince Henry and a daughter of Savoy. These discourses are both very interesting to any one who wishes to under- stand the drift of the politics of the time. Ealegh objected to any marriage between Eng- land and Savoy, because he saw no good that could come to England from it. The Duke of Savoy was a weak Prince, engaged all his lifetime in a struggle to extend his dominions. "There are but two princes," writes Ealegh, "that the King hath cause to look after ; to wit, France and Spain." Friendship with France was, in Ealegh's eyes, the important thing to secure. He seems to have seen that the chief power in European politics was slowly passing from Spain to France. 1611] PROPOSED MARRIAGE WITH SAVOY. 193 He had always, even in the days when Spain seemed most powerful, perceived her real weak- ness. " For Spain," he writes, " it is a proverb of their own, that the lion is not so fierce as he is painted. His forces in all parts of the world (but the Low Countries) are far under the fame ; and if the late Queen would have believed her men of war, as she did her scribes, we had in her time beaten that great empire in pieces, and made their kings kings of figs and oranges, as in old times. But her Majesty did all by halves, and by petty invasions taught the Spaniard how to defend him- self, and to see his own weakness ; which, till our attempts taught him, was hardly known to him- self." To conclude, Ealegh thought that there was no need to hurry about the marriage of the Prince, who was still very young. " While he is free," he writes, " all have hope ; but a great deal of malice will follow us after he is had from those that have been refused." The French Princess was still too young ; but it would be better to wait for her. A marriage between England and France would counteract the effect of the marriage between Spain and France. To this view James inclined ; and the Prince, though he strongly objected to marriage with a Catholic, was led to favour it by the hope that the Queen-Ptegent of France might be persuaded to send the Princess over to England to be educated, and perhaps converted. Meanwhile a marriage which greatly pleased the English people, and Ealegh amongst the number, 194 S^^ WALTER RALEGH. [1610 had been arranged for the Lady Elizabeth, James's only daughter. In 1610 a maniage contract had been signed between her and the young Elector of the Palatinate, whose father had been tlie chief supporter of the Protestants in Germany. At the same time James made a treaty wdth tlie Princes of the Protestant Union in Germany. In this way England identified herself with the in- terests of those who were opposed to Spain, and to the House of Austria. She also bound herself more closely to the Dutch Eepublic; for the mother of the young Elector was sister to Prince Maurice of Orange, the Stadtholder of the Eepublic. On the whole the foreign policy of Salisbury had been crowned with success. He had known the poverty of the country too well to lead it into a war with Spain. Besides this, war with Spain would have been impossible for England at the time, on account of the disturbed state of Ireland, where the rebels would gladly have made common cause with Spain. So Salisbury secured for Eng- land the advantage of peace. At the same time, by refusing to conclude a definite alliance with Spain, he kept Spain from feeling sufficiently strong to crush the Dutch Eepublic; and Spain was brought at last to acknowledge the independence of that Eepublic. Meanwhile the ties which bound Eng- land to France w^ere strengthened, at least as long as Henry IV. lived, by common support granted to the Protestant cause in Germany. At the beginning of his reign James had hoped 1613] DEATH OF PRINCE HENRY. 195 that, without regard to religious considerations, he might form intimate relations with the great powers of Europe. But circumstances were too strong for him ; the time had not yet come when reUgious and political interests could be separated. James found that he was compelled to form ties of friendship with the Protestant princes of Europe rather than with Spain. In all this he was greatly- led by Salisbury, who, as his father had done before him, wished that England should put her- self at the head of Protestant Europe. But Salisbury did not live to see the marriage of the Lady Elizabeth. His health broke down in consequence of his ceaseless labours, and he died at Marlborough, on his way from Bath to London, in May, 1612, at the early age of forty- nine. There was little mourning at his death. The King was weary of his yoke; the people looked upon him as the cause of the impositions with which they were burdened ; the officials of the government and the courtiers hoped for advancement, and liberty to do as they liked. Even Ealegh in his prison must have allowed himself to hope that a change in the government might bring some improvement in his condition. But that same year he lost his best friend. Full of youthful vigour, Prince Henry took no care of his health. He was stricken with a fever in the end of October, and died on the 6th of November. The Queen, in her despair at seeing him in his dying condition, sent to Ealegh to ask if he could 196 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1612 do nothing for him. Ealegh sent a bottle of cordial, saying that it was certain to be useful against anything but poison. The Prince drank the cordial and rallied slightly, but soon after passed away. His last conscious w^ords were, "Where is my dear sister?" He had loved her fondly; and now in his last hours she was kept away from his bedside for fear of infection. It is said that in desire to get to him she disguised her- self as a man, and so tried, though in vain, to penetrate into his room. The people mourned bitterly over their beloved Prince. They fancied he must have been poisoned. Dark suspicions were cherished against different men about the Court, and these were even shared by the Queen. Ealegh's hopes of favour through the friendship of the Prince were at an end. The Queen seems still to have remained his friend, but could do nothing for him. He had addressed her a letter before, asking her to exert herself to obtain his liberation, that he might assist in the plantation of his former colony of Virginia. He must have heard with interest of the new attempt, in 1606, to plant this colony, and of the difficul- ties through which it had to struggle, till at last, in 1611, it was placed on a secure footing. He must have longed to be able to aid in carrying on the work which he had first started. " I do stiU humbly beseech your Majesty," he writes to Queen Ann, " that I may rather die in serving the King and my country than to perish here." 1612] RISE OF CARR. 197 Neither did he lose any of his interest in Guiana. In 1606 and 1608, voyages had been made thither by Captains Leigh and Harcourt, who found that the natives still remembered Ealegh, and spoke of him with affection. Ralegh tried by letters and otherwise to entice Cecil, the Queen, or the Lords of the Council, to take an interest in Guiana, telling them of the rich mines of gold which were to be found there, and of the fabulous resources of the country. In 1611 there seems to have been some talk of Keymis under- taking a voyage to Guiana. The plan apparently was that Keymis was to go to Guiana at the expense of the government; but if he failed to bring back half a ton of gold ore, all the charges of the voyage were to be laid upon Ealegh. If Keymis brought bade the gold ore, Ralegh was to be set at liberty. In a letter of Ralegh's to the Lords of the Council on this subject, he speaks of the existence of a Spanish settlement — St. Thome — near the mine, and discusses the number of men which would be necessary to secure the safe passage of the English to the mine. This voyage of Keymis never came off; but we do not know ^\^hat prevented it. After Salisbury's death the government fell almost entirely into the hands of favourites. James had attached himself with extravagant fondness to a young Scot, by name Robert Carr, on account of his cheerful disposition and fine person. He lavished gifts upon him, and would refuse him 198 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1613 notMng. In 1608 Can, wlio wished to become a landed proprietor, cast longing eyes on Ralegh's estate of Sherborne. A flaw in the conveyance of the estate to Ralegh's son gave James some show of legal right in seizing it. No entreaties could move the King. Lady Ralegh, leading her two sons by the hand, threw herself at his feet, and begged for mercy ; but the only answer she got was, " I maun have the land ; I maun have it for Carr." Ralegh wrote a letter of entreaty to Carr himself. "For yourself, sir," he wrote, "seeing your day is but now in the dawn, and mine come to the evening, .... I beseech you not to begin your first buildings upon the ruins of the innocent, and that their griefs and sorrows do not attend your first plantation." But this too was without effect; and in 1609 the manor was granted to Carr. As compensation, a sum of £8,000 in ready money was given to Raleigh, and a pension of £400 a year granted to Lady Ralegh, to be paid during her own lifetime and that of her eldest son. This was a good deal below the value of the estate. We know that shortly after- wards Carr sold it back to the King for £20,000. In 1611 Carr was made Viscount of Rochester. After Salisbury's death, when James became his own secretary, he used to settle most of the affairs of State in consultation with Rochester. He was strengthened in this course of conduct by the discovery made in 1613 by Digby, his am- bassador in Spain, of a list of the Englishmen in 1613] LORD BACON. 199 receipt of Spanish pay. Great was the horror of James and Digby when they discovered on this list the names of most of the Privy Councillors, and of Salisbury himself; but Eochester's name was not there. The result naturally followed that James lost all confidence in his councillors, and clung more than ever to his favourite, whom he thought he could bind closely to himself by per- sonal favours. By degrees power slipped away from the hands of the members of council, and the management of affairs was left in James's hands. Not much good came to the nation from the contrivances of James and Eochester, neither of whom were capable of noble aims or a disin- terested policy. Their policy seemed to be made up of petty intrigues, miserable contrivances, and small oppressions, which daily put James more and more out of sympathy with the people he was called upon to rule. Bacon's position with regard to James is hard to understand. His was a mind which was ever planning wide and searching schemes of reform. These he thought could only be carried out by the King, aided by the advice of the Lords of the Council. For such a work he thought Parliament totally unfit. His temper of mind led him to admire greatly the prerogative. The sovereign placed in an irresponsible position must be the best instrument for carrying out those plans of reform which seemed needful for the good of the nation. So it came about that he shut his eyes 200 . S/7^ WALTER RALEGH. [1613 to the pettiness of James's aims, and lent himself to aid him in many of his mean and miserable contrivances. He was ambitious of power and wealth for himself, and he hoped to gain these by serving James. He was blind to the temper of the times ; and instead of aiding the cause of the people, the true cause of reform, lent his great intellect to patch up the government of James and his favourites. CHAPTER XIV. QL^t {)ifitorp at t))t miam. KALEGH'S discourses about the marriages of the Prince of Wales and the Lady Elizabeth show with what interest and attention he followed the politics of the day, and made himself com- pletely master of them. He seems to have in- terested himself more in foreign politics than in the religious questions which occupied people's minds at home. Perhaps it \vas because he did not take up wdth zeal the side either of the Puritans or the Episcopalians that he was so generally credited with being an unbeliever in religion. In his writ- ings he shows himself a sincerely religious man ; but in the state of religious feeling at the time no place was allowed to the tolerant man— every one was forced to be a partisan. Ralegh's political knowledge is shown in other tracts besides those about the marriages. One, Touching a War with Sjxcin, is chiefly concerned with his favourite theme, the weakness of the Spanish monarchy. Maxims of State and the Cabinet Council, two treatises on statecraft, are 202 SIR WALTER RALEGH. interesting as showing the influence which the study of Machiavelli's writings had had upon him. Though he repeatedly disclaims Machia- velli's conclusions, we cannot fail to see how he had gained in acuteness and political wisdom from the study of the writings of that large- minded political theorist. The Maxims of State is particularly interesting from this point of view, and is full of pithy and pointed sayings; others of his tracts are concerned with questions relat- ing to the navy and shipbuilding. But Ealegh in prison could hardly follow the course which English politics were taking. Parliament was becoming a very different thing from what he had known it to be in the days of Elizabeth. He had no idea of the hostile feelings with which James and his Parliament regarded one another. In a treatise called A Discourse on the Prerogative of Parliament^ published in 1615, he discussed the King's financial proceedings, and bade him improve his position by leaving off all his un- popular ways of raising money, and casting him- self upon the love of his subjects. James could not stand criticism of his government. It is true that Ealegh threw all the blame upon the evil councillors whom he thought had misled the King; but James knew, if Ealegh did not, how entirely all that had happened was his own doing. If Ealegh had better understood the position of affairs he would never have hoped to gain favour by sending this treatise to the King. ENGLISH HISTORIANS. 203 Writing political tracts however was not Ralegh's main occupation in the Tower. He had thrown himself heart and soul into study, and had con- ceived the ambitious design of writing a history of the world. He had grasped the idea of the unity of history, and wishing to write a history of his own country, thought that it could not be rightly comprehended unless it were prefaced by aliistory of the whole world. Men were begin- ning at this time really to interest themselves in histOTical study. The early chroniclers had con- tented themselves with repeating the facts of early history, as others had told them before, without any attempt at arrangement or criticism, and had then passed on to tell the events which had happened in their own lifetime. A change was now beginning, and England possessed a few real and careful students of history, who, following the example of learned men on the Continent, were trying to master their subject and produce thoughtful and accurate works. Chief among these was William Camden, who passed his life first as second master, and after- wards as head master, of Westminster School. He was a real scholar and student, and the fame of liis learning reached to the Continent, and brought him into connexion with foreign scholars. In 1640 he published his first great work, the Reliqum Britannicce, in which he described the countries of England, Ireland, and Scotland. Respect for his learning and the purity of his life made Burleigh 204 S/J^ WALTER RALEGH. fix upon him as the man most fitted to write an account of the reign of Elizabeth. He gave him for this purpose a large number of state papers ; and eighteen years afterwards, in 1615, Camden published his Annals of England during the Reign of Elizaheth. The book was written in Latin, but was translated soon after. It is written with as much impartiality as can be expected from a historian of his own times, and is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of those days. Students were also beginning to interest them- selves in the history of other countries besides their own. In 1610 a General History of the Turks appeared, by Eichard Knolles, who had been a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. He wrote in English, with spirit and vigour, and told the story of the growth of the Turkish Empire, from the first appearance of the Turks in Europe down to his own times. All over Europe the enthusiasm for study, for learning for its own sake, was advancing. Men like Isaac Casaubon in France, and the Scaligers in Belgium, devoted themselves to the study of classical authors^ with a view of obtaining correct texts. In England scholars like Sir Eobert Cotton were busy collecting literary materials, which had been scattered by the dissolution of the monasteries, that others might make use of them. In 1602 Sir Thomas Bodley had conferred an inestimable boon upon students by the foundation in Oxford of that great library which has since been known THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. 205 by his name. Amongst the questions which men then studied, there were many that seem to us absurd and worthless. They busied themselves wdth points of rabbinical lore, with the exact position of the garden of Eden, with the wander- ings of Cain, with discussions as to the spot on which the Ark rested. Long dissertations on points such as these tend to make the hrst por- tions of Ealegh's History of the World wearisome reading. The story advances so slowly, the ques- tions discussed are so entirely wanting in interest to the modern reader, that neither beauty of style nor the presence here and there of deep and thoughtful sayings, can make it attractive reading. Kalegh was aided, particularly in the scriptural part of his history, by other learned men. He was in continual intercourse with the scholars of his time. Chief amongst those who helped him was one Dr. Eobert Burhill, a learned clergjonan. We find him also writing to Sir Eobert Cotton for the loan of books and manuscripts. To us the interest of the book does not rest upon this kind of learning, though it is another sign of the wonderful many-sidedness of Ealegh, that he who shone so in active life as soldier, sailor, and statesman, should have been able when in prison to throw himself into study of this occult kind. It was late in life for him to under- take a work on so large a scale; and it is no wonder that the book was never finished. The six volumes which exist only bring the history 2o6 SIR WALTER RALEGH, down to B.C. 170. Ealegh himself was well aware how hopeless a task he was undertaking, and states in his preface his deep feeling of his own nn worthiness for it. "But," he says, "those in- most and soul-piercing wounds, which are ever aching while uncured, with the desire to satisfy those few friends which I have tried by the fire of adversity — the former enforcing, the latter per- suading — have caused me to make my thoughts legible, and myself the subject of every opinion, wise or weak." In Ealegh's eyes the great advantage of the study of history was the moral instruction which might be got from it. "In a word," he says, "we may gather out of history a policy no less wise than eternal, by the com- parison and application of other men's forepast miseries with our own like errors and ill-deserv- ings." It is true that in this way much may be learnt from the study of history; but it is the part of the moral teacher rather than of the historian to point out these lessons. Ealegh confuses the two functions, and is too much of a preacher to be a historian. It is not from a historical but from a literary point of view that we must judge his book. It holds a fore- most place amongst the English prose writings of the time. Till the days of Elizabeth aU learned books had been written in Latin; and since the days of Wiclif there had been no great prose- writer. But with the revival of poetry, prose besan to revive also. At first it was elaborate ELIZABETHAN PROSE WRITERS. 207 and artificial. A style both of speaking and writing came into vogue, by which men seemed to strive to conceal their meaning by the fanciful language in which they clothed it. This affecta- tion was called euphuism, after the novel of Euplmes, by John Lyly, which is one of the chief though not one of the worst examples of this style. Sir Philip Sydney did not escape the general taint. His pastoral romance called the Arcadia is for the most part written in a fanciful and affected manner, but is at the same time full of true poetical feeling. In his Defence of Poesy he shows himself master of a purer and freer style. This essay is the most remarkable prose- writing of the Elizabethan age; it is the begin- ning of literary criticism. Graceful and easy, full of witty and pointed sayings, it shows a re- markable advance on anything that had gone before. Then followed Hooker with his Eccle- siastical Polity, the first books of which were published in 1594. He shows how the English language may be used for purposes of argument and scholarly reasoning ; and his style is forcible and unaffected, rising at times into nervous elo- quence. But no work shows so well the advance both in learning and in prose-writing as the Eng- lish Bible. The work of translating the Bible was begun in 1607, and was finished in 1611. It was the labour of forty-seven men, who divided themselves into six companies, and met at Oxford, Cambridge, 2o8 SIR WALTER RALEGH. and Westminster. The work of each person was submitted to the rest for criticism. Such high excellence of style, combining perfect simplicity and true poetry with rare vigour and dignity, exists in no other English book ; and as the Bible was in every one's hands, it produced an effect upon both the spoken and written language which no other book could have done. It was in 1614 that Kalegh published his His- tiy^y of the World. As has been said, it is to its literary merits that the book owes its main value. The language is pure and dignified. The sentences may sometimes strike us as long and cumbersome, but they are in the main easy and flowing, and impress the ear with a feeling of completeness. Occasionally he rises to real eloquence, especially when describing battles. His account of the Punic War is one of the most striking parts of the book. It is when he is dealing with men and their doings that he is at his best ; it is then that we seem to see Ealegh's real character much more than when he indulges in philosophical speculations. To illustrate events in the history of the bygone world, he makes digressions about things which happened in his own time ; and these, being often the accounts of personal experiences, are of great interest, from the light which they throw upon the character of their writer and of his doings. They make us regret very much that he was not able to bring down his history to his own times. No man could have written a more stirring OPINIONS ON RALEGH'S HISTORY. 209 account of the great events in which he had taken part. Ealegh had hoped that this book might win him favour from James I. ; but this hope showed how little he understood James's views about the dignity of kings. In his preface Ealegh spoke of the different English kings, and traced the misfortunes of many of them to their own evil doings; above all, he spoke severely of Henry VIII. James thought that a king was above criticism ; and that any one should presume to find fault with his own ancestor was unpardon- able presumption. When asked why he did not like Ealegh's Historij, he replied, "It is too saucy in censuring the acts of princes." Other men judged differently. A greater man than James, Oliver CromweU, writing to his son Eichard, in 1650, says, "Eecreate yourself with Sir Walter Ealegh's History ; it is a body of history, and will add much more to your understanding than frag- ments of story." In the century after the first appearance of this book eleven editions of it were sold, so great was its popularity. But Ealegh never published any more, though he seems to have been far on in his preparation of other portions. Other things came in to occupy his attention, and to turn his mind once more to the business of active life. Distress at the death of Prince Henry is also said to have left him with- out courage to resume his writing. Ealegh's literary labours brought him into con- p 2IO SIJ^ WALTER RALEGH. nexion not only with the learned men of his day, but also with the men of letters. Besides being a scholar, he was also a poet, and as such seems to have been on intimate terms with the great poets and dramatists of those times. He founded a club, in a tavern called "The Mermaid," by Cheapside, at which Shakspeare, Ben Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher, and others met and made merry. Of the meetings at "The Mermaid" Beaumont speaks in a letter to Jonson from the country — " What things have we seen Done at the Mermaid, heard words that have been So nimble and so full of noble flame As if that eveiyone fi'om whom they came Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest." Ealegh kept up his intimacy with Ben Jonson whilst he was in prison. Jonson is said to have aided Ealegh in his Ristm^y, and in 1613 he travelled on the Continent with Ealegh's eldest son. Ealegh himself was a poet ; and those poems of his that remain are again a proof of the fulness and manysidedness of his active nature. His poems for the most part appeared in two col- lections of English poetry, one of which, called England's Helicon, was published in 1600, and the other, Davidson's Rhapsody, in 1602. They are mostly amorous and pastoral lays and sonnets of the kind that were common in those days. One of a very different kind, called The Lie^ is a bitter THE LIE. 211 and powerful satire upon the existing state of things. In it he exclaims against the powers that ruled in England at that time— " Go, tell the court it glows And shines like rotten wood ; Go, tell the church it shews What's good, but does no good. If court and church reply, Give court and church the lie. "Tell potentates they live Acting by others actions ! Not lov'd, unless they give ; Not sti-ong but by their factions. If potentates reply. Give potentates the lie. " CHAPTEE XV. Ealesb'fi last SEapaje. npHE result of Cecil's foreign policy had been to place James at the head of the Protestant party in Europe. In 1613 it had even seemed possible that war between England and Spain would once more break out. The Spaniards were so alarmed by the attitude of the English that the Spanish ambassador in London was recalled, in order that an abler man might be put in his place. The man chosen, Diego Sarmiento de Acuna, after- wards known as the Count of Gondomar, was admirably suited for the purpose. He was deeply impressed with the importance of the task en- trusted to him, and put his whole heart into it. He found the King anxious for a marriage between his son Charles and a French Princess; but he did not despair of bringing back James in time to a Spanish marriage. Circumstances favoured him. The Parliament summoned in 1614 had shown itself unwilling to listen to the King's demands. James had dissolved it in disgust. He was in great want of money, and this helped to make him turn to Spain once more. The Infanta would bring with her a larger dowry than could the French Princess. He thought that if he had the King of Spain as his 1614] THE SPANISH MARRIAGE. 213 firm friend, he should be enabled to do without Parliament. Sarmiento was only too ready to wel- come James's approaches. He saw that a great struggle between the Protestant powers and the Catholic powers was drawing near ; and he believed that if England could be drawn away from the Protestants, their party would fall to pieces. Ne- gotiations were entered into with Spain for the marriage. At first the Spanish demands were such that even James felt it was impossible to agree to them. But Digby, the English ambassador at Madrid, succeeded in bringing about some slight modifications. He was not in favour of the mar- riage ; but after protesting against it to James, he had agreed to undertake the charge of the negotia- tions. James, when he had received the modified demands, still hesitated ; and the opponents of Spain in the English Council determined to do their utmost, while the hesitation still lasted, to make the marriage impossible. Chief amongst these was Sir Ealph Winwood, now secretary. He had been for some years ambas- sador at the Hague, and was devoted to the Pro- testant cause, and entirely opposed to Spain. He turned for support in his views to the man who was the embodiment of the spirit of hostility to Spain, the man in whom still breathed the soul of the heroes of Elizabeth's days — Sir Walter Ealegh. Ealegh had often spoken to Winwood of the advantages which might be gained from the coloni- zation of Guiana. It was his darling scheme; and 214 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1616 he knew that it was a certain way of striking a blow at Spain. He was convinced, from what he had heard whilst in Guiana, that there was a gold mine there which might be made a permanent source of riches to the King. Later times have shown the correctness of his assertions, which at first, after the failure of his expedition, were almost universally disbelieved. Gold is now worked on a large scale in a place called the Caretal Gold Field, in the very region where Ealegh expected so confidently to discover a rich gold mine. His tales of possible gold were very attractive to the ears of Villiers, the King's new favourite. Kochester had fallen from his high position ; he was a prisoner in the Tower on a charge of murder. He had been succeeded in the King's favour by Sir George Villiers, who, like Eochester, had attracted James by his fine person and cheerful disposition. Villiers and Winwood both did their utmost to persuade the King to set Ealegh free, and allow him to make an expedition to Guiana. It is strange that James should have listened to them, just when he was entering into close negotia- tions with Spain. It seems as if he had hoped to lessen Winwood's objection to the Spanish marriage by allowing him to have his way in this matter at least. On the 19th March, 1616, a warrant was sent to the Lieutenant of the Tower, bidding him to allow Ealegh to go free, under the care of a keeper, to make preparations for his voyage. No pardon was granted to Ealegh; his future 1616] PROPOSED EXPEDITION TO GUIANA. 215 was to depend solely on his finding the mine. He went out of the Tower with the sentence of death still hanging over his head. It is no wonder that, after his twelve years of prison-life, he eagerly seized any opportunity that offered itself of sharing once more the joys and perils of active life. But the chances of success were small indeed. Accord- ing to the commission given him for his voyage, he was only to visit such lands as were possessed and inhabited by heathen people. James wished it to be clearly understood that he authorised no interference with Spanish subjects. To make this still more clear, Ealegh was called upon to under- take that he would not hurt any subject of the King of Spain. James was willing enough to have the gold, but he would not do anything which could give the Spaniards any ground of complaint against him. Ealegh must have clearly seen how impossible it would be for him to find the mine on these terms, seeing that Guiana was already in part colonized by Spain. Winwood no doubt hoped that the ex- pedition might tend to bring about a breach with Spain. Ealegh himself spoke to Bacon, perhaps in bravado, about seizing the Mexican fleet; and when Bacon exclaimed, "But that would be piracy," answered, " no ; did you ever hear of men who are pirates for millions ? They who aim at small things are pirates." Besides the likelihood of dangerous consequences, the expedition was un- wise from another point of view. The colony in Virginia had only just succeeded in establishing 2i6 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1616 itself. It would have been well if English coloniz- ing efforts had been directed for the time only to the Northern Continent of America, where there was enough to do, and had left the Southern Con- tinent to Spain. James's conduct in allowing the expedition, the possible consequences of which he did not trouble himself to consider, is unpardon- able. For Ealegh it may at least be said, that he had everything to gain and little to lose. Sarmiento had heard with alarm of the proposed expedition. He looked upon it as a clear act of aggression upon Spain, and protested against it vehemently. He believed that once upon the seas Ealegh would be sure to turn pirate. If Ealegh really wished to go to Guinea, he said that the king of Spain would gladly send some ships to escort him there, and would let him bring back as much gold and silver as he needed. But to this Ealegh could not agree. James did his utmost to pacify Sarmiento by promising that the voyage should lead to no breach with Spain, and consoled himself by thinking that at least he had no re- sponsibility in the matter. The preparations for the expedition went rapidly forward. Ealegh prepared to venture his all on it. He spent upon it the £8,000 which he had received from the King in part payment for the Sherborne estate, and liis wife sold some property of hers near Mitcham to raise more money. They must have been hopeful of success to be thus prepared to risk everything on the venture. Others were 1617] RALEGH AND THE FRENCH. 217 willing to embark their money on the expedition, tempted by the promises of gold or the prospects of successful colonization. A fine new ship called the Destiny was built for Ealegh. The expedition altogether numbered twelve vessels, two fly -boats, and a caravel; of these, the Destiny, of 440 tons burden, was far the largest. She was built in the Thames, and when completed lay there with most of the other ships whilst the final preparations were made. The fleet attracted much attention, and was visited by all the principal persons about the town and Court. Amongst others, the French ambassador, Desmarets, came to see the ships. He met Ealegh accidentally on board, and had some talk with him. In reporting this talk to his government, he said that " Ealegh had spoken with bitter discontent of the treatment which he had received, and had promised, on his return, to leave his country, and make the king of France the first offer of whatever might fall under his power." The fact that Desmarets did not report this conversation till a month after it had taken place tends rather to make us distrust his state- ments. If Ealegh had really said anything so im- portant Desmarets would surely have reported it at once. But it is beyond doubt that Ealegh was in communication with Montmorency, the admiral of France, and had asked liim to get permission from Lewis XIII. for him to take refuge in a French port when he came back. The man through 2i8 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1617 whom these communications were made was a certain Captain Faige. From documents which have lately been discovered at Simancas, it ap- pears that Faige and another Frenchman, Belle, were to join Ealegh and his fleet ofi* the Isle of Wight with two ships, and to aid him in an attack upon the Mexican fleet, the profit of which was to be shared by the French. The authority for this is a voluntary statement, made by Belle, at Madrid, in 1618. The Frenchmen did not join Ealegh, according to Belle, " because they did not wish to go with people who were Huguenots." Almost at the last moment an attempt was made to divert Ealegh's expedition to another purpose. The ambassador of the Duke of Savoy was in London, asking once more for assistance from James for his master. He suggested to Ealegh how easy it would be for him, if a few of the King's vessels were added to his fleet, to seize Genoa, a port which the Duke of Savoy had long coveted. Genoa was then a rich community of money-lenders, from whom Spain largely drew her supplies. The fact that this would be an easy way of striking a blow at Spain made Ealegh willingly listen to the Ambassador's proposals. Even James seems to have entertained the idea for a moment; but it was put a stop to by the conclusion of a definite peace between Spain and Savoy. Sarmiento tried once more to stop the expe- dition altogether. James said that it was out of 1617] RALEGH STARTS FOR GUIANA. 219 his power to do so, but that he would put the case before the council. When the council met, Ealegh's friends came in force, and overruled all objections to the expedition. Winwood was bidden to bear a letter to Sarmiento from Ealegli, in which Ealegh stated that he meant to make no attack upon the subjects of the king of Spain. At the same time a list of the vessels which took part in the expedition was given to Sarmiento. Some weeks before, warnings of the possible coming of Ealegh had been sent out from Madrid to the Indies ; and these were afterwards repeated in a more pressing form. Prospects were not very hopeful for Ealegh. In the commission given him by the King the customary^words implying the royal grace and favour had been carefully erased, so that the granting of the commission might not constitute a pardon ; and he was said to be under the peril of the law. He was sixty- three years old— too old to face the perils and hardships of such an expedition. But his courage and energy were as great as ever, and he went forth to do what he could, though the way must have seemed dark and stormy before him. Even during the very ^days of his final preparations, James was entering into closer relations with Spain, and was preparing to lay the formal pro- posals for the marriage before a special body of commissioners. Early in April, 1617, Ealegh sailed out of the Thames with seven of the vessels of his little fleet; 220 S/I^ WALTER RALEGH. [1617 the remainder met liim at Plymonth. On board his own ship was his eldest son Walter, as captain. Young Walter was then in his twenty-fourth year, a bold, open-hearted youth. He had been sent to Oxford in his fourteenth year, and his father had taken care that his studies should be superin- tended by an able and learned man. He had chosen for his tutor Dr. Daniel Fairclough, or Featley, as he was more generally called, a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Young Walter had another tutor, by name Hooker, of a Devon- shire family, for ordinary purposes, and so was well looked after. Sir Walter himself wrote at length to Featley on the subject of his son's training. Featley says of his views on the sub- ject, that " they show themselves to proceed from an excellent temper of wisdom, and of love to his son." Young Walter seems to have played many pranks, and given his tutor some trouble. After he left Oxford he killed a man in a duel in London, and was obliged to leave England for a time. He went on the Continent, and it is then that he is supposed to have travelled with Ben Jonson, who was abroad at the time. Tradition says that in London too for a time Walter was under the charge of Ben Jonson; for a story is told of his having once, when Ben Jonson had been partaking too freely of fine old Canary, wheeled him in a wheelbarrow into his father's presence, and asked that his tutor might have a lesson in 1617] THE FLEET REACHES THE CANARIES. 221 sobriety. The son seems to have had his father's brave energetic spirit, and must have felt full of eager expectation in starting on his first voyage of discovery. One of Ealegh's ships was commanded by his old and faithful friend Keymis, on whose testi- mony the belief in the existence of the mine rested. There had been some difficulty in getting the crews together ; the men who had joined were far from being all that Ealegh could have wished, and their character added greatly to the difficul- ties of the expedition. The orders which Ealegh issued to the com- manders of his fleet on the 3rd of May are an admirable proof of his wisdom, and show at what perfection of order and discipline he aimed. In every ship divine service was to be read morn- ing and night, all swearing was to be punished, gambling was forbidden, complete obedience to superiors was to be enforced, all Indians were to be treated with kindness and courtesy. Eules were also laid down with a view to preserving good health amongst the men; and elaborate regula- tions were made for the management of the fleet. They at first met with much contrary weather, which delayed them considerably. One vessel was lost, two others were compelled to put back, and the whole fleet was obliged to put into Cork to recruit. At last, on the 6th September, they reached Lancerota, in the Canaries. The inhabi- tants saw them approach with alarm. They took 222 SIR WALTER RALEGH, [1617 the English for the Algerine pirates, who then ravaged the Mediterranean, and the coasts of Spain and Africa. Ealegh entered into corre- spondence with the Governor, hoping to buy provisions from him. In spite of the Governor's promises, they waited in vain. "For mine own part," says Ealegh, in his diary, "I never gave faith to his words ; for I knew he sought to gain time to carry the goods of the town, being seven miles from us, into the mountain." In the mean- while three English sailors were killed in chance skirmishes by the Spaniards, who persisted in looking upon them as Turks ; but Ealegh stead- fastly refused to break the peace by revenging their death, and at last went on to Gomera, a town on the Great Canary, to get the water and pro- visions of which he stood in need. Here he fared better. The wife of the Governor was of English descent; and in sending letters to her husband, Ealegh sent a present to her of "six exceedmg fine handkerchiefs, and six pairs of gloves," writing at the same time, that " if there were anything in his fleet worthy of her she should command it." She sent back answer that she was sorry her barren island had nothing worthy of the Admiral; and sent with her letter four great loaves of sugar, baskets of lemons, oranges, grapes, pomegranates, and figs, which Ealegh says were more welcome to him than one thousand crowns could have been. Fresh fruit was just what he needed for his sick men. To show his gratitude to the lady, he sent 1617] ILLNESS IN THE FLEET. 223 her " two ounces of ambergris, an ounce of extract of amber, a great glass of rose-water, a very ex- cellent picture of Mary Magdalene, and a cut-work ruff." This produced more presents from the lady; hens and more fruit. Meanwhile the vessels were taking in water, which was done, says Ealegh, "without any offence given or received to the value of a farthing." The Governor was so satis- fied with their behaviour that he sent Ealegh a letter for Sarmiento, stating how nobly they had behaved. Misfortunes were already crowding upon Ealegh. At Lancerota he had been deserted by one of his ships, under the command of Captain Bailey, who returned to England. Sickness was rife amongst his men; and his diary contains little but the melancholy record of one death after another. They were overtaken by storms, and beaten about amongst the Cape Verd Islands; one ship was lost, and others were damaged. One after another the men were struck down, and it seemed as if the best and ablest were fated to die. At last Ealegh himself fell ill. He caught a severe cold from being suddenly called from his bed by a violent storm. For a time his life seemed in danger ; and when at last Cape Wiapoco (now Cape Orange) was sighted, he was unable to rise from his bed to look at the welcome land. The ships coasted along for three days, and on the 14th November Ealegh had himself carried on shore at Caiana (now the river Cayenne). He pined foi 224 S/I^ WALTER RALEGH, [1617 fresh air, and change from his uncomfortable sick- bed on board the ship, which was in a frightful state from the sickness and death of so many- men. Ealegh's first thought on nearing land was to inquire for his former Indian servants. These men had looked eagerly for his return, and had boarded the ships which had come from England under Keymis, Leigh, and Harcourt, in anxious hope of finding him. One of them, Harry by name, had been with him in England ; and after living two years in the Tower with him, had gone back to his own country. He now sent provisions beforehand by his brother to announce his coming. He had forgotten most of his English, but not his love for his old master. He brought with him bread, and plenty of fresh meat and fruit, which Ralegh did not at first dare to eat, on account of his state of health. But he began by degrees to gather a little strength. Though it was thirteen years since he had been amongst them, the Indians had cherished his remembrance as that of the great ca9ique who had done no harm, but only brought them hope of happy days, and freedom from the hated Spaniards. From Caiana Ralegh wrote to his wife : " Sweet- heart, I can yet write unto you with but a weak hand ; for I have suffered the most violent calen- ture for fifteen days that ever man did and lived ; but God, that gave me a strong heart, hath also now strengthened it in the hell-fire of heat." He 1617] EXPEDITION UP THE ORINOCO. 225 went on to tell of the sickness and bad weather wliich had assailed them. He spoke gi-atefully of the presents of the governor's wife, saying that without them he could not have lived. He had preserved the fruit in fresh sand, and had some of it still, to his great refreshing. There were a few joyful pieces of news in the letter for the wife and mother. "Your son," wrote Ealegh, "had never so good health, having no distemper in all the heat under the line." And again, "To tell you that I might be King of the Indians were a vanity ; but my name hath still lived among them. Here they feed me with fresh meat, and all that the country yields ; all offer to obey me." This letter was taken home by one Captain Alley, who was obliged to return for his health. In the safe harbour formed by the mouth of the river Caiana they refreshed themselves, cleaned and repaired their ships, took in water, and set up their barges. On the 4th of December they again set sail, and had some difficulty in getting over the bar at the mouth of the river. It had now become clear that Ealegh's state of health made it impossible for him to lead in person the expe- dition up the Orinoco in search of the mines. "Besides this impossibility," says Ealegh, in ex- cuse of his not having gone, " neither would my son nor the rest of the captains and gentlemen have adventured themselves up the river (having but one month's victuals, and being thrust together a hundred of them in a smaU fly-boat), had I 226 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1617 not assured the in that I would stay for them at Trinedado, except I were sunk in the sea or set on fire by the Spanish galleons ; for that they would have adventured themselves upon any other man's word or resolution, it were ridiculous to believe." Both for the sake of his own health and for the safety of the explorers, it was necessary that Ealegh should stay with the chief body of the fleet. No one else could be depended ' upon with perfect security to await their return, what- ever dangers might beset him. Next came the difficult question, to whom the command of the exploring party was to be given. The only person in any way fitted to take it was Captain Keymis. He was a brave and faithful man, and knew the country well. But more was wanted for such a difficult post; and Keymis, though a faithful servant, was not an intelligent commander. He was not able under difficult cir- cumstances to choose the right course, and abide by it ; he was not able to look before, and see the result of his actions. Still there was no one better, and so the general command of the expedition was given to him, while the land forces were put under George Ralegh, a nephew of Sir Walter's, under whom young Walter commanded a com- pany. On the 15th December Keymis, with the five smaller vessels of the fleet, parted from Sir Walter at the Triangle Isles. Ealegh gave him minute instructions as to the course he was to pursue. It 1617] EXPEDITION UP THE ORINOCO. 227 was supposed that there was a Spanish town near the mine. The explorers were to avoid this, and encamp between the town and the mine. They were then to examine the nature of the mine. If it proved very rich, and the Spaniards began to attack them, they were to drive back the Spaniards. Kalegh had no fear of breaking the peace, if he were sure of carrying home great riches. But if the mine did not prove very rich, they were to content themselves with carrying off one or two basketsful, enough to satisfy James I. that the mine really existed. On the other hand, if, as seemed possible, a Spanish force had been sent, in obedience to warnings from Madrid, to oppose their approacli to the mine, Keymis was to be careful how he landed; "for," said Ealegh bitterly, " I know (a few gentlemen excepted) what a scum of men you have, and I would not for all the world receive a blow from the Spaniards to the dishonour of our nation." He concluded by pro- mising that they would find him, on their return, at Puncto Gallo, dead or alive. " If you find not my ships there," he added, " you shall find their ashes ; for I will fire with the gaUeons, if it come to extremity ; but run away I will never." So they parted. Better had it been for them if they had never met again, if their worst fears had been realized, if of Ealegh and his ships nothing indeed had been left but the ashes, burnt after a hopeless and desperate struggle with Spanish galleons. But it was not so to be. There was 228 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1618 to be tragedy enough, but it was tragedy deeper than defeat in battle. Ealegh spent the time of their absence in cruising about Trinidad, observing the nature of the coast and of the birds and flowers that were to be found there. On the 13th February his diary abruptly closes. It is probable that on the next day he heard news which even he had not sufficient courage to write down. What need was there to record the events of the voyage any longer ? Keymis and his companions entered the Orinoco by its principal mouth, past Puncto Anegada (now Port Barima), and continued their journey up the river till the 1st January, when they reached the Island of Yaya (called Assapana by Ralegh). They passed on, hoping to reach the mine before the Spaniards could hear of their presence on the river. Great was their surprise when they per- ceived amongst the trees on the river bank a cluster of houses which was clearly a Spanish settlement. It was a new town of San Thome, which had sprung up since the English were last there, and consisted of 140 houses, or rather bamboo huts, with a church and two convents. They could not hope to pass on to the mine un- seen by the Spaniards. Still to have gone on would have been far the wisest course. They might then have reached the mine, and there, if need be, have repelled the attack of the Spaniards. But here Keymis showed his want 1618] DEATH OF YOUNG RALEGH. 229 of wisdom. He began at once to land his men. The Spaniards had been warned of their coming by an Indian fisherman, and formed an ambus- cade from which they attacked the English, but were soon forced back upon San Thome. In the night of the 1st January, the English attacked the town. The Spaniards made a gallant de- fence, though they were very inferior in numbers. They continued fighting tiU the English reached the little open square in the middle of the town. Then they threw themselves into the houses, and fired upon their foes till the English set fire to the houses, when they were forced to fly into the forest. Whilst the English were fighting their way into San Thome, none had fought more bravely than young Walter Ealegh ; he had been wounded, but still pressed on, encouraging the rest, tiU a blow felled him to the ground to rise no more. His last words were — " Go on ; may the Lord have mercy upon me and prosper your enterprise." So to gain a miserable little Spanish settlement, where for all their searching the English could find no treasure, this bright young life had been lost, which was dearer far to Ealegh than all the gold in Guiana. The next day young Ealegh and four others who had fallen were buried in the church. All the soldiers followed under arms, with muffled drums beating, pikes trailing, and five banners carried before them. They laid their Admiral's son near 230 S/J^ WALTER RALEGH. [1618 the altar, and this sad task done, there remained the question, What was to be done next ? Keymis seems to have lost heart and courage. He started with two launches to go up the river in search of the mine ; but he was attacked by some Spaniards, who killed nine of his men. He turned back to San Thome for more. His men were beginning to grow discontented, whilst the difficulties in his way increased daily. The Spaniards, who knew the country well, were watching his movements from the thick woods or the river bank, ready to spring upon him at any unguarded moment. How was he to reach the mine ? and besides, What would be the good of finding it ? He could neither hold it nor work it. It would only fall into the hands of the Spaniards. Even if he could take any gold safely back to England, it would only be seized by the King. Keymis gave way before the difficulties which beset him, and determined to go back to the ships. Before he did so, George Ealegh made an expedition up the river for one hundred and ten leagues, with a view of examin- ing the fitness of the country for colonization. He was struck with its rich resources ; but amongst the crowd of discontented men at San Thomfe, the scum of the whole earth, as Ealegh called them, there were none capable of sharing his views. He found them on his return only more impatient to return. So at last they turned their backs on the mine and dropped down the river again, leaving San Thome in ashes, and carrying with them only 1618] RALEGH AND KEYMIS. 231 the small amount of booty they had found in the town. Keymis had already sent the sad tidings of young Walter's death to the Admiral by an Indian pilot. Now he brought the news of the total failure of the expedition. It was not to be expected that Ealegh would listen to his excuses with patience. What availed such feeble apologies when everything was lost, since Keymis had not even brought back a basketful of gold to prove that the mine existed? Ealegh listened to him with growing anger, and at last burst forth — *' It is for you to satisfy the King, since you have chosen your own way. I cannot do it." Keymis had been full of remorse before, and grew more and more dispirited as he tried in vain during two ^vretched days to convince either himself or his Admiral that he had acted rightly. He had lost liis old master's confidence, he had ruined Ealegh's credit, as Ealegh bitterly told him. At last he wrote a letter in excuse of his conduct to the Earl of Arundel, who had been one of the chief promoters of the enterprise, and brought it to Ealegh. Ealegh would not look at it. " You have undone me," he said, " by your folly and obstinacy, and I will not favour or colour in any sort your former folly." Keymis asked sadly if this was his final resolution ; and when Ealegh said it was, Keymis said, as he turned towards his cabin, " I know then what course to take." A little while afterwards the report of a pistol 232 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1618 was heard, and Ealegh sent a boy to ask what had happened. Keymis called out from his cabin to the boy that he had fired the shot to clean his aims. Half an hour afterwards the boy went into the cabin, and found Keymis lying dead upon his bed, a long knife in his heart. The pistol had only broken a rib, and he had finislied the work with his knife. Discontent and mutiny were beginning to break out in the fleet. Ealegh would have liked still to make a desperate attempt to find the mine, but no one would second him. Letters had been found at San Thome from Madrid, warning the settlers of his coming. He felt as if he had been betrayed to the Spaniards, and he heard moreover that daily reinforcements from Spain were expected. If his men would not agree to face the risks of another attempt to find the mine, they might at least lie in wait for the Mexican fleet. But they would agree to nothing, and two ships even deserted him. The exact date on which he set sail from Trinidad is not known; but on March 21st he wrote to Winwood, of whose death in October he had not heard, from St. Christopher's in the Antilles. He had nothing to write of, he said, "than of the greatest and sharpest misfortunes that have ever "befallen any man." After giving an account of all that had happened, he said, that had it not been for the desertion of the two ships, " I would have left my body at San Thome, by my son's, or liave brought with me, out of that or other mines, so 1618] RALEGH RETURNS TO ENGLAND. 233 much gold ore as should have satisfied the King that I had propounded no vain thing. What shall Ijecome of me now I know not ; I am unpardoned in England, and my poor estate consumed, and whether any other Prince or State will give me bread I know not." To his wife he wrote, " I was loathe to write, because I knew not how to com- fort you; and God knows I never knew what sorrow meant till now Comfort your heart, dearest Bess ; I shall sorrow for us both. I shall sorrow the less because I have not long to sorrow, '' because not long to live My braines are broken; it is a torment for me to write, and especially of misery." Ealegh seems to have gone to Newfoundland on his way home. The fleet met with much rough weather; the men were discontented and mutinous- and when Ealegh reached Plymouth, on the 21st of June, his ship, the Destiny ^ was alone ; the other ships had deserted him. CHAPTER XVI. Cfte (IBpectttion of ^ir SUtaltec EaleffJ. THE news of the doings of the English on the Orinoco had reached London in the second week of May. Sarmiento was at once loud in his complaints to the King of Ralegh's conduct. James was quite ready to listen to him, and to aiJTee with him that Ralegh had been the first to break the peace. On the 9th of June he issued a proclamation, inviting all persons who might be able to supply information about the doings of Ralegh and his fleet to come and give evidence before the Privy Council. In the proclamation he spoke of the " horrible invasion of the town of San Thome," and of " a malicious breaking of the peace which hath been so happily established, and so long inviolately continued." James showed himself all eagerness to propitiate Spain ; and his conduct makes it all the more wonderful that he should ever, thinking as he did, have allowed the expedition to start at all. No sane man can have supposed that Ralegh would have been allowed to get possession of a mine, situated in a territory 1618] RALEGH AT PLYMOUTH. 235 which t;he Spaniards claimed as their own, and in which they had made settlements, without having some fighting with the Spaniards. Ralegh has been blamed for having gone on the expedition, promising that he would not break the peace, whilst he clearly meant to do so. In so doing, there was in his mind no attempt to de- ceive. He still held to the view current in Eliza- bethan days of " No peace beyond the line." To fight with the Spaniards, who had been guilty of putting to death with horrible cruelty English merchants who had come merely to trade with them, was no crime in his eyes. He was firmly persuaded that if he could only bring back gold, or even clear proof of the existence of the mine, James, with his empty treasury, would willingly pardon the death of a few Spaniards. In the days when he and Drake and Hawkins had sailed the seas before, Elizabeth had not made too curious inquiries whether they broke the peace. He did not understand this new spirit of truckling to the Spaniard. True, it was not wise to go under the circumstances. But after those thirteen years in the damp, gloomy Tower, were not a few whiffs of fresh sea air worth any risk ? What wonder if he grew careless, caught at everything, pro- mised anything, if only he might be allowed once more to try to do something ? As soon as she heard that the Destiny had reached Plymouth, Lady Ralegh hastened to meet her husband; and sad must the meeting have 236 5/A' WALTER RALEGH. [1618 been for both, whilst the future grew more gloomy to Kalegh as he heard of the way in which the King had received the tidings of his doings. He left Plymouth, on his way to London, in the second week of July, his wife and one of his officers, Captain King, going with him. They had not gone more than twenty miles when they met Sir Lewis Stukeley, Vice- Admiral of Devon, who said that he had orders to arrest both Sir Walter and his ships. They had to turn back to Plymouth together. Stukeley treated Sir Walter as a friend ; for he wished to gain his confidence, and so learn his secrets. At Pljonouth Ptalegh lodged mth his wife and King in a private house, whilst Stukeley was busy looking after the ship. Lady Ealegh, in her fear for the future, pleaded anxiously with her husband that he would try to escape. King joined in her pleading. At last Ealegh yielded to them, and King engaged a vessel to carry him to [France. At midnight Ealegh and King started in a little boat to row to the vessel. But when they were within a quarter of a mile of it Ealegh gave orders to turn the boat round. Before he sailed for Guiana he had solemnly promised Arundel and others that he would come back. By merely landing at Plymouth he had not kept his word. He would not fly. He allowed King to give orders that the vessel should be kept in readiness for another night or two ; but he did not try to get to her again. He preferred to be true to his word, and come back to face his accusers. 1618] RALEGH COUNTERFEITS ILLJVESS. 237 Stukeley was busy selling the tobacco with which the Destiny had been laden ; but on the 25th of July, in obedience to an order from the council, he started for London with his prisoner. They passed through country well known to Ealegh, which must have wakened many fond recollec- tions. They went close by the fair woods and pastures of Sherborne, which he had hoped to leave to his children for ever; and the men of Devon and Dorset, who knew and loved him well, must have crowded to gaze on him as he passed. ' Ealegh w^as very anxious to gain some time before reaching London. Time was wanted to enable his friends to prepare to do for him all that they could; and he himself wished to write, whilst it was possible, a statement of his doings in Guiana to send to the King. He felt that his condition was very desperate. The next day, after passing Sher- borne, when near to SaKsbury, he got out to walk down the hill, and drew Manourie, a French doctor, who was one of their company, aside, and began to speak to him of his desire to gain time, "in order," he said, "that I may work my friends,' give order for my affairs, and, it may be, pacify his Majesty before my coming to London; for I know well that, as soon as I come there, I shall to the Tower, and that they will cut off my head, if I use no means to escape it." He proceeded to ask Manourie to give him an emetic, so that he might counterfeit illness, which would make a delay necessary. That night, at Salisbury, he 238 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1618 complained of headache and giddiness. The next morning early he sent his wife, with King and her servants, on to London, so that they might lose no time in doing all they could for him. I^ng was commissioned to hire a ship in London or Gravesend, to lie in readiness to take Sir Walter to France, should there be any oppor- tunity of escape. Shortly after they had gone Ealegh feigned to be seized with a fit, so that his servant rushed into Stukeley's room, crying, "My master is out of his wits. I have just found him in his shirt upon all fours, gnawing at the rushes on the boards." Manourie was sent to see if he could do anything for Ealegh, and gave him the emetic which he had asked for. To make the deception still more complete, Manourie also gave Ealegh an ointment, which produced blisters and sores on any part of the skin to which it was applied. Seeing him in this condition, Stukeley thought he must indeed be seriously ill, and sent in all haste to the Bishop's Palace, where Andrewes, the saintly bishop of Ely, was then staying. Andrewes sent two physicians to see Ealegh, and they, together with Manourie, stated that he was unfit to go on with his journey. The expedient appears to us quite unworthy of Ealegh ; but he does not seem either then or subse- quently to have felt any shame about it. Speaking of it afterwards, he said, " I hope it was no sin. The prophet David did make himself a fool . . . 1618] RALEGH PROCEEDS TO LONDON. 239 and to him it was not imputed as a sin." The time he had thus gained he employed in writing his Apology for the voyage to Guiana. This, even under those strange circumstances, was written with glowing eloquence and is full of bitter scorn of his enemies. It shows us, more clearly than any- thing else that he afterwards said, his own point of view about the matter. For in it he states clearly the question as it then appeared to him, before he had heard the comments and accusations of others. On the fourth day of Ealegh's stay at Salisbury, James, who was then on progress, arrived in the town. Ealegh may have cherished some slight hope that he would be allowed to see the King. But a council warrant ordered that he should proceed on his journey immediately. Digby, wlio was with the King, heard that he was ill, and obtained permission for him on reaching London to go to his own house in Bread Street, instead of to the Tower. On the way up to London Sir Walter, according to statements made afterwards by Manourie, talked much to him of plans for escape, and offered to pay him liberally if he would help him to do so. Manourie's statements are made rather incredible by the fact that Sir Walter was an impoverished man, and hardly in the position to offer Manourie fifty pounds a year as a reward for his assistance. Sir Lewis Stukeley now thought it wise to gain Ealegh's confidence by affecting deep pity for him, and a desire to help him in every way. 240 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1618 They reached London on August 7th, and Ralegh remained in his own house in Bread Street under the charge of Stukeley. Here Captain King came to him, and told him that he had made arrange- ments for a vessel now lying at Tilbury to take him over to France. Stukeley professed himself perfectly willing to aid him to escape, and to go to France with him. Two Frenchmen, by name Chesnay and Le Clerc, also came to Ralegh, with offers of assistance. They said that they had letters of recommendation which they would give him to different persons in France, and that they would put a French barque at his disposal. Ralegh ac- cepted the letters, but thought that the barque provided by King would be more suitable for his purpose. Meanwhile Hart, the owner of the boat, had betrayed the whole scheme to a certain Herbert, a courtier, who had told it to some one else, who had informed the King. Arrangements were made, not to prevent the attempt to escape altogether, but only to prevent it from succeeding, so that to the other charges against Ralegh the charge of having tried to escape might be added. Stukeley played the traitor to such perfection that he was rewarded afterwards by the indignant Eneflish with the name of " Judas," and was com- monly known as Sir Judas Stukeley. On Sunday evening, 9th August, Ralegh, King, Stukeley, and one or two servants who were to be of the party, met on the river side. Two wherries, under the •charge of Hart, were in readiness to convey them to 1618] TREACHERY OF SIR L. STUKELEY. 241 the vessel, which lay at Gravesend. Another boat also lay near by, in which was Herbert, with a large crew. This boat followed them at a distance as they put out, and excited Sir Walter's suspicions. Stukeley was indignant with him for doubting, and with many oaths exclaimed against his bad fortune in having adventured his life with a man so full of doubts and fears. Doubts and misgivings delayed them so that they lost the advantage of the tide. The watermen said they would not be able to reach Gravesend till morning. The other boat meanwhile still followed them. From the conduct of Hart it at last became so clear to Ralegh that he had been betrayed, that he ordered the boats to turn and row back, in hopes that he might reach his house before morning, and nothing be known of his attempt to escape. Stukeley continued to assure him of his friend- ship, and even went so far as to embrace him in the boat, with vehement protestations of love. At Greenwich he persuaded Ralegh to land, saying he durst not take him to his house. Herbert and his men landed at the same time. Here Stukeley tried to persuade King that it would be better for his master if King should pretend that he had be- trayed Ralegh, but to this the sturdy sailor would not agree. At last Stukeley gave up the deception, arrested King, and gave him over to some of Her- bert's men. Ralegh seems to have been neither indignant nor surprised at such treachery; but only said to Stukele}^ " Sir Lewis, these actions will 11 242 S//(! WALTER RALEGH. [1618 not turn out to your credit," words which were to prove truer even than Ealegh thought. In the morning, as they were led into the Tower, Ealegh found opportunity for a few words of comfort to King. '' Stukeley has betrayed me ; for your part you need be in fear of no danger ; but as for me, it is I am the mark that is shot at." When Ealegh was taken into the Tower his person was searched, and all the jew^els and trinkets which were found on him were given over to Stukeley. Ealegh was a great lover of jewels, and there seem to have been some fine ones on his person; amongst others a diamond ring, which he always wore on his finger, and which had been given him by Queen Elizabeth. There were besides upon him sixty -three gold buttons, with sparks of diamonds ; a jacinth seal, with a figure of Neptune cut on it; a loadstone in a scarlet purse ; a Guiana idol of gold and silver, and many other trinkets. There was also a minia- ture in a case set with diamonds, which, at Sir Walter's express desire, was left in the hands of the Lieutenant of the Tower, Sir Allen Apsley. Beside these jewels, Stukeley obtained afterwards, as pay- ment for his services with regard to Ealegh, £'905. Six councillors were now appointed as a com- mission to inquire into Ealegh's case. Amongst these were Bacon, Coke, and Abbot, the Arch- bishop of Canterbury. They held many sittings, and Ealegh was thrice examined before them. Many other persons were also examined, chiefly 1618] REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS. 243 men who had been on the Guiana expedition. We still possess the results of some of their examinations, from which we are able to see the points upon which the commissioners especially desu'ed information. These were, whether Sir Walter Ealegh really believed in the existence of the mine, and meant to go there, and to work it ; whether he himself had directed that the Spanish town should be burnt; whether he would have sailed from Trinidad, had his officers allowed it, and deserted those who had gone up the Orinoco ; whether he meant to turn pirate, and what was the nature of his relations with France. To gain still more information, a keeper, named Sir Thomas Wilson, was appointed to attend on Ealegh in the Tower, to be with him constantly, to win his con- fidence, and try to discover something from him. He was to inform the commissioners of anything he thought worth reporting. Wilson entered upon his hateful office on the 10th of September, and gave it up on the 15th October, when there seemed no chance of learning anything more. He inter- cepted Ealegh's letters; and means were even found by Secretary Naunton to persuade Lady Ealegh to write, asking certain questions of her husband, in the hope that through his answers more might be discovered. At last, on the 18th October, the commissioners' report was sent in to the King. It seems to have been drawn up by Coke, but represented the views of the whole body. The difficulty of the case was. 244 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1618 that as Ealegh had already, in 1604, been declared giiilty of high treason, and had never been par- doned, he could not be put on his trial for any crime committed since, as he was legally dead. The commissioners, therefore, recommended two courses as possible. The first, that in publishing the warrant for Ealegh's execution, his Majesty should also publish a narrative in print of his late crimes and offences. The second course, and the one pre- ferred by the commissioners, was that Sir Walter should be summoned before the whole body of the Council of State and the principal judges, to- gether with some of the nobility and gentlemen of quality, and should be thus publicly charged with acts of hostility, depredation, abuse of the royal commission, attempt to escape, and the other misdemeanours of which he stood accused. The commissioners left it to his Majesty how far the matter with the French should be touched upon ; for their careful examination of the Frenchmen who had had dealings with Ealegh led them to the conclusion that he had been passive rather than active in the matter. After the examination, the King was to take the advice of the Lords of the Council and the Judges as to the execution of Sir Walter, and the whole proceeding was to be made a solemn act of the council. James was afraid to follow their advice. " For the other course," he wrote in answer, "of a public calling him before our council, we think it not fit, because it would make him too popular, as was 1618] JAMES L AND RALEGH. 245 fouud by experiment at the arraignment at Win- chester, where by his wit he turned the hatred of men into compassion of him." James therefore resorted to a middle course. A formal proceeding was to take place, but only before the commis- sioners ; no publicity was to be allowed. The sentence of his execution, which had been so long suspended, was then to be carried into effect; after which a declaration was to be put forward in 13rint, stating the crimes of which he had been found guilty. On one point James was very determined ; Ralegh must lose his life. He owed it to Spain that the man who had broken the peace and burnt a Spanish town should not be spared. The Spaniards had long looked upon Ealegh as their bitter foe. James had written to Madrid, offering to give up Ralegh for execution there. On the 15th October he received the answer that Philip III. would prefer that the execution should be in England, and that he hoped it would take place immediately. In England many were found to intercede for Ralegh ; amongst others, Queen Ann, who wrote to Villiers, now Duke of Buckingham, addressing him as " My kind dog," and asking him to exert his influence with the King to prevent Ralegh's execution. Ralegh himself wrote to Buckingham a somewhat fawning letter, begging him to do what he could to get his Majesty's pardon for him. To Lord Carew, his cousin, he wrote a long and dignified letter, in which he justified 246 S/J? WALTER RALEGH. [1618 his doings by his favourite argument, that Guiana belonged to the English crown by virtue of the cession made to him in 1595; so that the Spaniards had no right to be there at all. From this letter, and from his Ajyologij, it is easy to see what was Ralegh's view about the matter. He did not believe in " peace beyond the line," and could not understand how other people could believe in it. His early training had taught him to look upon the Spaniard as a foe who must be resisted at any price. It may be urged that he had dis- tinctly undertaken not to break the peace; but he must have thought that this was only exacted as a matter of form. Since every one knew that he was bound for Guiana, and every one knew that there were already Spanish settlements there, no one could suppose that a collision could be avoided. Elizabeth's subjects had always resisted the Spanish claims to supremacy in the Indies, and had looked upon it as lawful to win from Spain, by fair fighting, all the booty they could. The Spaniards, in like manner, had treated aU Englishmen whom they met in the Indies as their enemies, and had even put to death with horrible tortures peaceable merchants with whom they had been trading. In the true interests of coloniza- tion and commerce, it was necessary that this state of things should cease ; that the dealings of one nation with another should be regulated by the same rules in the Indies as they were in Europe. This was what men were beginning to 1618] JAMES' DETERMINATION. 247 think, and what made doings like the burning of St. Thome entirely unjustifiable to a legal mind like Bacon's. To Ealegh individually small blame can be attached, because he had failed to under- stand how men's feelings had changed during those thirteen years which he spent in the Tower. For the sake of liberty he had been over-ready to promise, and had trusted that some chance might turn up to favour his attempt. Looked at from a modern point of view, the capture and burning by an Englishman of a foreign settlement, belong- ing to a people with whom his nation was at peace, is an unjustifiable act. But in considering its bearing upon our judgment of Ealegh's cha- racter, we must remember the state of opinion under which he had grown up, and the circum- stances of his life. In his eyes at least it was no crime, and he was astonished that others should think it so. In his eyes his only crime was the failure of his expedition. James had put liimself into a false position with regard to Spain by allowing the expedition to start at all. His one wish now was to give fuU satisfaction to Spain by the execution of tlie traitor. He knew it would be an unpopular act ; and he was afraid of allowing Ealegh to be ex- amined publicly. By refusing to do so he took the unwisest course he could possibly have done. He allowed Ealegh to be executed by virtue of the old sentence, which was still unrepealed, and did not first make clear to the public the reasons 248 S//i WALTER RALEGH. [1618 why the sentence was now allowed to take effect, after the lapse of fourteen years. In this way Ealegh appeared to every one as a martyr, and as a martyr to Spain, which was just then the object of popular hatred. Even those who at the present day are inclined to judge severely Ealegh's con- duct, with regard to the Guiana expedition, can hardly defend either the fact or the manner of his execution. AVith regard to his dealings with France, we see that the Commissioners considered that his part in them was passive rather than active. He confessed them all to the King in a letter written from the Tower on the 5th October. What his dealings with Faige were before he went to Guiana we have already seen. After his return he had been visited three tunes by a French gentleman named Chesnay, and once by the French agent in Lon- don, Le Clerc, with offers of assistance. Much irritation had already been excited at the French court by the way in which Chesnay and Le Clerc had been examined before the commissioners. James thought therefore that this matter had better be only very lightly touched upon, doubt- less through fear lest anything should arise in consequence to disturb his friendly relations with France. On the 28th October Ealegh was summoned from the Tower to appear before the councillors at Westminster. As he passed ou^, an old servant of his reminded him that he had forgotten to 1618] RALEGH BEFORE THE COMMISSIONERS. 249 comb his head. "Let them kem it that are to have it," answered Ealegh, smiling; and added, " Dost thou know, Peter, of any plaister that will set a man's head on again when it is off?" In answer to the charges of the commissioners, Ealegh spoke out as fearlessly as ever. He pleaded that he could not he proceeded against on the old sentence, which had been annulled by the royal commission which he had received for his voyage, a voyage which, " notwithstanding my endeavours," he said, " had no other issue than what was fatal to me — the loss of my son, and the wasting of my whole estate." He indignantly affirmed his in- tention to find the mine, and denied that he had intended to abandon his fleet, or bring about war between Spain and England. At the end the commissioners declared that in their opinion the sentence might justly be proceeded with, and Sir Walter was ordered to prepare for death the next morning. He was conveyed from Westminster Hall to a small building in the Palace Yard, the gatehouse of the Old Monastery, which had long been used as a prison. As he passed across the yard he met an old friend, to whom he said, " You will come to-morrow morning." And when his friend answered, "Certainly," Ealegh added, " I do not know what you may do for a place. For my own part, I am sure of one ; you must make what shift you can." Many came to see him in the gatehouse. One of his kinsmen, surprised at his good spirits, said, " Do not cany it with too much 250 SII? WALTER RALEGH. [1618 bravery. Your enemies will take exception if you do." " It is my last mirth in this world," answered Ralegh ; " do not grudge it to me. When I come to the sad parting, you shall see me grave enough." Ralegh had always professed scorn of death. Now he seemed to welcome it cheerfully as a friend. Dr. Robert Tounson, Dean of Westminster, was ordered by the Lords of the Council to be with him during his last night in prison, and at his death. Tounson says in a letter which he wrote to a friend about Ralegh's bearing at his death, "he was the most fearless of death that ever was known, and the most resolute and confident, yet with reverence and conscience. When I began to encourage him against the fear of death, he seemed to make so light of it that I wondered at him. . . He gave God thanks he never feared death ; and much less then, for it was but an opinion and imagination ; and the manner of death, though to others it might seem grievous, yet he had rather die so than of a burning fever, with much more to that purpose, with such con- fidence and cheerfulness, that I was fain to divert my speech another way, and wished him not to flatter himself; for this extraordinary boldness I was afraid sprang from some false ground. If it sprang from the assurance he had of the love and favour of God, of the hope of his salvation by Christ and his own innocency, as he pleaded, I said he was a happy man ; but if it were out of an humour of vain glory, or carelessness, or contempt 1618] RALEGH'S LAST HOURS. 251 of death, or senselessness of his own estate, he were much to he lamented. For I told him that heathen men had set as little hy their lives as he could do, and seemed to die as bravely. He answered that he was persuaded that no man that knew God and feared Him could die with cheer- fulness and courage, except he was assured of the love and favour of God unto him ; that other men might make shows outwardly, but they felt no joy within; with much more to that effect very Christianly, so that he satisfied me then, as I think he did all his spectators at his death." That night Lady Kalegh came to the gatehouse to bid farewell to her husband. Till midnight they talked together. Of his son Carew he could not bear to talk to her, but he told her how she must try to vindicate his fame before the world if he should be prevented from making an address on the scaffold as he intended. Lady Ealegh told him that the Council had given her the disposal of his dead body. "It is well, dear Bess," he answered, " that thou mayst dispose of that dead which thou hadst not always the disposing of when alive." That night, too, Ralegh employed himself in writing a testamentary note, in which he once more vindicated himself from the charges which had been brought against him. Then, too, he in all probability wrote some lines which were after- wards found in his Bible. " When such is time that takes on trust Our youth, our joys, our all we have, 252 SI/^ WALTER RALEGH. [1618 And pays us but with earth and dust ; Who in the dark and silent grave, When we have wandered all our ways, Shuts up the story of our days ; But from this earth, this grave, this dust, My God shall raise me up, I trust." Early in tlie morning he received the Com- munion. " He was very cheerful and merry," says Dr. Tounson, "and hoped to persuade the world that he died an innocent man as he said. He eat his breakfast heartily, and took tobacco, and made no more of his death than if it had been to take a journey." The execution was to take place early. It was the Lord Mayor's day ; and it had been hoped that the counter attraction of the show in the city would draw away many from hearing Sir Walter's last words. But the crowd in the yard was dense, and Ealegh, escorted by two sheriffs and Dr. Tounson, was so much thronged and crowded on his way to the scaffold that he was made quite breathless. One old bald-headed man pressed up towards him, and Ealegh asked him if he would aught of him. The man answered that he only wished to see him, and prayed God to have mercy upon his soul. Sir Walter thanked him, and taking otf a nightcap of cut lace from his head threw it to him, with the words, " Take this ; you need it, my friend, more than I do." On reaching the scaffold Ealegh said that he had been suffering from ague on the two last days; "If therefore," he added, "you perceive any weakness in me 1618] RALEGH'S SPEECH AT HIS EXECUTION. 253 ascribe it to my sickness rather than to myself. I am infinitely bound to God, that he hath vouch- safed me to die in the sight of so notable an assembly, and not in darkness, neither in that Tower where I have suffered so much adversity and a long sickness." A number of lords, amongst whom were Arundel and Oxford, were watching the scene from a window in a dwelling-house which overlooked the yard. Turning to them, Ealecfh said he wished his voice were strong enough for them to hear him. They answered that they would come down, and came and stood upon the scaffold. After they had shaken him by the hand, he began to speak again. He solemnly denied that he had had any plot or intelligence with the French king, or that he had spoken dishonourably and disloyally of King James. He called God to witness to the truth of these assertions. " It is not now a time," he said, " either to fear or to flatter kings. I am now the subject of death, and the great God of heaven is my sovereign before whose tribunal I am shortly to appear. And therefore have a charitable con- ceit of me To call God to witness an untruth is a sin above measure sinful ; but to do it at the hour of one's death . . . were the greatest madness and sin that could be possible." He said that in taking the Sacrament that morning he had forgiven both Stukeley and the Frenchman (Man- ourie). He confessed that he had tried to escape. He once more asserted his belief in the existence 254 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1618 of the mine, and said that he had always meant to come home, however his voyage turned out. Turning to Arundel, he said, " I am glad my Lord Arundel is here;" and he told how he promised Arundel before he sailed that he would come back again, and had given him his hand upon it ; and this Arundel confirmed. At the end Ealegh spoke a few words to justify himself of a charge made long ago against him, which he said made his heart bleed ; namely, that he had been a persecutor of Essex, and had watched his execution from a window, with disdain puf&ng out tobacco. " God I take to witness," he said, "my eyes shed tears for him when he died. ... I confess I was of a contrary faction; but I knew that my Lord of Essex was a noble gentleman, and that it would be worse for me wiien he was gone. . . ." Finally, Ealegh desired all "very earnestly to pray for him; for that he was a great sinner for a long time, and in many kinds his whole course was a course of vanity. A seafaring man, a soldier, and a courtier, the least of these were able to over- throw a good mind and a good man." Then the executioner knelt and asked him for- giveness, which he granted, laying his hands upon the man's shoulders. He asked to see the axe, and as he felt its sharp edge, he said, " This gives me no fear; it is a sharp and fair pencil to cure me of all my distempers." Turning again to the execu- tioner, he added, " When I stretch forth my hands despatch me." 1618] RALEGH'S BEARING A 7 HIS EXECUTION. 255 Then with courtly grace he bade farewell to his friends who stood around, and turned with parting salutations to the crowd on either side of the scaffold, begging them heartily that they would give him their prayers. The executioner cast down his own cloak, and Ralegh laid himself upon it, and stretched forth his hands as a sign that he was ready; but the man hesitated. "What dost thou fear ? Strike, man, strike !" said Ealegh, without stirring. His lips moved as if in prayer, and at last the axe fell; there were two blows, and the head rolled off. When the head was lifted up and shown to the people, one man was heard to say, " We have not such another head to be cut off." The head was put into a red bag, and the body was wrapped in its velvet gown. They were carried to Lady Ralegh. She had asked her cousin. Sir Nicholas Carew, for permission to bury, in his church at Beddington, the dead body of her noble husband, " which the Lords had given her, though they had denied her his life." But for some reason or other she changed her mind, and had it buried near the altar of St. Margaret's Church, Westminster. She caused the head to be embalmed, and kept it with her till she died. The way in which Ralegh met death — with the grace of a courtier, the dignity of a philosopher, the courage of a soldier, and the faith of a Chris- tian — had made him more than ever a hero and a martyr in the eyes of the people. Sir John 256 SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1618 Eliot, who afterwards himself suffered nobly in the people's cause, was present as a young man at his execution, and says, "His bearing left only this, doubt, whether death was more acceptable to him, or he more welcome to death." From the report that is left us of his last words, scanty and insuf- ficient as it necessarily is, we cannot judge the effect they produced. We can better judge of their eloquence from the way in which we are told they stirred the hearts of those who heard them. Afterwards the town could talk of nothing else. Every day ballads and pamphlets relating to Ealegh were published. Men looked upon him as having been unjustly executed under his old sentence, and fully accepted his own vindication of the charges since brought against him. The publication of the official declaration, which was to set forth the reasons why he had been executed, was for some reason or other delayed ; indeed, men were so rooted in their opinions that it was hardly likely to produce any change ; still less so, coming as late as it did. Sir Judas Stukeley, as he was called, became the object of such bitter hatred that he did not know where to hide himself to escape from it. He is said to have died a raving maniac, despised and hated by all men. He had tried to excuse himself by writing an Ajwlogy, but men had not accepted it. The of&cial declaration of the causes which had led to Sir Walter Ealegh's death was drawn up by 1618] BACOX'S DECLARATION. 257 Bacon, at the King's command. It contained a recital of those charges which in the minds of the commissioners had been proven against him. It took for granted that Ealegh had never really known of the existence of the mine that he had pretended to go in search of; and starting from this, it naturally found him guilty of having in every way violated his commission. Tliere can be no doubt that Ealegh did go beyond Jiis com- mission ; but it is equally clear that he never believed that he w^as bound strictly to adhere to it. Neither in his Aiiology nor in liis address from the scaffold does he speak as if it had ever occurred to him that his real fault was the burning and sacking of San Thome. There does not seem any reason to believe that the com- missioners themselves looked upon this as his chief crime. ISTeither he nor any one else ever denied that San Thome had been burnt. If that act in itself had been looked upon at that time as so severe a breach of the law of nations as it would be considered now, there would have been no need of all the examinations of Ealegh himself and his fellow-adventurers, with a view of proving other things against him. Of that he stood clearly accused by his own mouth ; but that was not enough to condemn him in those days. To the great mass of people it was no crime at all; and in James's eyes it was only a crime because he feared lest it might bring about a breach with Spain. Even the ohicial declaration did not lay s 25S S/J? WALTER RALEGH. [1618 SO mucli stress upon the burning of San Tlioiue as it did upon the other charges, which posterity has clearly judged to be of no weight. The declaration, though drawn up by the master hand of Bacon, and possessing all the advantages of his clear and lucid style, produced no effect upon the excited minds of men. The common view was, that Ealegh was executed under his old sentence simply to please Spain. Even Dean Tounson expressed his surprise that Ealegh before his death never made mention of that fur which he really died, his former treason. Perhaps it is easier to forgive James I. Ealegh's execution than it is to forgive him the thirteen years' imprisonment in the Tower. When Sir Walter was executed, at the age of sixty-six, he was broken in health, and worn out with the labours and troubles of his eventful career. Life could have little more in store for him, and death on the scaffold gave him an opportunity of show- ing the world, in a way which it has not forgotten, how nobly a man can die. But when James came to the throne Ealegh was still in the prime of life, and no man then living was better fitted to do good work for his country. That James should have failed to make use of the noblest spirit amongst his people shows in a striking manner his incapacity for sympathizing with true genius. Young amongst the heroes wlio gathered round Elizabeth's throne, Ealegh lived on into an age when genius was feared, not souglit for. It is 1618] RALEGH'S CHARACTER. 259 impossible to say what he might not still have done for his country, had he been allowed ; it is difficult to say in a few words what he actually did. His manysidedness is the most striking thing about him, and by virtue of it he seems to sum up in himself all the leading characteristics of the Elizabetlian age. A fearless soldier, a dis- tinguished seaman, he was at the same time a most gallant and accomplished courtier. He could turn a compliment as gracefully as Sir Christopher Hatton, and attack a Spanish galleon as daunt- lessly as Drake. Amongst the many great names in the literature of that age, his has found a worthy place as poet, philosopher, and historian. All his life a complete master of the intricacies of foreign politics, he took also, as long as he was able, an active and intelligent share in home politics. He delighted in far-reaching schemes, and saw how England was fitted, by her position and by the character of her people, to send forth offshoots into distant lands. To him we may look back as the father of English colonization. But whilst busied in great schemes he did not forget the duties which lay near at hand. He administered the offices which he held under Elizabeth with zeal and care ; he watched with deep interest the planting of his own estate; he never forgot to care for the faithful servants who had followed him through many dangers. By the introduction of the potato and tobacco he con- tributed largely to the comfort of his countrymen. 26o SIR WALTER RALEGH. [1618 His chemical studies show how anxious he was to alleviate human suffering as much as he could. A self-summed man, of arrogant and overbearing manners, unable to contain the scorn which he felt for mean and common things, he was never loved by the people till his sufferings had taught them the real meaning of his character. The tide of popular feeling was turned at his trial at Win- chester; and since then the English people have loved and honoured him amongst their heroes. S OF THE ORIFOCQ. 6« 61 B" SEA y:? cO^ landun, Oxfbrai &, Cojrijbrid^e. JTeaSnjjaJIazid ad ^ pcoR. ., •Ortcnga English. ISlee > r^ syo jooo Zondon,, Oxford. &. Ccanbvid^e^ INDEX Abbot, Archbishop of Canter- bury, commissioner to in- quire into Gruiana expedition, 242. Albert, The Archduke, 151. Algerine Pirates, The, 222. Alley, Capt., 225. Alva, 8. Amadas, Capt. Philip, 43-46. Amana, The, 91. Amboise, Edict of, 8. Anjou, Duke of, demands Eliza- beth in marriage, 29 — His appearance, 30 — Sidney's views about him, 30 — Leaves England, 31 — His doings in the Netherlands, 32 — Death, 32. Ann, Queen, gets cordial from Kalegh, 184 — Ralegh's letter to, 196 — Writes to Bucking- ham, 245. Antwerp, Ralegh at, 32. Apology, The, for the voyage to Guiana, 239, 246. Apsley, Sir Allen, 242. Archangel, 38. Archdukes, The, 151. Architecture, Elizabethan, 85. Aremberg, Count of, his deal- ings with Cobham, 157, 167 — Promises money to Cobham, 158. Armada, The Spanish, 59-66. Arundel, Earl of, Ralegh's pro- mise to, 236— At Ralegh's execution, 253, 254. Assapana, Isle of, 228. Azores, The, 71, 114. Bacon, Francis, Lord, story about Ralegh, 7 — His edu- cation, 129 — Patronised by Essex, 129 — Counsel for the prosecution at Essex's trial, 130— His character, 129, 180 — Cecil's views about, 180 — Talk with Ralegh about piracy, 215 — Commissioner to inquire into Guiana ex- pedition, 242 — His official de- claration about Ralegh, 257. Bacon, Sir Nicholas, 129. Barbary, 97. Barley, Capt., 223. Barlowe, Capt. Arthur, 44-46. Bameveldt, John of Olden, 151 Bath, Ralegh anxious to visit, 180. Bazan, Alfonzo, 72, 73. Beaumont, French Ambassa- dor, 150, 210. Beaumont, Countess of, 184. Beddington Park, 150. BeUe, Capt, 218. Berreo, Don Antonio, 89. 262 INDEX. Berry, Capt., 200. Bible, The, Translation of, 207, 208. Bills, Parliamentary, for re- straining export of ordnance, 137 — For more diligent re- sort to church on Sundays, 137. Biron, Duke of, 132. Blount, Sir Christopher, 115, 127, 131. Blount, Mr., 81. Bodley, Sir Thomas, founds a library at Oxford, 204. Boyle, Richard, Earl of Cork, 22. Bribes, Spanish, 189. Brooke, George, his plottings, 155 — His examination, 157 — His execution, 174. Buckingham, Queen Ann's letter to, 245. Burhill, Doctor Robert, aids Ralegh in his History, 205. Burghley, Ralegh meets James I. at, 149. Burleigh, William CecO, Lord, Letter from Ralegh to, 17 — His character, 25, 26 — In- fluence of, 32 — Views about Spanish invasion, 59 — Letter from Ralegh to, 82— Death of, 121, 122— Jealousy of Bacon, 127 — Chooses Cam- den to write the history of Elizabeth's reign, 204. Burroughs, Sir John, 75, 78. Cabinet Council, 201. Cabot, John, 38. Cabot, Sebastian, 38. Cadiz, 58, 101, 107, 109. Caiana, 223, 225. Calais, 64, 101. Camden, William, 203 — His Meliqua Britannlcce, 203 — His Annals of England^ 204., Canaries, The, 221. Cape Verd Islands, 223. Carew, Lord, 245. Carew, Sir George, 78. Carew, Sir Nicholas, 150, 255. Carey, Robin, account of Eliza- beth's death, 138. Caroli, The, 94. Carolina, 44. Carr, Robert, his character, 197 — Acquires Sherborne, 198 — Made Viscount of Rochester, 198. (See Rochester.) Casaubon, Isaac, 204. Cathay, 37-39. ^ Catholics, English, Position of, 58, 59. Catholic Plot, The, against James, 155, 156. Catholicism in Ireland, 14. Cecil, Sir Robert, Journeys to Dartmouth to watch over the Madre de Bios, 79, 81 — Let- ters from Lady Ralegh to, 88, 131, 176— Contributes to Expedition to Guiana, 89 — Letters from Ralegh to, 77, 107, 109, 114, 125, 174, 179, 180, 182, 184, 185— His cha- racter and views. 111, 180 — Jealousy of Essex, 111, 125 — Accusations of Essex against, 128 — Speech on the Subsidies, 134 — His corres- pondence with James I., 143, 144 — Meeting with James I., 146 — His views about Ralegh, 148— Ralegh's let- ter to James about him, 150 — Averse to War, 152 — His supremacy with James L, 158 — Commissioner at Ralegh's trial, 165 — Beha- viour at Ralegh's trial, 170, 172— His services to Ralegh, 178. (See Salisbury. )^ Champernowne, Katherine, 6. INDEX. 263 Chancelor, Richard, 38. Charles A^., Emperor, 188. Chesapeake Bay, 53. Chesnay, 240, 248. Christchurch founded by Wol- sey, 6. Cobham, Lord Henry, oppo- sition to Essex, 126 — Essex's accusations of, 128 — sus- pected of share in the Ca- tholic plot, 15G— Hisdealings with Aremherg, 157, 167, 1 68, 173— His examination, 157 — his plottings, 158, 167— His connection with lialegh, 158 — Retracts his statements about Ralegh, 163 — Prepara- tions for his execution, 176, 177 — His intimacy with Ra- legh, 169 — He withdraws his retractation, 172 — His trial, 174. Coke, Sir Anthony, 129. Coke, Sir Edward at Ralegh's trial, 165-172 — Draws up views of commissioners, 243, 244 — Commissioner to en- quire into Guiana expedition, 242. Colonies, Spanish, 86. Colonization, 10, 11, 41, 43. Columbus, 38. Commission, The, given to Ralegh, 215, 219. Cornwall, Lieutenancy of, taken from Ralegh, 177. Cortez, 86, 97. Cotterell, 163. Cotton, Sir Robert, 204, 205. CottoH, Dr. Henry, 85. Council, Ralegh summoned be- fore the, 243, 249. Croaton, 55. Cromwell, Oliver, his opinion of the History of the World, 209. Cumberland, Earl of, 79, 82. Daue, Elinor, 53. Dartmouth, 78, 79, 80. Davidson's Rhapsodi/, 210. Del Oro, Massacre of, 19. De Rosny Ambassador in Lon- don, 151. Desmarets, French Ambassa- dor, visits the Guiana fleet, 217— His talk with Ralegh, 217. Desmond. Earl of, rebels against English rule, 16 — His death, 20 — Destruction of his power, 21. Desmond, James, 17. Bestimj, The, 217 — visited by Desmarets, 2 1 7 — Enters Ply- mouth harbours alone, 233. Digby advises James not to listen to Spanish proposals of marriage, 192 — discovers list of Englishmen in Span- ish pay, 198 — negotiates Spanish marriage, 213 — gains permission for Ralegh to go to his own house, 239. Dorado, El, 87. Drake, Sir Francis, his voy- age round the world, 39, 40 — Visits the colony of Vir- ginia, 49 — Attacks Cadiz, 58 — Vice-Admiral of the Eng- lish fleet, 60 — Captures a Spanish Galleon, 62 — After the Armada fight, 65 — His death, 102. Dress, 33-35. Dublin, 13. Dudley, see Leicester. Durham House, 127, 154. Dutch Republic, sends ambas- sadors to James, 151. Eliot, Sir John, on Ralegh's death, 256. Elizabeth at Oxford, 7 — sends money to the Huguenots, 8 264 INDEX. — Champion of Protestant- ism, 9 — Her economy, 16, 17 — Views about Irish affairs, 15, 16— Her court in 1581, 23 — Burleigh's opinion of her, 26 — Her affection for Hatton, 27 - 29 — Marriage negotiations with Anjou, 29-32 — Her favourites, 32 — Her dress, 34— Her presents from her courtiers, 34-35 — Policy towards 8pain, 41, 59— At Tilbury, 60— Share in the Madre cle Bios, 82, 83— Love of peace, I 109, 121— Her quarrel with Essex, 121— Her lonely old age, 122 — Her ajDpearance, 122, 123 — Anger with Essex, 124, 125 — Struggle in sign- ing Essex's death-warrant, 130— At the Vuie, 132— Her last Parliament, 133 — her death, 138— Her objection to fix the succession, 139. Elizabeth, Princess, Marriage of, 194. Elizabeth, Princess of France, marries the Infante Philip, 191. Ely, Bishop of, 238. Emljassies to James I., 151. England's Helicon, 210. Erskine, Sir Thomas, made Captain of the Guard, 149. Essex, Earl of, introduced to the court by Leicester, 67 — His character, 67 — Jealousy of Ealegh, 68, 112 — His; marriage, 76 — Intercourse with Ralegh, 101 — Essex commands land forces of Cadiz expedition, 102-109 — Jealousy of Cecil, 111 — Admiral in the Island Vop- cige, 113 - 116 — Irritation against Ralegh, 118, 119— Made Earl Marshal, 119— Desire for war, 120— Quarrel with Elizabeth, 121— Made Lord Deputy of Ireland, 123 — Makes peace with TjTone, 124, 125 —Returns to the court, 124 — Anger of Eliza- beth against, 125 — Forms a conspiracy against the go- vernment, 126, 128— At- tempted rising, 128 — His trial, 128, 130— His execu- tion, 131 — His letters to James L, 147, 148. Essex, Countess of, 24. Essex House, Conspirators at, 126, 127. Estates, Irish, 15, 21, 22. Faige, Capt., 218, 248. Fairclough, Dr. Daniel, 220. Farm of Wines granted to Ralegh, 33. Farthingales, 35. Fayal, Isle of, 115-118. Featley, Dr. Daniel, 220. Ferdinand, Emperor, 188. Ferrol, 113, 114, 119. Fireships, 64. Fleet, The, Ralegh in, 181. Fleming, 61. Fletcher, 210. Flores, Island of, 115. Furniture, 85, Frobisher, Martin, his voyages in search of Cathay, 39 — Aids in preparations to meet the Armada, 60 — Knighted by Howard, 63 — Commands a Squadron for Ralegh, 75. GrATEHOusEjThe, at Westmins- ter, 249. Genoa, Proposal for Ralegh to attack, 218. Gilbert, Adrian, 6. Gilbert, Sir Humphry, Ra- INDEX. 265 legh's half-brother, 6— His | schemes of colonization, 10, j 37 — Elizabeth grants him a charter, 10 — His first attempt atcolonization,l 1 — Writings about the North - Western passage, 39 — Second attempt to plant a "colony on New- foundland, 4 1 , 42— His death, 43. Glass, Venetian, 86. Golden Kind (Drake's), 40. Gorges, Sir Arthur, 78, 115, 117. Gorges, Sir Ferdinando, 127. Gomera, 222. Gravelines, 65. Gravesend, 241. Greenwich, 241. Grenville, Sir Richard, his character, 45, 46 — Quarrels with Lane, 46 — Returns to Virginia, 49 — Leaves fifteen men at Roanoke, 50 — Sails for the Azores, 70 — Sur- rounded by the Spanish fleet, 71 — His brave fighting and death, 72, 74. Grey, Lord de Wilton, Deputy in Ireland, 17— Marches to Smerwick, 1 8 — His severity, 19 — Disagreement with Ra- legh, 20. Grey, Lord de Wilton, son of Deputy, joins the Catholic plot, 156— His trial, 174— Preparations for his execu- tion, 176, 177. Grey, Lady Jane, 142. Guard, Captain of the, Ralegh made, 33 — Allowed to re- sume his duties as, 112 — Made to resign the ofiice, 149. Guiana, nature of, 87 — Ex- plored by Spaniards, 88 — Explored by Capt. Whiddon, 89 — Explored by Ralegh, 89-100 — Voyages made thi- ther by Leigh and Harcourt, 197 — Projected voyage of Keymis in 1611, 197— Ra- legh's second voyage to, 219 - 233 — Ralegh's diary of voyage to, 222, 223, 228— Commission to inquire into Guiana expedition, 242, 243. Gunpowder Plot, The, 189. Hariot, Thomas, his letter about Virginia, 50, 51 — Aids Ralegh in his studies, 184. " Harry," Ralegh's Indian ser- vant, 224. Hart, 240, 241. Harvey, Sir George, Lieuten- ant of the Tower, 183. Hatton, Sir Christopher, his character, 27 — Jealousy of Ralegh, 28, 29. Hayes, Manor House of, 5. Hawkins, Sir John, 60, 63, 79, Heneage, 28, 29. [102. Henry II., 13. Henry VII., 14. Henry VIII., his dealings with Ireland, 14 — His right to dispose of the crown, 140. Henry III. of France, 29. Henry IV. of France, Elizabeth wishes to meet him, 133 — Becomes a Catholic, 190 — His opposition to Spain, 190 — His agreement with Bar- neveldt, 191 — His assassin- ation, 191 — His support to German Protestants, 194. Henry, Prince, proposed mar- riage with French Princess, 152 — His character, 185 — His admiration for Ralegh, 186 — Asks Ralegh for advice about shipbuilding, 186 — about his marriage, 180 — 266 INDEX. about the marriage with Sa- voy, 192 — Objection to marry a Catholic, 1 93— Death of, 1 95 — Ralegh sends him a cordial, 196 — His love for his sister, 196— Grief at his death, 196 —The loss to Ralegh, 196, 209. Herbert, 240, 241. Historical study. State of, in England, 203— Ralegh's views about, 206. History of the World, its mys- ticism, 205 — Vast scheme of, 205 — First publication of, 208— Its style, 208— James' opinion of, 209 — Cromwell's opinion of, 209. 'H.ookBT,h.iB Ecclesiastical Polity, 207. Howard8,The, their power with James I., 158. Howard, Lord, of Effingham, views about the state of the navy, 59 — Preparations to meet the Armada, 60 — Fol- lows the Armada, 61 — His tactics, 62, 63 — Leaves pur- suit of the Spaniards, 65 — Lends a ship for the Guiana expedition, 89 — Commands the fleet which attacks Cadiz, 102-107— Made Earl of Not- tingham, 119. Howard, Lord Henry, his correspondence with James, 143, 162 — Made Earl of Northampton, 162 — Com- missioner at Ralegh's trial, 165. Howard, Lord Thomas, 70, 73, 113, 118. Huguenots in France, 8-10, 58 — in America, 44. Ireland, State of, 13-16, 20, 123— Essex in, 124. Irish wars, Supplies needed for, 133, 134. Irish afiairs, 121. Indians, Treatment of by Ra- legh, 93. Indiamen, Projected attack on fleet of, 113, 115, 118. Infanta Ann, 191, 213. Infanta Isabella, her claim to the English crown, 128, 140 — Given sovereignty over the Netherlands, 151. Inga, The Emperor, 95. James VI. of Scotland. (See James I.) James I., relations with Essex, 130 — His probable succes- sion, 131 — Proclamation an- nouncing his accession, 139 — Foundation of his claim, 142 — His attempts to make a party for himself in England, 143 — Starts for London, 144 — His appearance, 144 — His character, 144-146 — His learning, 145 — His views about Ralegh, 147, 150 — His dislike of war, 150, 152 — Extravagance of his court, 152— Visits the Tower, 181 — His love of negotiations, 186— His views about Prince Henry's marriage, 193 — Makes treaty with Protestant Union in Germany, 194 — Desires to ally himself with the chief powers of Europe, 195 — His favourites, 197, 199 — His management of state affairs, 198, 199— Dis- like of criticism of his go- vernment, 202 — His opinion of Ralegh's History, 209— Turns to Spain, 213— Tries to pacify Sarmiento, 216 — Enters into closer relations INDEX. 267 with Spain, 219— Anxious to propitiate Spain, 231— His answer to the commissioners about the Guiana expedition, 244, 245— His decision about Ralegh's execution, 247. Jersey, Office of Governor of, .^iven to Ralegh, 131, 132— Taken from him, 177. Jesuits in Ireland, 17, 19. Jewels, Ralegh's love of, 242. Jonson, Ben, at the " Mermaid," 210— Aids Ralegh with his History^ 210— Travels with his son, 210, 220. JuUo, Dr., 25. KEYMis,Capt., explores Guiana on foot, 96— Sails for Guiana, 99 — His examination, 171 — Commands a ship on second Guiana expedition, 221 — Character, 226— Commands expedition up the Orinoco, 226 — Ralegh' s instructions to him, 226, 227— His want of wisdom, 228, 230— Ralegh's anger with him, 231 — He commits suicide, 232. King, Capt., with Ralegh at Plymouth, 236— Tries to make Ralegh escape, 236— Takes Lady Ralegh to Lon- don, 238 — Makes prepara- tions for Ralegh's escape to France, 240 — Arrested by Stukeley, 241. KnoUes, Richard, his History of the Turks, 204. Lancbrote, 221, 223. Lane, Ralph, his character, 45 —He explores Virginia, 48 — Deserts the colony, 49. Leicester, Robert Dudley, Earl of, his character, 24, 25 — His marriage, 24 — introduces Ralegh to the court, 26— con- ducts Anjou to the Nether- lands, 31 — Jealousy of Ra- legh, 45 — Commands forces atTilbury,60— His death,67. Le Clerc, 240, 248. Lerma, Count of, his character and views, 187, 188 — His bribery, 189 — his views about a marriage with Eng- land, 191. Liveries, 33. Los Gallos, 90. Louis XIII., succeeds to crown of France, 191. Marries the Infanta Ann, 191. Lyly, John, his Euphues^ 207. Machiavelli, influence of his writings upon Ralegh, 202. Madre de Dies, The capture of, 78— Spoils of, 79-83. Manoa, 87, 97. Manourie, Dr., helps Ralegh to counterfeit sickness, 237, 238. Markham, Sir Griffin, 155, 176, 177. 3farriage, double, with France, 152. Mary of England, 15. Mary, Queen of Scots, 57, 130, 139, 142. Mary dei Medici, Regent of France, 191. I^Iaurice, Prince of Orange, 194. Maxims of State, 201, 202. Medina-Sidonia, Duke of, 61, 64, 105. Mexico, 86, 87, 97. Moncontour, 9. Monopolies, 32, 135, 136. Montmorency, Adml. of France — Ralegh's communications with, 217. Mountjoy,Lord, Deputy in Ire- 268 INDEX. land, 138 — Subdues rebels, 138. Munster, Ealegh in, 20— State of, 21. Muscovy Company, 38. Naunton, Secretary, 243. Netherlands, the, Anjou elected sovereign of, 29 — Treatment of by Anjou, 32 — Help in the attack on Cadiz, 102, 106 — Aid in the Island Voy- age, 113, 116, 117— Settle- ment of affairs in, 151. Newfoundland, 38, 41, 132, 233 Norfolk, Duke of, 130. Norman families in Ireland, 13. Nottingham, Charles, Lord Howard, Earl of, Essex's jealousy of, 119 — Arrests Essex, 128. O' Neill, Shane, 16. Orenoqueponi, 94. Oriel College, 6. Orinoco, The, 90, 91, 96, 225- 231. Ormond, Earl of, 16, 20. Ostend besieged by Spain, 152. Othello, 98. Oxford, 6— Visited by Eliza- beth, 7. Oxford, Earl of, at Ralegh's execution, 253. Palatinate, Elector of the, his marriage with Princess Elizabeth, 194. Pale, English, 13. Pamlico Sound, 44. Parliament, Elizabeth's last, 133-137 — Ralegh in, 134— of 1814, 213. Parma, Alexander, Prince of, 69,61,64. Paulet, Sir Amias, 129. Pensions, Spanish, 198, 199. Penn, 86, 87- Philip II., of Spain, views about Ireland, 15 — Promises aid to Desmond, 16 — Strug- gle of Netherlands against, 29— And Mary of Scotland, 57 — Determines to crush I England, 58 — His schemes to restore Popery, 74 — Death of, 120 — He settles affairs in the Netherlands, 151 — His aims, 187, 188. Philip III., of Spain, his cha- racter, 187 — Ruled by Lerma 187 — Desires Ralegh's exe- cution, 246. PhUips, Sergeant, 171. Piacoa, The, 96. Piracy in Spanish waters, 40, 54. Plague, The, in the Tower, i64, 182. Pizarro, 86, 97. Popham, Chief Justice, com- missioner at Ralegh's trial, 165 — Passes judgment on Ralegh, 172. Potato, introduced into Ire- land, 22. "Prerogative of Parliament," A discourse on, 202. Protestant Union in Germany, James makes a treaty with, 194. Prose writers, English, 206, 207. Port Barima, 228. Puncto Anegada, 228. Puncto Gallo, 227. Puerto de los Espannoles, 89. Ralegh, Lady, 88 — "Writes to Cecil, 131 — Ralegh's letters to, 159, 175, 224, 225— At- tempts to save her husband's life, 176— Lives in the Tower, INDEX. 269 182— and on Tower Hill, 182— Her despondency, 184 — She raises money for the Guiana expedition, 216 — Meets her husband at Ply- mouth, 235— Bids farewell to her husband, 251 — Gets her husband's body, 255. Kalegh, Carew, birth of, 182. Ealegh, George, 226, 230. Ealegh, Walter, Sir Walter's eldest son, educated with Cecil's son, 127— His educa- tion, 220— His pranks, 220 — Starts on Guiana expedi- tion, 221— Death of, 229. _ Keformation, Results of, in Ireland, 14. Regulations of Ralegh's fleet, 221. Revengcy The, 72. Robsart, Amy, 24. Roanoke, Island of, its charac- ter, 45 — Lane builds a fort on it, 47 — Drake touches there, 49— Grenville leaves fifteen men there, 50— White lands there, 53. Rochester, Robert Carr, Vis- coimt of, influence in state afi'airs, 198. Russia, 38, 39. Rufi-s, 35. Salisbury, Earl of, Waad's letters to, 183— His views about a Spanish marriage, 172— Foreign policy of, 194, 195, 212— His death, 195. (See Cecil.) Salisbury, Ralegh at, 237-239. San Felipe, The, 104. San Thome, 100, 228, 229, 230, 232, 247. Sarmiento, Diego de Acuna, Count of Gondomar, Spanish ambassador iu England, 212 —His alarm at Ralegh's ex- pedition, 216— Tries to stop it, 218— His complaints of Ralegh's conduct, 234. Savoy, Duke of, sends ambas- sadors with marriage propo- sals, 192— Ralegh's opinion of, 192— Proposed marriage with, 193— Ralegh's A'iews about it, 193. Scaligers, The, 204. Sidney, Sir Henry, 16. Sidney, Sir Philip, 29, 30, 207. Sidney, Sir Robert, 112. Shakspeare, 98, 210. Sherborne Castle acquired by Ralegh, 84— Improved, 85— Saved from confiscation, 178 — Ralegh's conveyance of, 178. Smerwick, 16, 18. Somerset, Robert Carr, Earl of, favours Spain, 213. Southampton, Earl of, 128, 129. Spain, English hatred of, 41 — Decline of power, 120 — Ralegh's hatred of, 159, 235 —Weakness of, 169— Peace concluded with, 186 — Ac- knowledges independence of Dutch RepubHc, 194. Spanish troops inlreland, 16,18. Spaniards in Guiana, 93 — Cruelties of, 246. Spenser, Edmund, 21, 68, 70. Squirrel, The, 43. St. Bartholomew, Massacre of, 10. St. Christopher's, 232. St. Germains, Peace of, 9. St. Margaret's Church, 255. St. Mary's Port, 106. Stannaries, Wardenship of, given to Ralegh, 33— Levies of men in, 60— Wages of men in, 135 — Taken from 1 Ralegh, 177- 270 INDEX. Stuart, House of, claim to suc- cession, 140, 142. Stuart, Arabella, Cobham's plot to place her on the throne, 158, 167 — Her claim to the English crown, 142. Stubbs on dress, 35. Stukeley, Sir Lewis, arrests Ralegh, 236— Conducts him to London, 237 — Tries to gain Ralegh's confidence, 239 — Plays the traitor, 240- 242— His reward, 242— His death, 256. Suffolk, House of, claim to suc- cession, 140, 142. Suicide, Ralegh attempts, 159. Sully, Duke of, 133. Surprising Treason, The, 166, 170. Tempest, The, 98. Theobalds, 34. Throgmorton, Elizabeth, 70, 76. Tilbury, 60. Tillage, BiU of, 136. Tobacco, 51. Topiawari, 94, 95. Touching a War with Spain, 201. Tounson, Dean of Westminster, his account of Ralegh's de- meanour, 250-252. Tournaments, 33. Tower, the, Bear-baiting in, 181 — State of prisoners in, 181 — Arrangement of the building, 181, 182— Ralegh leaves, 215. | Tracts, Ralegh's political, 201, i 202. I Trinidad, 89, 90, 96, 226, 228, | 232. I Triangle Isles, The, 226. Tyrone, Hugh O'NeiU, Earl: of, 123-125. i ViLLiERs, Sir George, rises in James's favour, 214 — Presses expedition to Guiana, 214. Vine, The, 132. Virginia, Attempts to colonize, 45, 56— Colonization of, in 1606-1611, 196 — Mermaid, the, 210 — Colony in, at last established, 216. Volunteers, English in France, Waad, Sir WilHam, 183. Walsingham, 32, 59. Watson,William, his plottings, 155. W'est Indies, 54. \7estminster Hall, 249. \Vhiddon, Capt. 89. White, Capt. Charles, leads an expedition to colonize Vir- ginia, 52-54 — Returns to England, 54 — Goes back to Virginia, 54 — Useless search for the colonists, 55. Whyte, Rowland, 112. Wiapoco, Cape, 223. Wiclif, 206. William of Orange, 31. Wilson, Sir Thomas, 243. Winchester, Ralegh s trial at, 164-173. Windsor Castle, Ralegh at, 157. Wine patent taken from Ralegh, 177. Winter, Sir William, 18. Winwood, Sir Ralph, his cha- racter, 214 — His intercourse with Ralegh, 214 — Hopes for a breach with Spain, 215 — Takes a letter from Ra- legh to Sarmiento, 219 — Ralegh's letter to, 232 — Death of, 232. Wocoken, Island of, 44. Yaya, Isle of, 228. RIVINGTONS' EDUCATIONAL LIST Select Plays of Shakspere. Rugby Edition. By the Rev. C. E. Moberly. AS YOU LIKE IT. 2*. MACBETH. 25. HAMLET. 2^. td. KING LEAR. ^s. 6d. ROMEO AND JULIET. 2J. KING HENRY THE FIFTH, zs. MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. 2S. By R. 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