,«)!' mnt f: mm. 'r:,V: THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA THE COLLECTION OF NORTH CAROUNIANA PRESENTED BY Florence W. Sparger m Rl63t6 UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 00032704002 FOR USE ONLY IN THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION IhJS TITLE HAS BEEN MICROFILiv.lD Form No. A -368 ,.r'. ■V-' ^ "k % < LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH I^L ^xun (Kijtln, i^ ealeigh's seal of office. T. NELSON AND SONS, LONDON AND EDINBURGH. A :^^/i ^ LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH. LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH FOUNDED OX AUTHENTIC AND ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. PATRICK FRASER TYTLER, Esy. F. R 8. AND F. S. A. Great men have been thine offspring, littlo Isle. Poets, peers, And some like Raleigh, leader, poet, chief, Statesman, hi-torian, orator in one. And Tictim too — the martyr of his worth. Stbvex. fonbott: T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW: AND EDINBURGH. ail ^ 3 t PREFACE. I TRUST it will not he deemed presumptuous when 1 express a hope that this Life will he found the most authentic account of Sir Walter Raleigh which has yet been given to the Public. This is said not only with respect, but with gratitude for the labours of my prede- cessors, Oldys, Birch, Cayley, and latterly Mrs Thomson, whose Appendix of original letters, although undervalued by herself, has assisted me in tracing to its real authors that extraordinary conspiracy against Raleigh, which ultimately brought him to the scaffold. But whilst I acknowledge these obligations, I must add that in none of these works, so far as I can judge, has full justice been done to Raleigh. The mistakes and aspersions of Hume, and other writers, have been suffered (except by Cayley) to pass unnoticed ; the secret history of his offences, his trial, and condemnation, has been abandoned as obscure and unintelligible; his famous and fatal Guianian voyage has been misunderstood ; and the gross charges against his honour and veracity, have neither been sufficiently examined, nor their falsehood exposed. To supply these defects and omissions, to invcs- n PREFACE. tigate with care, and determine with truth and clearness, the history and character of an extraordinary man, who perhaps more than any otlier of his age, combined pro- found views with practical knowledge and activity, has been my object in the present work. I have endeavoured also to surround him with groups of his most eminent contemporaries, and, at the same timCj, to introduce into this biographical picture a fuller account than is to be found in our general historians, of those great political events in the reign of Elizabeth, in which he was a prin- cipal actor. In accomplishing this, the reader will perceive by tlie references in the text, and by the documents in the Appendix, that I have consulted some of Raleigh's manu- scripts in the British Museum, and through the permission of Lord Melbourne, which I gratefully acknowledge, have taken various extracts from original letters and journals preserved in His Majesty's State-paper Office. I beg also to notice the courtesy of Mr Lemon and Mr Lechmere, who, although trammelled by strict official rules, showed every disposition to facilitate my researches. For the purposes of history and biogi-aphy, these stores of original materials cannot perhaps be too highly appreciated, as may be seen by the interesting details which have been derived from this source alone, in the account I have given of the invasion of England by the Spanish Armada. In truth, such materials are the only legitimate bases on which all history must be founded ; and until not only these, but all our national papers and muniments, are made accessible to the public, no perfect History of England can be written. May we hope that by the PRJIFACK. 7 labours of the New Record Commission, the freedom of consultation and transcription will be at length estab- lished, not only in the State-paper Office, but m the other great collections of the kingdom, many of which, as they at present exist, are not so much the repositories as the cemeteries of our national records. Torquay, DEvOiNsniKE. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. FROM RALEIGH'S BIRTH TO !!IS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. Birth of Raleigh— Early Education— Sent to Oriel College,, Oxford— Passes over to the War in France— State of that Kingdom — His Return to England — Goes to the Netherlands —Serves as a Volunteer under Sir John Norris — His Enthu- siasm for Navigation — Embarks in the Expedition of his Brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, to America — Its Failure- Raleigh engages in the War in Ireland— State of that Couctry — His eminent Services there — He returns to England — Court of Queen Elizabeth — Character of Burleigh— Of Lei- cester — Of Sussex — Of Sir Philip Sidney — First Introduction to the Queen— Dispute with Lord Grey — Increases in Favour at Court — Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Second Voyage of Dis- covery — Raleigh's deep Interest in it — Its disastrous Issue — Raleigh perseveres in his Schemes — He fits out two Ships — The Voyage — Discovery of the Island Wokokon and Coast of North Carolina— Return to England — The Queen calls the Country Virginia— Raleigh knighted — He sends a Fleet to Virginia under Sir Richard GrenviUe — Settlement of Virginia — Difficulties of the infant Colony — Introduction of Tubac-co 10 CONTENTS. into England by Raleigh — Raleigh's Irish Estate — Spenser the Poet— Raleigh sends a new Fleet under Governor White to Virginia, Page 17 CHAPTER II. FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA TO RALEIGH's IMPRISONMENT. Expected Invasion of England by the Spanish Armada — Conduct of Elizabeth— Consultations with Sir Walter Raleigh and other experienced Officers— Preparations for Defence- Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher, and Lord Henry Seymour — Strength, Numbers, and Disposition of the English Navy, shown from Original Documents in the State-paper Office — Elizabeth visits the Army in the Camp at Tilbury — The Ar- mada sails from the Tagus— Dispersed and driven back- Sails the Second Time — Its Arrival off the Lizard— Cautious Tactics of the English— Their Success— Fight on the 22d, 23d, 25th, and 26th July— The Armada makes its Way up Channel to Calais — Its Discomfiture — Rejoicings for the Vic- tory — Raleigh's Services rewarded by the Queen — He sails with Drake and Norris in the Portuguese Expedition— Cha- racter of the Earl of Essex— Raleigh's Journey to Ireland- Visits Spenser at Kilcolman— Their Friendship — First Three Cantos of the Fau-y Queen completed — Spenser returns with Raleigh to England — Introduced to the Queen— Raleigh's Defence of Sir Ricliard Grenville— Character and Fate of this great Officer— Raleigh's Amour vrith Elizabeth Throg- morton— They are privately married— Elizabeth's Indigna- tion, and Raleigh's Disgrace— Sent to the Tower — Singular Conduct in Confinement— He recovers his Liberty, 67 CONTENTS. Jl CHAPTER III. DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. Raleigh chosen a Member of the Parliament — Importance of the Period — Philip resolves to make a second Attempt for the Destruction of England — Speech of Lord Burleigh — Ra- leigh's Plans for the Defence of England— He obtains a Grant of Sherborne in Dorsetshire— Becomes a Planter and Horti- culturist — His Project for the Discovery and Conquest of Guiana — -Resolves to conduct the Enterprise in Person — Fits out a Fleet — Sails from Plymouth in 1595 — Arrives at Trini- dad — Expedition up the Orinoco — Description of the People and the Country — They enter the Plains of Saima — Penetrate to the Province of Aromaia — Forced to return — Arrive at Wincapora— Return to Trinidad — Description of the Country — Ungenerously treated — Raleigh's Dedication of his Discov- ery of Guiana to the Lord-admiral Howard and Secretary Cecil — Second Voyage under Captain Keymis — Researches into the Country, and Return to England — He finds Raleigh absent on the Cadiz Expedition — Account of this Enterprise — Return of the Fleet — Encomiums on the Ability of Raleigh —The Queen retains her Resentment — Essex's Displeasure at the Preferment of Sir Robert Cecil— Character of Elizabeth — Character of Cecil — Raleigh sends Captain Berrie in a Ship of his own to Guiana — His Return to England, Page 123 CHAPTER IV. FROM Raleigh's restoration to favour to the fall of ESSEX. Raleigh effects a Reconciliation between Cecil and Essex, and is himself restored to Favour— Designs of Philip 11.— Eliza- 12 CONTENTS. beth's Preparations against him— The Island-voyage— Ra- leigh appointed Rear-admiral — He takes Fayal— Disputes with Essex— Their Reconciliation— Inexperience of Essex — A large Carrack destroyed by Raleigh — Philip's third Fleet intended for the Invasion of England is dispersed by a Storm — Essex returns to England — EKzabeth receives him ■with Reproaches — Decline of his Favour — Critical Circumstances of the Country — Cecil's Mission to France — Cecil and Lord Burleigh advise a Peace with Spain — Essex violently opposes it — Rivalry of Raleigh and Essex — Their Splendour — State of Ireland— Essex's Quarrel vdth the Queen— Plot of Cecil — Essex appointed to the Government of Ireland — His In- activity — His Letters— The Queen's severe Answers — Essex's sudden Return to England— His Reception— Trial and Con- demnation—Relative Position of Cecil and Raleigh— Contrast between their Characters— Superior Address of Cecil — His Correspondence with James, King of Scots — Raleigh retires for a short Season to Sherborne — His Employments — Mission to Boulogne — Elizabeth's Passion for tall and handsome Ser- vants—Anecdote illustrative of this— Raleigh's magnificent Taste in Dress and Equipage— Queen's Progresses— Taste of the Times for solemn Masques and Pageants— Elizabeth's Passion for Hunting — Her Love of Display — Elizabeth's Re- ception of the Marshal Biron at Basing, Page 160 CHAP lEil V. FROM Elizabeth's last parliament to the trial of raleigh. Elizabeth opens her last Parliament — Raleigh returned a Mem- ber—His Conduct in Parliament— Opposes the Bill making it compulsory to sov^ Hemp -Debate on voting a Subsidy — CONTENTS. 13 Subserviency of Cecil and Bacon— Raleigh's Reply to their Speeches — Great Debate on Monopolies — Singular Speech of Secretary Cecil— His Condemnation of all Discussion without the Walls of Parliament— Pirates of Dunkirk— Debate on the Transport of Ordnance without the Kingdom— Raleigh's excellent Observations upon this Subject— Debates on the Statute of Tillage— Raleigh argues for the Removal of all Restrictions on Agriculture— Evident Decay of the Intimacy between Cecil and Raleigh— Amusing Parliamentary Anec- dote—A" No" pulled out by the Sleeve— Style of Parb'ament- ary Speaking— Elizabeth's last Speech to the Deputation of the House of Commons— Raleigh sells his Irish Estate to the Earl of Cork— Character of tliis remarkable Man — Last Ill- ness of Elizabeth- Her Death— Accession of James— Raleigh treated with Coldness and Neglect — Contrast between the Character of the King and that of Raleigh— Cecil's secret Correspondence with James— He is appointed his Secretary and Prime Minister — Raleigh deprived of his Office of Captain of the King's Guard, and of his Patent of Wines — Involved in an Accusation of Treason — History of this mysterious Transaction— Raleigh's Trial— Observations upon it — The whole Conspiracy regarding Arabella Stewart a Fiction— The Plot against Raleigh to be traced to Secretary Cecil, Page 209 CHAPTKR VI. FROM UALEIGU'S FIRST CONFINEMENT IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. Extraordinary Pageant of an Execution in the Case of Mark- ham and the Lords Grey and Cobham — Said to be the In- vention of the King — P.aleigh is reprieved and confined in the 14 CONTENTS. Tower — Reflections on his Cliaracter at tliis Period— His Pursuits in the Tower— His History of the World— His Chemical Studies — Lady Raleigh shares his Confinement — His Son Carew born in the Tower— His Estate of Sherborne given to the Favourite Carr, Earl of Somerset— Raleigh's Correspondence and Friendship with Prince Henry — His various Writings addressed to this Prince — On War — On the Naval Power of England— On the Match with Savoy- Death of Prince Henry — Raleigh's Sorrow at this Event— His History of the World — Criticism upon this great Work — Death of Secretary Cecil— Raleigh's Epitaph on this States- man — He regains his Liberty — Scheme for the Settlement of Guiana. — Remonstrances of the Spanish Court — Character of Gondomar — Account of the Expedition— Its unfortunate Is- sue — Raleigh's Return to England — Proclamation against him— Inveteracy of the Spanish Government — James's Re- solution to sacrifice him — Raleigh's Attempt to Escape — Betrayed by Stukely and Manourie — Recommitted to the Tower — His Examination by the Commissioners — His Em- ployments in Prison — Difl&culties attending the Mode of ex- ecuting the former Sentence — His Behaviour on the Scaffold — His Death — Reflections on his Character, Page 263 APPENDIX. A. Raleigh's Account of Guiana defended — B. Club at the Mermaid — C. Raleigh's alleged Attempt to stab himself — D. Hume's Errors in his Account of Raleigh — E. Cecil's Enmity to Raleigh — F. Raleigh's Plot — Its Origin and Se- CONTn.NTS. ]') crot History— G. Errors of Mr D'Isracli — H. Raleigh and the French Agent — Extracts from the Manuscripts in the State-paper Office — I. Raleigh in the Tower— Ilis Unpub- lished Manuscripts — Hampden — K. Inventory of Raleigh's J( wcls and Trinkets, from State-paper Office— L. Portrait OiiC;!o;^h, r:ige;i73 ENGRAVINGS. Portrait of Sir Walter Raleigh. Engraved by Hor.sljnri,'h. The Original in Granger's time was at West Wickham, in Kent. — To face the Vignette. Vignette— Raleigh's Seal of Office. Engraved by Jackson. The Original is in the possession of Mr Cayley. Portrait of Lord Burleigh. Engraved by Jackson. The Ori- ginal in Granger's time was in the possession of the Earl of Burlington, Paqe 30 Seal of Lord Burleigh, and Autograph. Engraved by Bruce, 66 Portrait of Spenser. Engraved by Jackson. FromVertue's Print,. 103 Private Seal of Raleigh, and Autograph. Engraved by Bruce, 159 Portrait of the Earl of Essex. Engraved by Jackson. The Original in Granger's time was in the Collection of Sir Robert Worsley, 187 Essex's Seal and Autograph. Engraved by Bruce, 208 Portrait of Raleigh as he walked at the Funeral of Queen Elizabeth. Engraved by Bruce. From the Monumenta Vetusta, vol. iii. plate 24. The Original is supposed to be a Drawing of Camden's,. 262 LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH. CHAPTER I. From Raleigh's Birth to his Settlement of Virginia. Birth of Raleigh— Early Education— Sent to Oriel College, Oxford— Passes over to the War in France— State of that Kingdom— His Return to England— Goes to the Netherlands —Serves as a Volunteer under Sir John Norris— His Enthu- siasm for Na^'igation-Embarks in the Expedition of his Brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, to America— Its iailure— Raleigh engages in the War in Ireland— State of that Country —His" eminent Services there — He returns to England- Court of Queen Elizabeth-Character of Burleigh— Ot Lei- cester-Of Sussex-Of Sir Philip Sidney-First Introduction to the Queen-Dispute with Lord Grey-Increases in I avour at Court-Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Second Voyag* ot Dis- covery-Raleigh's deep Interest in it-Its disastrous Issue -Raleigh perseveres in his Schemes-He fits out two Ships -The Voyage-Discovery of the Island Wokokon and Coast of North Carolina-Return to England-The Queen calls the Country Virginia-Raleigh knighted-He sends a Heet to Virginia under Sir Richard Grenville-Settlement of \ irginia -Difficulties of the infant Colony-Introduction of Tobacco into England by Raleigh-Raleigh's Irish Estate-Spenser the Poet-Raleigh sends a new Fleet under Governor W hite to Virginia. Few subjects of biography present greater attractions ciiaf i. than the life of Sir Walter Raleigh. As a statesman, ^^ttmctica a soldier, a navigator, and a writer of original and varied ot^th - - genius, he is connected with all that is interesting m sut 18 FROM RALEIGH S BIRTH CHAP, L Interesting period of history. perhaps the most interestmg period of English history, — the reign of Elizabeth ; and so much was he the child of enterprise and the sport of vicissitude, that he who sits down to write his life, finds himself, without departing from the severe simplicity of truth, surrounded with lights almost as glowing as those of romance. Family of Raleigh. His birth. Attachment to his native place. The family of Raleigh v\'as one of ancient gentility, though neither rich nor noble. His father was Yv^alter Raleigh, Esq. of Faixlel, in Devonshu-e, a gentleman who in the reign of Mary had gained considerable dis- tmction as a naval officer.* His third wife, Catherine, daughter of Sir Philip Champenion and widow of Otho Gilbert, Esq. of Compton, m the county of Devon, was Raleigh's mother. She was in all probability a woman of talent, as by her first marriage she gave birth to Sii John, Sir Humphrey, and Sir Adrian Gilbert, — all men of eminence, knighted for their public services by Queen Elizabeth. Y/alter Raleigh, the youngest of two sons by this union, was born in the year 1652, at Hayes, a pleasant farm in the parish of East Badleigh, Devonshire, situated three or four miles from the coast, — a circumstance which, combined with his father's occupation, may have given him that early passion for maritime enterprise which afterwards distinguished hun. It is certain he was much attached to the spot, as we find him in the days of his greatness endeavouring to purchase it, " from the natural disposition he had to the place, beuig born in that house." t The same year in which he first saw * Raleigh's father having been a sea-captain is a fact hitherto unknown. I discovered it very recently in examining some documents in the State-paper Office. — See MS., State-paper Office, entitled " Names of certain Gentlemen appointed to be captains of certain Ships ; and Queen Mary's letter to them. 26th April 1558."— Or^^. t Original letter of Raleigh to Mr Duke, Works, vol. viii. p. 744. The edition of Raleigh's Works referred to tliroughout this Life, is that in eight volumes printed at Oxford University i'rcss, 1829. The first volume contains the Lives of Raleigh TO niS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 19 the light closed the brief hut hopeful reign of Edward CIIAP. I. VI. • and it was a happy circumstance, that during the s^dusion domination of Mary he was still a hoy, and secluded m ;;:![;;.^' ^^.^^ the retirement of his father's country-seat, where he received, either from a domestic tutor or in some school in the neighbourhood, the rudiments of his education. When still very young he was sent to Oriel College, Sent ^ Oriel Oxford, where his ready wit and precocity of genms were such, that they have been deemed worthy of com- memorationby his illustrious contemporaiy Lord Bacon.* He exhibited at the same time a restless ambition, which prompted him to seek distinction rather in the stirrmg scenes of the world than the cloistered solitude of a college ; and this natural inclination to adventure was fostercd by the study of books relating to the conquests of the Spaniards in the New World,— a species of readmg which was the delight of his early years, and undoubtedly gave a colour to the whole tenor of his life. His stay at Oxford, therefore, was short ; and in 1569 Quits coUega he seized the opportunity of the civil wars in France, between the Huguenots and the Roman Catholics, to visit that kingdom, and commence his military education. A. more excellent school could not have been selected ; and in adoptir.g this step young Raleigh was sure of the jmns the approbation of Elizabeth : for this great queen, although, ^i^g,,,^,,^^ to use the words of Camden, her hands were full of dis- orders at home, was not wanting either in commiseration or relief to the persecuted Protestants of France. She not only exhorted other princes to lend them assistance, but advanced a considerable sum to the Queen of Navarre, and gave permission to Henry Champemon, Raleigh's near kinsman, to raise a troop of a hundred gentlemen volunteers, with which he passed over to the continent. They were, according to the description in De Thou, « a gallant company, nobly mounted and accoutred, havmg on their colours the motto, Finem det mihi Vir- by Oldys and Birch ; and the quotations from these writers are taken from it. * Apothegms, No. Q6. 20 FROM RALEIGH S BIRTH CHAP. I. Important perioil ia French bisU)ry. Allusions to his French campaign. Death of Conde'. ?M.9y" and many of them rose afterwards to eminence. But the most noted of them all was Walter Raleigh.* The historian might have added, that a more important or arduous period could hardly have been selected, in the history of France, for a young man to enter into public life. It was the crisis when the Protestants under the Prince of Conde and the Admiral Coligni, two of the greatest men of modern times, had risen in defence of their religious liberty against the tyranny of the Romanists. In the very year when Raleigh joined the army was fought the battle of Jarnac, so disastrous to the Huguenots, in which Conde, having been made prisoner, was murdered in cold blood. About the same time the Prince of Navarre, afterwards Henry IV., commenced his military career under the care of the veteran Coligni. Of Raleigh's personal adventures in this army no account has been preserved either by himself or others. But in his History of the World, written during his long imprisonment in the Tower, he alludes in more than one place to his French campaign. Speaking of the dangers of inti-usting equal power to the commanders of an army, who seldom possess equal courage and judgment, " I remember it well," says he, " that when the Prince of Conde was slain, after the battle of Jarnac, the Protest- ants did greatly bewail the loss of the said prince, in respect of his religion, person, and birth ; yet, comforting themselves, they thought it rather an advancement than a liinderance to their affairs ; for so much did the valour of the one (Conde) outreach the advisedness of the other (Coligni), as whatsoever the admiral intended to win by attending the advantage, the prince adventured to lose by being over confident in his own courage." t In this sentence, the style of its commencement, " I remember it well," creates a presumption that Raleigh was present in the battle. "^ Thiiani Hist. b. 46, chap. ii. Camden, Annal. Reg. Elis. ad Anu. 1569. " Admodum adolescens, jam primum falia Dioustratus." t Raleigh's Works, vol. vi pp. 157, 158. TO niS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 21 Not long after this occurred the disastrous defeat of chap. I. the admiral at Moncontour, on which occasion the vie- BefeaTat torious army was commanded by the Duke of Anjou, Moncontour. afterwards Henry III. It appears from Raleigh's own account, that having shared in the perils of this cont'^st, he retired with Count Ludowick of Nassau, who, by his ability in conducting the retreat, saved one-half of the Protestant force, then broken and disbanded, — " of which," says he, " myself was an eyewitness, and one of them that had cause to thank him for it." * There is yet another allusion in his History to the xiiird French scene of his military education. " I saw," he observes, ^^'''^^ '^'^^'^ " in the third civil w^ar in France, certain caves in Lan- guedoc, which had but one entrance and that very narrow, cut out in the midway of high rocks, which we knew not how to enter by any ladder or engine, till at last by cer- tain bundles of lighted straw let down by an iron chain, with a weighty stone in the midst, those that defended it Avere so smothered, that they rendered themselves with their plate, money, and other goods therein hidden." t It seems certain, from a passage quoted by Oldys, that Raleigh's Raleigh remained m France till after the death of Charles ^^^^^^^ IX. This would make the period of his stay upwards of six years, — a circumstance which will account for a considerable chasm in all the memoirs of his life. During this time, we may presume, to use the words of the same author, that " he was initiated in those accomplishments, both civil and military, through the language and polite- ness of the people, as well as their warlike and ministerial affairs, whereof he afterwards gave such manifold proofs.":}: The era was indeed remarkable for great changes, and characteris- not less so for men eminent in the arts of peace, of civil pe^jo^ "'® government, and of elegant literature, as well as in war. if it was the age of Conde and Coligni, it produced also the Chancellor de I'Hopital, the President De Thou, Ronsard, and Muretus ; and before leaving France, when * Ilaloi2:h's Works, vol. vi. p. 211. f Ibid. vol. v. p. 355. + 01dys\ Life, pp. 16, 17. 22 FROM Raleigh's birth Return to England. Earliest verses. CHAP. I. still only twenty- three, Raleigh had no doul)t availed himself of the advantages which it held out to a mind full of ambition and enthusiasm. On the conclusion of the peace in 1576, wliich secured to the Protestants the free exercise of their religion, he returned to England. It has been supposed by his biographers, that about this time he proved his early predilection for poetry by pre- fixing some commendatory verses to Gascoigne's satire entitled the Steel Glass ; but although written in the quaint style of his age, their poetical merit is below his other pieces, and it is difficult to believe that they flowed from the same sweet vein which produced the answer to Marlowe's Passionate Shepherd. Be this as it may, he allowed himself but a shoi-t time for his domestic plea- sures, or his recreations with the muses ; for soon after quitting France he repaired to the seat of war in the Netherlands, where he served as a volunteer, under the Prince of Orange, against the Spaniards. Fortunately for Raleigh, the condition of this portion Netiieviands. of Europe rendered it at that time an insti-uctive school, both for political wisdom and for the military art ; so that the rudiments of his education as a statesman and a soldier, which had been received in France, v/ere matured in the Netherlands. In the great contest then maintained, despotic power was arrayed against the rights of conscience. It was the Experience at the Parties in the contest Position of Elizabeth, under the baimer of royal power, devotion to the ancient faith was leagued against the right of private judgment ; and in both kingdoms he bore arms on the side of liberty. Elizabeth, under the directions of ber able minister Cecil, had early placed herself at the head of the Protestant interests in Europe, and the same principles which led her to support the French Huguenots, and to aim at the extinction of the power of the house of Guise, induced her to thwart the schemes of Philip II. of Spain. The advance of his imperious governor, the Duke of Alva, m the Netherlands, had at first, in 1567, driven the Prince of Oi-ange, a man as illustrious for genius as for ancient TO HIS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 23 lizieage, to seek a retreat in his estates in Germany. But ciiap. l the determined spirit of resistance shown by HoUand and nie Princft Zealand drew him from seclusion ; and, at the head of ^^ ^'■'"'t'e. a league, by every member of which he was beloved, he organized a resistance against Spain, which, amidst frequent reverses and intolerable oppression, only grew more resolute and decided, till at last, in 1574, it tri- imiphed in the defeat of the ferocious schemes of Alva, and his recall from the government of the Low Countries. Two years after, upon the death of Requesens, who ^^^^.^J^"" ^^ had succeeded the duke, Don John of Austria, natural brother of Philip, was appointed viceroy of the Nether- lands. He was a man of much pride, inordinate ambition, and certainly of some genius. But his plans though vast were ill digested, and his unagination greatly outran his judgment. One of his projects, which had come to the ears of Elizabeth, and deeply incensed her against Spain, JJ^J^.o/^^ consisted in a plot to marry the Queen of Scots, and in her right to acquire the sovereignty of the British dominions. It was this, perhaps, which changed the policy of the English queen from concealed encourage- ment, to an avowed espousal of the cause of the Protest- ants, and a determined hostility to Spain. The same motives induced her to conclude a treaty with the States of Holland, to advance them a loan of £50,000 and to despatch to their assistance that force of 5000 foot and 1000 horse in which Raleigh now enlisted as a volunteer. The chief command was given to Sir John Norris, l^^^^^ one of the most experienced soldiers in Europe, of whom it has been well said, that he was no less remarkable for his safe retreats than for his resolute onsets ; whilst his conduct and discipline were so exact, that for a long time his actions were considered precedents, and his orders laws of war." To serve under such a master could not fail to be of high advantage to any young soldier ; and, although there is no direct reference to it in Raleigh's History or in liis other works, there can be little doubt * Lloyd's State Worthies, pp. 618, 619. 24 FROM Raleigh's birth Action at Uimenant. Acquire- ments of Raleiffh. Favourite studies. that he shared in that famous action at Rimenant, in which the Spanish army, commanded by Don John of Austria and the Prince of Parma, was overthro^^-n by the forces of the States. The English auxiliaries had been joined by a Scottish force, under Sir Robert Stuart ; and the success of the battle is ascribed by De Thou and Lord Bacon to the steady discipline and determined courage of the English and Scots, who, oppressed by a long march and the extreme heat of the weather, stript off their armour and doublets, and fought in their shirts and drawers.* Although thus engaged in war, both in France and in the Netherlands, Raleigh had found leisure to inform himself on those subjects of cosmography and navigation, which at this time engrossed the attention not only of the learned and the adventurous, but of crowned heads and imperial councils. He had studied the histories of the discoveries of Columbus, the conquests of Cortes, and the sanguinary triumphs of Pizarro ; and a writer of good authority, w^ho bears the same name, informs us that such books w^ere his especial favourites, and the subjects of his early conversation. Colonel Richard Bing- ham, his fellow-soldier, amongst other multifarious pro- jects, was occupied with a scheme for the plantation of America.t Nor were there wanting, we may believe, in the army in which he served, many others whose society was fitted to encourage his early devotion to such pursuits. It is not surprising, therefore, that the ardent mind of Raleigh should have eagerly embraced an op- * Thuani Historia, vol. iii. p. 608, ed. Bulkely. + Richard Bingham was au eccentric and extraordinary sol- dier of fortune, who had gained experience in the French, Scot- tish, and Venetian wars. He was a man of wonderfully versatile genius, a great projector, " of a fancy high and mid, too desultory and overvoluble," to use the expressive language of a quaint writer : he had travelled over most parts of the world ; and although it was his fortune rather to be skilful in many mys- teries than thriving in any, his conversation and society must have been agreeable to a young man of an enthusiastic turn of mind. TO niS SETTLEMENT OP VIRGINIA. 25 portunity of embarking in an adventure of this nature, chap, i which offered itself whilst he was in Holland. gj^. j^_ His stepbrother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, had published piuey Gil- in 1576, a treatise concerning a north-west passage to the ^^^' East Indies, wliich, although infected with the pedantry of the age, is full of practical sense and judicious argu- ment.* The work appears to have made no inconsider- able impression upon the government ; and Sir Humphrey voyap-e to having obtained a patent from the queen to colonize such Amenca, parts of North America as were not possessed by any of her allies, prevailed with Raleigh to abandon his military pursuits and try his fortune in the voyage. The project, however, failed. Many who had eagerly Faa^re of embarked in it became discontented ; all desired an project. equal share of poAver ; discord bred coldness and deser- tion ; and Sir Humphrey and Raleigh at last found themselves obliged to put to sea with a few friends who disdained to leave them under such adverse circumstances. " When the shipping was in a manner prepared," says Edmond Haies, who was a principal actor in the enter- prise, " and men ready upon the coast to go aboard, some Account \,y brake consort and followed courses degenerating from ^a^es"^ the voyage before pretended, others failed of their pro- mises contracted, and the greater number were dispersed, leaving the general with a few of his assured friends, with whom he adventured to sea, where, having tasted of no less misfortune, he was shortly driven to retire home with the loss of a tall ship."t On its homeward passage the small squadron of Gilbert was dispersed and disabled by a Spanish fleet, and many of the company Collision were slain ; but, perhaps owing to the disastrous issue of soanisiftieeL the fight, it has been slightly noticed by the English historians.^ Although unsuccessful, however, in his first voyage, the instructions of Gilbert could not fail to be of service to Raleigh, who at this time was not much above twenty -five, whilst the admiral must have been in the matm-ity of his age and talent. * Hakluyt has printed it in his third volume, p. 11. t Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. U6. + Oldys's Life of Raleigh, p. 28. 26 FROM RALEIGH S BIRTH CHAP. I. Kuterprize in Ireland. command iompany. On his return from the American adventure in 1579, a new scene of activity was presented to his enterprising spirit by the rebellion in Ireland. The intrigues of Spain had kindled the flame of civil war in that misgoverned country, and the prospect was not a little alarming. James Fitz-I\Iorris of the Geraldine family, with the Earl of Desmond and his two brothers, had raised the standard of revolt ; and soon afterwards three foreign ships, bearing a freight of Spanish and Italian chivalry, an-ayed under the papal banner and commanded by San ippointed to Josepho, arrived at Smerwick in Kerry. Raleigh's mili- tary experience now entitled him to promotion, and we find him commandmg a company in Ireland. The chief conduct of the war was mti-usted to the Earl of Ormond, governor of Munster, who dislodged the foreign troops from the Fort del Ore, in which they had intrenched themselves. It was found, from the testimony of the prisoners, that a scheme for the subjugation of the island had been concerted between Philip of Spain and the Pope ; but we may be permitted to suspend our belief in the assertion of Mr George Whetstone, who insists tliat his holiness had provided a chalice to drink the Queen of England's precious blood as soon as she should be made a sacrifice.* Ormond had not used the precaution of destroying the fort, for which his anny was too small to spare a garrison ; and this neglect led to its re-occupation by a larger body of the enemy than at that time it would have been prudent to attack. He fell back, accordingly, on the Lord-deputy Arthur Lord Grey, who was stationed at Rakele with a body of 800 horse and foot under Cap- tains Raleigh, Zouch, Denny, and Mackworth ; on the strength of which reinforcement he again advanced. On striking their tents, Raleigh, who had observed tliat so soon as an encampment was abandoned the Irish flocked into it in great crowds, remained behmd with his troop, and la}^ in au^.bush to receive them. Nor was he de- Successful manoeuvre. Whetstone's English i\Iirror, p. 154. Oldys's Life, p. 31. TO niS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 27 ceivcd in his expectation ; for the deserted camp was chap i broken into by a tumultuous body of the rebels, whom j>^^^^ he instantly charged, and all were either slain or made civptmed prisoners.* One of them when taken had a bundle of ^ withes or willow-ropes on his shoulder ; and being asked what use he meant to put them to, answered, *' Why, to hang up the English churls !" " Well," said Raleigh, " they will now do for an Irish kerne," and commanded him to be suspended in one of his own collars, — an in- stance of severity too much in character with the stem and exasperating policy at that time pursued by the generals of Elizabeth. Lord Grey having procured artillery, now laid siege siejrcofthe to the fort ; and for the first three days Raleigh com- FortddOve manded in the trenches, where John Cheke, the son of Sir John Cheke, tutor to Edward VI., and whose name has been embalmed in a sonnet of Milton, was slain. « He was," says a quaint biographer, " a tall proper gen- tleman ; but he paid dear for his curiosity, for venturing to look over the parapet, a Spaniard levelled his piece and picked him off." The full batteries were now opened, and the assault prosecuted so desperately that the foreign- ers hung out a flag of truce. But Grey, a veteran and unrelenting soldier, refused to grant any terms except those of an unconditional surrender. At this time the famous poet Edmund Spenser was at head-quarters, and Edmnnd he has left us an account of the conference. " Wlien," Spem^ev. says he, " their secretary. Seignior Jeffi-cy, an Italian, was sent to treat with the lord-deputy for grace, he was flatly refused it; and afterwards when their colonel, named Don Sebastian, came forth to entreat that they might part with their arms like soldiers, and at least be spared their lives, according to the custom of war and law of nations, it was strongly denied him, and told him by the lord-deputy hhnself, that they could not justly plead either custom of war or law of nations, for that they were not any lawful enemies. * * Neither were * Cox's History of Ireland, p. 367. 28 FROM Raleigh's birth CHAP. Refusal of couditiona. Cruelty of the victors. Military life of Raeligh. Rise and promotion. the Earl and John of Desmond any thing but rebels and traitors, and therefore the}'-, wlio came to succour them, no better than rogues and runagates ; * "^ wherefore it would be dishonourable for liim, in the name of his queen, to condition, or make any terms with such rascals." It is pamful to pursue the story farther. The fort surren- dered, and orders were given by the inexorable deputy to put the garrison to the sword, — sparing only an Irish nobleman and a few Spanish officers, who were sent prisoners to England. Elizabeth, although she excul- pated the inferior officers, who simply obej^ed orders, expressed herself deeply dissatisfied with their leader on account of this piece of cruelty.* For some time after this the life of Raleigh was that of an aspiring soldier, enthusiastic in his profession, and mortified " by the poor place and charge which he en- joyed under the lord-deputy." In a letter to the Earl of Leicester, whose favour he seems to have enjoyed at this time, he declares that were it not that Grey was the friend of that powerful favourite, " he would disdain his charge as much as to keep sheep," and describes Ire- land as a lost land, not a commonwealth, but a common- wo.t ThLs discontent, however, was of short duration. Sir "Walter rose in the confidence of the government ; and his activity was so great in reducing the seditious practices of Lord Barr}', and other leaders of the rebellion, ^in the repulse of Fitz-Edmonds, — the capture of Lord Roch, — and the restoration of the country to a state of security, — that he was repeatedly promoted to situations of trust and responsibility. On the return of the Earl of Ormond to England, the government of j\Iunster was committed to Raleigh, in conjunction with Sir William Morgan and Captain Pierce ; and the same year we find him holding the chief command m the city of Cork. The variety of his exploits, and the apparently contradictory qualities which he exhibited, were remarkable. He * See a letter writen about this time to the Earl of Leicester, Cayley's Life, p. 25. t Cayley's Life, vol. i. p. 25. TO niS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 31 united the daring courage of the old knight of chivalry chap L with the calm judgment and the love of stratagem whicli varied" distinguished a later and more refined age. Of the first quaiuiea he gave an example in the defeat of Fitz-Edmonds, where he twice rescued and saved the life of one of the gentle- men of his company at the imminent peril of his own. seizure of Of the last he furnished a no less striking instance in the ^^^*^ ^'^^^ surprise and seizure of the Lord Roch in his own castle, surrounded by a powerful gamson, and in a country where the enemy had carefully occupied every road and fastness. Upon the suppression of the rebellion Raleigh returned p^'^^'^'^i'' to England, xAth. a reputation for valour and experience "^"^^^ well known to those with whom he had served, but which was lost at court amidst the dazzling brilliancv of superior rank and power. Nor could it well be other- wise ; for at this moment the throne of Elizabeth w^as surrounded by a nobility amongst whom was to be found all that was illustrious in birth and pre-eminent in genius, by statesmen, and warriors both by land and sea, whose names have become familiar and stu-ring words, indis- solubly associated with every recollection of the glory of their country. The sagacious and wary Burleigh was now in the Burleigh, zenith of his power, the favoured minister of his royal mistress, and possessing an influence over her masculine mind which no other amongst her servants ever retained so long. Capricious, and exhibiting the weakness and mutability of a woman to his rivals Leicester and Essex, Queen she mamtained an invariable regard for Cecil ; her con- ^lizabetL. fidence in his councils was never shaken ; and upon every subject relating to internal administration or foreign policy, his opinion, although openly and severely can- vassed at the moment it was given, was silently followed in the end. And yet, although the chosen minister of this great queen, Cecil was not a man of splendid genius or of brilliant and original endowments. In tracing the principles of his government, and studying the accounts of his private life, it will be found that the prominent 32! FROM RALEIGHS BIRTH Neglect of Spenser. CHAP. I. qualities of Lord Burleigh were of a homelier nature. Qualities of i*ru(lence, cahn and unimpassioned judgment, indefati- Burieish. gable application, and extreme closeness and taciturnity in the despatch of business, were perhaps his most striking qualities ; and the exercise of these was not interrupted by the impediments of the heart or the imagination, which lead some men astray. No bursts of natural and generous feeling, — no enthusiasm for high intellectual talent, — no admiration for what was profound in science, or graceful or beautiful in art, — no foolish feelings for chivalrous honour or unproductive glory, interi-upted the even tenor of his purposes, or shook a single principle which he felt to be expedient and necessary. His ne- glect of Spenser, when this delightful poet was recom- mended to his patronage by his royal mistress, — his contempt for military renown, unless the victory brought some tangible fruit in security or in solid coin, — his coldness to every thing in religion which did not affect the strictness of the Protestant doctrines or the hitcgrity of established forms, all point the same way, and con- vuice us that the character of this great minister was less ardent than reflective. But this is only one side of the picture. Looking to the jirinciples and conduct of his administration, and the energy with which he pursued them, nothing can be more consistent and successful. His determination to humble the Papal power, and to support the Protestant reformation, — his zeal on the side of liberty of conscience, — his consequent support of the Huguenot party in France, the Prince of Orange in the Low Countries, and the Reformed Lords in Scotland,— his encouragement of all that serviceable learning which promised to further these objects,* — his decided opposition to a war for terri- torial conquest, — the energy with which he wielded the strength of the kingdom in the resistance of foreign Consistent and success ful policy. * Witness his engaging his friend Sir Thomas Smith to write a Treatise on the Roman Money, which he deemed of practical utihty in guiding his own measures for the reformation of the coin. BJographia Britannica, by Kippis, art. Cecil, p. 387. TO HIS SETTLEMENT OP VIRGINIA. 33 invasion, and in crushing the Irish rebeIlion,-his wise chap t encouragement of the maritime power of England, J!w ^ fattmg out fleets for the discovery and planting of Aew «i'^'"- countries and enlarging the boundaries of foreign com- meT';7 /''"""f ' '^ ^*'™^^ P^^^^' f«^ the settle- ment of a form of ecclesiastical government, for the paym..it of the debts of the cro.., the relief of the poor the refonnation of the com of the realm,-all speak the great man, and justify the universal confidence of the na ion in his prudence, vigilance, and wisdom, and the couSries"'''^'''^''^^''''' '''^''^'^' ^'^^ ^''^^^""^ ^ ^^^^^'S^ No man perhaps ever lived in more difficult thnes, or DifficuUie., survived them with greater credit and success ; and the ^^ "g^ circumspection and caution of his earlier years under He.^: VIII Edward YL, and Mary, are as^rrm^rabi: I J T'i ''^^J ^' ^'^ pre-eminence during the reign of Elizabeth. Raised to the peerage from the rank'o^ a private gent eman, he yet thought little of the dis- tmction. He had been as powerful under the namp ..f William Cecil as he now Z when he w/ott Cldghl S^- and although on great occasions, where a political object «as to be gamed, he could assume a magnificence in his entertamments which almost rivalled those of his sove- reign, and even ordinarily m his houses, gardens, and equipage, kept up a splendid state, it wal apparently times than from personal vanity or enjoj-ment. The ommon habits of his life were sober and unostentatious. He haa a little rnulc at his favourite seat at Theobalds, h.^,,, „, he «ould look on those who were shooting with arrows or plaj^g with bowls ; but as for himself'he never en- sense He had a few friends who were constantly at his Uble because he liked their company ; but in all his life he never had one favourite, or suffered any body to get an ascendant over him. Basking, as he did, in the sun- 34 FROM RALEIGH S BIRTH CHAP. I. Fondness for retirement. Dudley, E.arl of Leicester. Favour of Elizabetl). His dis- simulation. shine of royal favour, he rather suffered than enjoyed his greatness ; and whenever he had time to spare he fled, as his expression was, to Theobalds, and buried himself in privacy, where he would pleasantly throw off his gown and say, ' Lie thou there. Lord Treasurer !' "* Yet these intervals of ease and domestic enjoyment were rarely snatched from the constant pressure of his employ- ments, which continued to engross him from his first entrance into public life till he settled a treaty with the States, as he lay sick upon the bed from which he never rose. In striking contrast to the grave Burleigh, the next most conspicuous person in Elizabeth's court was the gay, profligate, and magnificent Dudley, Earl of Lei- cester, the unremitting enemy of Cecil, and yet the highest favourite of the queen. It was as a woman, however, that Elizabeth loved and applauded Dudley, whilst as a sovereign she fully appreciated his rival. Noble birth, the devotion and sufferings of his ancestors in her father's and her sister's reigns, a person and coun- tenance of extreme beauty and gracefulness, and a studied gallantry to his royal mistress, were qualities which endeared Leicester to Elizabeth, and blinded her to the darker parts of his character. Burleigh was earnest for the glory and security of England, and in labouring for his mistress's interest was content that his own should follow as an accessory. Leicester loved power for its own sake, and desired to be omnipotent at court and in the council, that he might gratify his pride and revenge, destroy his enemies, and raise himself upon their ruin. Endowed with a profound dissimulation, he intrigued with Spain, and plotted with the Roman Catholics, in order to undermine the Protestant interest of Cecil ; while, though abandoned in his principles and dissolute in his habits, he could assume the mask of religion and become the leader of the Puritans, that he might use * Biograpliia Britanuica, art. Cecil. p. 478. Lloyd's State Worthies, TO HIS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 35 tlicir power to wcalcen the ecclesiastical establishment, CHAP. L for the support of which his rival was so deeply interested. systeiiTof His information was so secret, that his spies and depend- »Pi<^3. ants were supposed to be as busy on the continent as at home. He was little scrupulous as to tlie means em- ployed to rid himself of an enemy ; and whilst, to shame the coldness and parsimony of Cecil, he acted as a muni- ficent patron of the sciences and learning, he scrupled not to deal with astrologers, wizards, and poisoners, provided they lent their dark assistance in the accomplishment SUence and of his designs. Yet all this was done so silently and tion""*^^^*^" circumspectly that no proof could be found against him, and the thread was lost before it could be traced to the master-hand which presided within the labyrinth. " Many," says Lloyd, " fell in his time, who saw not the hand that pulled them down ; and as many died that knew not their own disease."* At the period when Raleigh made his appearance at court, Dudley possessed some of the highest offices in the kingdom ; but whilst the re- putation of Burleigh is permanent, his once potent rival is now chiefly remembered as the uncle of Sir Pliilip Sidney and the patron of Spenser. At this time another great man at court was Rat- Ratdiffe, CLiFFE, Earl of Sussex and Lord Chamberlam, whose sussex. blunt, open, and martial character came out in striking relief beside the polished and brilliant personages amongst whom he moved. His abilities in war were of the high- est order, as was repeatedly shown in Ireland ; and al- though the rust of the camp and the smoke of battle had rather besmirched and unfitted him for the office of chamberlain to a virgin queen, there was an affability and simplicity in his manners which attracted all honest sin:piicit)- men to his party, and enabled him, infinitely inferior as nobleness he was to Leicester in court-policy, to raise a party against him which had nearly ruined his great enemy, when Sussex showed the nobleness of mind to plead for a fallen foe. It was his custom to designate Dudley by the nick- * Lloyd's State Worthies, p. 519. 36 FROM Raleigh's birth CHAP. I. name of the Gipsy, and on his deathhed he is said to Dyiiig~ have given this singular advice to his friends who stood advice. by: — "I am now passing into another work], and I must now leave you to your fortunes and to the queen's grace and goodness : but beware of the Gipsy — for he will be too hard for you all ; you know not the beast so well as I do.""" Influence of Leicester, from his lordly state and influence, had Leicester. icquired amongst the common people the title of the Heart of the Court, while Sussex, by his martial virtue, may be said to have been the soul of the camp ; yet there was another at this time in the suite of Elizabeth, who, although bearing no higher title than that of a knight, was better known in England and throughout Europe than if he had borne a ducal star. This was the Sir Philip all-accomplished Sir Philip Sidney, — a person of so "^^' versatile a genius, that he seemed born to arrive at excel- lence in almost every department, whether of knowledge or of action. " His descent," says Sir Robert Naunton, " was apparently noble on both sides : for his education, it was such as travel and the university could afford or his tutors infuse ; for, after an incredible proficiency in all the species of learning, he left the academical life for that of the court, whither he came by his uncle's [Lei- cester] invitation, famed aforehand by a noble report of his accomplishments, which, together with the state of his person, framed by a natural propension to anns, Favour with soon attracted the good opinion of all men, and was so tiie Queen, highly prized in the good opinion of the queen, that she thought the court deficient without him ; and whereas, through the fame of his deserts, he was in the election for the kingdom of Pole, she refused to further his advancement, not out of emulation, but out of fear to lose the jewel of her times."t This quaint encomium savours somewhat of flattery ; yet, judging in the calmest mood of his numerous endowments, and estimating him Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia, p. 49. f Ibid. p. 66. TO HIS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. SJ by the influence which he acquired over his age, Sidney chap l must have been an extraoi'dinary man. His acquaint- ~ ance witli the affairs of Europe wa^i so exact and profound, llil ^"'^'' that WilHam of Nassau assured Sir Fulke Greville he was deserving of a throne in foreign parts, although he filled no office in England. His abilities in war and wisdom in civil policy were of so high an order, that his uncle Leicester held his government in the Low Countries by his counsels and energy wlicn alive, and lost or rather found it prudent to resign it after his death. As a writer, indeed, he cannot be ranked so high. His Ar- Tlie Arcadia, cadia, which had just been finislied when Raleigh came to court, is an interminable and unreadable production, although in some parts deficient neither in sweetness nor in energy ; yet we ought to criticise it with a reference to the taste of those times, and not by the rules applicable to a modern novel or romance. That he could sometimes write with no common vigour and elegance, his little Elegant piece entitled Valour Anatomised in a Fancj^ and his ^^'""ngs. reply to the libel on his uncle Leicester, sufficiently demonstrate. Pie who was the friend and patron of Spenser, — who is styled by the judicious Camden the darling of the learned world, — whose natural genius and propensity to great designs are commemorated by Gro- tius, — and whose death at the age of thirty-two created c- .• . ,. ., ,,^ ° ,,«' , Sensation at a sensation throughout Europe,— could scarcely have his death. been the mferior person to which the amusing and para- doxical attack of Walpole has laboured to reduce him. One other quality of Sidney, which he shared with some of the greatest men of his time, was an ambition for naval adventure and a zeal for the discovery and colo- nization of new countries, — a passion with which Raleigh, as we have already seen, could deeply sympathize, and which did not fail to attract these soaring spirits to each other. It is unnecessary to add to these sketches of the court Court of of Elizabeth as it existed at the period when Raleigh ^"^^^^^''• returned from the Ii-ish wars into England. The bril- liant picture might be filled up by other illustrious and courtiers. 38 FROM Raleigh's birth CHAP. I. able men who surrounded her throne, and carried the Commanders, terror of her arms into foreign lands, or the thunder of her fleets into the remotest seas of the New World, — by Drake, Howard, Hawkins, Sir Francis Vere, Lord Wil- loughby, Walsingham, Sadler, Knowles, and many more. But I have preferred to select such as undoubtedly oc- cupied the foreground, and who were leaders and masters in their various classes, — Burleigh among statesmen and Civilians and civilians, Sussex among soldiers, Leicester among cour- tiers, and Sidney amid the assembled virtues and graces of them all ; and thus to convey to the reader some idea of the busy and extraordinary scene on which our hero was now called to act a part. That Cecil was at this time aware of the talents of an officer who had served with such distinction cannot be doubted ; but his per- sonal introduction to Elizabeth has been ascribed by tradition to a circumstance which, though well known, is too pleasing to be omitted. Introduction In her progress from the royal barge to tlie palace the the^Queen *° <1^6Gn, surrounded by her nobles and officers, came to a spot where the ground was so moist that she scrupled for a moment to advance ; upon which Raleigh, stepping forward with an air of devoted gallantry, cast off and spread on the earth a richly embroidered cloak which he then wore. Her niajesty, after pausing for a moment, and regarding, not without some little emotion, the fine figure of the young soldier to whom she owed so fair a footcloth, passed over it and proceeded on her way ; but, as was to be expected, immediately sent for and took him into her service. The anecdote, though resting on Probability 110 higher authority than that already mentioned, almost "n'^'^d te proves itself to be true by the knoAvledge it evinces Raleigh to have possessed of the character of Elizabeth. Her predilection for handsome men and her love of splendid apparel were well known ; w^hile in his sacrifice of the gorgeous cloak, and the air of devoted admiration which none knew better how to assume, he displayed that mixture of generous feeling and high-flown gallantry, not unlikely indeed to meet the ridicule of the graver TO niS SETTLEMENT OP VIRGINIA. 39 sort, yet fitted to surprise and delight the princess to chap, i, whom it was addressed. p. ^ — ■ At this moment the subject of public talk and deli- jniiniage to beration was the marriage of the queen to the Duke of *'"^ Q^^-'cn. Anjou, — a match apparently agreeable to Elizabeth, and having the countenance of Burleigh and Sussex ; but opposed on selfish grounds by Leicester, and by Sidney on the basis of political expedience. Baleigh appears in this matter to have adopted the notions of the Treasurer and Sussex, and to have been selected by the queen to execute some matters of state diplomacy connected with it. He accompanied Simier, the rreiich ambassador, Raleigh sent from England to his own court ; and when the intrigues ^° ^i'i"<^e. of Leicester or the versatility of the queen had defeated the match, and Anjou departed from England to assume the government of the Netherlands, Raleigh was one of that retinue of nobles and gentlemen who conducted him in a magnificent progress to Antwei-p, and saw him invested in his new charge. He was here recognised by Rccognitim the Prince of Oramre, under whom he had served in the ^}^^ , '-' Pl'lIlCC of Low Countries, and invited to remain after the departure Orange, of Howard, Leicester, and Sidney, tliat he might be the bearer of letters to the English queen. Of this circimi- stance, evincing the consideration in which he was held by no incompetent judge, he gives us an account m his " Discourse of the Invention of Ships," Sec. Speaking of the flourisliing estate of the Hollanders, he traces it in the first instance to the aid of his own country ; " which," says he, " the late woithy and famous Prince of Orange did always acknowledge ; and in the year 1582, when I took my leave of him at Antwerp, after the return of the Earl of Leicester into England, and Monsieur's arrival there, when he delivered me his letters to her majesty, he prayed me to say to the queen from him. Sub umbra alarum tuarum protegimur ; for certainly they had withered in the bud and sunk m the beginning of their navigation had not her majesty assisted them."'" * Works, vol. viii. p. 331. 40 FROM RALEIGH S BIRTU CHAP. I. Description by Sir Robert Naunton. Debate 'v\ith Lord Grey. Spirited defence. Schemes of discoveiy. Sir Huin- pliery Gil- bert's patent Sir Robert Naunton, who had no predilection for Raleigh, describes him as possessing at this time a mind of uncommon vigour, with a person and manners whicli attracted all who saw him. His countenance was some- wliat spoiled by the unusual height of his forehead ; but his expression was animated, his conversation varied and brilliant, and in speaking on matters of state he possessed a ready and convincing eloquence. Of this, not long afterwards, he was called upon to give an example before the queen and council, which all the authors of his life agree had a surprising effect. The occasion arose out of a dispute with Lord Grey of Wilton. What was the matter in debate does not exactly appear ; though it is probable the severity of the late deputy in the massacre of the garrison at Fort del Ore, and the part borne by Raleigh and Mackworth in its execution, may have called for inquiry. It is certain that on this occasion he defended himself with such spirit, and brought forward the history of the transaction in which his credit was involved with so much force and clearness, that it made an extraordinary impression in his favour both on the queen and the council ; whilst the old lord, who was more of a blunt soldier than an orator, found himself overpowered by the weighty reasons urged against him. But amidst all this versatility of talent and pursuit, there was one predominant subject to which he was attached from his early years, and which now engrossed his attention : This was the scheme for prosecuting dis- coveries in the New World, to Avhich the near expiry ot Sir Humphrey Gilbert's patent nowrecalled hisattention. The letters had only been granted for six years. Of these, four had elapsed ; and Gilbert determined, with the assistance of Raleigh, to fit out a second squadron to promote that plan of discovery which he had explained in his discourse upon a north-west passage to India. The fleet consisted of five ships and barks, — the Delight, Raleigh, Golden Hind, Swallow, and Squirrel, — having on board a force of 260 men ; and all was ready for their depart ui-e on the 1st June 1583. Raleigh had studied TO HIS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 41 navigation, not only in its liiglier branches but even in chap l the minuter practical details ; and the largest ship in the gtu^jT^ squadron, which bore his name, of 200 tons, was built navigation under his oa\ti eye, equipped at his expense, and com- Biiiter and manded by Captain Butler, her master being Thomas BdstoL^ Davis of Bristol. The proprietor, who had now risen into favour with the queen, did not embark in the expe- dition ; but he appears to have induced his royal mistress to take so deep an interest in its success, that, on the eve of its sailing from Plymouth, she commissioned him to convey to Sir Humphrey Gilbert her earnest wishes for his success, with a special token of regard, — a little trinket representing an " anchor guided hy a ladyT We find this interesting circumstance in the following letter written by Raleigh from the court : — " Brother, — I have sent you a token from her majesty, Letter from — an anchor guided by a lady, as you sec, — and farther Kaieiffii. her Highness willed me to send you word, that she wished you as great good hap and safety to your ship as if herself were there in person, desiring you to have care of your- self, as of that which she tendereth ; and therefore, for her sake, you must provide for it accordingly. Farther, she commandeth that you leave your picture with me. For the rest I leave till our meeting, or to the report of this bearer, who would needs be the messenger of this good news. So I commit you to the will and protection of God, who send us such life or death as he shall please, or hath appointed ! — Richmond, this Friday morning. Your true brother, Walter Raleigh."* * This letter is indorsed as having been received March 18,* 1582-3 ; and it may be remarked that it settles the doubt as to the truth of Prince'sf story of the golden anchor, questioned by Campbell in his Lives of the Admirals. In the Heroologia Anglia), p. Go, there is a fine print of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, taken evidently from an original picture ; but, unlike the portrait mentioned by Granger in his Biographical History, vol. i. p. 246, it does not bear the device mentioned in the text. Raleigh's * Cayley, vol. i. p. 3L + Wortliies of Devon, p. 419. 42 FROM Raleigh's birth CHAP. I. The expedition, which set out under these happy Misfortunes ^^spices, was Unfortunate even in its commencement, oftheespedi- and ultimately fatal to its brave leader. In a short time ^°°' the Raleigh returned into harbour, a contagious dis- t€mper having broken out on board. Gilbert pursued his voyage ; and having reached the Baccalaos, originally discovered by John Cabot and since called Newfoundland, Discovery of ^ook possession of it and the adjoining coasts in the name Ne\\'foun(i- of the English queen. The ceremony, although per- fonned in the New World, was, according to the usages of the Old, entirely feudal ; the royal charter being first read, and a rod and turf of the soil delivered to the admiral. After a partial survey of the island, and an interview with the natives, whose disposition was gentle and pacific,* they steered towards the south, with the intention of bringing the countries in that quarter under Discontent, " the compass of the patent." But discontent, mutiny, niutiny, and q^j^^ disease, broke out in the fleet ; the Swallow was sent home with the sick, and soon after the Delight was completely wrecked. The remaining barks were the Golden Hind and Squirrel ; the first of forty, the last of ten tons burden. For what reason does not appear, the admiral insisted, against the remonstrances of his officers and crew, in having his flag in the Squiri'el. It was a fatal resolution : the Aveather soon after became dark and lowering, the sailors with characteristic superstition declared they heard strange voices commanding them to leave the helm ; fearful shapes were said to glare during the niglit around the ship, and the apparition of the ominous flame, called by seamen " Castor and Pollux," flitted above the mast.t These portents were the preludes letter explains this difference. When Sir Humphrey was at Plymouth ou the eve of sailinc^, the queen commands him, we see, to leave his picture with Raleigh. This must alhide to a portrait already painted ; and of course the golden anchor theii sent could not be seen in it. Now he perished on the voyage. The picture at Devonshire House mentioned by Granger, which bears this honourable badge, must therefore have been painted after his death. * Hakluyt, vol. iii. pp. 151, 153. + Ibid. pp. 156, 158, 159. TO niS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 43 to a tremendous storm ; and on the 9th of September, chap. L at midnight, the little vessel which carried the admiral stormand was swallowed up with all on board, and not a plank of ^o^s of vesscL her ever seen again. Sir Humphrey Gilbert was an able and extraordinary man, and deserves the epithet bestowed on him by Campbell, " the father of our plantations," having been the first to establish a regular method of colonial settlement. When seen for the last time before they were cast away, he was sitting on deck with a book in his hand, and was heard to exclaim, as if encouraging his men, " We are as near to heaven by sea as by land." According to Captain Haics, an eyewitness, he reiterated " the same speech, well beseeming a soldier resolute in Jesus Christ, as I can testify he was."* After this disaster the Golden Hind pursued her homeward voyage, and arrived at Falmouth on the 22d of September 1583. The melancholy fate of his brother did not deter Undiminish- Raleigh from the prosecution of his schemes. By the R^ieigb!*'^ ^ study of the Spanish voyages, and his conversations with some skilful mariners of that nation whom he met in Holland and Flanders, he had learnt that the Spanish ships always went into the Gulf of Mexico by St Domingo and Hispaniola, and directed their homeward course by the Havannah and the Gulf of Florida, where they found a continued coast on the west side trending away north, which however they soon lost sight of by standing to the east to make the coast of Spain. Upon these grounds, and for reasons deduced from analogy and a knowledge of the sphere, he concluded there must be a vast extent of land north of the Gulf of Florida, of which he resolved to attempt th discovery. It is not improbable, also, that during his residence m Knowledge France he might have become acquainted with the par- J^anc?.^ '" tieulars of the voyage of Verazzano, or have seen the charts constructed by that navigator, who had explored the same coast nearly as fiir south as the latitude of * Captain Edwai'd Haies' Narrative of the Expedition of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Hakluyt, vol. iii. pp. 143, 159. 44 FROM RALEIGH S BIRTH cnAJ*. I. Pi-oject sub- mitted to the Queen. f|fcv\' pate lit Raleigh's reasons for remaining at home. Departn.ro of the ex- pc'iiUou. Virginia.* Having fully weighed this project, lie laid a memoir before the queen and council, who approved of the undertaking ; and in the beginning of lo8-4 her majesty granted, by her letters patent, all such countries as he should discover in property to himself and his heirs, reserving to the crown the fifth part of the gold or silver ore which might be found. The patent contained ample authority for the defence of the new countries, the transport of settlers, and the exportation of pro- visions and commodities for their use. Burleigh was now anxious to retire from public life ; and although his royal mistress insisted on his remaining in office, and rallied him with great vivacity on his love of seclusion. Sir Walter, who was in high favour at court, did not deem it prudent, or perhaps was not permitted, to leave the country. He therefore selected for the command of his projected voyage two experienced officers, — Captains Philip Amadis and Arthur Barlow, — to Avhom he gave minute written instructions, and who sailed with two ships, well manned and provisioned, on the 27th of April 1584. On the 10th of May they arrived at the Canaries ; after which, keeping a south-easterly course, they made the West Indies, where they remained twelve days ; and, departing thence^ on the 2d of July found themselves in shoal-water, discerning their approach to the land by the delicious fragrance with which the air * Ramusio, vol. iii. p. 417. In 1582, Hakluyt published a work entitled " Divers Voyages touching the Discovery of Ame- rica and the Islands adjacent." It is dedicated to Sir Pliilip Sidney; and, among other subjects, urges the necessity of an attempt to discover a passage by the north-west to the East Indies. His reasons for the existence of such a passage are, first, the letter of Sebastian Cabot to Ramusio, stating his behef that the northern part of America was divided into iskinds ; and, secondly, *' That Master John Verazzano, who had been thrice on that coast, in an old excellent map had so described ; which map he gave to Henry the Eighth, and which," says Hak- luyt, " is yet in the custody of Mr Lock." It is probable that Raleigh had seen this ma*p, as Hakluyt's book, published in 1582, the very year before his discovery was planned, contains a copy of it. TO HIS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 45 was loaded, — " as if," to use the words of their letter to chap, l Raleigh, " we had been in the midst of some delieate garden, abounding with all kind of odoriferous flowers."* Arrived upon the coast, and sailing along upwards of New country 120 miles, they at length found a haven and disembarked, si^on ot^^'*'''" Their first step was to take possession of the country in name of the queen ; after which they ascended a neigh- bouring emmence, and discovered to their surprise that they had not landed on the continent, but on the island of Wokokon, which they found running parallel to nearly the whole coast of North Carolina. The valleys were finely wooded with cedars, around whose trunks wild vines hung in festoons ; and the grape seemed so native to the soil, that the clusters covered the ground, and dipt into the sea. For two days no inhabitants were seen ; but on the third a canoe with three men approached. One of them was easily prevailed on to come aboard, when the present of a shirt and some trinkets gained hif confidence. On returning to his boat he began to fish, and having loaded it heavily, paddled back to the Eng- lish, and, dividing his cargo into two parts, intimated that one was for the ship and the other for the pinnace. Next day they received a visit from some canoes, in visit from Avhich were forty or fifty men, amongst whom was *'^e uativea Granganimeo, brother to the king of the country. Hav- ing first rowed within a short distance, they landed on the beach ; and the chief, attended by his suite, Avho were handsome and athletic persons, fearlessly approached opposite the ship. A long mat was spread for him, on which he sat down ; and four of his followers, apparently men of rank, squatted themselves on the corner. Signs were made for the English to come forward ; and on doing so Granganimeo desired them to sit down beside him, showing every token of joy and welcome, fii-st striking his o\vn head and breast, and afterwards those of the strangers, as if to express that they were all brethren. Presents were exchanged ; and such was the ♦ Hakluyt, vol, iii. p. 246. 46 FROM Raleigh's birth CHAP. L reverence with which these people treated their prince, that whUst he made a long harangue, they remained Reverence of the natives for their prince. Traffic opened. War among the native^i ?Tt\tive feniala perfectly still, standing at a distance ; even the four chiefs only venturing to communicate their feelings to each other in a whisper. The gifts were received with delight ; but on some trinkets being offered to the chiefs, Granganimeo quietly rose up, and taking them away, put them into his own basket, intimating by signs that every thing ought to be given to him, these men being no more than his servants, — a proceeding to which they submitted without a murmur. A traffic was soon opened, in which the English made good profit, by ex- changing beads and other trifles for rich furs and skins. On exhibiting their wares, Granganimeo's e^'e fixed with delight upon a tin dish, for which he conceived the strong- est desire. It became his at the price of twenty skins ; and, having pierced a hole in the rim, he hung it round his neck, making signs that it would serve as a breastplate to protect him against the arrows of his enemies. It was now found that these people were engaged in hostilities with a neighbouring nation, and that the ab- sence of the king was occasioned by severe wounds lately received in battle, of which he lay sick at the chief town, six miles off. His brother, after a few days, again visited the English, attended b}^ his wife and children, came aboard, and partook of a collation, which they seemed to enjoy. Their manners were remarkable for ease and civilit3\ The lady was a handsome little woman, ex- tremely bashful. She wore a leathern mantle, with the fur next her skin, and her hair, which was long and black, was confined in a band of Avhite coral ; strings of pearl, as large as peas, hung from her ears, reacliing to her middle. Her children had earrings of the same pre- cious material, whilst those of her attendants were of copper. Granganimeo was dressed much in the same fasliion as his wife. On his head he wore a broad plate of metal ; but, not being permitted to examine it, they were uncertain whether it was copper or gold. A brisk trade now beo:an with the natives : but no TO niS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 47 onf "was allowed to engage in it when the king's brother chap. L was present, except such chiefs as were distinguished by -j-iadTwith having plates of copper upon their heads. When this the uativea prince intended to visit the ship he invariably intimated the number of boats which were to accompany him, by lighting on the shore an equal number of beacons. The navigators learnt that, about twenty years before their arrival, a vessel belonging to a Christian country had been wrecked on the coast, all hands on board perishing ; out of the jjlanks cast ashore the people had drawn the nails and bolts, with which they had formed some edge- weapons and tools, not having possessed any previous to this accident ; implements but these were very rude, and their common instruments consisted of shells and sharp flints. Yet with such im- perfect means their canoes were admirably made, and large enough to hold twenty men. When they wished to con- struct one, they either burnt down a large tree, or selected such as had been blown down by the wind, and laying a coat of gum and resin on one side, set fire to it, by which it was hollowed out ; after which they scraped and po- lished it with their shells ; and if found too shallow, laid on more resin, and burnt it down to the required depth. The soil of the country was rich, the air mild and g^,,^ ,^^^ salubrious, and they counted fourteen kinds of sweet- ciiiimia smelling trees, besides an underwood of laurels and box, with oaks whose girth was greater than those of Eng- land. Their fruits were melons, walnuts, cucumbers, gourds, and esculent roots ; and the woods were plenti- fully stocked with bucks, rabbits, and hares. After a short while the adventurers, by invitation of the natives, explored the river, on whose banks was their principal Explorins; town ; but the distance to be travelled being twenty the river, miles, they did not see the city. They reached, however, an island called Roanoak, where they found a village of nine houses built of cedar, the residence of their friend Prince Granganimeo, who was then absent. His wife, with whom they were already acquainted, received them with a generous hospitality, mnning out to meet them, giving directions to her servants to pull theii* boats on 48 FROM Raleigh's bihtu CHAP. L shore, and to caiTy the white strangers on their backs v-,f.- "~" to her own house, where she feasted them with fish and gentleness venison, and afterwards set before them a dessert of fruits andfideuty. of various kinds. The people were gentle and faithful, void of all deceit, and seemed to live after the manner of the golden age.* Attention to As the surf beat high on landing, they got wet, not- the strangers- withstandmg their mode of transport ; but this incon- venience was soon remedied, — a great fire being kindled, and their clothes washed and dried by the princess's women, whilst their feet were bathed in warm water. The natives expressed astonishment at the whiteness of their skins, and kindly patted them as they looked won- deringly at each other. During the feast two men armed with bows and arrows suddenly entered the gate, when ^^^™^ the visiters in some alarm took hold of their swords, which lay beside them, to the great annoyance of their hostess, who at once detected their mistrust. She de- spatched some of her attendants to drive the poor fellows out at the gate, and who, seizing their bov:s and arrows, broke them in an instant. These arrows were made of small canes, pointed with shell or the sharp tooth of a fish. The swords, breastplates, and war-clubs, used by the natives, were formed of hardened wood ; to the end of this last weapon they fastened the horns of a stag or some other beast, and their wars were carried on with much cruelty and loss of life. The name of the country where the English landed o/Se\"ew"^ was Wingandaeoa, and of the sovereign Wingina ; but country. his kingdom was of moderate extent, and surrounded by states under independent princes, some of them in alliance and others at war with him. Having examined as much of the interior as their time would permit, our country- men sailed homeward, accompanied by two of the natives named Wanchese and Manteo, and arrived in England in the middle of September. Riileigh was highly delighted with this new discovery, * Hakliiyt, vol. iii. p. 249. TO HIS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINLv. 49 establishing in so satisfactory a manner the results of his chap. ! previous reasoning, and undertaken at his sole suggestion DeiiRbrof and expense. His royal mistress, too, was scarcely less Raleigh at gratified ; she gave her countenance and support to the ofVirghnl'"' schemes for colonization which he began to urge at court, and issued her command, that the new country so full of amenity and beauty, should, in allusion to her state of life, be called Virginia.* He was soon after- wards chosen, along with Sir William Courtney, to ciiosen a represent the county of Devon in Parliament ; and al- memher of tliough the imperfect manner in which at this period the transactions of the House of Commons were recorded rendei-s it difficult to follow the steps of his political career, it is certain that he served upon various com- mittees, and took an active share in public business. On the 14th of December, the bill for the confirmation of his patent of discovery, already mentioned, after having been read the second time, was referred to a committee, amongst whom we find the eminent names of Walsingham, Sidney, Drake, and Grenville, by whom it was approved without, alteration ; and on the 18th, after some discussion, it passed the house. Not long after this Raleigh received the honour of Knighted by knighthood ; a dignity bestowed by Elizabeth with sin- ^^^ Queen, gular frugality and discrimination. In the time of this great queen, it was a certain cognizance of distinguished genius and valour, very different from those titles of more pompous denomination conferred by her successor, who suffered lucre to corrupt the true fountain of no- bility, and to divert it into vulgar channels. It is a jndidous remarkable fact, that during her whole reign, extending tson^ofWie' to forty-four years, and perhaps more prolific of great Queen. men and great events than that of any former sovereign of England, she created only six earls and nine barons. With regard to the dignity of knight, it was reserved as the highest distinction wliicli could be conferred upon a warrior and a gentleman. This was shown in the in- * Oldys's Life of Raleigh, p. 58. 50 FROM RALEIGH S BIRTH Sir Francis Vera IT a vies of CHAP. I. stances of Sir Francis Vere and Sir Walter Raleigh, men set apart for military service, and whom she never raised above the rank of knighthood ; saying, when unportuned to make the former a baron, — " that in his proper sphere and in her estimation he was above it already."* About the same period. Sir Walter received a new mark of favour, m the grant of a patent to license the vending royal favour. ^^ ^yines throughout the kingdom, — a monopoly, how- ever objectionable in principle, extremely lucrative in its returns, and which was probably bestowed by Eliza- beth to enable him more effectually to carry on his great schemes for the improvement of navigation, and the settlement of a colony in Virginia. New scheme It was at this time that a company was formed by ofdiscoveiy. g^^^^^ ^|^|g j^qj^^ under letters- patent from the queen, denominated The Colleagues of the Fellowship for the Discovery of the North-west Passage. The principal persons in this spirited undertaking were, Sanderson, a wealthy merchant of London, Sir Adrian Gilbert, and Sir Walter Raleigh. An account of the results of their labours, — the three celebrated voyages of Davis, — has elsewhere been given ;t but some months previous to the departure of this great seaman, Raleigh had fitted out a fleet for Virginia, the command of which he in- trusted to his relative Sir Richard Grenville. This officer, whose life was as enterprising as his death was heroic, had, in his early years, served against the Turks, and after sharing in the glory of the battle of Lepanto, returned to England Avith the reputation of an experienced soldier, which he increased by his conduct during the Irish rebellion. The queen promoted him to be Sheriff of Cork ; and, on his coming to England, he was chosen to represent the county of Cornwall in Parliament, in which he exhibited uncommon talents and energy. Virginia tieet Sir Pachard Grenville. * Osborue's Traditional Memcrialls on the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. Secret History of the Court of James I., vol. i. pp. 80, 81. t Edinburgh Cabinet Library, No. I. Polar Seas and Re- gions, 4th edition, p. 211-222. TO HIS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 51 The fleet of which he now assumed the direction chap. i. consisted of seven vessels, including the Dorothy a small NunUjer of bark, and two pinnaces. The others were the Tiger of vessels. 140 tons burden, the Lion of 100, the Elizabeth of 50, and the Roebuck, a fly-boat of the same burden as the Tiger. Part of these were fitted out at Sir Walter's ex- pense, the remamder by his companions in the adventure ; one of whom was Thomas Candish or Cavendish, after- wards so eminent as a navigator,* who now served under Grenville. On the 14th of April the mariners reached the Canaries, Landine at from which they steered to Dominica m the West Indies, ^'"^^^'^ ^'^^"• and landed at Puerto Rico, where they constructed a temporary fort ; and during then* stay captured tAvo riclily freighted Spanish ships, having on board some persons of rank, who purchased their liberty at a high ransom. On the 26th of June, after some delays at Hispaniola and Florida, they came to anchor at Wokokon Arrival at in Virginia ; and having sent notice of their arriA'al by ^'"^e^"^*- Manteo, one of the two natives who had visited England, they were soon welcomed by their old friend Grangani- meo, who displayed much satisfaction at their return. Mr Ralph Lane, who had been invested with the dignity of chief governor, now disembarked with 108 men, having as his deputy Philip Amadas, one of the original discoverers. Grenville does not appear to have been sufficiently aware of the difficulties likely to be en- countered by an infant colony in a new country ; and accordingly, after a short stay, during which was collected a valuable cargo of skms, furs, and pearls, he returned to England, carrying into Pljonouth a Spanish prize, which he had captured on the homeward voyage, of 300 tons burden, and richly laden. There is a combination of qualities required in the Governor :,{ governor of a new settlement, which are of rare occur ^"^^ ^*^ rence. Courage, promptitude, and firmness, are absolutelA necessary, but tliey must be under the control of mucli good temper, patience, and self-command. An aptitudt * Edinburgh Cabinet Library, No. V. Early Enghsh Navi- gators, 3d edition, p. 123 52 FROM Raleigh's birth CHAP. L to take ofiPence, and an eagerness to repel imaginary Rai'iULane i^^sults, are the most dangerous qualities wliich such a dignitary can exhibit ; and unfortunately they seem to have been too promiuent features in the character of Mr Ralph Lane. The consequence was a speedy and total failure. Yet the first survey of their new territory delighted the English ; and the governor in a letter to Hifrii antici- Hakluyt, who appears to have been his intimate friend, patioai informs him that " they had discovered the mainland to be the goodliest soil under the cope of heaven ; abounding with sweet trees that bring sundry rich and pleasant gums ; * * and, moreover, of huge and unknown greatness, well peopled and towned, though savagely, and the climate so wholesome that they had not one person sick since their arrival." * Exploration Lane fixed his abode on the island of Roanoak, and of tiie thence extended his researches eighty miles southward couniTV to the city of Secotan. He also pushed 130 miles north to the country of the Chesepians, a temperate and fertile region ; and north west to Chawanook, a large province under a monarch named Menatonon. These proceedings, hoAvever, were soon interi-upted by the threatening aspect of affairs at head-quarters. Even before the departure Rash conduct ^^ Grenville for England an accident occurred in which 01 ti.e t}ie conduct of the settlers was rash and impolitic. A sUver cup had been stolen, and a boat was despatched to Aquascogok to reclaim it. Alarmed at this visit the savages fled into the woods, and the enraged crew demo- lished the city and destroyed the corn-fields. A revenge so deep for so slight an injury incensed the natives ; and, although they artfully concealed their resentment, from that moment all cordiality between them and the strangers was at an end. Seiznreoftiie Not long after, Menatonon and his son Skyco were and Ws'son. ^^ized and thro\ATi into irons ; but the monarch was soon enlarged, whilst the youth was retained as a hostage for liis fidelity. To all appearance this precaution had the desired effect. But the king, although an untaught savage, proved himself an adept in dissimulation. Work- *■ liakluvt, vol. ill. r '^'"^' TO UlS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 53 ing upon the avarice and credulity of the English, he chap. i. enticed them into the interior of the country by a flat- cunning of taring report of its extraordinary richness and amenity. Meoatonon. He asserted that they would arrive at a region where the robes of the sovereign and courtiers were embroidered with pearl, and the beds and houses studded with the same precious material. Menatonon described also a remarkably rich mine, called by the natives Chaunis Temoatan, which was situated in the country of the Mangaoaks, and produced a mineral similar to copper, although softer and paler. By these artful representations Lane was persuaded Expedition to undertake an expedition by water, with two wherries °^ "^ and forty men. Instead, however, of the promised relays of provisions, they found the towns deserted, and the whole country laid waste. Their boats glided along silent and solitary banks ; and after three days, during which they had not seen a human being, their last morsel of food was exhausted, and the governor, now aware of Failure of the treachery of Menatonon, proposed to return. His i^^ovisions. men, however, entreated him to proceed, still haunted by dreams of the inexhaustible riches of the Mangaoaks* country, and declaring they could not starve as long as they had two mastiffs, wliich they might kill and make into soup. Overcome by such arguments Lane continued the voyage ; but for tv/o days longer no living thing appeared. At night indeed lights were seen moving on the banks, demonstratmg that their progress was not unknown, though the observers were invisible. At last, Attack hr on the thu'd day, a loud voice from the woods suddenly *^^ aative6. called out the name of Manteo, who was now with the expedition. As the voice was followed by a song. Lane imagined it a pacific salutation ; but the Indian seized his gun, and had scarcely time to warn them that they were about to be attacked, when a volley of arrows was discharged into the boats. The travellers now landed and assaulted the savages, who fell back into the depths of the wood, and escaped with little injury ; upon which it was resolved to return to the settlement. On their homeward voyage, which, owmg to their descending 54 FROM RALEIGH S BIRTH CHAP. L Plot of Wingina. Discoveiy by Skyca Masaacre of Pennsapan andhisclikCa Alarming conspiracy. Squadron of Sir Francis Diiike. with the current, was performed with great rapidity, they had recourse to the mastiff-broth, or as the governor terms it, " dog's porridge," and arrived at Roanoak in time to defeat a formidable conspiracy. The author of the plot was Wingina, who, since the death of his brother Granganimeo, had taken the name of Pemisapan. His associate was Menatonon, to whose son, Skj^co, at that time a prisoner in the hands of the English, Pemisapan also communicated the design ; and these two chiefs, pretending friendship, but concealing under its mask the most deadly enmity, had organized the plan of a general massacre of the colon3\ The design, however, was betrayed to Lane by Skyco, who had become attached to the English ; and, aware of the ne- cessity of taking immediate measures before Pemisapan could muster his forces, the governor gave instructions to seize any canoes which might offer to depart from the island. In executing this order, two natives were slain, and their enraged countrymen rose in a body and at- tempted to overpower the colonists, but were instantly dispersed. Not aware, however, that his secret was discovered, and affecting to consider this as an accident, Pemisapan admitted Lane and his officers to an interview which proved fatal to him. The Virginian monarch was seated in state, surrounded by seven or eight of his principal weroanees, or high chiefs ; and after a brief debate, upon a signal given, the Europeans attacked the royal circle and put them all to death. This alarming conspiracy had scarcely been put down, when the natives made a second attempt to get rid of he strangers by neglecting to sow the adjacent lands, hoping in this manner to compel them to leave the country. At this decisive moment a fleet of twenty- three vessels came in sight, which turned out to be the squadron of Sir Francis Drake, who had fortunately determined to visit the colony of his friend Sir Walter, and carry home news of their condition on his return from an expedition against the settlements in the Spanish Main. It was now long past the time when supplies had been expected from England, and Drake generously TO niS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 55 offered every sort of provisions, wliich were readily ac- chap, l cepted , Lane also received a vessel and some smaller craft LiboraiH r to carry them home ; but before they could get on board, of Drake. a dreadful tempest, which continued four days, dashed the barks intended for the colonists to pieces, and might have driven on shore the whole fleet, unless, to use the language of the old despatch, " the Lord had held his Ahandnr- holy hand over them." Deprived in this way of all J^JJ^^^ "'« other prospect of return, they embarked in Sir Francis' fleet, and arrived in England on the 27th of July 1586. Scarcely, however, had they sailed, when the folly of Anivai of their precipitate conclusion that Raleigh had forgotten ^'"^"*^^- or neglected them, was manifested by the arrival at Hatorask of a vessel of 100 tons, amply stored with every supply. Deeply disappointed at finding no appearance of the colony, they sailed along the coast and explored the interior. But all their search was in vain, and they were compelled to take their departure for Europe. This, however, was not all. "Within a fortnight after they Retum of weighed anchor. Sir Richard Grenville, with three well- Greui-iie "' appointed vessels, fitted out principally by Raleigh, appeared off Virginia, w^here, on landing, he found to his astonishment every thing deserted and in ruins. Having made an unsuccessful effort to procure intelligence of his countrymen, it became necessary to return home. But, unwilling to abandon so promising a discovery, he left behind him, on the isle of Roanoak, fifteen men with provisions for two years, and, after some exploits agamst the Spaniards in the Azores, arrived in England.* Such repeated mismanagement would have disgusted zeai anf,.n^ ^^ of the general ; only it was advised, if the enemy's ad- the coasts. vance into the interior could not be prevented, that the country should be driven and wasted, and the invaders harassed by perpetual alarms. Nor was any serious opposition to ])e risked until the presence of a strong army should make the chance of victory more certain. The best measures for training the infantry and horse- Training of men, for providins* amis for the pikemen and billmen, j^f-^'ito' ''M ' -r . o .\ . . ' horsemen. tor transportmg ordnance, provisioning garrisons, and ensuring the rapid communication of intelligence, were also recommended ; and, m addition to tliis, Raleigh in a private correspondence directed the thoughts of the lord- treasurer to some more minute precautions, which had probably escaped the attention of the general council.'^ In consequence of these able arrangements, seconded Energy of by the spirit of the queen and the energy of the people, Spia^"'^ the kingdom soon presented an aspect which might have convinced Philip of the extreme temerity of his attempt. In a pretended intercepted letter written from England by a contemporary and eyewitness, it is stated, " that within a short time the whole of England rose simulta- neously and in arms. There was not a corner of the land which did not ring with preparation and muster its Muster of armed force ; and especially," says this eyewitness, " the forces, maritime counties from Cornwall all along southward to Kent, and thence eastward to Lincolnshire, were so furnished with soldiers, both of themselves and with resort from their next shires, as there was no place to be doubted for landing of any foreign forces, but there were within forty-eight hours to come to the place above 20,000 fighting men on horseback and on foot, with all manner of ammunition, provision, and carriages, undei the principal nobles of the counties, and captains of the greatest knowIedge."t * Strype's Annals, vol. ill. pp. 452, 453. t Oldys' Life of lialeigh, p. 101. arinies raised. London's men. fleet 74 PROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP. 11. In addition to these preparations, in which every man EngiisiT able to bear a weapon was eager to act his part, the queen directed two armies to be raised, — one, consisting of 22,000 foot and 2000 horse, encamped at Tilbury in Essex, under the Earl of Leicester ; the other, which mustered 28,900 men, levied for the protection of her majesty's person, was commanded by Lord Hunsdon, her near kinsman, and a nobleman in whom she had a perfect cnty^of confidence.* The city of London raised 10,000 men, which were exercised in the presence of Elizabeth ; and in case of a more pressing emergency, they had a reserve in readiness.t Thus the whole island, without exagge- ration or metaphor, might be said, at this imperious challenge of Spain, to have stood up sword in hand, sheathed in complete steel. J?o"° of t'l® All this, however, against the overwhelming naval force of Philip might have proved insufficient. Some indeed thought the kingdom strong enough to cut any army to pieces the moment of its landing, and underrated the necessity of any great effort at sea ; but the prime mi- nister was aware that such an idea was not to be followed. Raleigh in particular, if we may be allowed to judge from his opinions given in the " History of the World," musthave deprecated so presumptuous a notion. "Makmg SiSh °^ *^^ question general and positive," says he, in an admir- able passage of this work, « whether England, without help of her fleet, be able to debar an enemy from landmg, I hold that it is unable so to do ; and therefore I think it most dangerous to make the adventure : for the en- couragement of a first victory to an enemy, and the discouragement of being beaten to the invaded^, may draw after it a most perilous consequence." J He proceeds to demonstrate the weakness of any argument drawn from France, or any other European countries, possessed of * Original documents in the State-paper Office. t The supplies furnished by the city of London, and by the other parts of the kingdom, are minutely detailed in original Reports still preserved amongst the MSS. at Hatfield House. + Hist, of the World, book v. cap. i. § ix. Works, vol. vi. p. 100. Ruieiglu TO Raleigh's imprisonment. 75 many fortified places ; whereas the ramparts of England char il consist only of the bodies of men. There is a difference, w;,nt~oF lie remarks, between an invasion by land and one by fcitified sea, where the choice of the place of debarkation remains with the enemy ; and he arrives at the conclusion, that such an attempt cannot be successfully resisted on the coast of England without a fleet. " There is no man ignorant," says he, " that ships, without putting them- selves out of breath, will easily outrun the soldiers that coast them. * Les armees ne volent poi/nt en poste y' ' Armies neither fly nor run post,' saith a marshal of Celerity of France. And I know it to be true, that a fleet of ships "^°^"^™""^ may be seen at sunset, and after it, at the Lizard ; yet by the next morning they may recover Portland ; whereas an anny of foot shall not be able to march it in six days. Again, when those troops, lodged on the seashores, shall be forced to run from place to place in vain, after a fleet of ships, they will at length sit down in the mid- way, and leave all at adventure." He maintains, there- fore, " that a strong army, in a good fleet, which neither foot nor horse is able to follow, cannot be denied to land where it list in England, France, or elsewhere, unless it be hindered, encountered, and shuffled together by a fleet of equal or answerable strength." - These views, founded on a practical acquamtance with EqnipmeTit of the comparative powers of a land and naval force, were ^^gf^ °^ '^ adopted, and led to the equipment of a fleet suitable to the emergency. At this time the navy of England in- cluded among its commanders some of the greatest names in our history. Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, the most intrepid and accomplished sea-officers in Europe, were in the vigour of their abilities. Lord Howard of Effingham, high-admiral of England, assumed the chief command, and Drake, Hawkins, Lord Henry Seymour, and Frobisher, were vice-admirals ; whilst there also served under them such experienced captains as the Earl of Cumberland, Sir William Wmter, Fenner, and many * Works, vol. Ti. pp. 102, 103. CHAP. n. Howard's ^Uvibion. Jjeymour. Drake. Fidelity of the Roman Catholics. 76 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA others. Howard's dh-ision amounted to sixty-six, in- cluding tlie merchantmen by whicli he was reinforced ; Lord Henry Se^miour commanded a squadron of thu'ty- three sail : and these fleets were joined hy eighteen merchant-adventurers from the river Thames ; making in all a force of 117 ships, having on hoard 11,120 men.* The lord-admiral, who guarded the west coast, divided his force into three parts, himself commanding the cen- tre, in which were the largest vessels. On the side of Ushant he stationed Drake, with twenty ships and five pinnaces, to give the earliest notice of the enemy's ap- proach ; whilst Hawkins took a position between the admiral and the Scilly Islands. In this manner the whole line of the west was covered against attack. It was possible, however, that the Armada might make Cape Clear, double Dungsby Head, and join the arma- ment of the Duke of Parma in the Narrow Seas. To provide against this Lord Henry Seymour and Count Justin of Navarre, admiral of Zealand, were stationed off Dunkirk, with orders to cruise along the coast of Flanders, block up its ports, watch the approach of the Spaniards by the Channel, and maintain a constant communication with Lord Howard. Elizabeth, at this trying crisis, experienced the fidelity of the great body of her Roman Catholic subjects ; though on one side the Protestants assaulted them with sus- picion and odium, and on the other they were invited by the Pope to throw off their allegiance, and combine in a general insurrection. But bred up as they had been in the errors of their fathers, these brave and honourable men v/ere still devotedly attached to the land of their birth ; and hence many nobles of that faith served as volunteers in the fleet and army. Some fitted out ves- sels at their own expense, intrusting the command to Protestant officers ; while others encouraged their de- pendants to neglect at such a moment the distinctions * Original List in the State-paper Office. TO Raleigh's imprisonment. 77 of politics and religion, and to unite in the efforts to repel chap. if. an act of unprincipled aggression.* The queen, meanwhile, omitted nothing which might Prudence ai\ encourage her army and increase her popularity. Of queen? "^ her feelings in this great crisis a memorable record has been preserved. It is a private prayer or meditation, which having met the eye of Sir R. Cecil was sent by him to the generals of her army at Portsmouth. — " Most Omnipotent, and Guider of all our world's masse. Her prayer that only searchest and fadomest the bottom of all hearts' conceits, and in them seest the true original of all actions intended ; how no malice of revenge, nor quittance of injury, nor desire of bloodshed, nor greediness of lucre, hath bred the resolution of our now set out army ; but a heedful care, and wary watch, that no neglect of foes, nor over surety of harm, might breed either danger to us, or glory to them. These being grounds, Thou that didst inspire the mind, we humbly beseech, with bended knees, prosper the work, and with the best forewinds guide the journey, speed the victory, and make the re- turn the advancement of tby glory, the triumph of thy fame, and surety to the realm, with the least loss of Eng- lish blood. To these devout petitions, Lord, give thou thy blessed graunt. Amen."t Meanwhile, the camp at ^iibS-y.' Tilbury, where the queen's favourite the Earl of Lei- cester commanded, exhibited the appearance of a con- tinual fete. She resided in the neighbourhood, frequently visited and held conferences with the officers, and when the arrival of the Armada began to be daily expected, reviewed the army in person. On this occasion Eliza- beth appeared in armour, holding a marshal's truncheon in her hand, and riding a war-horse. Essex and Lei- cester held her bridle-rein, whilst the lord-marshal, Sir * Kent, Memoirs of Illustrious Seamen, p. 275. Stowe p. 747. + MS. British Museum, Otho, E. ix. f. 183 ; dorso^" Her Majestie's private meditation upon the present expedition, sent from Sir Robert Cecil to the generals of her highness" army, at Plemouth— enclosed in this letter here underwritten." There is no letter enclosing it. 78 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP. II. John Norris, attended on foot ; and placing herself at EiizabeTh's their head, she made this memorable oration to her sol- aSu^ ^* diers : — " My loving people," said the lion-hearted prin- cess, " we have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery ; but I assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear ! I have always so behaved myself, that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects ; and therefore, I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all ; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman ; but I have the heart Bold appcaL and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm ! To which, rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, — I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already, for your forward- ness, you have deserved rewards and crowns ; and we do assure you, on the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the mean time, my lieutenant-general shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject ; not doubting but, by 3^our obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdoms, and of my people."* On the 20th of May,t the Armada sailed from the * Cabala, p. 373. ^ + Substance of certain Mariners' Report touching the Spa- nish Fleet, in State-paper Oflfice. A transcript of the original plan for the Armada, di-a-mi up in Spanish, is amongst the MSS. at Hatfield. TO Raleigh's imprisonment. 'JO Tagus, the decks crowded with an array of chivalry such CIIAP. n. as had seldom before been mustered, and amidst the Armldrquite shouts of a multitude which believed that the doom of tiie Tagus. England was sealed. From the instructions of the Spa- nish commander-in-chief, preserved in the State-paper Office, it appears that the fleet was to rendezvous first off Cape Finisterre ; but in case of separation they were to make for the Groyne. Thence they were to stretch for England, the point of meeting being the south side of the Scilly Islands ; or, if this should be impracticable, to anchor in Mounts Bay on the coast of Cornwall. Preparations had been hastened in Flanders to facilitate Pieparations a co-operation with the Armada ; and a flotilla was "^ ii'^iHi'-rs. equipped to receive troops, which were to sail for the opposite shore on receiving intelligence that the great fleet had arrived on the western coast. To ensure suc- cess, a squadron of large Portuguese galleasses were directe-d to separate from the Duke of Medina Sidonia the moment he reached his destination, for the purpose of suppoiimg the Duke of Parma. These arrangements were unexpectedly disconcerted, vioieit Steering to the northward, within a league of Cape Fi- ^^^^"^ nisterre the fleet was attacked by a violent storm, which dispersed the greater ships, sunk some of the smaller, and drove others for shelter to the neighbouring harbours. It was soon after confidently reported in England that the whole had been destroyed ; and the queen, with too hasty economy, ordered the higli-admiral to lay up four of the largest vessels. To this he returned the noble xoble.' answer, that rather than dismantle them at a moment ^5"^"^^ '^\ PI 1 1 • Til- tlie EnclieL of such danger, he would take upon him to disobey liis admiiaL mistress, and keep them at his own charges. Howard now called a council, in which it was determined to sail towards Spain, to complete the destruction of the Armada if disabled, or to ascertain if it had been refitted and was again at sea ; but though chase was given to fourteen ships, descried between Ushant and Scilly, they, as Wv>ll as the great body of the fleet, escaped the English, aiid arrived in a shattered condition at the Groyne. Upon OO FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP. 11. this the high-admiral, becoming afraid lest in his absence EetunTto they might reach Plymouth, returned thither with ex- Piymouth. pedition ; and, having discovered that all was still safe, allowed his men a short period of relaxation on shore. Sailing of It was fortunate he did so return ; for on the very SidoSa. ^^^ ^^ ^^^ arrival, being the 12th July, the Duke de Medina Sidonia once more stood out to sea and sailed for England, having been informed by a fisherman that Howard had laid up his ships, and considered the danger over for that year. The Armada had a slow and peril- ous passage through the Bay of Biscay, at times becalmed, or involved in thick fogs; but, on the 19th of July it AiTivaioftiio entered the British Channel, and at sunset was observed armada in off the Lizard by Fleming, a Scottish pirate or rover, who brought the mtelligence to Plymouth. At the moment this notice was given, the captains and com- manders were engaged in playing bowls on the Hoe ; and Sir Francis Drake, it is said, insisted, in the true spirit of a sailor, that the match must be played out, as there was ample time both to win the game and beat the Spaniards. All was now bustle and preparation, and the wind blowing stiffly in from the south-west, the ships were warped out, a difficult task, but perfoi-med with great activity and skill. The object of the Spanish admiral was to make his way through the Channel to Calais, there to meet the squadron under the Duke of Parma. The armada It was on the evening of Saturday, the 20th of July, £rst descried that the English first descried the enemy. The Armada came majesticall}-^ on, the vessels being dra^m up in a semicircle, which from horn to horn covered an extent of seven miles.* Their appearance, owing to their height and bulk, though imposing to an inexperienced eye, in- spired confidence m Drake and the best officers, who reckoned upon having the advantage in tacking, and knew that, from the light build and better management of their o^'u ships, they could out-manceuvre them. * Camden, in Kennet, vol. ii. p. 546. TO Raleigh's imprisonment. 81 Howard accordingly suffered tlie whole to pass, and chaf. IL doubling upon their rear, followed for some time without j^^^ defliuico. coming to close action. The Defiance, a pinnace, com- manded by Captain Jonas Bradbury, was, in the feudal spirit of the times, despatched to carry a defiance to the enemy, and commence the battle by discharging her ordnance against the first antagonist she might approach. Immediately after tliis the English admiral, in his own The Ark ship, the Ark Royal, engaged a Spanish galleon com- Koyai. manded by Don Alphonso de Leva, into which he poured a well-directed broadside. At the same moment Drake in the Revenge, Hawkins in the Victory, and Frobisher Drake, in the Triumph, the largest vessel in the English fleet, KKhen"'^ brought to actian the galleons which were astern under Rear-admiral Juan de Recaldo, a veteran of great cour- age and experience. His abilities, however, were unequal to this contest ; and, after an obstinate resistance, his squadron %vas dispersed, one ship burnt, the ilag-ship of Pedro de Valdez, leader of the Andalusian division, taken by Drake, with 55,000 ducats aboard (which were im- mediately distributed amongst the sailors), and the rest compelled to seek shelter under the main body of the End of the fleet. The Duke de Medina Sidonia, however, held on ^ent!"^'"* his course, throwing out signals, and crowding all sail ; whilst How^ard, satisfied with the advantage, intermitted the cannonade till he should be joined by forty vessels which had been detained at Plymouth : so ended the first engagement of the 21st July. At this crisis the following characteristic letter was written by the lord-admiral to Sir Francis Walsingham: — " Sir,— I will not trouble you with any long letter ; ]fj^lj ■we are at this present otherwise occupied than with Admiral writing. Upon Friday, at Plymouth, I received intel- ligence that there were a great number of ships descried off the Lizard ; whereupon, although the wind was very ikant, we first warped out of harbour that night, and upon Saturday it turned out rain, hard by, the wind beins: at south-west, and about three of the clock in the 82 PROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CJIAP. II. afternoon descried the Spanish fleet, and we did wliat we could to work for the wind, which by this morning Account of we had recovered, descrying their fleet to consist of 16') engagement sail, whereof there are four galleasses and many ships of great burden. At nine of the clock Ave gave them fight, which continued until one. In the fight we made some of them to bear down to stop their leak, notwithstanding we durst not adventure to put in amongst them, their fleet being so strong. But there shall nothing be either neglected or unhazarded that may work their overthrow. Sir, the captains in her majesty's ships have behaved themselves most bravely and like men hitherto, and I doubt not will continue to their great commendation. And so, recommending our good success to your godly prayers, I bid you heartily farewell. From aboard the Ark, the coast of Plymouth, the 21st of July, 1588. — Your very loving friend, " C. Howard."* Resolution of The orders of the Spanish commander to pass Plymouth adniiraUo ^^^ j^^^^ Parma being peremptory, he held on his course, join Parma, despatching at the same time a pinnace to hasten the duke and inform him of the loss already sustained. Hitherto the action had continued in a succession of skirmishes, the English avoiding a close engagement till their enemy should get farther into the Channel.t Raleigli in the mean while, afraid that the principal fight might take place without his presence, left his charge by land to proper officers, and, with a company of nobles and gentle- men in a small squadron, joined the fleet on the morning of the 23d of July. Off Portland. By this time the Armada had advanced opposite to Portland, and the battle which ensued occupied the whole day. The younger and more ardent officers were anxious to board the enemy. But Howard, by the counsel of * This letter is i3ublished from the original in the State-paper Office : the old spelHug has been altered. — Bmce's Report, Ap. No. 54. + Substance of certain Mariners' Report. Original in State- paper Office. TO RALEIGIl's IMPRISONMENT. 83 his more experienced captains, had resolved upon a con- chap, il trary course ; and from the puhlished writings of K'ileigh xew i^iui of we may infer tliat he was a principal adviser on this attack. subject. He was aware of the superiority which would be acquired by the lighter and less numerous vessels of the English over the unwieldy galleons of the enemy, provided the admiral avoided coming to close quarters. He had observed, that their o\^^l ships might approach near enough to give a broadside in which every shot did damage, while it was almost impossible for the Spaniards to bring their great ordnance to bear. He knew, to use opinion 0/ his own words, that " he that will happily perform a liaieigii. fight at sea, must be skilful in making choice of vessels to fight in ; he must believe that there is more belonging to a good man of war upon the waters than great daring ; and must know, that there is a great deal of difference between fighting loose or at large, and grappling. The guns of a slow ship pierce as well and make as great holes as those in a swift. To clap ships together with- out consideration belongs rather to a madman than to a man of war."* The tactics therefore adopted were tactics of tiie wisely suited to the comparative powers of the two fleets. KngUsh iieet. Howard's squadron, which consisted of nearly 100 ships, kept loose and separate, ever asunder but always in motion, and taking advantage of the wind to tack when they could most annoy the enemy, pouring in a broad- side and then sheering out of range of the Spanish guns, returning before the latter had time to reload, and giving them another discharge, succeeded by as speedy a retreat ; so that Sir Henry Wotton has compared it to a morris- dance upon the waters.t At first the whole Spanish fleet bore down upon their proceedings antagonists, anxious to bring them to a close action, of the Spa- which these dexterous combatants avoided by separating "'"^^ into small divisions. One of these, however, consisting of six ships, led by the Triumph, Sir INIartin Frobisher, and the Golden Lion, Lord Thomas Howard, was so far * History of the World. Works, vol. vi. p. 81. t Oldys's Life of Raleigh, v. 107. 84 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP. II. Attack on the western divi- sion of tlie Armada, Spaniards forced to sheer off. disjoined from the rest, that the galleasses, getting ad- vantage of the wind, came close abreast, and began an engagement, which lasted two hours with the most unre- mitting obstinacy. At the same time one of the English squadrons attacked the di%dsion of the Armada stationed to the westward, and disabled every ship in the line ; but before this success could be followed up signals were made for the victors to join the Ark Royal, and proceed to the assistance of Frobisher and his five merchantmen, who fought with undiminished resolution against a far superior force. Orders were given at the same time, that not a single shot should be fired before coming withm musket- range. The Spanish admiral, anticipating the intention of Howard, attempted to intercept him by sixteen of his best-equipped galleons, which brouglit on a sanguinary conflict. The invaders fought with resolution ; but their ships were sluggish ; when they gave a broadside, a great part of their shot, from theh- height above the water, passed over the heads of their opponents, and at last they vv'ere completely broken, and forced to sheer off. Fro- bisher also repulsed the squadron that attacked him ; Failure of ammunition. Ciipture of a Portiisrese galleon. only broken off by night, — a large Venetian ship and several transports having been taken by the English.* Next day, the Spaniards showed little incUnation to renew the action ; and by a mismanagement, strongly animadverted upon by Raleigh, their antagonists had run short of ammunition. Howard despatched some barks and pinnaces, which soon rejoined him with a supply ; but in consequence of this circumstance operations were suspended during the whole of the 24th. On the morning of the 25th, the Armada being along- side of the Isle of Wight, a large Portuguese galleon, which had probably been disabled in the fight of the 23d, dropped astern, and was, without much resistance, taken by Captain Hawkins. Three galleasses, indeed, under Alphonso de Leva and Tellez Enriquez, attempted a ♦ Kent, p. 288-290. TO RALEIGIl's IMPRISONMENT. S') rescue, but were themselves severely handled, and with chap. ir. difficulty escaped ; whilst the remainder, alarmed by the — evident superiority of their enemy, kept aloof, and the wind falling, their sliips lay becalmed and completely inactive upon the waters. It was one great advantage .^avanta that the English vessels, from their light build, could beof Sildu towed near the Spaniards by the long-boats,— an oper- S'^.^leis"' ation which the huge dimensions of the latter rendered impracticable. The Triumph, Captain Frobisher, at thia moment, from being the largest in the fleet, had fallen to leeward, and a breeze springing up, some galleons prepared to attack her ; but before they could gain the weather-gage, she was taken in tow by a small vessel, and recovered the wind, while the White Bear and Elizabeth Jonas bore up to her relief in the face of a numerous squadron. During the action, which nowTheSan^iar became general, the Spanish admiral's ship, San Martin tin disabled. had her mainmast shot away, and was otherwise so shattered, that according to their own account he must have struck, had he not been rescued by his vice-admii-als Recaldo and Mccia, with whose assistance he renewed the fight ; when the English, again in want of ammunition, availed themselves of a shift of the wind, and bore away out of range of shot. On the 26th, after the high-admiral had conferred the j;ngijj,jj honour of knighthood upon Lord Thomas Howard and council of Lord Edmund Sheffield, along with Captains Townsend, '■•"^'■• Hawkins, and Frobisher, he held a council of war, in which it was resolved not to renew hostilities till the enemy reached tlie Straits of Dover, where the squadron under Lord Henry Seymour and Sir Thomas Winter waited to intercept them ; before that time it was hoped ammunition would arrive from the neighbouring ports. The Spaniards, accordmgly, sailing up the Channel with a fair breeze from the south-we?t, made an imposing appearance ; and as the enemy hung on their rear, occasionally approaching, and for want of supplies only able to keep up a feeble fire, the alarm became universal throughout the maritime counties. FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP. II. False reports of ihe success of the Ai- mada. Premature rejoicings. Armada off Calais. Inopportune demand. It was probably at this time, when the whole continent of Europe was mtent on the progress of this immense armament, and eager for the first news from England, that the premature report was carried abroad of the com- plete success of the Armada. The news flew from France to Rome and Madrid. At Paris the Spanish ambassador Mendoza entered the church of Notre Dame, flourishing his naked sword above his head and shouting " Victoria 1" while Cardinal Allen made a great feast at Rome, and invited to it all the English, Scotch, and Irish Roman Catholics, to commemorate the captivity of Elizabeth and the entire subjugation of her kingdom. Far other events, however, were passing in the Channel. As the Spanish fleet proceeded m its course crowds flocked to the beach ; and vessels, pinnaces, and small boats, shot out from every harbour, eager to share in the glory of the battle. With these came many volunteers of high birth, the Earls of Oxford, Northumberland, and Cum- berland, Sir Thomas and Sir Robert Cecil, sons of Lord Burleigh, Sir Henry Brook, Sir Charles Blunt, Sir William Hatton, and many others.* The Armada came to anchor before Calais on the 27th, and the generalissimo despatched an express to the Duke of Parma, requesting a reinforcement of forty fly-boats, without which he could not cope with the light and active ships of the enemy ; and urging him to embark his army, which, under cover of his fire, might effect a landing. Had this message arrived a month earlier, as it would have done if the Spanish admiral had succeeded in his first attempt to reach tfie coast of England, an immediate movement would have taken place, and the consequence might have been fatal. But now the duke could not obey the orders. His boats, ill constructed at first, and of bad wood, were warped, leaky, and not sea- worthy ; his provisions were nearly exhausted ; his troops weakened by desertion ; whilst the fleet of Count Justin of Nassau blockaded Dunkirk and Nieuport, the only harbours from which he could put to sea. * Camden, in Kennet, vol. ii. p. 547. TO Raleigh's imprisonment. 87 Disappointed of this assistance, Medina Sidonia still CHAP IT. lay at anchor off Calais, where, watched by the English, skiifuTposi- he stationed his larger vessels so skilfully as to render it tion of the extremely difficult to throw them into confusion. But ^^'''""^' ^^^** a stratagem of Howard deprived him of this advantage. Selecting eight of his smallest and least useful craft, they were stowed with combustibles ; and two experienced officers. Captains Young and Prowse, conducted them at stratagem of midnight to within a short distance of the Armada, fired HowartL the trains, and taking to their boats, left the blazing ships, which drifted straight do^^^l upon the enemy. The Spaniards were seized with terror, and conceiving they were of the same construction as one employed against them with dreadful effect during the siege of Antwerp, cut their cables, hoisted sail, and fled in confusion. The largest of the galleasses, having lost her rudder, was stranded near the town ; and after a resolute defence, in which the captain and 400 men were slain, she was taken by the assailants, the rest of the vessels meanwhile escaping in every direction. It was at this moment that Howard addressed the following letter to Walsingham, earnestly requesting more powder and shot : — " Sir, — I have received your letter, wherein you ^ ,, , *^ '^ Letter to desire a proportion of shot and powder to be set down Waisingham by me, and sent unto you, which, by reason of the un- certainty of the service, no man can do ; therefore I pray you to send with all speed as much as you can. And, because some of our ships are victualled but for a very short time, and my Lord Henry Seymour with his com- pany not for one day, in like to pray you to despatch away our victuals with all possible speed ; because we know not whether we shall be driven to pursue the Spanish fleet. This morning we drave a galleas ashore before Calais, whither I sent my long-boat to board her, where divers of my men were slain and my lieutenant sore hurt in the taking of her. Ever since, we have chased them in fight so, until this evening late, and dis- 88 FROM THE DEFEAT OP THE ARMADA CHAP. II. tressed them much ; but theh* fleet consisteth of mighty stienotii of ships and gTeat strength, yet we doubt not by God's the enemy, good assistance to oppress them. — And so I bid you heartily farewell. From aboard her majesty's good ship Ark, the 29th of July 1588. Your very loving friend, " T. Howard.-"^ " Sir, — I will not vrrite unto her majesty before more be done. Their force is wonderful great and strong, and yet we pluck their feathers by little and little. I pray to God that tlie forces on the land be strong enough to answer so puissant a force. There is not one Flushinger nor Hollander at the seas."t Dispersion of After the fire-ships exploded, the Spanish admiral the Spanish made a signal for the fleet to resume their station ; his ^^^' own and a few others regained their places ; but the greater number were so dispersed, that the officers could not even see the signals. Some lay near Gravelines ; others had run ashore on the coast of Flanders ; and to complete their disasters, the English, gaming the weather- gage, excluded them from Calais Road, and were able, at the same time, to intercept any succours from Dunku-k. s ss of When the next morning broke they renewed the attack the English, on the Scattered squadrons, and were every where suc- cessful. Drake, Hawkins, Fenton, Raleigh, and soon afterwards the high-admiral, the Earl of Cumberland, Lord Henry Seymour, and Sir Martin Frobisher, all brought their ships to bear with dreadful effect on the dispersed fragments of this gigantic force. A large galleon of Biscay and two ketches were sunk ; the Saint Matthew, commanded by Diego Piemontelli, in attempting to cover the San Philip, which was raked by the Rainbow and Vanguard, received a broadside from Peter Banderdue, a Dutchman, and immediately sur- rendered. Another vessel of the first class was stranded on the coast of Flanders ; and the San Philip, which had * Signed by himself. The body of the letter in a clerk's hand. + This last is in Howard's own hand. TO RALEIGIl's IMPRISONMENT. 89 been so vigorously assailed, having drifted in a disabled chap, il state as far as Ostend, was boarded and taken hy the mariners of Flushing. Every hour now increased the fury of the attack, and Attempted brought new courage to the English, who became assure(] Spanish fleet of victory ; whilst the Spaniards, having abandoned ajl hope of landing, looked for their only safety in flight. This they attempted on the 29th, steering southward to the Straits of Calais ; but the wind shifting to the north- west, threatened to drive them on the coast of Zealand, where the sands and shallows would have proved worse enemies than even the warlike subjects of Elizabeth. The breeze, however, again suddenly veered to south- west, and enabled them to tack and regain the open sea. At night, the Duke de Medina Sidonia called a council ; Spanish and on considering the state of the fleet, the inactivity ^^^^^^ ^^ of the Duke of Parma, and the superiority of their anta- gonists, who had yet lost only one small vessel, it was unanimously resolved to sail round Scotland, and return to Spain by the Orkneys and Ireland.* At this period, after their last encounter on the 29th, Sir Francis Drake addressed the following spirited letter to Secretary Wal- singham, directing his Spanish prisoners, Don Pedro de Valdez and other officers taken in action, to be presented to the queen : — "Most Honourable, — I am commanded to send ^^^J^^'! ^^ ^ these prisoners ashore by my lord-admiral, which had Drake. ere this been long done, but that I thought their being here might have done something, which is not thought meet now. Let me beseech your honour that they may be presented unto lier Majesty, either by your honour or my honourable good lord ray lord-chancellor, or both of ye. Their Don Pedro is a man of great estimation ^^dth the King of Spayne, and thought next in his army to the Duke of Sidonia. That they should be given * Sir William Monson's True and Exact Account of the Wars with Spain, p. 14, in Townshend's Historical Collections. the enemy. 90 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP, n, from me unto any other, it would be some grief to my friends. If her majesty will have them, God defend Delight at but I should think it happy. We have the army of the enlmv ^ Spayne before us, and mind, with the grace of God, to wrestle a fall with them. There was never any thing pleased me better than the seeing the enemy flying with a south wind to the northwards. God grant they have a good eye to the Duke of Pai-ma ; for with the grace of God, if we live, I doubt it not but ere it be long so to handle the matter with the Duke of Sidonia as he shall wish himself at St Marie among his orange-trees. God give us grace to depend upon Him, so shall we not doubt victory, for our cause is good. — Humbly taking my leave, this last of July 1588, your honour's faith- fully to be commanded ever, " Fra. Drake. " P. S. I crave pardon of your honour for my haste, for that I had to watch this last night upon the enemy."* Continued The Spanish admiral now retreated by the north, losses of the h^q hostile squadrons hanging upon his rear, sometimes Spaniards. . . ^, ^ . ° ° , . • j' i i j engagmg m close action, at others seizmg disabled ves- sels, sinking the smaller craft, towing off those driven ashore, and dividing the spoil amongst their crews. But at the moment when the total destruction of the enemy appeared inevitable, the English ships again fell short of ammunition, and were obliged to abandon the Failure of cliase. This untoward circumstance was occasioned English partly by the ill-judged economy of the queen's minis- ammunition, ^gj.^ ^^^ partly also by the neglect of the coast counties in sending deficient supplies for their own ships. " The opportunity was lost," says Sir William Monson, " not through the negligence or backwardness of the lord- admiral, but merely through the want of providence in those that had the charge of furnishing and providing for the fleet ; for, at that time of so great advantage, when they came to examine their provisions, they found * This characteristic letter is now correctly published for the first time. The original is in the State-paper Office. It is to be found, but incorrectly given, in Hardwicke's State Papers. TO Raleigh's imprisonment. 91 a general scarcity of powder and shot, for want of which chap. ii. they were forced to return homt-." Scarcely, however, xotardisper had the Spaniards got rid of one enemy before they sionby were attacked by another still more irresistible ; — a violent hurricane, the frequent visitant of these northern 5eas, drove them upon the neighbouring coasts. Many were wrecked on the shores of Ireland ; many on the Orkneys, the coasts of Galloway, Argyle, or the Western Islands ; whilst a division, driven back into the English Channel, fell into the hands of the queen's cruisers or complete those of her allies. Of 132 ships only 53 returned to loss. Spain, and these so shattered and cut to pieces, with crews so worn out with cold, hunger, and sickness, that the impression made by their appearance was almost as great a cah'knity as the defeat. Such was the fate of the memorable Armada, — a i^po^t, ance of its disco: fiture. fleet of which the Spaniards proudly predicted " that victory must attend it whithersoever it turned its course, and that no English ships would ever dare to intercept it." Its discomfiture was in every respect important ; but chiefly so on account of the triumph it secured for the Protestant faith over the tyranny of the Church of Rome. Under God, England and its high-minded queen were at that moment the great bulwarks of liberty ot conscience and liberty of person in Europe. To crush these, Philip concentrated his utmost powers; ass mbled immense armies; impressed seamen ; put every vessel belonging to pJVJjp /"^ himself or his allies into requisition ; exhausted his ex- chequer ; drew upon the private fortunes of his nobles ; and wearied his wisest counsellors in devising the best way of attack. At last, after three years of incessant activity, he despatched that prodigious armament, which was to sweep his enemies from the seas ; to reduce Bri- tain to the state of a conquered province ; and to esta- blish on its ruins the tribunal of the Inquisition, and the iron fabric of a despotic government. We have seen the issue of these schemes : They were defeated by that Almighty arm which in an instant can bring confusion upon the wisest plans and the most fonnidablc prepara- 92 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA Various sources of uilure. CHAP IL tioiiS of mortal ambition. Any one who patiently ex- iiemarkable amines tlic history of this great enterprise, — not in the providence, abstract given by popular historians, but in the more minute details of contemporary chroniclers, — will dis- cern many circumstances in which the hand of God, at all times overruling the springs of human action, comes out as it were from behmd the cloudy curtain that con- ceals him from his creatures. The sudden death of the Marquis of Santa Cruz, Avhose naval talents were of the highest order, after he had been nominated to the com- mand, led to the appointment of Medina Sidonia, a nobleman totally unfitted for such a post ; the circum- stance of Philip's original orders being departed from ; the intelligence carried by Fleming the pirate ; the insufficiency of Parma's boats and the weakness of his army ; the calms which paralyzed the heavy vessels of the Armada but gave little impediment to the manoeu- vres of their lighter enemies ; the extraordinary changes of wind during the battle, and the dreadful storms which completed their destruction, — all were manifestly pro- vidential ; and amidst the excitement of victory and the universal joy with vvhich it was welcomed by the na- tion, the queen herself and her renowned captains were not backward to acknowledge the overruling might of God, and to ascribe the whole triumph to Him alone. A medal was struck by Elizabeth's orders, with the inscription " Afflavit Deus et dissipantur ;^' and a form of prayer and thanksgiving for the occasion appointed to be used throughout the kingdom. " It was," says Su" William IMonson, one of the queen's ablest com- manders, " the will of Him that directs all men and their actions, that the fleets should meet and the enemy be beaten as they were ; that they should be put fi-om their anchorage in Calais road whilst the Prince of Parma was beleaguered at sea, and their navy driven about Scotland and Ireland with great hazard and loss ; %vhich showeth liow God did marvellously defend us against their dangerous designs. By this, too, we may discern how weak and feeble arc the schemes of man in Commeroor ative medal KtlTiCk. TO RALEiGii's imprison:\ient. 93 respect of the Creator of man, and liow impartially lie chap. ir. dealt between the two nations, sometimes giving to the one sometimes to the other the advantage, yet so that lie alone snpercminently ordered the battle."* The rejoicings for so signal a victory were interrupted Death of the by the royal grief for the^dcath of the Earl of l.eicestcr ; LdJester. and although the people beheld his obsequies with little regret, respect for the queen kept them silent. On the 8th of September eleven banners taken from the Spa nish navy were publicly displayed, and afterwards hung over London Bridge ; but it "vvas not till the 24th of November that Elizabeth exhibited herself to her faith- ful subjects in the garb of festivity and joy. On this day, being Sunday, attended by her privy-council, sur- rounded by a brilliant concourse of nobility, with the foreign ambassadors, the judges and bishops, she made pjocession a procession to St Paul's, seated in a magnificent chariot- andthanks- • ^ . , „ .-i-i 1 1^ 1 1 giving at bt throne, raised on four pillars, and surmounted by a Paul's. canopy, with an imperial crown on the top. It was draAvn by two white horses, and ornamented by a lion and a dragon supporting the arms of England. Around it marched the queen's footmen and pensioners, after whom came the Earl of Essex leading her horse of state richly caparisoned, followed by the ladies of honour, and on each side the royal guard, commanded by Sir Walter Raleigh sumptuously apparelled and armed. At Temple Bar she was received by the lord-mayor and Reception af aldermen ; and amid the sounds of martial music and Temple Bmp the shouts of the companies and trade-corporations, mar- shalled under their various banners, she proceeded to St Paul's. Elizabeth now, falling on her knees, re- turned thanks to the God of battles who had so signally blest her arms with victory ; after which the litany was sung by the whole body of clergy. She then drove back in the same state to her palace at Somerset House by torch-light, amid the acclamations of her subjects. t * Sir Wm, Monson's True Account of the Wars in Spain, p. 14. t Nichol's Progresses of Queen EHzabeth, vol. ii. p. 63-G5. 94 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA Reward of Raleigh's sei-vicea Encoui'ai:;9- ment of Science. CHAP. IL Raleigh's services at this time were rewarded by an augmentation to his patent of wines, which gave him the right to levy tonnage and poundage upon these liquors, — one of the most profitable favours ever conferred on him. The mind of this singular person appears to have been m a state of perpetual activity, and occupied by a variety of projects. Amid the vicissitudes of naval enterprise, the anxieties of foreign invasion, and a con- stant attendance at court, he found time to attend to the interests of science, and to frame the outline of a plan for a more extensive correspondence among literary- men. This is shown by his setting up what he termed " ana office of address," m which, even through the ob- scure and imperfect hints preserved by Lloyd, we may perhaps detect the first germ of those societies which have since become so common throughout Europe. Of such an association the original idea had been given by Montaigne. In a letter of Evelyn's we find the project described, as " that long-dried fountain of communication which jMontaigne first proposed. Sir Walter Raleigh put in practice, and Mr Hartlib endeavoured to revive." It appears, to employ the words of Sir William Petty in a communication to this last, to have been a plan " whereby the wants and designs of all may be made known to all. Where men may know what is already done in the business of learning ; what is at present in doing, and what is intended to be done ; to the end, that by such a general communication of designs and mutual assistance, the wits and endeavours of the world may no longer be as so many scattered coals, which, for want of union are soon quenched ; whereas, being but laid together, they would have yielded a comfortable light and heat. For, methinks, the present condition of men," continues this writer, " is like a field where, a battle having been lately fought, we see many legs, arms, and organs of sense, lymg here and there, which, for want of conjunction, and a soul to quicken and en- liven them, are fit for nothmg but to feed the ravens and infect the air : so we see many wits and ingenuities Onffiii of iiteiaiy ;nid ^oiHiitific society's. TO Raleigh's imprisonment. 95 dispersed up and down tlie world, whereof some are now chap. il labouring to do wliat is already done, and puzzling yj,j„~7 themselves to reinvent what is already invented ; others co-opci-.ition. we see quite stuck fast in difficulties for want of a few directions, which some other man, might he be met withal, both could and would most easily give him. Again, one man wants a small sum of money to carry on some design that requires it ; and there is perhaps another, who has twice as much ready to bestow upon the same design ; but, these two having no means ever to hear the one of the other, the good work intended and desired by both parties does utterly perish and come to nothing."* From these expressions we may gather that Raleigh had felt, and even attempted to correct, the great inconvenience under which science laboured, from the want of that universal mode of com- munication which has been supplied in later times by the institution of societies of learned men in every country in Europe, and by the wide diffusion of their discoveries through the medium of the press. From the contemplation of schemes for the improve- ^, . 1.11 T 1 • iMew ser/ice ment oi science his thoughts were diverted to a service imposed. of a very opposite description. Antonio, king of Portu- gal, who had been deprived of his crown by Philip of Spain, was a refugee at the court of Elizabeth ; and this princess, after the destruction of the Armada, de- termined to retaliate upon the Spaniards, and replace that monarch upon his throne. Economy, however, in ^ , 1 •-,• \ , . .-11 "t ,• • 1 • Economy of her military undertakings was with her a distinguishing Elizabeth, characteristic ; and she was seldom inclined to draw heavily upon her exchequer when she could accomplish her object by the contributions of her subjects. At this moment the military spirit of the nation was so highly excited, that the call was readily answered ; and the queen soon saw an amiy of volunteers 16,000 strong, with a formidable fleet provided at the expense of private gentlemen, many of whom personally embarked in the * Oldys's Life, pp. 115,116. 9b FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP. II. service. Amongst these adventurers was Raleigh, who Share~of ^^^s left US in his History of the World some interesting Raleigh. particulars of the enterprise. To this force Elizabeth added six of her own men-of-war, and contributed a sum Cnntribution of £60,000. The command of the fleet being intrusted of the Queen. ^^ D^ake, and of the land-forces to Norris, the expedition sailed on the 14th of April 1589, looking forward to no- thing less than the conquest of the kingdom of Portugal. TTant of cor- A difference of opinion took place in the outset be- mai co-opera- tween these veterans, who were both of the highest skill in their own peculiar department, but too equal in power, and too confident in their own judgment, to act well together. Norris insisted that they should first attempt a descent at the Groyne (Corunna), where Spam was preparing a new armament for the invasion of England ; after which he purposed to march to Lisbon, whilst the ileet was to sail up the river, and second the operations Plan cf of the land-force. Against this Drake strongly remon- Drake. strated, his plan being to proceed directl}^ to Lisbon, and attack the enemy before they had time to prepare them- selves, — an advice which, had it been followed, would in all probability have led to complete success. But the obstinacy of Norris carried the day, and at first every Failure of the thing appeared to favour his design. The army landed expedition, in the Bay of Ferrol, took the lower town of Corunna, defeated the Spaniards at Puente de Burgos, and invested the higher town. From this moment, however, all went against them. He had no heavy artillery to effect a breach ; the rocky foundation of the city defied the efforts of the miners ; a pestilential disorder broke out in the camp, which thinned the ranks and dispirited the soldiers ; and after some time the army re-embarked, and directed their course towards Portugal. Advantree But it was now too late. The Spaniards, as Drake taken of his ]^ad anticipated, availing themselves of the delay, had fortified the capital, and defended the entrance of the river by so strong a battery, that the admiral considered it madness to attempt the passage. In these circum- stances nothing remained but to re-embark the army. TO RALEIGH S IMPRISONMENT. J)/ after they had partially occupied the suburbs ; and the chai' il expedition returned to England with the loss of 6000 RetunTto men by sickness. If we may believe Birch, of 1100 li^ngiand. gentlemen who embarked, only 850 survived to reach their native country.* The enterprise, however, was not wholly unproductive ; for on their homeward voyage they took sixty vessels bound for Lisbon, laden with . stores. Raleigh and other private adventurers also made prizes of many Easterling hulks, which it was regretted that for want of men they could not carry home. On his return the queen was so highly satisfied with his conduct, that she presented him, in common with others who had distinguished themselves, with a gold chain. t Amongst some unarranged manuscripts in the State- Letter from paper Office, I found, some time since, two characteristic letters of Sir Francis Drake, written to England during this expedition. The first was addressed from the Groyne to Mr Wooley. It is brief and blunt : — " I have neither matter nor leisure to write long. We Account of saw Spain the 23d of April. We landed at Groyne the ^^ ''" '"''^ 24th. We took the lower town of Groyne the 25th with four great ships, divers barks, and 150 pieces of ordnance. The 6th dayof INIay we gave the enemy a great overthrow, wherein were slain near a thousand Spaniards. We have done the King of Spain many pretty services here at this place, yet I believe he will not thank us. I desire of God that the want of meat and powder be not urgent. Five thousand pound in victual before our going out of Eng- land to that in hand, and two thousand pounds in powder, surely would have yielded her majesty and country much greatness. The King of Spain spareth not. nor wanteth no will to do us hurt. God grant we may prevent him ! Humbly taking leave, I beseech God to bless us all and give us grace to live in his fear. From the Groyne, thia 8th May 1589. Your honour's faithfully, " Francis Drake." * Memoirs of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i. p. 61. + Birch's Life of Raleigh, p. 589. 98 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP. II. The second to Secretary Walsingham is more detailed and not less spirited : — Letter to " MosT HoxouRABLE, — The best I can write is, that Waismghara. j presently believe the enemy will not trouble England suddenly. For first, we have destroyed very many of his provisions at Groyne, and so have we done at Lisbon ; and what we ourselves could not well destroy, that hath the enemy burnt himself, as corn, wine, rusk, oil, flesh, and fish, and many other provisions which the king had caused to be provided for some new army. The taking of this their store, and all sails of hulks, fly-boats, and burthens laden with corn and other provisions, will be a Want of pro- gi'eat hindrance to his purposes. Tliere is a great want visions. of corn generally among the people, yet had the king great store of all provisions in his storehouses. If we had not been commanded to the contrary, but had first landed at Lisbon, all had been as we would have desired it ; but God thought it not meet. I assure your honour our sickness is very much, both of our soldiers and mariners. God mitigate it according to his good will and pleasure ! We are not yet thoroughly resolved what service we shall next take in hand : and for that there is as yet no Short sup supplies comc out of England, it causeth our men to P'''"'- droop, and desire much to go for England ; but if God Avill bless us with some little comfortable dew, realen [.9/c], some crowns, or some seasonable bounty for our soldiers and mariners, all will take good heart again although they were half dead. To want meat, munition, and liberty, is too heavy a burthen for a soldier to bear ; specially wlien they must command their people living far from their own country. Thus humbl^^ taking my leave, desiring pardon for my plainness of your honour, praying unto God we may have all power to live in his fear. Written this 2d of June 1589. With yours humbly to be commanded, " Francis Drake. " To the Right Honourable Sir Francis Walsingham, Knight, Prmcipal Secretary to her Majesty." TO Raleigh's iaiprisonmknt. 99 Many years after, during liis captivity in the Tower, chap, il Raleigh, in writing his History of the World, drew from q^ ~.^, the fortunes of this expedition some excellent conclusions of Raielgh. regarding the precautions to be taken by Britain against foreign invasion. " And to say the truth," he observes, " it is impossible for any maritime country, not having the coasts admirably fortified, to del\?nd itself against a powerful enemy that is master of the sea. Hereof I had rather that Spain than England should be an example. Let it therefore be supposed that Philip the Second had fully resolved to hinder Sir John Norris, in the year 1589, from presenting Don Antonio, king of Portugal, before the gates of Lisbon ; and that he would have kept comparative off the English by power of his land-forces, as being too ^'"^''^e of land weak at sea, through the great overthrow of his mighty forces. Armada by the fleet of Queen Elizabeth in the year foregoing. Surely it had not been hard for him to pre- j>are an army that should be able to resist our 11,000. But where should this his arm}'' have been bestowed I If about Lisbon, then would it have been easy unto the English to take, ransack, and burn the town of Groyne, and to waste the country round about it ; for the great and threatening preparations of the Earl of Altemira, the Marquis of Seralba, and others, did not hmder them from performing all this. Neither did the hast}^ levy of 8000, under the Earl of Andrada, serve to more effect than the increase of honour to Sir John Norris and his associates ; Success of considering, that the English charged these at Puente xoirS'" de Burgos, and passing the great bridge behind which they lay, that was flanked with shot and barricadoed at the further end, routed them, took their camp, took their general's standard with the king's arms, and pursued them over all the country, which tliey fired. If a royal army, and not, as this was, a company of private adven- turers, had thus begun the war in Galicia, I think it would have made the Spaniards to quit the guard of Portugal, and make haste to the defence of their Saint Jago, whose temple was not far from the danger. But, had they held their first resolution, as knowing that Sir :he landing. it of Kssex, 100 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP. II. John Norris's main intent was to bring Don Antonio Impossibility "^vith an army into his kingdom, whither coming strong, ;>f iiiii'^ieTinfr he expected to be readily and joyfully welcomed, could they have liindered his landing in Portugal ? Did he not land at Penicha, and march over the country to Lisbon, six days' journey I Did not he, when all Don Antonio's promises failed, pass along by the river of Lisbon to Cas- caliz, and there, having won the fort, quietly embark his men and depart f* So ably, we see, did this remarkable man, out of the fruits of former experience, extract the spirit of counsel and wisdom against parallel difficulties. Advonturous When Norris was on his way from Corunna to Por- tugal, he was joined by the Earl of Essex, who, unknown to the queen, of whom he was then the reigning favour- ite, had stolen from England, with the ardour of a young knight eager to share in the dangers of the enterprise. With him came his tried follower Sir Roger Williams, a veteran bred in Geimany under the great Conde, and who afterwards served in Spain with much credit. Be- tween this soldier, whose manners, if w^e may judge from his style of writing, were blunt and overbearing, and the ambitious and courteous Raleigh, there occurred a difFer- Enniity to ence whicli broughtdown upon him the enmity of the earl, who warmly espoused the quarrel of his friend.t Had this animosity continued, it might have drawn after it con- sequences fatal to Sir Walter. But it seems at this time to have been of short duration, although afterwards they were thrown by the course of events into rival factions. Essex was in truth an extraordinary man ; and it is * History of the World, vol. vi. pp. 98, 99. t We have seen, however (supra, p. 6-2), that the enmity of Essex was of older standing ; and although it is difficult to trace the early rivalry of courtiers, it is not unlikely that, as some authors of the time conjecture, Leicester, getting jealous of the rising fortunes of Raleigh, brought Essex, his stepson, to court, that he might draw off from Sir Walter the excessive partiahty of the queen. The event showed Leicester's know- ledge of the character of his mistress ; for, from the moment of his arrival at court, Essex became the pre-eminent favourite. It is certain, however, that any animosity which existed between him and Raleigh was soon, at least apparently, composed. Raleifih. TO l{ALEIGIl's IMPRISONMENT. 101 (asy to conceive that, not only from his influence over chap. Ii. ihc queen but liis own excellent qualities, Sir Walter character of should, notwithstanding the disparity of their years, have Essex. been desirous of his friendship. Introduced at court when only seventeen, and executed in his thirty-fourth year, it is impossible, when we consider how much great- ness was crowded into this brief space, to withhold from him our pity and admiration. His fortune and patronage were lavished upon his friends with unexampled gene- rosity. He was an accomplished scholar and an excellent Acquire- commander, though he sometimes forgot the prudence of "^®°*^ the general in the ardour of the knight ; and, young as he was, he had studied the foreign policy of England with an acuteness which, in regard to the expediency of a war with Spain, led him to a more judicious conclusion than was suggested even by the matured experience of Burleigh. His few state-papers are written with an His state elegance far superior to his age ; and the scheme of i^'^P^^^ government which he had adopted for Ireland, instead of meriting that burst of indignation which refused to be satisfied with any thing short of his disgrace, is marked by a deep and intimate knowledge of the real interests of that misgoverned country. There was even some- thing great in the qualities which hastened his fall. Had he compromised his own dignity and uprightness. Causes of by humouring the foibles and flattering the vanity of the ^^^^ ^'^'^' queen, he might have retiimed his influence and defied his enemies ; but while she treated him alternately with the fondness of a love-sick mistress and the rage of a royal tyrant ; whilst at the venerable age of sixty-eight she exhibited all the phases of the tender passion, — smiling, weeping, caressing, reproaching, now admitting him to her bedside, and next moment fulminating a sen- tence of perpetual banishment, he grew tired of such absurdity, and disdained to continue the slave of so strange and imperious a passion. Some writers have given them- selves much trouble in forming theories to account for the sudden rise of Essex at court. Born, as he was, to greatness, it would have been far more extraordinary 102 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP. II. High lineage. Romantic partiality of the Queen. Account of a quarrel between Raleigh and KsseK. Fiiendship of Raleigh and Spenser. had he not risen. He was by his mother related to the queen, besides being of noble lineage by the father, — cii"cumstances \yhich Elizabeth never overlooked. His guardian was her great minister Burleigh ; his tutor the famous Whitgift, afterwards primate of England ; and at ten years old, soon after his father's death, it was said of him by Waterhouse, who was no mean judge, that there was then no man so strong in friends as the little Earl of Essex. The principal cause, no doubt, of his rapid exalta- tion to power, greater than any former favourite possessed, was the romantic partiality of his royal mistress ; but, independently of this, his own abilities, fortune, and station must have brought him into notice. At the time of which we now write (the expedition to Lisbon) his age was not above twenty-two, and Elizabeth had already loaded him with favours, created him general of horse in the camp at Tilbury, and given him the order of the Garter, To return to Raleigh : It is the opinion of some authors, that about this time a coolness, perhaps an actual quarrel, had occurred between him and Essex ; and tliere is a contemporary letter preserved by Birch, which affirms that " My Lord of Essex had chased Raleigh from court ;" but the whole story is obscure. It is certain that, whether from necessity or convenience, he repaired to Ireland, and after examining his estates there, visited Spenser at Kilcolman, where the poet then resided. Amid all his cares and ambition. Sir Walter had never deserted the muses ; and he now renewed with ardour his friendship with their favourite son. He and the bard had become acquainted during the havoc and tumult of war. But the country was now at peace ; and in the romantic castle, which the royal bount}^ had made the property of the poet, their literary studies were pursued with mutual profit and delight. Of this meeting Spenser, m his beautiful pastoral, entitled " Colin Clout's come Home again," has left an account, disguised indeed by the colouring of a poetical imagination, but " agreeing," he informs us, "with the truth in circumstance and matter."'"* * Dedication of Colin Clout to Sir Walter Raleigh. 'ORTRAIT OF EDMUND SPEXSEH. Page lOa. TO RALEIGH'S IMPRISONMENT. ]05 Ho represents himself, while seated under the green chap it. alders by the romantic river Mulla meditatin": his rural c — T •' ° Spenser 8 minstrelsy, as suddenly addressed by a stranger who calls description himself the Shepherd^ of the Oce««,— describing Raleigh ''^ ^^^'^'^''• under this fanciful appellation. " One day (quoth he) I sat, as was my trade, Under the foot of Mole, that mountain hore, Keeping my sheep amongst the cooly shade Ot the green alders by the IMulla's shore ; There a strange shepherd chanced to find mc out,— Whether ahured Avith my pipe's delight. Whose pleasing sound yshrilled far about. Or thither led by chance, I knew not right, — Whom, when I asked from what place he came. And how he hight ? himself he did ycleep The Shepherd of the Ocean by name, And said, he came far from the main sea deep. He, sitting me beside in that same shade, Provoked me to play some pleasant fit ; And when he heard the musick which I made, He found himself full greatly pleased at it."* The stranger soon after borrows the pastoral reed of Ascription of Colin Clout, and in tuneful rivalry displays his cunning ^"^"'^ ^ in the art : — " Yet, semuling my pipe, he took in hond i\ly pipe, before that aemuled of many, And played thereon, (for well that skill he conn'd,) Himself as skilful in that art as any. He piped, I sung ; and, when he sung, I piped ; By change of turns, each making other merry ; Neither envying other, nor envied : So piped we, until we both were weary."'}' Thest^'lis, one of the " swains that did about him Allusions to play," inquires what was the ditty sung by Raleigh ; ^nzabetb and Spenser's answer, making allowance for its poetical drapery, corroborates the idea that he was suffering under the temporary displeasure of Elizabeth, whom he styles Cynthia the Lady of the Sea : — " That shall I eke (quoth he) to you declare, — His song was all a lamentable lay Of great unkindness and of usage hard, Of Cynthia the Lady of the Sea, Which from lier presence, faultless, him debarr'd : * Todd's Spenser, vol. Tiii. p. 8. t Ibid. p. 9. 106 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP, n. And ever and anon with singiilfs rife, He cried out, to make his undersong, — Ah ! my love's queen, and goddess of my life ! Who shall me pity when thou dost me -wrong ?"* Poetic advice The Shej^lierd of the Ocean, pitying that luckless lot to Raleigh, which had banished Colm into a waste where he was forgotten, persuaded this tuneful wight to wend wdth him to behold his Cynthia, — in plain prose, Raleigh invited Spenser to court, that he might be introduced to the queen. The voyage to England, the wonders of the deep, and the noble description of the vessel huge " that danced upon the waters back to lond," must be familiar to all the lovers of English poetry in its best days. The description of the happiness of his country Happiness of under the maiden queen, as contrasted wdth the miseries "° ^" which the poet had lately witnessed, is striking and beautiful : — " Both heaven and heavenly graces do much more (Quoth he) abound in that same land than this ; For there all happy peace and plenteous store Conspire in one to make contented bliss. No wailing there — nor wretchedness is heard ; No bloody issues — nor no leprosies ; No griesly famine — ^nor no raging sweard ; No nightly bordragsf — ^nor no hue and cries. The shepherds there abroad may safely lie On hills and doAvns, mthouten dread or danger. No ravenous wolves the good man's hope destroy ; No outlaws fell affrav the forest ranger ; There learned arts do flourish in great honour : And poets' wits are had in peerless price ; Religion hath lay power to rest upon her. Advancing virtue and suppressing vice. For end, all good, all grace there freely grows, Had people grace it gratefully to use ; For God his gifts there plenteously bestows. But graceless men them greatly do abuse." J Tiie Fairy But the visit of Raleigh had more important conse- quences. During his residence at Kilcolman, Spenser submitted to him the three first cantos of his Fairy Queen, then in an unfinished state. It is a common • Todd's Spenser, vol. viii. p. 13. + Bor drags, border ravages. 1 Todd's Spenser, vol. viii. p." 20. TO RALEIGIl's IMPRISONMENT. J (7 opinion that tlie poet was encouraged to commence this chap, il great work hy the patronage of Sir Philip Sidney.* It Advi^o, appears to liave been the reverse. The knight, with sir Piruip Dyer, a youthful critic of those times, and a fantastic ^''^"^^* person named Gabriel Harvey, employed every effort to dissuade this great writer from attempting any com- position in rhyme ; and I strongly suspect that it is to the discernment of Raleigh we owe the first publication of his noble work. There are extant repeated letters from Harvey, in which he congratulates Spenser, who had begun but thrown aside his romantic poem, on be- coming a convert to a capricious scheme for the expul- sion of rhyme from English literature, and reducing the structure of our versification within the rules of Latin prosody. Of this project Sidney and Dyer were the Opposition to chief promoters ; and, instead of applauding the Knight ^^'^ °^ of Penshurst as the patron of the Fairy Queen, it is difficult, without some indignation, to read his frigid criticism upon its author,+ and his good friend Master Gabriel Harvey's ridiculous and tasteless remarks upon the portion wliich had been submitted to him, without trembling for the probable consequences. Had this delightful poet listened to their pedantic dogmatism, the shades of Penshurst might have become the grave of the Fairy Queen. The reader is perhaps not aware how nearly this catastrophe had happened : « And now," says Spenser, in one of his early letters to Harvey, Letter of " they (Sidney and Dyer) have proclaimed in their ^P'"'"'' Areopago a general surceasing and silence of bald rhymers, and also of the very best too ; instead whereof they have, by authority of their whole senate, prescribed certain laws and rules of quantities of English syllables for English verse, having had thereof already great prac- tice, and drawn me to their faction :'% And in the same letter, a little after, he observes, " But I am of late * Oldys's Life, p. 125. Cayley's Life, p. 113. Todd's Life Spenser, p. liii. t Defence of Poesy, p. 513. + Todd's Life, vol. i. p. xx. 108 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP. II. more in love with my English versifying than witli Teniporaiy ^'^y^^^^oj which I should have done long since, if I abandonment would then have followed your counsel." Happily his Queen. ^^^^ adoption of these opinions only made him abandon for a time his great work, which he probably did not resume till some years after. On being visited, however, by Raleigh, his ardour for the new scheme of poetical re- formation had cooled, and he produced the unfinished cantos. The effect seems to have been immediate. With the intuition of real genius, the Shepherd of the Ocean at once detected the pure ore of heavenly poesy. He was no adept in the new school of taste.* He thought probably, with the witty satirist Nash, that the " Hexameter Verse, though granted to be a gentleman of ancient house, yet was not likely to thrive in this clime of ours, the soil being too craggy for him to set his plough m." He had himself in his youthful days written some beautiful pieces. One stanza of his reply to the Passionate Shepherdess is worth the united lucu- brations of Sidney, Dyer, and Gabriel Harvey. He Introduction invited Spenser to accompany him to England ; the Ou^en^^^^ ^° consequence was, the poet's introduction to Queen Elizabeth. Elizabeth, and the publication of the first three books of the Fairy Queen, dedicated, in the first instance, <* To the Most High, Mightie, and Magnificent Em- presse Elizabeth," and introduced to the reader's notice and " better understanding" by a letter to Raleigh, ex- plaining the intention of the author in the course of his work, which he describes as a continued allegory or dark conceit. Appreciation From all this we see that Sir Walter fully appreciated Pwdeigh. the pre-eminent merit of his friend ; whilst Sidne}"", Dyer, and Harvey, would have turned him from the field where he was destined to acquire such glory, and persuaded him, with perverted taste, to devote himself * Zoucli, in his Life of Sidney, p. 153, without any authority, enlists Raleigh as a follower of the new school. 'Every evi- •ionce that remaius shows the reverse. TO RxVLEIGIl's IMPRISONMENT. 309 to their fantastic projects. Raleigh however anticipated CIIAP a the judgment of Milton and Dryden, and the sentence Raieigii-a pronounced by every succeeding age of English literature. ^^^^^^ In his introductory stanzas to the poet, he does not hesitate to prefer the music of his sweet shell to that of every other native author ;* and in a beautiful sonnet, which we cannot refrain from quoting, he assigns to him a higher rank than Petrarch, predicting the triumph of the Fairy Queen over the spotless mistress of the Italian sonnet bard : — " Methought I saw the gi'ave where Laura lay, Within that temple where the vestal flame Was wont to burn ; and passing by that way To see that buried dust of living fame, Whose tomb fair Love and fairer Virtue kept : All suddenly I saw the Fairy Queen ; At whose approach the soul of Petrarch wept, And, from thenceforth, those Graces were not seen : For they this queen attended, in whose stead ObHvion laid him down on Laura's hearse ; Hereat the hardest stones were seen to bleed, _ And groans of buried ghosts the heavens did pierce ; Where Homer's spright did tremble all for griefe. And cursed th' access of that celestial thiefe.' To Raleigh, on the other hand, wdiose tuneful numbers Spenser's had thus shadowed out his coming fame, Spenser ad- Raieigiu dressed a sonnet, which, with many others now little read but worthy of all praise, is prefixed to his poem :— « To thee, that art the summer's nightingale, Thy soveraine goddess's most dear delight, Why do I send this rustick madrigale, ^ That may thy tuneful ear unseason quite ? Thou only fit this argument to write. In whose high thoughts Pleasure hath built her boure, And dainty Love learned sweetly to indite : Mv rhimes I know unsav'ry are and soure, To taste the streames which, like a golden shoure, Flow from thy fruitful head, of thy love s praise, Fitter perhaps to thunder martial stoure, When so thee list thy lofty muse to raise : Yet till that thou thy poeme wilt make knowne, ^^ Let thy faire Cynthia's praises be thus rudely showne. * « Of me no lines are loved, nor letters are of price, , Of all that speak our English tongue, but those of thy device. no tro:m the defeat of the armada CHAP. II. It appears from this sonnet, and from Spenser's letters, Allusions to a that the Ocean Shepherd had written a poem in praise iost poein of of Elizabeth under the name of Cynthia. In two fine stanzas of the introduction to the third book of the Fairy Queen, containing the Legend of Britomartis or Chastit}^, allusion is again made to the poem of Raleigh: — " But if in hving colours and right hue Thyself thou covet to see pictured, Who can it do more lively, or more true. Than that sweet verse, Avith nectar sprinkeled, In which a gracious servant pictured His Cynthia, his heaven's fairest light ? That with his melting sweetness ravished, And with the wonder of her beame's bright, My senses lulled are in slumber of delight. " But let that same delicious poet lend A little leave unto a rustick muse To sing his mistress' praise ; and let him mend, If aught amiss her liking may abuse : Ne let his fairest Cynthia refuse In mirrours more than one herself to see ; But either Gloriana let her choose. Or in Belphcebe fashioned to be ; In th' one her rule, in th' other her rare chastitie." Fairy Queen, b. iii. Introd. §§ 4, 5. The work thus highly praised by Spenser, — the "sweet verse with nectar sprinkeled," — has perished ; yet enough of his poetry remains to justify the encomium of Colin Clout. ■• But though I have ventured to maintain that the common opinion, which connects the Fairy Queen with the patronage of Sidney, is erroneous, and that to Ra- leigh's enthusiastic praise is to be ascribed the first appearance of that delightful poem, it is far from my wish to depreciate the real merits of the Kjiight of Pens- hurst. Of this jewel of his time Horace Walpole's character is too severe, and that of his biographer Zouch too encomiastic. Respecting his universality of talent some remarks have been already given ; and there is a unity and propriety about him which provoked Walpole, Opinion of the author. Merits of Sidney. * Another allusion to Raleigh will be found in the fourth book of the Fairy Queen, canto vii. § 36. TO RALEIGll's IMPKISONMENT. Ill who delighted in detecting foibles. That he possessed csi.vr IL high or original genius, no one wlio has lulled himself Exte^of iiis asleep over his interminable Arcadia will hastily affirm, genius. His patronage of the poet was kind, and the latter im- measurably repaid it by embalming his memory in his " Astrophel," one of the most finished and beautiful elegies in the English language ; but it is evident his taste was vitiated, and that he failed to appreciate the true excellence of Spenser's genius. The lowly lays which Sidney encouraged him to sing, were probably the uncouth attempts of their new school of poetry to destroy the lofty fabric of English rhyme. It is to Raleigh, if to any one, we owe the restoration of the bard to the regions where he could soar freely with his singing-robes about him, — a service to the literature of his country which ought not soon to be forgotten. How long Sir Walter remained in Ireland is uncer- Residence o( tain ; but from the following letter to his kinsman Sir f^^^^^l "^ George Carew, dated December 1589, the displeasure of the queen seems to have been of short continuance : — "' CousEN George, — For my retreat from the court Letter to it was upon good cause, to take order for my prize. If cavS"'" in Ireland they think that I am not worth the respect- ing, they shall much deceive themselves. I am in place to be believed not inferior to any man, to pleasure or displeasure the greatest, and my opinion is so received and believed as I can anger the best of them ; and there- fore, if the Deputy be not as ready to stead me as I have been to defend hiui, ho as it may. When Sir William Fitzwilliams shall be in England, I take myself far his betters by the honourable offices I hold, as also by that nighness to her majesty, which still I enjoy, and never more. I am willing to continue towards him all friendly offices, and I doubt not of the like from him, as well towards me as my friends."* ♦Published by Todd, Life of Spenser, vol. i. p. xciv. from tl.e original in the Carew MS. in the Lambeth Palace, No. 605. 112 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE AKMADA CHAP. ir. Benevolent interference on behalf of Udall and Spring. Vindication of Sir R. Grenville. Action at the Azorta Raleigh's reviving influence, however proudly it is asserted in this letter, was benevolently employed. It saved from death Mr John Udall, a pious minister, whose zeal for the reformation of Episcopacy had offended the queen, and brought down upon him the vengeance of lier bishops and judges. He also interceded in behalf of a brave officer named Spring, to whom the govern- ment owed a large sum, which was unjustly withheld, although the veteran had received many wounds in her majesty's service. It is reported that Elizabeth, some- what irritated at these and similar applications for the unfortunate, on his telling her one day he had a favour to ask, impatiently exclaimed, " When, Sir Walter, will you cease to be a beggar V To which he made the noted answer, " When your gracious majesty ceases to be a benefactor."* It was about this time he published a vindication of the memory of Sir Richard Grenville, a brave and able naval commander during the reign of Elizabeth. This officer had been blamed for his conduct in the expedition agamst the Spanish Plate-fleet at the Azores, — an enter- prise projected by Sir Walter, and in which the other lost his life under circumstances that not only shield him from censure, but entitle him to the highest praise. The action was so extraordinary, that it well merits re- cital : Its object was to surprise the Spanish fleet when it rendezvoused at the Azores on its return from Ame- rica. For this purpose Lord Thomas Howard sailed from England with six of the queen's ships, six victual- lers, and some pinnaces ; Sir Richard Grenville being vice-admiral in the Revenge. Having set out in the spring of 1591, they waited six months at Flores in expec- tation of their prize. Philip, however, obtaining intel- ligence of their design, despatched Don Alphonso Bacan with fifty-three ships of w^ar to act as convoy. So secure liad the English become by protracted delay, that this armament was bearing down upon them before they had Oldys's Life, pp. 137, 142. TO RALEIGU S IMPRISONMENT. 1 1 3 the least suspicion of its approach. Most of the crows cnAi'. ii were on shore providing water, ballast, and other neces- pais"" saries, and many were disabled by sickness. To hurry rity of tiie" on board, weigh anclior, and leave the place with the ^"e^^^'^- utmost speed, was their only safety ; and Grenville, upon whom the charge of the details at this pressing crisis was imposed, was the last upon the spot, superintending the embarkation, and receiving his men on board, which, ow- ing to the great number of his sick required a long time. Thus detained, he found it impossible to recover the wind, and there was no alternative but either to cut his mainsail, tack about, and flee with all speed, or remain and fight it out single-handed. It was to this desperate resolution that he adhered. " Through the greatness Desperate of his spirit," says Raleigh, " he utterly refused to turn braveiy. from the enemy, protesting he would rather die than be guilty of such dislionour to himself, his country, and her majesty's ship. His design was to force the squa- dron of Seville, which was on his weather-bow, to give way ; and such was the impetuosity of his attack that it was on the point of being successful. Divers of the Spaniards, springing their loof, as the sailors of those times termed it, brought their ships' heads nearer the wind, during which manoeuvre the Saint Philip, a gal- leon of 1500 tons, coming down on the Revenge, be- calmed her sails so completely that she could neither make way nor obey the helm. The enemy carried three tier of guns on each side, and discharged eight foreright from her chase, besides those of her stern-ports. At the Lonp con- moment Sir Richard was thus entangled, four other tinuance of galleons bore up and boarded him, two on his larboard and two on his starboard. The close fight began at three in the afternoon and continued with some slight inter- mission for fifteen hours, during which time Grenville, unsupported, sustained the reiterated attack of fifteen Spanish ships, the rest not being able to engage in close fire The unwieldy Saint Philip, having received a ])roadside from the lower tier of the Revenge, shifted with all speed, and avoided the repetition of such a 1 1 4 FR03I THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP. IL salute ; but still as one was beaten off another supplied Oveipower- the vacant place. Two galleons were sunk, and two ing numbers others SO handled as to lie complete wrecks upon the ot tlie enemy. . . , , ^ , , water ; yet it was evident no human power could save Sir Richard's vessel. Although wounded m the begin- ning of the action, its brave commander for eight hours refused to leave the upper-deck. He was then shot through the body, and as his wound was dressing he received another musket-ball, and saw the surgeon slain at his side. Such was the state of things during the night ; but the darkness concealed the full extent of the calamity. As the light broke, a melancholy spec- tacle presented itself. " Now," says Raleigh, " was to Total wreck be seen nothing but the naked hull of a ship, and that ot iiis ship, almost a skeleton, having received eight hundred shot of great artillery, and some under water ; her deck covered with the limbs and carcasses of forty valiant men, tlie rest all wounded, and weltering in or covered with their own blood ; her masts all beaten overboard, all her tackle cut asunder, her upper- works rased, and all in effect levelled with the water ; incapable of any further management or motion but what the billows gave her." At this moment GrenviUe proposed to sink Stin-enders. the vessel, and trust to the mercy of God, rather than fall into the hands of the Spaniards, — a resolution in which he was joined by the master-gunner and a part of the crew ; but the rest refused to consent, and per- suaded their commander to surrender. Faint with loss of blood, and like his ship shattered by repeated wounds, this brave man soon after expired, with these remark- able words : — " Here die I, Richard Grenville, with a joyful and quiet mind, having ended my life like a true soldier, that has fought for his country, queen, religion, and honour." Difence of To defend the memory of this officer, which had been lib iiieiuoiy. yjjj^g^jy aspersed. Sir Walter drew up his report of the action ; nor could the vindication of his kinsman's fame have fallen into better hands. In the conclusion he enlarges on the ambitious character and policy of tlie TO RALEIGH S IMPRISONMENT. 115 Spaniards in a strain of impetuous declamation, which chap. it. we quote as a specimen of the superiority of his prose . T— to the writers of his time :— "Formatter of religion, it tii'fspri-'"' would require a particular volume to set down liow irre- '"'"^^ ligiousl J they cover their greedy and ambitious practices with that veil of piety ; for, sure I am, there is no kingdom or commonwealth in all Europe but, if re- formed, they invade it for religion sake : if it be, as they term, Catliolic, they pretend title ; as if the kings of Castile were the natural heirs of all tlie world : and so, between both, no kingdom is unsought. Where they dare not with their own forces invade, they basely en- tertain the traitors and vagabonds of all nations; seeking by those and their renegade Jesuits to win parts ; and have l)y that means ruined many noble houses and others in this land, and have extmguished both their lives and families. What good, honour, or fortune, ever man yet by them achieved, is yet unheard of, or unwritten. And if our English Papists do but look into Portugal, against which they have no pretence of religion ; how PoTSi."'' the nobility are put to death, imprisoned ; their rich men made a prey, and all sorts of people captived ; they shall find tliat the obedience even of the Turk is easy, and a liberty, in respect of the slavery and tyranny of Spain. Wliat have they done in Sicily, Naples, Milan, and the Low Countries ? Who hath there been spared for religion at all ? * * * Who would therefore repose trust in such a nation of ravenous strangers ; and espe- cially in those Spaniards, who more greedily thirst after English blood, than after the lives of any other people £^^2** in Europe, for the many overthrows and dishonours they have received at our hands, whose weakness we have discovered to the world, and whose forces at home, abroad, in Europe, in India, by sea and land, we have, even with handfuls of men and sliips, overthrown and dishonoured ? * * To conclude : it hath ever to this day pleased God to prosper and defend her majesty, to break the purposes of malicious enemies, of forsworn traitors, and of unj ust practices and invasions. She hath 116 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP. II. Defence and honour of the Quetn. Favourable effects on Elizabeth. Expedition against Panama. ungenerous conduct of the Queen. ever been honoured of the worthiest kings ; served by faithful subjects ; and shall, by the favour of God, resist, repel, and confound all whatsoever attempts against her sacred person or kingdom. In the mean time, let the Spaniards and traitors vaunt of their success ; and we, her true and obedient vassals, guided by the shining light of her virtues, shall always love her, serve her, and obey her to the end of our lives,"* Such a spirited detection of the treacherous policy of Elizabeth's great enemy, with the attachment to her person and government which it displays, was highly acceptable to the queen, and disposed her to lend a. favourable ear to a proposal of Raleigh for an expedition against Panama, combined with a second scheme for intercepting the Plate-fleet. In this enterprise he im- pi-udently invested his whole private fortune, and engaged many of his friends ; whilst his royal mistress, guided by her own judgment and the counsels of Burleigh, assisted them sparingly. The ships of the gentlemen adventurers were thu'teen, well manned and provisioned ; those of the crown, only two men of war, — the Garland and the Foresight. Raleigh was appointed admiral, ar.d Sir John Burgh vice-admiral. But, though they sailed in February, they were long detained by contrary winds, as well as by the rigid and cautious economy of the sovereign. Nothing indeed can be more remarkable than the popularity of this princess, and the ardour with which she was served by men whom she treated with undue suspicion and severity. This is evident from Raleigh'a letter to Sir Robert Cecil, in which the queen is ex- hibited insisting on as hard a bargain as possible with a subject who was venturing life and fortune in her service : — l^iotter to CeciL " Sir, — I received your letters this present day at Chatham, concerning the wages of the mariners and others. For mine own part, I am very willing to enter * Report of the Truth of the Fight about the Isles of the Azcras, 4to, 1591. 117 bond, as yoii persuaded me, so as the privy seal be first chap. ii. sent for my enjoying the third. But, I pray, consider RcmorT" that I have hiid all that I am worth, and must do, ere I strance. depart on this voyage. If it fall not out well, I can but lose all ; and if nothing be remaining, wherewith should I pay the wages ? Besides, her majesty told me herself that she was contented to pay her part, and my lord- admiral his, and I should but discharge for mine own ships. And further, I have promised her majesty, that if I can Proposefl persuade the companies to follow Sir Martin Frobisher, ^^^P^^^i^ion. I will, without fail, return and bring them out into the •sea but some fifty or threescore leagues, for which pur- pose my lord-admiral hath lent me the Disdain ; which to do, her majesty many times, with great grace, bade me remember, and sent me the same message by Will. Kilhgrew, which, God willing, if I can persuade the companies, I mean to perform, though I dare not be acknown thereof to any creature. But, sir, for me then to be bound for so great a sum upon the hope of another man's fortune, I will be loath ; and, besides, if I were able, I see no privy seal for my thirds. I mean not to Fai>e reports come away, as they say I will, for fear of a marriage, and I know not what. If any such thing were, I would have imparted it unto yourself before any man living ; and therefore, I pray, believe it not, and I beseech you to suppress what you can any such malicious report. For, I protest before God, there is none on the face of the earth that I would be fastened unto. — And so in haste I take my leave of your honour. From Chatham, the 10th of March."* The report, to which allusion is made in this letter, intrigiie. of his having come away for fear of a marriage, arose out of an intrigue he had carried on with Elizabeth Throgmorton, one of the queen's maids of honour, — a lady of great beauty and accomplishments, to whom he * Ralci^^h's Miscellaneous Works, vol, viii. p. Co8. J 18 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP. ir. was soon after united.* On discovering the story, the Marriage of ^^een was highly incensed hoth at the frailty of her Uiiieigii. female attendant and the temerity of her favourite Ra- leigh, in presuming to fall in love and marry without her consent. It was one of the foibles of this great prin- cess to insist that the whole admiration of her courtiers should be concentrated upon herself; and if, in this Infii,^nation "^^J^^ monopoly of gallantry, any lady of her court, or of tiie Queen, ofhcer of her household, ventured to interfere, the cer- tain consequence was her severest displeasure. The anecdote of her striking the beautiful Mrs Bridges, be- cause Essex had shoAvn her some attention, is well known ;t and it is evident that Raleigh had already felt the malice of his enemies in turning this story of the fair Throgmorton to his prejudice. In the mean time he sailed ; but had scarcely reached the open sea, when „ , , Sir Martin Frobisher overtook him with orders for his Commanac'd mi i to return, return. These, however, he chose to overlook, until he became certain, by speaking a vessel from the Azores, that there was no chance of success ; as Philip, aware of the expedition, had countennanded the departure of the fleet. He then put about liis ship, having first stationed Sir John Burgh with one squadron at those islands ; whilst Sir Martin Frobisher with the other was directed to cruise near the South Cape and watch the Spanish coast. Success -,f liis -^^^ arrangements were crowned with success; for arranges- whilst the latter kept the Spaniards at home, dreading meius. ^ descent, the Indian carracks were allowed to fall into the hands of Burgh. One of these, the Madre de Dios, 1600 tons, was the largest prize at that time ever brought to England, and valued by Raleigh and Sir John Haw- kins, the principal adventurers in the expedition, at £500,000. J The sailors, soldiers, and officers, however, * The letter may have been written after a private marriage had taken place. + Sidney Letters, vol, ii. p. 38. :J: Amongst the Hatfield MSS. are some papers, showing the wealth of this prize. TO RALEIGn's IMPRISONMENT. 119 having embezzled tlie richest part of the cargo, consisting chap, ii of jewels, she ultimately fell far short of this estimate. Emb^zk- By this time the royal anger on account of the amour ment of tiie with Miss Throgmorton had risen to a high pitch ; and^^"''^ the moment Sir Walter set his foot ashore, he and his mistress were committed to the Tower. Not content with this, Elizabeth claimed the largest share of the prize, on the ground that one of her ships was present at the capture ; and appeared so determined upon severe measures, that the enemies of the prisoner thought they might safely treat him with the insolence so soon assumed by the minions of a court towards a fallen favourite. Raleigh, however, knew the queen's weakness. He^y^j^T.j,g^j, ^- had always addressed her not only as his sovereign, buttheQaecn. as the mistress of his heart, the beautiful arbitress of his affections ; and a scene which was acted in his prison gives us a graphic though somewhat degrading account of a courtier's stratagem to obtain his release. It is described in the followmg letter of Sir Arthur Gorges to Sii" Robert Cecil : — "Honourable Sir, — I cannot choose but advertise better of Sir you of a strange tragedy that this day had like to have Arthur fallen out between the captain of the guard, Sir Walter ''^^'^'^^ Raleigh, and the lieutenant of the ordnance, if I had not by great chance come at the very instant to have turned it into a comedy. For upon the report of her majesty's being at Sir George Carey's, Sir Walter Raleigh having gazed and sighed a long time at his study- window, from whence he might discern the barges and boats about the Blackfriars' Stairs, suddenly he brake out into a great ^g^,^^^^ distemper, and sware that his enemies had on purpose wssion of brought her majesty thither to break his gall in sunder "^^^'^'^ with Tantalus' torment, that Avhen she went away, he might gaze his death before his eyes ; with many such like conceits. And as a man transported with passion, he sware to Sir George Carew, that he would disguise liimself, and get into a pair of oars, to ease his mind but with a sight of the queen, or else lie protested his heart 120 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP. IL would break. But tlie trusty jailor would none of that Struggle for displeasing the higher powers as he said, which he with the more respected than the feeding of his humour ; and so ^ * flatly refused to permit him. But, in conclusion, upon this dispute, they fell flat out to choleric outrageous words, with straining and struggling at the doors, that all lameness was forgotten, and in the fury of the con- flict, the jailor he had his new periwig torn off his cro\\Ti, and yet here the battle ended not, for at last they had gotten out their daggers, which, when I saw, I played the stickler between them, and so purchased such a rap on the knuckles that I wished both their pates broken ; and so with much ado they stayed their brawl to see my bloody fingers. At the first I was ready to break with laughing to see them two scramble and l3rawl like mad- men, until I saw the iron walking, and then I did my best to appease the fury. As yet I cannot reconcile them Pretended by any persuasions, for Sir Walter swears, that he shall indignation, [ja^g \^^^ for go restraining him from the sight of his mistress, while he lives ; for that he knows not, as he said, whether ever he shall see her again, when she has gone the progress. And Sir George, on his side, swears, that he had rather he should lose his longing, than that he would draw on him her majesty's displeasure by such liberty. Thus they continue in malice and snarling, but I am sure all the smart lighted on me. I cannot tell whether I should more allow of the passion- ate lover, or the trusty jailor. But if yourself had seen Mirth of the ^^ ^ ^ ^^^j 7^'^ would have been as heartily merry and writer. sorry as ever you were in all your life for so short a time. I pray you pardon my hasty-written narration, which I acquaint you with, hoping you will be the peace-maker. But, good sir, let nobody know thereof, for I fear Sir Walter Raleigh will shortly grow to be Orlando Furioso, if the bright Angelica persevere against him a little longer. — Your honour's," &c. To this amusing letter Gorges added this postcript : " If you let the queen's majesty know hereof, as you think good be it ; but otherwise, good sir, keej) it secret for their TO Raleigh's IMPRISONMENT. 121 credits : for they know not of my discourse, which 1 chap, il could wish her majesty knew." These paroxysms of despairing love — these torments intended of Tantalus and extravagancies of Orlando, shut out from ^epoit. the sight of his charming but inexorable Angelica — were intended by Raleigh to be reported to the queen ; and soon after he addressed from the Tower the following extraordinary epistle to Cecil : — " Sir, — I pray be a mean to her majesty for the Letter to signing of the bills for the guards' coats, which are to be Cecil made now for the progress, and which the clerk of the check hath importuned me to write for. My heart was never broken, 'till this day, that I hear the queen goes away so far off, whom I have followed so many years with so great love and desire in so many journeys, and am now left behind her in a dark prison, all alone. While she was yet near at hand that I might hear of her once in two or three days, my sorrows were the less, but even now my heart is cast into the depth of all misery. I that was wont to behold her riding like Extravagant Alexander, hunting like Diana, walking like Venus, the ff f ''Jiy^n. gentle wind blowing her fair hair about her pure cheeks " like a nymph, sometime sitting in the shade like a goddess, sometime singing like an angel, sometime play- ing like Orpheus; behold the sorrow of this Avorld ! once amiss hath bereaved me of all. O glory, that only Bhineth in misfortune ! what is become of thine assurance ! All wounds have scars but that of fantasy ; all affections their relenting but that of womankind. Who is the Lore. judge of friendsliip but adversity, or when is grace wit- nessed but in offences I There were no divinity but by reason of compassion, for revenges are brutish and mortal. All those times past, the loves, the sighs, the sorrows, the desires, can they not weigh down one frail misfortune I Cannot one drop of gall be hidden in so great heaps of sweetness ? I may then conclude, Spes etfortiina, valete ! — she is gone in whom I trusted, and of me hath not one 122 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA, &c CHAP. IL thought of mercy, nor any resj)ect of that that was. Do ~ with me now, therefore, what you list. I am more weary of life than they are desirous I should perish ; which if it had been for her, as it is by her, I had been too happily born. — Yours not worthy any name or title. — W. R." Extrava- This elegant but Quixotic piece of extravagance had gance of the the desired effect. She who was ridiculously described ^^"'^ " as uniting in her own matchless person the horsemanship of Alexander, the chastity of Diana, the graceful motion of the goddess of beauty, and the bloom of a tender nymph, with her golden tresses wantoning in the amorous wind, was now treading on the borders of sixty ; yet the cup of flattery was neither too full nor too luscious for Royal love ^^e palate of the queen, and the impassioned grief of oi flattery Raleigh was rewarded by his enlargement. But Eliza- beth was often as chary of her mercy as of her money Though no longer a prisoner. Sir Walter was for some time treated as a state criminal, and attended b}^ a keeper. A letter of the times describes him as heart-broken and pensive ; and when congratulated on his liberty, he would reply, " I am still the Queen of England's poor captive."* Yet notwithstanding this partial eclipse of his fortunes, he was returned to parliament, and made himself conspicuous as a speaker in the session which terminated in April 1593. * See Mrs Thomson's valuable Appendix to her Life of Ra- leigh, letter C. DISCOVEHY OF GUIANA BY JRALEIGU. 123 CHAPTER III. Discovery of Guiana by Raleigh. Raleigh chosen a Member of the Parliament — Importance of the Period — Philip resolves to make a second Attempt for the Destruction of England — Speech of Lord Burleigh — Ra- leigh's Plans for the Defence of England — He obtains a Grant of Sherborne in Dorsetshire — Becomes a Planter and Horti- culturist — His Project for the Discovery and Conquest of Guiana — Resolves to conduct the Enterprise in Person — Fits out a Fleet — Sails from Plymouth in 1595 — Arrives at Trini- dad — Expedition up the Oiinoco — Description of the People and the Country — They enter the Plains of Saima — Penetrate to the Province of Aromaia — Forced to return — Arrive at Wincapora — Return to Trinidad — Description of the Country —Ungenerously treated — Raleigh's Dedication of his Discov- ery of Guiana to the Lord-admiral Howard and Secretary Cecil — Second Voyage under Captain Keymis — Researches into the Country, and Return to England — He finds Raleigh absent on the Cadiz Expedition — Account of this Enterprise —Return of the Fleet — Encomiums on the Ability of Raleigh — The Queen retains her Resentment — Essex's Displeasure at the Preferment of Sir Robert Cecil— Character of Elizabeth — Character of Cecil — Raleigh sends Captain Berrie in a Ship of his own to Guiana — His Return to England. The period at which Raleigh became a member of the chap, iil House of Commons was remarkable ; and the debates Remarkable involved subjects of deep interest and importance, period. Elizabeth's great enemy was Spain ; and the efforts of this power against England, the bulwark of the Protest- ant faith, were unremitting. Enraged but not subdued by the destruction of his Armada, Philip adopted what 124 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. CHAP. III. he considered a more certain mode of accomplishing the Schemes of ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ enemy. He proposed to attack her on every Philip of quarter where she was most vuhierahle, — on the side of pam. France, Holland, Ireland, and Scotland ; and aware, from experience, that his ships were too unwieldy for service in the Narrow Seas, he constructed vessels similar to those used in the Channel. To quote the language of Sir John Puckering in his address on the opening of BuQding parliament : " The high and mighty ships that then [in smaUer ships, the year 15883 ^^^ prepared and sent for that purpose [invasion^, because he found them not fit for our seas and such an attempt, he is building ships of a less bulk, after another fashion ; some like French ships, some like the shipping of England, and many hath he gotten out of the Low Countries." These words of warn- ing were enforced by the venerable Burleigh, whose speech in this parliament has been preserved by Strype. Speech of He entreated the Commons to suffer an old man weighed Burleigh. down with years, and decayed in his spirits with sick- ness, to declare some part of the dangers then imminent upon the kingdom ; and after a masterly sketch of the condition of the country under the alarm of invasion in 1588, he remarked that the case was now greatly altered : " The King of Spain," said he, " maketh these his mighty wars by means only of his Indies ; not purposely to burn a town in France or England, but to conquer all France, Ambition of England, and Ireland. And for proof hereof : first, for Spain. France, — he hath invaded Brittany, taken the port, builded his fortresses, carried in his army, waged a navy in Brittany, received into wages a great number of his subjects, as rebels to France. And there he keepeth a navy armed to impede all trade from England to Gas- cony and Guyenne. * * '^ Besides this, his possessing a great part of Brittany towards Spain, he hath at his commandment all the best ports of Brittany towards England, so as now he is become as a frontier enemy to all the west of England. And, by his commandment, and his waged troops in Newhaven, he hath enlarged his frontiers now against all the south parts of England, as DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. 126 Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight." Lord Burleigh chap, ii! farther pointed out the iniquitous policy of Spain in iniqniTous attacking France both by invasion and intrigue, — tlie policy. warm co-operation of the Pope, — and, lastly, Philip's success in corrupting the Hollanders, and in securing a party amongst the Scottish nobility, who meditated nothing less than a war with England. A large subsidy was then proposed in the Commons ; g^it^jidy j^ and some members being of opinion, that its purpose to the com- maintain the contest against Spain ought to be publicly ^^^^ stated, Raleigh took occasion strongly to recommend 5ucli a course. " He kncAv many persons," he said, " that held it not lawful in conscience, as the time is, to take from the Spaniards : and he knew, that if it might be lawful and open war, there would be more voluntary hands to fight against the Spaniard, than the queen should stand in need of to send to sea." As for the sub- sidy, he declared he would vote for it not only to please speech of the queen, to whom he was infinitely bound above his Raleigh. deserts, but from the imminent necessity of the case, the bitter enmity of Philip being evident by his complicated preparations against England. He directed the attention of the house to the strength and warlike resources of Spain. " In Denmark, the king being young, he had corrupted the council and nobility, so as he was very like to speed himself of shipping from thence. In the intrijnies on marine toAvns of tlie Low Countries and in Norway he tho conti- had laid in great store of shipping. In France he had the parliamentary towns at his command. In Brittany he had all the best havens. And in Scotland he had so corrupted the nobility, that he had promised them forces to re-establish Papistry. '-^ '^' In his own country there is all possible repairing, and he is coming with sixty galleys, besides other shipping, with purpose to annoy us. * * At his coming he fully determineth to get Plymouth ; * * and Plymouth is a place of most danger, for no ordnance can be carried thither to remove him ; the passages will not give leave." Raleigh concluded this speech by pomting out the best method of warding off 126 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. Plans for defeating Pliilip. Great danger iiAP. HI. these dangers. '^ Now the way to defeat him is this : to send a royal army to supplant him in Brittany, and to jiossess oursch^es there ; and to send a strong navy to sea, and to lie with it upon the Cape,* and such jDlaces as his ships bring his riches to, that they may set upon all that come. This we are able to do, and undoubtedly with fortunate success, if we undertake it. I see no reason that the suspicion of discontentment should cross the provision for the present danger. The time is now more hazardous than it was in eighty-eight ; for then the Spaniard whicli came from Spain had to pass dangerous seas, and if he failed there was no place of retreat ; but now he hath in Brittany great store of shipping, a land- ing-place in Scotland, and men and horses there as good as we have in our own country'." t The high prerogative of the queen, and the slavish humility of some members, were strikingly exemplified in this parliament. The famous Coke was chosen speaker, and his address to her majesty contains the following passage : — " This nomination is, only as yet, a nomination and no election until your majesty giveth allowance and approbation. For, as in the heavens, a star is but opacum corpus until it have received light from the sun ; so stand I corpus opacum, a mute body, until your higlniess' bright shining wisdom hath looked upon me, and allowed me. * * * But how unable I am to do this office, my present speech doth tell, that, of a number in this house, I am most unfit. For amongst them are many grave, many learned, many deep wise men, and those of ripe judgments. But I am untimely fruit, not yet ripe ; but a bud scarcely blossomed ; so, as I fear me, your majesty will say, neglectdfruge, eliguntur folia, — amongst so many fair fruit ye have plucked a shaking leaf.'* Elizabeth assuring him that his corpus opacum should be illuminated by her princely virtue and wisdom. Coke made the usual demands of liberty of speech, freedom from arrest, and free access to the royal person ; and * He means the Cape de Verde. + Parliamentary History voV iv pp. 343, 359, 380, 385. Humility of Parlia- juent. Speecli of Coke. Courtly address. DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY llALEIGII. i^7 some idea may be formed, from the lord-keeper's an- chap, tu svver, of the extent to which tliis princess carried the regal power : " To your three demands, the queen an- ^ , ^^ ^^^^ swercth : liberty of speech is granted you ; but liow far Queen. this is to be thought on, there be two things of most necessity, and those two do most harm, which are wit and speech. * * Privilege of speech is granted ; but you must know what privilege you have. Not to speak every one what he listeth, or what cometh into his brain to utter that, — but your privilege is Aj/e or no. Where- objection to fore, Mr Speaker, her majesty's pleasure is, that if you Reformers. perceive any idle heads, which will not stick to hazard their o\vn estates ; which will meddle with reforming the church, and transforming the commonwealth ; and do exhibit any bills to such purpose, that you receive them not, until they be viewed and considered by those, who it is fitter should consider of such things, and can better judge of them."'^ A complaint was made tliat certain Dutch manufac- co^npiaint c' turers, settling in London, had undersold the queen's Dutch liege subjects, and it was proposed to bring in a bill for- ""'^'"y- bidding the ret:iil of foreign wares by aliens. Raleigh's speech on this subject evinced his intimate knowledge of the trade of the country. It had been argued that cliarity, honour, and good policy, forbade these artisans to be expelled. " In my opinion," said he, " it is no matter of charity to relieve them. For first, such as fly gpeech of hither have forsaken their own king. And religion is Eakigh. no pretext for them ; for we have no Dutchmen here but such as come from those provinces where the gospel is preached, yet here they live disliking our church. For honour ; it is honour to use strangers as we be used among strangers ; and it is a lightness in a commonwealth, yea, a baseness in a nation, to give a liberty to another nation which we cannot receive again. In Antwerp, where our intercourse was most, we were never suffered to have a tailor or shoemaker to dwell there. Nay, at * Parliamentary History, vol. iv. pp. 345, 346, 349. 128 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. CHAP^lii. Milan, where there are three hundred pound English- nuberaiit} men, they cannot have so much as a barber among them, unent ''''"' ^^d for profit ; they are all of the house of Almoigne, who pay notlimg, yea, eat out our profits and supplant our nation. * * The nature of the Dutchman is to fly to no man but for his profit ; and they will obey no man long, — now under Spain, now under Mountfort, now under the Prince of Orange ; but under no governor Dutch policy, long. Tlie Dutchman by his policy hath gotten trading with all the world into his hands ; yea, he is now enter- ing into the trade of Scarborough fishing, and the fishing of the Newfoundlands, which is the stay of the west countries. They are the people that maintain the King of Spain in his greatness ; were it not for them he were never able to make out such annies and navies by sea. It cost her majesty £16,000 a-year to maintain these countries, and yet for all this they arm her enemies against her. Therefore I see no reason that such respect should be given to them ; and, to conclude, in the whole, no matter of honour, no matter of charity, no profit in relieving them."* Rehirn of That Raleigh's effbrts in parliament procured his par- loyai favour, ^j^^ restoration to the royal favour is evident, from his obtaining at this time a grant of the manor of Sherborne in Dorsetshire, which he embellished magnificently. These improvements when still fresh were seen by Coker, author of the Survey of that county. The place was beautified, he declares, " with orchards, gardens, and groves of much variety and great delight ; so that, whether you consider the pleasantness of the seat, the goodness of the soil, or the other delicacies belonging to it, Sherborne rests unparalleled by any in these parts."t Raleigh's gjj, 'Walter was a rural improver and horticulturist ; and recreations '-' " / t-. ] t a tradition is mentioned by r uller, that at Joeddmgton, near Croydon in Surre}^, the first orange-trees that ever grew in England were planted b}^ liim ; for which, says this writer, " he deserves no less commendation than * D'Ewes' Journal, pp. 508, 509. + Coker's Survey of Dorsetshire, p. 124. Oldys's Life, p. 175 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. 129 Luciillus met with for bringing cherry and fil])erd trees chap, iil out of Pontus into Italy."* Carew, the proprietor of c^j-J^"" Beddington and kinsman of Raleigh, was himself addicted to exjjerimcnts in horticulture ; and on occasion of a visit from the queen gave an example of his skilfulness in such matters, much thought of in those days, although in our own it would be lightly regarded. After a splen- did entertainment he led her majesty to a cherry-tree in his garden, which had on it fruit in their prime above ^ a month after all cherries had taken their farewell of England. This retardation had been performed by strain- Royal enter- ing a canvass cover over the tree, and wetting it as the *^i°™enr. weather required ; so by obstructing the sunbeams they grew both great, and were very long before they gained their perfect cherry colour, and when he was assured of the time her majesty would come he removed the tent, and a few sunny days brought them to their maturity.t Being still interdicted from court, Raleigh employed Raleigh's himself in drawing up a paper upon " the dangers which jj^^j^y^^ might grow by a Spanish faction in Scotland," — a subject which had lately occupied the attention of the govern- ment. This he communicated to the queen ; but from the following letter, addressed by him to his sovereign, little notice appears to have been taken of his labours : — > " I presumed to present your majesty with a paper. Letter to tiie containing the dangers which might grow^ by the Spanish ^^^^^ faction in Scotland : How it pleased your majesty to accept thereof I know not. I have smce heard, that divers ill-disposed have a purpose to speak of succession. If the same be suppressed I am glad of it ; yet, fearing the worst, I set down some reasons to prove the motive * In Fuller's time the famous orange-trees were 100 years old ; and even when Oldys wrote, several trees of the ancient orangery were the stateliest and most perfect bearers in England. . Raleigh was related through his wife to Sir Francis Carew ; * and in Beddington House, in the time of Oldys, was preserved a splendid bed said to be his, with furniture of green silk, legs carved in the shape of dolphins and richly gilded. + Plat's Garden of Eden, p. 165. ]30 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. Defence of arguments. Flattery cf tha Queen. CHAP. m. merely vain, dangerous, and unnecessary. And because I durst not myself speak in any matter without warrant, I have sent j^our majesty these arguments, which may perchance put others in mind of somewhat not imper- tinent, and who, being graced by your majesty's favour, may, if need require, use them among others more worthy. Without glory I speak it, tiiat I durst either by writing or speech satisfy the world in that point, and in every part of their foolish conceits, which, for shortness of time I could not so amply insert. This being upon one hour's warning, but one hour's work, I humbly beseech your majesty not to acquaint any withal, unless occasion be offered to use them. Your majesty may perchance speak hereof to those seeming my great friends ; but I find poor effects of that or any other supposed amity ; for your majesty having left me, I am left all alone in the world, and am sorry that ever I was at all. What I have done is out of zeal and love, and not by any encouragement ; for I am only forgotten in all riglits and in all affairs, and mine enemies have their wills and desires over me. There are many other things concerning your majesty's present service, which methinks are not as they ought remembered, and the times pass away unmeasured of which more profit might be taken. But I fear I have already presumed too much, wliich love stronger than reason hath encouraged ; for my errors are eternal, and those of others mortal, and my labours thankless, I mean unacceptable, for that too belongeth not to vassals. If Professions of ^^^^ majesty pardon it, it is more than too great a re- hunjUity. Ward. And so most humbly embracing and admiring the memory of the celestial beauties (which with the people is denied me to view), I pray God your majesty may be eternal in joys and happiness. Your majesty's most humble slave. — W. R."* About the same time, in a letter to Sir Robert Cecil, Raleigh evinces his intimate acquaintance with the con- * Cayley's Life of Raleigh, vol. i. p. 134. TO Raleigh's imprisonment. 115 Spaniards in a strain of impetuous declamation, which chap. ii. we quote as a specimen of the superiority of his prose ^^ibitio^i of to the writers of his time : — " For matter of religion, it the Spuni would require a particular volume to set down how irre- """'*■ ligiously tliey cover their greedy and ambitious practices with that veil of piety ; for, sure I am, there is no kmgdom or commonwealth in all Europe but, if re- formed, they invade it for religion sake : if it be, as they term. Catholic, they pretend title ; as if the kings of Castile were the natural heirs of all the world : and so, between both, rio kingdom is unsought. Where they dare not with their own forces invade, they basely en- tertain the traitors and vagabonds of all nations ; seeking by those and their renegade Jesuits to win parts ; and have by that means ruined many noble houses and others in this land, and have extinguished both their lives and families. What good, honour, or fortune, ever man yet by them achieved, is yet unheard of, or unwritten. And if our English Papists do but look into Portugal, j^^^^^y ;„ against which they have no pretence of religion ; how r'ortugiii. the nobility are put to death, imprisoned ; their rich men made a prey, and all sorts of people captived ; they shall find that the obedience even of the Turk is easy, and a liberty, in respect of the slavery and tyranny of Spain. What have they done in Sicily, Naples, Milan, and the Low Countries ? Who hath there been spared for religion at all I * * * Who would therefore repose trust in such a nation of ravenous strangers ; and espe- cially in those Spaniards, who more greedily thirst after English blood, than after the lives of any other people Engiund. in Europe, for the many overthrows and dishonours they have received at our hands, whose weakness we have discovered to the world, and whose forces at home, abroad, in Europe, in India, by sea and land, we have, even with handfuls of men and sliips, overthrown and dishonoured ? * * To conclude : it hath ever to this day pleased God to prosper and defend her majesty, to break the purposes of malicious enemies, of forsworn * traitors, and of unjust practices and invasions. She hath Q 116 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP, n. Defence and honour of the Queen. Favourable effects on Elizabeth- Expedition a<;ainst Panama. ungenerous conduct of the Queen. ever been honoured of the worthiest kings ; served by faithful subjects ; and shall, by the favour of God, resist, repel, and confound all whatsoever attempts against her sacred person or kingdom. In the mean time, let the Spaniards and traitors vaunt of their success ; and we, her true and obedient vassals, guided by the shiiung light of her virtues, shall always love her, serve her, and obey her to the end of our lives,"* Such a spirited detection of the treacherous policy of Elizabeth's great enemy, with the attachment to her person and government which it displays, was highly acceptable to the queen, and disposed her to lend a favourable ear to a proposal of Raleigh for an expedition against Panama, combined with a second scheme for intercepting the Plate-fleet. In this enterprise he im- pi-udently invested his whole private fortune, and engaged many of his friends ; whilst his royal mistress, guided by her own judgment and the counsels of Burleigh, assisted them sparingly. The ships of the gentlemen adventurers were thii-teen, well manned and provisioned ; those of the crown, only two men of war, — the Garland and the Foresight. Raleigh was appointed admiral, ard Sir John Burgh vice-admiral. But, though they sailed in February, they were long detained by contrary winds, as well as by the rigid and cautious economy of the sovereign. Nothing indeed can be more remarkable than the popularity of this princess, and the ardour with which she was served by men whom she treated with undue suspicion and severity. This is evident from Raleigh'a letter to Sir Robert Cecil, in which the queen is ex- hibited insisting on as hard a bargam as possible with a subject who was venturing life and fortune lq her service : — J.etter to Cecil " Sm, — I received your letters this present day at Chatham, concerning the wages of the mariners and others. For mine own part, I am very willmg to enter * Report of the Truth of the Fight about the Isles of the Azores, 4to, 1591. TO Raleigh's imprisonment. 1 17 bond, as yon persuaded me, so as the privy seal be first chap. ir. sent for my enjoying the third. But, I pray, consider Kemi^ that I have laid all that I am worth, and must do, ere I ^trance. depart on this voyage. If it fall not out well, I can but lose all ; and if nothing be remaining, wherewith should I pay the wages ? Besides, her majesty told me herself that she was contented to pay her part, and my lord- admiral his, and I should but discharge formine own ships. And furtlier, I have promised her majesty, that if I can Proposed persuade the companies to follow Sir Martin Frobisher, ^^P'^'iitio"- I will, without fail, return and bring them out into the sea but some fifty or threescore leagues, for which pur- pose my lord-admiral hath lent me the Disdain ; which to do, her majesty many times, with great grace, bade me remember, and sent me the same message by Will. Killigrew, which, God willing, if I can persuade the companies, I mean to perform, though I dare not be acknown thereof to any creature. But, sir, for me then to be bound for so great a sum upon the hope of another man's fortune, I will be loath ; and, besides, if I were able, I see no privy seal for my thirds. I mean not to Fui-e reports come away, as they say I will, for fear of a marriage, and I know not what. If any such thing were, I would have imparted it unto yourself before any man living ; and therefore, I pray, believe it not, and I beseech you to suppress what you can any such malicious report. For, I protest before God, there is none on the face of the earth that I would be fastened unto. — And so in haste I take my leave of your honour. From Chatham, The report, to which allusion is made in this letter, intngiie. of his having come away for fear of a marriage, arose out of an intrigue he had carried on with Elizabeth Throgmorton, one of the queen's maids of honour, — a lady of great beauty and accomplishments, to whom he Raleigli's Miscellaneous Works, vol. viii. p. G58. ] 18 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CTTAP. ir. was soon after united.* On discovering the story, the ^fa^.,7^ of ^.iieen was highly incensed both at the frailty of her Raieigii. female attendant and the temerity of her favourite Ra- leigh, in presuming to fall in love and marry without her consent. It was one of the foibles of this great prin- cess to insist that the whole admiration of her courtiers should be concentrated upon herself; and if, in this Indio-nation ^oyal monopoly of gallantry, any lady of her court, or 01 the Qiieen. officer of her household, ventured to interfere, the cer- tain consequence was her severest displeasure. The anecdote of her striking the beautiful Mrs Bridges, be- cause Essex had shown her some attention, is well known ;t and it is evident that Raleigh had already felt the malice of his enemies in turning this story of the fair Throgmorton to his prejudice. In the mean time he sailed ; but had scarcely reached the open sea, when ^ , Sir Martin Frobisher overtook him with orders for his Commandj'l mi i i i i i mi to renira. return. Ihese, however, he chose to overlook, until he became certain, by speaking a vessel from the Azores, that there was no chance of success ; as Philip, aware of the expedition, had countennanded the departure of the fleet. He then put about his ship, having first stationed Sir John Burgh with one squadron at those islands ; whilst Sir Martin Frobisher with the other was directed to cruise near the South Cape and watch the Spanish coast. e , , . His arrangements were croTMied with success ; for Success of las . " ' arrange- whilst the latter kept the Spaniards at home, dreading '"^"^'^ a descent, the Indian carracks v»^ere allowed to fall into the hands of Burgh. One of these, the Mad re de Dios, 1600 tons, was the largest prize at that time ever brought to England, and valued by Raleigh and Sir John Haw- kins, the principal adventurers in the expedition, at £500,000.;}: The sailors, soldiers, and officers, however, * The letter may have been written after a private marriage had taken place. + Sidney Letters, vol. ii. p. 38. X Amongst the Hatfield MSS. are some papers, showing the wealth of this prize. TO RALEICn's IMPRISONMENT. 119 having embezzled the richest jxart of the cargo, consisting chap, il of jewels, she ultimately fell far short of this estimate. Embezzle- By this time the royal anger on account of the amour ment of the with Miss Throgmorton had risen to a high pitch ; and ^' ''^^' the moment Sir Walter set his foot ashore, he and his mistress were committed to the Tower. Not content with this, Elizabeth claimed the largest share of the prize, on the ground that one of her ships was present at the capture ; and appeared so determined upon severe measures, that the enemies of the prisoner thought they might safely treat him with the insolence so soon assumed by the minions of a court towards a fallen favourite. Raleigh, however, knew the queen's weakness. H^ ■weakness o"- had always addressed her not only as his sovereign, but the Queen. as the mistress of his heart, the beautiful arbitress of his affections ; and a scene which was acted in his prison gives us a graphic though somewhat degrading account of a courtier's stratagem to obtain his release. It is described in the following letter of Sir Arthur Gorges to Sir Robert Cecil : — "Honourable Sir, — I cannot choose but ''^^^vertise^etfer ofSh- you of a strange tragedy that this day had like to have Artimr fallen out between the captain of the guard. Sir Walter """^ses. Raleigh, and the lieutenant of the ordnance, if I had not by great chance come at the very instant to have turned it into a comedy. For upon the report of her majesty's being at Sir George Carey's, Sir Walter Raleigh having gazed and sighed a long time at his study- window, from whence he might discern the barges and boats about the Blackfriars' Stairs, suddenly he brake out into a great ^^^^^^^^ distemper, and sware that his enemies had on purpose )assion of brought her majesty thither to break his gall in sunder "'^'^'Sii with Tantalus' torment, that when she went away, he might gaze his death before his eyes ; with many such like conceits. And as a man transported with passion, he sware to Sir George Carew, that he would disguise himself, and get into a pair of oars, to ease his mind but with a sight of the queen, or else lie protested his heart ]20 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA CHAP. II. would break. But tlie trusty jailor would none of that Struggle for displeasing the higher powers as he said, which he with the more respected than the feeding of his humour ; and so ^ ' * flatly refused to permit him. But, in conclusion, upon this dispute, they fell flat out to choleric outrageous words, with straining and struggling at the doors, that all lameness was forgotten, and in the fury of the con- flict, the jailor he had his new periwig torn off his crown, and yet here the battle ended not, for at last they had gotten out their daggers, which, when I saw, I played the stickler between them, and so purchased such a rap on the knuckles that I wished both their pates broken ; and so with much ado they stayed their brawl to see my bloody fingers. At the first I was ready to break with laughing to see them two scramble and brawl like mad- men, until I saw the iron walkmg, and then I did my best to appease the fury. As yet I cannot reconcile them Pretended hy any persuasions, for Sir Walter swears, that he shall indignation, ha^e ^jji for SO restrauiing him from the sight of his mistress, while he lives ; for that he knows not, as he said, whether ever he shall see her again, when she has gone the progress. And Sir George, on his side, swears, that he had rather he should lose his longing, than that he would draw on him her majesty's displeasure by such liberty. Thus they continue in malice and snarling, but I am sure all the smart lighted on me. I cannot tell whether I should more allow of the passion- ate lover, or the trusty jailor. But if yourself had seen Mirth of the ^^ ^ ^ ^^^> jou would have been as heartily merry and sorry as ever you were in all your life for so short a time. I pray you pardon my hasty- written narration, which I acquaint you with, hoping you will be the peace-maker. But, good sir, let nobody know thereof, for I fear Sir Walter Raleigh will shortly grow to be Orlando Furioso, if the bright Angelica persevere against him a little longer. — Your honour's," &c. To this amusing letter Gorges added this postcript : " If you let the queen's majesty know hereof, as you think good be it J but otherwise, good sir, keep it secret for their i-nter. TO RALEIGIl's IMPRISONMENT. 121 crotlits : for tliey know not of my discourse, wliicli I chap, ri could wish her majesty knew." These paroxysms of despairing love — these torments intended of Tantalus and extravagancies of Orlando, shut out from ^"^p^''- the sight of his charming but inexorable Angelica — were intended by Raleigh to be reported to the queen ; and soon after he addressed from the Tower the following extraordinary epistle to Cecil : — " Sir, — I pray be a mean to her majesty for the Letter to signing of the bills for the guards' coats, which are to be ^^^^ made now for the progress, and which the clerk of the check hath importuned me to write for. My heart was never broken, 'till this day, that I hear the queen goes away so far off, whom I have followed so many ^^ears with so great love and desire in so many journeys, and am now left behind her in a dark prison, all alone. While she was yet near at hand that I might hear of her once in two or three days, my sorrows were the less, but even now my heart is cast into the depth of all misery. I that was wont to behold her riding like Extravnganr Alexander, hunting like Diana, walking like Venus, the |;Jf jfje Q.'ie^a gentle wind blowing her fair hair about her pure cheeks like a nymph, sometime sitting in the shade like a goddess, sometime singing like an angel, sometime play- ing like Orpheus ; behold the sorrow of this world ! once amiss hath bereaved me of all. glory, that only Bhineth in misfortune ! what is become of thine assurance I All wounds have scars but that of fantasy ; all affections their relenting but that of womankind. Who is the Love, judge of friendship but adversity, or when is grace wit- nessed but in offences \ There were no divinity but by reason of compassion, for revenges are brutish and mortal. All those times past, the loves, the sighs, the sorrows, the desires, can they not weigh down one frail misfortune I Cannot one drop of gall be hidden in so great heaps of sweetness l I may then conclude, Spes etforfuna, valete ! — she is gone in whom I trusted, and of me hath not one 122 FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA, &c CHAP. IL thought of mercy, nor any respect of that that Avas. Do " with me now, therefore, what you list. I am more weary of life than they are desirous I should perish ; which if it had been for her, as it is b}' her, I had been too happily born. — Yours not worthy any name or title. —W. R." Estrava- This elegant but Quixotic piece of extravagance had gance of the the desired effect. She who was ridiculously described as uniting in her own matchless person the horsemanship of Alexander, the chastity of Diana, the graceful motion of the goddess of beauty, and the bloom of a tender nymph, with her golden tresses wantoning in the amorous wind, was now treading on the borders of sixty ; yet the cup of flattery was neither too full nor too luscious for Royal love ^^^ palate of the queen, and the impassioned grief of of flattery Raleigh was rewarded by his enlargement. But Eliza- beth was often as chary of her mercy as of her money Though no longer a prisoner. Sir Walter was for some time treated as a state criminal, and attended by a keeper. A letter of the times describes him as heart-broken and pensive ; and when congratulated on his liberty, he would reply, " I am still the Queen of England's poor captive."* Yet notwithstanding this partial eclipse of his fortunes, he was returned to parliament, and made himself conspicuous as a speaker in the session Avhich terminated in April 1593. * See Mrs Thomson's valuable Appendix to her Life of Ra- leigh, letter C. DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. 123 CHAPTER III. Discovery of Guiana by Raleigh, Rtileigh chosen a Member of the Parliament— Importanco of the Period— Philip resolves to make a second Attempt for the Destruction of England— Speech of Lord Burleigh— Ra- leigh's Plans for the Defence of England— He obtains a Grant of Sherborne in Dorsetshire— Becomes a Planter and Horti- culturist—His Project for the Discovery and Conquest of Guiana— Resolves to conduct the Enterprise in Person— Fits out a Fleet— Sails from Plymouth in 1595— Arrives at Trini- dad—Expedition up the Oiinoco— Description of the People and the Country— They enter the Plains of Saima— Penetrate to the Province of Aromai a— Forced to return— Arrive at Wincapora— Return to Trinidad— Description of the Country —Ungenerously treated— Raleigh's Dedication of his Discov- ery of Guiana to the Lord-admiral Howard and Secretary Cecil— Second Voyage under Captain Keymis— Researches into the Country, and Return to England— He finds Raleigh absent on the Cadiz Expedition— Account of this Enterprise —Return of the Fleet— Encomiums on the Ability of Raleigh —The Queen retains her Resentment— Essex's Displeasure at the Preferment of Sir Robert Cecil— Cliar act er of Elizabeth- Character of Cecil— Raleigh sends Captain Berrie in a Ship of his own to Guiana— His Return to England. The period at which Ralcigli became a member of the chap, ill House of Commons was remarkable ; and the debates Remarkable involved subjects of deep interest and importance, period. Elizabeth's great enemy was Spain ; and the efforts of tliis power against England, the bulwark of the Protest- ant faith, were unremitting. Enraged but not subdued by the destruction of his Armada, Philip adopted what 124 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. CHAP. III. he considered a more certain mode of accomplishing the Schemes of ^^^^ ^f his enemy. He proposed to attack her on every Philip of quarter where she was most vuhierable, — on the side of pain. France, Holland, Ireland, and Scotland ; and aware, from experience, that his ships were too unwieldy for service in the Narrow Seas, he constructed vessels similar to those used in the Channel. To quote the language of Sir John Puckering in his address on the opening of BuQding parliament : " The high and mighty ships that then [in smaUerships. the year 1588] he prepared and sent for that purpose [invasion], because he found them not tit for our seas and such an attempt, he is building ships of a less bulk, after another fashion ; some like French ships, some like the shipping of England, and many hath he gotten out of the Low Countries." These words of warn- ing were enforced by the venerable Burleigh, whose speech in this parliament has been preserved by Strype. Speech of He entreated the Commons to suffer an old man weighed Burleigh. down with years, and decayed in his spirits with sick- ness, to declare some part of the dangers then imminent upon the kingdom ; and after a masterly sketch of the condition of the country under the alarm of invasion in 1588, he remarked that the case was now greatly altered ; " The King of Spain," said he, " maketh these his mighty wars by means only of his Indies ; not purposely to burn a town in France or England, but to conquer all France, Ambitu.n of England, and Ireland. And for proof hereof : first, for Spain. France, — he hath invaded Brittany, taken the port, builded his fortresses, earned in his army, waged a navy in Brittany, received into wages a great number of his subjects, as rebels to France. And there he keepeth a navy armed to impede all trade from England to Gas- cony and Guyenne. * * * Besides this, his possessing a great part of Brittany towards Spain, he hath at his commandment all the best ports of Brittany towards England, so as now he is become as a frontier enemy to all the west of England. And, by his commandment, and his waged troops in Newhaven, he hath enlarged his frontiers now against all the south parts of England, as DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. 12o Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight." Lord Burleigh chap. iti farther pointed out the iniquitous policy of Spain in In^,li7Q^^^ attacking France hoth by invasion and intrigue, — the policy. warm co-operation of the Pope, — and, lastly, Philip's success in corrupting the Hollanders, and in securing a party amongst the Scottish nohility, who meditated nothing less than a war with England. A large subsidy was then proposed in the Commons ; gjii^si^iy -,„ and some members being of opinion, that its purpose to the con:- maintain the contest against Spain ought to be publicly ™^"'** stated, Raleigh took occasion strongly to recommend 6uch a course. " He knew many persons," he said, " that held it not lawful in conscience, as the time is, to take from the Spaniards : and he knew, that if it might be lawful and open war, there would be more voluntary hands to fight against the Spaniard, than the queen should stand in need of to send to sea." As for the sub- sidy, he declared he would vote for it not only to please speech of the queen, to whom he was infinitely bound above his P^aieigiu deserts, but from the imminent necessity of the case, the bitter enmity of Pliilip being evident by his complicated preparations against England, He directed the attention of the house to the strength and warlike resources of Spain. " In Denmark, the king being young, he had corrupted the council and nobility, so as he was very like to speed himself of shipping from thence. In the intrifjnes on marine towns of the Low Countries and in Norway he tho comi- had laid in great store of shipping. In France he had the parliamentary towns at his command. In Brittany he had all the best havens. And in Scotland he had so corrupted the nobility, that he had promised them forces to re-establish Papistry. "" ■■' In his own country there is all possible repairing, and he is coming with sixty galleys, besides other shipping, with purpose to annoy us. * * At his coming he fully determineth to get Plymouth ; * * and Plymouth is a place of most danger, for no ordnance can be carried thither to remove him ; the passages will not give leave." Raleigh concluded this speech by pointing out the best method of warding off Plans for defeating Philip. Great daiiKer ]26 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. :irAP. III. these dangers. " Now the way to defeat him is this : to send a royal ai-my to supplant him in Brittany, and to possess ourselves there ; and to send a strong navy to sea, and to lie with it upon the Cape,"^'" and such places as his ships bring his riches to, that they may set upon all that come. This we are able to do, and undoubtedly with fortunate success, if we undertake it. I see no reason that the suspicion of discontentment should cross the provision for the present danger. The time is now more hazardous than it was in eighty-eight ; for then the Spaniard which came from Spain had to pass dangerous seas, and if he failed there was no place of retreat ; but now he hath in Brittany great store of shipping, a land- ing-place in Scotland, and men and horses there as good as we have in our o\\m country." t The high prerogative of the queen, and the slavish humility of some members, were strikingly exemplified in this parliament. The famous Coke was chosen speaker, and his address to her majesty contains tlie following passage : — " This nomination is, only as yet, a nomination and no election until your majesty giveth allowance and approbation. For, as in the heavens, a star is but opacum corpus until it have received light from the sun ; so stand I corpus opacum, a mute body, until your highness' bright shining wisdom hath looked upon me, and allowed me. * * -5* But how unable I am to do this office, my present speech doth tell, that, of a number in this house, I am most unfit. For amongst them are many grave, many learned, many deep wise men, and those of ripe judgments. But I am untimely fruit, not yet ripe ; but a bud scarcely blossomed ; so, as I fear me, your majesty will say, neglectdfruge, eliguntur folia, — amongst so many fair fruit ye have plucked a shaking leaf." Elizabeth assuring him that his corpus opacum should be illuminated by her princely virtue and wisdom. Coke made the usual demands of liberty of speech, freedom from arrest, and free access to the royal person ; and * He means the Cape de Verde. t ParUamentary History val iv pp. 343, 359, 380, 385. Humility'' of Parlia- ment, Speecli of Coke. Courtly address. DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. J ^7 some idea may be formed, from the lord-keeper's an- chap, tu swer, of the extent to which this princess carried the regal power: " To your three demands, the queen an- Rgpi^Qftj, swereth : liberty of speech is granted you ; but how far Queen. this is to be thought on, there be two things of most necessity, and those two do most harm, which are wit and speech. * * Privilege of speech is granted ; but you must know what privilege you have. Not to speak every one what he iisteth, or what comcth into his brain to utter that, — but your privilege is Aye or no. Where- objection to fore, Mr Speaker, her majesty's pleasure is, that if you Refoi-mei*. perceive any idle heads, which will not stick to hazard their o\%tii estates ; which will meddle with reforming the church, and transforming the commonwealth ; and do exhibit any bills to such purpose, that you receive them not, until they be viewed and considered by those, who it is fitter should consider of such things, and can better judge of them."'^ A complaint was made that certain Dutch manufac- coj^pi^jj^t o? turers, settling in London, had undersold the queen's Dutch liege subjects, and it was proposed to bring in a bill for- "''^^•y- bidding the ret;!il of foreign wares by aliens. Raleigh's speech on this subject evinced his intimate knowledge of the trade of the country. It had been argued that charity, honour, and good policy, forbade these artisans to be expelled. " In my opinion," said he, " it is no matter of charity to relieve them. For first, such as fly gpeecii of hither have forsaken their own king. And religion is Eaieigii. no pretext for them ; for we have no Dutchmen here but such as come from those provinces where the gospel is preached, yet here they live disliking our church. For honour ; it is honour to use strangers as we be used among strangers ; and it is a lightness in a commonwealth, yea, a baseness in a nation, to give a liberty to another nation which we cannot receive again. In Antwerp, where our intercourse was most, we were never suffered to have a tailor or shoemaker to dwell there. Nay, at * Parhamentary History, vol. iv. pp. 345, 346, 349. 128 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. CHAP^Iii. ]\iiian, where there are three hundred pound English- lUiberaiit} men, they cannot have so much as a barber among them, toent. ^°^^' ^^^^ f^^ profit ; they are all of the house of Almoigne, who pay nothing, yea, eat out our profits and supplant our nation. * * The nature of the Dutchman is to fly to no man but for his profit ; and they will obey no man long, — now under Spain, now under Mountfort, now under the Prince of Orange ; but under no governor DutcL policy, long. The Dutchman by his policy hath gotten trading with all the world into his hands ; yea, he is now enterr ing into the trade of Scarborough fishing, and the fishing of the Newfoundlands, which is the stay of the west countries. They are the people that mamtain the King of Spain in his greatness ; were it not for them he were never able to make out such armies and navies by sea. It cost her majesty £16,000 a-year to maintain these countries, and yet for all this they arm her enemies against her. Therefore I see no reason that such respect should be given to them ; and, to conclude, in the whole, no matter of honour, no matter of charity, no profit in relieving them."* Rehini of That Raleigh's efforts in parliament procured his par- royal favour, ^j^i restoration to the royal favour is evident, from his obtaining at this time a grant of the manor of Sherborne in Dorsetshire, which he embellished magnificently. These improvements when still fresh were seen by Coker, author of the Survey of that county. The place was beautified, he declares, " with orchards, gardens, and groves of much variety and great delight ; so that, whether you consider the pleasantness of the seat, the goodness of the soil, or the other delicacies belonging to it, Sherborne rests unparalleled by any in these parts." t Raleigh's gjj, \y alter was a rural improver and horticulturist ; and a tradition is mentioned by Fuller, that at Beddmgton, near Croydon in Surrey, the first orange-trees that ever grew in England were planted by him ; for which, says this writer, " he deserves no less commendation than ♦ D'Ewes' Journal, pp. 508, 509. + Coker's Survey of Dorsetshire, p. 124. Oldys's Life, p. 17o recreations DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. 129 Luciillus met with for bringing cherry and filberd trees CIIAP. IIL out of Pontiis into Italy."* Carew, the proprietor of cu-c~ Bcddington and kinsman of Raleigh, was himself addicted to experiments in horticulture ; and on occasion of a visit from the queen gave an example of his skilfulness in such matters, much thought of in tliose days, although in our own it would be lightly regarded. After a splen- did entertainment he led her majesty to a cherry-tree in his garden, which had on it fruit in their prime above a month after all cherries had taken their farewell of England. This retardation had been performed by strain- Royal enter- ing a canvass cover over the tree, and wetting it as the t^i°™""' weather required ; so by obstructing the sunbeams they grew both great, and were very long before they gained their perfect cherry colour, and when he was assured of the time her majesty would come he removed the tent, and a few sunny days brought them to their maturity.t Being still interdicted from court, Raleigh employed Raleigh's himself in drawing up a paper upon " the dangers which laboml might grow by a Spanish faction in Scotland," — a subject which had lately occupied the attention of the govern- ment. This he communicated to the queen ; but from the following letter, addressed by him to his sovereign, little notice appears to have been taken of his labours :— > " I presumed to present your majesty with a paper, Letter to the containing the dangers which might grow by tlie Spanish ^'^^*^"' faction in Scotland : How it pleased your majesty to accept thereof I know not. I have since heard, that divers ill-disposed have a purpose to speak of succession. If the same be suppressed I am glad of it ; yet, fearing the worst, I set down some reasons to prove the motive * In Fuller's time the famous orange-trees were 100 years old ; and even when Oldys wrote, several trees of the ancient orangery were the stateliest and most peifect hearers in England. Raleigh was related through his wife to Sir Francis Carew ; and in Bcddington House, in the time of Oldys, was preserved a splendid bed said to be his, with furniture of green silk, legs carved in the shape of dolphins and richly gilded. t Plat's Garden of Eden, p. 165. J 30 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. CIIAR IIL merely vain, dangerous, and unnecessaiy. And because DefencTof ^ durst not myself speak in any matter without warrant, arguments. I have sent your majesty these arguments, which may perchance put others in mind of somewhat not imper- tinent, and who, being graced by your majesty's favour, may, if need require, use themamong others more worthy. Without glory I speak it, tiiat I durst either by writing or speech satisfy the world in that point, and in every part of their foolish conceits, which, for shortness of tiuie I could not so amply insert. This being upon one hour's warning, but one hour's work, I humbly beseech your majesty not to acquaint any withal, unless occasion be offered to use them. Your majesty may perchance speak Flattery r;f hereof to those seeming my great friends ; but I find the Qaeen. poor effects of that or any other supposed amity ; for your majesty having left me, I am left all alone in the world, and am sorry that ever I was at all. What I have done is out of zeal and love, and not by any encouragement ; for I am only forgotten in all rights and in all affairs, and mine enemies have tlieir wills and desires over me. There are many other things concerning your majesty's present service, which methmks are not as they ought remembered, and the times pass away unmeasured of which more profit might be taken. But I fear I have already presumed too much, which love stronger than reason hath encouraged ; for my errors are eternal, and those of others mortal, and my labours thankless, I mean unacceptable, for that too belongeth not to vassals. If Prof^RsfoiiF of ^'^^^^ majesty pardon it, it is more than too great a re- iiuiDiiity. ward. And so most humbly embracmg and admh-ing the memory of the celestial beauties (which with the people is denied me to view), I pray God your majesty may be eternal in joys and happiness. Your majesty's most humble slave. — W. R."* About the same time, in a letter to Sir Robert Cecil, Raleigh evinces his intunate acquaintance with the con- * Cayley's Life of Raleigh, vol. i. p. 134. DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. 131 dition of Ireland, — then on the eve of a danj>;erous rehel- CHAP. iii. lion, — and exposes the ambitions policy of Spain. " Of Lett^Ti^i this Irish combination," he observes, " her majesty shall I't-iand. find it remembered to herself not long since ; but tlie Trojan soothsayer cast his spear against the wooden horse, but was not believed. '"' * I had been able myself to have raised two or tliree bands of English well armed, till I was driven to relinquish and recall my people, of which the loss shall not be alone to me ; howsoever 1 am tum- bled down the hill by every practice. We are so busied and dandled in these French wars, which are endless, as we forget the defence next the heart. Her majesty hath good cause to remember that £1,000,000 hath been spent Cost of that in Ireland not many years eince. A better kingdom '^^"S'^°™- might have been purchased at a less price, and that same defended with as many pence if good order had been taken. * * The King of Spain seeketh not Ireland for Ireland ; but, having raised up troops of beggars in our back, shall be able to enforce us to cast our eyes over our shoulders, while those before us strike us on the brains." In the same letter Sir AValter entreats the Supplication good offices of Cecil, as his enemies would not even allow ^° ^^' him to rest in his rural banishment. " I am myself here, at Sherborne, in my fortune's fold. Wherever I be, and while I am, you shall command me. I think I shall need 3'our further favour for the little park ; for law and conscience is not sufficient in these days to uphold me. Every fool knoweth that hatred are the cinders of affec- tion, and, therefore, to make me a sacrifice shall be thankworthy.""' But, although thus complaining, it was not the nature Projected of Raleigh to sink into indolent despondency : He was ^onquest oi 1 • 1 • 1 T n 1 • 1 • Giuana. denied mdeed all access to court ; but in his seclusion at Sherborne, his inventive genius projected the conquest of Guiana, — a scheme which forms an interesting episode in his life. His youthful imagination had caught fire from the perusal of the romantic adventures of the Spa- * Cayley's Life of Ralei.i^h, vol. i. pp. 135, 13G. H J 32 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. CHAP. III. niards in tlie New World ; and although a determhu-d Commenda- ^nemv to these rivals of his country, he eloquently ex- Hon of Span- tols their perseverance in the career of navigation. " I cannot forbear,'" says he, " to commend the patient vir- tue of the Spaniards. We seldom or never find that any nation hath encVared so many misadventures and miseries as that people have done in their Indian dis- coveries ; yet, persisting in their enterprises with an invincible constancy, they have annexed to their king- dom so many goodly provmces as to bury the remem- brance of all dangers past. Tempests and shipwrecks, Persever- famine, overthrows, mutinies, heat and cold, pestilence, veriea '^°' a-^d all manner of diseases, both old and new, together with extreme poverty and want of all things needful, have been the enemies wherewith every one of their most noble discoverers at one time or other hath en- countered. Many years have passed over some of their heads in the search of not so many leagues ; yea, more than one or two have spent their labour, their wealth, and their lives, in search of a golden kingdom, without getting further notice of it than what they had at their first setting forth."''^ El Doratia It was to this golden kingdom, the fabled El Dorado of the Spaniards, that the thoughts of Raleigh were now turned ; and before much is said against his credu- lity in giving heed to the extraordinary reports regarding it, we must consider the circumstances of the age, and the ardent and romantic temperament of the man. It is not to be forgotten, that the first information given Grounds foi by the Indians regarding Mexico and Peru, which Cortes belief 111 it believed and Pizarro unhesitatingly embraced, appeared to graver and cooler heads as only the idle dreams of barbarians and enthusiasts ; and when we look to the evidence contained in the Spanish historians, regarding the wonderful city of i\Ianoa and the riches of this ex- tensive country, it is easy to perceive, that the task of * History of the AVorld. Works, vol. vi. pp. 113, 114. DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY llALKIGIl. 133 achieving- its discovery and completing its conquest was chap, iil one of those grand designs i)eculiar]v suited to sucli a ,. ,~~ mind as that ot Kaleigh. Eager to engage in an enter- expedition. prise which had baffled so many brave spirits, he in 1594 despatched Jacob Whiddon, an officer who had been long in his service, to explore the territory and decide upon the likelihood of success. His account made known the difficulty of approaching this kingdom, but in nowise shook the resolution of the projector. Sir Walter's description of it, derived partly from the hearsay testimony of Whiddon and partly from the reports of Spanish writers, was calculated to excite the highest hopes. In this new empire he was assured there was Extravagant more abundance of gold, and greater and richer cities, ^'ei'"'*^ than Peru could boast even in its most brilliant daj-s ; and he had been informed by such Spaniards as had seen Manoa, the imperial city, that for size and wealth it far exceeded any in the world. To corroborate this account, he referred to Lopez's General History of the Indies, Avhere this writer, describing the court of Guana- capa, ancestor to the emperor of Guiana, has this highly coloured passage : — " All the vessels of his bouse, table, Account or and kitchen, were of gold and silver, and the meanest Guanacapa! of silver and copper, for strength and hardness of the metal. He bad in his wardrobe hollow statues of gold, which seemed giants ; and the figures, in proportion and bigness, of all the beasts, birds, trees, and herbs which the earth bringeth forth ; and of all the fishes that the sea or waters of his kingdom breedeth. He had also ropes, budgets, chests, and troughs of gold and silver, heaps of billets of gold, that seemed wood marked out to burn. Finally, there was nothing in his country whereof lie had not the counterfeit in gold. Yea, and they say the Yncas had a garden of pleasure in an island near Puna, where they went to recreate themselves when they would take the ai-r of the sea, which had all kmd of garden-herbs, flowers, and trees of gold and silver, — an invention and magnificence till then never seen. Besides all this, he had an infinite quantity of silver and 134 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. Failure in finding Guiaua. Reception of Maitinez liy the natives. CHAP. III. gold unwrought in Cuzco, which was lost by the death of Guascar ; for the Indians hid it, seeing that the Spa- niards took it and sent it to Spain/'* The Spaniards had repeatedly attempted to find Guiana, but invariably failed, till a smgular accident was said to liave disclosed its situation : One Jolin Mar- tinez, master of the ordnance in the second army that endeavoured to penetrate to this rich country, was con- demned to be executed at Morequito, a port on the river Orinoco. His life, however, was spared, and he was thrown alone, with notliing but his arms, into a canoe, and set adrift. The barge floated down the stream, and after some time was descried by the Guianians, who drew it ashore, astonished to see in it a being whose uncom- mon appearance made them believe him to be the in- habitant of another world. They received him with respect, and led him to Manoa, the residence of Inga, their emperor, who at once knew him to be a Christian, and lodged him in the palace. " He lived," says Ra- leigh, in his Discovery of Guiana, " seven months in Manoa, but was not suffered to wander into the country ; and the Indians who at first conducted him to the capital took the precaution of blindfolding him, not removing the veil from his eyes till he was ready to enter the city. It was at noon that he passed the gates, and it took him all that day and the next, walking from sunrise to sun- set, before he arrived at the palace of Inga, where he resided for seven months, till he had made hhnself master of the language of the country." Martinez expressing his wish to return, was dis- missed ; a party of natives being sent to conduct him to the Orinoco, with a present from the emperor of as much gold as they could carry. On the borders of the kingdom, a nation at war with Guiana attacked and plundered them, leaving only two gourds filled with gold beads curiously wrought, but supposed by their assailants to contain provisions. He then proceeded down the Orinoco to Saint Juan de Puerto Rico, where * Discovery of Guiana. Work.s fo\. viii. pp. 398, 399. Dismissal of MaitiJiez. DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. 135 he died. In his last ilhicss, after receiving the sacrament, chap. III. he related his travels to the priest, and presented the pg^^~~^j gold heads to the Church, requesting the usual prayers, his travels. jNIartinez first gave Manoa the far-travelled name of El Dorado, for reasons which are thus stated hy Raleigh: — " Those Guianians are marvellous great drunkards ; and at the times of their solemn feasts, when the emperor carouscth with his captains, trihutaries, and governors, the manner is thus, — all those that pledge him are first stript naked, and their bodies anointed all over with a kind of white halsamum, by them called curcai. * ''• '"' When they are anointed all over, certain servants of the use of gold emperor having prepared gold made into fine powder, powder, blow it through hollow canes upon their naked bodies, until they are all shining from the foot to the head ; and in this sort they sit drinking by twenties and hundreds, and continue in drunkenness sometimes six or seven da}- s together. * * * Upon this sight, and for the abund- ance of gold which he saw in the city, the images of gold in their temples, the jilates, armours, and shields of gold which they use in the wars, he called the city El Dorado."-"- After the death of this adventurer, various Spanish Attempts to captains attempted, but without success, to reach that country.^ golden region. It was necessary to penetrate forests and deserts, where it was difficult to find means of transport or subsistence for troops ; and the fierce tribes on its borders bade defiance even to the disciplined valour of the Christians. The last who had engaged in the enter- prise, and with whom the English came afterwards into contact, was Bereo, an officer of skill and courage, who had served in Italy, Naples, and the Low Countries, before he tried his fortune in Spain. Satisfied with the practicability of discovering thi^ Plan of unknown country, Raleigh fitted out a considerable fleet, "^ "^ of which he took the command, and sailed from Ply- . mouth on the Gth of February 1595. The expedition ♦ Discovery of Guiana, p. 403. See Remarks in Appendix 136 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. CHAP. IIL was favoured by Sir Robert Cecil, and the lord-high- Favom-^f admiral, who sent a ship of his o^vn, named the Lion's Cecil. Whelp. The squadron consisted of five vessels, with barges, wherries, and tenders, for coasting and inland navigation. Besides mariners, the officers, Antonio da Bereo. Released chiefs. reached Trinidad on the 22d March, the admiral surveyed the coast and opened a communication with the gover- nor, Antonio de Bereo, above mentioned. In the pre- ceding year this man had behaved with great cruelty and treachery to Captain Whiddon, when sent to explore the Orinoco ; and it was soon discovered that he had adopted secret measures to put the navigators to the sword. But before his plot was ripe. Sir Walter attacked the settlement, rased the new city of San Joseph, liber- ated five Indian caciques whom he found bound in one chain, and imprisoned Bereo himself, who had treated these unhappy princes with horrible cruelty, basting their naked bodies with burning bacon to force a dis- covery of their treasures. Nothing could exceed the gratitude of those poor creatures on their delivery ; and several years after, when some English adventurers in Guiana mentioned the circumstance, it was still remem- bered by the Indians to Raleigh's honour. Sir Walter now assembled the chiefs, and inforaied them that he was the servant of a virgin queen, the great Cacique of the North, who had more leaders under her than there were trees in the island ; and who hated the Castilians on account of their tyranny and oppression. He explained to them that, having rescued from Spanish servitude all the coast of the northern world, she had sent him to free them also, and to defend the country of Guiana from invasion. He then showed them her ma- jesty's picture ; and the simple natives almost worshipped it, calling Elizabeta, Cassipuna, Aquerewana, — Elizabeth the mighty princess, or greatest commander!* So far all had succeeded to his wishes ; but still the Discovery of Guiana. Works, vol. viii. p. 396. DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY KALEIGII. J37 enterprise was attended with mucli difficulty. He now chap iiL learned that the distance of Guiana from the coast was distance of greater by 600 miles than he at first imagined. This he Guiana, concealed from his men, and resolved to proceed. He gives a striking picture of their hardships in the voyage. " Of this 600 miles," says he, " I passed 400, leaving my ships so far from me at anchor in the sea, which was more of desire to perform that discovery than of reason, *»specially having such poor and weak vessels to transport ourselves in ; for in the bottom of an old gallego which I caused to be fashioned like a galley, and in one barge, two wherries, and a sliip-boat of the Lion's Whelp, we Lion's carried 100 persons and their victuals for a month in the ^'^^'^'p- same, being all driven to lie in the rain and weather in the open air, in the burning sun, and upon the hard boards ; and to dress our meat, and to carry all manner of furniture in them ; wherewith they were so pestered and unsavoury, that Avhat with victuals, being most fish, with the wet clothes of so many men thrust together, and the heat of the sun, I will undertake there was never any prison in England that could be found more unsa- voury and loathsome, especially to myself, who had for many years before been dieted and cared for in a sort far differing."'"' The Orinoco, at the mouth of which the ships were xiie Orinoco. left at anchor, makes its way into the ocean by innume- rable channels, and during the rainy season inundates the plains, sometimes to the distance of eighty or ninety miles on each side. The banks were covered with gloomy forests, in such luxuriance that they overarched the stream, shutting out the sky, and confining the view to the dim perspective fomied by the interminable avenue along which the adventurers guided their frail barges. Through this labyrinth they pursued their course many days, till on the 22d May they entered a river which they named the Redcross, being the first Christians who had navigated it. Ferdinando, their Indian interpreter, hav-" * Discovery of Guiana. "Works, vol. viii. p. 3.07. 138 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. Attacked by the natives. Native dwellinga. CHAP. iiL ing gone ashore, was suddenly attacked by the natives, and liunted through the woods with deer-dogs, who ran him so close, that he was forced to throw himself into the river and swim hack to his friends. This inhospital)le people, of whom Raleigh has left a minute account, were the inhabitants of that " insular or broken world," formed by the branches of the Orinoco. " In the sum- mer," says he, " they have houses on the ground ; but in winter they dwell upon the trees, where they build very artificial towns and villages ; foi- between May and September the river of Orinoco riseth thirty foot upright, and then are those islands overflown twenty foot high above the level of the ground, saving some few raised grounds in the middle of them, and for this cause they are enforced to live in this manner. They never eat of any thing that is set or sown, and as at home they use neither planting nor other manurance, so when they come abroad they refuse to feed of ouglit but of thai which nature without labour bringeth forth. They use the tops of palmetos for bread, and kill deer, fish, and porks, for the rest of their sustenance, having also many sorts of fruits that grow in the woods, and great variety of birds and fowl. '^ * They were wont to make war upon all nations ; but of late they are at peace with their neighbours, all holding the Spaniards for a common enemy. When their com.manders die they use great lamentation, and when they think the flesh of their bodies is putrefied and fallen from their bones, then they take up the carcass again, and hang it in tlie cacique's house that died, and deck his skull with feathers of all colours, and hang all his gold plates about the bones of his arms, thighs, and legs. Those nations which are called Arwacas, which dwell on the south of Ormoco, are dispersed in many other places, and do use to beat the bones of their lords into powder, and their wives and friends drink it all in their several sorts of drinks."* Sir Walter continued his voyage, passing up the river Warlike habitP. Discovery of Guiana. Works, vol. viii. p. 424. DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. ][]9 in the flood, and coming- to anchor in the ebb ; but his chap. iti. gaHey ran aground, and was only got afloat witli great voy^e~ui» labour ; after which he turned into the Aniana, a branch the river, of the Orinoco. Here the tide left him, and the crew being compelled to row against a rapid current, and under a scorching sun, began to sink with fatigue, and to languish from the failure of provisions. Their com- mander, however, displayed a clieerful countenance, willingly sharing in every privation, and holding out the hope of speedy success. As if to reward his confi- dence, a new reach of the river shifted the scene from desolate prospects to one of the most beautiful landscapes they had ever beheld. There opened upon them an amphitlieatre of mountains, crowned with noble trees, while at tlieir bottom verdant plains extended many miles, thickly interspersed with flowers of sweet odour. Unknown birds of rich colours sjjorted in the groves, and fishes of various kinds were caught in great numbers with the net or rod. Nothing could exceed the amenity Beauty of tLj of the scene ; but their feelings of enjoyment were dis- ^'^^"^^y- turbed by multitudes of ravenous creatures, called by the natives lagartos, and apparently of the shark or crocodile genus, which abounded in the river, and in their sight devoured a negro servant of the admiral's, who had gone into the water to bathe. " On the banks," says Raleigh, " were divers sorts of fruits good to eat, flowers and trees of that variety as were sufiicient to make ten volumes of herbals. We relieved ourselves many times with the fruits of the country, and sometimes with fowl and fish we saw birds of all colours, — some carnation, some crim- son, tawny, purple, green, watchet, and of all other sorts, both simple and mixed ; as it ^^'as unto us a great good passing of the time to behold them, besides the relief we found by killing some store of them with our fowling- pieces ; without which, having little or no bread, and less drink, but only the thick and trouliled water of the river, we had been in a very hard case."* * Discovery of Guiana. Works, vol. viii. p. 425. 140 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. Want of provisions, Relics of former exploreri CHAP, ni. Beginning to suffer from want of provisions, they captured two canoes laden with excellent bread, which were run ashore the moment the natives discerned the English. The Indians fled to the woods ; but one of them was seized and compelled to act as a pilot. In chasing him through the underwood, Sir Walter found a refiner's basket, in which were quicksilver, saltpetre, and other materials for trying metals, which made him suspect the Spaniards had been there before him. In this idea he was confirmed by the pilot, who pointed out places where the white people had laboured for gold. Aware of the imprudence of delay, he pushed forward whilst the season permitted ; and, on the fifteenth day after leaving the ships, discovered in the distance the moun- tains of Guiana. In the evening, a northerly gale spring- ing up, they entered the Orinoco, running east and west from the sea to Quito in Peru. Their sensations on launching their feeble craft upon this vast body of waters, whose tributaries were equal to the greatest rivers of the Old World, may be easily imagined. Anchoring near a sandy neck of land, where they found a rich feast of tortoise-eggs, they were visited by Toparimaca, a powerful prince of the country, who brought with him two other caciques, and engaged in a friendly mtercourse with the strangers. The wife of one of these chiefs was a beautiful woman, with dark eyes, excellent proportions, and tresses reaching almost to the ground. Her manners were graceful ; and, though modest, she sipped a cup of wine and conversed, taking great pride m her own comeliness.* Pursuing their voyage westward, a spacious cham- paign country opened, where the banks assumed a deep red colour. Raleigh sent a party to examine the pro- spect fi'om some neighbouring heights. They found it a level of immense extent ; which their pilot stated to be the plains of Sayma, reaching to Cumana and Caraccas in the West Indies, and inhabited by four great nations. Prince Toparimaca. Open CO until Discovery of Guiana. Works, toI. viii. p. 433. DISCOVERS OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. 141 Of these the first are the Sayma ; the next tlie Assawai ; CHAP. in. the third and greatest the Wikiri, hy wliom Pedro de Fournations Serpa, one of the adventurers wlio attempted to reach Guiana, was overthrown ; and tlie hist are the Aroras, a race like negroes, but having smooth hair. This people, it was said, po.ssessed the secret of concocting "the strong- est, deadliest, and most speedy poison in the world," and the slightest scratch from their arrows produced a very fearful death. The expedition now anchored at the port of More- Port of quito in Aromaia, and despatched a messenger to To- ^orequito. piawari, the venerable sovereign of the district, who, although 110 years of age, was so stout that he walked twenty-eight miles to have an interview with the Eng- lish. A tent was pitched for him ; and Sir Walter explained the object of his voyage. Topiawari listened TopiawarU with attention to the interpreter ; and in his reply gave so distinct and accurate an account of the country, that Raleigh " marvelled to find a man of such judgment and good discourse, without the help of learning and breed- ing."* From Morequito they sailed westward, with the desire of exploring the river Caroli, of which they had been told many marvels, as also that it led to some of the strongest nations on the frontiers. When yet at a great distance, the roar of its cataracts was distinctly Cataracts of heard. The stream was as broad as the Thames at Woolwich, and the current ran so violently that an eight-oared wherry hardly advanced a stonecast in an hour. Raleigh, therefore, abandoned the idea of reach- ing the Cassipagalos, whose territories were forty miles distant ; and encamping upon the banks of the Caroli, opened an intercourse with the natives, who were the inveterate enemies of the Spaniards. While waiting the return of his messengers from the tow^n of Capurepana, he visited the waterfalls, and examined the province of Canari, through which the river runs. He has given an animated picture of its remarkable scenery. "When * Discovery of Guiaua. Works, vol. viii. p. 440. J42 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. CHAP III Description of the scenery. Beauty of the country. Native caciques. we ascended," says he, " to the tops of the first hills of the plains adjoining to the river, we beheld that wonder- ful breach of waters which ran down Caroli, and might from that mountain see the river how it ran in three parts above twent}^ miles off ; and there appeared some ten or twelve overfalls in sight, every one as high over the other as a chnrch-tower, which fell with that fury that the rebound of waters made it seem as if it had been all covered over with a great shower of rain, and in some places we took it at the first for a smoke that had risen over some great town. For mine own part I was well persuaded from thence to have returned, being a ver}^ ill footman ; but the rest were all so desirous to go near the said strange thunder of waters, as they drew me on by little and little, till we came into the next valley. * * I never," he continues, " saw a more beautiful country, nor more lively prospects : hills so raised here and there over the valleys ; the river winding into divers branches ; the j)lains adjoining, without bush or stubble, all fair green grass ; the ground of hard sand, easy to mai-ch on either for horse or foot ; the deer crossing in every path ; the birds towards the evening singing on every tree with a thousand several tunes ; cranes and herons, of white, crimson, and carnation, perching on the river's side ; the air fresh, with a gentle easterly wind ; and every stone that we stopped to take up promising either gold or silver by his complexion."* Beyond this river they met some caciques, who seemed determined to work on their credulity ; affirming that in the adjacent parts there dwelt a people called Ewai- panoma, whose heads did not appear above their shoulders, in which their eyes were seated, whilst their mouth was placed m the breast. They were described as the most mighty men of all the land, having bows, arroAvs, and clubs, thrice as big as any of Guiana. This extravagant idea may possibly have arisen, as in the case of the Samoieds,t from their costume. * Discovery of Guiana. Works, vol. vrii* T>. 442. f Tlie garments of these Muscovite savagea are made open DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. 1-13 They were now 400 miles distant from their ships, chap. iti. their clothes were almost worn off tlieir hodies, and ^^^~^ — they were warned by unequivocal indications of the privations. approach of winter, which here consists not so much in any decided change from heat to cold, as in heavy rains and inundations, with frequent hurricanes, thunder, and lightning. Soon after the Orinoco rose with a sudden and awful swell, which dismayed the soldiers ; the rain descended in torrents ; and every day they were drenched Sudden rise to the skin ; so that it was judged 'absolutely necessary ^^ft^e river, to return. Sailing with the sti-eam, their progress was as rapid as the ascent had been tedious ; even against the wind they made little less than 100 miles a-day. At Morequito they were visited a second time by Topia- wari, who brought a number of men loaded with presents. At this interview Raleigh collected much valuable in- telligence relative to the best method of obtaining the co-operation of the bordering nations, and of conquering Guiana. He inquired minutely into the geography of Geography of the neighbouring provinces, the habits of the people, ^^^ country. their arts, and mode of working gold, their dispositions towards the Spaniards, their friendships or enmities with eacli other. Before his departure the venerable cacique, besides promising to become the servant of the queen, delivered his son Cay woraco to the admiral, who brought him to England, and christened him Gualtero. In re- turn, an English sailor named Sparrow, and a boy of the admiral's household, were left with the Indian king, to be tauglit the language of the country. Resuming their voyage, they entered a branch of the Wincapora. Orinoco called Wincapora, near which there was said to be a mountain of crystal. Owing to the inclemency of the season they were unable to penetrate so for ; but saw it in the distance, exceedingly high, and glitteruig like a only at the neck, and when the cold is extreme they put their cosaques over their heads, the sleeves han^dng down, and their faces not being visible except at the cleft which is at the neck ; whence some credulous writers have said these northern people are witliout heads, and have their faces in their breasts. 144 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. CHAP. m. Description of the rivers of Guiana. Native hospitality. Fury of the stream. Return of the ships. marble church-tower. " There falleth over it," in the words of the Discovery of Guiana, "a mighty river, which toucheth no part of the side of the mountain, hut rusheth over the top of it, and falleth to the ground with a terrible noise and clamour, as if a thousand great bells were knocked one against another." Upon this river is situated a town of the same name, where they were received by Timitwara, the chief of the place, with much kindness. His subjects, ho"\^'ever, were not in a state to second his hospitable endeavours ; " for it happened," says Raleigh, " to be one of their feast-days, and we found them all as drunk as beggars, the pots walking from one to another without rest : we, that were weary and hot with march- ing, were glad of the plenty." Their delicate " wine of pinas" proved very strong and heady ; and without ex- posing his men to the temptation of a second Indian carouse, the commander pressed forward, finding it a difficult task, amid torrents of rain and storms of thunder and hghtning, to regam their galley. On embarking, the water had risen, and the strength of the current threatened to dash their frail barge to pieces. The main stream of the Orinoco now raged with a fury which " made their hearts cold to behold it ;" but, strikmg into a smaller branch, they at last reached the sea. A dreadful storm coming on, their galley had much difficulty to live, and was so leaky that the admiral thought it better to remove to the barge. " After," to use his own words, " it had cleared up, they committed themselves to God's keeping, and thrust out into the sea ;" and so, being all very melancholy, one faintly cheering another to show courage, it pleased God that next day they descried Trinidad, and soon after reached the port of Curiapan, where to their great joy and gnui- tude they found their ships at anchor. Raleigh, in his interesting history of this discovery, which it appears to me has been treated by later writers with no little injustice,"' enumerates the various nations, See Remarks in Appendix at the end of the volume. DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. 145 describes tlicir customs, and afterwards, in some passages chap, iil of great vigour and beauty, though tinctured with E,np~ credulity, details the advantages of a conquest of the infiu. country : "' I will enter no further," says he, " into dis- course of their manners, laws, and customs ; and because I have not myself seen the cities of Inga I cannot avow on my credit what I have heard, although it be very likely that the Emperor Inga hath built and erected as magnificent palaces in Guiana as his ancestors did in Peru, which were, for their riches and rareness, most marvellous, and exceeding all in Europe. * * For the rest which myself have seen, I will promise these thmgs that follow and know to be true. Those that are River and its desirous to discover and to see many nations may be tributaries, satisfied within this river, which bringeth forth so many arms and branches, leading to several countries and pro- vinces, above 2000 miles east and west, and 800 miles south and north, and of these, the most either rich in gold or in other merchandises. * "'^' There is no country which yieldeth more pleasure to the inhabitants either for those common delights of hunting, hawking, Game and fishing, fowling, and the rest, than Guiana doth ; it hath ^"id ammuis so many plains, clear rivers, abundance of pheasants, partridges, quails, rails, cranes, herons, and all other fowl, deer of all sorts, porkers, hares, lions, tigers, leopards, and divers other sorts of beasts either for chase or food. * * To conclude, Guiana is a country as yet untouched by the natives of the Old World : never sacked, turned. Unexplored or wrought ; the face of the earth hath not been torn, 'country nor the virtue and salt of the soil spent by manurance ; the graves have not been opened for gold ; the mines not broken with sledges, nor their images pulled down out of their temples. It hath never l)een entered by any army of strength, and never conquered or possessed by any Christian prince ; it is besides so defensible, that if two forts be built in one of the provinces which I have seen, the flood setteth in so near the bank where the channel also lieth, that no ship can pass up but within a pike's length of the artillery, first of the one, and afterwards of 146 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. Influence of Raleigh's enemies. DedicaMon of his woric. CHAP. in. the other : which two forts will be a sufficient guard both to the empire of Inga, and to a hundred other several kingdoms lying within the said river, even to the city of Quito in Peru."'' On his return Sir Walter found his enemies had availed themselves of his absence to influence the queen's mind against him ; and instead of being welcomed as a dis- coverer, his descriptions were received with coldness and suspicion. A contemporary letter, indeed, informs us that he lived about London very gallant, while great interest was made for his being again received at court. But Elizabeth for the present was inexorable ; and the dedication of the Discovery of Guiana to the lord-high- admiral and Sir Robert Cecil plainly alludes to his having fallen on evil days and evil tongues : " The trial," says he, " that I had of both your loves, when I was left of all but of malice and revenge, makes me still presume that you will still be pleased to answer that out of know- ledge, which others shall but object out of malice. In my more happy times, as I did especially honour you both, so I found that your loves sought me out in the darkest shadow of adversity, and that the same affection which accompanied my better fortime soared not away from me in my many miseries ; all which, though I can- not requite, yet I shall ever acknowledge. * * Of the Great losses, little remaining fortune I had, I have wasted, in effiect, all herein. I have undergone many constructions ; I have been accompanied with many sorrows — with labour, hunger, heat, sickness, and peril. * * From myself I have deserved no thanks, for I am returned a beggar and withered. But that I might have bettered my poor estate, it shall appear by the following discourse, if I had not only respected her majesty's future honour and riches. It became not the former fortune in which I once lived to go journeys of piccory ; and it had sorted ill with the offices of honour wh.ich, by her majesty's grace, I hold this day in England, to run from cape to Discovery of Guiana. Works, vol. viii. pp. 462, 464. DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIcn. J -17 capo, and place to place, for the pillage of ordinary chap, ni prizes."* But altliongli detraction was thus busy at the court, chapman the muses espoused the cause of Raleigh. In an heroic ^'^^ ^^^^ poem, ascribed on good grounds to Chapman, the gifted translator of Homer, the enterprise is commemorated in no ignoble strains. The poet having declared the subject of his song to be riches with honour, and conquest with- out blood, describes Guiana bowing in submission to that sovereign princess, whose younger sister she is anxious t ) become : — " Guiana, whose rich feet are mines of gold, Whose forehead knocks against the roof of stars. Stands on her tiptoe at fair England looking, Kissing her hand, bowing her mighty breast, And every sign of all submission making. To be her sister and the daughter both Of our most sacred maid." He then apostrophizes Elizabeth in some spirited lines, Apostrophe alludes to the incredulity with which Raleigh's reports ^° ^i^*^^^'"^ were received, and introduces a picture of the prosperity of the British colonies cradled in this golden country, which is highly poetical, although it proved any thing but prophetic : — " And now a wind, as forward as their spirits. Sets their glad feet on smooth Guiana's breast ; Where, as if each man were an Orpheus, A world of savages fall tame before them. ; And there doth plenty crown their wealthy fields ; And all our youth take Hymen's lights in hand, And fill each roof with honoured progeny. There healthful recreations strew the meads, And make their mansions dance \^■ith neighbourhood, Which here were drown'd in churlish avarice. And there do palaces and temples rise Out of the earth and kiss th' enamoured skies. Where new Britannia humbly kneels to Heaven, The world to her, and both at her blest feet In whom the circles of all empire meet." rr>u • PI -11 I. « « Opposition to Ine parsmiony oi the queen and the malice of Sir Uiepiojeci. , Walter's enemies proved too powerful on this occasion ; and instead of seeing his project embraced by his sove- * Discovery of Guiana. Works, vol. \'iii. p, 379-381. I 148 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. CHAP. IIL reign, and tlie promised country reduced and colonized. New expe- -^e found that he was defamed and distrusted, except by dition. Q^ f^yf ^jjQ appreciated his plans. Yet his spirit rose under his calamities. He determined, if not to prosecute the discovery, at least to keep up an intercourse with the natives ; and accordingly, usmg the remains of his private fortune, and aided by Sir Robert Cecil and Howard, about six months after his return, he despatched the Darling and the Discoverer, under Captain Keymis, who had served in the first expedition." Plan of On reaching Guiana, this officer found his friends much ^ ^'^ ■ dispersed, but eagerly inquiring for Sir Walter, and ready to join his armament. They were disappointed that a larger fleet had not been sent ; but the object of Raleigh was to continue the correspondence and peaceful traffic with the Indians, not to engage in warlike adventure ; and this Keymis ably accomplished. The Cacique of Policy of the Carapana, indeed, afraid of the hostility of the Spaniards, acique. avoided a personal interview ; but others, loudly exe- crating their cruelties, compared theu' tyrannical conduct with the humanity and respect to individual rights exhibited by the English and their commander. He examined some parts of the country which had escaped attention on the former voyage — ascertained the strength of the nations which promised their assistance, and the best access to the interior; after which he collected some farther reports respecting the wealth which might be expected from the adventure, and sailing for England, arrived in the end of June 1596. Caciizexpe- During his absence, his indefatigable employer had engaged m the celebrated enterprise against Spain, known by the name of the Cadiz Expedition, in which he held a principal command. When Spain meditated the invasion in 1588, Raleigh had urged the practicability of burning the formidable fleet of Philip in his own harbour. These views were not then adopted ; but after an interval of eight years * Some oridnal letters of Keymis are preserved amongst the MSS. at Hatfield. DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. J4l) tlie queen had become convinced of tlicir soundness, chap, til The seizure of Calais by the Spaniards, the disordered gpanT^ condition of Ireland, the disaffection of a large party policy, in Scotland, — all arising out of Spanish intrigue, — and the failure in the Portuguese expedition, had greatly strengthened the interest of that monarch, and rendered it necessary for the English ministry to make a vigorous effort against him. The plan, therefore, which had been rejected in 1588, was revived by Elizabeth in 1596, and its execution intrusted to her four best officers, Essex, the lord-high-admiral. Sir Walter Raleigh, and Lord Thomas Howard, — the veterans Drake and Hawkins being now no more. One hundred and fifty vessels were equipped at Ply- English fleet mouth, seventeen of them first-rates, twenty-two ships equipped, of war furnished by the Dutch, and the rest being tenders and small craft. The English fleet contained about 14,000 men, including 1000 gentlemen volunteers ; " for as yet," says Oldys, " the English nobles and gentry had not learnt to live lazily and loosely at home, while their countrymen were fighting abroad for the safety and glory of the nation." The number aboard the Dutch division is not certain ; but it was calculated that there might be spared from it 10,000 men to land on the Spanish coast. Although the chief command was intrusted to the high- ^jsex admiral and the Earl of Essex, yet the queen, dreading appointed to the collision between " an old head and a young one," appointed them a council of five, to keep them " in due temper and harmony." These were Lord Thomas Howard, Raleigh, Sir Francis Vere, Sir Conyers Clifford, and Su- George Carew ; a control and division of authority resented by the proud spirit of Essex, but to which a sharp letter from his royal mistress compelled him to submit. From the first every thing favoured the expedition, success. They had a rapid run to the Spanish coast ; every vessel which could have carried intelligence to the enemy was intercepted ; and the ships anchored in St Sebastian's Bay on the 20th June, only half a league short of Cadiz, 150 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. CHAP. III. wlien the Spaniards believed themselves in perfect Faise^ovc- Security. The lord-admiral resolved that a descent meut should be made first by the land-army upon the town, — a measure which Essex, their commander, although he perceived its danger, did not choose, from some chivalrous punctilio, to oppose. He proceeded, accordingly, to em- bark his forces in the boats, the surf being so tremendous, that every moment they were in danger of swamping. irT-erfercnce Wliilst this was gomg on, Raleigh, who had been *" "" ^'^ absent on some necessary duties, arrived in the bay ; and perceiving the error of Howard, in not at once running his ships into the harbour and attacking the fleet, hast- ened on board to Essex, and conjured him to stop the embarkation, which would, if continued, utterly defeat the enterprise. His remonstrance was most acceptable to the earl, who threw the responsibility upon the admiral, and requested Sir Walter to interfere and induce him to recall the orders. Tliis he immediately did, and Howard, becoming convinced of his mistake, consented to enter Joy of Essex, the harbour. V/ith this news Raleigh returned to Essex, and calling out " Entramos ! Entramos !" the young earl, for joy, cast his hat into the sea, and gave instant orders to weigh anchor, — a precipitancy which might again have ruined all. The day was far spent ; tune was necessary to remove the soldiers on board from the boats ; no plan of attack had been agreed on ; none knew who was to lead, or who was to be second. Sir Walter once more represented the danger of such intem- perate haste, and by his advice the fleet again anchored. ll^ucS ^'^" ^^ night he ^vrote to the high-admiral, proposing that they should first run in and cannonade the enemy's ships with their great ordnance ; after which two flyboats should board each of the great Spanish galleons ; for it was expected that the San Philip and the rest of the men-of-war would bum and not yield ; in which case the queen's ships might be much endangered. All this was agreed to ; and, at his own request, he had the lead- ing of the van, whilst Howard and Essex commanded the great body of the fleet. DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. 151 The success with which this plan was executed reflects chap, iil great credit on the gallantry of the assailants. With Gaii:int~ the first dawn of day, Raleigh in the Warspite weighed assault. anchor, and taking the start of the rest bore in upon the enemy. He was supported by Sir George Carew in the Mary Rose, Sir Robert Southwell in the Lion, Sir Francis Vere in the Rainbow, Captain Cross in the Swiftsure, Sir Conyers and Alexander Clifford in the Dreadnought, and Captain Robert Dudley in the Non pareil, besides some Londoners and flyboats adapted for boarding. The disposition of the Spaniards rendered the attack both difficult and hazardous. Under the walls Defences of of Cadiz seventeen galleys were so ranged as to flank ^^^^ Harbour, the entrance. The harbour was commanded by Fort St Philip, and by the ordnance along the curtain upon the rampart tovrards the sea, besides other pieces of culverin which raked the channel. Although thus strongly guarded, the moment the San Philip perceived the hostile fleet, she crowded all sail, and was followed by Flight of the the San INIatthew, San Thomas, San Andrew, two great Spaniards. Portuguese galleons, three frigates, two argosies armed to the teeth, and forty other great ships bound for Mexico, on board which were the admiral and vice- admiral of New Spain. Of these who thus scoured away at the first wave of the English flag, four of the largest galleons, the San Philip, Matthew, Andrew, and Thomas, anchored again under the guns of the fort of Puntal, a strait of the harbour leading towards Puerto Real. On their right they placed the three frigates, at their Arranjre- back the two Portuguese galleons and argosies ; the ments tor seventeen galleys were reserved to occupy the intervals by three and three as occasion might require. The admiral of New Spain with the body of the fleet was stationed behind them to defend the entrance, which was of that moderate breadth that their line stretched across like a bridge, having the fort just mentioned to guard it. Such being the oi-der of the enemy, Raleigh, leading Raleigh's the van, was first saluted by the garrison, next by the command of cannon on the curtain, and lastly, in good order, by the 152 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. great vessels. General attaclc CHAP. III. seventeen galleys. To these, as, to use his own expres- sion, he considered them hut as " wasps" in comparison with the San Philip and the other galleons, he only replied hy a flourish of trumpets, reservmg his ordnance Direct for higher game. He now directed his course against ^ssauit of the the great vessels in the deepest part of the river, drawing on the rest of the ships, which so hattered the Spaniards that they soon began to ply their oars and take to flight. By this time Sir Walter had anchored beside the Philip and Andrew, and poured broadsides into them without intermission, trusting that the flyboats would speedily come up and enable him to board. The fight soon be- came very hot. Lord Thomas Howard, in the Lion, drew up on one side of the Wai*spite, and Carew, in the INIary Rose, on the other, whilst Sir Francis Vere pushed on towards the side of Puntal ; and Essex, who was still at a distance, hearing the thunder of the ordnance, thrust up through the fleet and anchored next Raleigh on the left hand. In this way the action continued for three hours ; the volleys of cannon and culverin coming as thick as in a skirmish of musqueteers. By this raking fire. Sir Walter's ship was so dreadfally shattered that, fearing she could not float much longer, he went aboard and assured Essex, that if the flyboats could not instantly be brought up he would board from the Warspite at all risks. The earl, with his accustomed gallantry, replied, that whatever Raleigh did, he would, on his honour, second. Tiie other, throwing himself into his boat, rowed back to his ship with all expedition, — an action which seemed to be a signal to the fleet who should be the first to run in on the great galleons. The high-admiral, finding the river so choked up that he could not pass in Boarding the '^^'^^ Ark, joined his brother, in the Nonpareil. Vere, enemy. thinking it hard to be so far behind, got ahead of tho Warspite with the Rainbow ; and he again, in this race of valour, was headed by Lord Thomas Howard. AIJ this passed in the fifteen minutes during which Raleigh was absent. The moment he returned, finding that, instead of being fii-st he was only third, he slipped his anchor, and pushing between Lord Thomas and Vere, Injury of Raleigh's DISCOVERY OF GI'IANA BY KALEIGH. 153 went ahead of hoth, and anchored within twenty yards chap. hi. Honourable of the San Philijj, athwart the channel, so as to prevent any ship from again passing him. Vere, upon this, rivalry. fastened a rope to the side of the Warspite, in order to draw himself np alongside ; but one of the crew cut it asunder, and the Rainbow fell back into its old place. Having no hopes of the flyboats, and prevented by the jpnor of tho wind from nmning close up and boarding the San Philip, Spaniards. Sir Walter laid out a warp " to shake hands with her ;" and Lord Thomas with other ships imitating his example, the Spanish galleons in the utmost haste slipped anchor and ran aground, " tumbling into the sea heaps of soldiers like coals out of a sack," some drowning, some choking in the mud, and others mortally woimded. In the midst of this tumult a negro fired the powder in the San Phi- g,^^^ pj^jj. lip, which blew up with a tremendous noise, the main- bio-^N-nup. mast shooting into the air like an arrow. The flames catching hold of the San Thomas at the same moment, she exploded and covered the sea with burning fragments. Raleigh, however, was too rapid in his movements to allow the San INIatthew and San Andrew to follow their example ; he took them before they could run aground and San An or be burnt by their crews. The picture he draws of "^^^^ captur tlie scene, in his relation of the Cadiz action, is striking : ** The spectacle was very lamentable on their side ; for many drowned themselves, many, half-burnt, leaped into the water ; ver}^ many hanging by the ropes' ends, by the ships' sides, under the water even to the lips ; many swimming with grievous wounds, strucken under water, and put out of pain ; and withal so huge a fire, and such tearing of the ordnance in the great Philip and the rest, when the fire came to them, as, if any man had a desire to see hell itself, it was there most lively figured. Ourselves spared the lives of all after the victory ; but the Flemings, who did little or nothing in the fight, used merciless slaughter, till they were, by myself, and afterwards by the lord -admiral, beaten off."* The action continued from ten in the morning till late * Relation of the Cadiz Action. Raleigh's Works, vol. viii. p. 672. 154 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. CHAP. UL Continuance and result of the action. Capture of the towTi. Plan of pur- suit of the Mexican fleet rts destrue- tioii. in the afternoon ; by which time the bay was cleared and entirely resigned to the English. The victory was justly described by Sir William Monson, one of the officers engaged, as the most disgraceful overthrow ever given to the majesty of Spain, tlie battle being at his own home, in his port which he thought as safe as his chamber ; and it was particularly glorious to the English, when the great inequality of numbers was considered, — seven ships destroying the Spanish fleet, including six galleons, three frigates, seventeen galleys, and the Mexi- can squadron, in all fifty-five, backed by the fort of Puntal, and moored under their batteries. After this success the army landed, and, led by the Earl of Essex, carried the town by a coup de main, although 5000 foot and 800 horse, including the cavaliers of Xeres, made an attempt at resistance. Raleigh, during the seafight, had been hurt in the leg by a splinter. But his anxiety would not suffer him to be absent from the army, and having been carried ashore he mounted his horse, and charging along with the rest entered the city. The pain of his shattered limb, however, became iutoler- able ; there was great danger of his being trodden down by the English soldiers, who abandoned themselves to pillage, and after an hour he returned to the fleet. At this moment, although grievously incommoded and smarting under his wound, his great object was to cap- ture the Mexican fleet, which had taken refuge in the roads of Puerto Real, where, had they been instantly followed, it would have been impossible for them to escape. With this view he sent repeated messages to obtain the admbal's consent. But owing to the confusion incident to the sacking of the town, and some jealousies between the seamen and the land-forces, Raleigh " could not obtain any answer to his desire." Before next morn- ing the Duke of Medina Sidonia, apprehensive lest this inestimable prize should fall into the enemy's hand, ordered them to be burnt. " So as now," says he in his account of the action, " both galleons, frigates, argosies, and all other ships of war, together witli the fleet of Nueva Espana, were all converted into ashes ; only the DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGU. 155 San Mattliewand the San Andrew were in our possession." CHAP. IIL Having destroyed the fortifications and city, the army re-embarked on the 5th of July ; and Essex's design of continuing at sea to intercept the West Indian fleet having been overruled, the victorious squadron directed Return of the tlieir course homeward. On their way they sacked the victorious town of Faro in Portugal, from which they carried off the famous library of Osorius ; and laden with bales of philosophy and literature, as well as with the rich plun- der of Cadiz, they arrived at Plymouth on the 10th of August, from which Essex immediately posted to court. There can be little doubt that this great victory is victory mainly to be attributed to Raleigh. It was at his earnest attributable entreaty that the absurd design of first attacking with ^"^ ^''''^'''^'^' the land-forces was abandoned ; it was he who drew up the plan of the action ; and to him the command of the van was intrusted. Many officers, who Avere present and nowise favourably disposed to him, bore in their private letters the warmest testimony to his ability and Testimony to gallantry ; books were dedicated to him, in which the ^^^ services, glory he had acquired was commemorated ; portraits engraved or painted, in which the action was introduced as the most appropriate background ; and all seemed anxious that the cloud under which his merit had been lately obscured should be di;>pelled by the rcturnmg favour of his royal mistress. Yet, in spite of these testimonies, Elizabeth did not attempt to immediately recall him to court, or permit him to resume win tiie liis offices. Aware of the influence of Essex, he had E^e^ "* been careful to treat the favourite during the voyage with that courtesy to which his great bravery and talents entitled him ; and those who knew the secret enmity between them ascribed this change to interested motives : — " Sir Walter's carriage," says Standen, who was pre- sent, " to my lord of Essex is with the cunningest respect and deepest humility that ever I saw or have trowed." But tlie same writer, after the action, confesses, that among many excellent qualities his behaviour to the earl deserved high praise.* To secure the favour of one * Oldys, p. 254. 156 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. CHAP. m. so powerful as his rival, provided it were done by no DefencTof Sacrifice of honour, was, to a man labouring under the his conduct displeasure of his sovereign, no improper object ; and when engaged in such a service as the attack on the Spanish fleet, he must have been convinced it was their duty to forget private animosities. But Sir Walter's malignant star was still in the ascendant. Incapacitated by his wounds from sharing in the sack of Cadiz, the rich booty fell into the hands of others whom he taught to win the victory. Nor does it appear that he had gained the friendship of Essex, who, with all his noble- ness of nature, perhaps felt hurt at the glory acquired by his inferior in command. Insecurity of The favourite, indeed, had himself cause for dissatis- Essex. faction, and began to feel the insecurity of his giddy elevation. Before leaving court he had recommended his friend Sir Thomas Bodley for the vacant post of Secretary of State. On his return he found that Eliza- beth had preferred Sir Robert Cecil, Burleigh's second son ; and the indignation which he imprudently exliibited Iiriprndencc. on this occasion seems to have been the first cause of that decline of his influence which began soon after to be apparent. He was too open, generous, and independent, for a professional courtier. He presumed upon his ro3'al mistress's passion for him ; and that she really felt as much love as could take possession of a heart on the borders of sixty-four is not to be doubted. But he for- got that the queen, however weak and capricious on some occasions, possessed a remarkable skUl in selecting men fit for high offices, and that no considerations of personal attachment had ever been sufficient to blind Peculiar rir- her discernment. It is this faculty of discriminating true ^le of the genius, and attaching to her service the greatest talents in England, which is the peculiar feature in Elizabeth's character. To deny, as has lately been done, that she was a woman of high and commanding powers, is a refine- ment of modem ingenuity, — an oj)inion begot apparently between prejudice and paradox, and contradicted by the whole history of her reign. That she had weaknesses, all will allow. She was vain ; and although of homely DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. 157 features, desired to be tlionglit beautiful ; sbe affected at chap. m. sixty the romantic feelings, the sighs, loves, tears, and vanitTand tastes, of a girl of sixteen ; she danced " high and dis- affectation, posedly" before Secretary Melville ; and simpered and frowned, and permitted the gallant and handsome cava- liers of her court to feed her with flatteries, and to celebrate her celestial graces, when time had blanched her tresses with snow and shrivelled her ordinary counte- nance into unnumbered wrinkles. But when seated at her council-table these foibles were in an instant aban- doned. In no single instance did she pennit them to influence the conduct of her government, or to weaken the grasp of her masculine judgment. Where did she Masculine ever select a mere courtier, or an empty and gilded J^'^sment. appendage of her processions, to execute a difficult ser- vice 1 How firmly did slie cling tlirough her long reign to Burleigh ! How uninterrupted was her favour to the brave Sir Francis Drake, — to the veteran Vere, to How- ard, and Gilbert, and Sidney, and Sussex, and, after a partial eclipse, to Raleigh ! When did she ever permit a fool to have a word to say when an important enterprise was in agitation 1 When did she ever select a weak person for her favourite ? and how completely at this moment did she convince her beloved Essex, that to be her secretary of state something more was required than his favour, when he found that Sir Robert Cecil had been preferred to the man of his choice. Cecil was the friend of Raleigh ; as much so at least ^^^^ as the marked difference of their characters permitted. Under the eye of his grave and judicious fatlier he had been bred a courtier. His person, indeed, was little calculated to adorn a masque or a festival, for it was deformed ; but in this respect he only added another to the many examples of intellect being spurred on by this painful peculiarity to achieve distinction ; nor is it per- haps too refined or ingenious to trace to the same source the coldness of his heart, his sarcastic temper, and the caution, dissimulation, and passion for political intrigue, which formed the leading features of his character. Little else could be exnected from the sickly and favourite 158 DISCOVERY OF GUIANA BY RALEIGH. CHAP. ni. Talents and application. Lukewarm friend. Policy ot Kaleigh. i>few expcdi" tion to Guiana. child of Burleigh, educated in the severe school of Wal- singham. His talents for business were high, though not equal to his father's ; hut his application was as in- tense, and he had carried the system of private agency and secret information at home and abroad to greater perfection than even the old treasurer himself. His zeal in the service of his royal mistress was neither enthusi- astic nor disinterested, hut it was constant and sincere ; he knew his own greatness to he involved in the success of his public measures, and appreciated that discernment by which the queen could detect, and the rigour with which she would punish, any disposition to prefer himself or his friends to the good of the state. Such a person was well qualified for the office of secretary, at a time when Elizabeth required the assistance, not only of the bravest hearts, but of the best heads among her subjects. Yet, however able as a statesman, Cecil was proportion- ably dangerous as a friend, — subtle and insinuating, he esteemed men principally as tools to advance his own interests, and was ready to cast them away, or even to break them to pieces, should they interfere with liis policy, or cross the path of his ambition. Such Avas the person upon whom Essex, still in his palmy state of favour, did not scruple to let loose his resentment, and to whom Raleigh, having already experienced his patron- age, attached himself with the earnestness of a man who, cut off^ from the good graces of his sovereign, caught at an}'- prospect of a restoration. But both were deceived. The noble, open, and fearless earl fell at lenglh into the toils of the little crafty politician whom he had despised ; and the other, after he had served Cecil's private pur- poses, and co-operated m the overthrow of his enemies, was first coldly thrown aside, and then all but destroyed by the hand which he had trusted. About two months after his return from the Cadiz action. Sir Walter fitted out a ship, called after himself the Wat, for a third vo^'age to Guiana. The command was intrusted to Captain Leonard Berrie, who sailed from Weymouth in the end of December, and discovered the coast m the beginnmg of March. The crew came to DISCOVERT OP GUIANA BY RALEIGH. l59 the natives. anchor in a bay at the mouth of the Wiapoucow, 4° CHAP, iir. north of the line. The falls in the river did not permit Reception by their pinnace to proceed far inland ; and, regaining the coast, they visited Aramatto, where the natives supplied them liberally with provisions, and besought them to come and kill the Spaniards. Thence they passed to the Cooshipwinee, which flows through Amano, and reach- ing ]\[arrac found the people " something pleasant, having drunk much that day," but withal humane, and anxious to furnish them with every thing required. In their passage up the river, being the first Christians seen in this province, they were received with much reverence, and treated with uniform kindness. They found the country rich, the climate temperate, and the natives of extraordinary stature, and carrying bows with golden handles. The remainder of the voyage was deficient in novelty ; and, after a fruitless attempt to penetrate to the Lake Perima, upon which Manoa was supposed to be situated, Captain Berrie returned to Plymouth on the 28th of Juns, 160 FROM Raleigh's restoration to favour CHAPTER IV. From Ealeigli's Restoration to Favour to the Fall of Essex, Raleigh effects a Reconciliation between Cecil and Essex, and is himself restored to Favour — Designs of Philip II. — Eliza- beth's Preparations against him— The Island-voyage— Ra- leigh appointed Rear-admiral— He takes Fayal— Disputes with Essex — Their Reconciliation — Inexperience of Essex — A large Carrack destroyed by Raleigh— Philip's third Fleet intended for the Invasion of England is dispersed by a Storm — Essex returns to England — Elizabeth receives him with Reproaches— Decline of his Favour — Critical Circumstances of the Country— Cecil's Mission to France — Cecil and Lord Burleigh advise a Peace with Spain — Essex violently opposes it— Rivalry of Raleigh and Essex — Their Splendour— State of Ireland— Essex's Quarrel vrith the Queen— Plot of Cecil — Essex appointed to the Government of Ireland — His In- activity — His Letters — The Queen's severe Answers— Essex's sudden Return to England — His Reception — Trial and Con- demnation— Relative Position of Cecil and Raleigh — Contrast between their Characters — Superior Address of Cecil — His Correspondence with James, King of Scots— Raleigh retires for a short Season to Sherborne— His Employments— IMission to Boulogne — Elizabeth's Passion for tall and handsome Ser- vants — Anecdote illustrative of this — Raleigh's magnificent Taste in Dress and Equipage— Queen's Progresses— Taste of the Times for solemn Masques and Pageants— Elizabeth's Passion for Hunting— Her Love of Display— Elizabeth's Re- ception of the Marshal Biron at Basing. CHAP. IV. On reaching England Berrie found Raleigh too much Berried engrossed with very different matters to attend to schemes sciicmes. of discovery. His whole mind was occupied by two projects, — the first relating to another great naval expe- TO THE FALL OF ESSEX. 161 dition against Spain ; the second, an affair perhaps more chap iv arduous although of a pacific nature, an attempt to effect proj^of a reconciliation between Essex and Cecil ; in which, to Raleigh. the surprise of all, he at length succeeded. He was in- duced to make an effort to bring these two powerful rivals together, from a conviction that till this were effected his own restoration to the queen's good graces was impossible. He possessed, indeed, the interest of the secretary ; but for this very reason the favourite opposed him ; — and he, though not so omnipotent as before, was still too strong for them. To make himself „ .,. ' o 1111. 1 1 -Reconciiia- acceptable to this great man, who had hitherto treated tion witJi him with jealousy and distrust, and to brmg about a ^^*^^- union between two minds which cherished a deep-rooted hostility to each other, was no easy task. But Raleigh brought to it an intimate knowledge of their characters ; and the courtiers saw with astonishment not only the progress of the reconciliation, but its consequence in the re-admission of its author to court. On the 4th March Restoration 1596-7, Roland Whyte writes to Sir Robert Sidney, to com-t. — " Sir Walter Raleigh hath been very often very private with the Earl of Essex, and is the mediator of a peace between him and Sir Robert Cecil, who likewise hath been private with him. He [Sir Walter Raleigh] alleges how much good may grow by it. The queen's continual unquietness will turn to contentments."* Mr Whyte writes, on the 9th April, 1597, — " Sir Description Walter is daily in court ; and hope is had he shall be of his recep- admitted to the execution of his office, as captain of the guard, before his gomg to sea. His friends you know are of greatest authority and power here ; and the Earl of Essex gives it no opposition, his mind being full, and only carried away with the business he hath in his head, of conquering and overcoming the enemy." t The final reconciliation is thus described m a letter dated the 2d June, where we find Raleigh completely restored to favour, and once more officiatmg as captain of the guard * Sidney Letters, vol. ii. p. 24. f Ibid. p. 37. 162 FROM RALEiail'S RESTOllATIO.N TO FAVOUR Approval of Esse^ CHAP. rv. to the sovereign : — " Yesterday my lord of Essex rid to Finarrecon- Chatham ; in his absence Sir Walter Raleigh was brought ciUation. to the queen by Sir Robert Cecil, who used him very graciously, and gave him full authority to execute his place as captain of the guard, which immediately he undertook, and swore many men into the places void. In the evening he rid abroad with the queen, and had pri- vate conference with her ; and now he comes boldly to the privy-chamber as he was wont. Though this was done in the absence of the earl, yet is it known that it vi^as done with his liking and furtherance. * * * Your lordship knows that Sir Walter Raleigh had the victualling of the land-forces : I hear it is very well done, and that he liath let the Earl of Essex have much for his private provision ; they are grown exceeding great, and often goes the earl to Su* Robert Cecil's house very private, where they meet."* This first difficulty being overcome, Raleigh had lei- sure to prepare for the expedition against Spain ; and the danger with which the country was once more threatened from that great power rendered it necessary to adopt decisive measures. Philip II., incensed by the severe loss sustained at Cadiz, concentrated his naval strength at Lisbon with the resolution of invading Eng- land ; but the elements once more arrayed themselves against him : in a few hours his boasted strength was Wreck of the ^^^^ prostrate, and thirty-six sail wrecked and dashed to Spanish fleet pieces. The determined resolution of the king, however, was unsubdued : such of his sliips as had escaped were repaired ; the whole maritime resources of the kingdom again collected ; the wealth of the Indies profusely lavished ; and a few months had not elapsed, w^hen a third armament rode proudly in the ports of Ferrol and the Groyne, destmed, as it was affinned, to make a simultaneous descent upon England and Ireland. It was to meet these formidable preparations that Elizabeth fitted out that naval expedition wliich has been Proposed expedition against Spain. Sidney Letters, vol. ii. pp. 54, 55. TO THE FALL OP ESSEX. 163 called the Island- voyage. The force consisted of 1 20 CHAP, iv sail, seventeen heing her own ships, forty-three smaller tiio Island vessels, and the rest tenders and victuallers. In this voyage, fleet were embarked 6000 newly levied troops, and 1000 veterans from the Netherlands under Sir Francis Vere ; hut the lord-high-admiral, Howard, having from indis- position declined the chief command, it was unfortunately given to Essex, whose talents for the sea-service were Essex ap- inferior to his abilities as a statesman and soldier. Under pf''"ted to him Lord Thomas Howard was appointed vice-admiral, and Sir Walter Raleigh rear-admiral ; whilst the ships were commanded by the most experienced captains in England, amongst whom was Sir William Monson, Sir George Carcw, Sir Richard Lewson, and Sir Thomas Vavasour. — Before they were ready to put to sea, it was resolved to dismiss the whole of the land-forces excepting the veterans under Sir Francis, and to aim principally at intercepting the Indian fleet. They sailed on the l7th August ; but Raleigh's ship. Accident to the Warspite, had her mainyard broken by an accident ; f|^-p '^''^ and being obliged to lie behind for repair, she parted company from the commander. On arriving at Lisbon, he found a number of smaller vessels and tenders be- longing to the fleet, and, in company with these, joined the main annamcnt at the Azores. All this happened only in the ordinary course of events. But the creatures Misreport of of Essex represented it as an intentional disrespect ; and '^^' the earl, jealous of his dignity, and unacquainted with the sea-service and its casualties, was with difficulty re- conciled to the rear-admiral. The Isle of Flores was appointed for the general rendezvous ; and here, the fleet being at last assembled, they found to their morti- fication that the secret intelligence, which had represented the Spanish Armada to be stationed at the islands for the protection of the Indian merchantmen, was false. It was now necessary to determine upon the order of order of nro their proceedings ; and Essex, who fully appreciated ceedings. the naval experience of Raleigh, requested his counsels, to the surprise of those who had attempted to sow dig- 164 FROM Raleigh's restoration to favour CHAP. IV. sension lietween them. In this consultation it was re- Piun'of ' solved that they themselves should attack Fayal, whilst attacic Howard and Vere should carry Graciosa ; Lord Mount- joy and Sir Christopher Blount, St Michaels ; and the Netherland forces, Pico ; and, last of all, they were to unite and storm Terceu-a. Matters being thus arranged. Sir Walter had scarcely begun to wood and water, when Captain Champernon arrived to bid him follow the ad- miral, who had borne away for Fayal, — an order which he instantly obeyed ; but although he made all sail, it was found impossible to overtake his leader. In these circumstances nothing was left for Raleigh but to steer the straightest cour^^e for Fayal, of which he got sight Arrival at ^J next morning. To his astonishment he found the Fayal. road empt}^, and no news of the commander-in-chief. In this perplexity there was a division of opinion : Him- self and the veterans of his own squadron, Brook, Gorges, and Harvey, aware that every hour's delay was so much gained by the enemy, who were busy fortifying the coast and town, earnestly advised an immediate descent ; but others who were dependants of Essex strongly opposed any landing without his knowledge and presence ; and Sir Walter, willing not to irritate the earl, agreed to postpone the enterprise for a short time. Chan-? of Scarcely had this been determined when the wind wiua. tacked about, and Raleigh with part of the fleet coasted round the point, and dropped anchor in a better road than the first they occupied, having an inviting and beautiful view of the island, which appeared sprinkled with little villages and pleasant fields. Such a sight increased the appetite for landing ; and taking his barge, At^emrf to longboat, and pinnace, with threescore muskets and forty land. ' pikes, he resolved at least that they should have the comfort of filling their water-casks. The moment, how- ever, they were ready to push off^, a strong party of Spaniards were seen hastening to meet them, and, pre- occupying the trenches, stood waving their colours, brandishing their weapons, and daring the English to the attack. Observing tliis, Raleigh augmented liis force TO Till: FALL OF IlsSl-X. j ()5 to the number of 260 men, all drawn from his own squa- chap, iv dron, and rowing along the line, was warmly greeted by Auf-mi^tod the Low Country captains, who begged him to accept a *'"'*i<^- reinforcement from their companies. This he refused ; and having ordered the pinnaces, with some heavy ord- nance in thcni, to play upon the trenches, whilst he and his men pulled to the landing-place as fast as oars could carry them, he leapt on shore, and heading his party made good his ground, although it was fortified by a barricade of earth and stone, which left only a narrow lane, completely raked by the enemy's guns. It had idcns of been always a principle of his, " that it was more difficult eol^t '"'^ to defend a coast than to invade it ;"'•• the truth of which he now established by a practical example under circum- stances which any eyewitness would have pronounced desperate. Leading in his own barge amid showers of shot, he waded through the water, and clambering up the rocks, cut his way at the head of his men through the narrow entrance, attacking the enemy with such resolution that they threw away their weapons and fled. In this service two longboats were sunk and a few sol- diers slain or drowned, yet the loss was trifling in com- parison with the advantage ; and when the officers of the Low Countries came on shore and examined the trenches, they paid the highest compliment to the skill and cour- age of the rear-admiral. Having completed the landing, and reduced the for- i-^fi''"? tifications, the next object was to make themselves masters of the town. Raleigh sent forward some ser- geants and musketeers to reconnoitre the enemy's lines ; but intimidated by the formidable appearance of the batteries, one commanding the road and the other placed on a hill behind the town, they declined the service. The admiral upon this, observing that these foreign Attack '>f troops, whose exploits they had heard so vaunted, were '^ °^' " likely to prove but commonplace warriors, declared that he would perform the duty himself, although it belongc d rather to a common soldier than a commander. This * History of tlie World, b. v. c. i. § 9 ; vol. vi. p. 1047 166 PROM kaleigh'b restoration to favour CHAP IV. was at first taken for jest ; but he called for his casque Cannonade, and cuirass, and in spite of remonstrances, placing him- self at the head of his men, proceeded to reconnoitre the town, and ascertain the approaches of the hill. In the midst of this service the cannon-shot and stones from the battered walls flew thick about him. Sir Arthur Gorges was wounded, two of the soldiers had their heads carried awa}^, and the admiral was shot through the clothes in diff'erent places, yet without having the skin broken. Having completed his observations he was joined by- Captain Berrie, and despatched orders for Captain Bret and the rest of the companies to come up, as he expected the fort, which seemed a complete military work, with curtain, ditch, and flankers, would give some trouble. All these precautions proved unnecessary ; for the first spirited attack had so disheartened the Spaniards, that they abandoned the post without firing a shot. They next marched against the town, and found it also deserted. In this manner, with the loss of about ten men killed and twenty wounded, Sir Walter rendered himself mas- ter of the whole island. The town thus easily occupied was called Villa Dorta, being somewhat similar to Dover in situation, and about the size of Plymouth or Yarmouth as they w^ere in Elizabeth's time. It was built of stone, divided into spacious streets, interspersed with gardens, and contained a handsome church, nunnery, and monastery ; its in- habitants were mostly of Dutch descent, though speak- ing Portuguese. As it was un walled, Raleigh dreaded a surprise whilst his soldiers were scattered about in search of plunder or provisions ; for which reason he raised some strong barricades, planted a watch at inter- vals, ordered a guard to remain under arms in the mar- ket-place, and prohibited the men from straggling " twenty score 3'ards" without the consent of an officer. Having adopted these precautions, they reposed during the night, and before daybreak Essex's fleet was dis- covered bearing in full sail to Fayal roads. We may easily conceive the disappointment of this high-spirited Expected opposition. Complete success. Villii Dorta taken. Precaution- iiry mea- sures. TO THE FALL OF ESSEX. 167 leader, when he found the victory gained, and his rear- chat. iv. admiral in possession of the island. No one was ever jeai^Ji^ of more jealous than Essex of any intrusion upon his com- Essex. mand, or the slightest taint upon his honour ; and, un- fortunately, as had already heen shown at Flores, there were many of his flatterers m the fleet, who scrupled not to represent the whole conduct of the rear-admiral as an insolent contempt of discipline, a marked disobe- dience of his superior in command, for which he might be called to answer at the risk of his head. Thus exas- Anger at perated, the earl in the first ebullition of resentment laid K^'eiKii's ■,-, 1 nn 111 1-1 . T success. all the oniccrs who had engaged m the action under arrest ; and when Sir Walter arrived on board to wel- come and conduct him to the town, he openly accused him of a breach of orders, there being an article in the instructions, that none sh-ould land any of the troops without the general's presence. Raleigh admitted the order ; but, craving leave to defend himself, explained in a temperate tone that it regarded captains and inferior Raleigh's officers, whilst he was a principal commander, and not ^'^^'^"'^■^• subject to any such restriction, being nominated by her majesty's letters to take the guidance of the whole fleet, failing the earl and Lord Thomas Howard. To this, as it was true, Essex had no reply to offer ; and when made aware that they had waited for his arrival, and that at first there was no serious intention of attacking the town, he became pacified, and by the kindly offices of Lord Thomas Howard, matters were brought to an amicable conclusion. Although too facile and apt to be abused by flatterers. Generous the earl's disposition was noble and generous ; and find- of^£^^[!^*^" ing himself in the wrong he was as quick to turn his anger against those who had deceived him, as he was anxious to offer reparation to all whom he had injured. His greatest failing was an excessive ambition for indi- vidual glory, and a desire to be universally popular, — qualities which sometimes caused him to think more of himself than of the queen's service, and from which hia present discow-ent arose. 168 FROM Raleigh's restoration to fatoitr CHAP. IV. Every thing, however, was now settled ; and having Proce^to reduced the town to ashes, they proceeded to Graciosa. Giaciosa. jjere Essex suffered himself to be so completely gained over by the chiefs of the island, v,-ho brought good store of provisions, that he gave up all thoughts of an assault, and steered for St Michaels, where the fleet encountered Ci^pture of and took three Spanish vessels, the greatest of which, of i>Sz"&^ 400 tons, richly freighted with goods and passengers, was captured by Raleigh. On examination the prizes ,. were found to be worth 400,000 ducats, being laden with '. . cochineal, silver, gold, pearls, civet, musk, ambergris, and other profitable merchandise. Sir Ai-thur Gorges, who was Sir Walte-r's captain, and writes an account of this voyage, has here mentioned an amiable trait of his Amiable commander : On hearing from those who had examined Rdcigh. it the richness of the Spanish cargoes, the rear-admiral said privately to this officer, " Although we shall be little the better for these rich prizes, yet I am heartily glad for our general's sake ; because they will, in great mea- sure, give content to her majest}^ ; so that there may be no repining against this poor lord for the expense of the voyage."-^' iii-ad%iseci These kind anticipations might have proved true, had Essex.*^ ° the commandant behaved with firmness, and followed the advice of the veteran seamen ; but he listened to the suggestions of parasites, who possessed neither skill nor honesty, and there followed only a series of failures and mortifications. On departing from Graciosa four sail were descried ; one of which, from its size, was supposed to be a carrack belonging to the Plate-fleet. Upon this S^fl °et °' ^^^ earl divided his force into three squadrons, commanded by himself, Howard, and Ealeigh, ordering Captain Monson to steer southward, and make signals to the rest if he overtook the enemy. While concerting this a bark, which had passed the suspected vessels, assured him they were part of his own ships. The orders were then recalled. However, Monson was already out of sight, Oldys, p. 297. TO THE FALL OF ESSEX. 1 f?9 and within three hours he descried the whole Spanish chap. tv. flret, fired guns, hung out lights, and made every signal ; unskimii but Essex, in pursuit of some new fancy, had altered his p'^"s of course, and stood for St Michaels. Even here his want of naval skill proved ruinous, for he chose the course by the north of Terceira ; whereas, if he had taken the shortest by Angra, he must have met the rich flotilla. " We may say, and that tnily, there was never that Monson's possibility to have undone the state of Spain as now : observations for every royal of plate we had taken in this fleet had been two to them, by our converting it by war upon them. None of the captains could be blamed in this business ; ail is to be attributed to the want of experience in my lord [of Essex], and his flexible nature to be overruled : for the first hour he anchored at Flores, and called a council. Sir AVilliam Monson advised him to run west, spreading his fleet north and south, so far as the eastern wind that then blew would carry them. * * * This advice my lord seemed to embrace ; but was diverted by divers gentlemen, who, coming principally for land service, found themselves tired by the tediousness of the sea. * -5^ * Certain it is, if my lord had followed his advice, within less than forty hours he had made the queen owner of that fleet."* Meanwhile the English steered for St Michaels ; and Raleigh's as Raleigh lay there waiting the arrival of the com- ^^^^^^ "^^^ mander-in-chief, who was again running .after some fruitless enterprise, a carrack of 1800 tons, loaded with treasure, bore in with all sail amongst his ships, mistaking them for Spaniards, at which sight he gave orders to haul down every flag, and that no one should, at the highest peril, either fire a gun, or put off" a boat. All lay quietly at anchor eyeing their golden victim, which without suspicion was proudly advancing, and in a few minutes retreat would have been impossible, when a loggerheaded Hollander, either neglecting or mistaking the signals, * ilonson's Naval Tracts in Churchill's Voyages, vol. iii. pp. 190, 191. J 70 FROM Raleigh's restoration to favour CHAP IV. discharged a shot at the stranger, who, perceiving her Uufrn^iate error, changed her course as nimbly as a frightened dove ; blunder. but at the same moment the wind chopped about, and she ran aground under the town and fort. " We liasted all we coiild," says Gorges in his animated and beautiful description of this incident, " when we saw her aground, tottering and reeling, with those few boats we had left, to have entered her. But before we could make us Burning of ready, or come near her, being three miles off, she was prfzef^^'^ ^ on light fire in many places, her ordnance thundering off apace, and too hot to be approached, much less to be entered at that time, without inevitable destruction. And yet such haste was made to have prevented this mischief, that divers had like, by overcharging boats and pinnaces, to have foundered in the seas, the billows going very high. And in that case was our rear-admiral amongst others, who, for haste to this banquet, took his row barge, and was so ill able in her to endure the seas that were rough, and went high at that time, as that I, by chance, seeing him so ill bested and in danger, was Humorous fain to clap him aboard with a good stout shipboat that of the^disap- ^ ^^^^^ "^j having made haste also to that feast as fast as poiutment I could. But, in conclusion, we came all too late, for the broth was grown too hot for our supping. To be- hold her thus flaming was a grievous sight to us, but a most wretched spectacle for the Portugals, so to see their goods, by their own deeds and fury, to perish by fire and water in a goodly vessel, judged to be 1800 tons at the least. She was a whole night and all the next day in burning ; and, in beholding her, you might have seen the very shape, cordage, masts, and furniture of a ship to perfectly in fire, as no painter could have half so well resembled it with art or colours. And when she was clean consumed to the water, there arose still a great smoke out of the sea for many hours after, by reason of some close decks full of spices and sugar under water, which the fire had taken hold of."* * Relation of Sir Arthur Gorges, in Purchas's Pil^imes, vol. V. p. 1965. TO THE FALL OF ESSEX. I7I Having lost this opportunity of humbling the powci chap. iv. of Spain by the capture of their treasure-fleet, Essex oeiaycJ committed another error in delaying his return home, letum of • KsscXt when assured by his best officers that nothing more at that season remained to be done. The time was vainly spent in attempts to repair his own glory by some ex- ploit, whilst the armada of Philip sailed from the Groyne and Ferrol, and, finding the coast of England undefended, contemplated an easy landing, and a sanguinary reckon- ing for the disasters of 1588. But at the moment when human help seemed vain, the elements were once more Destrnc- let loose, and the fleet of Philip for the third time was Spanish scattered in a thousand fragments upon the ocean. Mean- *'^^'^- while Essex, after encountering the same storms, made the western coast late in October, and posted to London, whilst Raleigh went to Plymouth. The object of the earl was to obtain the queen's ear to his own story first ; that of his rear-admiral to provide for the disembarkation and payment of the troops, for repairing the ships damaged in the late gales, and for distributing the Low Country regiments along the coast of Cornwall, as a pro- tection against any renewed attempt of the Spaniards. Both acted in conformity to their ruling dispositions, — Essex with a single eye to the defence of his own honour, which he felt was tarnished by his late errors, and Sir Walter with that strict attention to his duty, which became a commander of integrity and experience. The earl's reception at court was mortifying in the Reception of extreme. Instead of welcome the queen met him with couit^' '^^ reproaches ; accused him of misconduct ; proudly de- manded why he had neither burnt nor taken the Ferrol fleet ; blamed the escape of the Indian carracks ; and drove him by her anger to shut himself up m his house at Wanstead. In his absence, too, she had promoted his rival Cecil to the post of Master of the Wards, and had raised the Lord-admiral Howard to the peerage by the title of Earl of Nottingham, mentioning in his patent tliat the reward was conferred for his services against the Armada, and his conduct in the attack at Cadiz. This CIIAIMV. 172 fhom Raleigh's restoration to favol r last circumstance was deeply resented by Essex. He had himself been commander-in-chief in that action, and considering Ho\vard's promotion as a direct impeachmei;it of his honour, sent him a challenge. In a letter from Roland Whyte, who was then at court, to Sir Robert Sidney, the earl's displeasure is strongly painted : " I hear my lord Essex desires to have right done him, either by a commission to examine it, or by combat, either against the Earl of Nottingham himself, or any of his sons, or of his name, that will defend it. Or that her majesty will please to see the wrong done unto him. And so will he suffer himself to be commtinded by her as she please herself. Here is such ado about it, as it troubles this place and all other proceedings. Sir Walter Raleigh is employed by the queen to end this quarrel, and to make an atonement between them. But this is the resolution of Lord Essex, not to yield but with altering the patent, which cannot be done, but by per- suasion to bring the Earl of Nottingham unto it."* These court broils, which so disquieted the queen, were not easily allayed. On the first mention of altering his patent, old Howard pretended sickness, and shut himself up in his house at Chelsea ; whilst Elizabeth, tormented betwixt her regard for her favourite and her desire to be just, accused Burleigh and Secretary Cecil of bringing her into the dilemma, " who defended them- selves with infinite protestations, execrations, and vows." Sir Walter, however, at length effected an amicable arrangement : Nottingham kept his patent, Essex was made earl-marshal, the queen was contented to forget his failures, and the courtiers wondered to observe the great familiarity which again grew up between him, Cecil, and Raleigh. Having succeeded thus far, and wearied with his con- stant hard service. Sir Walter retired to his seat at Sher- borne, expecting that some honour would be conferred upon him ; yet the place of vice-chamberlain, which Sidney Letters, vol. ii. p. 77- TO THE FALL OF ESSEX. 173 al)Out this time became vaccant, was earned off by superior chap. iv. interest, and given to Sir Robert Sidney. But altliough si,penor interest o SirR.Sidiuiy ■'".sappointed in this object of his ambition, he found interest of many resources in the useful, learned, or elegant studies, to wliich he devoted these brief intervals of leisure. With ordinary minds universality of pursuit h generally tlie grave of excellence, as it too commonly dilutes and destroys all original talent ; but the case was different with this remarkable man, whose genius was as varied and discursive as it was powerful. He could turn him- Universal self with surprising facility from mathematics to poetry, ^^"'"^• from cosmographical speculations or metaphysical dis- quisitions on the nature of the soul to the lighter subjects of music,'"' ornamental gardening or painting, to historical or antiquarian researches ; and all the while, instead of sinking, as others similarly occupied would have done, into a dreaming philosopher, or a mere literary recluse, he kept up his intercourse with the world, maintained his connexions with the court, had a vigilant eye upon the politics of England and the continent, and was ready to avail himself of any new avenue which opened to his ambition or his love of glory. As a mathematician, his Study chief fi-iends were Harlot, Dee, and the Earl of North- pu^ui|j|;' umberland. In the study of antiquities, we find him an original member of the earliest society established in England for the cultivation of this useful and interesting branch of knoAvledge ; an institution which reckoned amongst its numbers the celebrated names of Spelman, Selden, Cotton, Camden, Saville, Stow, and many others, — honoured by some of the greatest men in the country during the time of Elizabeth, but sufiFered to fall into neglect by her successor. t Upon the same subjects he appears to have corresponded with Selden and Cotton, availing himself of their collections of manuscripts, and communicating to the former of these authors some of his own rarer pieces. But there was another and a more interesting asso- • Oldys, p. 81. t MS. quoted by Oldys, p. 317. CHAP. IV. jrermaid i-lub. Critical circum- stances of the country. Policy of Franca Plans of Cecil 174 FROM RALEIGn's RESTORATION TO FAVOUR elation, of which Sir Walter is said to have -been the founder, known in the dramatic history of the times as the Mermaid Club, which had its meetings at the tavern of this name in Fleet Street. Shakspeare, Ben Jonson, Fletcher, Beaumont, Carew, Donne, and other geniuses of that brilliant period, were numbered amongst its members ;* and the poems of Beaumont contain allusions to those encounters of nimble wit, those rare tales and "jests of subtle flame," in which he bore a part on such occasions. Pity it is that no record of these poetical symposia has been left, if we except an allusion of Fuller, which is obscure and somewhat apocryphal. t In the mean time, while Raleigh enjoyed a temporary retirement at Sherborne, or passed his social and literary hours in the conversation of the choicest spirits of the time, the circumstances of the country became in no small degree critical. Spain, harassed by her double war with France and England, was solicitous for peace, and made overtures to Henry IV., who, before proceeding to negotiate, communicated with Elizabethand the States. The queen resolved to despatch Cecil to the French court to watch the conferences, and induce the monarch to adopt the course most favourable to the Protestant cause, of which she had so long been the champion. But this wary minister was reluctant to leave England, dreading the machinations of his enemies. " His fear was that some might be advanced in his absence whom he could not like of;" and the entertainments, which we find given him at this time by Raleigh and his other friends, were probably artfully contrived to delay his voyage and afford time to arrange a secret correspondence, and set his spies and posts in training, who brought Kim letters of every thing that should be done. These singu- lar particulars, which throw so strong a light upon the * Gifford's Life of Jonson, pp. 65, G6. Weber's Introduction to Beaumont and Fletclier, Seward's Preface, p. 158. None of these authors give their authority for this curious piece of lite- rary history. The reader will find a short note on the subject at the end of the vohime. + Worthies, vol. ii. p. 414. TO THE FALL OF ESSEX. Ijo policy of this noted minister, appear in the Sidney Letters chap. iv. On the 30th January, Mr Whyte, then at court, informs sidn^' Sir Robert Sidney, " that my Lord Compton, Lord Cob- letters. ham, Sir Walter Raleigh, and my Lord Southampton, do severally feast JNIr Secretary before he depart, and have plays and banquets ; my Lady Darby, my Lady Walsingham, INIrs Anne Russel, are of the company, and my Lady Raleigh." On the 11th February he sends word, that Lord Thomas Howard, Sir Walter, and divers others had accompanied Cecil to Dover ; and adds this little piece of private information regarding the dislike of his foreign embassy : — " I heard it said in very great ^^^I'j'^j^^'jfjg secret, that this employment much troubled him, and embassy. that within these very few days past he had no fancy to go, till Essex did assure him that in his absence nothing should be done here that might be disagreeable unto him." On the 15th of February, believing he had pro- vided against intrigues during his absence, Cecil departed. " Mr Secretary'," so Whyte writes, " is embarked and gone, unless these contrary winds drive him back again. I am credibly informed, that before he v>'ent away, Essex and he agreed upon the bringing in of your lordship and Sir Walter Raleigh into council. During Mr Secretary's being at Dover, he had every day posts sent unto him of all things done, were they never so private ; surely he hath great and inward and assured friends about the queen."* To remonstrate with Henry IV. against his intention object of^ of concluding a peace, without the concurrence of Eliza- ^ ^^'"' " beth and the States, formed the main object of the Tnission ; but on the secretary's arrival he had the mor- tification to find that the French king had already com- mitted himself, and that every attempt to break off the truce was vain. The treaty of Vervins was accordingly ^JJ^^^^'j^^ signed between France and Spain on the 2d of May 1598 ; and the favourable terms granted to Henry IV. appear to have changed the mind of the minister regarding the * Sidney Letters, vol. ii. pp. 86, 89, 90. New plans of Cecil of Essex to peace. 176 FROM Raleigh's restoration to favour CHAP, rv, policy to be adopted by England. The queen had lost her French ally ; Spam was so weakened by repeated reverses that it was conjectured her monarch, who was languishing under the disease of w^hich he soon after died, would not be difficult to deal with in a negotiation ; and the secretary, on considering these circumstances, recom- mended pacific measures, in which opinion he was con- firmed by the experience of his father. When he returned from France, the subject was brought before the privy- council and keenly debated. On this occasion the Lord- OpTiosi^ion treasurer Burleigh appeared for the last time in public, and in vain attempted to convince Essex, who strongly opposed a peace, that this obstinate desire for an inter- minable and sanguinary contest was alike impolitic and unchristian. The earl, however, was immovable, and the venerable statesman concluded the debate in a singular manner ; for, pulling a prayer-book from his pocket, he opened it at the Psalms, and placing it before Essex, silently pointed to these w^ords : " Men of blood shall not live out half their days ;" — a warning which, consi- dering the near and sudden fall of that nobleman, might to superstitious minds appear almost prophetic. Kaioisrh'.s While such was the difference of opinion amongst the ministers, Raleigh continued to possess the favour of the queen, and to exert his influence for the good of the country. His time appears to have been divided between his seat at Sherborne and his attendance at court, where RivaiiT of he vied in his taste for magnificence with the greatest the courtiers. \qj.^q^ ^nd cvcn witli the favourite Essex. A singular instance of this species of rivalry has been commemorated, though somewhat obscurely, by Lord Clarendon. No sovereign of England ever took greater delight, or boasted of having a more discerning taste in the masques, tournaments, pageants, and martial games of her court, than Elizabeth. Great rejoicings were usually held upon her birthday ; on which occasion, surrounded by the fair and noble, and attended by her gravest counsellors, by foreign ambassadors and illustrious strangers, the queen presided in the tilt- yard, commending continued f.ivoiu- TO THE FALL OF ESSEX. 1 77 the combatants and adjudging the prize to the most chap, iv worthy l-cnight. In such exhibitions, Raleigh, a man of QueenV fine figure, skilful in the use of his weapons, and of an Wrth-day. ingenious fancy in the various dresses and devices then in vogue, made a striking appearance. He carried oflF the victory, and wore the favour of his royal mistress — a jewel, or a scarf, or some such brilliant trifle — with as much display of devotion as if it had been a first gift from the lady of his affections. All this moved the jealousy of Essex ; and one birthday, having learnt that Sir Walter had prepared a pageant in which he and his Jealousy of company were to wear plumes of orange-tawny feathers, ^^^^ he chose to enter the barriers at the same moment, lead- ing a troop of 200 cavaliers, sumptuously accoutred, and every one having an orange plume ; so that Raleigh and his followers were scarcely observed, but seemed merely to follow the banner of this nobler assembly. The tri- umph, however, was short ; for when it came to the tiltmg, the earl, who was no great adept, ran so ill that Raieigh'8 his remarkable appearance only attracted all eyes to his ^'"'""'p^ failure. Sir Walter's victory was complete, and he saw his rival renounce the orange-tawny, m which he had gained little honour, and reappear in a green suit. It was on this occasion, as we learn from Lord Bacon in his Apothegms, that " one of the spectators asking why this tilter, who seemed to be known in both habits, had changed his colours, another ironically answered, ' Surely because it may be reported that there was one in green who ran worse than he in orange colour.' " From these splendid yet trifling scenes of feudal dis- AiarminR play, the attention of the queen and her ministers was jr^^li"^ called to the alanning state of Ireland, and the necessity of determining on the policy to be pursued towards Spain. The rebellion which had broken out under Tyrone required the presence of some experienced ruler, who might hold the rems with a firm hand and humane spirit. The government of that island had hitherto been too fluctuating, either unscrupulously cruel and severe, or exceedingly indulgent and lenient. CHAr. IV. Fioman Catl.olic influence. Recall of Ormond. Singular scene at the council- table. Folly of Essex. 178 FROM Raleigh's restoration to favour Attached to Spain by the ties of a common faith, the Roman Catholics were swayed by the emissaries of PJiilip ; and the Earl of Tyrone, whose first insurrection had been subdued by Sir John Norris, again organized an extensive conspiracy ; three Spanish ships landed ammunition on the northern coast ; and the council of Elizabeth had no softer terms to describe the disturb- ances, than " that it was a universal rebellion to shake off the English government." Raleigh had already served in Ireland ; and, anxious to profit by his expe- rience, the privy-council sent for him to deliver his opinion ; but the original letters which inform us of this circumstance do not describe the policy he recom- mended, though it may be gathered that he was averse to accepting the situation of lord-deputy. It was necessary, however, to recall the Earl of Or- mond, with whose proceedings the queen was dissatisfied, and to fix upon his successor. Elizabeth had selected Sir Robert Knolles for the charge ; whilst his nephew, Essex, presumed to differ from her majesty, and earnestly recommended Sir George Carew. On this occasion that extraordinary scene took place at the council-table, from which the favourite's downfal is commonly dated. The earl argued keenly for Carew, the queen pleaded as strongly for Knolles ; and Essex, unable to command his temper, abruptly and contemptuously turned his back upon his mistress, who bestowed upon him a smart box on the ear. At this his fury knew no bounds, and, clap- ping his hand on his sword, he swore loudly, that " he would not have borne such an indignity from her father, Henry VIII." Elizabeth, who inherited not a little of her parent's temper and spirit, upbraided him with his insolence, and dismissed him from her presence : upon which the spoiled child of fortune instantly retired from court, and shut himself up in one of his houses. In vain did the Lord-keeper Egerton remonstrate against this foolish conduct, and point out, that it gave a dangerous advantage to his enemies, and rendered useless the ser- vice of his friends. Essex returned a passionate but TO THE FALL OF ESSEX. J'JQ eloquent answer :-« Let Solomon's fool laugh when he chap iv IS stricken ; let those who mean to make tlieir profit of — prinees show no sense of princes' injuries ; let them ac- l^"'" knowledge an infinite absoluteness on earth, who do not believe an absolute infiniteness in heaven.— In this course do I any thing for mine enemies I When I was present I found them absolute, and therefore I had rather they triumpli alone than have me attendant upon their cha- riots. Or do I leave my friends I When I was a courtier I could sell them no fruit of my love ; and now I am a hermit, they shall bear no envy for their love to me."* Nothing could be more judicious than the keeper's vain advice in tliis matter, and it would have been happy for advice of this unfortunate nobleman if he had condescended to "^'^^^J'^'"- follow it ; but he persisted in his retirement,— he pressed his own ideas regarding the proper mode of governin<^ Ireland,_he exposed the errors of the late rulers, and still represented Carew as the only man able to reduce It to order and obedience. This overbearing conduct was not lost upon the enemies of the earl. His behaviour Behaviour to Kaleigh, who was now restored to a higher share of *» I'^aieigh. the queen's favour than he had ever enjoyed, had been repeatedly unjust and insulting ; and he appears to have come to the conclusion, that he and Essex could not both remain upon the dangerous height to which they had been raised. From this moment there seems reason to believe that Sir Walter became Devereux's avowed enemy. Wearied at length by the insolence of her favourite, Essex 11.1 izabeth, after a partial reconciliation, availed herself of appointei a hint given by Cecil or Raleigh, and nominated Essex fSd' °' himself for the government of Ireland. That this was a snare on their part to bring about his disgrace cannot be doubted. They were aware of many impediments to the execution of his schemes for the pacification of that country, which had not presented themselves to his sanguine temper. The queen had been recently much ♦ Oldys's Life, p. 319. l 180 FROM Raleigh's restoration to favour tion of his enemies. CHAP. IV. incensed against him, and was yet hardly reconciled. Expecta- She had not forgotten the disasters of the Island- voyage and the escape of the Plate-fleet ; and an}' failure in Ire- land, they knew, would he fatal to him. Whilst Cecil had her majesty's ear at home, and could raise her ex- pectations as to what Essex might accomplish with the forces intrusted to him, he could also, as secretary of state, exercise a control over those details which render an army efficient or otherwise, and might, if he chose to avail himself of this ungenerous advantage, at once abridge his power, and blame him for not bringing the rebellion to a speedier termination. The favourite himself considered the government of Ireland as little else than an honourable exile, and went with an avowed reluctance to that ill-fated country which had been the grave of his father's fortunes. But, by his late discourses, he had committed himself too far to recede ; his pride would not allow any triumph to his enemies ; and his ardent temper perhaps anticipated a speedy reduction of that island, and a brilliant return to court. The letter of farewell which he wrote to Eliza- beth upon his departure is too extraordinary to be omit- ted. It is eloquent, desponding, and amorous, breathing the reproaches of a lover whose fate had been as cruel as his constancy was undying ; and this to a mistress who was then in her sixty-fifth year ! Opinion of his appoint ment. Letter to tlie " To THE QuEEN. — From a mind delighting in sorrow, queen. from spirits wasted with passion, from a heart torn in pieces with care, grief, and travel, from a man that hateth himself, and all things else that keep him alive ; what service can your majesty expect, since any service past deserves no more than banishment and proscription into the cursedest of all islands ? It is your rebels' pride and succession must give me leave to ransom myself out of this hateful prison, out of my loathed body ; which, if it happen so, your majesty shall have no cause to mislike the fashion of my death, since the course of my life could never please you. TO THE FALL OF ESSEX. 181 " Happy is he could finish forth his fate thap tt In some unhaunted desert, most obscure lh ap. rv From all society, from love and hate Of worldly folk ; then should he sleep secure, Then wake again, and yield God ever praise : Content with hips, and haws, and brambleberry, — In contemplation passing out his days. And change of holy thoughts to make him merrv, Who, when he dies, his tomb may be a bush Where harmless Robfn dwells with gentle thrush. " Your majesty's exiled servant, " Robert Essex." The events which took place after the departure of Sudden Essex were of a nature as remarkable as their causes fS.^ ^^ were obscure. He had been in his new government scarcely four months, during which hostilities against the rebels had rather been protracted than prosecuted, when Elizabeth, without any apparent reason, threw herself into a warlike attitude. Eighteen ships were ^*^^^ ^'^^<^ fitted out with the utmost expedition under Lord Thomas Howard and Sir Walter Raleigh ; 6000 soldiers were raised to guard the city and the queen's person ; chains drawn across the streets of London, watches set, lights hung out at the doors, and every defence adopted against foreign invasion or domestic insurrection. But from what quarter the danger was apprehended none distinctly knew. Spain, after concluding a peace with France, was undoubtedly preparing a fleet at the Groyne. Yet, ^J'stc-rious although its destination was mysterious, there seemed danien no reason to doubt that towards England the policy of this great power was pacific. Some fanciful speculators have imagined that this alarm had its rise in a suspicion of the Earl of Essex, whose mactivity had deeply in- censed the queen, and enabled his enemies to possess her with the idea that he meditated an attack on his native country, and a subversion of the government.* But whatever the causes might be, they ceased to operate * It was rumoured at court that Essex intended to land his army at Miltbrd Haven and march to London. There arc some papers on this .subject amongi>t the Hatfield MSS. 182 FROM Raleigh's restoration to favour CHAP. IV. within a short time ; for the fleet was ordered home Rotiirnof the before it had been a month at sea, whilst the rapidity fl'^'^t. with which the queen could assume a complete panoply, and make her people spring up in arms, astonished the foreigners then in London, and produced a happy effect in preparing the way for peace. Conduct of Essex in the mean time had grievously disappointed Ksses in irj- Eijzahetli by his conduct in Ireland. He discovered, when it was too late to retract, that to put down the rebellion with speed and facility was impossible. His fault lay not so much in the measures he adopted ; for, considering the circumstances of the country, there can be little doubt that they were judicious and humane, but in having so severely and ignorantly condemned the same policy in his predecessors, and in promising a change Policy of before he knew that it was practicable. Of all this Cecil ^'\ ^^ and Raleigh, who watched every opportunity to shake his power, availed themselves ; and there seems reason to believe they had a willing coadjutor in the Earl of Not- tingham. To their royal mistress, no longer under the influence of the favourite's presence, which never failed to revive her attachment and admiration, they exaggerated his delays and expenses ; to himself they used expressions of resentment more bitter than she probably would have sanctioned ; and, aware of the violent and haughty spirit upon which they worked, ungenerously anticipated the result which so soon took place. Variable We have the testimony of an eyewitness. Sir W. qS^*''^*^ Knolles, that the queen's temper with regard to Essex had become so exceedingly variable and distracted that he knew not what to advise. At one time she was dis- posed to melt into tenderness, and to consider herself and sweet Robin in the sole light of a mistress and her lover ; at another, when pressed by Cecil or by Raleigh %vith his increasing haughtiness, his demands for troops and money, the mactivity of the brave army he com- manded, the spreading of the rebellion, and the repeated truces made with Tyrone, she became furious and abusive. She even upbraided him with having betrayed her in- TO THE FALL OF ESSEX. liH tcrests ; and she listened to suspicions of his intentions, chap. iv. to dark hints of his dangerous popularity, and the pro- Siisp7cions oi bability of his attempting some enterprise against the Essex. government. An interesting letter, written about this time by Essex to Elizabeth, shows how soon he detected all this, and how boldly he could reply to it. "May it please your Majesty, — Although I see Letter of your st^'le already changed, and nothing but gathering Essex, clouds and foul weather after me, yet my duty, faith, and industry, shall never alter. Let me fall as low and as soon as destiny and yourself have decreed. I am pre- pared for all things. But, dear sovereign, when you are weary of me, let me die as a private man. Take care of your honour ; take pity of your brave army, whereof, for the time, I am the head and soul ; and take to heart, that our success imports your estate. Value such honest men as we, that undergo all hazards and miseries for your safety and greatness ; and cherish such gallant and worthy servants as this bearer, who will take it for as great happiness to be sacrificed for you, as others, whom you favour most, will be to be made great and happy by you. Cherish them, I humbly beseech you upon the knees of my heart ; for they must sweat and bleed for you, when a crew of those, which now more delight you, will prove but unprofitable servants. And if your ma- jesty, if you, I say, whose parting with me so pierced my very soul, can be transformed by those Sirens that are about you, then think, that you shall quickly hear, that a brave death shall ransom from scorn and misery your majesty's humblest servant, " Essex." These sirens about the queen were undoubtedly of Sirens at the male gender ; and had the earl signed himself her^^"'"** majesty's proudt-st lover,instead of her humblest servant, it would have been more in character. But in this instance Essex, himself open and forgiving, presumed too much on lier partiality, and without proceeding against Tyrone, made a new demand for 2000 men. That these 184 FROM Raleigh's restoration to favour CHAP. IV. levies were necessary, and that the earl had embraced a Necessary policy which in the end would have reduced the country levies. more effectually than a war of extermination, is now apparent. But in the mean time he had belied his pro- mises ; and his enemies triumphantly compared his present delay with his bold censures of foi-mer governors. Severe letter "^^^^^ produced a letter from the queen, dated at Nonsuch, from the in which she assumed a tone of the utmost severity and Queen. bitterness ; observing that the manner of his proceedings had little accorded either with her directions or the world's expectation ; and accusing him of filling her with high hopes of the great things he would accomplish, which were overthro\Mi by his actions, though he took care she should have no time to countermand them. She then broke out into reproaches which must have galled him Reproaches. *^ ^^^ quick : " Who doth not see, that if this course be continued, the wars are like to spend us and our king- dom beyond all moderation, as well as the report of the [rebels'] success m all parts hath blemished our honour, and encouraged others to no small proportion ! We know you cannot so much fail in judgment as not to understand, that all the world seeth, how time is dallied, though you think the allowance of that council, whose subscriptions are your echo, should serve and satisfy us. How would you have derided any man else that should have followed your steps ! How often have you told us that others, which preceded you, had no mtent to end the war ! How often have you resolved us, that until Loughfoyle and Ballyshannon were planted, there could be no hope of doing service upon the capital rebels! We must Extent of therefore let you know, that as it cannot be ignorance, Essex's so it cannot be want of means : for you had your asking, powers ' *i t/ o^ you had choice of times, you had power and authority more ample than ever any had, or any shall have." The queen concluded in a strain which adds suspicion to reproach ; as if Essex had h-eld out threats, and intended to intimidate by the strength of his party rather than convince by the soundness of his arguments : " We have seen a writing in the form of a cartel, full of challenges TO THE FALL OF ESSEX. 185 that are impertinent, and of comparisons that are need- chap iv. less, such as hath not been before this time presented to ciiar^f a state, except it be done now with a hope to ten-ify all imperti- mon from censuring your proceedings. Had it not been enough to have sent us the testimony of the council, but you must call so many of those that are of slender experience, and none of our council, to such a fonn of subscription l Surely, howsoever you may have war- ranted them, we doubt not but to let them know what belongs to us, to you, and to themselves."''^ This letter, in which I suspect the cold and piquant gg^^j.^^ ^^^_ sarcasm of Cecil was mingled with the personal resent- duct of CecU ment of tlie queen, produced the intended catastrophe, goading the impetuous Essex to that excitement which blinds the understanding. His best friends had assured him his absence would give his enemies opportunities which might be fatal ; that they would exasperate the queen's mind, teach her to expect impossibilities, and infuse suspicions of his loyalty and affection, which they dared not breathe while he was present to confront them. All this it was now his lot to experience ; and he was pjottingof aware, as his letters abundantly show, who they were his enemies, that plotted against him. " Is it not," says he, " believed by the rebels, that those, whom you favour most, do more hate me out of faction, than them out of duty and conscience I Is it not lamented of your majesty's faith- fullest subjects, both there and here, that a Cobham or a Raleigh (I will forbear others for their places' sake) j^gp,y ^j should have such credit and favour with your majesty, Essex, when they wish the ill success of your majesty's most important action, the decay of your greatest strength, and the destruction of your faithfullest servants. Yes, yes ; I see both my own destiny and your majesty's decree ; and do willingly embrace the one and obey the other. Let me honestly and zealously end a wearisome life. Let others live in deceitful and inconstant pleasures : let me bear the brunt and die meritoriously. Let others * Birch's Memoirs of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, vol. ii. pp. 431, 432. J 86 FROM Raleigh's restoration to favour CHAP. IV. Hash resohi- feon Probable motives. Abrupt arrival at court. Reception. achieve and finish the work, and live to erect trophies. But my pra^^er shall be, that when my sovereign loseth me, her army may not lose courage, or this kingdom want physic, or her dearest self miss Essex ; and then I can never go in a better time, nor in a fairer way."* But even allowing for the highest resentment, and his assurance of the power he yet possessed over Elizabeth's affections, Essex's resolution to abandon his government without leave, and to travel post to court, before the queen had received the slightest intimation of his design, is much too desperate and abrupt to have sprung from the ordinary motives assigned by our popular historians. It is for this reason I am disposed to credit a story repeatedly treated as fabulous ; but corroborated both by the character of its author and the circumstances under which it took place. Secretary Cecil, it is said, contrived that a report should reach Essex of the desperate illness of liis royal mistress, " all ships being stopped but what carried that false intelligence." This news, which came suddenly upon him, had the effect anticipated. Forget- ting her reproaches, and actuated only by his attachment, the earl committed his government to Sir George Carey, and sailing straiglit for England, arrived at the court at Nonsuch early in the morning, while the queen was yet in her bedchamber. Although in his riding-dress, and covered with mud, he made haste up stairs, and boldly entered the bedroom, where he found her majesty, who had just risen, sitting in a loose wrapper, with her hair about her face. She screamed at the suddenness of the apparition, and the maids of honour ran about in confu- sion ; but Essex knelt. The sight of a lover at her feet brought back all Elizabeth's tenderness ; she stretched out her hand, which he passionately kissed ; and after some private talk with her, commg from the chamber to retire and change his dress, he showed great contentment, thanking God that, although he had suffered much * Birch's Memoirs of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, vol. ii. p. 418. TO THE FALL OF ESSEX. J 89 trouble and storms abroad, he had found a sweet calm cuap. iv. at home. — - Yet these happy expectations were blasted in a few change ot hours. When he went up again after dinner to see the ht be brought nearer to Essex. " Wrack him not, your highness," said Bacon, in^^enions — " torture not the man but the matter ; shut him up Jl'im^'nity of with no witnesses but pen, ink, and paper, and let him '^^^^ continue the story ; and I will undertake, by collating the styles, to judge if he be the author or no." Another time Bacon alluded to the possibility of Essex being again sent to Ireland, when Elizabeth passionately in- terrupted him. " Essex ! whensoever I send Essex back again into Ireland, I will marry you. Claim it of me." Bacon replied, — " Well, madam, I will release that con- tract, if his going be for the good of the state." Meanwhile the fever, into which her harsh treatment nine.-s of had thrown the unfortunate earl, continued so violent ^^sex, that it brought him to the brink of the grave, and the queen appeared to have relented. But her resentment returned with his revivmg health ; and when he was able for it, it was determined to have him tried before the privy-council. The remainder of the story is well known. Weakened with disease and misfortune, the Trial of once potent favourite was received with studied indignity, ^'^^^^ and arraigned by Coke, the willing tool of his mistress's tyranny, with unusual bitterness. " At his coming in none of the commissioners stirred his cap, or gave any other sign of courtesy. He kneeled at the upper end of the table, and for a good while without a cushion. At length the archbishop moved the treasurer, and they Humiliation, jointly the lord-keeper and lord-admiral, who sat over against them ; and then he was allowed a cushion, yet still was suffered to kneel, till the end of the queen's sergeant's speech, when, by the consent of the lords, he was permitted to stand up. and afterwards, upon the 194 FROM Raleigh's restoration to favour CHAP. !v; Noble defence. Courtesv of Cecil. Sentence of degradation. Vindictivc- ness of the Queen. archbishop's motion, to liave a stool."* Under every disadvantage he made a noble defence ; and nothing can be more affecting than the patience and gentleness with which he bore the envenomed accusations preferred against him. It is mortifying to find Bacon's name amongst those whom the queen commanded to conduct the jjrosecution ; but however sincere in his wish to avert it, tliis great man was not of a temper, when the resolution was taken, to sacrifice his hopes of preferment to his aff^ection for liis friend. Cecil when called upon to deliver his opinion absolved the earl from all thoughts of disloyalty, and treated him with more courtesy than the rest of his judges ; but he declared that the queen had presented to him the only way to save Ireland, and that his quitting that kingdom and refusal to adopt the queen's advice had been the only cause of the ruin of the royal army. There is every reason to believe that the fate of the prisoner had been determined before he entered the council-room. His sentence, as pronounced by the lord-keeper, was degradation from his station as a councillor of state, deprivation of his offices of earl- marshal of England and master of the ordnance, and imprisonment in his own house till her majesty's pleasure should be known."t All trusted this sentence would satisfy the queen, and believed that they would soon see him restored, if not to his former power, at least to a share of her favour. But there is something in the conduct of Elizabeth throughout this whole affair, which proves that age had rendered her more tyrannical and revengeful, or that she was exposed to the constant mfluence of the secret enemies of the condemned lord. The earl had hitherto restrained the haughtmess of his temper ; he had borne studied indignities not only with patience, but so humbly and sorrowfully, that it drew tears from many of the council. As he had been severely reduced by sickness he retired to the country, and calmly awaited the return * Birch's Memoirs, vol. ii. pp. 439, 440-447. f Ibid. p. 454. TO THE FALL OP ESSEX. J 95 of health, and some token of the queen's reviving kind- chap, iv ness ; but none arrived. He addressed to herself, and to netii^ent some of liis friends at court, those pathetic letters whicli ^^ ^^^^^ t<> still remain models of natural eloquence. But no hopes "'^ '^'^^^^y- of a mitigation Avere held out ; and when, as a criterion whether he was to entertain any expectation of mercy or to consider himself a broken man, he applied to have his patent of sweet wines renewed, it was contemptuously refused ; the queen observing, that " the unmanageable steed must yet be stinted in his provender." This last indignity produced a revulsion of feeling ; and in bitter- ness of heart that speech escaped him, which was reported to Elizabeth and never forgiven :— " The queen grows Ra,h speech old ; her mind has become as crooked as her carcass." °^ Essex, All circumspection was now thrown to the winds ; and Essex fell upon desperate courses, involving that wild scheme for the removal of his enemies and new-model- ling the government, which hurried him to ruin. He placed himself at the head of the Puritans ; entered into a correspondence with the Scottish kmg, which there is Extravagant a strong presumption that monarch revealed to Eliza- ^^^esses. beth ; denounced his own enemies to James as those who favoured the title of the Infanta of Spain ; made an insane attempt to raise the citizens of London and to seize upon the court ; and, after retreating to Essex House, was there arrested by the Earl of Nottingham and sent to the Tower. It is unnecessary to pursue farther the M^ell-known Trial and story of the trial and execution of this noble and unfor- ^^^'="^^'>°- tunate person, or to describe the pious resignation with which he met his death ; but it is well worthy of notice, as it appears by the examination of one of the principal conspirators with Essex, Sir Ferdinand Gorges, that they Designs had determined to cut off Raleigh,— a circumstance g^fj^'}^ which, proving the inveteracy of their rancour against him, accounts for the bitter and unforgiving spirit ex- liibited in the letter to Cecil already quoted. That document, as we have seen, advises that every effort should be used to prevent Essex from regaining his in- 196 FROM RALEIGU'S RESTORATION TO FAVOUR Excessive charges against him Candidates for royal favour. Position of CeciL CHAP. IV. fluence, " so that he should again decline into a common person." A late writer* has asserted that it proves him to have thirsted for the blood of the earl ; but much as I have blamed him for the letter, it does not contain any expression which may not fairly be construed into a re- commendation that he should be sequestrated from power and liberty. Essex, the gi'eat and powerful rival of Cecil and Ra- leigh, was now no more, and it is curious to examine the relative position of these two candidates for the favour of the queen, whom circumstances rather than any mutual love or confidence had thro\^^l into tlie same party. At this moment Sir Walter stood so high in re- putation, that the wary secretary might well begin to tremble for his own power. It has been stated, that " he was flattered by Cecil with moderate favours, and cajoled by splendid hopes." But the task of managing the House of Commons, the grant of the pre-emption of * Mr Lodge, in his Character of Raleigh. Since wi'iting this Life, I have met with the very interesting vohime of Mr Jar- dine, being the first of a collection of Criminal Trials, published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and I am happy to find the opinion I had formed regarding this letter of Raleigh's confirmed by the following note : — " A letter from Raleigh to Cecil, published in Murdin's State-papers, p. 811, has been generally supposed to fix u])on Raleigh's character the disgrace of having urged the execution of the Earl of Essex. The letter is without a date, except that it is indorsed * Sir Walter Raleigh, 1601.' This indorsement was probably made some time after the letter was written, and must necessarily be a mistake ; for as Essex was executed on the ■25th of February 1600-1, no English writer at that time could have given the date of 1601 to a letter obviously written in the lifetime of Essex. There is nothing, therefore, to fix the date of the letter with certainty ; nor is there any thing in its contents inconsistent with the supposition that it was written before the trial of Essex, and during his imprisonment and exclusion from court on his return from Ireland. Some of the expressions in the letter may refer to the earl's execution : — but not necessarily so ; and others expressly refer to the restraint of his liberty, and the continuance of his disgrace. Upon the whole, we think it very doubtful whether the letter is not to be referred to an earlier period than that which is usually ascribed to it ; and therefore that it furnishes no proof that Raleigh urged the ex- ecution of the Earl of Essex." —Crimina/ Trials^ vol. i. p. 507. TO THE FALL OF ESSKX. 197 Cornish tin, tlie post of ambassador to Flanders, and the chap iv. erovernmcnt of Jersey, can scarcely come under the de- „ ~~. script ion of moderate favours; and it his hopes were of Kaici^iu splendid, he had every reason to believe that the kind- ness of his sovereign, assisted by his own uncommon abilities, would soon convert them into realities. Am- bitious, proud, brave, and conscious of intellectual en- dowments, which in strength, readiness, and variety, excelled those of his competitor, he could not consent to act an inferior part, and accept that patronage which he imagined himself entitled rather to bestow. All this soon became apparent to Cecil, who concealed his con- ^ Hjgiove sciousness of it under a veil of profound dissimulation, of jjower. Undiverted from his great object by any variety of pur- suits, this statesman had concentrated the whole strength of his mind upon the preservation of his power ; and, more prospective in his plans than his ally, he anticipated the speedy death of the queen, and carefully sketched the outline of his subsequent intrigues. It was with this cn-espond. view that he had entered into that correspondence with ence witii her successor in which he laid the foundation of his * '""^''' future influence, and imparted to James's mind a pre- judice against Raleigh, which undoubtedly proved the commencement of this great man's misfortunes. From the moment, therefore, of Essex's death, how-g^^j.^^. ever open and amicable the world might think them, opposition there was a dangerous opposition between Raleigh and " '^ "^^^^"^ Cecil. Both were too powerful to continue long together in the management of affairs, both too proud to give v:ay; their intercourse had by circumstances been driven into confidence before it had ripened into friendship ; they knew too well each other's character and designs, and had arrived at that critical point in the intimacy of statesmen, when it became necessary for one to sacrifice his ambition to the other, — when they must be generous and open, or must pass in rapid succession through the degrees of coldness and suspicion till they arrive at ab- solute enmity. In watching the progress of these changes, and taking advantage of them, Raleigh was inferior t« M 198 FROM Raleigh's restoration to favour CHAP, IV. Cecil, a master in the management of intrigue. In the inferim-it)' of ™ean time, there appeared nothing but cordiality between Raleigh in ^itri^ie. Retirement to Sher- borne. Studies. Tiiecountnt-'s TCi-'i cations. them ; and whilst the secretary silently worked the meshes of the net in which his dangerous opponent was to meet his destruction, he permitted him to enjoy the sunshine of the court, and to rise daily in the graces of his royal mistress. These remarks, however, have led us slightly to anticipate the course of events ; and we now resume our story. During Essex's confinement. Sir Walter, having failed in his desire of being appointed one of the commissioners for settling the treaty of Boulogne between England, Spain, and the Archduke Albert, retired for some months to his residence at Sherborne. Accompanied by his fa- mily and the son of Secretary Cecil, a youth of great hopes, he there followed at leisure the tranquil studies and pursuits in which he so much delighted. Books, poetry, planting, gardening, and other rural amusements or occupations, filled up the hours borrowed from am- bition ; and it was probably at this time that some of those beautiful verses were written, of which the date is not certainly known. One of these, entitled the Country's Recreations, may challenge comiDarison with either Carew or Suckling : " QuiTering fears, heart -tearing cares, Anxious sighs, untimely tears, Fly, fly to courts, Fly to fond worldlings' sports ; Where strain'd sardonic smiles are glosing ft ill, And Grief is forced to laugh against her will ; Where mirth's but mummery. And sorrows only real be ! " Fly from our country pastimes, fiy, Sad troop of human misery ! Come, serene looks, Clear as the crystal brooks. Or the pure azured heaven that smiles to see The rich attendance of our poverty. Peace and a secure mind. Which all men seek, we only find. " Abused mortals ! did you know Where joy, heart's-ease, and comforts p-ow. TO THE FALL OF i:SSKX. 199 You'd scorn j^roud towers, CHAP. IV. And seek them in these bowers ; Where winds sometimes our woods perhaps may sha,ke, But bhistering care could never tempest make, Nor murmurs e'er come nigh us, Saving of fountains that glide by us." The following comparison, between the masques and Pastoral tournaments of the court and the harmless gambols of ^'^'^"^ the slieepfold, presents a pastoral scene worthy of the pencil of Berghem : — " Here's no fantastic masque, nor dance, But of our kids that frisk and prance : Nor wars are seen. Unless upon the green Two harmless lambs are butting one another, Which done, both bleating run, each to his moilier ; And wounds are never found. Save what the ploughshare gives the ground, " Here are no false entrapping baits. To hasten too too hasty fates ; Unless it be The fond credulity Of silly fish, which, worldling-like, still look Upon the bait, but never on the hook ; Nor envy, unless among The birds, for prize of their sweet song." Tlie transition from this description, which l:)rings before us the contemplative angler plymg his patient occupation and listening to the free birds carolling in their leafy chambers, to the transatlantic picture of the poor negro Xe.^To diver condemned to dive for gems and pearls, is conceived in the true spii-it of poetry. " Go ! let the diving negro seek For gems hid in some forlorn creek : We all pearls scorn. Save what the dewy mom Congeals upon each little spire of grass. Which careless shepherds beat down as they pass ; And gold ne'er here appears Save what the yellow Ceres bears." And then let us listen to the serenity wliicli breathes in Conciusioa the concluding stanza. " Blest silent groves ! may ye be For ever mirth's best nursery ! May pure contents For ever pitch their tents 200 FROM Raleigh's restoration to favour CHAP IV. Upon these do^vns, these meads, these rocks, these mountains, And peace still slumber by these purling fountains, Which we may every year Find when wo come a-fishing here." Danglers of the court. Secret mission to Flahders. Govemrasat of Jersey. Happy had it been for him who so sweetly describes such delights, had he really preferred them to the court where " strained sardonic smiles were glosing still !" But though endowed with a taste which enjoyed for a while the silent groves, the best nursery of mirth, and the fountains beside which rural peace passes a slumber- ous existence, ambition was his ruling passion ; and probably the high zest with which he partook of these simple pleasures arose more from contrast than conge- niality. After a few months spent at Sherborne, he was recalled to court to undertake, in company with Lord Cobham, a secret mission to Flanders. In Winwood's Memorials, Sir Henry Neville, one of Elizabeth's com- missioners at Boulogne, in a letter dated 18th July, informs us that " Sir Walter Raleigh and my Lord Cobham are reported to have gone over upon pretence to see the camp and siege of Fort Isabella, near Ostend." The writer, however, conjectures that their errand had some relation to the proceedings of Prince Maurice, and afterwards informs us they carried a message which did no harm, — though Cecil concealed his diplomatic trans- actions with such care, that the nature of the embassy was then unknown, and cannot now be discovered. On his return, Raleigh w^as promoted to the govern- ment of Jersey, a post apparently not incompatible with his attendance on the queen, during which, being captain of her guard, his communication with his ro^'al mistress was frequent and intimate. Of his minute attention to her prevailing tastes in discharging the duties of his office, Aubrey has preserved a characteristic anecdote. " Qneen Elizabeth loved to have all the servants of her court proper men ; and, (as before said. Sir Walter Raleigh's graceful presence was no mean recommendation to him,) I think, his first preferment at court was captain of her majestie's guard. There came a country gentleman (a TO XnE FALL OF ESSEX. 201 sufficient yeoman) up to town, who had several sons, but chap. rv. one an extraordhiary proper handsome fellow, whom he Eiiz;i"^tl,.g did hope to have preferred to be yeoman of the guard, lovc of imnd- The father (a goodly man himself) comes to Sir Walter '"^''^ """• Raleigh, a stranger to him, and told him that he had brought up a boy that he would desire (having many children) should be one of licr majestie's guard. Quoth Sir Walter, ' Had you spake for yourself, I should readily incidental have granted your desire, for your person deserves it ; i^'ustration. but I put in no boys.' Said the father, ' Boy, come in.' The son enters, about eighteen or nineteen, but such a goodly proper young fellow as Sir Walter had never seen the like ; he was the tallest of all the guard. Sir Walter swears him immediately ; and ordered him to carry up the first dish at dinner, where the queen beheld him with admiration, as if a beautiful young giant, like Saul, taller by the head and shoulders than other men, had stalked in with the service."* Raleigh's magnificence in dress was earned to excess, Magnificence probably as much to gratify Elizabeth, who had a passion *^ ^^*^*^* for finery and loved to be surrounded by a brilliant court, as from personal predilection. He wove a suit of silver armour at the toumays, his sword-hilt and belt were studded with diamonds, pearls, and rubies, his court-dress on occasions of state was said to be covered with jewels Court suit to the value of £60,000, and even his shoes glittered with a"f his horse's mane, with his cap off, about twenty yards ; ^ ® ''''^'■'' her majesty on the sudden took off her mask, looked back upon him, and most graciously and courteously saluted him ; as holding it not beseeming so mighty a prince as she was, and Avho so well knew all kingly ma- jesty, to make her stay directly against a subject, before he had showed his obedience in following after her."''^ A French historian, in his account of this celebrated embassy, indulges a taste for a singular species of em- bellishment by informing us that Elizabeth favoured the duke with a sight of the skull of Essex, which she kept in her closet ; — a story as false as it is ridiculous, and * Nichol's Progresses, vol. ii. Queen's Progress in 1601. 208 FROM Raleigh's restoration to favour, &c CHAP. IV confuted by the fact that the earl's head was buried with his body.* So much was she delighted with her stay at Basing, that at her departure she made ten knights, — the greatest number ever created at one time during her reign, — and amongst these Sir Walter had the pleasure to see included his brother Carew Raleigh. * Camden's Annals of Queen Elizabeth. Ridiculous rtory of a French liistoriaru FiioM Elizabeth's last paiiliament, &c. 209 CHAPTER V. From Elizabeth's last Parliament to the Trial of Raleigh. Elizabeth opens her last Parliament — Raleigh returned a Mem- ber — His Conduct in Parliament — Opposes the Bill making it compulsory to soav Hemp— Debate on voting a Subsidy — Subserviency of Cecil and Bacon — Raleigh's Reply to their Speeches— Great Debate on Monopolies— Singular Speech of Secretary Cecil — His Condemnation of all Discussion without the Walls of Parliament— Pirates of Dunkirk— Debate on the Transport of Ordnance without the Kingdom — Raleigh's excellent Observations upon this Subject— Debates on the Statute of Tillage — Raleigh argues for the Removal of all Restrictions on Agriculture — Evident Decay of the Intimacy between Cecil and Raleigh — Amusing Parliamentary Anec- dote — A " No" pulled out by the Sleeve — Style of Parliament- ary Speaking— Elizabeth's last Speech to the Deputation of the House of Commons — Raleigh sells his Irish Estate to the Earl of Cork— Character of this remarkable Man— Last 111- iiess of EHzabeth— Her Death — Accession of James— Raleigh treated with Coldness and Neglect— Contrast between the Character of the King and that of Raleigh— Cecil's secret Correspondence with James — He is appointed his Secretary and Prime Minister— Raleigh deprived of his Office of Captain of the King's Guard, and of his Patent of Wines — Involved in an Accusation of Treason — History of this mysterious Transaction— Raleigh's Trial— Observations upon it— The whole Conspiracy regarding Arabella Stewart a Fiction — The Plot against Raleigh to be traced to Secretary Cecil. Some time after returning from her progress, Elizibeth, chap. v. who began to feel the approaches of that disease which ehz^^i, „ put a period to her long and glorious reign, opened, on la*'* pariia- the 27th October, her last parliament, m which Raleigh ""^° ;iO FROM ELIZABETH S LAST PARLIAMENT CHAP. V. Kaleigh's speeches in parliament Defence of the freedom of hnsband- rnen. Debate on a subsidy. Reasons urged for compliance. sat as one of the kniglits for Cornwall. The session was occupied by many important matters ; and Sir Walter's speeches, which have been preserved at considerable length in the journals of the house, are remarkable for an originality and freedom of thought much in advance of the times. An attempt having been made by govern- ment to introduce a bill to compel husbandmen to sow a certain portion of hemp, Raleigh opposed it on the ground of its retarding agricultural unprovement. " For my part," said he, " I do not like this constraining of men to manure, or use their grounds at our wills ; but rather, let every man use his ground to that \\ hich it is most fit for, and therein use his own discretion. For lialsars, cables, cordage, and the like, w^e have plentifully enough from foreign nations ; and we have divers coun- ties here in England make thereof in great abundance ; and the bill of tillage may be a sufficient motive to us in this case, not to take the course that this bill mtend- eth." Mr Comptroller replied and maintained the ne- cessity of the measure ; but on a division the proposal was rejected.* Upon a subsidy being moved in a committee, a debate ensued, m which the principal speakers were Raleigh, Cecil, Sergeant Hale, and Mr Francis Bacon, still a commoner. Raleigh entreated them to remember that in the last parliament only three subsidies were granted upon an alarm that the Spaniards were coming. But noAv, as they had actually set foot in the queen's terri- tories, the case required immediate attention ; especially as her majesty had parted with her jewels, borrowed great sums which were unpaid, sold her lands, abridged her apparel and expenses, and was therefore obliged to call upon parliament for assistance. " I wish," said he, " for my own part, as a particular member of this commonwealth, that we may not do less than we did before ; and that we also would bountifully, according to our estates, contribute to her majesty's necessities, as now they stand." * Towiishend's Historical Collections, p. 188. TO TUE TllIAL OF RALEIGH. 211 This appeared to meet the feelings of the house ; but CHAP. V . on the manner of raising the subsidy arose a difference Diflference of opinion ; and Sir Walter opposed with great freedom ^^^^^^^. ^^ the somewhat slavish principles of Cecil and Bacon. It raisin- it was moved by Sir Francis Hastings, that the tliree-pound men should be exempted ; but the secretary contended that separation might breed emulation, and suspicion of partiality. Sergeant Hale marvelled much that the Servile 8D6CCll (>f house demurred upon the suT)ject, " when," said he, " all sergeant we have is her majesty's, and she may lawfully at her ^^^^• pleasure take it from us ; yea, she hath as much riglit to all our lands and goods as to any revenue of her crown." At this the house hummed and laughed. " Well," said the subservient orator, in the words used by Townshend, "all yourhumming shallnot put me out of countenance;" and so he told them he could prove his former position in the time of Henry III., Kuig John, King Stephen, &c., at which the house was louder than before, till they hummed the sergeant into his seat. Upon this Cecil High ground 1 IT n . 1 1 1-11 assumed by launched out and carried the matter very high, observ- ceciL ing, that " neither pots nor pans, nor dish nor spoon, should be spared when danger is at our elbows. * * But by no means I would have the three-pound men exempted ; because I would have the King of Spam know how willing we are to sell all in defence of God's religion, our prince, and country." Mr Francis Bacon Bacon, then spoke, and concluded by observing, that when all contributed alike it was " dulcis tractus pari jugo." To these obsequious statesmen Raleigh answered, " I like it not that the Spaniards our enemies should know of {ijfgj^jj' our selling our pots and pans to pay subsidies. Well may you call it policy, as an honourable person alleged ; but I am sure it argues poverty m the state. And for the motion that was last made, dukis tractus pari jugo : call you this par juguni when a poor man pays as much as a rich, and peradventure his estate is no better than it is set at, or but little better, when our estates that are three or four pounds in the queen's books, it is not the hundredth part of our wealth ] Therefore it i.s neither dulcis nor par," 212 FROM Elizabeth's last parliament CHAP. V. Opposition to monopolies. Defence of the mono- poly of tin. FavonraWe inclination of tlie Queen. Curious speech of CeciL Another great question argued in this parliament touched Sir Walter more nearl}^ — that of the mischiefs produced by the " monstrous and unconscionable mono- polies of starch, tin, fish, cloth, and other necessaries of life." As Lord Warden of the Stanneries he enjoyed a monopoly of the second article ; but he defended himself successfully, though with some heat. He showed that, being one of the j)rincipal commodities in the kingdom, and the product of Cornwall, it had in ancient times belonged to the dukes of tliat county by special patents, and had now been granted to him. No one, however, could affirm, that the monopoly pressed hard upon the poor, so long as it was known that the workmen formerly could never earn more than two shillings a-week, how- ever high was the demand, whereas now every labourer willing to work was certain of employment, and had four shillings a-week truly paid, whatever might be the price of tin. At the same time Raleigh professed his willingness to vote for its repeal, provided the house agreed that all the rest should fall along with it. The queen, having been informed of the universal discontent on account of these grievances, and the dis- tress which they occasioned amongst the poorer classes, directed the speaker to inform the house that she would take immediate steps for their removal. This he did, and then requested some one of the ministers, who had been present at the interview, and had a better memory than himself, to detail it ; upon which Cecil delivered a speech, the peroration of which is a curiosity in the annals of parliament. After explaining that it was not the rich man, but the desolate widow, the sim- ple cottager, the poor and ignorant husbandman, who groaned under the oppression, he proceeds : — " I say, therefore, there shall be a proclamation granted through the realm, to notify her majesty's resolution in this be- half. And because you may eat j^our meats more savourly than you have done ; every man shall have salt as cheap as he can buy it or make it, freely without danger of that patent, which shall be presently revoked. The same benefit shall they have wliicli liave cold TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 213 stomachs, both for aquavitae and the like : and they chap, v which have weak stomaclis, shall have vinegar and ReneaTof aleagar set at liberty. Train oil shall go the same way ; monopolies oil of blubber shall march in the same rank ; brushes and bottles endure the like judgment ; the patent for pouldavy,* if it be not called in, it shall be. * * * Those that desire to go sprucely in their ruffs, may, with less charge than accustomed, obtain their wish ; for starch, which hath so much been prosecuted, shall now be re- pealed."t The learned secretary concluded with a caution Caution. which in these days appears strange to our ears. This repeal of the monopolies so deeply interested the nation, that the subject had been canvassed without the walls of parliament ; and against this abuse Cecil raises his voice. " I must needs give you this for a future caution : that whatsoever is subject to a public expectation cannot be good. Why, parliament matters are ordinarily talked Dislike of of in the streets. I have heard myself, being in my ^terferenca coach, these words spoken aloud : * God prosper those that further the overthrow of these monopolies !' * God send the prerogative touch not our liberty !' I will not wrong any so nmch as to imagine he was of this house ; yet let me give you this note : that the time was never more apt to disorder, or make ill interpretations of good meanings. I think those persons would be glad that all sovereignty were converted into popularity.";]; Another subject on which the superior knowledge of Pirates of Raleigh came out with effect, was the best means of suppressing the pirates of Dunkirk. For this end it had been proposed to restrain the exportation of ordnance then carried on by patent, and which had raised the queen's duties to £8000 a-year. This profit, it was con- Exportation tended, m nowise balanced the mconvemences ; tor m Spain cannon were now so plenty as to be sold for seven ducats a-hundredweight. On this point Sir Walter spoke with great spirit. " I am sure," said he, " heretofore one ship of her majesty's was able to beat twenty Spaniards ; but now, by reason of our own ordnance, we are hardly ♦ Sailcloth! FTownshe^d^'oiVpTm X Ibid. 251. 214 FROM ELIZABETH S LAST PARLIAMENT CHAP. V. Danger of supplying ordnance abroad Bill thrown Diminution of national strengtli, Former euperiority of English matched one to one. And if the Low Countries should either be subdued by the Spaniard, or yield unto liim upon a conditional peace, or shall join in amity with the French, as we see them daily inclining, I say there is nothing so much threatens the conquest of this kingdom, or more, than the transportation of ordnance."* The bill at this time was thrown out ; but Raleigh did not lose sight of the subject, which appeared to him to be one of the first importance. In his Discourse upon a War with Spain, and the protection of the Netherlands, written not long after, he points out to King James, in the strongest terms, the great diminution of national strength which had been the consequence of exporting ordnance. " Now-a-days,'* says he, "the Netherlands have as many ships of their own as any Christian prince hath ; their sliips are of one fashion, conduct, and swiftness; their mariners of their own nation and language, valiant and well-ordered men ; and so near us, as they will be in our ports in the course of a summer's day." To this it might possibly be objected, he observes, that during the wars of Henry VIII. with Charles V., who then possessed the Low Countries, their largest ships did no prejudice to England. But the reason was to be found in their inferior strength : — " I myself," says he, " remem- ber, that within these thirty years two of her majesty's shijis would have commanded 100 sail of theirs. I remember also, when myself was a captain in Ireland, that 100 foot and 100 horse would have beaten all the force of the strongest provinces. But of late, I have known an Easterling fight hand to hand with one of her majesty's ships ; and that the Irish have, in this last war, been overthrown with an even, or a far less number. The Netherlands, in those days, had wooden guns, and the Irish had darts ; but the one is now furnished with as great a number of English ordnance as ourselves, and the other with as good pikes and muskets as England hath."+ * Townshend's Collections, p. 293. + Discourse touching a War with Spain. Works, vol. viii. pp. 304, 10 Miscellaneoua TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 215 Keen debates again took place in this parliament chap, v regarding the statute of tillage ; and it is curious to statute of observe the prospective sagacity of Raleigh, who spoke tillage. for the removal of all restrictions. " I tnink this law," said he, " fit to be repealed ; for many poor men 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 statute. Besides, all nations abound with corn. Corn lav. France offered the queen to serve Ireland with corn at sixteen shillings a-quarter, which is but two shillings a-bushel ; if we should sell it so here, the ploughman would be beggared. The Low Country man and the Hollander, who never sow corn, have by their industry such plenty, that they will serve other nations. The Spaniard, that often wanteth corn, had we never so much plenty, would never be beholden to the Englishman for it, neither to the Low Country man, nor to France, but wUl fetch it even of tlie very barbarian. And that which Spnnish the barbarian hath been suing for these two hundred years, — I mean for traffic of corn into Spain, — this king in policy hath set at liberty of himself, because he will not be beholden unto other nations. And therefore I think the best course is, to set it at liberty, and leave every man free ; which is the desire of a true Englishman."* These views were vehemently opposed by Cecil, upon the ground that the bill was for the support and benefit Oppositicu of the ploughmen. " If we debar tillage," said he, " we °^ ^^^ give scope to the depopulator ; and then if the poor, being thrust out of their houses, go to dwell with others, straight we catch them with the statute of inmates. If they wander abroad and l)e stubborn, they are within the danger of the statute of rogues. If they be more humble and urgent beggars, then they are within the statute of the poor to be whipt or tormented. So by this means, undo this statute, and you endanger many thousands. Posterior dies discipulus prioris." His argu- ments, however, prevailed, and the bill rendering tillage compulsory was continued in force. * Towufihend's Ck)Ilections, p. 2^0. 216 FROM Elizabeth's last parliament CHAP. V. Upon other subjects Raleigh delivered his opinion with RivaTrTAvith equal freedom and knowledge ; and he not only often CeciL opposed the ministerial measures, hut on more than one occasion there was an evident rivalry between him and Cecil, which perhaps indicated the decay of their confi- dence. In the confusion which took place in voting on the bill to enforce the diligent repairing to church, it was directed that the Ayes should go out of the house ; and a gentleman complained that one of them when going out had been pulled back by the sleeve ; upon which Raleigh Inopportune observed, " Why, if it please you, it is a small matter to jest. p^^ij Qjjg |jy ^l^g sleeve, for so have I done myself often- times." This remark, intended as a piece of humour, was magnified by the comptroller into a grievous offence : " And for the other gentleman," observed he, referring to Raleigh, " that said he had often done the like, I think he may be ashamed of it ; for large is his conscience, that in a matter of this consequence will be drawn either forward or backw^ard by the sleeve." This absurd speech was echoed by the secretary, who was pleased to give it as his opinion, that the offence committed by any who pulled another member by the sleeve was great and Cecil's use punishable. " And this," said he, " I wish may be in- flicted on him ; that he whose voice may be drawn either forward or backward by the sleeves, like a dog in a string, may no more be of this house ; and I wish for his credit's sake he would not."* These attacks Sir Walter heard in silence, aware that their futility and injustice were pal- pable to all. Neither did such accusations proceed with peculiarly good grace from Cecil, whose own "voice" His com- was not very difficult to be pulled by the sleeve, when- ever the queen chose to stretch out her hand, intimating her royal pleasure. Townshend concludes his account of the discussion with this quaint note : — " There was another gentleman (a No) pulled out, as well as the other was kept in ; and, therefore, it had happened even as before : howsoever Mr Edward Johns and Mr Barker pulled Mr Lionel Ducket out."t * Townshend's Collections, pp. 321, 322. f Ibid pliance. TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 217 It is interesting to compare the manner of debate in chap. v. this parliament with the usages of the present day. The Manii^of style of speaking is brief and epigrammatic, — and on debate, some occasions the dialogue becomes as sj)irited as a scene in a comedy. Let us, for example, look to the delibera- tions on the first reading of the bill to prevent double payment of debts, as reported by Townshend, who was at that time in the house. The subject was, the abuses of merchants' books in bringing up long bills, — a matter to which every senator seemed feelingly alive. The agitation of the first member who rose entirely overcame his powers of utterance. " Mr Zacharias Locke," sa^^s Mr. Zacha- Townshend, " began to speak ; but for very fear shook, ^^"^^ Locke. so that he could not proceed, but stood still awhile, and at length sat down." Mr Francis Bacon next observed, that " the merchants' books were springing books ; every year they would increase." — Mr Sergeant Harris said, evidently arguing under the irritation of personal expe- rience, " These merchants' books are like Aaron's rod, Merchants' always budding ; and like Basingstock reckonings, over- night five shillings sixpence, — if you pay it not, it is grown in the morning to a just noble. This debt is a sleeping debt, and it will lull young gentlemen into merchant books, with the golden hooks of being trusted. * * * These are matters dangerous, and, I think, hurtful." Upon this Mr Thomas Jones rose, and de- livered an oration which reminds us of the proverbial responses of Sancho Panza. " It is now," said he, " my Mr. Thpnuv chance to speak something, and that without hummmg ^^^^' or hawing. I think this law is a good law. Even reckoning makes long friends ; as far goes the penny as the penny's master. Viijilarilibus non dormieiitihus jura subveniunt. Pay the reckoning overnight and you shall not be troubled in the morning. If ready money be men- sura publica, let every man cut his coat according to his cloth. When his old suit is in the wane, let him stay till that his money bring a new suit in the increase. I'herefore I think the law to be good, and I wish it a good passage." Mr Hack well, ot" Lincoln's Inn, next 218 FROM Elizabeth's last parliament CHAP. V. Mr. Hack- welL Satisfaction at the abolition of monopolies. Elizabeth's reply. Cares of royalty. presented liimself ; his exordium is amusing: " I am a man of that rank and condition [it is evident he vvas an artificer, grown rich on the very abuse complained of], that I never sell, and seldom buy, and pay ready money ; and the safest course this hill offers to me for my parti- cular ; hut the great mischief that will redound by it to the commons is that which makes me speak. * * This bill hath a good face but an ill body. ^" '"' If I may pray you to put on a great deal of patience for a little time, I will make it somewhat plain.""' We shall not, however, inflict upon our reader Mr Hackwell's exposi- tion, which does not possess even the moderate perspicuity he claims for it. The abolition of monopolies by the queen gave so much satisfaction, that the house appointed the speaker, with a large deputation, to wait upon her and express the inestimable joy and comfort which they had received from her gnicious mess:ige. She received them in the great chamber before the council-room, and the speaker, walking in at the head of seven score members, declared their determination to spend every drop of blood in their hearts, and the last spirit of breath in their nostrils, to be poured out and breathed up for the safety of their sovereign. Elizabeth's reply was her ftirewell jDublic address to parliament, and the conclusion is striking and characteristic of this great princess : " I do assure you, there is no prince that loveth his subjects better, or whose love can countervail our love. * * And tliough God hath raised me high, yet this I count the glory of my crown, that I have reigned with your loves. This makes me that I do not so much rejoice that God hath made me to be a queen, as to be a queen over so thank- ful a people. To be a king and wear a crown is a thing more glorious to them that see it, than it is pleasant to them that bear it. For myself, I was never so much enticed with the glorious name of a kinor, or royal au- thority of a queen, as delighted that God had made me Townshend, pp. 282, 283. TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 219 his instrument to maintain his truth and glory, and to CIIAP. v defend this kingdom from peril, dishonour, tyranny, and zeai^her oppression. There will never queen sit in my seat, with pcpie. more zeal to my country, care for my subjects, and that sooner with willingness will venture her life for your good and safety than myself. For it is not my desire to live nor reign longer than my life and reign shall be for your good. And though you have had, and may have, many princes more mighty and wise sitting in this state, yet you never had, nor shall have, any that will be more careful and loving. Shall I ascribe any thing to myself and my sexly weakness ? I were not worthy to live then ; and of all, most unworthy of the great mercies I have had from God, who hath ever yet given me a heart which never yet feared foreign or home enemy. I speak it to give God the praise, as a testimony before you, and not to attribute any thing to myself. For I, Lord, what am I, whom practices and perils past should not fear ? Or, what can I do ? [' These words she spake,' says Townshend, * with a great emphasis.'] That I should speak for any glory, God forbid."* It was not long after this that Raleigh sold his estates Sale of ^ in Ireland to INIr Richard Boyle, afterwards the great JlJh estates. Earl of Cork, who had been sent from that country by Sir George Carew with a message to the queen and a letter to his kinsman, strongly advising him to dispose of his land to so good a purchaser. It is asserted by Boyle, in the Memoirs of his own life, that these extensive tracts of country, of which he had become proprietor, were in many places in a barren condition ; and from Sir Walter's constant employment in England it was Their scarcely to be expected that he could personally devote "^s^""^'' much time to their improvement. Yet it is a remarkaVde point about this eminent man, that wherever he had settled, or his influence extended even for a short period, he has left some traces of his usefulness an4 activity. At Youghall, in the county of Cork, of which town he waa Townshend, pp. 2G3, 266. 220 FROM ELIZABETH S LAST PARLIAMENT CHAP. y. First potatoes planted. Fi'f.e school of Lismore. Illness of the Queen. Removal to Richmond. Sir Robert Carey. mayor, and where his house and gardens are still seen, the first potatoes ever planted in Ireland were introduced by Raleigh, who had brought them from Virginia ; and he is also said to have been the first propagator of the cherry in that island, which was imported by him from the Canaries. At Lismore, which formed part of the extensive grant made to him by Elizabeth, we find a still more interesting memoris^l in a Free School which he founded ; and the large and beautiful myrtles in his garden at Youghall, some of them twenty feet high, are associated with that love of shrubs and sweet-smelling plants, and that elegance of taste in his rural occupations, which remarkably distinguished him.* His Irish estates, however, cost him so large an annual sum to keep them up, that he did not think it prudent to retain them. He accordingly closed with the offer of Boyle ; and the per- son who managed the bargain was Sir Robert Cecil, — a proof that Raleigh was not yet fully aware of the secret arts already employed to undermine his power. He was now about to lose his best friend. Early in January 1602, the queen, who for some time had been in a declining state, was seized with a severe cold. She had been forewarned by Dr Dee, the fomous astrologer and mathematician, whom she highly esteemed, to be- ware of Whitehall, and accordingly removed to Rich- mond, calling it the " warm box to which she could best trust her sickly old age." The air of the country seemed to revive her, and for some weeks her health improved ; but the malady returned in the end of February, and on the 1 oth of March she was so ill that the lords of council were sent for. They found her sunk in a deep melan- choly, in which no entreaties could persuade her to take food or medicine. At this sad moment Sir Robert Carey, her warden on the borders, to whom she was much attached, arrived ; and, though very weak, the queen requested to see him. " I found her," says he, in his Memoirs, " in one of her withdrawinr;: chambers sittin*? * Smith's History of Cork, vol. i. p. 1 28. Croker's Researches in the South of Ireland, pp. 124, 127, 152. TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 221 low upon her cushions. She called me to her ; I kist chap. v. her hand, and told her it was my chiefest happiness to see iiis intei-view her in safety and in health, which I wished might long Qug|.n '® continue. She took me by the hand and wrung it hard, and said, ' No, Robin ; I am not well ;' and then dis- coursed with me of her indisposition, and that her heart had l)een sad and hiavy for ten or twelve days, and in her discourse she fetched not so few as forty or fifty great sighs. * * I used the best words I could to persuade her from this melancholy humour, but I found by her it was too deep rooted in her heart, and hardly to be removed."* She soon became obstinately silent ; and not only ^cspon- rejected nourishment, but forbore her sleep, refusing to go to bed, being persuaded if she once lay down, she should never rise again. The cushions were laid on the floor of her chamber ; and there she sat a week, day and night, showing an utter carelessness of all that was passing around her. On the 23d of March, the day before she died, the chief members of her council thought Questiop of it right to introduce that subject to which the queen had siou. invariably shown a great aversion, the succession to the throne ; and their interrogations brought out from the expiring princess a flash of her wonted spirit and severity : — " I told you," said she to the lord-high-admiral, who occupied the right side of the bed, whilst Cecil stood at the foot, " that my seat had been the seat of kings ; and I will have no rascal to succeed me ! Trouble me no more. — He who comes after me must be a king. I will have none but our cousin of Scotlarid."f Soon after this she became speechless, but made signs Archbishop that her chaplains and the Archbishop or Canterbury caUed. should pray with her. Sir Robert Carey, who went into the chamber with them, has left us an afl'ecting account of her behaviour. " I sat upon my knees," says * Nichol's Processes, vol. ii. t Character of Elizabeth, by Edward Bohun. Nichol's Pro- gresses, vol. ii. Queen's last Sickness and Death, Cotton MS. Titus, c. vii. fol. 4G, printed in Nichol'sj Progresses, vol. ii. 222 FROM Elizabeth's last parliament CHAP V. he, « full of tears to see that heavy sight. The bishop Conf^on kneeled down by her, and examined her first of her ofFaitii. faith; and she so punctually answered all his several questions by lifting up her eyes and holding up her hand, as it was a comfort to all the beholders. Then the good man told her plainly what she was, and what she was to come to ; and though she had been long a great queen here upon eartli, yet shortly she was to yield an account of her stewardship to the King of kings. After this he Praj-er of the began to pray, and all that were by did answer him. archbishop, j^^^^^, ^le had continued long in prayer, 'till the old man's knees were weary, he blessed her, and meant to rise and leave her. The queen made a sign with her hand. My sister Scroope, knowing her meaning, told the bishop the queen desired he would pray still. He did so for a long half hour after, and then thought to leave her. The second time she made a sign to have him continue in prayer. He did so for half an hour more, with earnest cries to God for her souPs health, which he uttered with that fervency of spirit, as the queen to all our sight much rejoiced thereat, and gave testimony to us all of her Death of the christian and comfortable end. By this time it grew Queen. j^^^^ ^^^^ every one departed, all but her women that attended her."'"' She expired a1x)ut three in the morning on Thursday the 24th of Marcli, in the same chamber where her grandfather Henry Vil. breathed his last. Worldly Carey, whose affection was balanced by a considerable Carey"^ share of worldly wisdom, now slipped out of the palace, and took horse for Scotland. Riding post, he arrived at Edinburgh on Saturday night, and proceeding to the palace of Holyrood, found that the king had gone to bed. His errand, however, gained him instant admit- tance ; and, kneeling by the bedside, he saluted James King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland. The happy monarch gave the messenger his hand to kiss, and after making many inquiries regarding the queen's sick- ness, asked what letters he brought from the council. Nichol's Progresses, vol. ii. TO THE TIIIAL OF RALEIGH. 223 He answered none, and explained with what difficulty chap. V. he had cscnped heing- detained ; hut added, that he had ^..^enl^ brought a l)hie ring from a fair lady to assure him of the king Jamea truth of his intelligence. On presenting this, the king replied, " It is enough. I know by this you are a true messenger."* King James's magnificent progress to liis new domi- Royal nions, and the unanimity of affection and loyalty with P^^S'^^^ which he was received, are Avell known. It would per- haps have been better for Raleigh had he accommodated himself to the cliaracter of the Scottish sovereign ; though even this prudence might have failed ; for the king^s mind had been artfully prejudiced against him. His Prejndice fortunes now experienced a reverse ; and that royal ''{{^^^gii. sunsliine which he had enjoyed under Elizabeth was exchanged, even at the very commencement of the reign of her successor, for coldness, suspicion, and neglect. That we are to trace a great portion of James's conduct ^^^^^J^^ to the early dislike of Raleigh insinuated by Essex, and conduct latterly by Cecil, cannot be doubted. But much is also to be ascribed to the strong contrast between the char- acter of the king and the eminent man upon whom he now looked with distrust. James was pacific even to timidity. The other, who had been bred in the lap of war, entertained a strong feeling for the martial glory of England. He was actuated, besides, by a jealousy of Difference Jn Spain, l)eing convinced of the necessity of keeping under "leir viewi that proud power, and preserving tlie ascendency created by the energy and arms of Elizabeth. Here, at the out- set, was an obvious cause of disunion. Again, Raleigh's mind was full of ambition for foreign adventure and dis- covery ; James was jealous of every thing that inter- rupted his repose, or drove him into action. The former thought England ought to divide with Spain the rich provinces of the New World ; the Litter could have listened to any scheme for supplying his exchequer, provided it involved neither danger nor enterprise • Nichol's Progresses, vol. ii. See Carey's Memoirs. 224 FROM Elizabeth's last parliament CHAP. V. Raleigh's policy. Intellectual contrast. Tnie gi-eat- ness of RaleiglL Unconpe. niality of tastes. Raleigh's policy was animated by the principle since so fully developed, that the strength of Britain rests in her ships and sailors ; James, from the moment he came to the crown, showed no pride in the naval glory of the country, nor had he the penetration to perceive that attention to the resources of war is the best method of securing the continuance of peace. Even literature, — the tie which we might expect would have produced a S}Tnpathy between Sir Walter and his new sovereign, — was insufficient, and, indeed, did not form an exception to this intellectual contrast. The learning of James was various, but pedantic, superficial, and full of pretension. He talked like a cloistered schoolman ; and his inordinate vanity mistook the syllogistic exhibitions Avith wliich he astonished the council-table for the deepest wisdom of state. For such displays, we may believe, Raleigh did not at all times conceal his contempt. His erudition was as various as that of his royal master, but it was eminently practical and deep. His philosophy was that of observa- tion and experience. With eyes ever intent upon human character and the course of events in Europe, he had elicited the maxims of his policy from the actual con- dition of society. He was a scholar, but no schoolman ; a versifier like his royal master, but unlike him he was touched witli the inspiration of true genius ; no cold and correct fabricator of sonnets, which, like the essays of the Royal Prentis:% possessing every requisite of rhyme and quantity, were yet jejune and unpoetical. He knew, on the contrary, what poetry ought to be, and in his lighter hours he had swept the lyre with no unpractised fingers. His prose partook of the character of his mind, — original, vigorous, and imaginative. Between two such modes of learning there could be no congenial feeling, but rather a repulsion ; and yet, if Raleigh had paid his court with his usual care and dis- crimination, this discrepancy might have been concealed. To whatevrr cause we are to attribute it, there can be no doubt that the monarch disliked Sir Walter ; and the rivalry between him and Cecil also, which for some time TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 225 had been smouldering under apparent courtesy, l)roke chap. v. out soon after the accession of James into active and crufror declared hostility. Tliis crafty politician possessed the Cecil. power as well as the inclination to hurt him. He had carried on a secret correspondence with the king before the death of Elizabeth, by which he was enabled to create prepossessions against those whose interest he thought it necessary to undermine ; and from the letters of his agent. Lord Henry Howard, which, notwithstand- Letters cf ing all his caution, have been preserved, we know that HowaS'"^^ Sir Walter was among the num])er. He had acquainted himself with James's minutest peculiarities, and carefully accommodated his opinions to them all. The principles of his policy under Elizabeth, wuth slight exceptions, had been the same as those of Raleigh ; but the pliant minister was careful to modify and alter them ki con- formity with the feeble and temporizing character of her successor. When the king was on his way to his new Cecil's pro- dominions the secretary met him at York, where he lay Yoik."^^ ^ " close and unseen," till he had secured the interest of the royal favourite. Sir George Hume, with whom he had many secret meetings. It was known that James had expressed the strongest antipathy to all connected with the conspiracy against Essex, and as Cecil was one of his chief enemies, his immediate removal from power was anticipated. But so cautiously had he provided against this, so ably had he employed his " purse and Success oi his wit" in securing the friendship of those who had most ^^* ^'^^ influence with his new master, that after his short incog- nito at York, he, says Weldon, " to the admiration oi all, did appear, and come out of his chamber, like a giant to run his race for honour and fortune ; and who in such dearness and privacy with the king as Sir Robert Cecil, as if he had been his faithful servant many years before !"'* By these means he was continued in his office of * Weldon. Court and Character of King James, pp. 10, 11 But compare this with the Tract in Nichol's Progresses, vol. ill., entitled. King James's Entertainment from Scotland to London, p. 20. 226 FROM ELIZABETH S LAST PARLIAMENT Causes of offence in Ealeigh. Deprived of bis offices and gifts. CHAP. V. principal secretary of state, equivalent to that of prime Continacd n^inister, whilst Raleigli was regarded witli coldness and Secretary of suspicion. We are informed by an author who has pre- served some remarkable anecdotes of the court of King James, that Sir Walter was one of those who advised that his majesty should be bound by articles before being called to the government. It has also been conjectured that offence was taken at a proposed alliance between his son and the daughter and heiress of Basset of Umber- leigh, a family descended from the Plantagenets, as if he had meant to support their claim to the throne. This last pretence is ridiculous, and the fomier does not rest on satisfactory evidence ; but whatever was the cause he soon found, that to be merely neglected was considered too easy a fall for one who had soared so high. He held lucrative offices, and the king had needy favour- ites. He was deprived of the honourable post of captain of the guard, which was conferred on Sir Thomas Ers- kine. His wine-patent was withdrawn, and though some compensation was granted by a pension of £800 a-year, and by striking off an arrear of debt, the equi- valent was of little moment, for in less than three months after James's arrival, he was involved by his enemies in a charge of treason. Of this unfounded and mysterious accusation, — the commencement of the saddest portion of Raleigh's history, — which has left so deep a stain upon the government of James, we shall give a general sketch, previous to a more minute exposition of the complicated scene of injustice and persecution presented by his trial. One of Sir Walter's friends, or rather acquaintances, was Lord -^obham, brother-in-law of Secretary Cecil, a vain weak uan, who, on James coming to the crown, having been disappointed of preferment, courted the society of the discontented, and talked foolishly against the government. Even in the time of Elizabeth he had secretly negotiated with the Count Aremberg, a Flemish nobleman in the service of Spain. When this foreigner, after James's accession, came into England as ambassador from the Archduke of Austria, he renewed \us intimacy Ixjrd CobhanL TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 227 with Cobliam, and engaged his influence to further a chap. v. peace with his Catholic majesty. One of the great cne- jj^gjT^^; o,- mies of such a measure was Rak'igh, whose whole life Kaiei^h'to had been signalized by a devoted hostility to Philip ; he ^''^'P- had recently written against his successor, and proposed to raise 2000 men at his own charges for the invasion of his kingdom. Aware of this, Cobham suggested to Areniberg that Sir Walter should have a pension, pro- vided he consented to withdraw his opposition and pro- mote their views. It was shown upon his trial, that his Offered lordship offered him 8000 crowns, to which, considering spain!" it one of his idle conceits, he made no serious reply, but lightly answered he would tell him more when he saw the money. Such was the whole matter proved against Raleigh ; and as it was notorious that the king was as anxious for peace as Aremberg could be ;* as it was certain that this Austrian grandee and the Spanish am- bassador had been lavish of both money and presents amongst the courtiers to further their master's interest ; and as Cecil himself with ready pliability had adopted the opinion of James, it might have been expected that no great objection would be made to a proposal which was never carried into effect. It happened, however, ropish pld that nearly at the same time in which this transaction took place, the secretary had discovered a plot concerted by a few Popish priests against the king and royal family, in which one of the principal conspirators was Mr Brooke, brother to Cobham. With some of these traitors this nobleman had at various times held intercourse, though on the scaffold his relative absolved him from all know- ledge of their designs. But this was enough for Cecil Brooke to work on. Brooke Avas no sooner implicated than his kinsman became suspected ; and the latter was no sooner tainted with distrust than the enemies of Raleigh began to hint their doubts of him also. At this moment Sir Walter had followed the court to Windsor, and the secretary, accosting him on the terrace, requested lii" * Lodge's Illustrations, vol. iii. p. 181. 228 FROM ELIZABETH S LAST PARLIA5IENT CHAP. V. Evidence of Raleigh. Ordered to remain a piisoner Dishonest dealings with Lord Cobham. Palse accusations attendance at a private meeting of the lords of the coun- cil. Obeying with readiness, he was examined regarding Cobham's intercourse with Aremberg, and declared his reasons for disbelieving any unwarrantable practices. On being farther questioned he added, that La Rensy, the servant of that ambassador, might be better able to ex- plain the correspondence ; and the same advice he after- wards gave in a letter to Cecil. All this he did with the conviction that nothing treasonable had passed be- tween the principal parties. Immediately after, however, Raleigh received orders to remain a prisoner in his own house ; and his lordship, who had also been apprehended, having sent to know what had taken place at the council, he informed him by his servant Captain Key mis, that he had cleared him of all suspicion. Cobham was next examined at Richmond, and at first exculpated both himself and his friend from the charge of any improper correspondence. When it was found nothing could be drawn from him in this w^ay, a device of a base and crafty description was employed. Raleigh's letter to Cecil re- commending that La Rensy should be interrogated, was shown to him ; and the effect being artfully heightened by suggestions that he had been betrayed, he broke into a furious passion, and accused Sir Walter, who had written it, of being privy to a conspiracy against the government. He declared that " having a passport to go to the King of Spain, he intended first to confer with the archduke ; from thence to proceed to Spain to solicit the king for 600,000 crowns ; thence to return by Jer- sey, and take Raleigh's advice regarding the distribution of the money to the discontented in England." Various other accusations were thrown out during this fit of excitement ; yet he wavered and retracted them all on leaving the council-room, and before he reached the foot of the stair was seized with such remorse that he con- fessed he had falsely accused liis friend. With the conferences between this nobleman and Aremberg there was afterwards blended the ridiculous charge against Raleigh, of a design to place the crown on the head of TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 229 Arabella Ste\vart ; but it proved so absurcl and contra- chap. v. dictory that even his enemies appeared ashamed of it. Such is an impartial outline of the whole circum- Trivial stances which could be brought against Sir Walter ; and character of at first they seem to have been considered too trivial to tions. be exaggerated into a serious accusation even by the obsequiousness of the judges and the inventive capacity of Cecil.* Efforts were therefore made to collect some more substantial proof against him ; and in the mean time he was confined to the Tower, and plied with pri- vate examinations. It is at this period that, in the diary of his enemy just named, and in a letter of one of the creatures of this minister, we find it asserted that Ra- leigh, in a fit of remorse or passionate carelessness of life, had attempted to stab himself in prison.f During this ci,aractcr oi time Cobham, v/hose character seems to have been a Cobhan;. compound of fear, weakness, and falsehood, was worked upon to reiterate the charges which he had retracted ; and his brother, a much abler man but of equally loose principles, was flattered by Cecil, who, holding out tlie promises of pardon, induced him to act in conformity with his wishes, and to perform any " services" required of him. Such is Brooke's own account in a letter ad- R.-ooke's dressed to tlie secretary,;|! and it niay be suspected that account. the " services" to which he alludes were some disclosures of secret practices which it was believed might connect Raleigh with the conspiracy of Brooke and the priests. Little more, however, of any consequence was brought to light against the prisoner. Captain Keymis, an officer in his confidence, and Lord Grey of Wilton, who was a party to the conspiracy of the priests, discovered nothing which could be turned to his crimination. Yet on the vague and inconclusive circumstances which have been already detailed was Sir Walter indicted at Staines, on * Letter of Sir T. Edmondes, in Lodge's Illustrations, vol. iii. p. 17'2. + See Remarks at the end of tins volume. Note C. t Published for the first time from a MS. in the State-paper Office, bv Mrs Thomson in her Appendix to the Life of leigh, Note P. 230 FROM ELIZABETH'S LAST PARLIAMENT high treason. Dantrer of his positiun. Claim of justice Ircm (Jobham. CHAP. V. the 21st September ; a true hill was found by the gran<1 Raleigh" j^^^y 5 he was appointed to take his trial for treason, and chaiged with \j^ the mean time remanded to the Tower. Raleigh was too well acquainted with the power of his enemies, and with the injustice and rigour of the English law of treason as it then stood, not to perceive the imminent risk which he now ran. The enmity of Cecil, the skill and virulence of Coke, the attorney- general, and the timidity of a jury acting under their influence, were all taken into his calculation ; and he felt that his fate was almost already decided. Under these circumstances it was right that he should neglect no opportunity to save himself from destruction ; and accord- higly he made a last attempt to obtain from his accuser a declaration of his innocence. When the lieutenant of the Tower was at supper, he got a poor man to cast in at the window where Cobham was confined an apple to which he had fastened a letter, beseeching him for God's sake to do him justice ; and this unhappy person, whose mind seems to have been in a perpetual vacillation be- tween remorse and terror, was so far overcome by this appeal, that he returned an answer, afterwards produced at the trial, in which he cleared him of all treason in the most solemn manner. About the same time Raleigh addressed a supplication to the king, m which he adverted to the cruelty of a law which compounded treasons out of presumptions and circumstances ; and after asserting his innocence, besought him to temper its severity with the highest attribute of a sovereign, — mercy. He directed also an able letter to the Lords Cecil, Henry Howard, and Sir Edward Coke, in which he established the ab- surdity and groundlessness of the charges brought against him, by arguments which to this day have never been answered. But it does not appear that either of these attempts produced the least effect ; and he saw the day of trial arrive with the conviction that the heart of the king was too cold and indiff'erent, and those of the cour- tiers too cautious, to afford him the prospect of relief or even of justice. Weighed down as he must have been Supplicat'on to tiie kiuK- TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 231 by these depressing circumstances, it is impossible not chap. V. to admire the vigour, courage, and ability with which he conducted his defence. The plague at this time raging in London, the term piague in rvas held at Winchester on the l7th November 1603. i^oi^don- The principal commissioners were Howard, earl of Suf- folk and lord-chamberlain ; Charles Blunt, earl of Devon ; Lord Henry Howard ; Cecil himself; Lord Wotton of Morley ; Sir John Stanhope, vice-chamberlain ; and Popham, the lord-chief-justice. Some of these were Raleigh's determined enemies, and had conducted the examinations against him ; others cared little whether he rose or fell ; and the rest were probably the subser- vient tools of government."^ The prisoner might well Trial of wonder at the multiplicity and weight of the charges. ^^^®'^^'* He was accused of conspiring to dethrone the king ; of an attempt to raise sedition and to bring in the Roman superstition by means of a foreign invasion ; of consult- ing with Lord Cobham at Durham House to place the crowTi on the head of Arabella Stewart, for which end 600,000 crowns were to be solicited from Aremberg, and Extravagant a correspondence opened by his lordship with the Spanish accusations government. Peace with Spain and the establishment of Popery were to be secured by the new princess ; and to further their designs, the peer just named, on his re- turn from Spain, was to have visited Raleigh at his government in Jersey, to settle the best mode of em- ploying the money in raising a rebellion. Other par- ticulars were added : It was alleged that Cobham had Treasonable communicated these treasons to his brother, who readily '^^^'^ ^ joined in them ; and that in a conversation it had been stated " there would never be a good world in England till the king and his cubs were taken away." Raleigh, it was lastly said, had given the same nobleman a book against the king's title ; and for his assistance in manag- * It is stated by a contemporar)' author, that the jury first appointed being suspected of two much independence, a list ci more obsequious persons was substituted the night before the trial. 232 FROM Elizabeth's last parliament CHAP. V. Charge of Sir Edward Coke. Appeal of Jialeigh. Charge to the jury. The Byo Plot. ing the correspondence with Aremberg was to receive 8000 crowns. Tliis indictment having been read , the jury was sworn, and Sir Edward Coke commenced his charge ; but in- stead of confining himself to the real point at issue, he contrived to bring in a detailed account of the treason of Lord Grey, Brooke, and Markham, enlarging upon its baseness. He was interrupted by Sir Walter, who calmly entreated him to remember that all this was matter introduced to create a prepossession against him, and related to a separate crime, not even alluded to in the indictment. Recalled in this manner to his subject, Coke proceeded ; but we shall give his charge, and the extraordinary scene of violence and abuse to which it led, in the original words of the trial. " Now I come to your charge, my masters of the jury : The greatness of treason is to be considered in two things, — determinatione finis, et electione mediorum. This treason excelleth in both ; for that it was to destroy the king and his progeny. These treasons are said to be crimen IcBscB majestatis ; this goeth farther, and may be termed crimen extii'pandcB regies majestatis et totius progeniei suce, I shall not need, my lords, to speak any thing concerning the king, nor of the bounty and sweetness of his nature, whose thoughts are innocent, whose words are full of wisdom and learning, and whose works are full of honour ; although it be a true saying, Nunquam nimis, quod nun- quam satis. But to whom do you bear malice \ to the children \ " Raleigh. — To whom speak you this \ You tell me news I never heard of. ^^ Attorney. — Oh, sir, do I ? I will prove you the no- toriousest traitor that ever came to the bar. After you have taken away the king, you would alter religion ; as you, Sir Walter Raleigh, liave followed them of the Bye'" in imitation ; for I will charge you with the words. * The name of the " Bye" had been given by some of the conspirators themselves to the treason of Brooke and the priests. The plot which Raleigh was accused of instigating was called the " Main." TO THE TRIAL OF RALElGn. 233 " Raleigh. — Your words cannot condemn me ; my CHAI'. v, innoccncy is my defence. Prove one of these things Deciiration wherewith you have charged me, and I will confess the of innocence, whole indictment ; and that I am the horriblest traitor that ever lived, and worthy to be crucified with a thou- sand torments. " Attorney. — Nay, I will prove all : thou art a mon- Violent ster ; thou hast an English face' but a Spanish heart. J^^.g^ ^^ Now you must have money : Arembcrg was no soonei in England (I cliarge thee, Raleigh) but thou incitedst Cobliam to go unto him, and to deal with him for money to bestow on discontented persons to raise rebellion in the kingdom. " Baleigh. — Let me answer for myself. ^^ Attorney. — Thou shalt not. " Baldyh. — It concenicth my life. " Attorney. — Oh ! do I touch you ?" After this Coke enumerated the charges contained in i ;ipiicaticn the indictment. " I do not hear yet," said Raleigh, hani. " that you have spoken one word against me. * * If my Lord Cobham be a traitor, what is that to me '." Coke's answer Avas so remarkable that it passed into a proverb, and furnished Shakspeare with one of his amus- ing satirical touches in the character of Sir Toby Belch. " Attorney. — All that he did was by thy instigation, thou viper ! for I thou thee, thou traitor !* " Raleigh. — It becometh not a man of quality and virtue to call me so ; but I take comfort in it ; it is all you can do. " Attorney. — Have I angered you \ " Raleigh. — I am in no case to be angry." * ^^ Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Will either of you bear me a challenge to him ? " .Sir Tob?/ Belch. Go, write it in a martial hand ; be curst and brief; it is no matter how witty, so it be eloquent, and full of invention : taunt him with the license of ink : if thou thou'st him some thrice, it shall not be amiss ; and as many lies as will lie in thy sheet of paper, although the sheet were big enough for the bed of Ware in England, set 'em down." Twelfth Night, Act iii. So. 2. 234 FROM Elizabeth's last parliament Sin.£fulavity of the scene. Proofs read. Evidence of Cobham. CH/P. V. This singular dialogue, in which the temper and dig- nity of the accused are finely contrasted with the scur- rility of the crown-counsel, was brought to a conclusion by the Chief-justice Popham. " Sir Walter Raleigh,' said he, " Mr Attorney speaketh out of the zeal of his duty for the service of the king, and you for your life : be patient on both sides." The clerk now read the proofs, the first being the examination of Cobham, with the heads of which we are already acquainted. It is to be regretted that only an abstract of it appears on the record. One sentence is worthy of notice, as indicating the temper in which the accusation was made. " At the first beginning, he breathed out oaths and exclamations against Raleigh, calling him villain and traitor, saying, he had never en- tered into these courses but by his instigation, and that he would never let him alone. Besides, he spake of plots and invasions ; of the particulars whereof he could give no account, though Raleigh and he had conferred of them." When it is remembered that this was, by the admission of the worst enemies of the accused, the solitary proof which could be brought against him ; that Cobham afterwards solemnly retracted it ; and that these absurd speeches of plots and invasions, of which his lord- ship could furnish no particulars, constituted the whole examination, it is difficult to reprobate in temis suffi- ciently strong a jury who convicted upon such evidence. We are now arrived at the period of the trial where Raleigh was permitted to address the jury in his de- fence ; and brief and garbled as his speech appears, it still gives some idea of the eloquence with which he re- pelled the charges. On the examination being read, he broke out into an exclamation of natural and unfeigned astonishment. " And this," said he, " is absolutely all the evidence which can be brought against me ; poor shifts ! Gentlemen of the jury, I pray you understand this : This is that which must either condemn or give me life — which must free me or send my wife and chil- dren to beg their bread about the streets : this is that Its retrac- tion. Raleigh's defence. TO THE TRIAL OF RALKIOn. 285 must prove me a notorious traitor or a true subject to chap. v. the king. But first let me see my accusation, that I Ans^T^to may make my answer." The declaration of Lord Cob- Cobiuim's ham was then shown ; after which he thus proceeded : '^^' ^^^^' — " I will show you my answer to this, and how this ac- cusation of my Lord Cobham arises. I was examined before my lords of the privy-council at Windsor touching the Surprising Treason,* and also of the Lord Cobham's practices with Aremberg, from all which God knows I was free, for I never was privy to any of them ; and as concerning plotting for the Lady Arabella, I protest before God, at that time I never heard one word ol it ! It is true that in my examination I told the lords Plots of I knew of no plots between Aremberg and Cobham ; ^^d CoWmm but afterwards I wrote to my Lord Cecil that I sus- pected Lord Cobham had intelligence with Aremberg. * * I suspected his visiting of him from this : that after he departed from me at Durham House, I saw him pass by his own stairs and cross over to St Mary Saviour's, where I knew La Rensy, a merchant and follower of Aremberg, lay. I gave intimation of this by letter to the lords ; but I was requested by Lord Cecil not to speak of this, because the king at the first coming of Count Aremberg would not give him occasion of suspicion. Wherefore I wrote to the Lord Cecil that La Ren-^y. if La Rensy were not secured the matter would not be discovered, for he would fly ; yet if he were then appre- hended, it would give matter of suspicion to my Lord Cobham. This letter of mine being afterwards shown to the Lord Cobham, he thought I had discovered (and betrayed) his dealing with Aremberg, and immediately Lord Coti- entered into a rage against me, and accused me ; but '^"^^'^ ^""^'^ l)efore he came to the stair-foot he repented, and as I heard, acknowledged he had done me wrong. When he came to the end of his accusation, he added, that if he had brought this money to Jersey, he feared I would * The plot of Brooke, Grey, INIarkham, and the priests, to surprise the king, went by this name. It was also sometimes called the Bye. 236 FROM ELlZABETirS LAST PARLIAMENT , CHAP. V. have delivered him and the money to the king. Mr Di-.p^«i7ion Attorney, yon said, * this never came out of Cobham's oi Cobham. quiver — he is a simple man.' Is he so simple I No ; he hath a disposition of his own, he will not easily he guided by others ; but when he has once taken head in a matter he is not easily drawn from it ; he is no babe. But it is strange for me to devise with Cobham, that he should go to Spain, to persuade the king to disburse so much money, he being a man of no love nor following in Eng- land, and I having resigned my room of chiefcst command, tlie wardenship of the Stanneries. Moreover, I was not strengtii of SO bare of sense but I saw, that if ever this state was the kingdom, strong and able to defend itself it was now : I knew the kingdom of Scotland united, whence we were wont to fear all our troubles ; Ireland quieted, where our forces were wont to be divided ; Denmark assured, which be- fore was suspected ; the Low Countries, our nearest neighbours, at peace with us. I knew that, having lost a lady whom time had surprised, we had now an active king, a lawful successor, Avho would himself be present in all his affairs. I was not such a madman as to make myself, in this time, a Robin Hood, a Wat Tyler, or a Jack Cade. I Ivuew also the state of Spain well ; his Weakness of weakness, and poorness, and humbleness at this time. bi)d.\n. J knew that he v/as discouraged and dishonoured. I knew that six times we had repulsed his forces, — thrice in Ireland, and thrice at sea, — once at Cadiz, on his own coast. Tlirice had I served against him myself at sea, wherein, for my country's sake, I had expended of my own property £4000. I knew the King of Spain to be Its iramijiod the proudest prince in Christendom ; but now that he came creeping to the king, my master, for peace. I knew, whereas before he had in his port six or seven score sail of ships, he hath now but six or seven. I knew, of twenty-live millions he had from his Indies he hath scarce one left. I knew him to be so poor that the Jesuits, his imps, who were wont to have such large al- lowance, were fain to beg at the church-doors. Then, was it ever read or heard that any prince should disburse rtUte. TO TIIK TlilAL OF RALEIGH. 237 80 mucli money without a sufficient pawn ] Whoso chap. v. knows what great assurances the King of Spain stood Extravagant upon with other states for smaller sums, will not think charjics. that he would so freely disburse to my Lord Cobham 600,000 crowns. And if I had minded to set the Lord Cobham to work in such a case, I should surely have given him some instructions how he should persuade the King of Spain and answer his objections ; for I know Cobham to be no such minion as could persuade a king who was in want, to advance so great a sum of money without reason, and some assurance for it. I knew hei own subjects, the citizens of London, would not lend hei late majesty money without lands in mortgage. I knew the queen did not lend the States money without Flush- ing, Brill, and other towns, lor a pawn ; and can it be thought that he would let Cobham have so great a sum 1 What pawn had Ave to give the King of Spain l What Denial of did we offer him I And to show I was not Spanish, as Spanish ^ ' leanings. you term me, I had written at this time a treatise to the king's majesty of the present state of Spain, and the reasons against the peace. For my inwardness with the Lord Cobham, it was only in matters of private estate, wherein he communicated often with me, and I lent him my best advice. * * Whether he intended to travel to Spam or no, God in heaven knoweth. But for my knowing that he had conspired all those things with Spain for Arabella against the king, I protest before Almighty God, I am as clear as whoever here is freest." When Cobham's second declaration was read, the objection to accused vehemently objected to it, on the ground that ^g^pn^'"'^ the examination had been conducted m the most partial declaration manner ; that his passion had been roused by the ex hibition of the letter to Cecil ; that the declaration had not been read over to him, and that he had refused to subscribe it till compelled by the lord-chief-justice. The foreman of the jury requested to be informed regarding this letter, said to have been addressed by Raleigh to Cecil, and whether it was written before the time of the Lord Cobham's accusation ; and the wary secretary thus 238 FROM Elizabeth's last parliament CHAP. V. replied, Avitli an apparent tenderness to one who had in HvT^oci^iciii former years been his friend : — " I am in great dispute professions with myself how to speak m the case of this gentleman ; a former dearness between me and him tied so firm a knot of my conceit of his vu-tues, now broken by a dis- cover}^ of his imperfections. I protest, did I serve a king that I knew would be displeased with me for speak- ing, in this case I would speak, whatever came of it ; but seeing he is compacted of piety and justice, and one that will not mislike any man for speaking a truth, — I will answer your question. Su* Walter Raleigh was Suspicions of staid by me at Windsor, upon the first news of Copley, icaieigh. ^j^^^ ^j^g king's person should be surprised by my Lord Grey and Mr George Brooke. When I found Brooke was in, I suspected Cobham ; then I doubted Raleigh to be a partaker. I speak not this that it should be thought I had greater judgment than the rest of my lords, in making this haste to have him examined. Ra- leigh following to Windsor, I met with him upon the terrace, and willed him, as from the king, to stay, saymg, the lords had something to say to him : he was then examined, but not concerning my Lord Cobham, but of the Surprising Treason. My Lord Grey was appre- Tiie Sunn-is- hended, and likewise Brooke. By Brooke we found, that he had given notice to Cobham of the Surprising Treason as he delivered it to us ; but with as much sparingness of a brother as he might. We sent for my Lord Cobham to Richmond, where he stood upon his justification and his quality : sometimes being froward, he said he was not bound to subscribe [^his examination], wherewith we made the king acquainted. Cobham said, If my lord-chief-justice would say it were a contempt, he would subscribe ; whereof being resolved, he subscribed. For Sir Walter Raleigh I must say, that there was a light given by him to me, that La Rensy had dealt betwixt Count Aremberg and the Lord Cobham ; but that Sir W. Raleigh knew at that time of Lord Cobham's accu- sation I cannot say."* * In this reply the reader will observe the dexterity with Lig Treason. TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 239 In reply to the allegation of Raleigh, that Cobham chap. v. had accused him in a fit of passion, the attorney brought Faiseltate- forward a circ\imstance afterwards shown to be false, ment and at the time unsupported by proof, but which, there can be little doubt, had its effect on the jury. " It liath been argued," said he, " that Cobham acted under a par- oxysm of resentment. Yet it was no sudden ebullition, for at least two months before he had said to his brotliei Brooke, * You are fools, you are in the Bye. Raleigh and I are on the Main. We mean to take away the king and his cubs.' " This speech, which was afterwards proved never to have been uttered, roused the indignation oi the accused, who earnestly besought the court and the jury to have it investigated. " I beseech you, my lords," Appeal of said he, " let it be proved that Cobham so expressed Se com-L*^ himself. You try me by the Spanish Inquisition if you proceed only by the circumstances without two witnesses. Good my lords, let it be proved, either by the laws oi the land or the laws of God, that there ought not to be two witnesses appointed. * * It is no rare thing for a man to be falsely accused. A judge condemned a woman m Sarum for killing her husband, on the testi- vvhich Cecil evades the important question put to him by the juryman. The object of the question was evident. Ralei<^k had asserted that his letter to Cecil had been shoAvn to Cobham, and that this circumstance had stimulated that nobleman to accuse him. The juryman wished to find out if this was true, and requested to know the time or date of this letter, and whether it preceded Cobham's accusation. Nothing can be plainer than the question, — and Cecil had only to give the date, — to say yes or no. But mark the crafty obscurity of his an- swer. " For Sir W. Raleigh, I must say, that there was a light given by him to me, that La Rensy had dealt betwixt Count Aremberg and the Lord Cobham ; but that Sir Walter at that time knew of the Lord Cobhani's accusation, I cannot say; for I think he was not then examined touching any matter concern- ing my Lord Cobham,— for only the Surprising Treason was then in suspicion." The truth was, that Sir Walter could not possibly have then kno-rni of Lord Cobham's accusation, because that accusation had not then been made, — a fact perfectly un- derstood by Cecil, but which he did not choose to mention, be- cause it corroborated Raleigh's defence."' * Trial as printed by Oldys, p. 6G5. Jardine's Criminal Trials, vol. i. p. 4ie 240 FROM ELIZABETH S LAST PARLIAMENT CHAP. V. Danger of a rash verdict Moderate demand. Obsei-vation of the king. Art of Cec!L mony of one witness. Afterward, when she was executed, the real murderer confessed. What said the judge to Fortescue, touching the remorse of his conscience for proceeding upon such slender proof ? * That so long as he lived he would never purge his conscience of that deed.' I may be told, that the statutes I have before named are repealed. Yet the equit}^ and reason of those laws remain : and at all events the law of God remainetb for ever ; and the canon of God saith, * At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall he that is worthy of death be put to death — but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.' If then, by the statute law, by the civil law, and by God's word, it be required that there must be two witnesses at the least, bear with me if I desire one. Let Cobham be here ; let him speak it. Call my accuser before my face, and I have done. All is but his accusation. No other thing hath been brought against me ; and yet this accusation he never subscribed, — he never avouched. I beseech you, my lords, let this lord be sent for. Charge him on his soul, — on his alle- giance to the king. If he affirm it I am content to be found guilty." It was the observation of James himself, — that weak monarch, under whose authority this scene of judicial severity was transacted, — that if Cobham could have spoken one word against Raleigh, his enemies would have brought him from Constantinople."^ Cecil dreaded nothing more than the producing of the accuser. He knew that the whole of Cobham's evidence would break do\^Ti under the cross-examination of Sir Walter, and trembled lest his searching interrogations should bring to light his own courses and the plot he had laid for his victim. Determined, therefore, that the prisoner's entreaty should not be listened to, he did not reject it himself, but with his usual art made the refusal come from the judges. They readily repelled every argument, and declared tliat it was illegal to grant a request which would promote Cayley, vol. ii. p. 77. TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 241 the growtli of treasons, and open a door for the destruc- chap. v. tion of the king. Driven from this just ground, the trial proceeded, and Attempt to an attempt was made to prejudice the jury by implicat- KeTuiy.^ ing the prisoner in the crime of Clark, Watson, and the priests : — " Now," said Coke, " let us come to those words of Brooke regarding the destruction of the king and his cubs." These expressions, all knowledge of which Raleigh indignantly denied, were afterwards retracted by the accuser on the scaffold ; and yet an effort was now made to connect them with a circumstance stated in the indictment, that Cobham had received from Sir Walter a book written against the king's title to the throne. Nothing could more strongly demonstrate the cruel OiTieity ar.d and unjust manner in which every trifle was wrested '"J"^''*^^- than this circumstance. The book was found among Lord Burleigh's papers, which Raleigh had examined with the permission of that nobleman's son. It had been by mistake carried to his house ; it was taken off^ his table by Cobham, who declared that Sir Walter had said- it was foolishly written : yet the attorney exaggerated the affair into a premeditated attempt to sow discontent and treason. The lord-high-admiral seized this moment of the trial Evidence to bring in his sister-in-law, the lady Arabella Stewart, stewai t " who protested she never had dealt in these things, though Cobham had written to her affirming that some about the king laboured to disgrace her. This letter she con- sidered a foolish trick, and immediately sent it to his majesty. Nothing, indeed, could be more ridiculous than Ri^iciiious , T , 1 11 1 T 1 J character of the whole story, — nothing more completely established the whole by the evidence, than that no conspiracy to place this accusation. lady on the throne existed any where except perhaps in the idle brain of Cobham. Raleigh knew this well ; and, confident of a successful issue were he permitted to cross-examine that peer, made another struggle to be confronted with him : " The Lord Cobham," said he, " hath accused me — you see in what manner he hath forsworn it. Were it not for his accusation, all this were 242 FROM Elizabeth's last parliament CHAP. V. Appeal for the exami- nation of Cobham. Heply to the chief-justice. Crafi of Cecil. Confident integrity of Kaleigh. nothing. Let liim be asked if I knew of the letter which La Rensy brought to him from Aremberg. Let me speak for my life ; it can be no hurt for him to be brought — he dares not accuse me. If you grant me not this favour I am strangely used. Campion was not denied to have his accusers face to face." To this the lord-chief-justice remarked, that Cobham could not be brought, because the acquitting of his old friend might move him to speak otherwise than the truth. Raleigh's reply was perfectly convincing : — " If," said he, " I had been the infuser of all these treasons into him, — you, gentlemen of the jury, mark this, — if I have been, as he is made to say, the cause of all his miseries and the destruction of his house, and that all evil hath happened unto him by my wicked counsel, if this be true, whom hath he cause to accuse and to be revenged on but me ? — and I know him to be as revengeful as any man on earth. At this critical moment Cecil again introduced one of his artful speeches : — " I am afraid," said he, " my oft speaking (who am inferior to my lords here present) will make the world think I delight to hear myself talk. ]\Iy affection to you. Sir Walter Raleigh, was not ex- tinguished but slaked, in regard of your deserts. You know the law of the realm (which your mind doth not contest), that my Lord Cobham cannot be brought. Yet let me ask you this — If my Lord Cobham should be brought, and were we to ask him whether you were his only instigator to proceed in the treasons, dare you put yourself on his answer V* This appeal was met by Ra- leigh with the promptitude and confidence of innocence. " I do dare it," said he. " If Cobham will declare before God and the king, that ever I knew of Arabella's matter, or of the money out of Spam, or of the Surprismg Trea- son, I put myself upon it, — let me at once be pronounced guilty." " Then," said Cecil, " Sir Walter Raleie-h, call upon Heaven, and prepare yourself ; for I do verily believe my lords will prove this. Excepting your faults (I call them no worse), by God I am your friend ! The heat and passion in you, and the attorney's zeal in the TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 2 J3 king's service makes me speak this. You am,e that citap v Cobham must have acquainted yo„ witli his coherences , — w,th Aremberg. That does not follow. If I set yourn -CeS!'"^ work, and you gne me no acconnt.-does that make ™ved ™""!r ^^ *'r *'" ^^P'y «f *e accused con- veyed more than met the ear. "Whoever," said he "is the «orkmaster But let it be proved that he gave me any account of his conferences with Arembero- " lei5^perilfth:"'.'"'r''™ '''^ '"""'^ "'* "^'■^•^ ^- "''""'- leign penis the whole ease upon his being confronted ''""=■ with lus accuser, and the subterfuge by whiA Cecil, w^o was not prepared for such boldness, slides out of the e/ r^t J''" i".'' ™* '^P"''' *ft^^ this strong denun ciation. Then, Sir Walter Raleigh, call upon Heaven and prepare yourself!" that Cobham' is to bebroush ° to prove the whole t Yet all that follows is the "t-cri y beheve" of this crafty politician, that the lords are to make ott the.rcase. A more impotent conclusion could en mv ZT ■ L^>' *^"^ ^'*'^=™° ^-' R^'^Sh's e™„, „ ever7;i *■'" ^l"'" *''" "^'"S's accession had done '"^''«"- proved "f- ^T^"' '^' '•''^■«' """'J ^g«"«t i>™> i3 to tb nk ^ f ';? .0"-n letters to James. Whal then are we to thmk of this obtestation of the great name of God in he s^iM* e" T- '^ f-V ^"'^^''""^ '' «'« ='»^''™-'= that Ll 1. "^""t'""«'l '"^ friend! But the Secretary, who WX ,' " '" ""rP"^"^ *^» ns, acourtie'^'from his ciadle, early acquired, in its highest perfection that St r-T"'.^ 1"f' y-hypocri°sy. In'the last Ir^ k i d ffi. ,;™'-k'"aster" or contriver of the accusation to Cetn Wms:r^'^' "'^ "'^'^"'■'^ ""^* ^'^-^S" P-t^ The attorney next called a low witness, one Dyer a w.,„.„ pilot, to prove an idle speech of some nameless Portu! ">'" and Don Raleigh would cut the king's throat before he was „.w„ed." On this Sir Walter convincingly a^gL^ whlh iT '™' "" ™n-«Pondence with Aromberg which he had no mtention to deny, it must necessarily 244 FROM ELIZABETHS LAST PARLIAMENT Ills kno-wT. enmity to Spain. CHAP. T be known in Spain. " Why," said he, " did they name Ar^ment of the Duke of Buckingham with Jack Straw's treason, kaJeigh. and the Duke of York with Jack Cade, but to counte- nance his treason I Consider you, gentlemen of the jury, there is no cause so doubtful which the king's council cannot make good against the law. Consider my dis- ability and their ability. They prove nothing against me ; and they bring the accusation of my Lord Cobham, which he hath lamented and repented as heartily as if it had been for a horrible murder. For he knew that all this sorrow which should come to me is by his means. Presumptions must proceed from precedent of subsequ ent facts. I have spent 40,000 crowns against the Spaniards. If I had died in Guiana, I had not left 800 marks a-year to my wife and son. I that have always condemned the Spanish faction — methinks it is a strange thing that now I should affect it ! Remember what St Austin says, ' So judge as if you were about to be judged 3'ourselves ; for in the end there is but one judge, but one tribunal for all men.' Now, if 3^ou yourselves would like to be hazarded in your lives and disabled in your descendants, — if you would be content to be delivered up to be slaughtered ; to have your wives and children turned into the street to beg their bread — if you would be content all this should befall you upon a trial by suspicions and presumptions, upon an accusation not subscribed by your accuser, — without the open testimony of a single witness, — then so judge me as you would yourselves be judged." A singular interruption now took place. The attorney, having failed again in the proof, launched forth into abuse, and was exhorted by Cecil to be less impatient ; " upon which," says the record, " Mr Attorney sat down in a chafe, and would speak no more until the commis- sioners urged and entreated him to proceed." He then, after much persuasion, arose and broke out into still more violent invective, — but we shall present the dia- logue which ensued in the words of the trial : — " Attorney. — Thou art the most vile and execrable traitor that ever lived. ilcni^.e of atroi'Lev, TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 245 " Raleigh. — You speak indiscreetly, barbarously, and oriAR v. uncivilly. Smimlarre- " Attorney.— 1 want words sufficient to express thy ciimiuation. viperous treasons. " Raleigh. — I think you want words indeed, for you have spoken one thing half a dozen times. " Attorney. — Thou art an odious fellow ; thy name is hateful to all the realm of England for thy pride. " Raleigh. — It will go near to prove a measuring-cast between you and me, Mr Attorney. " Attorney. — Well, now will I make it appear to the New device world that there never lived a viler viper upon the face tiin!^""^ of the earth than thou." {In saying this he drew a letter from his pocket, and continued.) " My Lords, you shall see. This is an agent who hath writ a treatise against the Spaniard, and hath ever so detested him ! this is he that hath spent so much money against him in service ! and yet you shall see whether his heart be not wholly Spanish. The Lord Cobham, who of his nature was a good and honourable gentleman till overtaken by this wretch, now finding his conscience heavily burdened with some of the courses which the subtilty of this traitor had drawn him into, he could be at no rest in himself, nor quiet in his thoughts, until he was eased of that heavy weight. Out of which passion of his mind, and discharge of his duty to his prince and his conscience to God, taking it upon his salvation that he wrote nothing but the truth, with his own hands he wrote this letter : — * I have thought it fit to set down this to my lords, ^j"]^^^*^™ wherein I protest on my soul to write nothing but the truth. I am come now near to the period of my time, therefore I confess the whole truth before God and his angels. Raleigh, four days before I came from the Tower, caused an apple to be thrown in at my chamber- window ; the eflFect of it was to entreat me to right the wrong that I had done him in saying that I should come home by Jersey ; which, under my hand, I have le- tracted. His first letter I answered not, which was thrown in the same manner ; wherein he prayed me to p 246 FROM ei^izabeth's last parliament him. Commen- tary of til attorney. CRAP. V. write him a letter, which I did. He sent me word that Raleigh's ^^^ judges had met at Mr Attorney's house, and that messages to there was good hope the proceedings against us would be staid. He sent me another time a little tobacco. At Aremberg's coming Raleigh was to have procured a pen- sion of £1500 a-year ; for which he promised that no action should be against Spain, the Low Countries, or the Indies, but he would give knowledge beforehand. He told me the States had audience with the king. He hath been the original cause of my rum ; for I had no dealing with Aremberg but by his instigation. He hath also been the cause of my discontentment. He advised me not to be ovei-taken with preachers as Essex was ; and that the king would better allow of a constant denial than to accuse any.' " On this letter Mr Attorney resumed his commentary and pleading : — " Oh damnable atheist !" said he, " he hath leanit some text of Scrip- ture to serve his own purpose, but falsely alleged. He counselled him not to be counselled by preachers as Essex was. Essex died the child of God ; God honoured him at his death ; thou [Raleigh] wast present when he died. Et lupus et turpes instant morientihus ursae. * * I doubt not but this day God shall have as great a conquest by this traitor, and the Son of God shall be as mucli glorified as when it was said Vicisti, Galilcee. You know my meanuig." It will be remarked by the reader, that this second declaration of Cobham contains nothing new against Ra- leigh. He had never denied the offer of money or a pension from Spain, — made to him, as it had been to many others, that he might use his influence to procure a peace, — but that he had accepted the offer was no- where shown ; and his reply to the tissue of abuse and slander brought against him by Coke was calm and noble : — " You have heard," said he, " a strange tale of a strange man. Now, Mr Attorney thinks he hath matter enough to destroy me. But the king and all of you shall witness by our deaths which of us was the ruin of the other. I bid a poor fellow tlii'ow in the letter at Cob- Review of Cobham's letter C.^.lm reply TO TUE TRIAL OF RALriGII. 247 ham's window, written to this purpose : — * You know CIIAP. v. you have undone me ; now write three lines to justify Tme state- me.* In this I will die that he hath done me wrong, '"t'lt of the Why did he not acquaint me with his treasons if I did ac- quaint him with my dispositions V* Sir Walter was here interrupted by the chief-justice, who asked, " But what say you now of the letter, and the pension of £1500 per annum V " I say," he replied, " that Cobham is a base, Disclaimer of dishonourable, poor soul ; as this will show." He then Cobham \m>- produced a letter and requested Cecil to read it ; as he only of the commissioners knew the hand. It contained a complete exculpation, and made a great impression in the court. Its terms were these : — " Seeing myself so near my end, for the discharge of my own conscience, and freeing myself from your blood, which else will cry vengeance against me ; I protest iipon my salvation I never practised with Spain by your procurement. God so comfort me in this my affliction, as you are a true subject for any thing I know ! I will say as Daniel,* — Purus sum a sanguine hujus. So God have mercy upon my soul as I know no treason by you !" This was the last piece of evidence adduced, — a marshal verdict of was then sworn to keep the court, and the jury being guilty. shut up, deliberated for a quarter of an hour, and returned a verdict of Guilty. Raleigh was now asked in the usual form, whether he had any thing to say why judgment and execution of death should not pass against him. To which, standing up, he answered with perfect equa- nimity, — " My Lords, — The jury have found me guilty. They Answer of must do as they are directed. I can say nothing why Kiiieigh. judgment should not proceed. You see whereof Cobham hath accused me. You remember his protestations that I was never guilty. I desire the king should know of the wrongs done me since I came hither by Mr Attorne}'. . I desire my lords to remember three things to the king, * It is evident that Cobham here substitutes Daniel for Pilate, 248 FROM Elizabeth's last parliament CHAP. V. 1st, I was accused to be a practiser for Spain. I never Final appeal, knew that my Lord Cobham meant to go thither. I will ask no mercy at the king's hand if he will affirm it. 2d, I never knew of the practice with Arabella. 3d, I never knew of my Lord Cobham's practice with Aremberg, nor of the Surprising Treason. I submit myself to the king's mercy. I know his mercy is greater than my offence. I recommend my wife, and son of tender years unbrought up, to his compassion." Sentence of death. Impression produced b; Raleigli's defence. The chief-justice now pronounced the sentence of death; and when, according to the form in cases of treason, he detailed with horrible minuteness the manner of execu- tion, Sir Walter requested the lords-commissioners to entreat the king, in consideration of the honourable places he had held, that the extreme rigour of his sentence might be qualified — that liis death should not be igno- minious. The court then broke up, and Raleigh accom- panied the sheriff to the prison ; all being struck with his noble demeanour, which it was observed became a man conscious of innocence, and yet not insensible to his situation as being condemned by the laws of his country.* In the Hardwicke Papers there is an interesting letter from Sir Dudley Carleton, who was present at the trial, which describes the impression made by the defence. " Sir Walter Raleigh," saj^s he, " served for a whole act, and played all the parts himself. His cause was disjoined from the priests, as being a practice only between himself and the Lord Cobham to have brought in the Spaniard, to have raised rebellion in the realm by fastening money upon discontents ; to have set up the Lady Arabella, and to have tied her to certain conditions. * * The evidence against him was only Cobham's confession, which was judged sufficient to condemn him ; and a letter was pro- duced, written by Cobham the day before, by which he accused Raleigh as the first practiser of the treason Cayley, vol. ii. p. 79. TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 249 betmxt them, which served to turn against him ; though chap, v he showed, to countervail this, a letter written by Cob- — ham, and delivered to him in the Tower, by which he Cobham was clearly acquitted. After sentence given, his request was to have his answers related to the king, and pardon begged ; of which if there were no hope, then that Cob- ham might die first. He answered with that temper, wit, learning, courage, and judgment, that, save that it 'went with the hazard of his life, it was the happiest day he ever spent. And so well he shifted all advantages that „,,„>,., were taken agamst him, that were not famamalumgravius perti.fe.u quam res, and an ill name half hanged, in the opinion of ^""'^"'^ aU men, he had been acquitted. The two first that brought the news to the king were Roger Ashton, and a Scotsman, whereof one affirmed, ' That never any man spoke so well in times past, nor would do in the world to come ;' and the other said, ' That whereas when he saw him first, he was so led with the common hatred, that he would have gone a hundred miles to have seen him hanged, he would, ere he parted, have gone a thou- sand to have saved his life.' " To clear up the mystery with which this extraordinary p„„,,„ , trial has hitherto been covered, it will not be uninterest- theS: " ing to offer a few remarks ; and, first, I would observe, that Raleigh's innocence of any treasonable practices may be established almost to a demonstration. The only circumstance to connect him with the plot by Brooke and the priests, which in the trial is called the Surprising Treason, was the declaration stated to be made by Cob- hani to his brother, that « there never would be peace m England till the fox and his cubs w^ere taken off" meaning the king. Now we have Cecil's evidence, the Cecil's most unsuspected on this point certainly which could be eviaonce. given, that « Brooke recalled to the bishop, on receivmo- the sacrament, that accusation which he had made of h£ brother concerning those odious words supposed to be uttered by the Lord Cobham (meaning thereby our gracious sovereign and his issue), that ' it never would be well until the fox and cubs were taken awav."* 250 FROM Elizabeth's last parliament CHAP. V. This charge, therefore, Tnust be dismissed as unfounded ; Unfounded ^^'^ ^^ '^ ^o be observed, that neither Brooke, nor Grey, charge. nor any of the others who suffered, uttered a word which could involve Sir Walter in any knowledge of the Sur- prising Treason.* Cobham's ^^ ^^^® ^^^^ place, as to Cobham's accusation, it con- accusation, sisted of two parts, the plan for setting up the Lady Arabella Stewart, and the receiving a pension from Spain. The first scarcely deserves a moment's consideration ; for it is impossible that any one should attentively read the evidence, garbled and partial as it is, without being convinced that the whole story is idle and ridiculous. A late author, in his character of Raleigh, has loosely asserted, " that he had certainly, in some measure, en- gaged in that conspiracy to place Arabella Stewart on the throne, the singular extravagance of which is well kno"\\Ta to all readers of English history ."t That no such Unfounded plot existed may be satisfactorily demonstrated. There suspicion of a jg ^^ mention of any design to set up that lady in Cecil's first account of the conspiracies of Brooke and Grey, and of Cobham and Raleigh, which he conveys in a letter to Sir Thomas Parry, ambassador in France. ;]: There is no allusion to such a plot in a letter from the same politician to Mr Winwood, dated 3d October,§ where he gives a sketch of both. In the first examination of Cobham there is not a word of Lady Arabella, though he was questioned as to plots and invasions of which he could give no particular accoimt.|| In liis second examination Silence re- ^^ ^^ equally silent. When we look at the evidence on the gardiug it trial, we find that none of the conspirators in the Surpris- ing Treason, neither Brooke, Grey, Watson, nor Copley, say one word regarding that scheme. In the last letter written by Cobham accusing Raleigh, upon which the attorney-general founded his main proof, there is nothing * See the Remarks at the end of this volume, on the errors committed by Hume, Carte, and other writers, in their account of this trial. + Lodge's Portraits and Memoirs, t Cayley, vol. ii. p. 6. § Ibid. p. 13. II Ibid. p. 27. TO THE TRIAL OF RALEICn. 251 &nd respecting it. On that nobleman's own trial we find CIIAP. v. it stated by Sir Dudley Carleton, " that for any thing DenilHTf that belonged to the Lady Arabella, he [Cobham] denied Cobham. the whole accusation ;""'^" and, lastly, we have, in Cecil's letter to Sir Thomas Parry, written after the conclusion of all the trials, when he had acquired the fullest infor- mation, this remarkable sentence : — " There remaineth now, that I do resolve you of some doubts which you might conceive concerning Lady Arabella, Count Arem- berg, and other persons named in the Lord Cobham's and Sir Walter Raleigh's indictment, how far they are to be touched with it or not. And therefore you shall under- j^orance of stand, that as that practice was discovered in the very the piincipiii infancy of it, before it was either put in action or imparted P'"'^'^^- to any, so far the Lady Arabella, the archduke, and King of Spain, they were merely ignorant of any such thing, which these men had hut conceived in their minds and dis- coursed of among themselves. But for the Count of Arem- berg, with whom the Lord Cobham had had private meetings, and intercourse of letters, it was always pre- tended to him, howsoever it might be intended by the Lord Cobham, to he for the advancement of the peace ; and that the money which the count was contented to promise, should be bestowed only for gaining of friends to stand for the treaty."+ It is impossible to desire more convincing evidence convindDc that the plot existed nowhere but in the indictment, proofs of When we find Cecil declaring that the parties had dis- coursed of it among themselves, it gives us a poor opinion of the veracity of this statesman, to know that he was asserting what he must have been aware had been con- tradicted by the whole evidence on the trial. Whether Cobham had ever conceived such an idea cannot now be discovered. In his last letter and on his trial he denied the whole stoiy and exculpated the accused ; and assuredly no one can maintain that such a conceit, imparted neither to Sir Walter, to the other conspirators, to the lady her- * Cayley, vol. ii. p. 67. + Ibid. pp. 63, ^\. innocence. 252 FROM ELIZABETH S LAST PARLIAMENT CHAP. V. Matter of Count Au- renberg. Raleigh's known op- position to Spain. Extent cf blame. self, nor to Aremberg, who was to advance the money* but kept entirely to himself, is for an instant entitled to the name of a conspiracy. Having established Raleigh's innocence with regard to the treason of Brooke, and the imagmary plot concerning the Lady Arabella, it will require very few words to show that, so far as he was involved in the matter of Count Aremberg, he entertained no treasonable designs. All that was proved regarded the offer by Cobliam of a sum of money or a pension, on condition of his promoting the peace with Spain, and giving intelligence to that government. On this point, from the first moment when he was examined to the last when he imagined he was preparing for death, he gave the same account. Being known to all England, to Europe, and indeed to the New World, as well as the Old, to be one of the ablest and most determined enemies of Spain, it was considered material to induce him to withdraw his opposition to a peace ; and he readily acknowledged that Cobham had talked to him of 8000 crowns or of a pension, adding, that he would get the promised bribe within three days. This last circumstance was so improbable, that Raleigh thought the whole was one of his lordship's idle conceits, and answered lightly, that when he saw the money he would be ready to talk more on the subject.* At the same time he confessed, that he was to blame for con- cealing this offer which he never meant to accept. Such was the declaration to which Su* Walter adhered with the constancy that belongs to truth. It is also material to observe, that Cobham corroborated this account in his examinations, in his last letter regarding Raleigh, and on his trial ; whilst Cecil, in a paper already quoted, strikingly confirms it.t That such a proposal should be idly made by such a man, was nothing extraordinary. There would have been guilt in accepting it, or seriously entertaining it, or receiving the money ; but of this, no ♦ Trial, p. 425. New Edition. f Cayley, vol. li. p. G3. TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 253 proof whatever, either by witnesses or documents, was chap. v. produced. From an impartial view of the whole evidence we ju^^ con- arrive at these conclusions : — That Raleigh was in no elusions. way connected with the treason of Brooke and Grey ; that there was no plot regarding the Lady Arabella, and, of course, that he could not be involved in it ; and lastly, that his sole offence lay in his discontent with the go- vernment, and in his having listened to Cobham wliile talkmg in a cursory manner of procuring him a sum of money provided he would further the peace with Spain. We have now ascertained, on what appears to be Amount of strong and sufficient grounds, the amount of Raleigh's guilt- guilt, if it deserve so grave a name, and it cannot be better described than in his own words in a letter to the king : — " Lost I am for hearing a vain man ; for hearing only, and never believing or approving. And so little ac- count I made of that speech of his which was my condem- nation (as the living God doth truly witness !) [meaning Cobham's proposal of the pension], that I never remem- bered any such thing till it was at my trial objected against me." An interesting question yet remains, which, considering the historical importance of this trial, it is singular should not have been proposed for investigation by any of the numerous writers who have alluded to it. To whom are we to trace the invention of the charges Q^j-jn of the against liim ] by whose ingenuity was the net prepared charges. in which he was irrecoverably entangled 1 There is, I think, strong circumstantial evidence to show that the author of the w^hole was no other than Cecil. On the trial we have twice found him calling God to witness, in the most solemn manner, that he had a sincere friend- ship for Raleigh ; yet it can be shown that the very reverse was the case. In tliat remarkable correspondence which this minister, by means of his crafty agent. Lord Henry Howard, carried on with James VI. anterior to his accession to the English throne, it is completely es- tablished that, for a considerable time before the death of Elizabeth, although he preserved towards Sir Walter 254 FROM Elizabeth's last parliament of Cecil, Secret in- trigues. CHAP. V. the appearance of confidence, he was his Litter politica] BitterOTmity ^^^^J? ^^^ ^^^^ determined on his ruin.'"" The discovery of these practices naturally incensed the latter ; and soon after James's accession, it is said he defended him- self in a memorial, and accused Cecil not only of being a chief instrument in the fall of Essex, but of having a principal hand in the death of the Q,ueen of Scots.t James took little notice of this ; but the offence must have been a mortal one to such a man as Cecil, and from that moment he probably determmed to get rid of his rival. Yet so covertly did he for the most part proceed in his state intrigues, that it is sometimes difficult to trace his hand. In the instance before us, however, it may be detected pretty clearly : To begin, "we have his own admission upon the trial, that he was the fii-st who threw suspicion upon the prisoner. " When I found Brooke was in," says he, " I suspected Cobham ; then I doubted Raleigh to be a partaker," In the next place, he was the person who recommended that Raleigh should be detained and examined before the lords of the council. " Su- Walter," says he on the trial, " was staid by me at Windsor, upon the first news of Copley, that the king's person should be surprised by my Lord Grey and Mr George Brooke. I speak not this that it should be thought I had greater judgment than the rest of my lords in making tliis haste to have him examined." This sentence, under an affected modesty, shows the important fact, that he alone among the members of the council intimated suspicions of Raleigh, and made haste to have him examined. It was found that he could not pos- sibly be connected with the plot just mentioned ; the declarations of the conspirators completely exculpated him ; but Cobham, Brooke's brother, was engaged in a correspondence with Aremberg. Sir Walter was inti- mately acquainted with his lordship ; and, as shown above, a base but ingenious " device" was fallen upon Cecil's ONm statements. B.i-sc device. to mduce this nobleman to criminate Raleigh. The * See Remarks at the end of the volume. + Camden, in Rennet's Hist, of England, vol. ii. pp. 663, 664. TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 255 reader already knows the manner in wliicli this was chap. v. accomplished.* The secretary was in possession of an j .'~f epistle, addressed by Raleigh to himself, about the cor- Raicigiu respondence with Aremberg, which Sir Walter believed to relate to the Spanish peace. When Coldiam came to be examined, this letter was handed to him, accom- panied by the observation, that Raleigh had accused him. The success of the scheme was complete ; for the baron, a violent and unprincipled man, broke into a furious passion, and in his turn denounced his supposed accuser as guilty of a treasonable correspondence with Spain. 1" We need not hesitate, therefore, to pronounce the evi- dence nearly complete, which shows Cecil to have been ovid?nce°<.f the principal inventor of that contrivance by which a 9*^*^'''^ P^'^°' man, whom he knew to be innocent, was involved in a charge which ultimately cost him his life. Raleigh was well aware of this. In a letter written, previous to his trial, to the Earls of Nottingham, Suffolk, Devonshire, and Cecil himself, there is this sentence : " By what means that revengeful accusation was stirred, you, my Lord Cecil, know right well that it was my letter about Keymis : and your lordships all know, whether it be maintained, or whether, out of truth and out of a Chris- tian consideration, it be revoked.";}: The enmity of the secretary is fully established typ^.^^^^^ .^ the despatches of the French ambassador De Beaumont, mity. then in England, who declares that he was " violently set upon the prosecution, acting more from interest and passion than from any zeal for the public good."§ The same enmity was exhibited during the trial. Had he been the prisoner's friend, which he declares before God he was, his mfluence was so great, that he might by dwelling on alleviating circumstances have disposed the jury to acquit him : This is shown by a remarkable * Supra, p. 235. + This fact is established by a contemporary letter in Sir Toby Mathews' Collection, p. 281. X Cayley, vol. ii. p. 12, § Carte, vol. iii. p. 219. 256 FROM ELIZABETH S LAST PARLIAMENT Letter of Sir Dudley Carleton. Garbled re- presenta- tions. CHAP. V. passage in a letter of Sir Dudley Carleton, describing the trial of Brooke, and other conspirators. " Parham was acquitted ; * ^ yet had he gone the same way as the rest (as it is thought) save for a word the Lord Cecil cast in the way as the cause was in handling, ' That the king's glory consisted as much in freeing the innocent as condemning the guilty.' " Yet every word cast in by Cecil in Raleigh's trial was unfavourable to the ac- cused ; and the reader is already aware how steadily he opposed the viva voce examination of Cobham, — the last solitary hope left to Raleigh of establishing his innocence. In his letters written after the trial, the secretary gives a garbled representation of the grounds upon which Sir Walter was found guilty ; and in his anxiety to account for the inconsistencies in the story of Cobham's plot, he contradicts himself on a material point, which is worthy of notice. In a note, addressed to Sir Thomas Parry, previous to the trial but after the examinations had been taken, he accuses Cobham of a scheme to obtam money from Aremberg not to procure a peace, but for some other design by which he would prosper better than by peaceJ^ In a second communication, written after the trial to the same person, then ambassador in France, he as positively asserts a totally different story, namely, that " for the Count of Aremberg, with whom the Lord Cobham had private meetings, and intercourse of letters, it was always pretended to him, howsoever it might be intended by the Lord Cobham to be ^7' the advancement of the peace, and that the money wmch the count was contented to promise, should be bestowed only for gain- ing of friends to stand for the treaty, without any farther referenced' ^ It is not difficult to detect the cause of this discrepancy : Wlien the first letter was written, Cecil hoped to make something of the pretended plot in favour of the Lady Arabella ; and, in speakmg of the correspond- ence, it was necessary to throw out hints of an ulterior scheme, distinct from the negotiation of a treaty : this Variations in hia accoimts. Cayley, vol. 11. pp. 8, 9. t Ibid. p. 64. TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 257 is what we are to understand by " another design by chap. v. wliich lie might prosper better than by the peace." It BaseiesTne* was soon discovered, however, that all hopes of dressing of tiie up this conspiracy were vain. The charge was indeed '^^^^^^^ retained in the indictment, but the reader has seen that no proof Avhatever could be elicited : the Avhole attempt failed signally, and it exceeded the wit of this accom- plished politician to make out a plot,— of which the princijials declared their innocence, and of which the lady who was to profit by it, and the agent who was said to have advanced money for its accomplishment, knew no- thing.^ In his second note to Parry, therefore, the secre- cj^a^g^ q, tary, in describing the intercourse between Cobham and statement Aremberg, finds it necessary to change his statement, and not only distinctly admits, but asserts in the most posi- tive manner, that the latter was never allowed to sup- pose that the money was intended for any other purpose than the advancement of the peace. Through the confusion and mystery which has so long j, surrounded this trial,* the plot against Raleigh may olThe^pioT thus, I think, be traced to its real author in the secretary ; and we have seen that the character of this statesman was every way conformable to such a mode of proceeding. It has been said of him by Lord Clarendon, that " it was as necessary for Cecil there should be treasons as for the state they should be prevented." He seemed only to character breathe when surrounded by the air of suspicion ; and asciibed^to although there are many instances of his reconciliation ^^^^ with his rivals in power where interest demanded it, there are none where such reconciliation prevented his pulling them down : the moment they crossed the path of his ambition, he had sufficiently prepared the mean? of their ruin. To his own creatures he proved faithful so long as they were servile, and did not " scan his policy" * Rushworth has pronounced the conspiracy of which Ra- leigh was accused "a riddle of state," and everv subsequent writei has contented himself with reiterating the expression without making any serious attempt to solve the mystery. See Remark* at the ewL of this volume. 258 FROM Elizabeth's last parliament CHAP. V. too nearly ; but against others who were too proud to BitteTen- court him, and dared to thwart his measures, he cherished ^■'ty- a tenacious enmity which brooded over its purpose, and waited calmly for the day of reckoning. Alludmg to his skill in the pursuit and unravelling of plots the king used playfully to call hmi his " Little Beagle ;" James's and, in the trial of Raleigh, he clung to his victim with estimation of something of the untiring instinct of the creature to which his master compared him ; yet all was done so temperately, with such finished dissembling, such pro- testations of justice and affected regret, that, to those unacquainted with his real disposition, he appears an ami- able martyr to a sense of public duty. " Cecil," says Old^^s, with great happiness of expression, *' played a smooth edge upon Raleigh throughout the trial ; his blade seemed ever anointed with the balsam of compliment or apology, whereby he gave not such rough and smarting wounds [as Coke], though they were as deep and fatal as the other."* Letter to There is a letter from the secretary to Sir John Har- HarringtoiL rington Written m this year, and probably about the very time when he had accomplished the overthrow of his enemy, in which we have a remarkable picture of a mind distracted by a struggle between its desire to be honest, and its determination not to spoil its fortune. Difficulties of " GrooD Knight, — Rest content and give heed to one & court life, that hath sorrowed in the bright lustre of a court, and gone heavily even on the best seeming fair ground. 'Tis a great task to prove one^s honesty, and yet not spoil one^s fortune. You have tasted a little hereof in our blessed queen's time, who was more than a man, and in troth somewhat less than a woman. I wish I waited now in your presence-chamber with ease at my food and rest in my bed. I am pushed from the shore of comfort, and know not where the winds and waves of a court will bear me. I know it bringeth little comfort on earth, Life, p. 38i. TO TliJfl TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 259 and lie is, I reckon, no wise man that looketh that way chap, v to heaven." — Perhaps it may be pronounced too conjectural, yet I conjectmai am inclined to attribute to Cecil's conduct to Raleigh cause of the some portion of the feelings so eloquently described in ^^^^^' this letter. The anticipated shipwreck of honesty ; the sorrow which clouded the fictitious lustre that surrounded him ; the heavy heart under his seeming fortune ; the sighs for a tranquil meal and a quiet sleep ; the complaint that he had been pushed from the shore of comfort ; and the dread with whicli he contemplated the loss of all happiness on earth and his hope of heaven, present in few words a picture of deep meaning. From his influence over the character of his master, he was at that moment perhaps the most powerful man in England : who would purchase such power at such a sacrifice ! But though we trace to Cecil the invention and exe- Q^^-^y^ ^jjjgj, cution of the plot to which Raleigh fell a victim, all who peruse the trial will admit that he had willing assistants in Coke and Lord Henry Howard. The attorney-general was undoubtedly the ablest lawyer at that period in England ; his acuteness must have detected the device by which Sir Walter was implicated, and the total want of proof against him. What are we then to think of the readiness with which he lent himself to overwhelm an innocent man l To what cause are we to attribute his bitter abuse, the brutality of his manner, his torturing of the evidence, his overbearing conduct to the jury, which has to this day left a stain upon his memory 1 I fear we , V- v 1 . j_ ^ • J ■ r ■ J.- i.- Motives of must mipute his behaviour to Ins desire oi ingratiating the attorney himself with James, who from the first had sliown a dis- general's conduct. taste to Raleigh, and with that powerful minister whom he regarded as the dispenser of those professional honours which formed the higliest object of his ambition. Aware that a conviction would be grateful both to James and to Cecil, his sense of public virtue was too weak to support him in the path of duty. The same remarks, however, do not ap2)ly to the Chief-justice Popham, whose conduct 260 FROM Elizabeth's last parliament CHAP. V. upon the trial is more to be ascribed to the defective Chiefj^tice ^^^^^ ^^ *^^® ^^^'^ ^^ treason, which, as it the a stood, was Pophara, unreasonable and unjust, than to any strong or improper bias against the accused. It has been well remarked, that we must be careful to distinguish between a system which is imperfect and partial in its operations, but which a judge is bound to administer, and a system changed or perverted for political ends by the iniquity of its adminis- Paraiiei trators.* All able lawyer, the Solicitor-general Hawles, betAveen the draws an interesting parallel between this case and that ^rijiw of Raieiffh and of Lord Russel : " The circumstances of his [Raleigh's] Lord RusselL trial," says he, " in which the court always overruled tlie prisoner, were somewhat like the Lord Russel's : he complained of the ill usage of the king's counsel, as well as the Lord Russel ; and both had reason so to do. Hear- say was admitted to be given in evidence against both ; all that either of them said for themselves, though very material, was slighted. The one was put in mmd at his trial of the death of the Earl of Essex, as the other was of the death of the Viscount Stafford ; both in their dying speeches vindicated themselves of those aspersions. Tlie principal witnesses in both cases had, before the trials, affirmed they knew nothing against them ; they were both accused with having heard what other persons had said in their company, and had not discovered it ; they both gave the same answer, that they could not help Concluding Other men's talk." The concluding remark of Hawles cbservatioiu is material, as corroborating the opinion at which, from an unpartial examination of the circumstances of this trial, we have arrived, — that the whole accusation brought against Raleigh was a pretended charge which had no foundation in reality : " I think," says he, " it is plain, at this day, that of Sir Walter Raleigh is thought a sham plot; what the Lord Russel's is thought, let the author say."t Another of Raleigh's enemies, who sat on the trial as one of the commissioners, was Lord Henry Howard, son * See the excellent observations of Mr Jardine, in the first volume of Criminal Trials, p. 513. t Oldys's Life, p. 385. TO THE TRIAL OF RALEIGH. 261 of the accomplished Earl of Surrey ; a favourite instru- chap. v. ment of Cecil, and employed by him, as we have seen, LorcTHTiiry in the correspondence he carried on with James before Howard, the death of Elizabeth. His nature was composed of singular contradictions. He inherited the talents, the taste, and accomplishments of his fiither ; his manners were amiable ; his powers of flattery and insinuation refined ; his conversation captivating ; and in the midst of a brilliant and corrupted society his piety appeared so sincere, and his charities so noble and extensive, that he might almost have passed for the model of a virtuous courtier. Yet this same person was in reality a monster Hypocrisy of wickedness and hypocrisy ; he assisted the infamous '"'^ crime. Rochester in the murder of Overbury ; his letters, which completely established his share in this dark transaction, contained such a mixture of ferocity and obscenity, that the chief-justice could not read them entire to the court. His religion, notwithstanding his endowment of alms- houses and his writings on devotional subjects, was as vacillating as his ideas of self-interest. He was bred a changes of Papist ; became a Protestant under Elizabeth ; reverted ' eligion. to Popery on the death of the queen ; to please the king again declared himself a member of the reformed church ; and died professing himself a Roman Catholic. Under these circumstances it is certainly difficult to say what Lord Henry was in his religious belief. When a man changes four times, we may, without any great breach of charity, doubt whether his last metamorphosis, if he had lived, would have been more permanent than those which preceded it. But it is certain that he was the determined enemy of the accused ; and even in the garbled report of the proceedings which has come down to us, enough of his malevolence appears to show that there was a sufficient reason for selecting him as a com- missioner. The conduct of Raleigh on the trial excited great Conduct m admiration. He appears, probably from the share he h^'triai."" had taken in the prosecution of Essex, to have been ex- tremely unpopular at the time ; but, judging from the Q 26*2 FROM Elizabeth's last parliament, &c. CHAP. V. letters of those who were present, a remarkable change ciiaTigTpro- ^^'^^ produced in his favour by the ability, courage, and duceu in his temper with which he conducted his defence. One writer ^^''^* declares that he " behaved himself so worthily, so wisely, and so temperately, that in half a day the mind of all the company was changed from the extremest hate to the extremest pity." Another, who speaks also from personal observation, remarks that his manner and car- riage upon the trial were worthy of all praise, — " to the lords humble, yet not prostrate ; towards the jury affable, but not fawning, rather showing love of life than fear of death ; towards the king's counsel patient, but not insensibly neglectmg ; not yielding to imputations laid against him in words : and it was wondered that a man of his heroic spirit could be so valiant in suffering." FROM RALEIGU'b FlllST C0^•F1^'E:ME^•T, &c. 2(j'3 CHAPTER VI. From Raleigh's first Co-nfinement in the Tower to his Execution. Extraordinary Pageant of an Execution in the Case of Mark- ham and the Lords Grey and Cobham — Said to be the In- vention of the King — Raleigh is reprieved and confined in the Tower — Reflections on his Character at this Period — His Pursuits in the Tower — His History of the World — His Chemical Studies — Lady Raleigh shares his Confinement — His Son Carew born in the Tower — His Estate of Sherborne given to the Favourite Carr, Earl of Somerset — Raleigh's Correspondence and Friendship with Prince Henry — His various Writings addressed to this Prince — On War — On the Naval Power of England — On the ^latch with Savoy — Death of Prince Henry — Raleigh's Sorrow at this Event — His History of the World — Criticism upon this great Work — Death of Secretary Cecil — Raleigh's Epitaph on this States- man — He regains his Liberty — Scheme for the Settlement of Guiana — Remonstrances of the Spanish Court — Character of Gondomar — Account of the Expedition— Its unfortimate Is- sue — Raleigh's Return to England — Proclamation against him — Inveteracy of the Spanish Government — James's Re- solution to sacrifice him — Raleigh's Attem^^t to Escape- Betrayed by Stukely and Manourie — Recommitted to the Tower — His Examination by the Commissioners — His Em- ployments in Prison — Difficulties attending the ]\Iode of ex ecu ting the former Sentence — His Behaviour on the Scaffuld — His Death — Reflections on his Character. After his condemnation Raleigli was kej^t nearly a chap. vi. month at Winchester, in the constant expectation of captivity at death. But the king, wlio thought highly of his own Wiuchestor superior acnteness, had privately resolved on a singular 264 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CnAP. VL mode of discovering the more minute details of this sup- r ■' ~'f ft,, posed conspiracy, which the skill of his prime minister Device of the r r •^ , , , « ., i ,^ j i tt • j king. and attorney-general had failed to develop. He signed the waiTants for the execution of Lords Cobham and Grey, and their accomplice Sir Griffin Markham, omit- ting Sir Walter for the present, but directing that he also should be informed that the warrant had been prepared.* * It seems to have been at this period that Raleigh's quaint but in some places beautiful little poem was written, entitled The pilgrim- THE PILGRIMAGE. ^^^' " Give me mv scallop-shell of quiet, My staff of faith to walk upon, My scrip of joy, immortal diet, My bottle' of salvation. My gown of glory (hope's true gage) ; And thus I'll take my Pilgrimage. " Blood must be my body's balmer, — No other balm will here be given ; Whilst my soul, like quiet palmer. Travels to the land of heaven, Over all the silver mountains. Where do spring those nectar fountains : " And I there will sweetly kiss The happy bowl of peaceful bliss, Drinking mine eternal fill, Flowing on each milky hill. My soul vdll be a-dry before ; But after, it will thirst no more. " In that happy blissful day More peaceful pilgrims I shall see, That have doft their rags of clay. And walk apparell'd fresh like me. I'll take them first To slake their thirst, And then taste of nectar suckets, At those clear wells Where sweetness dwells. Drawn up by saints in crystal buckets. " And when our bottles, and all we Are fill'd with immortality, Then those holy paths we'll travel, Strew'd vrith rubies thick as gravel ; Ceilings of diamonds, sapphire floors, High walls of coral, and pearly bowers. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 265 The three first were ordered to be executed on Friday ; chap. vi. Rjileigh on Monday ; and, judginj^ from the description orderTftjr of this tragi-comedy in a letter of Sir Dudley Carleton, execution. who was a spectator, the scene must have been extra- ordinary. Markham came first on the scaffold, and after siarkham's a few complaints of his hard fate, bade farewell to his ^"^p"^^^ friends, betook himself to his devotions, and was about to lay his neck upon the block, when a bustle was seen in the crowd, and John Gib, a Scotch groom of the bed- chamber, pressing forward, called out to stay the execution by the king's command. The prisoner was accordingly withdrawn, and locked up in an adjoining hall. " The Lord Grey's Lord Grey," says the same writer, " whose turn was ''^pp^'^''^""^'^ next, was led to the scaffold by a troop of the young courtiers, and was supported on both sides by two of his best friends ; and, coming in such equipage, had such gayety and cheer in his countenance, that he seemed a dapper 3"oung bridegroom." Having confessed his fault, and asked pardon of the king, he knelt down and prayed with much fervency ; after which he was about to From thence to Heaven's bribeless hall, Where no corrupted voices brawl, — No conscience molten into gold ; No forged accuser bought or sold ; No cause deferr'd, no vain-spent journey, For there Christ is the king's attorney ; Who pleads for all without degrees, — And he hath angels — but no fees. And when the grand twelve-million jury Of our sins, with direful fury, 'Gainst our souls black verdicts give, Christ pleads liis death ; and then we live. Be Thou my speaker, taintless pleader, Unblotted lawyer, true proceeder ! Thou givest salvation even for alms, Not with a bribed lawyer's palms. Then this is mine eternal plea. To him that made heaven, earth, and sea ; Seeing my flesh must die so soon, And want a head to dine next noon, Just at the stroke of death, my arms being spread, Set on my soul an everlasting head. So shall I ready, hke a palmer fit. Tread those blessed paths shown in thy Holy Writ," 256 FROM RALEIGH S FIRST CONFINEMEXT CKAP. VL His reprieve. Beanng of Cobhani. Assertion of Raleigh's guilt. Pardon of Markham, Grey, and CuLliaiu. Delig'it of the king. undress, and the executioner deemed it was his time to begin, when the sheriff opportunely interposed ; and, waving off the last officer of the law, informed his lord- ship that it was the king's desire he should step aside for an hour into the same hall where IMarkham was shut up, and give precedence to Cobham. This prisoner camt now upon the stage with good assurance. His former conduct had been so contemptible and abject, that all were surprised to see his present firmness ; but Cecil had undertaken to stand his friend, and he had probably some idea that this was not his last act.* Be this as it may, he briefly declared that what he said of Raleigh was true, — an assertion which, as his stories had been various and contradictory, did not go for much ; and having shortly bade the world adieu, he was about to unbutton his doublet, when the sheriff once more inter- fered, and bade him defer a while, for something else yet remained to be done. Grey and Markham were then brought back to the scaffold, all " looking strange upon one another, like men beheaded and met again in the other world." A short speech was next addressed to them on the heinousness of their offences, and the law- fulness of their condemnation. To this they bowed in token of assent. " Now," said the sheriff", " see the mercy of your prince, who of himself hath sent hither to countermand, and given you your lives." " There was then no need," sa^'s Dudley, " to beg a plaudite of the audience, for it was given with such hues and cries, that it went from the ca?tle into the tower, and there began afresh." It is easy to imagine the delight which the king expe- rienced in the invention and evolution of tMs stratagem, though it failed in its main object, the eliciting of addi- tional evidence against Raleigh. Sir Dudley Carleton's observations are so characteristic of James's manner, and his style of eloquence, when the' British Solomon, as he delighted to hear himself called, communicated it to his * See Remarks at the end of the volume. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 2o7 courtiers, that we make no apology for transcribing them. ciiAr. VI. **• This resolution was taken by the king without man's ^ ,T~. 11 1 1 1 ' f ^ • f 1 tarleton s help, and no man can rob him of the praise oi yesterday s observatii.i.a action ; for the lords knew no other, but that execution was to go forward, till the very hour it should be per- formed ; and then, calling them before him, he told them how much he had been troubled to resolve in this business ; for to execute Grey, who was a noble 3^oung Difficulty of spirited fellow, and save Cobham, who was as base and ;|eteiminin« ^ ' ' between the imworthy, were a manner of injustice. To save Grey, prisoners. who was of a proud insolent nature, and execute Cobham, Avho had shown great tokens of humility and repentance, were as great a solecism ; and so went on with Plutarch's comparisons in the rest, still travelling in contrarieties, but holding the conclusion in so different a balance, that the lords knew not what to look for till the end came out, — * And therefore I have saved them all.' The mi- racle was as great there as with us at Winchester, and it took like effect ; for the applause that began about the king, went from thence into the presence [chamber], and so round about the court."* Raleigh had been warned, as we have seen, to prepare Raleigh for execution ; and, at the king's desire, he was visited Ji',e B^hop r.^ by the Bishop of Winchester, who found him exceedingly winchcbtor. calm, and in a Christian frame of mind. On bemg pressed, however, by this prelate, to make his confession, he strongly asserted his innocence of all the charges urged by Cobham, only excepting the pension, " which he said w\as once mentioned, but never proceeded in ;" and having in vain made another appeal to the king, petition- ing for mercy, he resigned himself to the expectation of death. t It was under these circumstances that he ad- dressed the following beautiful letter to his wife : — " You shall now receive, my dear wife, my last words, Letter to i.is in these my last lines. My love I send you, that you ^"^^"' * Hardvvicke's State Papers, vol. i. p. 377. Caylcy, voL ii. p. 75. t Cayley, vol. ii. p. 71. 268 FROM RALEIGIIS FIRST CO^'FI^'EME^'T CHAP. \T. may keep it when I am dead ; and my counsel, that yon Parting' may remember it when I am no more. I would not, by words. my will, present you with sorrows, dear Bess, — let them go into the grave with me, and be buried in the dust. And seeing that it is not the will of God that ever I shall see you more in this life, bear it patiently, and with a heart like thyself. Bequest. " First, I Send you all the thanks which my heart can conceive, or my words can express, for your many tra- vails and care taken for me ; which, though they have not taken effect as you wished, yet my debt to you is not the less. But pay it I never shall in this world. Secondly, I beseech you for the love you bear me living, do not hide yourself many days after my death ; but by your travail seek to help your miserable fortunes, and the right of your poor child. Thy mournings cannot avail me, — I am but dust. Thirdly, You shall under- Provisioii for stand that my land was conveyed bona fide to my child. The writings were drawn at midsummer was twelve- months, — my honest cousin, Brett, can testify so much, and Dalberrie, too, can remember somewhat therein ; and I trust my blood will quench their malice that have thus cruelly murdered me, and that they will not seek also to kill thee and thine with extreme poverty. To what friend to direct thee I know not, for all mine have left me in the true time of trial ; and I plainly perceive that my death was determined from the first day. Most sorry I am, God knows, that being thus surprised with death, I can leave you in no better estate. God is my Intended witness I meant you all my office of wines, or all that I forhTs'^wifa. could have purchased by selling it : half my stuff and all my jewels, — but [except] some one for the boy. But God hath prevented all my resolutions, even that great God that ruleth all in all. But if you can live free from want care for no more — the rest is but vanity. Love God, and begin betimes to repose yourself on him ; and therein shall you find true and lasting riches, and endless comfort. For the rest, when you have travailed and wearied your thoughts over all sorts of worldly cogi- IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 269 tations, you shall but sit down by sorrow in the end. chap, vr. Teach your son also to love and fear God while he is yet Debtsowinc young, that tlie fear of God may grow up with him, and to iiiiu- then God will be a husband to you, and a father to him, — a husband and a father that cannot be taken from you. Bayley oweth me i:200, and Adrian Gilbert £600. In Jersey, also, I have much money owing me. Besides, the arrearages of the wines will pay my debts ; and how- soever you do, for my soul's sake, pay all poor men. " When I am gone no doubt you shall be sought to Advice for by many, for the world thinks that I was very rich. ^^^ ^''^"'■°- But take heed of the pretences of men, and their affec- tions, for they last not but in honest and worthy men ; and no greater misery can befall you in this life than to become a prey, and afterwards to be despised. I speak not this, God knows, to dissuade you from mamage ; for it will be best for you both in respect of the world and of God. As for me, I am no more yours, nor you mine. Death has cut us asunder, and God hath divided me from the world, and j^ou from me. Remember your poor child for his father's sake, who chose you and loved you in his happiest time. Get those letters, if it be possible. Letters to i.e which I writ to the lords, wherein I sued for my life, ^'^'^o^'^^^^- God is my witness, it was for you and yours that I desired life. But it is true that I disdain myself for begging it ; for know it, dear wife, that your son is the son of a true man, and one who in his own respect de- spiseth death, and all his misshapen and ugly fonns. I cannot write much. God he knoweth how hardly I steal this time while others sleep ; and it is also high time that I should separate my thoughts from the world. Beg my dead body, which living was denied thee, and either lay it at Sherborne, if the land contmue, or in Exeter church, by my father and mother. I can say no more, — time and death call me away. " The everlasting, powerful, infinite, and omnipotent Parting God, who is goodness itself, the true life and true light, P^J*-''- keep thee and thine, have mercy on me, and teach me to forgive my persecutors and accusers, and sond us to meet 270 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VT. in his glorious kingdom. My dear wife, farewell ! Bless KareweU. ^^^J P^'^^' ^^^'J > V^^^Y ^^^ ^^' ^^^ ^^^ ^^7 0^°^ ^*^^ ^^^^ 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, — " Walter Raleigh.'* spirit of the This letter, of which the manliness, the simplicity, and ^''"^''' pathos, are so deeply affecting, furnishes, perhaps, the best reply to the coarse and cruel accusations thrown out against him by Coke and Popham, as if he had been a bold disbeliever in the being and attributes of God. rime of Its exact date does not appear ; but it w^as probably writing it. written a short time before the extraordinary melodrama at Winchester, which has been just described. Raleigh looked from a window which commanded a view of the scaffold, and we may easily conceive his astonishment when one victim was removed at the moment the axe was about to descend, and another substituted, who, after certain ceremonies, was as quickly withdrawn. The shouts, however, which accompanied the reprieve must have inspired him wdth hope ; and this was soon realized by an intimation that he had been included in Rc-manrieci it with the other prisoners. On the loth of December to the Tower. ^^ ^^^^^ remanded, along with Cobham, Gre}^, and Mark- ham, to the Tower/" At the earnest solicitation of his wife, she and her son were permitted to remain with him in prison ; and so faithfully did this affectionate Faithfulness woman continue her attendance, that their youngest of his wife, child, Carew, was born withm the walls of the fortress. He was allowed also to have two servants and a boy ; whilst jNIr Hawthorn, a preacher, his physician, Dr Tur- ner, the steward of Sherborne, and Mr Thomas Harlot, * The fate of Cobhain, whose falsehood was the cause of all Raleigh's calamities, was peculiarly miserable. After being confined many years, he was enlarged only to die of starvation in a garret where he was harboured by a poor man who had formerly been his servant at court.* * "Weldon's Court and Chiiracter of King James, p. 37. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTIOX. 271 were not excluded, at convenient times wlien lie -wished chap, yl to consnlt them.* Sir Walter Raleigh had now to commence his life as a Trison life. prisoner. The Tower was to be his home ; and in some respects he was the best, in others the worst fitted man for such a habitation. His love of stiid^^, his varied mental resources, the stores of obscTvatii)n he had laid up in his travels, and his experience of the vanity and fickleness of the world, — all prepared him to enjoy retire- ment and contemplation. " His mind to him a kingdom was," — a noble possession, stored with moral and intel- lectual riches, which rendered him to a great degree independent of society and liberty. Those hours which Leisure for before he had to steal from business or sleep, to enjoy his ®*"^^^'" books, or his studies, were now all his own ; no court intrigues ; no unseasonable interruptions ; no summonses from royalty ; no busy progresses or brilliant pageants ; no deliberations at tlie council or discussions in the par- liament ; nothing of the excitement of war, or discovery, or peril, broke the even and tranquil tenor of his exist- ence. As he was permitted tlie company of his wife and children, with the occasional visits of a few friends, he might almost have forgotten that he was a prisoner. But Activity of the mind of this remarkable man was so constituted as ^''"^"' ' to render restraint peculiarly irksome. It was indeed fiill of profound thought : but this thought had been cultivated during forty years of incessant activity ; and the habits of so long a period could not be easily changed for almost perfect solitude. He had read more than most students ; his books had been carried with him on his campaigns and voyages, — they were his companions in the tent and in the cabin. And the friends with Use of wliom one may pass a delightful hour, snatched with ^■'^"''^• difficulty from public duties, may become fatiguing when circumstances deprive us of other companions. He had written much, and his love of literature was ardent. But the subjects of his writings were his own adventures ; he * Cayley's Life, vol. ii. p. 8j. CHAP. Yl. had been, as lie himself expressed it, " a soldier, a sea- ForiT^occu- captain, and a courtier," he might have added, an active itions. Contented gpirit. Chemical expeiimeiits. The lieuten- ant. politician at home, an envoy to foreign courts, a discoverer of new countries, a planter of colonies ; and, though now fifty-one, his constitution both of mind and body were uncommonly strong and vigorous. Ambition, against which he had written so eloquently when death was near, began to beat high when he saw himself once more restored to hope. He trusted that, if liberated, his ser- vices might yet procure pardon ; and his inventive mind was occupied with schemes to recommend himself to his sovereign, and by which he might ultimately obtain restoration to his fortunes. In the mean time it became necessary to reconcile himself to the change in his situation ; and he did so with his accustomed manly and cheerful disposition. He began his History of the World, — that great work which will be as permanent as the English language,— he amused liimself in transforming a small house in the Tower garden into a laboratory. There he carried on his chemical experiments, and, as we read in one of Sir William Wade's Letters, " spent all the day in distilla- tions." His efforts were unremitting to an-ange his affairs, which had fallen into disorder from his late troubles. By his attainder his moveable estate was for- feited ; but through the favour of the king, who, at the commencement of his imprisonment, seems to have treat- ed him with lenity, it was consigned to trastees appointed by himself for the benefit of his family and creditors.'"* Unfortunately, Wade, the Lieutenant of the Tower, was a creature of Cecil, and of course nowise disposed to grant liis prisoner any particular indulgence ; but for a consi- derable period he lived as comfortably as was compatible with the loss of freedom. Between his family, his books, his experiments, and the occasional visits of his friends, time glided on in progressive knowledge and content- Rymer's Foedera, vol. xvi. p. 5G9. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 273 ment.* But this bright season was soon destined to be chap. vi. overclouded. His enemies, not contented with the evil Rene"^^ they had already brought upon him, renewed their efforts efforts „f his to complete his ruin ; and unhappily the king's mind was of that weak and capricious cast which received an easy bias from interested persons. The first indication of change seems to have been conveyed to him when James sent for the seal of the high public offices he had held under Elizabeth, as warden of the Stanneries, cap- Letter to tiie tain of her guard, and governor of Jersey. This he '^'"^" immediately returned, accompanied by a letter, in which he strongly protested his innocence, and besought the king for a favourable consideration of his case. " If," said lie, " I be here restrained till the powers both of my body and mind shall be so enfeebled, as I cannot hope to do your majesty some acceptable and extraordinary ser- vice, whereby I may truly approve my faith and inten- tions to my sovereign, Lord God doth know that then it had been happiest for me to have died long since." t So Fresh little impression was made by this affecting appeal, that ^^"^^^'^'^ it was followed by a far more severe blow. His estate of Sherborne, which, in his prosperous days, he had taken so much delight in improvmg, had been settled by him, in the close of Elizabeth's reign, on his eldest son, and the king, notwithstanding his attainder, had granted him a liferent interest in it. The conveyance of this property was now scrutinized with eyes sharpened by avarice and malignity. The deed was referred for examination to the same chief-justice who sat on the trial ; and this dignitary decided that, from the clerk having omitted some words, it was invalid. Robert Carr, the king's new favourite, afterwards the notorious Earl of Somerset, was * Sir John Harrington's Brief View of the State of the Church of England, pp. 93, 94. f See the letter, printed for the first time from the original in the State-paper Office, by Mrs Thomson, Appendix, letter R. Raleigh's seal I had the good fortune to meet with in the collection of ancient seals made by an ingenious artist in Edin- burgh, Mr Laing. He had taken an impression from a cast, communicated to him by Mr Cayley ; and a fac-simile of it has been engraved for the title-page of this woi'k. 274 FROM RALEIGH S FIRST CONFINEMENI CHAP. VL Cruel spolia- tion. easily persuaded to take advantage of this legal flaw, and to solicit the estate ; and so infatuated was James's at- tachment to this weak courtier, that Raleigh, from the moment he heard the cu*cumstances,.knew he had only to expect spoliation. This, however, did not prevent him from attempting to avert the calamity by a letter of remonstrance to the favourite : It is ^vritteu in a tone of manly expostulation. Expostula- tion witl: Carr. Sad position. Contrast oi their condi- tions. F..vourfor Scotluiid. " Sir, — After some great losses and many years' sor- rows (of both which I have cause to fear I was mistaken in the end), it is come to my knowledge that ^^ourself, whom I know not but by an honourable fame, hath been persuaded to give me and mine our last fatal blow, by obtaming from his majesty the inheritance of my chil- dren and nephews, lost in the law for want of a word. This done, there remaineth nothing with me but the name of life ; despoiled of all else but the title and sor- row thereof. His majesty, whom I never offended (for I hold it unnatural and unmanlike to hate goodness), stayed me at the grave's brink, not, as I hope, that he thought me worthy of many deaths, and to behold all mine cast out of the world with myself; but as a king who, judg- ing the poor in truth, hath received a promise from God that his throne shall be established for ever. "And for yourself, sir, seeing your fair day is but now m the dawn, and mine drawn to the evening, your own vu'tues and the king's grace assuring you of many favours and much honour, I beseech you not to begin your first building upon the ruins of the innocent, and that their sorrows with mine may not attend your first plan- tation, I have been ever bound to your nation, as well for many other graces as for the true report of my trial to the king's majesty, against whom, had I been found malignant, the hearing of my cause would not have changed enemies into friends, malice into compassion, and the minds of the greatest number then present into the commiseration of mine estate. It is not the nature of foul treason to beget such fiiir jjassions ; neither could IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION, -7.> It agree with the duty and love of faithful subjects, chap vi especially of your nation, to bewail his overtlirow who . T , had conspired against their most natural and liberal lord. Ju^Ece! '" I tlierefore trust, sir, that you will not be the first who shall kill us outright, cut down the tree with the fruit and undergo the curse of them that enter the fields of the fatherless,— which, if it pleases you to know the truth, IS far less m value than in fame,— but that so worthy a gentleman as yourself will rather bind us to you (being, sir, gentlemen not base in birth and alliance) who have interest therein. And myself, with my utter- most thankfulness, will ever remain ready to obey your commands. « Walter Raleigh."* This letter produced no effect on the profligate Somer- sherborne set ; nor was its tone suited to move a monarch like forfeited. James, if indeed it ever came under his eye. The case was brought on, and Sherborne forfeited to the crown — a judgment easily foreseen, as the law then stood, and considering the parties were a friendless prisoner and the King of England.t On this occasion Lady Raleigh, , ady a woman of high spirit and unchangeable affection, who K'^iek^.'s had laboured in every way to alleviate her husband's M?''''" '"' misfortunes, threw herself on her knees before his ma- jesty, attended by her children, and with tears implored him not to forget his most glorious attribute of mercy. James received her coldly, and gave no other answer than 1 maun have the land— I maun have it for Carr." On thisshe prayed m bitterness of soul, that God would Arreaito punish those cruel and unjust persons who had brouo-ht " ruin on her husband and his house. So little, mde^ed, did intercession avail, tliat not only was Sherborne given to the favourite, but Pinford, Primesly, and Barton, lands which Sir Walter had purchased, were escheated and bestowed in the same quarter. Heuvtjii, * Cayley, vol. ii. pp. 87, 88. \lLdirnTo?^Hv?!'^^^^ ^fp^ ^'^^'*^'", '^.^"^ ^''^^'''''' Troubles, .uioceiiaueous Works of Raleiohj vol. viii. p. 7i{8. prince. 276 FROM Raleigh's first co:.'FINEmekt CfiAP. VI. Against this undeserved severity Henry, James's el- p ince" tiest son, and lieir-apparent to the throne, strongly re- iienry'sre- monstrated, interceding for the illustrious prisoner, in whose talents and misfortunes he had become much interested. This prince, from the contrast presented, by his excellent dispositions, to the character of his father, and the burst of national regret that followed his death, has perhaps been the subject of exaggerated panegyric. High charac But making every allowance for the praises which a nWnpS^^'^ generous people lavish under such circumstances, Henry must still have been a youth of uncommon talents and promise. He was well able to appreciate the tyranny to which Raleigh had fallen a victim. Acute in the de- tection and indignant at the triumph of hypocrisy, he had imbibed an early aversion to Cecil, which not all the insinuating flattery of that pliant statesman was able to remove.* Not contented with censuring the conduct of those concerned in the trial, he endeavoured to soften the cruelty of the sentence. He corresponded with the Attention to Condemned, expressed a desire to profit by his experience Raleigh. jj^ ^^^-^ ^^^^ military policy, and courted his instructions regarding the maintenance and due regulation of the navy. Navigation was one of the prince's favourite studies; the building, rigging, sailing, and fighting of ships formed with him a subject of diligent inquiry and experiment. Unlike his timid father, Henry esteemed a readiness for war and a jealousy of national honour the best preservative of peace ; and, contemplating hostilities Estimate of with Spain, he meditated great designs against the West ^joHcy*^ Indies, and the mother country itself, for executing which a powerful fleet would be required. These opin- ions entirely coincided with those of Sir Walter, who, in his discourses on such subjects addressed to his youth- ful patron, eloquently answers the objections to the sup- port of a warlike fleet in time of peace. " Though the sword," says he, " is put into the sheath, we must not suffer it to rust, or stick so fast that we shall not be able * Birch's Life of Prince Henry, pp. 76, 109, 138. IN THE TOAVF.R TO UIS EXECUTION. 27/ to draw it readily when need requires. * * AVe may CFAp. vl be assured, that if those powerful means whereby we use ofTucet. reduced our enemies to the courtesy of seeking peace of us were neglected, so as we could not again, upon occa- sion, readily assume the use and benefit of them as we have done ; those proud mastering spirits, finding us at such advantage, would be more willing to shake us by the ears as enemies than to take us by the hands as friends. Therefore, far be it from our hearts to trust more to that vaiue of friendship of strangers, which is but dissembled upon foreign policy and necessity, than to the strength of our own forces, which has been experienced with so happy suc- cess. I confess that peace is a blessing of God, and blessed are the peacemakers ; therefore, doubtless, blessed are those means whereby peace is gained and maintained ; * * the which means of our defence and safety, beino- shipping and sea-forces, are to be esteemed as His gifts, and then only available and beneficial when he withal vouchsafes his grace to use them aright."* Raleigh was no advocate for war in general ; his am- Raleigi's bition was not for conquest but security : all wanton ^^'^^ ^^ ^'^^ outrage, or unnecessary invasions on the territories of another power, he proscribes as idle and wicked. " It may be affirmed," says he, " the number of those that have been slaughtered by their fellow-creatures exceeds the number of all the inhabitants that ever were at one time living upon the face of the earth ; yet very few of this infinite number, thus untimely slain, were ever masters of the grounds of the disputes for which they Groundie s suffered, or the true reason of their being led to the bat- rilsputci tie ; the truth, with much artifice, being kept from all but what were parties to the design resolved on. What deluded wretches, then, have a great part of mankind been, who have either yielded themselves to be slain in causes which, if truly known, their hearts would abhor, or been the bloody executioners of other men's ambition ! It is a hard fate to be slain for what a man should never * Raleigh's Essays, p. 44. 278 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VI. willingly fight ; yet few soldiers have laid themselves down in the bed of honour under better circumstances.""' True security j^ another Essav the true security of a monarch is 01 a iiiouaich. t! i i i o shown to rest on three great grounds, — the love of his subjects, the justice of his administration, and lastly, tlie perfection of his martial discipline. The sentence in which this is laid down is a fine specimen of a masculine and pure English style : — " They say, that the goodliest cedars, which grow on the high mountains of Libanus, Simile of the thrust their roots between the clefts of hard rocks, the better to bear themselves against the strong storms that blow there. As nature has instructed those kings of trees, so has reason taught the kings of men to root them- selves in the hardy hearts of their faithful subjects. And as those kings of trees have large toj)s, so have the kings of men large crowns ; whereof, as the first would soon be broken from their bodies were they not under- borne by many branches, so would the other easily totter were they not fastened on their heads with the strong chains of civil justice and of martial discipline."t Ship-build- About this time the prince determined to build a ship '"^* at his own expense, and consulted Raleigh, who replied in a letter which proves how closely he had studied the minutest parts of the subject. He first recommends that the intended vessel should be of smaller dimensions than the Victory, in which case the timber of the old ship would serve for the new. " If she be bigger," says he, " she will be of less use, go very deep to water, and of mighty charge, our channels decaying every year ; less Requisites of nimble, less manageable, and seldom to be used : Grande navio, grande futica, saith the Spaniard." He then points out the requisites of a " well-conditioned ship." First, it is necessary that she be strong built ; 2d, Swift in sail ; 8d, Stout-sided ; 4th, Her ports ought to be so laid that she may carry out her guns all weathers ; 5th, She ought to hull well ; 6th, She should stay well when boarding or turning on a wind is required. On these * Three Discourses, p. 110. f Ralei-h's Remains, p. 116. I-\ THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. ^1/9 heads he dilates at great length. One short passage will chap. vi. show the precision of his remarks : — " It is to he noted, ^ — 7 1 11 1 . T 1 P 1 . ' "loper foi :a that all ships sharp betore, not having a long floor, will ofasJiip. fall rough into the sea from a billow, and take in water over head and ears ; and the same quality have all nar- row-quartered ships to sink after the tail. The high charging of ships is that that brings many ill qualities : it makes them extreme leeward, makes them sink deep into the seas, makes them labour sore in foul weather, and ofttimes overset. Safety is more to be respected important than shows, or niceness for ease ; in sea-journeys both lequisites. cannot well stand together, and therefore the most ne- cessary is to be chosen. Two decks and a half is enough, and no buildmg at all above that but a low master's cabin. Our masters and mariners will say, that the ships will bear more well enough ; and true it is, if none but ordinary mariners served in them. But men of objection to better sort, unused to such a life, cannot so well endure ^i^h qv.ar- the rolling and tumbling from side to side, where the seas are never so little grown, which comes by high charging. Besides, those high cabin- works aloft are very dangerous in fight, to tear men with their splinters. Above all other things, have care that the great guns be four feet clear above water when all lading is in, or else those best pieces are idle at sea : for if the ports lie lower and be open, it is dangerous ; and by that default was a goodly ship and many gallant gentlemen lost in the days of Henry VIII. before the Isle of Wight, in a ship called by the name of Mary Rose."* These directions are given in a more enlarged form observations in a discourse entitled " Observations concerning the on the royal Royal Navy and Sea Service," from the first sentence "'*^^' of which it appears that he had addressed to his royal pupil an " Essay on a Maritimal Voyage, and the Pas- sages and Incidents therein," which is unfortunately lost. The observations display the accuracy and confidence * Letter to Prince Henry, touching the model of a oliip. Miscellaneous Works, vol. viii. p. 627. 280 FROM RALEIGH 3 FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAP VI. Value of these re- Proposed marriages Objections urged. The princess Elizabeth. of an experienced sailor ; and to those curious in the antiquities of our naval history, who would compare the tactics under Elizaheth and James with those of the present day, the remarks on shipbuilding, selecting officers, harbouring the navy, on the ordnance, on caulk- ing and sheathing, victualling, placing of the cook-rooms in the forecastles, on arms and munition, and on the system of pressing able mariners, must be valuable in no common degree. To the general reader the subject is not particularly attractive. About the same time Raleigh appears to have been consulted on the expediency of a double matrimonial alliance, proposed by the ambassador of the Duke of Sa- voy. As a consort for the Prince of Wales this potentate offered his eldest daughter, and solicited the hand of the Princess Elizabeth, James's only daughter, for his son the Prince of Piedmont. Against both matches he strongly protested in tAvo Discourses written by com- mand of Henry, in which he proves that such an alliance would be either totally useless or extremely hazardous and expensive. " All the good," says he, " onr King of England can expect from Savoy is, that he must either abandon his son-in-law, if either France or Spain oppress him, which were too great a dishonour, or he must en- ter into a war for his defence, which were too great a charge. And his majesty doth well know, that while the league stands between him and the Low Countries, that he is invincible by them, and they by him ; and that all other petty combinations will be rather chargeable than profitable."* Touching the dignity of the English princess, Raleigh esteems her rank too high for the wife of a duke of Savoy ; being " bom the eldest, and now the only daugh- ter of one of the mightiest kings of Christendom ; * * and by nature and education endowed with such princely perfections both of body and mind, as that she may well deserve to be reputed a worthy spouse for the greatest Miscellaneous Works, vol viii. p. 226, IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 281 monarch. * * And, therefore," says he, "for his ciiap.vi. majesty of England to match his eldest and only dangh- unnhi^s of ter with a prince which hath his dependence upon other P'-oiw-scd kings,— a inince jesui ted, which can neither stead us in "'■'*^''' tiine of war, nor trade with us in time of peace, — a prince, by the situation of his country, every way un- profitable unto us, and no less perilous for his child to live in ; I resolve myself, that his majesty is of too ex- cellent a judgment ever to accept of it, and his honour- able council too wise and prudent to advise the prosecu- tion thereof."* The Discourse on the marriage of the prince is the Remark^; on more powerfully written of the two, and contains a tiiat of the detection of the ambitious policy of Spain ; the broad ^"'"''^' principle being first laid down, that the interests of his Catholic majesty and the duke are inseparable, and that the latter dare not offend the pope nor the emperor. " There is," says Raleigh, « a kind of noble and royal deceiving in marriages between kings and princes ; yea, ^oyai and it is of all others the fairest and most unsuspected manlage^ trade of betraying. It has been as ordinary amongst them to adventure or cast away a daughter to bring some purpose to pass, as at other times for saving of charges to make them nuns. I speak not this to prejudice or forejudge so worthy a prince as the Duke of Savoy. * * He cannot betray us till we trust him. There is nothing of ours near him, nor of his near us. It is the Spaniard Tiie Spaniard that is to be feared, — the Spaniard who layeth his pre- *" ^^ feared, tences and practices with a long hand. In which re- spect it were not amiss to consider of the plots of our English priests, who, not long since, have published and printed certain far-fetched titles, both of the king of Spain and of the infanta his daughter ; for it were a horrible dishonour to be overreached by any of those dry and subtle-headed Spaniards."t Into this examina- tion we shall not follow our author ; but in his observa- tions on the national strength of Spain one sentence ♦ Miscellaneous Works, vol. viii. pp. 234, 23G. f Ibid. p. 239. 282 FROM Raleigh's first confinement THAI'. VI. strikingly illustrates the errors into which Elizabeth ErrorsTf was led by the parsimony of her ministers. " For Spain, Elizabeth. [^ jg ^ 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 ehe did her scribes, we liad 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 Woriiingby ^^l ^Y halves, and by petty invasions taught the Spaniard halves how to defend himself, and to see his own weakness. ^ * Four thousand men would have taken from him all the ports of his Indies : I mean all his ports by which his treasure doth or can pass. lie is more hated in that part of the world by the sons of the conquered tlian the English are by the Irish. We were too strong for hmi at sea, and had the Hollanders to help us, who are now Impolitic re- strongest of all. Yea, in eighty-eight, when he made straintsof ^jg great and fearful fleet, if the queen would have hearkened to reason, we had burnt all his ships and preparations in his own ports as we did afterwards upon the same intelligence and doubt in Cadiz. He that knows him not, fears him ; but, excepting his Low Country ai-my, which hath been continued and disciplined since Charles V.'s time, he is nowhere strong. They are but fables spoken of him elsewhere ; and what can the Low Country's army do if the Indies pay them not, but mutiny and spoil his own territories ]"* Argument Raleigh finds a strong argument against the alliance against an with Savov, in the effects it must have in mcreasing the jealousies between this country and the Netherlands. These last had cooled towards England, as was natural, since she had made peace without them ; and though the latest to lay down arms, they obtained terms far more noble and honourable. " Since that time," saj's he, " they have neglected us by degrees. Let us look to it with all the eyes we have ; for to which of the three • Miscellaneous Works, vol. viii. pp. 246, 247. alliance with Savoy IN THE TOWER TO IIIS EXECUTION. 2r!3 those people fasten themselves, to England, France, or chap VI. Spahi, he that hath them will become the greatest, and ^^^ Netiier- give the law to the rest. If any man doubt it, he knows ii"i^i-i- not much ; but this hath been our own fault, and the detested covetousness of some great ones of ours. For whereas, in my time, I have known one of her majesty's ships command forty of theirs to strike sail, they will now take us one to one and not give us a good-morrow ; they master us both in their number and in their mari- j],pii. supeii- ners ; and they have our own ordnance to break our oiity at Sea. own bones w'ithal. "We had good reason to help them, but not to set them uj) to that height, as to make them able to tread upon our own heads."* In objecting to an alliance with Florence as strongly as to that with Savoy, he derides the argument against a marriage with the house of Medici, as if it were of mean descent. " The Medici," says he, " were ancient — ancient in vir- xhe MeuicL tue and in fame. It is true, that long agone they were merchants ; and so was King Solomon too. The kings in old times had their herdsmen, their shepherds, and their ploughmen ; they traded with nature and with the earth, — a trade by which all that breathe upon the earth live. All the nobility and gentry in Europe trade their grass, and corn, and cattle, their vines, and their fruits : they trade them to their tenants at home, and other merchants adventure them abroad. The king of Spain is now the greatest merchant : the Kmg of Por- tugal was."t The Discourse, which displays great abilities in this ^-^jq^ .,^. species of composition, concludes with an advice to the vised ^v^tl^ pi-ince to keep in view a union with a daughter of France, '''^"'^^■ as by far the wisest and most politic connexion. " Now," says he, " if, by these dislikes of the former alliances, you make judgment that it is my desire that the prmce should not marry at all ; I say, my desire is not, that he should not marry at all, but not as yet ; and I am exceeding sorry the prince hath not the same desire. * Works, vol. viii. p. 248. f Ibid. p. 249. 284 fro:m raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VI. For, seeing his majesty is yet but young, and by God's rrudence of favour like to live very many years ; and that his high- delay, jjggg^ j^f i^Q should now marr}^, may have many children born unto him before he be thirty years old ; and seeing all his children shall be princes, and must be j^rovided for as princes ; I think it will much perplex him to find himself so environed, till his majesty have somewhat repaired his estate, and j)rovided beautiful gardens fit to plant these olive branches in."'^ In recommending such Fruits result- a wife to Henry, Raleigh, in a passage of uncommon Fif nchim- "^^o^^^j points out the causes of enmity between France ance. and Spain, and the certain claim which an alliance with the former country Avill give England to the friendship of the Low Countries. " There was," says he, " never a nation had so much cause to hate another as France hath to hate Spain. They hold from him the kingdom of Navarre, without so much as the colour of a title ; they betrayed him in Naples, and did not overcome their army there, but murdered it after a peace proclaimed. They hold INIilan from them by strong hand ; and after that Charles V. (to have leave to pass through France into Flanders to pacify the tumults of Ghent) had promised the French king to restore it, the emperor derided him, and said he promised him mi/an, which is the French Grounds of ^^^0^'^ ^^r a kite. The}^ have betrayed them in many enmity be- offers of marriages ; they poisoned the dauphin at v ien- and^ain."^^ ^oys ; they have murdered their ambassadors ; they dis- planted them in Florida, and contrary to faith, killed the possessors in cold blood. They tore Strozza in pieces at Terceres ; they set the subjects of Henry III. and Henry IV. against them ; they invaded France, possessed Paris and most of the cities of France, and, in conclusion, practised to murder both these kings. Now, if these injuries be not far more memorable than marriageable, let the world judge."t At the moment when this was written a matrimonial alliance was about to be formed between France and Spain, which explains this last * Works, vol. viii. p. 250. f Ibid. p. 251. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 2P,5 ol)servation. " By holding France," he concludes, " we CIIAP. vi. liold the Low Countries, which will make us invincible ; jesting" for they dare not abandon us both. On the contrary, iiatred. although these princes apart and disunited are not (as before is said) to be feared, yet Avere it a needless hazard to neglect the love of France, and to sustain the hatred of the archduke, of the pope, and of the King of Spain, — a hatred more than immortal (if more can be) to our nation and state."" In these Discourses Raleigh exhibits an accurate es- -y^^ sonrcea timatc of the true sources of the greatness of England ; of national a deep practical knowledge of the history of Europe ; ^''^ "^^^ and a masterly sagacity in unfolding the aggrandizing schemes of Spain. At this period, when his life as a prisoner in the Tower variefy of gave him a full command of time, liis pursuits were Raleigh's various; politics, philosophy, history, chemistry, poetry, ^^^^^ ^ all shared his attention, and to all he brought an ori- ginal and inventive mind. Nor did this gloomy abode altogether want society, some of its inmates being men of rank and genius. The eccentric Earl of Northumber- land was imprisoned there at the same time with Raleigh, and continued within its walls for fifteen }■ ears — during „ , ^ which period lie established a literary and philosophical Northumber society in his apartments, and diverted the melancholy ^^^^' confinement by keeping an open table for such men of learning and ingenuity as were permitted to visit him. Piercy, who had been shut up on a suspicion of having pigj-cy. some concern in the Gunpowder Treason,t was a ma- thematician, a chemist, an astrologer, and a humorist. Splendid in his entertainments, and lavish of his immense wealth, he was ready to pay any sum for the company and conversation of men of genius. Hariot, Raleigh's nariot master in the mathematics, Hughes, who wrote on the Hughes and globes, and Warner, a scholar addicted to the same studies, received pensions fro"! the earl, and from the constancy with which they osfl'sted their noble patron in * Works, vol. viii. p. 252. f Kenuet's History of England, vol. ii. p. 719, 286 FROM RALEIGU S FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAP. VI Sergeant Iloskins. Raleigh's laboratory. Eis cordial F^bure's quackery. Raleigh's knowledge of chemistry. his chemical experiments and astronomical calculation.^, received the names of his Three IMagi.* Sergeant Hos- kins the poet, whom Ben Jonson mentions as " the per- son who liad polished him," was confined in the Tower about the same time, and whilst Sir Walter pursued his chemical researches with Northumberland and the ]Magi, he conversed on poetry, philosophy, and literature, with Hoskins. He had transformed, as we have seen, a small house in the garden into a laboratory, where he devoted many of his hours to chemistry, and in the course of his experiments prepared that cordial which enjoyed so high a reputation in the time of Charles II., that he not only commanded his apothecary, Nicholas le Febure, to com- pound a quantity of this " precious remedy," but to write and publish a treatise concerning it, which was entitled Discours siir le Grand Cordial de Sir Walter Raleigh. Some ingredients were afterwards added by Sir Kenelm Digby, and it was used with good effect by Boyle. Febure appears to have been little better than a quack, if we may judge from his hyperbolical compli- ments. Sir Walter, he says, being a worthy successor of Mithridates, Matheolus, B. Valentine, Paracelsus, and others, has, he affinns, selected all that is choicest in the animal, vegetable, and mmeral world, and moreover manifested so much art and experience in the preparation of this great and admirable cordial as will of itself render him immortal.+ Notwithstanding this flight of the king's druggist, Raleigh was probably an accomplished chemist in those days when the science was in its infancy ; and in the British Museum is preserved a IMS. of various processes and recipes, which amply prove the care he had bestowed on such investigations. Nor did his severer studies prevent his being visited in the durance of the Tower by the muses, who taught their votary how to find a consolation for some of his dark and melancholy prison-hours. His subjects were graver and holier than * Biographia Britannica, article Harlot. + Oldys's Life, p. 414. IN THE TOWER TO HTS EXECUTION. 287 the songs of his freedom, but his lyre had lost nothing chap. \'T. of its sweetness. It was probably about the same time that this fine hymn was composed : — iiymn. " Rise, my soul, with thy desires to Heaven, And with divinest contemplation nso Thy time, where time's eternity is given, And let vain thoughts no more thy thoughts abuse ; But down in darkness let them lie ; So live thy better, let thy worse thoughts die. " And thou, my soul, inspired with holy flame, View and review, with most regardful eye, That holy cross, whence thy salvation came. On which thy Saviour and thy sin did die ! For in that sacred object is much pleasure. And in that Saviour is my life, my treasure. " To thee, Jesu ! I direct my eye. To thee my hands, to tliee my humble knees, To thee my heart shall ofler sacrifice, To thee my thoughts, who my thoughts only sees : To thee myself, myself and all I give, To thee I die, to thee I only live 1" Making allowance for their occasional quaintness, the p ^ . . fault not of the writer but of the age, there are few who it. will not in these small pieces recognise that fiery stamp which marks the true gold of the miagination jfrom its counterfeit. It is said to have been an observation of Prince Henry, oij,5e|.yation that none but his father would keep such a bird in a of prince cage. In return for this generous opinion. Sir Walter ^'^^"^' was deeply interested in all that concerned the prince's welfare. He had detected in him a love of popularity, — a thirst of praise, — wdiich presented to the parasites of a court a dangerous weakness. He knew the principles of arbitrary rule, those dogmas regarding the divine right of kings, which were the favourite talk of his father, and his penetration discerned those notions of liberty with which the Puritans were preparing to discuss the origin of government and the privileges of the people. Aware ^jvicc to of this, he is said to have warned the future heir of the lum. crown against any overstrained exercise of the royal prerogative ; and Sir Richard Steele has preserved, and unhesitatingly ascribes to Raleigh, a letter to the prince 268 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP, Yi on this subject.* It is a spirited production, but evi- Fabricated dently a fabrication of tliis lively writer. Its sentiments letter. * Sir Richard Steele's Englishman, p. 9. — The merit of this letter is so great, that the reader may be pleased to see it intro- dnced here : — Steele's " ^'^^^ ^^ please your Highness, — The following sheets are letter as- addressed to j-our highness from a man who values his liberty cribed to and a very small fortune in a remote part of this island, under Raleigh. the present constitution, above all the riches and honours that he could any where enjoy under any other establishment. You see, sir, the doctrines that are lately come into the world, and how far the phrase has obtained of calling your royal father God's Vicegerent, which ill men have turned both to the dis- honour of God and the impeachment of his majesty's goodness. They adjoin the vicegerency to the idea of being all powerful, and not to that of being all good. His majesty's wisdom, it is to be hoped, will save him from the snare that may lie under gross adulations ; but your youth, and the thirst of praise which I have observed in you, may possibly mislead you to hearken to these charmers who would conduct your noble nature into tyranny. Be careful, my prince ! hear them not ; fly from their deceits. You are in the succession to a throne from whence no evil can be imputed to you, but all good must be conveyed by you. Your father is called the Vicegerent of Heaven. While he is good he is the Vicegerent of Heaven. Shall man have authority from the fountain of good to do evil ? No, my prince ! Let mean and degenerate spirits, which want benevolence, suppose their power impaired by a disability of doing injuries. If want of power to do ill be an incapacity in a prince, Avith reverence be it spoken, it is an incapacityhe has in common with the Deity. " Let me not loubt but all plans which do not carry in them the mutual happiness of prince and people, will appear as ab- surd to your great understanding as disagreeable to your noble nature. _ Exert yourself, generous prince ! against such syco- phants in the glorious cause of liberty, and assume an ambition worthy of you, to secure your fellow-creatures from slavery, — from a condition as much below that of brutes, as to act Avithout reason is less miserable than to act against it. Preserve to your future subjects the divine right of being free agents, and to your own royal house the divine right of being their benefactors. Believe me, my prince, there is no other right can floAV from God. AVhile your highness is forming yourself for a throne, consider the laws as so manv commonidaces in your study of the science of government. When you mean nothing but justice they are an ease and help to you. This way of thinking is what gave men the glorious appellatives of deliverers and fathers of their country. This made the sight of them rouse their beholders into acclamations, and made mankind incapable of bearing their IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 289 and style are both much in advance of the period to CIIap. vl which he refers it. Raleigh's greatest work, written during his imprison- History of mcnt and published in 1G14, was the History of the *^^® ^^'"^*^- World, — an extraordinary monument of human labour and o-cnius, and which, in the vastness of its su])ject, its researcli and learning, the wisdom of its political reflec- tions, and the beauties of its style, has not been equalled by any writer of this, or perhaps of any other country. This will appear the more wonderful if we recollect the circumstances under which it was completed, — not in the circim- luxury of lettered and philosophic ease, wbich has been stances the lot of some historians, surrounded by ])ooks and ft"vfis com^-' friends, but in imprisonment, solitude, and sorroAV, under pused. the disadvantage of finding with difficulty the necessary materials ; not in the enthusiastic consciousness of unim- paired powers, but with a mind which had been harassed by a cruel persecution, and sickened by hope deferred. To give any thing like a satisfactory criticism or analysis of this history within the limits of a volume like this is impossible ; and, perhaps, in these days of al)ridgments and epitomes, any recommendation of a work so vast may be considered ridiculous. Yet let us hear the eloquent ^^^ author's author plead his own apology : — " How unfit and how apology. unworthy a choice I have made of myself, to undertake a work of this mixture, mine own reason, though ex- ceeding weak, hath sufficient!}'" resolved me. For had very appearance without applauding it as a benefit. Consider the inexpressible advantages wliich will ever attend your high- ness, when you make the power of rendering men happy the mea- sure of your actions. While this is your impulse, how easily \vill that power be extended ! The glance of your eye will give gladness, and your every sentence have the force of a bounty. Whatever some men would insinuate, you have lost your subject when you have lost his inclination ; you are to preside over the minds, not the bodies of men. The soul is the essence of a man ; and you cannot have the true man against his inclination. Choose therefore to be the king or the conqueror of your people , it may be submission, but it cannot be obedience that is passive, I am, sir, your highness's most faithful servant, " Walter Raleigh.'* 290 FliOM RALEIGH S FIRST CONFINEMENT Extent of the plan. CHAP. "ST. it been begotten then, with my first dawn of day, when the light of common knowledge began to open itself to my younger years, and before any wound received either from fortune or time, I might yet well have doubted, that the darkness of age and death would have covered over both it and me long before the performance. For, beginning with the creation, I have proceeded with the History of the World ; and I lastly purposed (some few sallies excepted) to confine m}'' discourse within this our renowned Island of Great Britain. I confess that it had better sorted with my disability, the better part of whose tunes are run out in other travels, to have set together (as I could) the unjointed and scattered frame of our English affairs, than of the universal : in whom had there been no other defect (who am all defect) than the time of the day, it were enough ; the day of a tempes- tuous life, drawn on to the very evening ere I began. But those inmost and soul-piercing wt^nds, which are ever aching while uncured, with the desire to satisfy those few fi'iends which I have tried by the fire of adversity — the former enforcing, the latter persuading — have caused me to make my thoughts legible, and myself the subject of every opinion, wise or weak."* The conclusion of the preface affords a specimen of the beauties as well as the defects of Raleigh's style : " I know that it will be said by man}^ that I might have been more pleasing to the reader if I had written the story of mine own times, having been pemiitted to draw water as near the well-head as another. To this I an- swer, that whosoever, in writing a modern history, shall follow truth too near the heels, it may happily strike out his teeth. There is no mistress or guide that hath led her followers and servants into greater miseries. He that goes after her too far off, loseth her sight, and loseth himself ; and he that walks after her at a middle distance, I know not whether I should call that kind of course temper or baseness. It is true, that I never Apology for choice of theme. * Preface, See Remarks at the end of this volimie. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 291 travelled after men's opinions when I might have made the chap. \'L bi'st use of them ; and I liave now too few da3^s remaining indcpund- to imitate those that, cither out of extreme ambition or ^^^^ extreme cowardice, or both, do yet (when death hath them on liis shoulders) flatter the world between the bed and the grave. It is enough for me (being in that state I am) to write of the eldest times ; wherein also, why may it not be said, that, in speaking of the past, I point at the present, and tax the vices of those that are yet living, in their persons that are long since dead ; and have it laid to my charge. But this I cannot help, though innocent. And certainly, if there be any, that, integrity of finding themselves spotted like the tigers of old time, Pui'pose. shall find fault with me for painting th''m over anew, they shall therein accuse themselves justly, and me falsely. For I protest before the majesty of God that I malice no man under the sun. Impossible I know it is to please all, seeing few or none are so pleased with themselves, or so assured of themselves, by reason of their subjection to their private passions, but that they seem diverse persons in one and the same day. Seneca hath said it, and so do I : Unus mihi pro populo erat ; and to the same effect Epicurus, Hoc ego non multis, sed tibi ; or (as it hath since lamentably fallen out) I may borrow the resolution of an ancient philosopher. Satis est unus^ satis est null us. For it was for the service of that inestimable Dedication Prince Henry, the successive hope, and one of the greatest ^^^^^y^^ of the Christian world, that I undertook this work. It pleased him to peruse some part thereof, and to pardon what was amiss. It is now left to the world without a master ; from which all that is presented hath received both blows and thanks. * * But these discourses are idle. I know that as the charitable will judge charitably, so against those qui yloriantur in malitia, my present adversity hath disarmed me. I am on the ground already, and therefore have not far to fall. * * For conclusion ; all the hope I have lies in this, that I have already found more ungentle and uncourteous readers of ray love towards them, and well-deserving, than ever I 292 FROM RALEIGH S FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAP. ^'I Tone of re- si gnation. Dignity and use of his- tory. Its revival of the past Tlie history. shall do again. For had it been otherwise, I should hardly have had this leisure to have made myself a fool in print." In a man who for many years had been the victim of an unjust sentence, this tone of resignation is infinitely more afFectmg tlian the language of indignant remonstrance. From this preface I am tempted to extract another sentence, on the dignity and use of history, which is finely written. " It hath triumphed," says he, " over time, which, besides it, nothing but eternity hath tri- umphed over ; for it hath carried our knowledge over the vast and devouring space of so many thousands of years, and given so fair and piercing eyes to our mind, that we plainly behold living now, as if we had lived then, that great woi'ld, Magni Dei sapiens opus, — ' the wise work,' says Hermes, * of a Great God,' as it was then, when but new to itself. By it, I say, it is that we live in the very time when it was created ; we behold how it was governed ; how it was covered with waters, and again repeopled ; how kings and kingdoms have flourished and fallen ; and for what virtue and piety God made prosperous, and for what vice and deformity he made wretched, both the one and the other. And it is not the east debt which we owe unto history, that it hath made us acquainted with our dead ancestors ; and, out of the depth and darkness of the earth delivered us their me- mory and fame. In a word, we may gather out of history a policy no less wise than eternal, by the comparison and application of otlier men's forepast miseries with our own like errors and ill-deservings."'"' To proceed now from the preface to the work itself, — from the porch into that spacious and noble building to which it conducts, — we find that it embraces the annals of the world, from the creation to the termination of the Second Macedonian War, giving " the flower of recorded story" through the three first great monarchies, and con- cluding with Rome triumphant in the fourth, about a * Preface, p. v. IN TUE TOWKH TO UIS EXECDTION. 293 century and a Imlf before the birth of our Saviour, com- chap v, prehendu,g a penod of nearly 4000 vears. In the first r- '" book . .eh is .;ather theologiealand-philosophical than "■■"'°* st.K.tb-h.stor:ea, he diseoursesof the beingand attributes of God, and of the exhibition of his power and goodness in the work of creation. " God," ^ys he, " whom tlie wisest men acknowledge to be a power uneffable, and virtue^ infinite; a light, by abundant clarity invis ble • an understanding which itself can onlv comprehend an' „. essence eternal and spii-itual, of absolute pureness'and a^n^' CflT^'Tl^l " ?'.'''"^ *° '""'^"<= '"'»^'f k^o^'n wLreo „ ^"f "rr"''",-' '" '^' "•™^«'-''"' "^S^i'ode webebnld ' heembraceth, filleth.andsustaineth) «e behold the image of that glory which cannot be meas- ured and withal, that one, and yet universal nature wluch cannot be defined. In the glorious lights of heav n we perceive a shadow of his Divine countenance ; in his mercifu provision for all that live, his manifold goodnes= and lastly m creating and making existent the worM nniversa by the absolute act of Ws own word, his power and almightmess; which power, light, vh-tue, JisAoZ', and goodness, being all but attributes of one simple essence and one God, we in all admire, and in part dis ^ . cem,p«- speculum creaturamm ; that is, in the disposi- '"'°'' tion^ order and variety of celestial and terrestrial bodies. 1„^ f'\^^ P"*''"* ''^"'^^ "■" approach to the know- edge of the Omnipotent Cause, and by these motions their Almighty Mover. - * » By his own Word, Id also he understood language of the Almighty vouchsafed to all his creatures, whose hieroglyphical characters are the unnumbered stars, the sun, and moon, written on these laj^^e volumes of the firmament, wr/tten also on the earth and the seas, by the letters of all those livin" crea ures and plants which inhabit and reside thereim T^ierefore,said that learned Cusanus, Mundus unu-ersus nltbif .'"7.^^"T^'''"'''"''-*<' -"rfd universal is nothing else but God exprest. And ' the invisible things of God,- says St Paul, ' are seen by his ereat W s 294 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VL The Divine wilL False accu- sations. Familiarity with the scriptures and the fathers. the world, being considered in his creatures.' Of all which there was no other cause preceding than his own will ; no other matter than his own power ; no other workman than his own Word ; no other consideration than his own infinite goodness. The example and pattern of these his creatures, as he beheld the same in all eter- nity in the abundance of his own love, so was it at length in the most wise order by his unchanged will moved, by his high wisdom disposed, and by his Almighty power perfected and made visible."* This is excellent writing, — noble and just ideas upon the highest theme which can employ the human intellect, — expressed with great strength and dignity of language ; and yet the author of it has been arraigned by critics, who have chosen rather to copy the scurrility of Coke than to examine his own opinions, as a " notorious unbeliever suspected of atheism."t Here, and throughout the work, the style partakes of the fault of the age, being rather stiff and cumbrous ; yet it is vigorous, purely English, and pos- sesses an antique richness of ornament, similar to what pleases us when we see some ancient priory or stately manor-house, and compare it with our more modern mansions. In his first book, which embraces the period from the creation to the building of Nineveh, and more especially in the early portion of it, Raleigh displays an intimate acquaintance with Scripture, and with the writings of the Fathers. He shows, at the same time, that he had studied the works of the most celebrated schoolmen with that freedom of thought which, emanci- pating itself from the prejudices of the age, rejected the errors of their philosophy, whilst it admitted their refined dexterity of intellect. Most of these authors, says he, " were rather curious in the nature of terms, and more subtile in distinguishing upon the parts of doctrine al- ready laid down, than discoverers of any thing liidden, either in philosophy or divinity : of whom it may be * History of the World, vol. ii. pp. 1, 2, 3. t Lodge's Illustrations, vol. iii. p. 216. See Remarks on Hume's character of Raleigh, at the end of tlais volume. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 295 truly said, Nihil sapientice odiosius acumine nimio^ — chap. \t * Nothing is more odious to true wisdom than too acute sharpness.' "* One of the most remarkable features in this work, Poetical especially in the first book, is that fine poetical imagina- "'^'^^^"'^ '°"' tion, which irradiates the most abstruse discussions, and gives a bright colouring to subjects, which in the hands of other writers become cold and forbidding. In his chapter on Fate, for example, what can be more beauti- ful than the mode in which he introduces his belief in Fate, the uses and influences of the stars ? " And certainly it cannot be doubted," says he, " but the stars are instni- ments of far greater use than to give an obscure light, and for men to gaze on after sunset. * * And if we cannot deny but that God hath given virtues to springs and fountains, to cold earth, to plants and stones, mine- rals, and to the vilest parts of the basest li\ang creatures, why should we rob the beautiful stars of their working powers ? for seeing they are many in number, and ol eminent beauty and magnitude, we may not think that, in the treasury of his wisdom, who is infinite, there can be wanting (even for every star) a peculiar virtue and operation, as every herb, plant, fruit, and flower, adorning the face of the earth, hath the like. For as these were Use of inanl- not created to beautify the earth alone, and to cover and ^^^^ natuie. shadow her dusty face, but othervrise for the use of man and beast, to feed them and cure them ; so were not those mysterious and glorious bodies set in the firmament to no other end than to adorn it, but for instruments and organs of his Divine Providence, so far as it hath pleased his just will to determine. Origen, upon this place of Genesis, ' Let there be light in the firmament,' &c., affirmeth, that the stars are not causes (meaning per- chance binding causes), but are as open books, wherein are contained and set down all things whatsoever to come ; but not to be read by the eyes of human wisdom. * * And though, for the capacity of men, we know somewhat, • History of the World, vol. ii. pp. 16, 17, 44. 296 FROM RALEIGH S FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAP. VI. Plants and herbs. Man. His nature. yet in the true and uttermost virtues of plants and herbs, which ourselves sow and set, and which grow under our feet, we are in eifect ignorant ; much more in the powers and working of the celestial bodies. ""' For hardly,' saith Solomon, ' can we discern the things that are upon the earth, and with great labour find we out those things which are before us, who can then investigate the things that are in heaven V * * But in this question of fate, the middle course is to be followed : that, as with the heathen, we do not bind God to his creatures in this supposed necessity of destiny ; so, on the contrary, we do not rob those beautiful creatures of their powers and offices."* Some striking examples of this pleasing manner of blending together the philosophy of the Fathers with his own rich imagination are to be found in his chapter entitled, " That Man is, as it were, a little World." " * Man,' says Gregory Nanzianzene, ' is the bond and chain which tieth together both natures ;' and because m the little frame of man's body there is a representation of the universal, and (by allusion) a kind of participation of all the parts thereof, therefore was man called Microcos- mos, or the little world ; * * for out of the earth and dust was formed the flesh of man, and therefore heavy and lumpish ; the bones of his body we may compare to the hard rocks and stones, and therefore strong and durable ; his blood, which disperseth itself by the br^ches of veins through all the body, may be resembled to those waters which are carried by brooks and rivers over all the earth ; his breath to the air ; his natural heat to the enclosed warmth which the earth hath in itself, which, stirred up by the heat of the sun, assisteth nature in the speedier procreation of those varieties which the earth bringeth forth ; our radical moisture, oil, or balsamum (whereon the natural heat feedeth and is maintained), is resembled to the fat and fertility of the earth ; the hairs of man's body, which adorns or overshadows it, to the grass which History of the World, vol. ii. pp. 28, 29. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 297 coveretli the upper face and skin of the earth ; * * our pjt a p yj determinations, to the light, wandering, and unstable — '- clouds, carried every where with uncertain winds ; our tionsT*^^'"*" eyes, to the light of the sun and moon, and the beauty of our youth to the flowers of the spring, which either in a very short time, or with the sun's heat, dry up and wither away, or the fierce puffs of wind blow them from the stalks ; tHie thoughts of our mind, to the motions of angels ; and our pure understanding (formerly called mens, and that which always looketh upwards), to those intellectual natures which are always present with God ; and lastly, our immortal souls (while they are righteous) „. are by God himself beautified with the title of his own image and similitude. And although in respect of God there is no man just, or good, or righteous, * for behold he found folly in his angels,' saith Job, yet with such a kind of difference as there is between the substance and the shadow, there may be found a goodness in man." From this Raleigh proceeds to the opmion of Aristotle opi^^ons of and Pythagoras, Homo est mensura omnium rerum, the Aristotle and four complexions resembling the four elements, and the ^J'^'^s^'^'^ seven ages of man the seven planets ; a fanciful idea, upon which he dilates with much beauty. " Our infancy is compared to the moon, in which we seem only to live and grow as plants ; the second age to Mercury, wherein we are taught and instructed ; our third age to Venus, the days of love, desire, and vanity ; the fourth to the amUes. sun, the strong, flourishing, and beautiful age of man's life ; the fifth to Mars, in which we seek honour and victory, and in which our thoughts travel to ambitious ends ; the sixth age is ascribed to Jupiter, in which we begin to take account of our times, judge of ourselves, and grow to the perfection of our understanding ; the last and seventh to Saturn, wherein our days are sad and overcast, and in which we find, by dear and lamentable experience, and by the loss which can never be repaired, that of all our vain passions and affections past, the sor- row only abideth. * * For this tide of man's life, after it once turneth and declineth, ever runneth with a 298 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VL perpetual ebb and falling stream, but never floweth again ; Ebbingtide. our leaf once fallen springeth no more, neither doth the sun or the summer adorn us again with the garments of new leaves and flowers. " * Redditur arboribus florens revirentibus setas, Ergo non homini quod fuit ante, redit.' To which I give thL=! sense : — " The plants and trees, made poor and old By winter envious, The spring-time bounteous Covers again from shame and cold ; But never man repaired again His youth and beauty lost. Though art, and care, and cost, Do promise Nature's help in vain.' " Care of the The conclusion deduced in a former chapter from these ^°^ premises, namely, that considering the baseness and frailty of our bodies we should prefer to them the care of the soul, is in the highest strain of Christian philoso- phy : " In this time it is, when we for the most part, and never before, prepare for our eternal habitation, which we pass on unto with many sighs, groans, and sad thoughts. * * And though our own eyes do every where behold the sudden and resistless assaults of death, and nature assureth us by never-failing experience, and reason by infallible demonstration, that our times upon the earth have neither certainty nor durability ; that our bodies are but the anvils of pain and diseases, and our minds the hives of unnumbered cares, son-ows, and pas- False sions ; * * jet such is the true unhappiness of our estimates. condition, and the dark ignorance wliich covereth the eyes of our understanding, that we only prize, pamper, and exalt this vassal and slave of death, and forget alto- gether (or only remember at our cast-away leisure) the imprisoned immortal soul, which can neither die with the reprobate, nor perish with the mortal parts of virtuous men, seeing God's justice in the one, and his goodness in the other, is exercised for evermore as the ever-living subjects of his reward and punishment But when is it that we examine this great account I Never whUe we IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 290 have one vanity left us to spend. We plead for titles, CHAP. VL till our breath tail us ; dig for riches, while our strength Faisepur- enableth us ; exercise malice, while w^e can revenge ; suits. and then, when time hath beaten from us both youth, pleasure, and health, and that nature itself hateth the house of old age, we remember with Job, ' that we must go the way from whence we shall not return, and that our bed is made ready for us in the dark,' and then, I say, looking over-late into the bottom of our conscience, (w^liich pleasure and ambition had locked up from us all our lives,) w^e behold therein the fearful images of our actions past, and withal this terrible inscription, ' That God will bring every work into judgment that Rebellion man hath done under the sun.' * * But let us not ^^ainst God. flatter our immortal souls herein ; for to neglect God all our lives, and know that we neglect him, — to offend God voluntarily, and know that we offend him, — (cast- ing our hopes on the peace which we trust to make at parting), is no other than a rebellious presumption, and (that which is worst of all), even a contemptuous laugh- ing to scorn and deriding of God, his laws, and precepts. Frustra sperant qui sic de misericordia Dei sibi hlandiun- tur, — ' They hope in vain,' saith Bernard, * which in this sort flatter themselves with God's mercy.' "* In his translations of the poetical passages, quoted in the earlier part of his history, Raleigh is often very happy, keeping close to the original, and giving both the spirit and meaning with much brevity and elegance. Thus in those fine lines of Virgil — *' Principio coelum, ac terras, camposque liquentes, Liiceiitemque globum lunge, Titaniaque astra, Spiritus intus alit ; totamque infusa per artus, Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet." " The heaven, the earth, and all the liquid main, — The moon's bright globe, and stars Titanian, A spirit within maintains ; and their whole mass, — A mind, which through each part infused doth pass. Fashions and works, and wholly doth transpierce All this great body of the umverse."t * Hist. World, vol. ii. pp. 58-61, 54-56. f Ibid. pp. 13, 14. 300 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VL Another example is to be found in liis translation of Translation the following verses of Lucan : — of Lucan. " Primum cana salix, madefacto vimine, parvam Texitur in puppim, csesoque induta juvenco, Vectoris patiens tumidum superuatat amnem. Sic Venetus stagnaute Pado, fusoque Britannus Navigat oceano," " The moisten'd osier of the hoary willow Is woven first into a little boat, Then, clothed in bullock's hide, upon the billow Of a proud river lightly doth it float tinder the waterman : So on the lakes of overswelling Po Sails the Venetian ; and the Briton so On the outspread ocean."* Inferences From these remarks, supported by the extracts we suggested have given, some idea may be formed of the style and execution of this great work. To pursue the criticism further, or to attempt to follow the author into the wide ocean of Assyrian, Grecian, and Roman history, would carry us much beyond our limits. To characterize, in a few sentences, so extensive a performance, so diversified in its subjects, and presenting so many features of excel- ciiaracter of l^nce, is impossible. It is laborious without being heavy, the whole learned without being dry, acute and ingenious without degenerating into the subtile but trivial distinctions of the schoolmen. Its narrative is clear and spiiited, and the matter collected from the most authentic sources which were then accessible. The opinions given on state policy, on the causes of great events, on the different forms of government, on naval or military tactics, on agriculture, commerce, manufactures, and other sources of national greatness, are not the mere echo of other minds, they are results drawn from the experience of a long life spent in constant action and vicissitude in va- rious climates and countries, and from personal observa- tion in offices of high trust and responsibility. But perhaps its most striking feature is the sweet tone of ♦ History of the World, vol. ii. p. 259. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. »301 pliilosopliic . melancholy which pervades the whole. CHAP. VI. Written in prison during the quiet evening of a tempes- it, pi^^'^ujng tuous life, we feel, in its perusal, that we are the com- tone, panions of a superior mind, nursed in contemplation, and chastened and improved hy sorrow, in which the bitter recollection of injury, and the asperity of resent- ment, have passed away, leaving only the heavenly lesson, that all is vanity. It may be remarked, lastly, that the Avork contains the most complete and satisfactory Ecfutation of evidence of the absolute groundlessness of the charges of ^^? charges infidelity brought against Sir Walter at his trial, and since countenanced by the authority of Hume. That distinguished writer could not have advanced this opin- ion had he consulted the History of the World, through- out \vhich runs a uniform stram of Christian faith and Christian doctrine, evinced by a learned reference to the Scriptures as the Word of God, and an unhesitating condemnation of all those ingenious but mischievous inventions of ancient or of modern philosophy, which would allegorize their meaning, circumscribe their in- spiration, or impair their authority. Had this been otherwise, Bishop Hall, an author as eminent for piety as for eloquence, w^ould not have commended the work so highly in his treatise entitled, " Balm of Gilead, or commenda- Comforts for the Distrest," with whose eulogium we 1^°" ^y shall conclude these remarks. " A wise man, as Lau- rentius, the presbyter, observed well, does much in soli- tude. So mayst thou employ the hours of thy close retiredness, and bless God for so happy an opportunity. How memorable an instance has our age afforded us of an eminent person, to whose imprisonment we are all obliged, besides many philosophical experiments, for that noble History of the World now in our hands. The court had his youthful and freer years, and the Tower his latter age ; the Tower reformed the courtier in him, and produced those worthy monuments of art and in- dustry, which we should have in vain expected from his freedom and jollity. It is observed that shining wood, when it is kept witjiin doors, loses its light ; it is other- 302 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VL wise witli this and many other active wits, which had '~ never- shined so much if not for closeness." Efforts to Durinor these literary occupations Raleigh never in- recover his t/ jt o liberty. termitted his efforts to recover his liberty ; but the animosity of Cecil, the indifference of the king, and the influence of Somerset, who enjoyed the spoils of the captive, rendered all ineffectual. Under this severe disappointment, aggravated by the strictness with which he was guarded, and the cold and discomfort of his apartments, his health became seriously affected ; his breathing began to be short and laboured ; and in an Letter to the affecting letter to the queen, he complains, that after queen. eight years he was as straitly locked up as on the first day ; that he had in vain petitioned for so much grace as to walk with his keeper up the hill within the Tower. These symptoms soon grew more alamiing. The whole of his left side was seized with a partial paralysis, his Representa- speech was perceptibly affected, and his physician, I)r si^erings to Turner, sent a statement of his case to Cecil, entreating CecU. that he might have the accommodation of a warmer room, which, when permitted more libei-ty, he had built near his laboratory in the garden. The proof of this is contained in a curious document preserved in the State- paper Office, which exhibits the secretary in the character Heartiessness of a jailor, heartlessly weighing the suff^erings of his prisoner, and considering whether his illness demanded a little more indulgence. It is addressed to the Earl of Salisbury, being indorsed in his own handwriting, " The Judgment of Sir W. Raleigh's Case ;" and is evidently an abridgment of the physician's memorial, which, after detailing the symptoms, prays that Raleigh should be removed fi'om his cold lodging, " if it might stand with his honour's lyking."* Whether this miserable favour was granted does not appear ; but it was evident, that so long as Cecil retained his power there was no liberty for his victim. By the His death, death of this minister, however, which happened soon * Mrs Thomson, Life of Raleigh, Appendix, letter U. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 303 after, one great obstacle to his enlargement was with- chap. vi. drawn. — 1 Raleigh could not refram from commemorating his Satirical feelings on this occasion m a satirical epitaph, less severe, ^^^^^^^ ^^ however, than the strictures on the character of the Siime person by Osborne and Weldon. "Here lies Hobbinol, our pastor while ere, That once in a quarter our fleeces did shear. To please us, his cur he kept under a clog, And was ever after both shepherd and dog. For oblation to Pan, his custom was thus,— He first gave a trifle, then ofier'd up us ; And through his false worship such power he did gain, As kept him o' th' mountain and us on the plain : Where many a hornpipe he tuned to his Phillis, And sweetly sung Walsingham to's AmaryHis ; lul Atropos snapt him, the envious drab, For, spite of his tar-box, he died of the scab." Who the Phillis here alluded to was does not appear, unless we are to believe it to have been the Countess of Suffolk ; the mistress, as Weldon mforms us, of that '' little great secretary,— little in body and stature, but great in wit and policy."* Raleigh touches on Cecil's power of fleecing the people His reputed and enriching himself. The last line refers to a story '^''^''• told by Sir Anthony Weldon, that he died of a very loathsome disease (the Herodian), which is confirmed by the statement of Osborne, though the evidence of both is to be received with caution. Yet even by his eulogists, Salisbury's illness, for which the use of the Bath hot- wells was recommended, is said to have been a complication of dropsy and scurvy. The general feel- ing on his death is probably described with impartiality Cf^^fjai feel- in a letter of the Earl of Dorset to Sir Thomas Edmondes : '"^ ' — " When great men die, such is eifeher their desert or the malice of tlie people, or both together, as commonly they are ill spoken of ; and so is one that died but lately, — more, I think, than ever any one was, and in more several kinds ; and his death hath wiped away the me- mory of others' misdeeds, and as it were extinguished * Weldon, p. 338. Osborne, pp. 236, 287. 304 FROM RALEIGH S FIRST CONFINEMENT Address to Cope. Hopes excited in Raleigh's mind. Illness of Prince Kenry. CHAP VI. their faults, — liis being, if not greater, yet fresher in every man's mouth and memory."* In his ilhiess Cecil thus addressed Sir Walter Cope, one of his most favour- ite and intimate servants : " Ease and pleasure quake to hear of death ; but my life, full of cares and miseries, desireth to be dissolved,"+ — a sentence which might be a warning to ambition, if such were ever heeded. The death of his enemy the Earl of Salisbury, and the continued friendship of the Prince of Wales, promised some alleviation to Raleigh's misfortunes ; but unhappily, before the generosity of Henry could take advantage of the change, and move the king for the liberation of his friend, he was himself seized with the malignant fever of which he died. The illness of this youth assumed from the first an alarming appearance, but was evidently aggravated by the ignorance of his physicians. One of them, Sir Theodore Mayeme, possessed of somewhat greater skill than the rest, urged the immediate necessity of bleeding, but was outvoted by his brethren, who ad- ministered restoratives, and gi-eatly aggravated the fury of the disease. At length, on Sunday, 1st November, seven or eight ounces of blood were permitted to be taken, and nature seemed to point out the excellence of the remedy, and to chide the ignorance of the physicians ; for the poor sufferer did not cease desiring and calling on them to take more, as they were about to stop the same, finding some ease as it were upon the instant. [j: The fall of the pulse, the cessation of delirium, and evident symptoms of convalescence, demonstrated the wisdom of Mayerne's opinion. On Sd November, " in order to ease the prince's pain in the head, his hair was shaven away, and pigeons and cupping-glasses applied, * * but without any relief except for the present." § On the following day the wretched quacks by whom he Syrnptcnie. * Birch's Historical View, p. 347. + Biographia Britannica, art. Cecil (Robert). X Birch's Life of Henry Priuce of Wales, compiled from his own Papers, pp. 345, 346. § Ibid. p. 348. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 305 was surrounded " applied to the soles of his feet a cock chap, vl cloven by the back ;" and the queen obtained some of ji^g^jj^ Raleigh's cordial, which was given among other remedies quackery, without the slightest success. The fever had now re- curred with a force which defied all human skill ; and the prince expired on the 6th of November, to the sincere Death of tiio grief of the whole nation, whose good- will his virtues pi"'ce. and excellent qualities had entirely gained. The passage in Wei wood which refers to Sir Walter's drug is curious, as containing the probable ground- work of the absurd but general suspicion that the royal patient died of poison. " When the prince," says this author, " fell into his last illness, the queen sent to Sir Walter Raleigh for some of his cordial, which she herself had taken in a fever some time before, with remarkable success. Raleigh sent it, Raieitrh's together with a letter, to the queen, wherein he expressed cordial. a tender concern for the prince ; and, boasting of his medicine, stumbled unluckily upon an expression to this purpose, that it would certamly cure him, or any other, of a fever, except in case of poison. The prince dying, though he took it, the queen in the agony of her grief showed Raleigh's letter, and laid so much weight on the expression about poison, that to her dying day she could never be dissuaded from the opinion, that her beloved son had had foul play done him."* The feelings with which Raleigh received this blow, ^j^jg^ fggj_ one of the severest which could have befallen him, were ings of not those of unavailing complaint, but of deep and manly sorrow. During the tedious years of his imprisonment he had been cheered by the correspondence of this ta- lented youth. At liis request, and for his instruction, he engaged in that great work of which we have spoken ; and with such enthusiasm did the prince embrace the interests of his friend, that shortly before his death he solicited the Sherborne estate from his father, with the purpose of restoring it to its former master. To have * Welwood's Notes on Wilson's History of King James. Kennet, vol. ii. p. 714. 306 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VI. Hopes destroyed. "Artofwar." Conclusion of his liistory Villiers, Duke, of Buckingham. Renewed efforts for release. owed to him his liberty and the reinstatement of his fortunes, and to have devoted the rest of his life and the treasures of his long experience to so generous a patron, was a prospect he had often indulged with the sanguine hope that formed part of his character ; hut it was now withered for ever. " Of the art of war by sea," says he in his History, "I had written a treatise for the Lord Hen- ry, Prince of Wales, — a subject to my knowledge never handled by any man, ancient or modem. But God hath spared me the labour of finishing it by his loss, — by the loss of that brave prince, of which, like an eclipse of the sun, we shall find the efi'ects hereafter. Impossilile it is to equal words and sorrows ; I will therefore leave him in the hands of God that hath him : CiircB leves loquunfw, ingentes stupent.''^* With the same brief but profound sorrow he thus concludes his history: — " Lastly, whereas this book, by the title it hath, calls itself the First Part of the General Histoiy of the World, im- plying a second and third volume, which I also intended and have hewn out. Besides many other discourage- ments persuading my silence, it hath pleased God to take that glorious prince out of the world to whom they were directed, whose unspeakable and never-enough-lamented loss hath taught me to say with Job, Vei'sa est in luctum cithara mea, et organum meum in vocem fentium.'"f Yet although again cast down by this grievous loss, it was not in the nature of Raleigh's mind to sink into despair ; and in the rise of a new favourite, Villiers, duke of Buckingham, which also dimmished the power of Somerset, he perceived a revival of hope. By the influence of some friends with the duke, the liberty of the Tower was allowed him ; and the subsequent dis- covery of the murder of Overbury by the Earl of Somer- set and his infamous countess, whilst it led to their con- demnation and disgrace, encouraged Sir Walter to redouble his exertions to obtain a release. He addressed a petition to the queen, who was favourably disposed towards him, and both to her and to Sir Ralph Winwood, secretary * Hist, of the World, b. v. c. 1. § 6. f Ibid. b. v. c. 6. § 12. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 307 of state, renewed his proposal for the settlement of Gui- chap, vi ana, and the working of a gold mine, of which in his pioposeti former voyages he had ascertained the existence. The ^ttiement oi scheme which Cecil had refused to countenance was re- commended to the king hy Winwood, and as the expense came out of the private fortunes of Raleigh, and those who embarked in the speculation, whilst his majesty was to receive a fifth part of the bullion imported, no stretch of generosity was required for the royal consent to an adventure by which he could lose nothing, and might be a gainer to a high amount. The remonstrances, how- Jealousy of ever, of Gondomar, the Spanish ambassador, who was ambassador. jealous of any expedition to that part of America, and represented the whole affair as an intended attack upon the possessions of his master, shook the resolution of James, and would probably have put a stop to the en- terprise, had not Raleigh adopted a more efficacious mode of forwarding it by paying £1500 to Sir William St John and Sir Edward Villiers, the uncles of Buckingham. It affords a striking proof of the corruption of the court, that in this way success was at length obtained, and the monarch, who had for twelve years steeled his heart against all the demands of truth and justice, yielded at once to the desires of a capricious and venal favourite. Early in March 1615, the prisoner was informed of success of the success of his silit, and wrote to Villiers this brief Kaieigh's and dignified letter. Sir, — You have, by your mediation, put me again Letter to into the world. I can but acknowledge it ; for to pay ^'"^^^^^ any part of your favour by any service of mine as yet, it is not in my power. If it succeed well, a good part of the honour shall be yours ; and if I do not also make it profitable unto you, I shall show myself exceeding ungrateful. In the mean while, and till God discover the success, I beseech you to reckon me among the num- ber of your faithful servants, though the least able. ' "W.Raleigh."* Oldjs's Life, p. 468. ' 308 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VL Three days after the date of this letter Sir Walter Raieiffi7s was liberated from confinement. When expressmg his liberation. reflections to some friends on the extraordinary dealings of Providence with regard to himself and Somerset, he remarked that the whole history of the world did not furnish a similar example, wdiere freedom came to a royal prisoner, and a halter to the bosom faA'ourite of the monarch, except in the instance of Mordecai and Haman. This was by some officious talebearer repeated Royal malice, to the king. His answer was remarkable ; " Raleigh," said he, "may die in that deceit ;" — an observation which, escaping by chance from the royal bosom, showed its deep unforgivingness. Too weak to resist the importu- nity of Buckingham, whom he both feared and loved, James gave a partial liberty to the object of his resent- ment ; but he retained the power of punishing, and felt an ungenerous satisfaction in contemplating the probabi- lity of brmging him one day to a sanguinary reckoning. ScheTiesof The moment Sir Walter regained his freedom, he embarked with ardour in his schemes of colonizing Gui- ana, and working the gold mine from which he looked for so rich a return. Whatever may have been his cre- dulity as to the wealth to be derived from this source, or however slight the grounds of his expectations of success, to doubt his sincerity seems unreasonable. During his long imprisonment he had never intermitted his plans, Intercourse and the wreck of his fortune was employed in despatch- wft^h Gtdana. '^S agents, who kept up among the natives, and the few remaining English settlers, the hopes of relief from Span- ish tyranny. Almost every second year an intercourse of this nature took place.* Some of the Indians arrived in England, and had interviews with him in the Tower ; and an epistle to the queen is preserved in the State-paper Office,+ in which he describes the great riches which might be derived from this province, and laments that malice had hitherto prevailed over wisdom so far as to * Apology. Works, vol. viii. p. 500. t Appendix to Thomsou's Life of Raleigh, letter S. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 300 prevont its colonization. So soon as he became certain chap. vi. that he was to he restored to freedom, he addressed this — letter to Secretary Winwood, — a man in every respect secretsar the opposite of Cecil, — far his inferior in ability, but Winwood. plain, honest, intelligent, and of the old English school in regard to his jealousy of Spain. " Honoured Sir, — I "vvas lately persuaded by two Proposed gentlemen, my ancient friends, to acquaint your honour, Q^uJanl^^ with some offers of mine, made heretofore for a journey to Guiana, who were of opinion, that it would be better understood now than when it was first propounded. Which advice having surmounted my despair, I have presumed to send unto your honour the copies of those letters which I then wrote, both to his majesty and to the Treasurer Cecil ; wherein, as well the reasons that first moved me are remembered, as the objections by him made are briefly answered, " What I know of the riches of that place, not by RicTios ot the hearsay, but what mine eyes have seen,* I have said it ^ ^^^ often ; but it was then to no end, because those that had the greatest trust were resolved not to believe it. Not because they doubted the truth, but because they doubted my disposition towards themselves ; where, if God had blessed me in the enterprise, I had recovered his majes- ty's favour and good opmion. Other cause than this, or other suspicion, they never had any. Our late worthy Deciarat-on Prince of Wales was extreme curious in searching out of innocence, the nature of my offences. The queen's majesty hath informed herself from the beginning. The King of Denmark, at both times of his being here, was thoroughly satisfied of my innocency. They would otherv/ise never have moved his majesty on my behalf. The wife, the brother, and the son of a king, do not use to sue for men suspect. But, sir, since they all have done it out of their charity, and but with references to me alone, your honour, whose respect hath only relation to his majesty's * Oldys's Life, pp. 209, 2-21. 310 FROM Raleigh's first confinement Interest on hJs behalf. Cause of the king's con- duct CHAP. VL service, and strengthened by the example of those princes, may with the more hardiness do the like ; being princes to whom his majesty's good estate is no less dear, and all men that shall oppugn it is no less hateful, than to the king himself. " It is true, sir, that his majesty hath sometimes answered, that his council knew me better than he did ; meaning some two or three of them. And it was indeed my infelicity. For, had his majesty known me, I had never been here where I now am ; or, had I known his majesty, they had never been so long there where they now are. His majesty not knowmg of me hath been my ruin ; and his majesty misknowmg of them hath been the ruin of a goodly part of his estate. But they are all of them now, some living and some dying, come to his majesty's knowledge. But, su', how Httle soever his majesty knew me, and how much soever he believed them, yet have I been bound to his majesty both for my life and all that remains ; of which, but for his majesty, nor life nor aught else had remained. In this respect, sir, I am bound to yield up the same life, and all I have, for his majesty's service. To die for the king, and not by the king, is all the ambition I have in the world.'* Royal per- mission to embark. Money embarked in the adven • ture. This letter was followed by James's permission to engage in the adventure ; and this once obtained, the preparations were conducted on a scale which completely refutes the suggestion of Hume, that Raleigh's object was plunder and not settlement. He called in the £'8000 he had lent to the Countess of Bedford, — a sum given him by the king as a " competent satisfaction" for his estate of Sherborne, though that property brought an annual income of £5000. Finding this insufficient, he prevailed on Lady Raleigh to sell her estate of Micham, for which he received £2500. Private merchants and adventurers, both English and foreign, took a share in the undertaking ; and as settlement in the new country was the main design, many volunteers, with small sums, IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 311 joined the fleet, -vvhose services Sir Walter did not think chap, vl it right to refuse, though they afterwards gave more volunteers, trouble than assistance. It has been already seen that these preparations, and Jealousy of the knowledge of their destination, liad roused the ^^*^ jealousy of the Spanish court ; and, as they proceeded. Count Gondomar remonstrated more violently than be- fore. This ambassador was a politician of consummate address. His manners had nothing of the stiffness or saturnine gravity of the Spaniard, but were light and Count agreeable. He appeared to talk on every subject with ^"^o"^''*'"- thoughtless and unhesitating boldness, — delighted in gayety and good fellowship, and scattered presents and wit with equal liberality amongst the courtiers. Yet, under this gay exterior was concealed a dark and power- ful character : the cunning and pliant morality of the Jesuit, — a pride, cruelty, and tenacity of purpose, truly Castilian, — and a penetration which discerned every tiling, whilst it seemed to observe nothing. On his first arrival in England the count applied him- Influence self to study the character of the king ; and the result Sng.*^^ was his gaining an influence over James, which was only the more powerful because it was most artfully concealed. Against the projected expedition w^e have the evidence of the monarch himself that Gondomar protested in the strongest manner : " He took great alarm, and repre- sented unto his majesty by loud and vehement assertions, upon iterated audiences, that he knew and had discovered Ascription the intention and enterprise of Sir Walter Raleigh to be fg J'^^' jj' but hostile and piratical, and tending to the breach of Raleigh. the peace between the two crowns."* To all this Raleigh answered, that he meant to sail for Guiana, a country belonging to England both by right of discovery and by the consent of the natives ; that he had no intention to invade any part of the dominions of Spain nor to at- tack her fleets ; that the arms and soldiers he took with him were for self-defence and the strength necessary in * James's Declaration, p. 84, printed in Appendix to Cayley. 312 FROM RALEIGH S FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAP VI. Gondomav's opposition withdrawn. Commission under the privy seal. Raleigh's fleet His general orders. such an enterprise ; and that to the truth of all this he had set his hand in a letter to his majesty. Affecting to be satisfied, Gondomar withdrew his opposition. He ohserved to Win wood, that if the design was solely to settle Guiana, no resistance should be made, and the adventurer might without molestation work any mines he pleased.* The preparations therefore proceeded. He obtained the royal sanction ; a commission under the privy-seal constituted him general and commander-in- chief of the expedition, and governor of the new country. Some friends wished him to procure a pardon under the great seal, but Raleigh unfortunately neglected it, rely- ing, as is said, on the opinion of Sir Francis Bacon, who assured him that the ample words of the commission making him admiral of the fleet, and giving him the power of martial law, necessarily included a remission of all past offences, t Satisfied, therefore, on this point. Sir Walter assembled his fleet, consisting of fourteen sail. He himself hoisted his flag in the Destiny, a ship built at his own expense, and commanded by his son, who bore his name. She carried thirty-six pieces of ordnance, and had on board 200 men, including eighty gentlemen volunteers, amongst whom were many of the admiral's relations. On the 28th of March 1617, they dropt do^wTi the Thames ; and in the May following Raleigh published his general orders to the commanders and land-companies. They are drawn up with admirable clearness and good sense ; and as we have already seen that some authors have accused him of atheism and profanity, we shall give the two first heads : — " First, because no action nor en- terprise can prosper (be it by sea or land) without the favour and assistance of Almighty God, the Lord and Strength of hosts and armies, you shall not fail to cause divine service to be read in your ship morning and even- ing ; * * or, at least (if there be interruption by foul weather), once the day, praising God every night, with * Apology. Works, vol. viii. p. 499. t This, however, is very doubtful, as the words of James's de- claration describe Raleigh as being still under peril of the law. IN TUE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTIOX. 313 singing of a psalm at the setting of the watch. Secondly, chap. VI. you shall take especial care that God be not blasphemed Rgij^^ in your ship, but that, after admonition given, if the services offenders do not refrain themselves, you shall cause them ^"^^'"'^ of the better sort to be fined out of their adventures ; b}' which course if no amendment be found, you shall acquaint me withal. For if it be threatened in the Scriptures, that * the curse shall not depart from the house of the swearer,' much less from the ship of the swearer."* The squadron was forced by stress of weather to put Reception into Cork, where Raleigh was generously entertained b}' ^t Cork. Boyle, wlio had purchased his Irish estates, and had been lately raised to the peerage. By the same nobleman he was supplied with a large quantity of stores and neces- sarieSjt and having completely refitted the fleet, late in the month of August, stood out for the New World. In September they made the Canaries, in October the Cape de Verd Islands, and in the beginning of November the continent of South America. It appears from the follow- ing letter to his wife, that the outward voyage was one of extreme sickness and sufi^ering ; — '* Sweet Heart, — I can write you but with a weak Letter to hand, for I have suffered the most violent calenture, for ^^^^ wife, fifteen days, that ever man did and lived. But God, that gave me a strong heart in all my adversities, hath also now strengthened it in the hell-fire of heat. We have had two most grievous sicknesses in our ship, of which forty-two have died, and there are yet many sick. But having recovered the land of Guiana this 12th of Novem- ber, I hope we shall recover them. We are yet two stren^h of hundred men, and the rest of our fleet are reasonable ^"® ^^^'• strong — strong enough I hope to perform what we have undertaken, if the diligent care at London, to make our strength known to the Spanish king by his ambassador, have not taught the Spanish king to fortify all the * Appendix to Cayley, No. xiv. p. 70. f Smith's History of Cork, vol. i. p. 128. 314 FROM kaleigh's first confinement CHAP. VL Information given to the Spanish king. Health of his son. His favour among the Indians. entrances against us. Howsoever we must make the adventure ; and, if we perish, it shall be no honour for England, nor gain for his majesty, to lose, among many- other, one hundred as valiant gentlemen as England hath in it. * * In my passage to the Canaries I stayed at Gomera, where I took water in peace, because the country durst not deny it me. I received there, of an English race, a present of oranges, lemons, quinces, and pomegranates, without which I could not have lived. Those I preserved in fresh sands, and I have of them yet to my great refreshing. " Your son had never so good health, having no dis- temper in all the heat under the line. All my servants have escaped, but Crab and my cook ; yet all have had the sickness. * * Remember my service to my Lord Carew and Mr Secretary Win wood. I write not to them, for I can write of nought but miseries. * * By the next I trust you shall hear better of us ; in God's hands we were, and in Him we trust. The bearer. Captain Alley, for his infirmity of his head, I have sent back ; an honest valiant man ; he can deliver you all that is past. Commend me to my worthy friends at Lothbury. * * And my most devoted and humble service to her majesty. " To tell you that I might be here 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. Commend me to poor Carew my son. From Caliana in Guiana the 14th of November." Anticipated success. It is evident from this letter that Raleigh had been enthusiastically received by the Indians, and that, not- withstanding the distresses of the voyage, he confidently anticipated success. He was partially informed of the betrayal of his plans to the Spanish king ; but he had just ari'ived, and was not yet aware of the full extent of the treachery to which he had been made the victim. On this subject it is painful to discover the weakness or IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 3J 5 duplicity of James. He had pretended a deep interest CHAP. VI. in his plans, and, for the purpose of more fully considering Treachery of them, procured from him a minute written description the king. of the country, and the very river by which he was to enter, besides a statement of the number of men, with the burden of each ship. These papers were delivered to Gondomar, who forwarded them to Madrid ; and despatches were immediately sent to the West Indies disclosing the whole design to the Spaniards in Guiana. On his first arrival, Raleigh, with the sanguine temper which had survived the attacks of misfortune and disease, trusted his enemies had only obtained a general idea of what was intended, and that all would still go well. But he was miserably deceived. He found the minutest secrets of his expedition were known ; even his own Secrets of the private letter to the king was in the hands of the Spa- Swti."'''' niards; and instead of the free passage he had been promised, the country was fortified against him in the very places where he had intended to commence opera- tions. But he felt that his honour, and perhaps his life, depended on success, and the measures he adopted were those best calculated to secure it. Being so weak from Sickness of sickness that he was carried in a litter, he directed five ^'^^^^^11 ships under Captain Keymis, the same officer who in 1596 had explored the country, to sail up the Orinoco towards the mine ; while he himself with the other vessels, commanded by his vice-admiral Captain John Pennington, Captain Sir John Feme, and Sir Warham Saintleger, remamed at Trinidad, for the double purpose of awaiting the attack of the Spanish fleet which had been sent against them, and of providing a retreat for his companions should they be repulsed. The ships sent up the river were the Encounter, Cap- Ships sent up tain Whitney ; the Confidence, Woolaston ; the Supply, ^^^^ "''^'■• King ; with a pink and a caravel under Captains Smith and Hall. They carried Captains Parker and North, young Raleigh, and other experienced officers, with five foot- com panics of fifty men each. Keymis had formed a plan for opening a passage to the mine ; but the admiral. 316 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VI. not approving of it, furnished him with minute written Directions instructions to lead the soldiers westward of the moun- Ke^rai? *^^^ ■^^^' ^^ ^ ^P^* ^^^y *^^^^ miles from it, and having ^™^^' encamped there to proceed with a small }>arty to ascertain its depth and breadth. If he found it royal, and should the Spaniards attack him, he was to repel force by force ; but if it did not promise to be so rich as was expected, he Specimens of ^^s to bring a basket or two of ore to convince the king gold ore. that the design was not imaginary, as had been insinuated. If Spanish troops, as was reported, had been recently sent up the Orinoco, and had occupied the passes, Keymis was to be careful before venturing to land, lest the com- mon soldiers, who were not of a respectable description, should desert and dishonour the nation. San fa With these orders the squadron sailed on the 10th of iiiome. December, and after a sliort progress discovered the town of Santa Thome, erected by the Spaniards on the right bank of the river. It consisted only of about 140 houses, but was garrisoned. Keymis, afraid if he followed his instructions that he might throw this place between his party and the boats, landed during the night, and took up a position between the min and the town, trusting attack of the to repose in security till morning. On a sudden the .j^diuar b. Spaniards broke in upon his encampment, and finding many of the companies unprepared, made a pitiless slaughter. The officers, however, fought with desperate resolution, and gave the soldiers time to recover from their panic, after which they charged the assailants, drove them off the field, and pursued them to the town. The Spaniards being here reinforced by the Governor Pala- me^a, the battle was renewed with the utmost obstinacy, foung E_a- Young Raleigh at the head of his company of pikemen leighshdn. ^^,as slain, after cutting down a leader of rank. His death infuriated his companions. They fought with a valour which nothing could resist, — put their opponents to flight, killed the governor, and possessed themselves of the place. Their victory, however, was but half com- pleted, for the enemy, taking shelter in the houses and the market-place, kept up a desti-uctive fire ; and the English, IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 317 finding it impossible to dislodge them, burnt the town ; ciiAP. VL which compelled its defenders to escape to the woods, xhet^vT where they still continued to make a partial resistance, bm-nt.™ In this establishment were found four refining houses ; Attempt to l)ut with the exception of "two ingots of gold* the coin ^^^^^'^'^^'^ and bullion had been removed, and the passes to the mine were defended. Keymis determmed, however, to endeavour to reach the spot, with the situation of which he was best acquainted, and set forward with Sir John Hampden, Captain Thornhurst, and a small party. He had not proceeded far when they received a volley from an ambuscade, which wounded six, killed two, and so staggered the resolution of the commander and the officers that they instantly retreated. They soon after evacuated the town, and rejoined Raleigh at Punta de Gallo. On hearing the result of the expedition. Sir Walter Aneer of indignantly rejected every excuse pleaded by Captain le^'iiJ^^''' Keymis, openly asserting that he had undone him, and ^^""^^ ruined his credit with the kmg past recovery. In justice to this unfortunate man we must observe, that some of the grounds which he stated in defence of his conduct are neither slight nor inconclusive. But his master knew the temper of the monarch : he had undertaken to brmg back such a quantity of ore as would remove all suspicion that his enterprise was illusive or chimerical ; and when his officer returned repulsed and empty-handed, he at once foresaw the fatal use to which such a catas- trophe might be turned by his enemies. We cannot. His death, therefore, wonder that his remonstrances were loud ; and they sunk deep mto the mmd of Keymis. After some days he entered Raleigh's cabin, having in his hand a letter to the Earl of Arundel, containing an elaborate defence of his conduct, and requested Sii* Walter to ap- prove of it. This he declined ; and indeed under the circumstances consent was impossible ; but the refusal was fatal to the other, for, retiring to his cabin, he put a period to his existence. Weakened by disease, almost broken-hearted by dis- * Birch's Life, p. 641. 318 FROM RALEIGH S FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAP. VI. appointment, conscious that he had been betrayed by his sovereign, and sorrowing for the death of his brave son, the feelings of Raleigh at this moment cannot be easily described. They will be best understood by the follow- ing affecting letter to his wife : — Bitterness of Raleigh £ disappoint- ment. Letter to his wife. " I was loath to write, because I know not how to comfort you, and God knows I never knew what sorrow meant till now. All that I can say to you is, that you must obey the will and providence of God ; and remember that the queen's majesty bare the loss of Prince Henry with a magnanimous heart, and the Lady Harrmgton of her only son. Comfort your heart, dearest Bess, I shall sorrow for us both. And I shall sorrow the less, because I have not long to son-ow, because not long to live. I refer you to Mr Secretary Winwood's letter, who will give you a copy of it if you send for it. Therein you shall know what hath passed, which I have written by Greatness of that letter ; for my brains are broken, and it is a torment his grief. to me to write, especially of misery. I have desired Mr Secretary to give my Lord Carew a copy of his letter. I have cleansed my ship of sick men, and sent them home, and hope that God Avill send us somewhat before we return. Commend me to all at Lothbury. You shall hear from me, if I live, from Newfoundland, where I mean to clean my ships and revictual, for I have tobacco enough to pay for it. The Lord bless and comfort you, that you may bear patiently the death of your most valiant son ! This 22d of March from the Isle of St Christophers. " Yours, W. Raleigh. Heart- broken feelings. " Postscript. — I protest before the majesty of God, that as Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins died heart-broken when they failed of their enterprise, I could willingly do the like did I not contend against sorrow for your sake, in hope to provide somewhat for you to comfort and relieve you. If I live to return, resolve yourself that it is the care for you that hath strengthened my heart. It is true that Kejonis might have gone IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 319 directly to the mine, and meant it. But after my son's chap. vi. death, he made them believe that he knew not the way, r, ] — 1' , 1 1 1 • 1 r> f . , Conduct of and excused himselt upon the want or water m the Keyuiis. river ; and counterfeiting many impediments, left it un- found. When he came back I told him he had undone me, and that my credit was lost for ever. He answered that when my son was lost, and that he left me so weak that he thought not to find me alive, he had no reason to enrich a company of rascals, who, after my son's death, jiie agents made no account of him. He farther told me that the " ^^^ . English sent up into Guiana could hardly defend the Spanish town of St Thome which they had taken ; and therefore for them to pass through thick woods it was impossible, and more impossible to have victuals brought them into the mountains. And it is true that the gover- nor, Diego Palame^a, and other four captains being slain. Defence of — whereof my son Wat slew one, Pleasington (Wat's the passages ^ to tlic iniucs* sergeant), and John of Moroccoes (one of his men), slew two, — I say five of them slain in the entrance to the town, the rest went off in a whole body. And each took more care to defend the passages to their mines (of which they had three within a league of the town, beside a mme that was about five miles off) than they did of the town itself. " Yet Keymis, at the first, was resolved to go to the cause of mine. But, when he came to the bank-side to land, he ^?y™^^ had two men of his slam outright from the bank, and sis others hurt ; and Captain Thornhurst shot m the head, of which wound, and the accident thereof, he hath pined away these twelve weeks. Now, when Keymis came back and gave me the former reasons which moved him not to open the mine (the one the death of my son, a second the weakness of the English, and their impossi- bilities to work it, and to be victualled, a third that it His desperate were a folly to discover it for the Spaniards, and, lastly, ^^^^^^' my weakness, and being unpardoned), and that I rejected all these his arguments, and told him that I must leave him to himself to answer it to the king and state, he shut himself into his cabin and shot himself with a pocket- 320 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VI. Reasons of writing. Shameful betrayal Exposure of his plans. Desertion by his followers. pistol, which hroke one of his ribs ; and finding that he had not prevailed, he thrust a long knife under his short ribs, up to the handle, and died. " Thus much I have written to Mr Secretary, to whose letters I refer you. But because I think my friends will rather hearken after you than any other to know the truth, I did after the sealing break open the letter again, to let you know in brief the state of that busmess ; which I pray you impart to my Lord of Northumberland, and Silvanus Scorie, and to Sir John Leigh. " For the rest there Avas never poor man so exposed to the slaughter as I was : For being »commauded upon my allegiance to set down, not only the countr}^, but the very river by which I was to enter it, to name my ships' number, men, and my artillery ; this was sent by the Spanish ambassador to his master the King of Spain. The king AATote his letters to all parts of the Indies, especially to the Governor Palame^a of Guiana, El Dorado, and Trinidado. Of wliich the first letter bore date March the 19, 1617, at Madrid, and when I had not yet left the Thames ; which letter I have sent to Mr Secretary : I have also two other letters of the king's, which I reserve, and one of the council's. The king also sent a commis- sion to levy three hundred soldiers out of his garrisons of Nuevo Regno de Granada, and Porto Rico, with ten pieces of brass ordnance to entei'tain us. He also pre- pared an armada by sea to set upon us. It were too long to t€ll you how we were preserved. If I live I shall make it known. M}^ brams are broken, and I cannot write much. I live yet, and I told jou why. " Whitney, for whom I sold all my plate at Ply- mouth, and to whom I gave more credit and countenance than to all the captains of my fleet, ran from me at the Granadoes, and Woolaston with him. So as I have now but five ships, and one of those I have sent home ; and in- my fly-boat a rabble of idle rascals, which I know will not spare to wound me, but I care not. I am sure there is never a base slave in all the fleet hath taken tlie i)ains and care that I have done ; tliat hath slept so little IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 321 and travelled so mucli. My friends will not believe ClfAP. \a. them, and for the rest I care not. God in heaven bless you and strengthen your heart. Yours, W. Raleigh." Having despatched his letters, Raleigh, who was so Sickness of enfeebled by sickness as to be unable to prosecute his '^ ^^^ " enterprise, conducted the fleet to Newfoundland. At this place the crew of his ship, the Destiny, became mu- tinous ; and the vessels in the squadron were on the point of separating to pursue each its own course of adventure, when Raleigh and Sir John Feme prevailed on them to continue together, holding out, as a stratagem to induce them to obey, the hope of their intercepting the Mexican treasure-fleet ; but having thus succeeded Sail for in quelling the mutiny, the admiral, notwithstandmg "^''" " the personal danger in which it placed him, insisted on sailing for England.* Previous to his departure, the Earls of Pembroke and Arundel had pledged their honour for his return, and Raleigh determined to vindicate their good opinion. On his amval off the coast of Ireland, he found that the news of his disaster had preceded him : the capture of Santa Thome, liis failing to reach the mme, the slaughter of the Spaniards, and the dispersion of his fleet, were all exaggerated by his enemies. Gon- domar the ambassador passionately demanded an audience of the king, promising that all he had to say should be * It was afterwards asserted by Wilson, but his evidence is more than suspicious, that Raleigh acknowledged that, had he fallen in with the treasure-ships, he would have been tempted to make a prize of them, according to the old principles which he had learnt in the school of Drake and Cavendish. The pas- sage which is contained in Wilson's MS. Notes in the State- paper Office is characteristic : — " 26th September.— This day he (Raleigh) fell of himself into discourse in telling me what the lords asked him yesterday, and what he answered ; * * also what discourse he and my Lord Chancellor had about taking the Plate-fleet, which he confest he would have taken had he lighted on it ; to which my Lord Chancellor said, ' Why, you would have been a pirate.' ' Oh,' quoth he, ' did you ever "know of any that were pirates for millions ? They that work for small things are pirates,' " 322 FROM RALEIGH S FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAP. VL Gondomar's misrepresen tations. Motives of his conaucL Unpropitious return of Raleigh. Proclama- tion. Letter to Philip. included in one word. When admitted to the royal presence he vociferated, "Piratas! Piratas ! Piratas!'* and well aware how such conduct was calculated to work on the timid temper of this monarch abruptly left the apartment without awaiting explanation. The governor who had fallen at St Thome being his near kinsman, it is likely he was actuated by personal feelings ; but it is sufficient to account for the deep anunosity with whicli the Spaniards regarded Sir Walter Raleigh, that they knew him to have curbed their power, exposed their insidious policy, and shown himself on all occasions their most able and inveterate enemy. The moment at which he arrived was especially in- auspicious to any one unfriendly to Philip, the mind of James being blindly bent on an alliance between Charles, prince of Wales, and the Infanta. We know from him- self that the English king appreciated the great abilities of Raleigh, and felt that his condemnation would be pe- culiarly unpopular and odious ; yet he meanly determined to bring him to the scaffold, not as a victim to public iustice, but as a sacrifice to the offended majesty of Spain ! * Such being his resolution, on the 11th of June a procla- mation was published in which James assumed a tone of high indignation towards him and his companions. He declared that he had been expressly prohibited from every hostile act against any territories of his allies ; accused them of scandalous outrages in infringing the royal commission ; and invited all who could give in- formation to repair to the privy-council, that the delin- quents might be brought to punishment.t He at the same time directed Buckingham to address a letter to Philip, in which he declared his intention punctually to perform his promise to that prince, by sending the of- fender to be dealt with in Spain, unless it would be more satisfactory to his Castilian Majesty that he should receive in England the punishment due to his crimes.ij: * Rushworth's Histor. Collect, i. 9. Cayley, vol. ii. p. 181. f Rymer, Foedera, vol. xvii. p. 92. 5: In Mr Jardine's Criminal Trials, vol. i. p. 483, is the sub- IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 323 When Sir Walter arrived at Plymouth and became CHAr.vi aware of tlie proclamation, he moored his ship, sent his ^^ ^7— sails on shore, and resolved to surrender. In the mean semV"' time Gondomar, having obtained the royal consent to a^^lf^ his death, set out for Spain,* while James commissioned Sir Lewis Stukely, vice-admiral of Devon, a near kms- man of Raleigh, to arrest him and convey him to Lon- don. It seems to have been at this moment that he wrote the following spirited remonstrance to the king : "May it please your Most Excellent Majesty, Letter to —If in my journey outward-bound I had my men the king, murdered at the islands, and yet spared to take revenge ; if I did discharge some Spanish barks taken, without spoil ; if I forbore all parts of the Spanish Indies, wherein I might have taken twenty of their towns on the sea- coasts, and did only follow the enterprise I undertook for Guiana (where, without any directions from me, a Spanish village Avas burnt, which was new set up within three miles of the mine) by your majesty's favour, I find no reason why the Spanish ambassador should complain me. " If It were lawful for the Spaniards to murder Lawfulness twenty-six Englishmen, tying them back to back and f^aSShe then cuttmg their throats, when they had traded with SpauiLds.* them a whole month, and came to them on the land without so much as one sword ; and it may not be law- ful for your majesty's subjects, being charged fii-st by then:, to repel force by force, — we may justly say, O miserable English 1 If Parker and Mecliam took Cam- peachy and other places in the Honduras, seated in the heart of the Spanish Indies, burnt towns, and killed the Spaniards, and had nothing said to them at their return ; and myself, who forbore to look into the Indies because stance of this unpublished letter of the Duke of Buckingham, written by the king's direction. The original is preserved in the fetate-v aper Office. * Toby Matthews' Letter to Lord Bacon. Cayley, vol. ii. p. 157. 324 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VL I would not offend, must be accused, — I may as justly Evidences of Say, miserable Raleigh ! If I have spent my poor fideUty. estate, lost my son, suffered by sickness and otherwise a world of hardships ; if I have resisted, with manifest hazard of my life, the robberies and spoils with which my companions would have made me rich ; if when I was poor, I could have made myself rich ; if when I had gotten my liberty, which all men, and nature itself, do much prize, I voluntarily lost it ; if when I was sure of my life I rendered it again ; if I might elsewhere have sold my ship and goods, and put £5000 or X'6000 in my purse, and yet brought her into England, — I beseech your majesty to believe that all this I have done, be- cause it should not be said that your majesty had given liberty and trust to a man whose end was but the re- covery of his liberty, and who had betrayed your ma- jesty's trust. Reliance on « My mutineers told me that if I returned for England -ing. J should be undone ! But I believed in your majesty's goodness more than all their arguments. Sure, I am the first, that being free and able to enrich myself, yet hath embraced poverty and peril, — and as sure I am that my example shall make me the last. But your majesty's wisdom and goodness I have made my judges, who have ever been, and shall ever be, your majest^^'s most humble vassal. " W. Raleigh." Arrested on After a brief delay, necessary for settling his affairs, London! *^ ^"^ Walter set out on his journey to London ; but be- fore he had proceeded twenty miles he was met by Stukely, who informed him that he had orders to arrest his person and his ship. Raleigh answered quietly, that he had already saved him the trouble ; after wliich they travelled in company back to Plymouth, and took up their residence at the house of Sir Christopher Harris, where they remained eight or ten days. Residence at During this interval, with what object does not clearly ^ ™"" appear, Raleigh was left much at liberty by Sir Lewis. He was also joined by his aflPectionate wife, who actively IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 325 laboured for his interests ; and, availing himself of these CHAP. vi. o})portunities, he acquired secret information of the in- Resolution to veteracy of the royal mind against him, and the resolu- escape. tion which had been taken to sacrifice him to Spain. The love of life — the hope, as he himself tells us, that he might yet be able to achieve the adventure to Guiana, and justify his conduct in the eyes of his sovereign, effected a change in his resolution, and he determined to attempt his escape to France. Captain King, an old Change of officer who had sailed in the expedition, and was much P^^'Tose. attached to him, procured a bark to lie off the shore at a certain spot beyond the command of the fort ; and Raleigh and he having taken boat in a dark night, pulled away for the vessel, when suddenly altering his purpose, and commanding them to put about, he returned secretly to his lodging. Next day he sent money to the master of the bark, requesting him to stay another evening ; and yet, though both wind and tide were fair, he once more gave up the design and remained under the charge of Stukely. At this moment this artful agent of the government iianourie; Avas joined by one Manourie, a French physician, who insinuated himself into the confidence of Raleigh, and afterwards betrayed him. Stukely took to his assistance one Manourie, a French quack ; " upon what occasion," says King, " I here willingly omit, as well because I would not meddle with any instrument of state, as because I, little suspecting what followed, was somewhat careless in the observance of their carriage."* When we consider the circumstances in which he was Coviflicting placed we cannot wonder that there was in Raleigh's **^^^'"£^ mind a conflict of feelings which kept it in pamful un- certainty. Clinging to the consciousness of innocence, he at one time trusted that, if he could obtain but a short respite in London before being thrown into the Tower, he might vindicate his conduct effectually in the eyes of the king. Again, awakening to a sense of the virulence * Oldys's Lii'e, p. 521. 326 FROM Raleigh's first confinement Inevitable destruction. Feigned sickness. CHAP. VI. of James's antipathy, the malice and power of his enemies, and the irresistible influence of the Spanish court, he felt that in proceeding on his journey he was only delivering himself to inevitable destruction. The shameless manner also in which his plans had already been betrayed, and his former experience of the partiality of a jury, left him little to hope from the law ; while the persuasion that he might without any disloyalty retire to an asylum in France till the violence of the king's resentment should subside, prompted him at least to lend an ear to the suggestions of Manourie, who hinted the possibility oi an escape."^ Under these agitating and opposite feelings he embraced a middle course, — the worst which in any imminent peril can be adopted. He determined to feign sickness, in order to move the king not to send him instantly to the Tower, and at the same time so to arrange matters, that if this failed he should be able to escape before it came to the worst. With this object, having arrived at Salisbury, he com- plained of being slightly indisposed, and sent Captain King and Lady Raleigh forward to London along with his servants. On their departure he pretended that his malady increased, and procured some drugs from Ma- nourie, which occasioned violent retelling. Availing himself also of his chemical knowledge, he rubbed his face and body with a preparation wliich produced red pustules and discoloured spots, not unlike the symptoms of the plague. It must be allowed, that having resolved to counterfeit disease, Raleigh carried through his pur- pose with an ingenuity not a little amusing. When Stukely and Manourie were sitting together, Robin, Sir Walter's servant, rushed in and told them his master was out of his wits, that he had leaped out of bed in his shirt, and was scratching and biting the rushes upon the planks. On coming into the apartment after this iit was over, Stukely, perceiving the skin covered with blisters. Assumption of symptoms of disease. Ingenious counteifeit Raleigh's Speech on the Scaffold. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 327 having a purple tinge round the extremities, and a spot chap^VT. of yellow in the middle, was instantly struck with dread D,.ead of the of contagion, and hastened to communicate his suspicions symptoms. to Bishop Andrews, by whose advice two doctors and a bachelor of physic visited the patient. Whilst these grave gentlemen were at his bedside, the ChemiMi dose which Raleigh had administered began to operate, deceptions. and so minutely had he prepared every thing, that the basins in the room, having been previously drugged, whatever was poured into them became black and earthy- coloured, and emitted an unpleasant smell. This com- plication of symptoms puzzled the doctors, who, after a consultation of great length, declared that the patient Opinion could not, without the manifest peril of his life, be ex- 5y„ysk;ian. posed to the air, though they cautiously abstained from delivering an opinion on the exact nature of the disease. The success, however, of the stratagem was complete ; and Sir Walter, being confined to his sick-room, and attended by Manourie, who was in the secret, gained time to write that apology for his conduct, which he addressed to the king, — a discourse, considering the circumstances under which it was composed, of singular eloquence and ability. Thus far his scheme had prospered, and his spirits were Baseness so good that he declared himself highly pleased with the attendants. deception he had practised, and anticipated a favourable conclusion to all his distresses. It was his misfortune not to be aware of the utter baseness of Sir LcAvis and Manourie, both his determined enemies, and employed by the king to lead him into such courses as might form a plausible pretext for his condemnation. Misled by their apparent friendliness, he became JJ^^P'^^^^'j^'^^g^ inclined to treat the Frenchman w^ith still higher confi- dence, and when he repeated his proposals for an escape, and suggested the likeliest method of accomplishing it. Sir Walter not only agreed to attempt it, but informed him that he had sent Captain King to procure a boat to wait at Gravesend, m order to carry him out of the country. Tliis intelligence the spy instantly disclosed escape. Faithfulness of King. 328 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VI. to his confederate, and so strict a watch was kept as to Rene^ render impossible the execution of the project. In this l^^^^r?J difficulty Raleigh determined to offer a bribe to Stukely for his connivance. He accordingly sent Manourie with a rich jewel, and a promise of £50, if he would intermit his vigilance and allow him to save himself. It is impossible not to see that this was exactly the snare into which it was desired that their victim should be led, and the purpose for which such persons were placed about him ; and we are not therefore to wonder that Sir Lewis agreed not only to accept the money, but to accompany the prisoner in his flight. Their plan being settled, Manourie pushed forward to London, having concluded his treach- erous part, whilst the royal emissary and Sir Walter followed by slower stages. On reaching the capital he was joined by his faithful friend, King, who informed him that every thing was ready ; that Cotterel, an old servant of the admiral, and Hart, a seaman, who was believed to be trustworthy, were to have a boat in waiting at Tilbury ; and that it would be best to go aboard that very evening. This, however, was declared by Sir Walter to be impossible ; he observed there would be no getting away without Stukely, but hoped to prevail with him to accompany him, and promised to meet King the following night without fail at the Tower Dock. Every thing seemed now to prosper according to his wishes, and Raleigh's spirits were still farther raised by a visit, on the evening of his arrival in London, from Le Clerc, the agent of the French king, who offered a bark to convey him to Calais, and letters of safe conduct to the governor.* This friendly proposal he declined, as his own bark was already prepared ; but he professed * It was this visit which appears principally to have alarmed King James, whose timid and suspicious temper converted it into a plot and treasonable correspondence with the French fovernment. This is apparent from the MS, papers of Sir 'homas Wilson, preserved in the State-paper Office ; and the same documents completely prove that the visit was unpreme- ditated, and related solely to Le Clerc's wish to favour Raleigh'a escape. See Appendix. High hopes excited. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 329 his readiness to receive any letters of introduction, as his chap. vi. acquaintance with that country was worn out. This was Attempted on a Saturday evening ; and on Sunday morning, having escape. disguised himself with a false heard, Sir Walter, his page, and Stukely, joined King at the place appointed. They found the wherries waiting, and Raleigh, Stukely, and the page leapt into one, whilst King and Hart the hoat- swain occupied the other. At this moment Sir Lewis asked King, wliether " thus far he had not proved him- self an honest man I " to which he answered, " That he hoped he would continue so." Raleigh appeared confi- Appvehen- dent and cheerful till the bargemen remarked that Mr ^^°°' Herbert, whom he knew to be his enemy, had lately taken boat as if he would have shot the bridge, instead of which he had suddenly changed his direction, and followed them dowTi the river. This raised Sir Walter's apprehensions, and not long after a wherry crossed their course, which he declared was a spy, and hesitated to proceed. Stukely, however, appeared so zealous for their escape, that even King became assured of his sin- cerity, and they continued their course beyond Woolwich to a reach of the river near Plumstead, where Hart's vessel was expected. On approaching the place, three ketches were seen at Discovery of anchor, and Hart, with well-acted disappointment, cried ^^^ i^etrayai. out that none of them was his. Raleigh, calmly remark- ing that they w^ere betrayed, commanded the boatmen to row back, hoping still to regain his own house. They had made little way on their return before the strange wherry again met them, manned by Herbert's servants. Fearful of falling into their hands. Sir Walter made a last attempt to secure Stukely 's friendship. They talked Lost hope of aside ; Raleigh was observed to give him sometlimg which ^^^'^^ he drew from his pocket, and he was overheard to make reiterated protestations of fidelity. It was agreed that he and King should pretend they had inveigled their prisoner so far only to betray him, and discover his intentions ; and thus retaining the custody of Raleigh, Sir Lewis held out hopes that some better means of escape 330 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VL might be devised. It is evident this was the only plan LastTefuge. wliich gave the probability of escape, whether Stukely was true or false. Had Sir Walter been delivered np to Herbert, he knew he must go instantly to the Tower. If Stukely were true, this was the only pretence on which he could have been suffered to retain charge of his pri- * soner ; if he were false, still an additional bribe was the single chance left ; but it failed, and whilst he took the money, he remained the traitor. The blunt honesty of Captain King, however, precipitated the discovery of his thorough baseness. Arrest of On landing, the other wherry, which had dogged them ^"^* all the way, followed their example ; and as the crew, consisting of Mr Herbert's men, were coming forward, Stukely, taking Kjng aside, said it would serve Sir Walter if he would pretend to be his accomplice in betraying his master. The captain's honest heart rose against the deceit, and he positively refused ; upon which the former, dreading his discoveries if allowed to remain at large, threw off the mask, arrested King, and handed him over to Herbert's people, commanding them to keep him apart from Sir Walter. He then carried the whole party to a tavern, and made preparations for conducting them to the Tower next morning, it being too late to reach it that day. At this moment, when the baseness of this Eqnanimity profligate agent of government must have been com- cfKaieigh. pjet^^ly revealed, Raleigh's equanimity did not forsake him. He only remarked, " Su* Lewis, these actions will not turn out to your credit ;" and on the succeeding day, exulting, as appears from his own description, that be had deceived so able a man, he conveyed them to the state prison. On entering the gateway of this gloomy and fatal abode, where he had already spent thu-teen melancholy years, Raleigh said to King, " Stukel}? and Cotterel have 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." He was then shut in, and his old friend bade him farewell, recommending him to God's keeping. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 331 In reflecting on the misfortunes with which Raleigh chap. ^^l. was now pursued, it is evident that he was entrapped Base~agency into this attem])t to escape by the government, who "^ the 1 n 1 11. oi 1 1 1 T»r • governmeiiL worked through their agents, Stukely and Manourie, and wished to employ the circumstance as a handle against him. Since James's promise to Gondomar, that the great enemy of Spain should be sacrificed, it had been the study of the king to accomplish this with some show of justice. Before Sir Walter's arriA^^l some of his crews had deserted, and others, for misconduct, he had sent home. Many of these men were privately examined. Attempts to and evidence anxiously sought to convict him cither of evidence piracy or some other crimes worthy of death. The de- against him. positions of the Spanish merchants who had been plun- dered were carefully taken ; but the suppression of this evidence, and the determination not to bring him to trial on any of the charges, seem to prove that government were convinced the Spaniards had been the aggressors. On this ground, therefore, it was impossible to convict liim ; yet the Spanish match depended on it, and Ra- leigh's life must be given as a bribe to obtain the Infanta. It was the parting warning of Gondomar, that should there be any slackness in this, it would serve as ground for future and final discontent ;* and the only method that remained was to induce him to attempt his escape ; to engage in a correspondence with the French govern- ment, which might be construed into treason ; or to commit some outrage. When it was found that he had at first no intention EfTorts to of flight ; that his prudence declined the assistance of ^^^^y^ ^"™ the French agent ; and that he stood upon the conscious- ness of his innocence, the persons placed about him talked of the promise made to the Spanish ambassador, of the unforgiving temper of the king, and of the power of his enemies ; orders for his stricter restraint were intimated to him : the Tower was hinted at ; and the * Bacon's Letters, by Birch, p. 178. 332 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VI. sentence of death, wliicli still hting over his head, was SuccesTof recalled to his recollection. These arts, as we have seen, the plot. prevailed ; the love of life, and the hope that he might yet vindicate his character and the practicability of his project by another voyage, induced him to listen to the suggestions of his betrayers, and he became a victim to the cunning of the government, and the treachery of its instruments. Proceedings The truth of these observations is strikingly demon- ^^ ^^^ ^ strated by the proceedings which followed his return to the Tower. A commission composed of some members of the privy-council, amongst whom we find Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury, Lord-chancellor Bacon, and Sir Edward Coke, of whose unfavourable opinions lie had already had severe experience, was appointed to examine the prisoner. Before these dignitaries he was Accusations, accused of having fraudulently pretended that he went to discover a mine, when his real object was to recover his liberty, and commence his career as a pirate ; he was charged with a design to plunge the country into a war with Spain ; with having abandoned his ship's com- pany, and expressed himself disrespectfully of the king ; with havmg feigned madness to excite the royal com- passion ; and with an attempt to escape. The two last charges Raleigh admitted, justifying them by the natural desire felt by every man to preserve his life. On none of the other points could the ingenuity of his judges and the pains taken to collect evidence prove the slightest His defence, matter against him. He answered them all, and de- monstrated that they were frivolous and absurd. For the mine, the sincerity of his intentions was, he said, amply proved by his taking out a company of miners, and then- tools and apparatus, which cost him £2000. As to the attack upon the Spaniards, it was accidental and against his orders. He repelled with indignation the charge of either leaving his men or exposing tliem to greater danger than he himself had shared ; and he declared that all he had ever said touchmg the king was, " that he was undone by the confidence he had placed IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 333 in his majesty, and that he knew his life would be sacri- chap, vl ficed to state purposes."* During these proceedings the attorney-general having Knowledge alluded to the royal clemency which had so long spared "unocence his life after his condemnation at Winchester, Raleigh protested that he believed the king did in his conscience clear him from all guiltiness of the fact then charged against hmi ; and indeed, added he, " I know that his majesty hath been heard to say, with reference to these proceedings, that he would not wish to be tried by a Middlesex jury." He stated also, that Dr Turner, his physician in the Tower, had informed him Sir Francis Gawdy, one of the judges who sat on the trial, had de- clared on his deathbed, that " the justice of England had Base never been so degraded and injured as by the condemna- ^f J^^J^"* tion of Sir Walter Raleigh." These particulars appear in a manuscript note preserved in the State-paper Office, from which some interesting extracts have lately been given to the public ; and it is evident that Raleigh evinced during the examinations the same spirit, acute- ness, eloquence, and command of temper, which had distinguished him on his trial.t The only result of this investigation was tlie admission of his attempt to escape. That this was only a natural impulse in the circumstances under which he was placed, all will readily admit ; some may even be disposed to regard it as a necessary duty ; and in a letter without date, addressed about this time to the Duke of Buckingham, Sir Walter vindicates him- self in this striking manner : — " * * * That wliich doth comfort my soul in thisVindicatioTj offence is, that even in the offence itself I had no other*^ ^^^ ' intent than his majesty's service, and to make his ma- jesty know that my late enterprise was grounded upon a truth ; and which, with one ship speedily set out, I meant to have assured, or to have died ; being resolved, as it is well known, to have done it from Plymouth, had * Criminal Trials, vol. i. p. 487. t Ibid. p. 483. 334 FROM RALEIGH S FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAP. VI. His hopes of recovering theroya] favour. Causes of aiprehen- Defence of ills proceedings. I not been restrained. Hereby I hoped not only to re- cover his majesty's gracious opinion, but have destroyed all those malignant reports Avhich had been spread of me. That this is true, that gentleman whom I so much trusted (my keeper), and to whom I opened my heart, cannot but testify ; and wherein, if I cannot be believed living, my death shall witness. Yea, that gentleman cannot but avow it, that when we came back toAA-aid London, I desired to save no other treasure than the exact description of those places in the Indies."^ That I meant to go hence as a discontented man, God, I trust, and mine own actions will dissuade his majesty (whom neither the loss of my estate, thirteen years' imprison- ment, and the denial of my pardon, could beat from his service ; and the opinion of being accounted a fool or rather distract, by returning as I did unpardoned, balanced with my love to his majesty's person and estate) had no place at all in my heart. " It was the last severe letter from my lords for the speed}^ bringing of me up, and the impatience of dis- honour, that first put me in fear of my life, or enjoying it in a perpetual imprisonment, never to recover my re- putation lost, which strengthened me in my late, and too -late-lamented resolution if his majesty's mercy do not abound, — if his majesty do not pity my age, and scorn to take the extremest and utmost advantage of my errors, — if his majesty, in his great charity, do not make a difference between offences proceeding from a life-saving natural impulsion without all ill intent, and those of an ill heart, — and that your lordship, remarkable in the world for the nobleness of your disposition, do not vouch- safe to become my intercessor. Whereby your lordship shall bind a hundred gentlemen of my kindred to honour * There is preserved in the State-paper Ofiice, an " Tnventary oi" such Things as were found on the Body of Sir Walter Raw- leigh, Knycht, the 15 day of August 1018." Among the dif- ferent items are "One Plott of Guiana and the River Orenoque," " The Description of the River Orenoque," and " A Plott of Panama." See p. 344. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 335 your memory, and bind me, for all the time of that life chap, vl \\hieli your lordshi^D shall beg for me, to pray to God that you may ever prosper ; and ever bind me to remain your most humble servant, " W. Raleigh." This letter produced no effect. The king had deter- Vain appeal mined that Raleigh should die, and the only question was, in what manner the sacrifice should be accomplished. His commissioners had been baffled ; but it was still hoped something might be discovered to constitute the subject of a second trial, or at least justify the execution of the old sentence. It was suspected that he still com- Secret spies. municated secretly with the French agent, who had already offered to assist his escape ; but as his prudence was found equal to defeat any public examination, it Avas determined to su1)ject him to a vigilant system of superintendence, by employmg as his keeper an emissary of government, who should gain his confidence and in- duce him to discover enough to fonn ground for his condemnation. The lieutenant of the Tower, under whose charge Sir Walter had hitherto remained, was Sir Allen Apsley, the father of the celebrated Mrs Lucy Sir Aiipn Hutchinson, who has left in her Memoirs this amiable ^v&^^y- character of Ijim : "He was the father of all his prisoners, sweetening with such compassionate kindness their re- straint, that the affliction of a prison was not felt in those days ; he had also a singular kindness for all persons who were eminent in learning or in arms." So excellent a person was not fitted for the office of a spy ; and accord- ingly the king, with the advice of Secretary Naunton, selected Sir Thomas Wilson, whose qualifications promised Sir Thomas more success. He was a man of learning and refinement, but of great cunning ; and under the specious mask of religion and benevolence he concealed, as his letters abundantly demonstrate, a mean and cruel disposition. " His instructions were to take the exclusive charge of Raleigh m the Tower, * to keep him safe, to suffer no persons to come at him except such as were necessary for his diet, &c. ; ' and he was directed to draw from him 336 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VT. such information, either with respect to his communica« insti-uctions *^^^ ^^'^^^ *^^^ French ambassador or his Guiana expedi- forwatciiiBg tion in general, as might conduce to the object which ^ ^^^ the government had m view ; " namely, the speedy con- demnation of the prisoner. " Sir Thomas Wilson," saya Mr Jardine, " was at this time keeper of the state-papers, and there are preserved in the office over which he pre- sided his own original minutes of the conversation and conduct of Sir Walter Raleigh whilst under his charge in the Tower. On the perusal of these papers, it is diffi- Base conduct cult to Say whether the preponderating feeling is sym- jf Wilson. pathy for the captive, or disgust and indignation for his unfeeling and treacherous keeper. Sir Thomas Wilson entered upon his charge on the 11th of September, and from that time until the loth of October, when he was withdrawn from the Tower, his minutes and daily reports to Secretary Naunton show a system of rigid observation and of artful ensnaring espionage on his part, which was never for a moment relaxed. Raleigh's own servant wasf Dismission of immediately dismissed, and a man appointed by Wilson attendaiu^'^ took his place. Lady Raleigh and her son were excluded from the Tovrer ; but she was allowed, and even invited to correspond freely with her husband ; and then the notes which she sent, as well as Raleigh's answers, were intercepted by Sir Thomas Wilson's man, and sent to the king and council for their perusal before they w^ere delivered. Sir Thomas Wilson himself never stirred from his prisoner from the time he opened his lodging in the morning, till with his own hand he locked him up for the night : at his meals, at his devotions, and during the attendance of his physician and surgeon, this Enmity of persevering keeper never quitted his apartment. His us eepei. ^^^^ feeling towards his unhappy prisoner, and his zeal in the unworthy task in which he was employed, are manifested by the language which he constantly uses respecting him in his reports and letters : he calls him * hypocrite' and ' arch impostor,' with other terms of reproach ; and says he never dealt with one ' tarn in- geniose nequam' ' The king of Heaven preserve your IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 337 majesty from having many such dangerous subjects !' chap. vi. Having removed his prisoner into apartments of greater j^pttersof security than those in which he had been placed by Sir Wilson. Allen Apsley, Sir Thomas Wilson writes to Sir Robert Naunton, one of the secretaries of state, thus : * I have removed this man into a safer and higher lodging, which, though it seemeth nearer heaven, yet there is there no means to escape but into hell.' Agam, in a letter to the king, he says, — * I hope, by such means as I shall use, to work out more than I have yet done ; if not, I know no other means but a rack or a halter ."* It is morti- fying to observe the degrading discoveries which these Degrading papers make of the feelmgs and disposition of the kmg. ^S^dig.^' James acted as principal inquisitor over Raleigh ; he personally directed the strictest seclusion and superm- tendence, suggested the mode of examination, inspected the intercepted letters, and exhibited much disappoint- ment that his own ingenuity and that of his assistants should be in the end entirely baffled.t At the same time when Wilson was appointed to take the place of Apsley and to wait upon Raleigh, this unfortunate man was com- pletely broken in health. He had been afflicted during sufferings of the whole period of his imprisonment by an intermitting Raleigh, fever and ague ; his body was covered with painful im- posthumes ; his left side so much swollen as to occasion perpetual uneasiness ; and he was still lame from the wound received in the Cadiz expedition. Wilson was first introduced to him by Apsley as he lay in bed ; and Raleigh, after bidding him welcome, and hearing that he was appointed to take charge of him, dejectedly ex- claimed, " Let the king do with me what he will ; for willingness never man was more desirous to die!";}: This speech **^^^- * Jardine's Criminal Trials, vol. i. p. 489-491. t By the favour of Lord Melbourne I have been permitted to examine and make extracts from the papers relative to Sir Walter Raleigh, preserved in the State-paper Office ; and whilst I avail myself of the very interesting passages derived from the same source by Mr Jardine, I am thus able to add some other particulars not published by that gentleman. X See Extracts from Wilson's first Letter to Secretary Naunton, Appendix. 338 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP^vi. and other particulars were reported to Naunton ; and the following note, written by that minister in reply, evinces the teraper in which the communication was received : — Letter from « SiR, — I read most of both your letters to his majesty, who allows well of your care and discretion. I hope you will every day get ground of that hypocrite that is so desirous to die, mortified man that he is ! His majesty was well pleased with your past services ; he wUl think long for the ripening and mellowing of the observations and conferences by which you are to work upon that cripple. The best comfort I can give you is, I hope you shall not long be troubled with him : Proin ■A"irnosity^ ^w, quodfacturus esyfac cito, etfrontem occasionis arripe, ^^' et preme quantum potes ; potesenim,et sane vis. Vale!"* Document of ^^ ^^Y tiling were wanting to prove the king's animo- Wiison's. sity against Raleigh, this letter would amply supply the defect ; whilst it exposes at the same time the un worthi- ness of the artifices and instruments employed by the royal inquisitor. There is preserved in the State-paper Office an original document of Wilson's, entitled, " A Relation of what hath passed and been observed by me, since my coming to Sir Walter Raleigh, upon Friday the 11th of September," which throws a clear light on the conferences between this spy of government and the prisoner. After alluding to the disease and debility under which he found him labouring, Wilson describes the manner in which he proceeded to fulfil his instruc- His duplicity. ^JQ^g^ Having introduced himself " as sent by the king out of his majesty's gracious and princely goodness, because he knew him to be a man of more honesty than cunning," he urged Raleigh to disclose whatever he knew might be of importance to the public service, in which * " Therefore do quickly what you have to do ; seize oppor- tunity by the forehead, and press as much as you can : I know you both can and will. Farewell ! " — Criminal Trials, vol. i. p. 492. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 339 case there was no doubt he would experience the royal chap. vi. clemency. To this Sir Walter answered with the greatest Frankness of earnestness, that if he were aware of any such thing, he Kaieigii. would, sick as he was, write it that very night to his majesty, — an asseveration which had little effect, for his keeper proceeded to charge him with a treasonable cor- respondence with France. With much cunning he intercourse attempted to persuade him that it would be as well to ^^'^ ^ ^^^^c. reveal what had been already confessed by others : his conference with the French agent on coming home, and his interview with the ambassador of the same nation before setting out, were, he hinted, already well known. fle pressed him to acknowledge his real purpose in escaping to that country ; what promises were made to him ; what employment he was to receive there ; and what " plots and designs were thereupon depending." The craft and duplicity of Wilson is strongly depicted in Craft and this sentence of his journal, sent to Secretary Naunton : ^-Ij^on/^ ^ *' Thus far I went with him ; but yesternight, having before let out some pieces of these things, that he might think it came hardly from me as from myself, he made rae a long answer, and told me in gross what he had done before in retail : saying, * Whatsoever is confessed by others, sure I am there is .lothing can touch my fidelity to the king nor my country.' " He affirmed that the only conference he had with the French agent was merely compliment, and sought by that gentleman with whom he had no intimate acquaintance. With regard to the Conduct ( f French ambassador, it was true, indeed, that before his a^^ga^Jr voyage he had come to see his ship ; but it was a visit, he said, simply of curiosity, and he was influenced by the same motives which had brought on the same errand the ambassadors of Venice and Savoy, and even some of the Spaniarcj. His own purpose, he affinned, in escaping to France, was solely to shelter himself from danger until the storm blew over, and he might have an opportunity, either through the influence of the queen or of his other friends, to recover favour. As to promises made him, he protested he had none ; but for employment he had 340 FROM RALEIGH S FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAP. VL Hope of ser- vice against the Spaniard. Desire of escape. Wilson's dis- satisfaction. His deceit. Commenda- tion of the king. Reply of Raleij;h. hoped he might be able to do some service against the Spaniard, seeing he was acquainted as well with the nature of his resources as with the weak points upon which he might be attacked. With regard to messages, letters, or plots, his only plot, he declared, was to save his Hfe by an escape somewhere, being alarmed by the letters which he had received from some lords, his friends, which informed him that the king was determined to have strict justice inflicted on his person ; and, having once determined to fly, he knew no fitter place than France. Such were Raleigh's answers ; and although nothing could be more clear and ingenuous, Wilson was by no means satisfied with them. " After," says he in his notes, " he had made me answer in this fashion, I told him 1 saw I had no ground in his aff'ection and confidence, for he would intrust no more to me than to others ; ^ but, sir,' said I, * if you would have opened unto me the closets of your heart, and faithfully let me know what is there, I would have engaged myself for you as far as my life and poor estate would reach, in an assurance of your life, safety, and recover}'- of his majesty's favour.' ' Oh sir,' quoth he, * how should a man be assured of that ? — the king will say when all is told, if a man could tell any thing more, " Why, the knave was afraid of his life, else I should never have known it ; and therefore no, God-a- mercy." ' — Then I fell again," continues Wilson, " into the true common-place of the actions and example of his majesty ; how there never was a better king since King David, nor before ; and put him in mind how mercifully he did by Joab, Abiathar, Shemei, and others, who had so grievously ofi"ended him, yet would he not suffer them to be put to death in his time. * No,' quoth he, * but he left commission to his son to do it, and so did Henry the Seventh by Pole, that was sent unto him by the emperor. But-—' saith he, and there made a stop, pausing a whUe as if he had some great matter to say, with an assured contemplative countenance ; and as he was about to speak, supper came in ; and because I would not have IN TIIE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 341 him forget, I staid and siipt with him, and after supper CHAP, vl would have drawn liim into that mind wliere I left him y. ~~ before, but he had gotten hard. What he feareth most the'Jpa'iBh seems to be, that if the match with Spain hold, the "'***'*^ Spaniard will pursue him to death or worse punishment and if it break off, then we must needs couple with France, and he shall mar his market by betraying the trust which perhaps tliey have put in him."* The use of the word « perhaps" in this sentence Gronndiofis proves how completely conjectural was the opinion re- suspicions. garding the treasonable intercourse of Raleigh with France ; whilst at the same time Wilson did not scruple to assert a direct falsehood,— viz. that the king had acquired complete proof of it. The great matter of sus- picion, upon which the king's agent never ceased to interrogate Raleigh, was his interview with the French agent ; but upon this point his prisoner invariably ad- hered to the same account, which he confirmed on the Object of Lc scaffold, that the object of Le Clerc's visit was simply to ^^^^'^'^ "'^'■' facilitate his escape to France ; that he had no corre- spondence with that government, treasonable or other- wise ; that he had no commission whatever from the French king, — a point upon which immediate proof might be procured, as such commissions were all upon record and might be seen for a French crown ; and that his real intention in the voyage to Guiana was the working of a gold mine, which was situated near the town, as could be proved by the most satisfactory evidence. Disappointed in his main object, Wilson appears to nespicabie have been driven to the system of exaggerating trifles, ^'"'^^s of and discovermg, or rather mventing, contradictions and incongruities in Raleigh's discourse, of which he sent a daily report to the king and Secretary Naunton. Un- important and often ridiculous as these memorials are, they contain some interesting particulars of the last days of this illustrious man. On the 12th September, at night, Wilson's Journal contains this remarkable passage : ♦ Notes by Sir Tliomas Wilson, in the State-paper Office. 342 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VL ,, rj^i^jg eygjiing, finding him reading the Psahns, I told Extract from him that there he had the best comfort ; that there he ioxxm&L had a man and a king, and the best man and the best king that ever was, who had as great affliction as ever any had ; and yet by his constancy and faithfulness he overcame all ; and so might he. Hereupon he began and told me from the beginning to the end all his mis- fortunes; how first, at his majesty's coming in, North- ampton, Suffolk, Salisbury, and the rest, plotted to get him and Cobham out of favour, and to get every thing Observations jj^^o their own hands ; then he went to the arraignment '^ ^'^ ' at Wmchester, and said, * it was as unjust a condemna- tion, without proof and testimony, as ever was known.' So went he along his thirteen years' imprisonment, and the means he took to procure liberty for his voyage ; his disasters there, and all the tedious circumstances ; and then the betraying of him by Sir Lewis Stukely on his return. After this I told him, if he would but disclobc Avhat he knew, the king would forgive him, and do him all favour. * Aye,' quoth he, ' how should I be assured of that ? The king will say, when it is told, " The craven was afraid of his life, else he would not have told it." ' * " S-iindi"'^^' " 1'^^^ September.— This day, upon his complamt of his misery, I gave him counsel and comfort to bear his affliction with patience, upon the assurance of God's mercy, and the example of such as God had suffered to be as grievously afflicted as flesh and blood could bear, and yet had restored them to as great felicity as ever. He took occasion thereupon to commend the magnani- SStJ^^^" niity of the Romans, who would rather have their deaths by their own hands, than endure any that was base or reproachful. To which I answered, that * they were such as knew not God, nor the danger of their souls to be damned to perpetual torment of hell for destroying their bodies, which God had made a temple for the Holy Ghost to dwell.' To which he said, * it was a disputable question ; for divers did hold opinion that a man may do it, and yet not desperately despair of God's mercy, but die in God's favour.' Whereto this discoui-se of his IN TUE TOWEll TO HIS EXECUTION. 343 tended it is easily seen ; but I thiiik he hath no such CiiAP. VL Roman courage. Mr Lieutenant tells me he hath had opinion'fin like discourse with him heretofore, who charged him J^;^';!^^^^ with such jntent upon occasion of having so many apo- thecary's drugs, and such like, ' which it were well,' saith he, * were not suffered to be here.' * Why,' saitli Raleigh, ' if you take away all these means from me, yet, if I had such a mmd, I could run my head against a post and kill myself.' After, he fell into discourse of the three last kings that were killed in France. * * He hath often tried me, by introductions, to discourse of matters on which he might have gathered more out of my answers than I wished, to which I have used either diversions or such answers as I thought fit or safe, or at least silence, or pleading ignorance, which I hold to be the surest armour of proof for those that are to converse with cunning." Soon after this it appears that Raleigh had earnestly Permission requested permission to write to the king; and his keeper, ^v^^J^efo^ti/e^ at the same time that he made this request known at king. court, suggested that his own wife. Lady Wilson, should repair to the Tower to watch his prisoner at any moment when he was absent. This produced a letter from Naun- ton, proving the minuteness with which every particular connected with Raleigh was personally supermtended by James. It commences thus : — " Sir, — I have acquainted his majesty with your i-etteTf.nm desire to have your lady with you to attend carefully in '^^ ""^ your absence, which she is fitter to do than any servant, which his majesty willingly condescended unto. I told him further of Sir Walter Raleigh's desire of leave to write to him, which first he seemed to take amiss from me ; but after I acquainted him with his cautious diplo- matique not to offend France, in case the match should not proceed with Spain, at length I obtained his answer that he was content to vouchsafe him leave to write to himself, with this charge that he should unfold all the truth sincerely, without respect of satisfying or unsatis- 344 FROM RALEIGH S FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAP. VL fying any but his majesty, to whom only he oweth alle- giance, and without playing [dissembling] as he had done with the lords of the council, and if he should fail in either of these two conditions, he should but augment his fault and contumation both." Cliancje of Rcileicjh'a lodgiag. His jewels Espionage. The letter, from which this is an extract, is dated September 16th, at Whitehall. On the following day, the l7th, Raleigh was removed by Sir Thomas Wilson " into a safer and higher lodging. I have by this means," so he writes to Naunton, " seen all his trinkets that he hath with him, and taken an inventory of every thing he hath, because I would not have myself or servants charged with what is not there, which is nothing of value, as your honour may see by this copy enclosed.* As for the diamond which is spoken of, he saith he had never any such of Queen Elizabeth's giving ; all that he had Sir Lewis Stukely took from him, save only a sapphire ring, which is his seal, which he showed me. But to the matter, for these are Ta^ioya : — I remember that among other passages of our speeches and divers questions, one was, what kind of man the French agent was I I replied, ' Sir, why do you ask me this question \ you know him better than I ;' which he protested he did not. How- beit, I wrought it out of him yesternight, that the agent was with him at his house on the Sunday morning, brought by De Chesne, whom he asking what gentleman it was in the white feather, he answered, ' C'est monsieur I'agent.' Then I pressed him to know what conference they had ; he said he would write it to the king if he might have leave. I told him he should know that shortly, for I had written to that purpose to the court. This passed yesternight ; after which Mr Lieutenant came from the court, and sent out to speak with me, * The inventory taken by Wilson does not exist in the State- paper Office, but there is there preserved an original paper docqueted on the back, " Inventary of Sir Walter Rawleigh his Jewells and things delivered to Sir Lewis Stukely." It is a curious paper, and some extracts from it will be found in the Appendix. IN TUE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. .S-15 telling me he had a message to deliver to Sir Walter chap, vi Raleigh from the king, which he would do in my hear- jfessaffcT ing. The substance was, that his majesty was pleased, from tiie upon my motion, to give him leave to write unto him, "^' provided that he wrote no trivial, nor delusory, nor dilatory things ; for if he did, assuredly he must look for no favour, but for death, as he had deserved ; to which Sir Walter answered he would write nothing to his majesty but truth, and such things as should be ma- terial ; after which I had a long discourse with him to that purpose, charging him to give his majesty satisfac- tion, as he tendered his own life and the reputation of his friends, which he promised to do.'* The letter to the king has been lost ; or perhaps it Reieigirs may have been destroyed, as not giving full satisfaction '^"^''^ '"'**■ to his majesty, contaming too bold a defence of his own conduct, and too much truth with regard to the aggression of the Spaniards ; thus confuting James's preconceived notions, and setting at fault his boasted ingenuity in the detection of plots and the examination of evidence.* The letter of Wilson, however, enclosing that of Raleigh, remains. It is as follows : — " Most Gratious Sovereign, — According to your Letter of majesty's commandment, I have employed the uttermosl "^Viisou. of my poor discretion to work out what I could from this arch-hypocrite committed to my charge, of which I have given a journal account to j\Ir Secretary, and in letters, with which I doubt not your majesty hath been acquainted ; wherein any defect that hath been shown, * Mr Jardine, in his late work, the Criminal Trials, vol. i. p. 494, considers it probable that the letter from Raleigh to the king, published by Cayley, vol. ii. p. 153, is the same letter as that alluded to in the above notes of Wilson, which was sent, as we know, on the 18th of September. In this 1 cannot agree with him. The letter sent by Raleigh on the IHth of September contained, as we know from the MS. notes of Wilson, two points amongst others ; the one an explanation of his interview with De Chesne, the other an allusion to a promise made by Wilson of the king's mercy. Now the letter in Cayley has not th© slightest allusion either to De Chesne or to this promise. 346 FROM RALEIGH'S FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAr. VI. Nature of Raleigh's letter. I trust 3"our majesty will impute it to want of cunning, not want of faitlifulncss, it being the first part that ever I acted with a man tarn ingeniose iiequam. Your maj est y may be pleased to receive herewith his letter, wherein he vowetli to me that he hath laid open all the secret closets of his heart and knowledge ; whereof he offered to show me some part, but I told him I durst not presume to see it before your majesty, to whom, by your gracious leave, it was to be written. The king of heaven pre- serve your majesty from having many such dangerous sabjects !" Important This letter of Wilson's, which is a scroll of that sent riemoian- ^^ ^^^ king, is dated from the Tower 18th September 1618 ; and on the back is this important memorandum. " l^th September.— Mem.— To certify what Sir W. R. saitli of one Christofero that he brought home with him now, who was the governor's man of Guiana, who will take it on his life that he is able to show and say how there are seven or eight several mines of gold that are there ; and wisheth this man may be entertained in some nobleman's service, for occasion that may ensue." The circumstance here stated is corroborated by Keymis in Christofero. his letter to Raleigh. " We have," says he, " the go- vernor's servant prisoner, that waited on him in his bedchamber, and^^nows all things that concerned his master ;" and Raleigh himself, in his apology, alludes to the same person when he says, " Had the companies' commanders but pinched the governor's man whom they had in their possession, he could have told them of two or three gold mines and a silver mine, not above four miles from the town, and given them the names of their possessors.* Yet although Raleigh thus entreated the government to convince themselves of the reality of these gold mines, by the evidence of an unexceptionable wit- ness who had the best opportunity of being informed upon the subject, it did not suit the purposes of the king Gold and fcilver mines, Raleigh's Apology. Works, vol. viii. pp. 492, 496. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 3-17 to investigate the matter ; and we sliall afterwards find cuxr. vi. the monarch asserting-, in tlie face of the most direct evidence to the contrary, tliat no such mine existed. Having despatclied his letter, Raleigh awaited with intprcourse natural anxiety its effect on the royal mind, whilst at anifhis'^^^ the same time he contemplated the probability of death keeper, with equanimity and cheerfulness. " This day [21st H^ September]," says Wilson, "I was sitting by him while the barber was trimming and keeming my head. He told me he was wont to keem his head a whole hour every day before lie came into the Tower. Asking him why lie did not so still, he said, ' he would know first who should have it ; he would not bestow so much cost of it for the hangman.' "* It appears that Wilson had False pro- held out a promise of the king's mercy, and that Raleigh mlfixy. pleaded this in his letter. With such conduct James was deeply offended, and it required an humble and ear- nest letter from Wilson to make his peace with his master, who dreaded lest his determination to sacrifice Sir Walter to the indignation of Spain should be ren- dered nugator}^ by any stipulations of pardon. " I must not deny," says Wilson in his letter to Naunton, " that I have done so divers times (that is, pleaded the king's mercy), finding hope to work more with him than fear ; but I did it as Mr Lieutenant, and Sir Walter Raleigh could not but think it to come of myself, without in- stiiictions from any, or any way engaging his majest}'." It is thus evident that Raleigh was induced by a promise Base attempt of the king's pardon to disclose faithfully all he knew ; *« ^^^^^7 " having done so, James was disappointed that his confes- cMfidente. sion contained nothing which could be turned against him, and refused to extend his forgiveness, on the ground that Wilson had acted without any authority from the king. Such a manner of proceeding is perfectly consistent with all that Ave know of the character of this prince. Having thus entirely failed in their examination of the prisoner, Wilson and Naunton, under the directions * MS. Journal of Wilson in the State- paper Office. 348 FROM RALEIGH*S FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAP. VL New at- tempts. Piivate letters opened. Re.'de:iiation of Raleigh. His fiiends. Wilson's journal. of the king, endeavoured by various other methods to extract matter of condemnation against him. Lady Carew, a connexion of Raleigh, who was supposed to enjoy much of his confidence, was strictly interrogated regarding his intercourse Avith the French agent ; his own wife and household servants were rigidly examined ; the private letters which passed between that faithful and affectionate woman and her husband were intercepted and opened. But in this complicated process of inquiry nothing was discovered that did not corroborate the simple story which Raleigh himself had previously given. Finding at last that all hopes of mercy were vain, Sir Walter tranquilly resigned himself to the contemplation of the near approach of death. " This night," says Wilson in his journal, dated 26th September 1618, " upon occasion of my saying I hoped I had not long to stay here, he said, ' When you are gone I shall be de- livered to the secular power, as they call it ; and yet,' said he, ' if the Spanish match hold, it were no policy to have me put to death ; for,' saith he, ' I have a great store of friends in England, and my death will but pre- serve envy.' I marvelled at 'this discourse ; but, con- sidering farther of it, I remembered it had agreement with his former discourse in the afternoon, teliuig what great kindred he had, naming the greatest and almost all in the west countr^^ " 2*7 th September. — This night after supper Mr Lieu- tenant's man coming home, told me that his master could not arrive to-night. I going up to see him [Raleigh] before his going to bed, and telling him, he presently fell in doubt that his staying was about a resolution for his death. Soon after he fell into a discourse how Stuke- ly would have no means left him to kill himself, and therefore would have all his drugs, knives, and other things taken from him ; but thereupon said, that he would sure desire to die in the light, not in darkness, that he might make some be known what they were."* * MS. Journal of Wilson in the State-paper Office. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 349 The next passage of the journal proves strikmgly the CiiAP. VL inveteracy of the king against Raleigh in resisting the inveteracy of entreaties of the queen, and the dying request of the the king. Earl of Winchester. " It is reported that the queen hath hegged his life by means of his lady, who is great with her ; and here it is held that the late Earl of Win- chester, deceast, at the time when the king came to visit him, a little before his death, told the king that he never looked to see his majesty more, and therefore he would beg but one thing of him, and that was the life of an old servant that had incurred his majestie's grievous indig- nation ; yet because he had been so dearly respected of that noble queen, his predecessor, that he would save his life and let him die in peace, and not come to an un- timely end. This he meant by Sir Walter Raleigh ; but whether the kmg did grant it or no, the party could not tell.""- Not long after this, Wilson, afraid lest his enemies Rase ze.si of should represent to the king, that after all his promises ^^ ^^'^"• he had failed in extracting any thing to form the ground of Raleigh's condemnation, employed himself in drawing up for the royal inspection, a paper, entitled, " Observa- tions of Contrarieties in Sir Walter Raleigh's Speeches Memorial to or Discourses, delivered to his Majesty in his Council *^^^ ^'"^' Chamber in Whitehall ; which, he adds, " the Lords told me he read unto them the next day." Tliis memorial is introduced by a letter from Wilson to the king, and tlie first sentence sufficiently explains its object : — " Most Gratious Sovereign, — Seeing it hath j^leased l^^^ ^^ ^^ ^j^ your majesty to confront the carriage of this arch-im- keeper, postor with my simplicity and plainness, whereby some have been apt to conceive that I have not in all points taken the discreetest course in dealing with him, I will be bold to relate unto your majesty how, out of the in- ferences of his repugnant answers at divers times, I have pressed from him all tliose things which he hath con- fessed to your majesty by his letters, and to myself by * MS. Journal of Wilson in the State-paper Oflice. 350 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VI words, which he ever impudently and confidently denied Evidence of ^^ *^^ lords-commissioners." The memorial, in which innocence. Wilson's ingenuity, sliarpened hy malignity and self- interest, is exerted to detect contradictions in the state- ments made at different times by Raleigh, is perhaps one of the best evidences which could be adduced of his in- nocence. The discrepancies and presumptions of guilt upon which he insists are so trivial as to corroborate the prisoner's repeated declarations that his intentions were sincere and loyal. The e\idence of a friend may be liable to suspicion, but that of a declared enemy is above all challenge. Conclusion of The papers of Sir Thomas Wilson furnish us with the the^jnquisi- concluding scene of this inquisitorial drama. On the 4th of October Naunton directed a letter to him, enclos- ing, as returned by the king. Lady Raleigh's communi- cation, with directions from his majesty to deliver it to Sir Walter, in order that they might discover what they could by his answer. It is not easy to conceive meaner conduct than this of James. By his directions, this J , , faithful and affectionate woman was confined a prisoner Raieia:ii's in her own house, and encouraged to correspond with intereeptecL ^^^^' unfortunate husband in the Tower. Her letters were intercepted and read b}^ the king, they were then sent to Sir Walter ; his replies, in their turn, were opened, and their contents, after having been dul}'' weighed by his majesty, were communicated to his council for their consideration.* Yet after all, they could fi.nd no new ground of accusation, and were compelled to have re- course to the old sentence passed upon him fifteen years before. * " ]Mr Secretary to me, 4tii October, with my Lady Raleigh's letter returned from the king." Such is the docquet by Sir Thomas Wilson on the back of an original letter of Secretary Naunton, dated at Whitehall, 4th October 1618. The letter commences thus : — " Sir, — His majesty would have you deliver thisto Sir Walter Raleigh;" and it goes on to direct Wilson to discover what he can by his answer, " which I pray you send me back as soon as you can, that I may acquaint the lords with it. So, in haste, I bid you and your lady farewell. Your as- rured R. KATji:TnN."~MS. Papers in the State-paper Office. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 351 But although foiled in his attempts, James's resolu- chap. vi. tion to sacrifice Raleigh underwent no change. He had unrdenting already written to the Spanish court, expressing his Jiatred of willingness, either that the prisoner should be executed in his own country, or, if it was more agreeable to the majesty of Castile, be sent to suffer death in Spain ; and about the 15th of October, the orders, for so they may be called, of Philip were received in England. They were couched in the form of a despatch, addressed to Don subsei-viency Sanchez de Ulloa, the Spanish agent, dated at San Lo- to Spain. renzo, on the 5tli of October, and signed by the king. It states briefly " that having received Kang James's letter through Gondomar, he did not delay to intimate, that it would be more agreeable to him that the punish- ment of Raleigh should take place in England ; and as the offence was notorious, that its chastisement should be exemplary and immediate.'* This last injunction appears to have been strictly fulfilled. Sir Thomas Wilson was hastily recalled from the Tower, and com- manded once more to deliver his prisoner into the charge Raleigh de- of Sir Allen Apsley, the lieutenant. Raleigh received l'^''^';^'^ ^"^^^^ ■t . ..., ^ • . -,. • lieutenant. this as an mtmiation that his immediate execution was resolved on, and expressed no regret. " My age," said he, " is fit for the grave. What have I to do with life ? My reputation is lost, my body weak and full of pain. Notliing can be more welcome to me than death." Lady Raleigh was set at liberty, and the lords-commis- sioners, by whom Sir Walter had been already examined, were required instantly to report upon the proper mode of proceeding against him. To these learned persons the case presented great Legal difficulties ; and there is something very revolting in the ^^^^^-^^ fixed resolution, on the one hand, that whatever pro- ceeding was adopted should lead to death, and the tedious discussions, on the other, regarding the most legal mode of accomplishing this purpose. After many consulta- tions, the commissioners delivered their opinion, that the prisoner, having been attainted of high treason, could not be judicially called to account for any crime since 352 FROM RALEIGH S FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAP. VI committed. In this dilemma they recommended that Difficumes the king, with the warrant for his execution addressed to ;iie judges, the Lieutenant of the Tower, should publish a narrative of his late offences ; and a writ of privy-seal was im- mediately despatched to the judges, du-ecting them to order the execution of the sentence. But these grave persons were thrown into new difficulties by the singu- larity of the case, and its manifest injustice. They possible declared that neither a writ of privy-seal, nor even & abjections, warrant under the great seal to the judges of the Kjng's Bench, could entitle them, after so long an interval, to pronounce sentence of execution against any prisoner without giving him an opportunity of pleading in person against it. It was said, he might have a pardon to show, or might urge that he was a different person ; and to get rid of these difficulties they resolved to bring him to the Personal bar by a writ of habeas corpus, and demand what reasons examina ion. ^^ -^^^ ^^ ^..^^ ^^^l^^^ execution should not be awarded. The king approved of this method, and having deliv- ered his final orders to the judges, and signed the war- informed that it was his pleasure he should prepare for death. This was on the 24th of October, and on the 28th, though Raleigh lay sick of a fever, he was raised from bed at eight in the morning, with an ague fit upon him, and conveyed to the King's Bench at Westminster. Being placed at the bar, the attorney-general, Yelverton, observed, that the prisoner fifteen j^ears ago had been found guilty of high treason, since which time his majesty had mercifully abstained from the infliction of punish- ment ; but it was now his royal pleasure that the foniier judgment should be carried into effect. The record of conviction was tb.en read ; and Raleigh being asked the usual question, what he could say why execution should not pass against him, requested indulgence, since his voice was weak from his late sickness. On being told his voice was audible enough, he summoned his remain- ing strengtli, and proceeded : " My Lord, all I can say is IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 353 this ; that the judgment I received to die so long since, cuap. vi cannot now, I hope, be strained to take away my life ; pis^hai^e for since it was his majesty's pleasure to grant me a of judgment Commission to proceed on a voyage beyond the seas, ^' ^'^ ^ " wherein I had power, as marshal, on the life and death of others ; so, under favour I presume I am discharged of that judgment. By that commission I gained new life and vigour ; for he that hath power over the lives ol others, must surely be master of his own. Under my commission I departed the land, and undertook a voyage to honour my sovereign, and to enrich his kingdom with gold, of the ore whereof this hand hath found and taken in Guiana ; but the voyage, notwithstanding my endea- vour, had no other success than what was fetal to me ; — the loss of my son and the wasting of my whole estate." He was now about to enter upon an explanation of the interruption causes of his failure, but was interrupted by the chief- of ^is plea. justice, who informed him that all such matter was for -ign to the purpose, and that the commission did not inf'^r a pardon, treason being a crime which must be pardoned by words of a special nature, and not by impli- cation. Unless, therefore, he could make good some (jther plea in defence, execution, it was observed, must be awarded. Sir Walter replied, that since such was his lordship's opinion, he could only put himself under the mercy of the king ; his majesty himself, as well as some Appeal to ti.e others who were now present, havmg been of opinion king's that in his former trial he had received but hard measure. *' Had he not been anew exasperated against me," said he, " certam I am I might have lived a thousand years before he would have taken advantage thereof." At this time the lord-chief-justicc was Sir Henry Montague, a man in temper and disposition very different from Coke ; and the manner in which he pronounced sentence was sir Henry full of sympathy and good feeling. On his concluding Montague, with the* usual words, " Execution is granted," Raleigh addressed the court with the calmness which had never forsaken him. " :My Lords," said he, " I desh-e this much favour, that 1 may not be cut off suddenly ; but Appeal to 354 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. Vi. may be granted some time before my execution, to settle DeiaTof exe- ^^3^ affairs and my mind more than they yet are ; for I cution soli- have something to do in discharge of my reputation and ^' ^ ■ my conscience, and somewhat to satisfy his majesty in. I ^YOuld beseech the favour of pen, ink, and paper, thereby to discharge myself of some trusts of a worldly nature, that were put upon me. I crave not this to gain one minute of life, for now being old, sickly, disgraced, and certain to go to death, life is wearisome unto me. And noAv I beseech 3^our lordships that wdien I come to die I may have leave to speak freely at my farewell. And here," said he, wdth great solemnity, " I take God to be God. my judge, before whom I shall shortly appear, that I was never disloyal to his majesty, which I shall justify w^here I shall not fear the face of any king on earth ; and so I beseech you all to pray for me."* Sir Walter was tlien removed to the Gatehouse. The warrant for execution dispensed with the more ignominious death by hanging, and ordered him to be beheaded. ^,_ ^ It had been his only request that he should be allowed topatience a short interval to settle his earthly concerns and provide for uis death, f^p j^jg gQ^j ; but with tliis the king did not think proper to comply. He had been brought up to receive sentence on the 28th of October, and on returning to prison he was informed that the execution must take place next morning at nine o'clock, — an indecent haste which we are scarcely prepared to expect even from so heartless a prince as James. Yet the cruelty of the monarch only served to bring out in finer relief the character of his victim ; and though it is evident that the accounts of his behaviour are imperfect in some respects, and in others exaggerated, enough remains to prove that he died with Christian faith and sunplicity. Composure ^n his w^ay from the court to prison, he observed to ofiiiUeigii. some friends who deplored his misfortunes, that the world itself was but a larger prison, out of which some * Hargrave, State Trials, vol. viii. A pp. No. iv. Jardine'a Criminal Trials, vol. i. p. 500. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 355 are daily selected for execution ; and on hearing that CIIAP. vi the king had peremptorily rejected all petitions in his favour, even that of the queen, he expressed no disap- pointment. To him death seemed divested of all that was gloomy f;/P^;jj\™^ and terrific. Raleigh had never been pardoned ; he was liable during the long period of his confinement to be called away any day or any hour to execution ; and it is probable'that this circumstance had rendered the con- templation of sudden dissolution,— an idea so appalling to an ordinary mind,— to him the subject of quiet, natural, and frequent thought. His firm bcUef m divine revela- Chnstmr^^^ tion, in the mercy of God to a penitent soul which rested on its Saviour, invested his meditations on this last scene with a glow of cheerfulness and hope. To others Death might be the king of terrors,— to him he was a familiar and not repulsive companion, the thoughts of whom had been so long the inmates of his cell that when he met him on the scaffold it was almost as an old friend. His last mterview with his wife was simple but deeply Last inter- affecting. It took place on Thursday night (he was to;;!^^;^^^^^ '^« suffer on Friday morning), and it was midnight before she left the prison. He said he meant to leave with her a paper to acquaint the world with his sentiments, in case they refused him liberty to speak on the scaffold ; and fearful lest his feelings in talking of his little son should be too distressing, he avoided the subject and affectionately entreated her to leave him. Raleigh had yet much to do, and a few brief hours to accomplish his Tiieir pai t^ task, and they who know any thing of human affection, "'^^ and of the distracting effects of sorrow, will not wonder that he should desire to be spared the agony which might have unfitted him for his duty. On parting, his wife in a flood of tears informed him that she had obtained the favour of disposing of his body. " It is well, Bess," said he, smiling, " that thou mayst dispose of that dead thou hadst not always the disposmg of when alive." When alone he sat down and wrote the following paper, which l;e entitled. 350 FROM RALEIGH S FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAP. VI. Raleigh's defence. Denial of French treason. Denial of disloyalty. " AN ANSWER TO SOME THINGS AT MY DEATH. ** 1. I did never receive any direction from my Lord Carew to make my escape, nor did I ever tell Stukely any such thing. 2. I did never name my Lord Hay and my Lord Carew to Stukely in other words or sense, than as my honourable friends, among other lords. 8. I did never show unto Stukely any letter wherein there was ^10,000 named, or any one pound ; only I told him, that I hoped to procure the payment of his debts in his absence. 4. I never had commission from the French king. 5. I never saw the French king's hand or seal in my life. 6. I never had any plot or practice with the French, directly or indirectly, — nor with any other prince or state unknown to the king. 7. My true intent was to go to a mine of gold in Guiana ; it was not feigned, but it is true, that such a mine there is, within three miles of St Thome. 8. I never had in m}^ thought to go from Trinidado and leave my companies to come after to the Savage Island, as Hatby Fearn hath falsely reported. 9. I did not carry with me 100 pieces : I had with me about sixty, and brought back nearly the same number. 10. I never spake to the French Manourie any one dis- loyal word or dishonourable speech of the king : Nay, if I had not loved the king truly, and trusted in his goodness somewhat too much, I know that I had not now suflFered death. These things are most true, as there is a God, and as I am now to appear before his tribunal- seat, where I renounce all mercy and salvation if this be not truth. At my death, " Walter Raleigh."* Notes of remem- brance. Having finished this, he seems to have drawn up a few additional notes of remembrance, containing heads of the different subjects upon which, if permitted to ♦ Birch's Works of Raleigh, vol. ii. p. 280.— In the State- paper Office is a MS. of this same paper, entitled, " Accusations against Sir Walter Raleigh, cleared by him at his death." It is written in a contemporary hand, and on the back of the paper- are the lines, " Even such is time," &c. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 357 speak on the scaffold, he meant to address the people ; CHAP. VI. and taking his Bible he wrote on a blank leaf these few Last m^es. lines : — " E'en such is time ! who takes in trust Our youth, our joys, and all we have. And pays us but with age and dust : Who, in the dark and silent grave, When we have wandcr'd all our ways, Shuts up the story of our days ! But from this earth, this grave, this dust, The Lord will raise me up, I trust." It may appear singular to some that we find him so Tranquillity. employed at such a moment, but from his early youth Raleigh had been accustomed to throw his feelings into numbers. His last thoughts are solemn and full of immortality ; and their poetical dress indicates a rare tranquOlity of mind. He was not permitted to choose his ovm. clergyman ; Officiating clcrcTviiiiin but Dr Tounson, at that time Dean of Westminster, received orders fi-om the government to be with him in his religious services both in prison and on the scaffold. This divine afterwards drew up a relation of his deatli which was probably suppressed by the king, and a letter nissubser- of the same person, which has been published, is evidently ^^^^^^' written under the fear of saying any thing that might be disagreeable to a monarch, who was wont to stretch his prerogative over the most secret communications and private thoughts of his subjects. Yet incomplete as is the only evidence which has been permitted to reach us, the history of the last hours of Raleigh is interesting and affecting. Early in the morning the dean administered to him the Administra- 1 1 -n 1 . 1.11 • 1 • 1 1 tlO" of thfc holy Eucharist, which he received with deep reverence, encharist pleading the assurance he had of the love and favour of God ; forgiving all men, and specially in this act declar- ing that he forgave Sir Lewis Stukely and Manourie, who had betrayed him. He expressed great fearlessness of death, and appeared to make light of it ; observing to Dr Tounson, that though to many the manner in which he was to die might appear grievous, he would rather end Y 358 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VL his days so than by a burning fever. When cautioned Fearlessness iiot to be too hardy, and reminded that some of tlie dearest of death. servants of God had shrunk back and trembled a little, " he acknowledged it to be true, expressing himself very Christianly," but giving thanks to the Almighty who had imparted to him the strength of mind never to fear death. He was persuaded, he said, that no man who knew God and feared hmi, could die with cheerfuhiess Confldeaco and courage unless he were assured of his love and fa- favour," vour ; and it was evident to the pious man to whom he addressed himself, that it was from this assurance and no false ground or any principle of vam or foolish ostenta- tion that Raleigh derived this remarkable courage. There was evidently within him a source of tranquillity and joy. He was happy to leave that world whicli had for many years brought to him nothing but ingratitude and disappointment ; his mind was full of sweetness and forgiveness ; he had been treated with signal injustice by the king, by his judges, by the jury which condemned him, by the pretended friends and kinsmen who betrayed him ; yet he simply asserted his innocence, declared his unshaken loyalty to his prince, and indulged in no re- flections upon the law or the government. " By the course of the law," said he, " I must die, yet leave must be given me to stand upon my innocency of the fact." Cheerfulness, After having received the sacrament his cheerfulness increased, and he again expressed his confidence tliat he would convince the world that he w^as guiltless of the charges against him. He then took breakfast heartily, smoked, as was his practice, a pipe of tobacco, and took a cup of sack ; on being asked if it pleased him, " Aye," said he, " 'tis good drink, if a man might tarry by it." Care of his After this he retired for a short time to arrange his dress, in which he was usually very splendid. On this occasion it was a plain mourning suit. Under his hat was a rich-wrought nightcap. His doublet, waistcoat, and breeches were of black satin, — and over all was thrown a black wrought- velvet nightgown. Raleigh had been, in his best days, a remarkably handsome man ; IN THE TOWEK TO HIS EXECUTION. 359 an I at this moment, although enfeebled by sickness, his CHAP. \T appearance ^vas peculiarly striking and noble. piaceoF It was now near nine, and having declared himself execution, ready he was led to the place of execution, in the Old Palace Yardj by the Sheriffs of London and the Dean of Westminster. A great crowd had assembled, and as many pushed forward to gaze on him, among the rest one venerable old man, whose head was quite bald, came so near that Sir Walter noticed him and inquired if he wanted ought with him ; the old man answered, that his only desire was to see him, and to pray God for him : " I thank thee, my good friend," said Raleigh, " and am sorry I am in no case to return tliee any thing for thy good- will. " But," added he, looking at his bald head, "here, take this nightcap," removing that which he wore beneath his hat, " thou hast more need of it now than I.""- The people pressed him so much that, faint from sick- Great ness, he had nearly swooned away before he reached the '^^^'^^^^ scaffold, which was erected in front of the parliament- house. Amongst the spectators were the Earls of Arundel, Oxford, and Northampton, the Lords Doncas- ter, Sheffield, and Percy, and other knights and gentle- men. On coming to the steps he recovered, mounted them easily, and saluted those who stood near with the same graceful courtesy vrhich usually distinguished his manners. Proclamation was then made for silence, and Raleigh standing up, although very feeble, addressed those around him. His last words have been trans- mitted to us by several persons who were present, and we read them almost exactly as he delivered them. " I have had," said he, " for these two days past, two Last acidies* fits of an ague. Yesterday I was, notwithstanding, taken out of my bed in one of my fits, and whether I shall escape it this day or not I cannot tell. If therefore, you perceive any weakness in me, I beseech you ascri])e it to my sickness rather than to myself. I thank God of his infinite goodness that he hath vouchsafed me to die * D'Israeli, Curiosities of Literature, vol. ii. p. 133. 360 FROM Raleigh's first confinement Comfort of dying in public. peeis. Grounds of suspicion. CHAP. VI in the sight of so noble an assembly, and not in darkness, neither in the Tower, where I have suffered so much adversity, and a long sickness. And I thank God that my fever hath not taken me at this time, as I prayed God it might not." Lord Arundel His weakness was now so great that he w^as compelled and other ^q gj^. (Jq^wh. After a short pause he again began to speak, and turning to the lords who sat in Sir Randal Crues's window, he expressed a fear lest they should not distinguish what he said, but he added that lie would strain his voice tliat they might hear him ; upon which Lord Arundel replied that they would rather come down to him, which he immediately did, along with the Earl of Northampton and the Viscount Doncaster. Sir Walter then continued as follows, looking occasionally at the paper of notes which he held in his hand : — " There are two main points which, as I conceive, have hastened my coming hither, of which his majesty hath been informed against me. The first, that I had some practice with France, — and the reason which his majesty hath to believe so v/as, that when I first arrived at Ply- mouth I had a desire, in a small bark, to have passed to Rochelle ; and afterwards, because the French agent came to my house in London. Now, my lords, for a man at any time to call God to witness a falsehood is a sin, a greater than which cannot well be imagined ; but for a man to do so at the hour of death, when he hath no time to repent, is still more grievous and impious. Yet I do now call that great God to witness, before whom I am presently to render an account of what I say, that as I hope to see God, or to live in the world to come, or to have any comfoi-t or benefit by the passion of my Sa- viour, I did never entertain any conspiracy, nor never had any plot or intelligence with the French king, his ambassador, or agent, neither did I ever see the French king's hand or seal, as some reported I had a commission from him at sea. Neither, as I have a soul to save, did I know of the French agent's coming to my house till I saw him in the gallery. Appeal God. IN THE TOAYKR TO HIS EXECUTION. 301 « The otlici- matter alleged against me was, that I ^"i^J_^^* had spoken dishonourahly and disloyally of tlie king. Denial of -^ ^ 1 T-i 1 i. r 1 disloyal But my accuser was a base Frenchman, a runagate ir\- ^o,.(fa^ low, one who had no dwelling, a kind of chemical im- postor, whom I afterwards knew to be perfidious. For being drawn by him mto the attempt of escaping at Winchester, in AN'hich I confess my hand was touched, he being sworn to secrecy over night revealed it the next morning. It is now no time to fear or to flatter kings. I am now a subject of death, and have only to do with my God, in whose presence I stand ; and I do now here solemnly declare I never spake disloyally or dishonestly of the king, either to this Frenchman or to any other. And it seemeth somewhat unjust that such a base fellow should be credited so far as he hath been. " I confess I did attempt to escape, but it was only ^^^^JJ'J'^'^,^'^' to save my life. I likewise confess that I feigned my- to escape.' self to be' indisposed at Salisbury, but I hope it was no sin ; for the prophet David did make himself a fool, and suffered spittle to foil upon his beard to escape from the hands of his enemies, and it was not imputed unto him as a sin : What I did Avas to prolong time till his majesty came, in hopes of some commiseration from him. " I forgive that Frenchman, and Sir Lewis Stukely Forpiveric.o also, the wrongs he hath done me with all my heart, Jetiajer;. for I have received the sacrament this morning of Mr Dean, and I have forgiven all men : But that these two men are pei-fidious, I am bounu in charity to speak, that all men may take heed of them. Sir Lewis, my keeper and kinsman, hath affirmed that I told hini my Lord J^l^^f/^P^'^ Carew and my Lord Doncaster here had advised me to keeper. escape ; but I protest before God I never told him any such thing, neither did these lords advise me to any such matter. It is not likely I should acquaint two privy councillors of my plan of escape, nor that I should tell him — my keeper — it was their advice ; neither was there any reason to tell it to him, or that he should re- port it, for it is well known he left me six, eight, or ten CHAP. VI. False state- ments about bribes. ikifinnatlon 01 poisoning. Voluntary retura to England. Upright intentions. 362 FROM Raleigh's first confinement days together alone, to go where I chose, wliilst he rode about the country. " He further accused me of having shoAvn him a letter in which I promised him ten thousand pounds if he as- sisted me to escape. But this is another falsehood ; had I then been possessed of ten, or even of one thousand pounds, I could have made my peace better than by be- stomng it on Stukely. The only thing I showed him was a letter, wherein it was promised that order should be taken for the payment of his debts should he consent to accompany me. One further injury he did me which, although it may appear a slight one, affects me sensibly. In our journey to London we lodged at Sir Edward Parham's, an ancient friend of mine, whose lady is my cousin-german ; and there he not only gave out, but himself told me he thought I had some dram of poison given me, to which I answered that I feared no such thing, and bade him dismiss the thought, as I was well assured of those in the house. Thus far have I said on this matter, because I know it grieves the gentleman that such a conceit should be held ; and now I take my leave of Sir Lewis. God is not only a God of revenge, but also of mercy ; and I pray God to forgive hhn as I myself hope to be forgiven." Sir Walter then cast his e^^e for a moment over his note of remembrance, and proceeded : " It was told the king that I was brought by force into England ; and that when the voyage miscarried I had no intention to return again ; yet Captain Parker, Mr Tresham, Mr Leak, and divers others who knew how I V7as treated, can give witness to the contrary. " It was reported also that I meant not to go to Guiana at all, and that I knew not of any mine, nor intended any such matter ; but only to get my liberty, which I had not the good sense to keep. But I solemnly declare it was my full intent to go for gold, for the bene- fit of his majesty, myself, and those who went with me ; but all was crossed and undone by Ke^^mis, who, seeing my son slain, and myself unpardoned, would not IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 263 discover the head of the mine, but afterwards slew chap vl liimself." Appe^o At this moment, turning to the Earl of Arundel, Lord Raleigh said, " My Lord, you being in the gallery of ' ™" '' my shij) at my departure, I remember you took me by the hand, and said j-ou would request one thing of me, which was, whether I made a good voyage or a bad, that I would return again into England, which I then pro- mised ; — I gave you my faith I woiild ; and so I have." " You did so," said his lordship ; " it is true ; and they were the last words I spoke to you." " It is enough," said Raleigh ; " I am glad your lordship is here to justify my words." *' Another slander was raised against me, that I had False siandei a design to go away from my company, and leave them ^''^^^ * at Guiana ; but there are a great many worthy men who %vere always Avith me, as my sergeant-major (and divers others whom he named), that knew such was never my mtention. It was said too that I stinted them of fresh water ; to which I answer, that every one was then, as they always must be in a ship, served by measure, and not according to their appetite, a course which all sea- men know must be used amongst them ; and to this strait we w^ere then driven. " These are the principal things upon which I thought Denial of it good to speak. Yet before I make an end, let me j'^f^JJ; ^^ ''*' borrow yet further a little time of ]Mr Sheriff, to answer E^sex, an imputation laid against me, through the jealousy of the people, which hath made my heart bleed. It is said that I was a prosecutor of the death of the Earl of Essex, and stood in a window over against him when he suf- fered, and puffed out tobacco in disdain of him. But I take God to witness that I had no hand in his blood, and was none of those that procured his death. My Lord of Essex did not see my face at the time of his death, conduct at for I had retired for off into the armoury, w^here I indeed [j'^^jj*-'""^^"" saw him, and shed tears for him ; but he saw not me. It is most true I was of a contrary faction, and helped to pluck him down ; but I knew my Lord of Essex to 364 FROM Raleigh's first confinement Mutual enemies, Conclusion. CHAP. VL be a noble gentleman, and always believed it ^yould have been better for me that his life had been preserved ; for after his fall I got the hatred of those who wished me well before ; and those who set me against him, set themselves afterwards against me, and were my greatest enemies. Nay, I will further say that my soul hath many times grieved that I was not nearer to him when he suffered ; because, as I understood afterwards, he asked for me at his death, and desu-ed to have been re- conciled to me. "And now I entreat that you all will join Avith me in prayer to that great God of heaven whom I have grievously offended, that he will of his almighty good- ness extend to me forgiveness ; being a man full of all vanity, and one who hath lived a smful life in such callings as have been most inducing to it ; for I have been a soldier, a sailor, and a courtier, all of them courses of wickedness and vice ; but I trust he will not only cast away my sins from me, but will receive me into everlasting life, — and so, having made my peace with God, I bid you all heartily farewell." Parting v/fth Raleigh, though weal:, deli rered this address with gracefulness and animation. He then embraced the lords, and others of his friends who were present ; and turning himself in particular to my Lord Arundel, en- treated him to use his mfluence with the king, that no defamatory writings against him might be published Confession of ^^^"^ ^^^ ' ^^ath. The Dean of Westminster then asked Faith. hini in what faith or religion he meant to die, to which he answered, — " In the faith professed by the Church of England ;" addmg that he " hoped to be saved and to have his sins washed away by the precious blood and merits of our Saviour Christ." The morning being sharp, the sheriff offered to bring him down off the scaffold to warm himself by the fire before he should say his prayers ; " No, good 3Ir Sheriff," said he, " let us despatch, for within this quarter of an hour my ague will come upon me, and if I be not dead before that, mine enemies will say I quake for fear." He then, to IX THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 365 use the wonls of a contemptu-ary and eyewitness, made CIIAP. vl a most divine and admirable prayer : after whicli, rising Last prayer, up and clasping his hands together, he exclaimed, " Now I am going to God!" The scaffold was soon cleared; and having thrown off his gown and doublet, he bid the executioner show him the axe, which not being done immediately, he was urgent in his request. " I prithee," ■'^'Klit of tha said he, " let me see it. Dost thou think I am afraid ^^^ of it V Taking it in his hand he kissed the blade, and passing his finger slightly along the edge, observed to the sheriff, " 'Tis a sharp medicine, but a sound cure for all diseases." He then walked to the corner of the scaffold, and kneelmg down, requested the people to pray for him, and for a considerable time remained on his knees engaged in silent devotion ; after which he rose and carefully examined the block, laying himself down to fit it to his neck, and to choose the easiest and most de- cent attitude. In all this he would receive no assistance ; and having satisfied himself, he rose and declared he was read3\ The executioner now came forward, and kneel- ing, asked his forgiveness, upon which Raleigh laid his hand smilingly on his shoulder, and bade him be satisfied, for he most cheerfully forgave him, only entreating him not to strike till he himself gave the signal, and then to fear nothing and strike home. Saying this, he lay do^^^l The block, on the block, and on being directed to place himself so that his face should look to the east, he answered " It mattered little Iioav the head lay provided the heart was right." After a little while, during which it was ob- served, by the motion of his lips and hands, that he was occupied in prayer, he gave the signal ; but, whether from awkwardness or agitation, the executioner delayed ; upon which, after waiting for a short time, he partially Composure raised his head and said aloud, " What dost thou fear I *^ '^« ^^'^^ strike, man !"'"' The axe then descended, and at two strokes the head was severed from the body, which * MS. Letter in Harleian Collection, printed by Cayley, Appendix, No. xvii. Mr Thomas Lorkin to Sir Thomas Puckerin'', vol. ii. 166 FROM RALEIGH S FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAP. VI. His deatb. Raleigh's fidelity His grave. Lady Raleigh and her son. Raleigh's greatness. never shrunk or altered its position, whilst the extraor- dinary effusion of blood evinced an unusual strength and vigour of constitution, though when he suffered Sir Walter was in his sixty-sixth year. The head, after being as usual held up to the vicAV of the people on either side of the scaffold, was put into a red bag, over which his velvet nightgown was thrown and the whole immediately carried to a mourning-coach which was in waiting, and conve^^ed to Lad}^ Raleigh. This faithful and affectionate woman, M-ho never married again, though she survived him twenty-nine years, had it embalmed and preserved in a case, which she kept with pious solicitude till her death. The body was buried privatel}^ near the high altar of St Margaret's Church, in Westminster, close beside the spot where Harrington, the author of " Oceana," was afterwards interred.""' No stone or memorial marks the place, — a circumstance to be ascribed to the destitution in which Lady Raleigh and her son were left, or to the fear they felt of drawing down the further indignation of the monarch. His head, after the death of his widow, was preserved by his son, with whom it was buried at his seat of West Horsle}^, in Surrey. Such at least was the tradition of the neighbourhood in the time of Oldys ; and it is certain that more than eighty jears after, when the grave of a Carew Raleigh was laid open, two skulls were found in it, one of which was supposed to be his father's.f Sir Walter Raleigh belongs to that class of great men who may be said rather to fashion or create than to re- flect the character of their age. His mdividual story is indissolubly linked with the annals of his country ; and he who reads of the danger and the glory of England during the reign of Elizabeth ; of the humiliation of Spain, the independence of Holland, the discovery and wonders of the New World, and the progress of our naval and commercial prosperity, must meet with his * Raleicjh's Works, vol. viii. p. 744. + Oldys, p. 565. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 337 name in every part of the record. If required to describe CIIAP. vi. in a few words the most prominent features in his mind, Features of I would say they were his universahty and originality, ^"s mind. A warrior both by sea and land, — a statesman, a navi- gator, and discoverer of new countries, an accomplished courtier, a scholar, and eloquent writer ; a sweet and true poet, and a munificent patron of letters, — there is scarcely one of the aspects in which we view him where he does not shine with a remarkable In-ightness. In some of the pursuits indeed in which he attained dis- tinction, he has been excelled by other eminent men of Remarkable his time ; but where do we find such a combination as ^'^Jj-"^'^**^" in Raleigh I They were satisfied with the glory of being great in one department ; he aimed at an almost universal excellence. They wisely concentrated their efforts on the cultivation of a smgle insulated branch of human knowdedge ; his discursive and vigorous mind was not contented till it had made an inroad and achieved a triumph in them all ; and it may be certainly affinned, that upon every thing which he undertook he has left that stamp of power and originality -which belongs to the man of genius. As to his faults there was nothing little in the char- hih errora. acter of Raleigh — his errors and his weaknesses stand forward as prominently as the higher qualities of his mind. It will be found indeed that in most cases they grew out of them. His credulity was a weed thrown up by the strength and ardour of his imagination ; his love of riches, which has been called his avarice, was Love of not so much the sordid lust of gain, for he was no hoarder, ^'^^^^'■'^ as a shoot from that old buccaneering spirit which he had acquired in the school of Drake and Hawkins. His fancy had caught fire at first in the perusal of the his- tories of Cortes and Pizarro. His royal mistress delighted to see the pearl-laden and golden caracks of the Span- iard brought into her ports ; and if Raleigh loved the Spanish plunder, he loved still more the danger and the enterprise with which it w^as connected. His ambition was restless in its ends, and sometimes ruinous in its 368 FROM Raleigh's first confinement CHAP. VI. results, — but it was not a selfish ambition ; it arose out Ambition of his love for his country, his zeal for its pre-eminence and glory. He entertained the grand idea, and undoiibt- edly believed it practicable, that England might erect in America a greater or richer empire than that of Mex- ico or Peru ; and however absurd to our advanced know- ledge this project may now appear, no one who has studied the earliest Spanish accounts of Guiana will den}' that he had good grounds on whicii to found his opinion. ReUgions As to the charge of his being a deist, an atheist, or a opinions. freethinker, for it has been advanced under all these variations, it in all probability arose out of a youthful fault, exaggerated or misconceived. In liis early days of vanity and ambition, Raleigh was a bold and reckless disputant on most subjects, not excluding religion, and he probably had the weakness to court discussion rather for the purposes of display than for the discovery of truth ; he laughed at the boasted infallibility of human reason, and in his ingenious little essay entitled the Sceptic, demonstrated the uncertainty of those deduc- tions which are based on a limited experience and super- Contempt f^ r ficial observation; lie professed an early contempt for scholastic ^^Q dogmatism of the Aristotelian nhilosophy ; he re- tlieology. ITT p 1 T • garded with little respect the system or scholastic theology ; and out of these materials the noted Jesuit, Father Parsons, manufactured a charge of atheism, whilst Hume, Carte, and some more modern writers, have not scrupled to pronounce him a deist or a freethinker. How wide both aspersions are from the truth, has been already shown. The foililes of his youth passed away ; the pride of intellect — the vanity of display- — was sub- dued by affliction ; and his profound and contemplative mind, instructed by the heavenly lesson, was brought to rest on that onl}" stay for the broken and wounded spirit, the blessed hopes and promises of Revelation. Such is Raleigh's general character ; but where shall we look for the minuter touches, which give freshness, prominence, and individuality to the picture l Here, IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 369 alas ! his biograph}", in common Avith that of other great CHAP. vi. men, is lamentably defective. How often have we to Defcctsofhis regret that of those whose genius stimulates our curiosity, biograi)iiy. and reflects an interest even on their daily dress and most ordinary habits of life, we know little or nothing. How fondly would we collect and jorize the most com- mon particulars which sliould introduce us into the familiar presence of Shakspeare, or Spenser, or Milton, or Little known Bacon ; and yet of the every-day life of these master- of yreatmen. spirits of their tin:ie, so little is known, that the imagma- tion, eager to lay hold on some visible personification of its favourite, is impelled to form a picture for itself. It is mucli the same with the illustrious man whose history we have been writing ; yet one or two pleasing and characteristic ton dies have been preserved. Although liis person was noble and manly, his voice was weak and somewhat shrill ; his long residence at court could not conquer his strong Devonshire accent, which, with all the power of a j'-outhful habit, clung to him to the last. His conversation and social qualities were eminently attrac- tive ; and whether he sat smoking his long silver pipe AttracUons amongst his literary friends at the INIermaid, or talked ofiiissocien-. with his royal mistress when she admitted him to the privy chamber, or assisted Avith his advice and experience at the council table, he swayed and delighted the intel- lects of all who came into contact with him. We know from one who was no partial judge," that the queen loved his company, and esteemed his judgment as highly as his wit. In his youth he was violent and hasty, and did not scruple to beat at a tavern Charles Chester, a loquacious Youthful and insolent fellow, who had annoyed him by his re- '"^^'^ marks ; after which he laid him on his back and sealed up his upper and nether beard with hard wax.t These were youthful follies. As he advanced in life he became an indefatigable student,and, in the judgment of Secretary Cecil, himself one of the most la])orious men of his age, " could toil terribly when he was busy." Not content * Naunton, Fragmenta Reo:alia, p. 109. t Aubrey MS. Kaleigh's Works, vol. viii. p. 740. love of science. 370 FROM RALEIGII'S FIRST CONFINEMENT CHAP. VI. with his reading on shore, he carried with him a col- Fonri^e^ for ^^ction of books on his vo^^ages, and strictly economized reading, his time. His love of science and experiment was so ardent, that his chemical pursuits and his study of natural history were enthusiastically pursued at sea. What- ever corner of the world he sought, his curiosity was active, and his observation unremitting. In his last fatal vo3'age, when broken by disease and disappointment, his Manuscript Journal, which is preserved in the British Unweariei Museum, shows the same unwearied love of science. He goes ashore with his Indian guide, " to discover the trees wliich yield balsamum, of wliich he liad found a nut smelling like angelica, and exceeding pretious ;" and on one of its blank leaves he has sketched a representation of some of the fruits of the country. Shortly before his death, in one of his conversations with Sir Thomas Wilson in the Tower, he alludes to a machme which he had invented for turning sea water into fresh ; and even in those melancholy hours he took pleasui-e in explain- ing to him a theory he had formed to account for the saltness of the ocean. His knowledge of chemistry and Chemistry, medicine seems to have led him into that unhappy prac- tice of almost daily dnigging himself, which is so common a weakness amongst literary and sedentary men. In his letters to liis wife from the Tower, he asks her in the same sentence, to send him his manuscripts, and " his powder of steel and dumex, with some more bitony." Fondness for He was fond of music, and it seems to have been an hereditary taste in his family, for his brother. Sir Carew Raleigh, performed delicately on the olpharion, an in- strument probably similar to the lute ; and his grand- nephews, Walter and Tom, had delicate tunable voices, and played well on the violin.* In the productions of the sister art of painting he took much delight, carrying his favourite pictures with liim even on his voyages, and extending his patronage to the best artists of his time, by sitting to them himself, and employing them to paint his * Aubrey, Raleigh's Works, vol. viii. p. 737. muiiic. IN THE TOWER TO HIS EXECUTION. 371 wife and children.* He was fond also of antiquarian chap, vt studiesjt a purchaser of ancient records and rare charts, Antiquai iau and not only prided himself upon the rich inlaid coat of studies. silver mail which he wore on gala days, but had collected a fine armoury.;}: In architecture his taste was sump- tuous. Durham House, where he lived during his great- ness, is described by Aubrey as a noble palace ; yet he left the spacious apartments to his fomily, and for him- self preferred a small library which enjoyed an extensive view over the river. " I well remember his study," says His study. this amusing and garrulous author ; " which was on a little turret that looked into and over the Thames, and had the prospect, which is pleasant perhaps as any in the world, and which not only refreshes the eyesight, but cheers the spirits." In his best time there was an air of dignity and command about him, " an awfulness and personal ascendency," as it is well expressed by Aubrey, " above appearance other mortals," which was displeasing to man}^, and par- ticularly to the king ; yet by his sailors and ships' crews, as we learn from Cecil, he was wonderfully beloved. The interior of his palace was magnificent, his taste in furniture being marked by the same love of splendour which appeared in his dress. He delighted in richl}^- carved panels, in antique chimneypieces, in decorating the walls and ceilings of his apartments with his armorial bearings, in beds with green silk hangings, and legs like dolphins, overlaid with gold. His splendid dress, his splendour iu shoes and doublet studded with precious stones, have ^^'^^• been already described. § Perhaps he indulged in it to a weakness ; but it was an age of magnificence, and it is to be remembered that this wealth in jewels was in Raleigh the result, not of extravagance, but of the rich prizes which he had taken from the Spaniards. He glittered with the spoils of the New World ; but his jewels were the insignia of his skill and bravery, the fruits not of purchase but of honourable conquest. * See Note on the Portrait of Raleigh engi-aved for this Work. Appendix. + Oldvs, p. 317. J Ealeigh's Ghost, p. 10. Oldys, p. 321. § Supra, p. 201. CHAP. VL His family. Carew Raleigh. R jstoration in blood. Crael conditioni 372 FROM Raleigh's first confinement, &c. It is the privilege of great men to reflect an importance and interest upon the history of their descendants, and the mind feels a pleasing curiosit}'- in the inquiry how much or how little of the father's genius has been trans- mitted to his children. But in the present case we are staid on the very threshold of the question. The fiery and ambitious spirit of Raleigh's early years is discernible in his eldest son, Walter ; but it w;is suddenly extin- guished in this brave youth, who fell at Santa Thome, in his twenty-third year. Of Carew Raleigh, his only surviving son, the character seems to have been moulded by the melancholy circumstances under which he grew up. Born in the Tower, he opened his e^'cs only to see his father a prisoner; his boyhood was clon led by the melancholy circumstances under which that father's life was cruell}^ cut off. When introduced at court his likeness to Raleigh awoke a pang of remorse in the bosom of the monarch, and James, turning away from him, observed, that " he looked like his father's ghost." Warned by this, Carew took the advice of his kinsman, the Earl of Pembroke, and retired to the Contment till the beginning of a new reign. On his return, after this event, he petitioned parliament for his restoration in blood, upon which the king informed him that when Prince of Wales, he had pledged his word to secure Sherborne to the Earl of Bristol against the heirs of Sir Walter Raleigh, and that having received, in consequence of this stij)ulation, ten thousand pounds from that noble- man, he must adhere to his engagement. " The first step, therefore," said Charles, " to ^^our restoration, must be your renouncing all title to your father's property.'* Against this cruel and unjust condition, Carew strongly remonstrated ; but the sovereign resolutely refused to pass the bill unless it was fulfilled ; and young Raleigh, who was promised promotion at court, purchased the reversal of his attainder at the price of the estate of Sher- borne, which was settled on the earl just mentioned, and yet remains in the possession of his descendants. APPENDIX A. Raleigh's Account of Guiana defended — B. Club at the Mermaid— C. Kaleigh's alleged Attempt to stab himsclf^D. Hume's Errors in his Account of Haleigh— E. Cecil's Enmity to Raleigh— F. Raleigh's Plot —Its Origin and Secret History— G. Errors of Jlr D'Isracli — H. Raleigh and the French Agent — Extracts from the Manuscripts in the State-paper Office — I. Raleigh in the Tower — His Unpublished Manuscripts — Hamp- den — K. Inventory of Raleigh's Jewels and Trinkets, from State-paper Office — L. Portrait of Raleigh. A.— Page 134—145. Raleigh'^s Account of Guiana defended. Hume has attacked Raleigh's Account of Guiana in a manner APPENDIX which evinces clearly that, with his constitutional indolence, , ~ , 111 1 1. 1 . . ,T 1 . „ 1 . Account of he had scarcely dipped into it. He accuses him of having Guiana. published an account of the country, on his return from his expedition up the Orinoco, " full of the grossest and most palpable lies that v/ere ever attempted to be imposed on the credulity of mankind." For this sentence he quotes the respect- able authority of Camden ; but in turning to that writer (Life and Reign of Elizabeth, in Kennet, vol. ii. p. 584), the reader will be surprised to find how completely the historian has mis- taken, or, through carelessness, perverted his meaning. The passage in Camden, relative to Raleigh's account cf Guiana, is this : — " He that would know more of this expedition may con- sult an ingenious book of his relating to it ; wherein he gives a most accurate description of the countries, as if he had been born and bred there; and concludes that Guiana must needs be a v-ealthy country, not onhj from the beautiful marcasites found there, but from the rvritings of the Spaniards, and upon the credit and report of the barbarians ; of whom yet he could but have little knowledge; but, indeed, chiefly from the san- guine complexion of his own hopes and desires. He likewise relates some things which appear fabulous enough, viz. of the Amazons, and a certain nation of people whose shoulders are so high that their face is placed in their breast ; a secret which poets and traveUers had never before discovered." 2 374 APPENDIX. Camden Hume. APPENDIX The reader will at once perceive the difference between the careful and candid observations of Camden, — in which ne cer- tainly reflects upon the two sanguine and credulous tempera- ment of Raleigh, — and the sweeping and coarse accusation of Hume, who ascribes to him a premeditated plan of imposition and falsehood. Within the liinits of a short note, it is im- possible to analyze Raleigh's account of Guiana; but any one who will peruse it with common attention, will be satisfied of the extreme injustice and the unfounded aspersions now alluded to. Raleigh takes the utmost pains to state what he saw with his own eyes, what he was told by the Spaniards or by the natives of the country, and what he inferred of the great riches of Guiana from their accounts compared with his own obser- vations. The truth seems to have been, that Hume, glancing over this " Account of the Discovery of Guiana" with the same indolent rapidity which has elsewhere led him into material errors, found stories of the Amazons, of a nation called Ewai- pona, whose heads appear not above their shoulders, and who are reported to have their eyes placed there ; of a cacique, who he was informed had had buried with him a chair of gold most curiously wrought, and of the wonderful city of IManoa, and its astonishing riches and extent ; and finding all this, which is related by Raleigh from the Spanish historians and the narratives of the natives, he was little careful to examine farther, and at once threw aside the book as a tissue of lies and imposture. It is extraordinary that this historian, v.'ho is often so acute, and so fair in weighing the conduct and appreciating the motives of other men, should appear to see every thing re- garding Raleigh through a false and distorting medium, — that he should not have asked himself the question, What possible object could this able man have gained by losing his fortune, his health, and latterly his life, in attempting the discovery and conquest of Guiana, had he not believed in the picture which he has drawn of it, and the riches which it would bring to himself and to his country ? But upon this subject the reader is referred to the observations already made in the text, pp. l32, 134, and to another article of this Appendix, D. B.— Page 173. Club at the Mermaid. In GifFord's Life of Jonson,pp. 60, 66, is this passage,—" Sir Walter Raleigh, previously to his unfortunate engagement with the wretched Cobham and others, hid instituted a meeting of Mermaid club. APPENDIX. 375 6gaM.r gj?pn/^atthe Mermaid, acelfbrated tavern in Friday Street. APPEXDIX. Of this club, which combined more talent and genius perhaps jj^^,~^ than ever met together, before or since, our author [Jonson^ club, was a member ; and here for many years he regularly repaired with Shakspeare, Beaumont, Fletcher, Selden, Cotton, Carew, Martin, Donne, and many others, whose names, even at this dis. tant period, call up a mingled feeling of reverence and respect. Here, in the full flow and confidence of friendship, the lively and interesting < wit-combats' took place between Shakspeare and our author ; and hither, in probable allusion to them, Beaumont fondly lets his thoughts wander, in his letter to Jonsonfrom the country, — " What things have we seen Done at the Mermaid! heard words that have been So nimble, and so full of subtle flame, As if that every one from whom they came Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest." In a tract, by Thomas Middleton, quoted by ]\Ir Collier in his History of English Dramatic Poetry, and entitled the Ant and the Nightingale, we have this description of a court-gal- lant of those days (1604), in which we find that the Horn, the Mitre, and the IMermaid, were the principal taverns in vogue: « His eating must be in some famous tavern, the Horn, the Mitre, or the Mermaid ; and then, after dinner, he must ven- ture beyond sea, that is, in a choice pair of noblemen's oars to the Bank-side, where he must sit out the breaking up of a comedy, or the first act of a tragedy." Mr Collier, in a note on this passage, informs us, that Mr Thorpe, the enterprising bookseller of Bedford Street, is in pos- session of a manuscript full of songs and poems, in the hand- writing of a person of the name of Richard Jackson, all copied prior to the year 1631, and including many unpublished pieces, by a variety of celebrated poets. One of the most curious is a song in five seven-line stanzas, which is thus headed, " Shake- speare's Rime, which he made at the Mytre in Fleete Streete." It begins, . . , " From the rich Laviman shore ; and a few of the lines were published by Playford, and set as a catch. Another shorter piece is called, in the margin, " Shakespeare'' s Rime. " Give me a cup of rich Canary wine, Which was the ^litre's Ulrhiks), and now is mine, Of which had Horace and Anacreon tasted, Their lives, as well as lines, 'till now had lasted. 376 APPENDIX. Mermaid club. Alleged attempt at suicide. APPEXDIX. " I have little doubt," adds Mr Collier, " that the lines are i^enuine, as well as many other songs and poems attributed to Ben Jonson, Sir W. Raleigh. H. Constable, Dr Donne, J. Sylvester, and others." If, however, the rest of the poems are not more genuine than these lines attributed to Shakspeare, it says little for them, — for the lines are Jonson's, which Mr Collier will discover, if he turns to his Works, vol. viii. p. 213, with this difference, that Ben writes " Mermaid," for which T>Jr Thorpe's MS. substitutes "Mitre." " But that which most doth take my Muse and mu, Is a pure cup of rich Canary wine, "Which is the IMermaid's now — but shall be mine : Of which had Horace or Anacreon tasted, Their lives, as do their lines, till now had lasted." C— Page 229. Raleigh's alleged Attempt to stab Himself. Had Raleigh really attempted to kill himself in the Tower, it seems to me impossible that Coke, who, at the trial, travel, led out of his way to load him with every species of vituperation, and even exaggerated and invented subjects of attack, should have passed over altogether a topic which might have afforded him, not only a point of censure, but a presumption of guilt. A strong corroboration of this view is to be found in Wilson's Notes in the State-paper Office, where this person repeatedly relates the conversations and arguments which he had with Ra- leigh upon the subject of Roman deaths, and yet makes not the slightest allusion to his attempt to stab himself in the Tower. But whilst, from such omissions by Coke and Wilson, there is a presumption against the truth of the story, in the strong sense in which it has been represented by Cecil, and taken up by Cayley and Mrs Thomson, — the direct evidence in Cecil's letter to Sir Thomas Parry (Cayley, vol. ii. p. 9), in his Diary, preserved in the Hatfield Collection, and in the letter of the lieutenant of the Tower, given in Mrs Thomson's Appendix (p. 488), is too decided to allow us to doubt that Raleigh in a mom.ent of passionate irritation had inflicted on himself a slight wound. The whole m.atter is obscure, and it is unfortunate that we have no account of it, except from the secretary, who, to use the words of an impartial and honest judge. Sir John Harrington,* "bore no love to Raleigh."t — This note was * Mrs Thomson's Life, p. 234. t In a letter from Sir Toby Matthews' Collection, published APPENDrX. 377 written previous to the publication of a late interesting book. APPENDIX. Bishop Goodman's IMcmoirs of his own Time. Its learned ~T' editor, Mr Brewer, has enriched the Appendix with manyori- suicide ginal letters, amongst which we find an attecting letter addressed by Raleigh to his wife, immediately after he had given himseli the wound in the Tower. D.— Page 250—294. Hume^s Errors in his Account of Raleigh. There are few men whose character has been more mis- ITume's represented than Sir Walter Raleigh ; and this too both in his errors. own time and by some modern writers. That he should have been exposed to calumny during his life is by no means sur- prising. A man who like him mingled in the politics of the long and eventful reign of Elizabeth ; who held high offices and was opposed by powerful rivals for the favour of his sove- reign, must have been fortunate indeed had he escaped mis- construction. The attacks upon his memory by more modern writers are as easily accounted for. They have arisen out of the haste and superficiality with which a great portion of the modern history cf England has bsen written. Had those writers who have spoken with such decision against him first investigated his life with due care and impartiality ; liad they studied his actions or consulted his works, they would have been convinced of their misapprehension ; but it is rare to meet with any one who will take the trouble to arrive at the truth upon points which require research ; and yet without this, what is all his- tory and biography but a mass of elegant error ? Hume, as his authority is the highest, is entitled to the first place amongst the modern detractors of Ra'eigh. The beset- ting sin of this delightful historian was indolence, and in the instance before us it has conducted him into an extraordinary tissue of blunders. He has unhesitatingly pronounced Raleigh guilty of the treason laid to his charge in 1C03; and yet it will scarcely be believed, that so slightly has he examined the subject, that he confounds two things wliich were perfectly distinct, namely, the plot of Brooke, I\i arkham. Grey, and the priests, called the " Bye" or Surprising Treason, with the al- leged consj)iracy of Cobham and Raleigh, called the " Main." For the first, the " Bye," Raleigh was not tried. Had Hume read Coke's speeches, or Cecil's letters, or JMarkham's confes- by Mr Jardine (Crim. Trials, p. 4G4), the writer refers to " the guilty blow ho gave liimself in the Tower." 378 APPENDIX. APPENDIX, sion, and those of the other conspirators in the " Bye, ' he -J- must have found that Raleigh was not accused of being par- er/crl ticipant, or even in the knowledge of it ; and yet in the con- fused account given by this historian (who proposes, as he ex- presses it, to clear up the story of Sir Walter Raleigh, hitherto much misunderstood) the two plots are amalgamated into one, which is denominated Raleigh's ('onspiracy. I need hardly say that this error vitiates the whole narrative. Speaking of Watson, Clarke, Brooke, Markham, Lord Grey, and Raleigh, as felloiv-conspirators, this author exclaims, — " What cement could unite men of such discordant principles in so dangerous a combination ; what end they proposed, or what means pro- portioned to an undertaking of this nature, has never yet been explained." So far as regarded Raleigh it need not be ex- j?lained ; for between him and them there was no combination. >; Hume commits another error in stating that the object of ; the conspiracy was the placing of Arabella Stewart on the throne, — yet any one who will study in authentic documents the history of the " Bye," will find that Watson, Clarke, and ; their associates, were not accused of an intention to set up Arabella, but simply of a design to surprise the king. The contemporary letters of Sir Robert Cecil, and Sir Dudley Carle- ton, prove this beyond all doubt. Again, it is stated by the historian, that "it appears from Sully's IMemoirs that Raleigh secretly offered his services to the French ambassador ; and we may thence presume, that, meeting with a repulse from that quarter, he had recourse for the same unwarrantable purposes to the Flemish minister." Here again is a series of very pal- pable misstatements. On consulting Sully it will be found that Raleigh made no proposals, warrantable or unwarrantable, to the French minister. Of course he could not meet with a repulse ; and had he afterwards submitted any proposals to the Flemish minister (he means Aremberg, the envoy of the arch- duke), they could not possibly have been for the " same" pur- poses as those submitted to France ; for the interests of the two courts were opposed to each other, — Aremberg being in- terested to further a peace with Spain, and the French minister to procure an offensive league between his own court and Eng- land against that power. The passage in Sully, which Hume had probably only cursorily glanced at, occurs in his Memoirs (vol. ii. p. 200, 4to edition), where he merely states, that the information which he had received from Cobhara and Raleigh confirmed him in the idea that Spain at this time meditated APPENDIX. 379 some great design against France, for the furtherance of which apPEXDIX. Aremberg, the Austrian ambassador, was charged to excite, " — in the mind of the King of England, a suspicion of the sincerity (.iroiu of Henry IV. and his ambassador Sully. At the moment when this able minister of Henry visited England, it was his object to collect from every quarter information relative to the mutual political interests of England, Spain, and the Nether- lands. Cecil, Northumberland, Cobham, Raleigh, and many others, in the course of the conversations which they held with him, contributed their share ; but in the Memoirs there is not an atom of evidence to show that Raleigh made any treasonable or unwarrantable proposals to Sully. Having connected Raleigh with a conspiracy of which he was not accused, and declared that the confession of the pris- oners left no doubt of their guilt, Hume proceeds, with some inconsistency, to observe, that at his trial no circumstance was proved sufficient to justify his condemnation, and that he was found guilty contrary to all law and equity. Again, Raleigh is represented by Hume as at the time of his trial, 1G03, "ex- tremely odious in England" (p. 551) ; and afterwards (p. 571), as of so " violent and haughty a temper," when he was first confined in the Tower, as rendered him the " most unpopular man in England," his condemnation being *' chiefly owing to that public odium under which he laboured." Nothing can be more loose or inaccurate than this last statement. Instead of being the most unpopular man in England at the time of his confinement in the Tower, the conduct of Raleigh on his trial had worked an immediate and remarkable change in his fa- vour. " Never," says Sir Dudley Carleton, who was present at the trial, " was man so hated and so popular in so short a time."* Another of the spectators declared, as we know from this same person, " that whereas when he saw him [Raleigh] first he was so led with the common hatred, that he would have gone a hundred miles to have seen him hanged, he would, ere he parted, have gone a thousand to have saved his life."t That the share he had in accomplishing tlie downfal of Essex, the favourite of the people, procured him much odium at the time, cannot be doubted ; but the violent and haughty temper ascribed by Hume, in common with other writers, to Raleigh, seems to me to be much exaggerated. He did not perhaps court popularity, the great failing of Essex ; and it is quite possible * Cayley, vol. ii. p. 66. f Ibid. 380 APPENDIX. APPENDIX- that he rather despised it, — giving the people occasion to pro- Hume^ nounce him proud ; but as to violence or haughtiness it is cer- wrors. tainly remarkable, that even the authors who ascribe to him this disposition, on those occasions where we might have expected that it would have made its appearance agree in painting him as remarkably patient and temperate. Thus Hume declares, that when Coke poured all sort of abuse upon him, calling him " traitor, monster, viper, and spider of hell, he defended him- self with temper, eloquence, and courage."* On the Fayal Expedition, or Island Voyage, when the violence of Essex, in putting Raleigh's officers under arrest, and accusing him of a breach of orders, might have betrayed a proud or violent man into some heat, we find Raleigh overcoming the earl by the temperate and judicious nature of his defence. After his last fatal expedition, when brought before the Commissioners in the Tower, and overwhelmed with accusations of the most injurious description, the eloquence with which he defended himself was not more worthy of praise than his moderation and temper. + Lastly, in that last melancholy interval between his examina- tion and execution, when he was separa'ed from his wife and family, shut up in the Tower, bowed to the earth by sickness and hope deferred, and strictly watched by eyes sharpened by malignity and eager to seize on every fault or weakness, it is certainly remarkable (and seems to me decisive upon the point) that we find no one instance of pride or passion recorded. On the contrary, the perusal of the Notes and IMinutes of Sir Thomas Wilson justifies completely the assertion, that cool- ness, temper, and a self possession, which this person denomi- nates wariness and cunning, were, at this period at least, very striking features in the disposition of his prisoner. I had intended to proceed from this to point out the errors committed by the same historian in his account of Raleigh's last expedition, where hastily adopting data, the fallacy of which a little care would have detected, and neglecting other sources which, before he formed his judgment, ought to have been consulted, he has pronounced upon Raleigh's conduct and character an opinion widely at variance with the facts. The limits, however, to which I must confine this Appendix, render this impossible at present ; and I will only remark, that an anxiety to tell the story favourably for James and to com- municate an exaggerated picture of the faults and failures of * Hume, History of England, p. 551. + Jardine's Criminal Trials, vol. i. p. 488. APPENDIX, 381 Raleigh, seems to run through the whole narrative. The ATPEXpiX. motives by which he was actuated, the manner in which he j^^^^^,^ proceeded, the facts as to the existence of the mine, the con- enora. duct of his fellow-adventurers, the policy of Gondoinar, and the behaviour of Raleigh on Uie scaffold, are all so garbled, suppressed, or distorted, that were the reader to form his opin- ion from the pages of this historian, he would not make even an approximation to the truth. I may observe, that Rapin and Carte have both committed the same mistake as Hume, in mixing up together the conspiracy of the Priests, and the al- leged plot oi Cobham and Raleigh. E.— Page 253. Cecirs Enmity to Raleigh. The curious and interesting little volume, published by Lord Cecil's Hailes, entitled the Secret Correspondence of Sir Robert Cecil ™"'' "" with James VI. of Scotland, establishes the point of Cecil's enmity to Raleigh on satisfactory evidence. Referring generally to the correspondence, we may quote a few passages in support of this. In the third letter from Lord Henry Howard to Mr Edward Bruce, King James's confidential agent in the manage- ment of the correspondence with Cecil, there is this sentence,— " You must persuade the king, in his next despatch, to direct you to thank Cecil, in the letter which you write to me, for the light he receives of Cobham and Raleigh by this advertisement ; and if it please his Majesty to speak of them suitably to the concert which Cecil holds, it will be better ; for Cecil sware to me this day, that Duo Erinacii, that is, he and they, would never live under one apple-tree.''* Again, in the same letter, Howard, Cecil's agent, thus speaks of Raleigh,—" You must remember also that I gave you notice of the diabolical triplicity, that is, Cobham, Raleigh, and Northumberland, that met every day at Durham House, where Raleigh lies in consultation, which awaked all the best wits of the town, out of suspicions of sundry kinds, to watch what chickens tliey could hatch out of these cockatrice-eggs, that were daily and nightly sitten on."t Again, in p. 88, Howard describes Cobham and Ra- leigh as those " who hover in the air for an advantage, as kites do for carrion;" and in p. 12G, there is a sentence, in which, by the direction of Cecil (for Howard represents himself as nothing more than his agent in managing this correspondence, * Hailes's Secret Correspondence, p. 52. f Ibid. p. 29. 382 APPENDIX. Cecil's enmity. APPENDIX, see p. 19), the king is instructed to look upon Raleigh as the person who would willingly give the stab to James's hope of succession. Of this procedure it is probable that Raleigh was not then aware, and it affords a mortifying picture of the dupli- city and hollowness of Cecil's character. Thus, as late as September G, 1600, we have, in the Sidney Letters (ii. 210, 212, 2!4). this curious passage, proving that Cecil's son was brought up at Sherborne under the care of Raleigh, and that the secretary, when he could steal a moment from his public duties, made a party with I^ord Cobham to take a journey there and enjoy himself at Raleigh's country-seat. " Mr Secretary hath picked out this time to be away, and to take some pleasure abroad, from the infinite pains and care he takes in the despatch of her IMajesty's service when he is at court. It is said he is gone with my Lord Cobham to see Sir Walter Raleigh at Sherborne, where young Mr Cecil, his son, is brought up." Nay, it can be proved from a minute circumstance, of no value otherwise than as affording a link in the evidence which settles this question, that, at the very time the secretary was secretly representing Raleigh in the worst light to James, he was living with Sir Aralter on terms of the kindest intimacy. Early in the year 1602, Mr Boyle, afterwards the celebrated Earl of Cork, came over to England with the intention of purchasing Sir VV alter Raleigh's large Irish estate. He brought with him letters of introduction from Sir George Carew to the chief men about court ; and one of these was a letter to Secretary Cecil, requesting this minister to introduce Boyle to Raleigh, and to recommend him to Sir Walter as a proper purchaser of his lands Cecil did so accordingly, and managed the sale for Raleigh.* This was early in the year 1602, probably in May or June, and let the reader remark in what terms at this same time Lord Henry Howard, Cecil's agent, writing under the instruc- tions of his master, speaks of Raleigh and Cobham, the latter being the secretary's brother-in-law, and Raleigh the friend to whom he had intrusted the charge of his son : '' Your lordship may believe, that hell did never spew up such a couple [Raleigh and Cobham] when it cast up Cerberus and Phlegethon. They are now set on the pin of making tragedies, by meddling in your affairs. * * For my lord -admii'al, the other day, wished from his soul, that he had but the same commission to carry the cannon to Durham House [Raleigh's residence]] that he had * Oldys's Life, p. 358. Cayley, vol. 1. p. 320. APPENDIX. 383 this time twelvemonth to carry it to Essex House, to prove APPENDIX what sport he could make in that fellowship."* _ T~ enmity. F Page 257— 2G6. Italeigli's Plot — Its Origin and Secret Histonj. In addition to the observations made in the text (p. 249-253), Raleinh's I am now able, in consequence of some further researches, -' '*'" to throw a clearer light upon this alleged conspiracy, which has, by all former historians and biographers, been pronoun^^'l so obscure as to be perfectly inexplicable.+ This is chiefly derived from a remarkable letter published, I believe for the first time, in the Oxford edition of the Works of Raleigh, to which no attention has been paid, and ujjon which no observa- tions have been made by its anonymous editor. The circum- stance is by no means extraordinary, as the letter is without date, without signature, and without address; written in a dark enigmatical style, with initials sometimes usod instead of names, and altogether so obscure, that unless studied with reference to a particular line of research, and with a minute attention to the state of the parties and intrigues of the court of Elizabeth iminediately previous to the death of the queen and the accession of James, it is quite impossible to make any thing out of it. The editor states that it is taken from the Burleigh Papers, and was probably written by Lord Henry Howard to Secretary Cecil. The conjecture was superfluous, for the letter itself contains distinct internal evidence that this was the case, — the writer styling the Duke of Norfolk, who was executed by Elizabeth for his intrigues witli Queen Mary, " his brother,'''' a designation which could come from no one but Lord Henry Howard.:}: That it was addressed to Secretary Cecil is not absolutely certain, but nearly so, if we consider * Cecil's Secret Correspondence, pp. 132, 133. + " The conspiracy," says Cayley (vol. ii. p. 5), " to which I allude, is a riddle of state, which has never been solved, and the speculations that have been form<^d on it would fill a moderate volume. Our own writers afford us little satisfaction on the subject ; while the account of it given by Thuanus is founded on the gross misrepresentations of his countryman, Victor Cayet, and is truly unworthy of a place in his history." " Every thing," says Hume, " remains still mysterious in this conspiracy, and history can give us no clue to unravel it." t 1 he Earl of Surrey left only two sons, the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Henry Howard* 384 APPENDIX. APPENDIX, the deep confidential intimacy which subsisted between Howard TTT and that statesman, — the circumstance that the letter was found p\ot amongst the Burleigh Papers, — and the fact, completely estab- lished by other evidence, that Howard and Cecil were the chief instruments in the downfal of Raleigh and Cobham.* Keeping these circumstances in mind, let us come to the let- ter, which, as it is very long, I regret I cannot give entire. The reader will find it in the 8th vol. of the Oxford edition of Raleigh's Works, p. 756. As already observed it is without date ; but it must have been written shortly before the death of Elizabeth. All these, however, are minor matters in com- parison with the singular fact, that it contains an exact out. line of the plan afterwards put in execution for the destruction of Cobham and Raleigh, by entrapping them in a charge of treason. We have in the first place this sentence: — " The' way that Cobham hath elected to endear himself is by peace with Spain ; which hath so many difficulties, as will rather ^* The two great supporters of James's government at the period of his accession Avere Lord Henry Howard and Secretary Cecil. Of these statesmen Wilson (see Kennet, vol. ii. p. 680) thus speaks : — " This man (Secretary Cecil) the king found secretary and master of the wards, and to these he added the treasurer's staff, knoAving him to be the staff of his treasury. * * The Earl of Northampton he made lord privy seal ; and these were the two prime wheels of his triumphant chariot. The Earl of Suffolk v/as made lord chamberlain before ; but ho came far behind in the mauageraeut of the king's affairs, being a spirit of a more grosser temper. * * Upon the shoulders of the two first the king laid the burthen of his business." Now we know from Raleigh himself that the three men who set tliemselves against him, and to whom he traced his ruin, were Northampton (Lord Henry Howard), Salisbury (Cecil), and Suffolk. The letter could only, from its confidential nature, be ■wi-itten either to Cecil or Suffolk ; but whether to the one or to the other is not very material, — inasmuch as a confidential com- munication, addressed to one member of a plot, may be looked on without injustice as addressed to all. In one part Howard advises the person to whom he addresses himself, to " hold back correspondences iciih neifjhhour states." Could this have been done by any one but the secretary of state, who manages these correspondences ? whereas Suffolk's office of chamberlain had nothing to do Avith them. With regard to the date of the letter I ani inclined to believe, fi'om a passage which occurs in it relative to the correspondence of Cobham and Raleigh Avith Scotland, that it was written in IMay 1602. It is indeed true that Howard, in the letter, speaks of " the Secretary " in the third person ; but this was probably a blind. APPENDIX. 385 confound his dizziness than reward his industry. But as mj APPENDIX, lord of Leicester dealt with my brotlier, finding his humoui R,^]eicL~8 apt to deal with Scotland, when he thrust him into a treaty plot. abo\it those affiiirs, assuring himself, that either he should lose the Q. [queen] for the present, or the other Q. for the future; so must you embark this gallant Cohham, byyourivit or interest^ iu some course of the Spanish ivay, as either may reveal his weakness or snare his ambition.''^ The practice of Leicester with the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Henry Howard's brother, and the subsequent ruin of that noble person, are matters of fimiliar history ; and we see that Howard here recommends Cecil in like manner to inveigle Cobham into some intrigue with Spain, by which his ambition might be ensnared, and not only his ruin but that of his friend Raleigh effected ; for it is to be observed, that throughout the letter, although Cobham is frequently spoken of in the singular number, as the person to be worked upon, yet it is always, that it may bring about their ruin ; that is, as the letter most fully shows, the ruin of him and Raleigh. The reader need not be told how completely this sentence sketches out the very plan which was adopted. Cobham was induced to engage in an intrigue with J^pain ; in that intrigue his enemies attempted to involve Raleigh, and they thus accomplished the ruin of both. But this is only the plot in its infancy or most general form. The particular mode in which such a project may be executed is next pointed out by Lord Henry. "Be not unwilling," says he, " to engage him [Cobham] in the trafHcke ivith suspected ministers^ and upon the first occasion of false treaty to make him the minister."* How completely this was followed may be seen in the trial. Cobham did engage in a traffic, or secret correspondence with Aremberg, the minister of the archduke, who was in the interest of Spain, and so much suspected, that Coke at the trial did not scruple to affirm he had evidence enough to convict this foreign ambassador of treason ;t and it was out of this secret corre- spondence that his enemies spun the net which ultimately caught both Cobham and Raleigh. After this, Howard proceeds, ir his lengthy and obscure style, to give many advices, and re- commends extreme measures to be pursued against Cobham and Raleigh. " Follow them not. * * The best course were, in all respects, /o ie r?(i 0/ //iem. • • * It is better to crush their edges than to neglect jeopardy. • • • The • Raleigh's Works, vol. viii. p. 759. f Jardine's Trials, p. 397 386 APPEXDIX. APPENDIX, means to cut them off must be either occasional or violent JTaleiffh^ * * In all occasions, both public and private, it were good plot to gain the start ; and cut doivii the thorn before the time come wherein it can make account to take hold of you."* That this advice v/as also scrupulously pursued, the reader need not be told. There f^^Uows a very singular passage, too long to be extracted, in which Howard draws a parallel between Cobham and Raleigh. It is clever and amusing ;-|- but the important fact to be derived from it is, that Raleigh, in his political opinions, with regard to peace with Spain, and other public measures, was directly opposed to Cobham ; a circumstance resting on most unsuspected evidence, since it comes from his bitter enemy, — and wholly subversive of the theory attempted to be made out in his trial, that he and this nobleman were embarked in the same treasonable intercourse with Spain. So far all is clear and certain ; and no one who reads these passages, and compares them with the course afterwards pur- sued by Howard and Cecil, will hesitate to confess, that the plan here recomxnended was that afterwards followed. Some of our historians have expressed their astonishment that the conspiracy, which they have hastily and ignorantly denomi- nated Kaleigh*s Plot, should have broken out so suddenly after the king's accession. They wondered that it should have been so rapidly concocted, and so speedily brought to light, almost before the monarch v/as seated on his English throne. The letter which we have just quoted explains the mystery. The conspiracy was an invention of Howard's, sketched out during the lifetime of Elizabeth, and for which the materials were pre- pared before the accession of James. The train was laid ; it needed only the match to inflame it. But a little research will enable us to proceed from this general outline of their future operations, given by Lord Henry Howard, to the particular mode in which Cobham was first in- volved and Raleigh afterwards drawn in. Secretary Cecil had married Elizabeth Brooke, a sister of Lord Cobham's ; and there was in the fam.ily another brother, George Brooke, an ambitious, unprincipled man, but possessed of considerable talents, with a great passion for political intrigue. This George Brooke had become engaged in the conspiracy of the Catholic priests, Watson and Clarke, for the seizure of the king's person, * Raleigh's Works, vol. viii. pp. 764, 765, 768. + Ibid. pp. 766, 767. API'ENDIX. 3C7 which was denominated the " Bye." " Brooke's motive for AlTKN'm: joining the conspiiaoy," says Blr Jardine (Criminal Trials, p. p,,j,ij,ij.a 390), " it is difficult to ascertain, though it would appear fron) plot, the statements of some of his confederates, as well as his own, that he was actuated neither by religious nor political considera- tions, but merely by a sordid view to his own aggrandizement." It appears to me extremely probable that Cecil, aware of the intrigues of the Catholic priests, and the conspiracy which they were hatching, engaged Brooke, his brother-in-law, to become a party to their discontents, that he might discover and betray their secrets. I state this only as a conjecture ; but there are two circumstances upon which a presumption of its truth may be founded. The first of these is Brooke's declaration on the scaffold as given by an eyewitness. Sir Dudley Carletcn : — "He did somewhat extenuate his offences, both in the treasons and in the course of his life, — naming these [the treasons] rather errors than capital crimes, and his former faults sins, but not so heinous as they were traduced, which he referred to the G d of triiih and time to discover, and so left it, as if some- what lay yet hid, which would one day appear fur his justifi- cation.''' I would ask, is this not very like the language of one who felt he had been unfairly dealt with ; who wished to avoid the disgraceful acknowledgment that he had submitted to be employed as a spy and a base informer, yet repelled the idea that he was a traitor, and left his justification to the God of truth and to time ? But this is not all. We have the fol- lowing remarkable letter, or rather fragment of a letter, from Brooke to Cecil, which proves a very intimate interchange of services on the part of his brother-in-law, and promises of rewards from the Secretary. The allusion in the first sentence is to Cecil's deceased wife, Brooke's sister : — " * * She that loved me, and whose memory you yet love, beholding from heaven the extreme calamity of her father's house. Shall I need say any more after this? 'Tis all but weak if I pray you to cancel injuries past, you have promised to do so ; and I believe if I promise you any thing of myself, you may truly say you need it not nor caie for it : therefore I must stand only upon your free disposition, and shall be sc much the more assured, because nothing binds you. Leave now, I beseech your lordship, to be nice, — and sticke not to dissever yourself in my relief. But above all give me leave to conjure you to deal directly with me, what I am to expect. 388 APPENDIX. APPEXDIX after so many promises received, and so much conformity and Rale'>ii's ficcepted service performed on my part to you. Your lord- plot. "^ ship's brother-in-law to command, — G. Bhooke." This letter is dated November 18, 1C03, the day after Raleigh's trial, and four days before that of Brooke's brother. Lord Cobham.* It proves that Brooke had received many promises of reward from Cecil, many directions with regard to what the secretary wished him to do, — that he had conformed his proceeding to these injunctions, — that his services had been accepted and acknowledged by Cecil, — and that, after all, the promises made to him had not been kept ; so that he found himself indirectly dealt with, and knew not what he was to expect. Does not this letter raise a strong presumption that Brooke, whose motives for entering into the conspiracy are proved to have been neither of a religious nor political nature, was employed by Cecil as a spy upon his brother-conspirators ? At all events, one fact is certain from the letter, — that, after the conspiracy was discovered, Cecil had employed Brooke in matters of a very secret and confidential nature, and that, having performed the services required of him, Brooke expected from Cecil the fulfilment of his promises. The question next occurs, M'hat were these services ? and this will lead us on to the development of the plot against Cobham and Raleigh. Having discovered the Treason of the Priests, and found, either that Brooke was really an accomplice in it, or that he had involved himself so far that he might be treated as an accomplice, the next object of Howard and Cecil seems to have been to prevail upon him to implicate his brother and Raleigh by declaring that he was privy to the said treason. How completely this was accomplished appears by an extract from Brooke's examination : — " Being asked wh::t was meant by this jargon, the Bye and the Main ? he said, that the Lord Cobham told him that Grey and others were but upon the Bye, but he and Raleigh were upon the Main. Being asked what exposition his brother made of these words ? he saith, he is loath to repeat it ; and after saith, by the Main was meant the tiiking away of the king and his issue ; and thinks, on his con- science, it v/as infused into his brother's head by Raleigh. "f * The original is in the State-paper Office, from which it was published by Mrs Thomson in her Appendix to the Life of Raleigh. + Jardiue's Trials, p. 429. APPENDIX. 389 There is a letter in the State-paper Office from Sir "William ArPENDIJt. Waad to Cecil, dated August 3, 1G03, in which the secretary's p. ~T7 anxiety to connect Brooke, Cobham, and Raleigh, in the same plot *' treason, is very apparent. AVaad sends him information regard- ing the examination of the parties in the Priests' Treason^ and says : — " JMy Lord Grey is now confest. Sir ^V alter Rawley was ordinarily thrice a-week with the Lord Cobham : wliat their conferences were none but themselves do know. But Mr Brooke cortjidently thinketh what his brother knoivs was knoivn to the other. ^^* So far, then, all had succeeded. Brooke had been induced to accuse his brother of being acquainted with the conspiracy for the surprise of the king ; and Lord Cobham, who had been intriguing with Aremberg, and engaging "in the traffick with suspected ministers," found himself involved in a charge of treason which might bring his head into jeopardy. Howard and Cecil had thus a complete power over him ; and their next step was to get Cobham to accuse and implicate Raleigh. Here, however, they experienced more difficulty, from the weak, false, and vacillating character of the one, and the talent and upright- ness of the other. ]\Ir Brooke, we see, had informed Cecil, through Waad, that he confidently thought Raleigh knew all that Cobham knew. But this was no evidence ; it became necessary to extract proofs of Raleigh's guilt from Cobham's own lips ; and well was he plied upon the point. Taking into account his various examinations, declarations, and letters ad- dressed to the council, he appears, previous to his last declara- tion on the scaffiald, to have disburdened his breast of its secret knowledge no less than nine times. On all occasions Cecil and liord Henry Howard, with the assistance of Sir Edward Coke, were the principal persons before whom the examinations were conducted ; and it appears of the greatest consequence in the development of this plot to attend to the various and contra- dictory accounts of Cobham. In doing this I entreat the reader to keep in mind the fact, that the hopes of Cecil and Lord Henry Ploward, in their plan for fixing treason upon Raleigh, rested principally if not solely on the evidence to be extracted from Cobham. This nobleman was examined first on the IGth July, again on the 19th, and once more on the 20th of the same month. * That is, Brooke is pretty certain that his brother had iiU' parted the Priests' Treason to Raleigh. 390 APPEXDIX. APPEND! ""■ The examinations of the 16th and the I9th are preserved in -, . 7~r the State-paper Office, and in both of them ( I use the words plot. of Mr Jardine, for I have not myself seen them) " Cobham denies all knowledge of plots or treasonable designs of any kind/^* Of course he then entirely exculpated Raleigh. "On the 20th of July he appears to have been again examined ; and being then shown the letter from Raleigh to Lord Cecil, in- forming him of the suspicions he [Raleigh^ entertained of Cobham's intrigues with Count Aremberg, he bursts out into vehement exclamations against Raleigh, and then makes a statement, the substance of which is very imperfectly given in the reports of the trial."t This examination or declaration of the 20th of July, although it is stated to have been read at the trial, is not to be found in the State-paper Office ; but there is no doubt that it completely implicated Raleigh, ac- cusing him of treasonable "plots and invasions." From a letter of Secretary Cecil's, dated 4th August, addressed to Sir Thomas Parry, and first printed by Cay ley (vol. ii. p. 6), we are enabled to add the material fact, that although Cobham had thus, on the 20/71 of July, accused Raleigh " before eleven councillors, to be privy to his Spanish course, * * * yet being newly examined [this is his fourth examinationj'], he seemeth now to clear Sir Walter in most things, and to take all the burthen to himself." Cecil goes on to observe in the same -letter, that " no severity shall be used toward him [Raleigh], for which there shall not be sufficient proof : which is very like there will be, notwithstanding this retractation ; because it is confessed, that since their being in the Tower, intelligence hath passed from one to another, wherein Raleigh expostulated his unkind using of him."§ * Criminal Trials, pp. 410, 411. + Ibid. p. 411. X TJiis fourth examination seems to have taken place on the 29th July (Jardiue's Trials, p. 422), and it was followed by Cobham's wi-iting a letter to the Lords, which was quoted at the tiial. Its contents exculpate both himself and Raleigh from all treasonable intentions, and prove, what seems to have been the whole truth, that Cobham had engaged in a correspondence with Aremberg, the minister of the archduke, to further the peace with Spain. The reader Avill remember Lord Henry Howard's directions, that Cobham (in order to accomplish his and Raleigh's ruin) must be first drawn into a traffic with sus- pected ministers regarding peace with Spain. In the letter we had the plot laid down — here we see how completely it had been carried into effect. § Cayley, vol. ii. n. 1 0, API'ENDIX. 391 <^obham was again examined on the I3th August,* before APPENDIX^ I/ord Henry Howard, and his declarations, which are not p , 777 quoted fully on the trial, appear to have been exculpatory of plot. ° Raleigh. He refused to say any thing, although pressed on the point, which should connect him with the treasonable speech about cutting off the king and his cubs. This was his fifth exa- mination. On the 13th October he was examined for the sixth time, without any thing conclusive as to Raleigh's guilt being extracted from him ;+ and it was probably not long after this, certainly in the same month, that Cobham, worked upon by some means or other, once more changed, and addressed to Cecil, Nottingham, and Suffolk lord chamberlain, this epistle : — "My very Good Lords, — So low is my poor estate at this present, that no requital for your favours can I promise ; but while I breathe will pray for God ever to assist you and keep you from all affliction, which my soul in the highest degree is moved of. Out of charity this I humbly pray of your lordships, that I might speak with you ail three ; you shall be a means thereby to send me in peace to the grave. The bottom of my heart I will disclose unto you, which to no living creature but to yourselves I will do. God send you all as great comfort as my affliction is great; and so to God's protection do I wish you. — From my prison in the Tower, this Tuesday morning, your lordships' poor afflicted friend, '• Oct. 1G03. " Henry Cobham." This letter, as it will be perceived, invited another interview with Cecil, and his confederates Suffolk and Nottingham; but what immediate steps they adopted does not appear. In the mean time Raleigh, on the 31st October, contrived to convey a letter to Cubham in the manner already explained (pp. 240', 247), to which that nobleman replied, on the 1st of November,^: by that remarkable epistle in which, in the most solemn and awful manner, he cleared him of all the things of which he had heretofore accused him. The enemies of Sir M'alter, however, * Jardine's Trials, p. 429. f Ibid. p. 432. + These dates do not appear in the letters as given in the trial (Jardine, pp. 445, 448), but may be fixed thus : — Cobham says Sir Walter wrote to him fouj- itUjIits before he left the Tower. Now we know Cobham left the Tower on the 4th of November. — (Oldys's Life, p. 375.) He says also that he replied to Raleigh's letter the day after he received it. 392 APPENDIX. APPENDIX, were not to be so easily defeated. They procured Cobham*s .--- wife, the Lady Kildare, a Howard, and daughter of Notting- ii'lot^^^^^ ham, the high-admiral, to write to her husband that there was no way to save his Hfe but to accuse Raleigh. And this mean and wavering person once more directed a letter to the lords of the council on the IGth of November,* a day before Raleigh's trial, in which he again departed from his former examinations, and criminated his friend. Before proceeding farther, let us for a moment rapidly run over these various examinations and letters of Cobham, in or- der to ascertain how much weight is to be attached to the evi- dence of such a person. In his first examination he excul- pates Raleigh ; in his second he adheres to his first ; in his third he is inveigled by a device (explained above, p. 390) into an accusation of him ; in his fourth he again exculpates him of any treasonable designs ; hi his fifth he adheres to this ; in his sixth he follows the same course ; in his letter to Ra- leigh, on the 1st of November, he again, in the most solemn manner, exculpates him of all guilt ; and once more, on the 16th of November, he is prevailed on to alter his story, and to accuse him. We have thus eight examinations or declarations of Lord Cobham, and out of these, six are in favour of Raleigh, whilst two, including the last on the 16th cf November, were against him. But we have not yet done with the extraordinary vacillation? of this lord, and the base dexterity by which he was worked upon by the enemies of Raleigh. II is last letter, accusing this unfortunate man, being pi'ociired on the 16th November, not a moment was lost, Raleigh was tried, and, on the evideiice of this letter, found guilty on the 11 th of the same month : This evidence, however, was of such a kind as could not possibly be satisfactory,t and indeed, setting aside the fact that the witness had six successive times contradicted it, the accusation in the letter itself did not amount to treason : Accordingly, the object of Raleigh's enemies was to procure a still stronger declaration from Cobham, and this they extracted from him on the 22d * Jardine's Trials, p. 444. t _A contemporary and eyewitness of the trial thus character- izes it — " The main evidence was Cobham's accusation, which, all things considered, was no more to be loeighed than the bark- ing of a dop. I would not for much have been of the jury to have found him guilty."— Letter in Sir Toby Matthews' Collec- tion, Jardine, p. 463. APPENDIX. 3yii November, the very day of his own trial, " There is," says Mr atpeNDIX Jardine, " an examination of Lord Cobham, taken before seve- : — ; ral Lords of the Council on the 22d November 1G03, in which pi^^'"^^ he fully and circumstantially repeats his former accusation of Raleigh, adding several circumstances which he had not men- tioned before. This examination is signed by Cobham."* The same day, however, came on his own trial, and he again varied in his story; for although he criminated Raleigh in one part of his defence, he appears to have completely contradicted his for- mer letter of accusation. Of this we have the best possible evidence in Cecil's letter to Sir Thomas Parry, dated 1st De- ceiTiber, where there is this passage : — " The Friday after, the Lord Cobham was arraigned before thirty-one of the peers, the Lord Chancellor sitting as High Steward. He denied then that Raleigh teas privy to his purpose to go into Spain. And for the matter of money to be gotten for discontented persons, he confessed that it was a conceit of his oicn thoxights, never communicated to any, but died in him almost as soon as it was harboured in his mind ; though he did reveal it to the Lords of the Council when they examined him about other matters. Concerning the setting up of the Lady Arabella, he fastened it upon his brother, George Brooke. And for Sir Walter Raleigh, though he confessed that in many things he had dotie him wrong, yet he maintained still the pension sought for by him ; and withal that Sir ^V alter moved to solicit Ar- emberg to persuade the King of Spain to send an army into Milford Haven. "t Thus, for the tenth time, Cobham at his trial appears to have varied in his story generally; to have rather exculpated Raleigh than corroborated his former accusations; and to have added a new circumstance against him to which no one was likely to affix any credit. Such being the state of things, he was found guillg, hh brother, George Brooke's confession being the chief evidence against him. His conduct and behaviour on the trial are minutely described by Sir Dudley Carleton, and the reader's attention is particularly requested to the passage, as it will be afterwards shown to be of importance. " Cobham led the way on Friday, and made such a fasting-day's piece of work of it, that he discredited the place to which he was called ; never was seen so poor and abject a spirit. He heard his indictment with much fear and trembling. • • • After sentence of • Jardine's Trials, p. 445. f Cayley, vol. ii. p. G3. 394 APPENDIX. APPENDIX, condemnation given, he begged a great while for life and fa- TT7 vour, alleging his confession as a meritorious act."* Another plot'^ ^ observation of Carleton in the same letter is material to be noticed. " We cannot," says he, " yet judge what will be- come of him [^Cobham]] or the rest ; for all are not like to go one way. Cobham is of the surest side ; for he is thought least dangerous, and the Lord Cecil undertakes to be his friend^ We have now analyzed the confessions and character of I^ord Cobham with perhaps a tedious minuteness. It is to be re- collected, however, that he constitutes the single witness against Sir Walter Raleigh, and that our object is completely to develop the plot to which this illustrious man was made a sacrifice, and which has hitherto been considered, from its obscurity, so inexplicable. The reader will now be able to appreciate the mixture of fear, weakness, and falsehood, which composed the character of Cobham. Keeping all this in view, we shall next follow him to the scaffold. He had been con- demned on the 22d November ; he was brought out for execu- tion on the 10th of December ; and now let us hear the account of an eyewitness, Sir Dudley Carleton : " The Lord Cobham, who was now to play his part, and by his former actions pro- mised nothing but matiere pour rire, did much cozen the world ; for he came to the scaffold with good assurance and contempt of death. He said some short prayers after his minister, and so out-prayed the company that helped to pray with him, that a stander by said ^ He had a good mouth in a cry, but was nothing single.' Some few words he used, to express his sorrow for his offence to the king, and craved par- don of him and the world ; for Sir Walter Raleigh, he took it, upon the hope of his souVs resurrection, that what he had said of him was true ; and with those words would have taken a short farewell of the world, with that constancy and boldness that we might see by him it is an easier matter to die well than live well. — He was stayed by the sheriff." So far Sir Dudley. The reader is already acquainted (supra, p. 2GG) with the ter- mination of this extraordinary farce, by his lordship receiving a reprieve, when, as all the bystanders expected, he was to be instantly beheaded. But what I would here remark, is the strong presumption (amounting, I think, when all the circum- stances are taken together, almost to proof) that Cobham was perfectly aware before he came to the scaffold that he was not * Jardine's Trials, pp. 466, 468. APPENDIX. 305 CO die, and that the piice of this pardon was to be his solemn, APPENDIX, and as it would then appear to the world, his dying accusation p-iig^jj^o of Raleigh. When we compare the passage quoted above, plot, describing his conduct on his trial (supra, p. 393), his poor and abject spirit, his fear and trembling, his long begging for life and favour, with this extraordinary metamorphosis into a courageous contempt of death, into a boldness and constancy of demeanour entirely foreign to his character, — and with his fervent asserting of Raleigh's guilt upon his soul's resurrection, the inference can scarcely be resisted — that this whole scene was got up — that it was a piece of acting, the object of which was to convince the world, by the declaration of a dying asso- ciate, that Raleigh was really guilty — and that Cobham's won- derful courage and contempt of death, which so perplexed and astonished the world, arose simply out of the circumstance that he knew beforehand he was not to die. It is possible that, in the private correspondence of Secretary Cecil preserved at Hatfield, as well as in the examinations and declarations of the priests, of Brooke, Grey, Cobham, and Markham, many links in the history of this extraordinary plot for the ruin of Raleigh might be supplied, and the exact mode by which Brooke became associated with the priests, Cobham entangled by Brooke, and Raleigh implicated by Cobham, traced step by step. It is a tantalizing reflection that stores exist in this country, both in public and in private repositories, from which, if opened up, a flood of light might be poured on some of the obscurest periods of our history. But they are locked up and inaccessible — as useless as a lamp in a sepulchre. In the present investigation, I have been cramped by the paucity of original and authentic materials : garbled examinations — anonymous letters without date or address, and insulated frag- ments and extracts, have been my only guides — yet, followed with the patience and earnestness absolutely necessary for the elucidation of historical truth, they have led to two interesting results: First, A portion of English history, hitherto pronounced by every preceding writer inexplicably and hopelessly obscure, has been rendered comparatively clear, consistent, and intelli- gible. We have seen the plot in its infancy, in its progress, and in its termination — and no doubt, I apprehend, can re- main, that its authors were Ploward and Cecil. Secondly, The fact that Raleigh was the victim of a conspiracy or state plot, and guiltless of the treason for which he suffered, has, I trust, been satisfactorily established. His real crime was, that he 396 APPEKDIX. APPENDIX and Cobham were plotting, not against the king or the state, Ralei^s ^^^ against Cecil's poAver as a minister ; and I may remark, plot, " that whilst he was guilty of only entertaining the proposal of a pension, or present of money from a foreign statesman, it can be proved that the ministers and courtiers of James had unblushingly received bribes from the French ambassador and also from the Spanish envoy. G.— Page 290. Errors of Mr D^Israeli. D'israelL ^^ ^^^ D'Israeli's Second Series of his Curiosities of Litera- ture is an article entitled " Literary Unions," where we find this passage : — " There is a large work which is still cele- brated, of which the composition has excited the astonishment even of the philosophic Hume, but whose secret history re- mains yet to be disclosed. This extraordinary volume is the History of the World by Rawleigh, * * Now," he adds, *' when the truth is known, the wonderful in this literary mystery will disappear, except in the eloquent, the grand, and the pathetic passages interspersed in that venerable volume. AVe may indeed pardon the astonishment of our calm philos- opher when we consider the recondite matter contained in this work, and recollect the little time which this adventurous spirit, whose life was passed in fabricating his own fortune and in perpetual enterprise, could allow to such erudite pur- suits. Where could Rawleigh obtain that familiar acquaint- ance with the Rabbins, of whose language he was probably entirely ignorant ? His numerous publications, the effusions of a most active mind, though excellent in their kind, were evidently composed by one who teas not abstracted in curious and remote inquiries, but full of the daily business and the wisdom of human life. His confinement in the Tower, which lasted several years, was indeed sufficient to the composition of this folio volume, and of a second which appears to have occupied hira. But in that imprisonment it singularly hap- pened that he lived among literary characters with the most intimate friendship. There he joined the Earl of Northum- berland, the patron of the philosophers of his age, and with whom Rawleigh pursued his chemical studies, and Sergeant Hoskins, a poet and a wit, and the poetical ' father' of Ben Jonson, who acknowledged that ' it was Hoskins who had polished him ;' and that Rawleigh often consulted Hoskins in -APPENDIX. 397 his literary works, / learn from a manuscript. But however ^VPPENDIX. literary the atmosphere of the Tower proved to Rawleigh, no ' — ; particle of Hebrew, and perhaps little of Grecian lore, floated D^'lJuelL from a chemist and a poet. The truth is, that the collection of the materials of this history was the labour of several persons, who have not all been discovered. It has been as- certained that Ben Jonson was a considerable contributor; and there was an English philosopher, from whom Descartes, it is said even by his own countrymen, borrowed largely, — Thomas Hariot, — whom Anthony Wood charges with infusing into Rawleigh's volume philosophical notions, while Rawleigh was composing his History of the \V'orld. But if Rav/leigh's pursuits surpassed even those of the most recluse and seden- tary lives, as Hume observed, we must attribute this to a ' Dr Robert Burrel, rector of Northwald in the county of Norfolk, who was a great favourite of Sir 'Walter Rawleigh, and had been his chaplain. All or the greatest part of the drudgery of Sir \Valter's History, for criticisms, chronology, and reading Greek and Hebrew authors, were performed by him for Sir Walter.' Thus a simple fact, whe7i discovered, clears up the whole mystery."* I have given this extract at full length, as it seems to me to present a remarkable example how certainly superficial research leads to error, and error to injustice. Mr D'Israeli calls upon us to believe that Raleigh's History of the \Vorld is not his own work, but a compilation by Sergeant Hoskins, Ben Jonson, Thomas Hariot, and Dr Robert Burrel, in which the author merely interspersed the eloquent, the grand, and the pathetic passages. And on what proofs is this extravagant assertion — this remarkable discovery (so the author repeatedly announces it) — founded ? The reader has seen these proofs : they exist la the extract from the Curiosities of Literature already quoted, the information in which is a mere transcript from an interesting passage in Oldys's Life of Raleigh (p. 449-453), which we have printed below ;-j- with the important difference that this exccl- * Curiosities of Literature, vol. ii. (•2d Scries) p. 140-143. + " He took no ordinary care to deserve these encomiums, for besides his own learning, knowledge, and judgment, which many would have thought sufficient for any undertaking, he, with that caution wherewith we have beheld so many others of his great enterprises tempered, would sufi'er no part of this liistory to pass his own hand before some of the most able scholars, w horn he assembled, it seems, for tliis purpose, had debated tho 398 APPENDIX. En-ors of D'IsraelL APPENDIX, lent writer dreams not for a moment of making it the founda- tion of any charge against Raleigh. Now let us mark the " facilis descensus" of error down which Mr D'Israeli hurries to his conclusions. He finds it stated by Oldys, that Raleigh in any difficulties as to phrase and diction consulted Sergeant Hoskins ; therefore Sergeant Hoskins wrote part of the History of the World. He finds Ben Jonson, after he had probably put two or three bottles of the Hawthornden claret under his belt, informing Drummond, in conversation, that he had written for Raleigh a piece of the Punic "War, which Sir Walter altered and placed in his History; therefore he at once assents to the conclusion, " that the best wits in England were employed in making this History." He had read in Oldys, that in the IMosaic or Oriental Antiquities, Raleigh would sometimes consult his friend Dr Robert Burrel ; therefore to Burrel we owe all the Rabbinical lore, all the Jewish, and all the Grecian History. He knev from the same source that in chronology, geography, and other branches of mathematical science, Raleigh took the opinion of the learned Hariot, and the Earl of Nortliumberland's three Magi ; and therefore, when the truth is known, all that has been thought wonderful in this literary mystery disappears. These men were amongst the best wits who composed the History, and instead of being, what the world has believed for so long a time, the author of this great work, Raleigh can only lay claim to the eloquent and pathetic passages interspersed in the volume. And this is the " Secret History of the History of the World," and we are called upon not only to assent to it, but to hail it as a discovery. To answer it seriously is impossible. Upon the parts he was most doubtful of, and they most conversant in, before him. Thus in the Mosaic and Oriental Antiquities, or fainter and more remote footsteps of time, he v?^ould sometimes consult the learned Dr Robert Burhill. In all parts of chronol- ogy, geography, and other branches of mathematical science, he wanted not the opinions of the learned Hariot, and the Earl of Northumberland's three Magi, long his neighbours in the Tower; and wherever he scrupled any thing in the phrase or diction, he V70uld hear the acute and ingenious Sir John Hoskyns, some time also resident in these confines, Avho viewed and reviewed the said History, as we are told, before it went to the press, and whom Ben Johnson, proud of calling others his sons, could gratify that humour in calling father." As his authority for this passage Oldys cites Anthony Wood's Account of Dr Robert Burrel and the lives of T. Hariot and Sir John Hoskins, all which are to be found in the Athence Oxonienses. AT pi; ND IX. 309 same or rather on far more plausible grounds, might Pope be APPENDIX, deprived of his fame as the translator of Homer; and every e,,^,^ ,f author who has availed himself of the assistance of his hterary D'lsrueU. friends, might have his well-earned bays torn from his brows, and trampled in the dust. _ But I am sorry to accuse INIr D'Israeli not only of injustice to Raleigh, but of some little disingenuousness. The whole of this secret history, as it is termed (with the exception of Ben Jonson's eloge upon himself), is, as we see, to be found in Oldys's Life of Raleigh, a work with which we know ]\Ir D'Israeli is intimately acquainted. Why then does he claim it as a discovery of his own ? " I shall give," says he (Curiosities of Literature, 2d Series, vol. ii. p. 102), «in the article Lite- rary Unions, a curious account how Rawleigh's History of the World was composed ; xoUch has hitherto escaped discovery: In a note indeed on the passage regarding the assistance given to Raleigh by Dr Burrel, he tells us that it is taken from a singular manuscript in the Lansdowne Collection, consisting, as he thinks, of extracts from those papers of Anthony W ood which this honest antiquary desired to be burned before his death This little circumstance not only vindicates Raleigh, but exposes in a strong light the injustice with which both he and Anthony Wood have been treated by D'Israeli. Wood had patiently investigated the history of Raldgh's great work ; and having weighed and digested his materials, he not only published in his Athcnce Oxonienses ^Yi^e of Raleigh, but lives of Burrel, Hoskins, and Hariot. Before his death, however he dreads that some portions of his manuscript materials which he had probably discovered to contain errors, and laid aside on this account, might mislead others ; and he commands them to be burnt Mr D'Israeli, however, finds a transcript of them ; and in it is this passage relative to Dr Burrel, upon which he builds part of his secret history of Raleigh's great work. Thus poor Wood's dying request is defeated; that which he had probably detected to be error is repeated as truth ; and Raleigh s fair fame is to be sacrificed to the vanity of being able to satisfy a passing wonder of the philosophic Hume. To render his conclusions more probable, he talks of the little time which Raleigh could allow to such erudite pursuits : Does he forget that this remarkable man, even in the most active period ot his life, read four hours a-day, and carried his books with him on his voyages ? He speaks of his published works being httle connected with curious and remote inquiries : Does he lemem. 400 APPENDIX. APPEXDDL ber Raleigh's Discourse on the Tenures before the Conquest, Errors of — ^^^ request to Sir Robert Cotton for Sigebert's Chronicle, E/Ibiaeli. Gervase of Tilbury, and any manuscripts which illustrate British Antiquities ? He alludes to the several years he spent in the Tower : Is this an expression to be applied to an impri- sonment of thirteen years ? But it is ever thus with an anxiety to support a favourite hypothesis ; it induces us either to forget or to disregard every fact with which it is incompatible. Mr D'Israeli is an agreeable writer, but subject to fits of affectation. He somewhat ungallantly goes out of his way to inform Miss Aikin that her Memoirs of James I. had been of no use to him, adding, that " secret history is rarely to be found in printed books.'* Yet assuredly he ought to be the last person to express contempt for printed books as "rarely containing secret history ;" seeing tliat the whole of his secret history of Raleigh, which he describes as culled from manuscript sources, had, with two or three exceptions scarcely worthy of notice, been already given at full length in the printed works of Oldys, Cayley, and Birch. "With an infirmity very incident to the antiquary, he has been working in the wake of these writers, referring to letters as manuscript which they had already published, and assuming in rather too complacent terms the tone of an original discoverer, whilst he was nothing more than an unconscious copyist. Did the limits of this note permit, it would be easy, not only to sub- stantiate these charges, but also to show that in his estimate of Raleigh's character there is both injustice and exaggeration. The reader is here referred to a spirited and learned vindication of Raleigh's right to be considered the author of his own history, which will be found in Mr Bolton Corney's Illustrations of the Curiosities of Literature. H.— Page 328. Raleigh and the French Agent — Extracts from the Manu- scripts in the State-paper Office, _ , . , , The nervous anxiety of the king to sift to the bottom tne whole Ralfieii and , , •' -,,,., ,,_, , tiie French correspondence between Raleigh and the French agent, is ap- parent from Sir Thomas Wilson's Notes in the State-paper Office. Sir "Walter constantly affirmed, what even the king, with all his suspicion, seems at last to have been convinced was the truth, that the offer of the French agent to favour his escape was voluntary^ and unsought for on his part. The French government were aware of Raleigh's great talents, and igent. APPENDIX. 403 of his determined enmity to Spain. They knew that he was APPExpiX. better acquainted than perhaps any other man in Europe with j^^^^;^,, ^^,^,, the weak points where that kingdom might be attacked, and the French they were anxious to secure for him an asylum in France. In agent. Wilson's I^IS. Notes of one of his first conversations with Ra- lei<'h, preserved in the State-paper Office, and entitled " A relation of what hath passed and been observed by me smce my coming to Sir Walter Rawley upon Friday, Uth of September.' there is this passage : '= Yesternight, having before upon many occasions let out some pieces of these things, that he might think it came hardly from me as from myself, • * he made me a Ion- answer, and told me in gross what he had done before in retail: saying, ' Whatsoever is confessed by others, sure I am there is nothing can touch my fidelity to the king nor my country ;' affirmed he never had any conference with the Frenchman but complimental ; knew not his name, nor the cause of his coming,— much less with the French agent, whom he knows not what man he is. Nor was it likely he could con- fer on any matters of secrecy, he being at all times under such watchful guard. « 2. As to the French ambassador before the voyage, twas true he came to see his ship, as other ambassadors, Venetian, and Savoyard, and the Spaniard also, came and rowed about it,— all being from pure curiosity. " 3. That as to his purpose of going into France, it was solely to shelter himself from danger, understanding the Spaniard did 60 press for his life, until the storm blew over, and either by tlie queen's majesty's means, or by that of his other friends, he might recover favour." " 5. For employment when he was there, he hoped he might do some service against the Spaniard if there were need, for that he knows him, and his force, and his weakness, and what not, as much as any man. And no man can know the Spaniard well but he must know his Indies well ; and on this he would have run out at great length ; but," says Wilson, " I drew him with the best unsuspected discretion I could to the points in hand; so he went forward alleging, that as to letters or messages about his escape, he never received any with any Frenchman or other, except Mannering (Manouric), brought by Stukely, to consent to his escape, and tormented him by sprinkling him with aquafortis, to make him seem diseased, that he might not be sent for to the court, and win time, who at last betrayed him, as all the world knows. 402 APPENDIX. Ealeij^li and tlie French agent. APPENDIX. " 6. That for plots or designs he had none, but to save his life by escaping somewhere : being alarmed by letters from some lords his friends, who wrote that the king would have strict justice upon his person. This made him plot a design to fly, and he knew no fitter place than France." Such are all Raleigh's answers, as reported by Sir Thomas M^'ilson, and nothing can appear more clear, open, or ingenuous. It did not, however, satisfy the king ; and it appears that Lady Carew was afterwards employed to interrogate Raleigh on the point without eliciting any thing farther. This lady's deposi- tion is ludicrous enough. She saith that the agent informed her, if Sir Walter Raleigh would go into France he should be welcome. She asking what he should do there, he answered, *' II mangera, il boyera, il fera bien." — Wilson s MS. Notes in State-paper Office. Raleijfh in the To\ver I Page 337. Raleigh in the Tower — His Unpublished Manuscripts — Hampden. Some interesting particulars are to be gleaned from Sir Thomas Wilson's MS. Notes and Letters, preserved in the State-paper Office. " My first coming," says Wilson, in a letter to Secretary Naunton, " as Sir Robert Johnson, one of the officers of the Tower, told me by next morning, bredd a wonderment amongst them, some saying thereupon that now they thought Sir \^''alter Rawley's dayes would be short, as if I had been sent as a mes- senger of death. Himself, after a little speech had with him, told me that he doubted not but that I knew that his dayes were not long ; to which I protested the contrary, as well I might. '•' LTpon his groaning and grievous complaining of his con- tinual paines and infirmities, I enquired the causes. Raleigh then described his diseased state of body, arising, as he said, out of the applications of his physitian, Dr Guyn, and his brother, the king's apothecary, to remove a stich under his right side, which excoriated, exulcerated, and made holes in his side, which being at length closed, there remained in his side an exceeding swelling, which beginneth to imposthumate, and ere long, as he thinks, will break; besides which, his liver doth swell, which will soon cause that he shall need no other death. * * '• Thus much," he remarks, " of the state of his body ; and why he may be thought to make it seem worse than it is, may APPENDIX. 403 be easily gathered, that he would not be thought in his health APPENDIX to enterprise any such matter as perhaps he designeth." KakiKl.'in In a letter of Raleigh's to his wife, which had been sent to the Tower. Secretary Naunton for his perusal before it reached Lady Raleigh, there is this postscript, valuable as it relates to that treatise on the Art of War by Sea, which, in the wreck of his fortunes and of his personal property, has unfortunately been lost. " There is in the bottom of the sedar-chest some paper books of mine. I pray make them up altogether, and send them me. The title of one of them is the Art of War by Sea. The rest are notes belonging unto it" From a pathetic letter of Lady Raleigh's, written after her husband's death, to Lady Carew, it appears that Wilson, with much baseness, had continued his persecution against the family of this illustrious man, and had seized his books, manu- scripts, and mathematical instiuments. " I beseech your lady- ship," says Lady Raleigh (Jardine, p. 49G), " that you will do me the favor to intreat Sir Thomas Wilson to surcease the pursuit of my husband's books and library ; they being all the land and living wliich he left to his poor child ; hoping that he would niherit him in these only, and that he would apply himself to learning, to be fit for them : which request I hope I shall fulfil as far as in me lieth ; Sir Thomas Wilson hath abeady fetched away all his mathematical instruments; one of which cost £100 when it was made. I was promised them aU again, but I have not received one back. If there were any of these books not to be had elsewhere, God forbid that Sir Thomas Wilson should not have them for his IMajesty's use ; but they tell me that Byll the bookseller hath the very same." We thus find that the dispersion and subsequent disappear- ance of Raleigh's manuscripts, which were very voluminous, is to be attributed to Sir Thomas Wilson, either pretending to act, or in reality acting, under the king's directions. As Wil- son was at this time keeper of the State-paper Office, there is still a hope that the manuscripts of Raleigh may be found amongst some of the yet unexplored treasures of that great national collection. A fragment of nis treatise on the Art of War by Sea is preserved in the British Museum, Titus, viii. 24, f. 217, which has hitherto escaped the research of any of his biographers. It is a skeleton autograph sketch of the treatise referred to in his letter to Lady Raleigh as " lying in the sedar- chest." Raleigh appears to have divided his subject into the 404 APPENDIX. Raleigh in tlie Tower. APPEInDIX. Art of War by Sea, as practised by the nations of antiquity and in modern times. His outline commences thus : " The antiquitie of sea-fights, and in what vessels. Of bat- tles by sea in elder times, and of the admirals and commanders. " The sea-laws of the Rhodians, who were some time the masters of the Mediterranean Sea. " The dominion of the Tyrians and Carthaginians by sea. " The sea-fights of the Grecians and Carthaginians. " The sea-laws of the Romans, and their marine policies. " The laws of Oleron and of the admirals of France. " The admirals of England and Scotland. " The battles at sea between the English and French, and their manner of fight. " That the commodious and capable ports belonging to any prince or state give them the means to be masters of the sea. " The decay of ports in England and France. " What ports the King of Spain hath. How many of them are capable of good ships, and how many are bad. ^' Of the art of war by sea ; wherein is taught the advantage of fight, from the single fight of one ship with one, of two ships with one, of small fleets, of great fights, of the fight of gallies, of boarding and fighting with large [galleons]. ^Vhat ships are fittest for fight, of what burden, and what quantity of orde- nance, with all other things appertaining to that war. " Of the times of the yeare fit for invasions by sea. " Of the King of Spain's weakness in the West Indies, and how that rich mine may be taken from him. " Of his weakness in the East Indies, and what places he holds in both. " That the English, in the late war with Spain, have rather taught them than impoverished them ; and that all petty inva- sions are more profitable to the invaded than to the invader. " That the Turks may be easily beaten in the Bf editerranean Sea, and that his force is far inferior to the force of the Christ- ians, and that the Christians have been many times beaten by them, by their ignorance in sea-fight. " That it is not the trade which the English and Hollanders have that makes us and them so powerful by sea ; but it is our forcible trades that have enabled us, and which force the Hol- landers have attained by the English ordenance. How trade and mariners may be maintained. " That there is nothing so much discovers the judgment of a prince as his enterprises. APPENDIX. 405 " That all wisedom, endeavour, and valour of private men, APPEKDIX IS without success where God takes wisdom from the niagis- p , 7~r~. trate." the Tower. This is the end of the paper. Then on another sheet arc marked the chapters of the intended work from 1 to 15, which merely embrace the above matter somewhat differently divided. I have been the more solicitous to give this sketch, under the author's own hand, of one of his greatest works now lost, as it has not been alluded to by any former biographer. It is singular, also, that in the Oxford edition of his Works his journal of his last voyage has not been printed. It is quoted by Oldys, p. 500, and exists in Raleigh's handwriting in the British Museum, — Titus, viii. 24. But what is most to be regretted is the loss of the notes antl collections for the second and third unfinished volumes of his History of the World, to which he alludes in his preface as "hewn out," but suddenly interrupted by the death of his patron. Prince Henry. There is a singular story told by liloyd^ in his Observations on the Life of Raleigh, which proves, if we may credit it, that the celebrated Hampden was in possession of an immense collection of Raleigh's manuscripts. *■' Master Ham- den," says this author, " a little before the wars, was at the charge of transcribing 3452 sheets of his [Raleigh's] manu- scripts, as the amanuensis himself told me, who had his close chamber, his fire and candle, with an attendant to deliver him the originals, and take his copies, as fast as he could write them."* The positive and minute terms in which this tale is told make it difficult for any one to disbelieve it; yet the total dis- appearance of these manuscripts renders it improbable. K. — Page 344. Inventory of Raleigh'' s Jewels and Trinkets from the State- paper Office. *' Inventary of such things as were found on the body of Sir Walter Rawleigh, Knycht, the 15 day of August 1618." This curious paper was sent to Sir Thomas Wilson, with jewels- and the following note from Sir R. Naunton, Secretary of State: — t'-inkets. " I thought fit to send you this note of such things as were left in his hands, that you might see whether he has used them ♦ Lloyd's State Worthies p. 675. 2 » 406 APPENDIX. APPENDIX, in way of subornation, by your own discreet observation and Inve^^'cT^g^t examination." jewels. « Imprimis, in gould about l""- in his purse and own custody. Item, a Guiana idol of gold. Item, a jacint seale set in gold, vrith. a Neptune cut in it, with certain Guiana tyed to it. Item, a crymson ston set in gold. Item, a loadstone in a scarlet purse. Item, an auncient seale of his own armes in silver. Item, one onnce of ambergris, left with him for his own use. Item, a spleen stone, left with him for his own use. Item, one wedge of fine gold at 22 carratts. Item, one other stob of coarser gold. Item, 63 gold buttons with sparkes of dimonds. Item, a chain of gold with sparkes of dimonds. Item, one diamond ring of nine sparkes. Item, one gold whistle set with small diamonds. Item, one ring with a diamond, which he weareth on his fin- ger. (Then to this is added, in Secretary Naunton's hand, "Given him by the late Queen.') {Item, one plott of Guiana and Nova (R ) and another of the river of Orenoque. The description of the river Orenoque. A plott of Panama. A tryal of Guiana ore, with a description thereof. A sprig jewel, &c. Five assays of the silver myne." On the side of the inventory is this note of Sir Allen Apsley, Lieutenant of the Tower: — " All these particulars, noted Ynth. 5, and the rest crossed, excepting the picture, were delivered to Sir Lewis Stukely, sealed in a bagg, by the hands of Allen Apsley. " Item, one gold case of a picture, set with diamonds, which, according to Sir Walter's desire, is left apart with ilr Lieu- tenant." L Page 371. Portrait of Raleigh. Portrait of The portrait of Raleigh which faces the vignette to this volume, Ealeigh. and does so much credit to the clear and spirited graver of JMr Horsburgh, is taken from an early impression of that exquisite print by Houbraken, in Dr Birch's lUustrious Heads. The original picture from which this artist took his engraving was, in Dr Granger's time (Biographical History of England, voL ii. p. 25), in the possession of Miss Lennard of West Wick- ham, in Kent ; but Houbraken only copied the head and bust. APPENDIX 407 It is a family piece, and belonged to the Carews of Beddington APPENDK in Surrey, whence, by marriage with a daughter of the late Sir p .~7~ , Stephen Lennard, Bart., it was removed to West Wickham. Raieigk " By the inscription thereon," says Oldys, page 352, " partly still legible, it appears that the picture was painted in this last year of the queen above mentioned [when Raleigh was made governor of Jersey]; and that his son Walter, who is likewise here drawn by him, was then eight years of age. Further, in this picture, the stature of Sir \V' alter measures about six feet, is well shaped, and not too slender : he is apparelled in a white satin pinked vest, close-sleeved to the wrist, and over the body of it a brown doublet, finely flowered and embroidered with pearl; his belt of the same colour and ornament, in which hangs his sword ; and on the other side, over the right hip, is seen the pommel of his dagger. In his hat, which he has on, is a little black feather, with a large ruby and pearl-drop at the bottom of the sprig in place of the button. His trunks or breeches, with his stockings and ribbon-garters, fringed at the end, are all white ; and buff shoes tied with white ribbons. His son, standing under his left elbow, is fair and prettily featured, dressed in a blue silk jacket and trousers, guarded down with narrow silver galoon ; stockings blue, and white shoes ; gloves in the right hand, hat or cap in the left, and a silver sword by his side." How much is it to be regretted that Houbraken was not induced to engrave the whole picture ! Another very interesting portrait of Raleigh has been engraved by Vertue, and is prefixed to Mr Oldys's edition of his History of the World. It is taken from an undoubted original preserved at that time (1736) in the family of Captain William Elwes, nephew of the Lady Elwes, who was the great-granddaughter of Sir Walter, and represents him in the famous suit of silver armour mentioned in the text, p. 201. In the collection of the same gentleman there is also an interesting picture of Lady Raleigh. " It is a half-length," says Oldys, p. 353, "painted on board ; a high finished piece, in the laboured manner of those times, by some masterly hand : has been well kept, and is doubtless an original. It represents her a fair handsome woman, turned perhaps of thirty. She has on a dark-coloured hanging-sleeve robe, tufted on the arms ; and under it a close- bodied gown of white satin flowered with black, with close sleeves down to her wrist ; has a rich ruby in her ear, be- dropt with large pearls, and a laced whisk rising above the shoulders ; — her bosom uncovered, and a jewel hanging there- 408 APPENDIX. APPENDIX, on ; with a large chain of pearl round her neck, down to her P ) t^~Tof ^sist." Kaleiglu Where this picture is now preserved I am not able to say ; but if known, it is to be wished that Mr Lodge would add it to his great collection. I widely, indeed, differ from this au- thor in bis estima* of many of his historical characters ; but all must allow that, in its exquisite engravings, and in the authenticity of the originals from which they are taken, his wcirk is unrivftlled. INDEX Anjou. Duke of, projected match of Queen Elizabeth with, p. 39. A.psKy, Sir Allen, lieutenant of the | Tower, 335. Aremberp:, Count, ambassador from I the Archduke of Austria, 22(i. 385. | Armada, Spanish ; see Spanish Ar- j mada. B. . i Bacon, Francis, recommends mild measures towards Essex, 192. Biron, Duke de, marshal of France, ! his reception by Queen Elizabeth, i 206. , : Brooke, George, one of the principal i conspirators auainst the king and roval family. 227, 386. Buckingham, Duke of, effects the Uberation of Raleigh, 3U8. Letter of Raleigh to, 333, Burleigh, Lord, the favourite minis- ter of Queen Elizabeth, his cha- racter and policy, 31-34. His speech on the conduct of Spain, 124. His last appearance in public, 176. Cadiz, English expedition against, 148. Account of the enterprise, 150-154. Carey, Sir Robert, his account of Queen Elizabeth's last illness and death, 220-222. Carries the tidings of her death to King James, 222. Carleton, Sir Dudley, his letter on Raleigh's trial, 248. His account of the pageant of an execution in tire case of Markham , and Lords GreyandCobham, 265-267,393.394. Carolina, North, arrival of Raleigh's expedition under Amadis and Bar- low at, 44. Traffic with the na- tives, 46. Description of the coun- try, 47. . ^ Cecil, Sir Robert, appointed secre- tary of state to Queen Elizabeth, 156. His character, 157, 257. Mis- sion to France, 174. Plot against Essex, 179, 182, 185, 190. Relative position of him and Raleigh, 196. His poixespondence with James, king of Scots, 197, 225. His sin- gular speech on monopolies, 212. His crafty policy, 225. His enmity to Raleigh, 230, 381, and conduct on Raleigh's trial. 237-243. Hisl^t- ter to Sir Tnomas Parry, 251. The chief author of the plot against Raleigh, 253-257, 384. Letter to Sir John Harrington. 2.58. His death, 31)2. Sec also lialeigh, Sir "Walter, and Howard, Lord Henry. Clarendon, Lord, his character of Sir Robert Cecil. 2.57. Clifford, earl of Cumberland, sends an expedition to the South Seas, 56. Cobham, Lord, implicated in Brooke's Conspiracy, 226. His examinations and declarations on Raleigh's trial, 234, 245, .'«.9. His behaviour on his trial and aftei*- wards, 393-395. Coke, Sir Edward, chosen speaker of the House of Commons, 126. His charge to the jury, as attorney- general, on Raleigh's trial, 232. His violent invectives, 244. Re- marks on his conduct, 259. Conde, Prince of, made prisoner in the battle of Jarnac, 20. Desmond, Earl of, raises the standard of revolt in Ireland, 26. Division of his forfeited principality, 59. D'lsraeli, Mr, his errors regarding Raleigh's History of the World, 396-400. Drake, Sir Francis, arrival of his squadron at Virginia, 54. One of the vice-admirals of the tieet against the Spanish Armada, 75. Commands the fleet in the Portu- guese expedition, 96-98. E Elizabeth, Queen, supports the French Huguenots, 19. Espouses the cause of the Protestants against Spain, 22. Concludes a treaty with the States of Holland, 2.3. Splen- dour of her court, 31-36. Projected match with the Duke of Anjou, 39. Countenances and supports Ra- leigh's schemes of colonization, 41, 49. Raleigh'* advance in her favour, 61. Conduct on the threatened invasion by the Spanish Armada, 70. Reviews the army in the camp at Tilbury, 77- Procession to St Paul's, 93. Her character, 156. Progresses, 2OI-204. Love 410 INDEX. of display, 201, 203-206. Passion for hunting, 206. Opens lier last parliament, 209. Heply to tlie deputation of the House of Com- mons, 218. Last illness and death, 220-222. See Essex, Earl of. England, expected invasion of, by the Spanish Armada, ()7-70. J*re- parationsfordefence, 71- Strength, numbers, and disposition of the army, 72; of the navy, 73-76. Rejoicings for the defeat of the Spanish Armada, 92. Essex, Earl of, his jealousy of Ra- leigh, 62, 176. Clia'-acter of, 100. Commands the army in the Cadiz expedition, 149. Commands the naval expedition against Spain, 163. His return, and decline in royal favour, 171. Violently op- poses a peace with Spain, 176. His quarrel with the queen, 178. Is appointed to the government of Ireland, 179 ; liis inactivity there, 182. Letters to the queen, 180, 183, 185, 189. Sudden return to England, 186. Trial and con- demnation, 193-195. Faval, one of the Azores, capture of, by Raleigh, 165, 166. France, state of, in the civil wars, 20, 23. Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, his expedi- tion to America ; its disastrous termination, 25. His second voy- age of discovery, 40. Its fatal issue, 42, 43. Gondomar, Count, Spanish ambas- sador, his remonstrances against Raleigh's expedition to Guiana, 307- His character, 311. Grenville, Sir Richard, commands Raleigh's fleet for Virginia, o't. His return to England, 51. Second voyage to Virginia, 55. Character and fate, 113, 114. Grey, Lord-deputy, his cruelty at the surrender ofRakele, 27. Guiana, its discovery and conquest projected by Raleigh, 131 ; his voyage and adventures, 135-144. Captain Berrie's voyage to, 158. Raleigh's schemes to colonize, 308. Account of his expedition ; its un- fortunate issue, 312-322. H. Ball, Bishop, his eulogium of Ra- leigh's History oi the World, 3<»1. Harlot, Thomas, inventor of *^he theory of equations, 58. His de- scription of the tobacco plant, ib. Hawles, Solicitor-general, his paral- lel between the case of Raleigh and that of Lord Russel, 260. Henry, Prince of AVales, befriends Raleigh, 276. His character, ib. Various writings of Raleigh ad- dressed to him, 276-285. Letter to him ascribed to Raleigh, 288. His death, 304. Howard, Lord, of Effingham, high admiral of England, 75. His en- gagement with the Spanish Ar- mada, 81-85 ; final victory, 87-89. Howard, Lord Henry, a favourite instrument of Sir Robert Cecil's, his character, 260, 261. Corre- spondence with Cecil, 381. Cecil and he chief authors in the downfai of Raleigh and Cobham, .384. Huguenots, contests bet^veen them and the Roman Catholics, 19-21. Hume,^David. hisattack of Raleigh's account of Guiana, 373. His errors exposed, 377-381. L J. Ireland, civil war in, fomented by Spain, 26 ; its suppression, 31. Rebellion under Tyrone, 177- James, King, his accession to the English throne, 223. His dislike of Raleigh, 223, 224. Anecdotes of his court, 2.6. Grants permis- sion to Kaleigh to engage in the Guiana adventure, 310. His ani- mosity to Raleigh, 337, 3.38, 347 ; his resolution to sacrifice him, 322, 351. Keymis, Captain, his voyage to Guiana, 148. Return to England, ib. Expedition up the Orinoco ; its unfortunate is.sue. 315. Puts a period to his existence, 317. Lane, Ralph, first governor of Vir- ginia, 51. Conspiracy of the na- tives defeated by, 54. His return to England, 55. Leicester, Earl of, his character, 34 ; his death, 93. M. Manourie, a I^ench physician, in- gratiates himself with Raleigh, and betrays him, 325-328. i Masques and pageants, taste of the times for, 202, 206. INDEX. 411 N. Naunton, Sir Robert, character of Raleigh by, 40. His letters to Sir Thomas Wilson, 33«. 343, 350. Newfoundland, tiikeii possession of by Sir Humplirey Gilbert, 42. Ra- leigh's arrival at, 321. Norris, Sir John, commands the English force in the Netherlands, 23. Commands the land-forces in the Portuguese expedition, };6. North-west Passage, company form- ed for the discovery of, 50. O. Orinoco, Raleigh's voyage up that river, 137-144. His second voyage, 315-317. Ormond, Earl of, commands the roval army in the Irish civil war, 26: Parliament, debates in, and anec- dotes of, 216-218. Philip II., king of Spain, his designs against England and Ireland, 162. His fleet intended for the invasion of England dispersed in a storm, 17j. Popham. chief-justice on Raleigli's trial, 259. Portuguese expedition, to replace Antonio on the throne, 95. Its unsuccessful issue, 97- Potato, introduction of, iato Ireland, by Raleigh, 220. R. Raleigh, Sir Walter, his birth and early education, 18. Sent to Oriel College,0xford,19. Enters into pub- lic life and passes over to France, ib. Joins the Huguenot army, 20. Serves as a volunteer in the Nether- lands, 22. His enthusiasm for ma- ritime discovery and adventure, 24. Embarks in the expedition of Sir Humphrey Gilbert to America, 25. Engages in the ^^ ar in Ireland, 26 ; his eminent services there. 27, 28. His first introduction to Queen Elizabeth, 38. Accompanies the Duke of Anjou to Antwerp, 39. His deep interest in SirH. Gilbert's second expedition, 40. Voyage of discovery to the coast of 'North Carolina, 45-48. Stnds a fleet to Virginia under Sir Itichard Gren- ville, 50. Settlement of Virginia, 51. Introduction of tobacco into England, 67. His rise at court, 60. Sends a new fleet under Governor White to Virginia, 64. Consulta- tions with, on the threatened in- vasion by the Spanish Armada, 71. His services rewarded bythe queen, 94. Sails with Drake and Norris in the Portuguese expedition, 96. Visits Edmund Spenser, 102. His defence of Sir Richard Grenvillc, 112. Spechnen of his prose, 115. Expedition to intercept the Plate fleet, 116. Intrigue with Eliza- beth Throgmorton, 117. His dis- grace with the queen, 118. Is sent to the Tower, 119. Recovers his liberty, 122. His speech on the policy of Spain, 125. Projected discovery and conquest of Guiana, 131. Arrives at Trinidad, 136. Voyage up the Orinoco ; adven- tures, 137-144. He returns to Eng- land, and is ungenerously treated, 146. Holds a principal command in the Cadiz expedition, 148. Ef- fects a reconciliation between Cecil and Essex ; is himself restored to favour at court, 161. Appointed rear-admiral in the Island Voy- age, 163. Takes Fayal, 165, 166. Disputes with Essex ; their recon- ciliation, 167. Letter to Cecil, 190. Opposition between him and Cecil, 197, 198. Mission to Flanders, 200. His magniticent taste in dress and equipage, 176,201. His speeches in parliament, 210. Debate on voting a subsidy, 210, 211. Great debate on monopolies, 212, 213. Argues for the removal of all restrictions on agriculture, 215. Is treated with coldness and neglect by King James, 223. Deprived of his offi- ces, 226. Accused of treason ; his- tory of this mystt rious transaction, 226-^29. Confined in the Tower, 229. His trial, 231 ; and able defence, 234-248. Sentence, 248. Remarks on his trial, and establishment of his innocence, 249-253. Letter to Lady Raleigh, 267-270. Is re- prieved, and confined in thcTower, ir/O. Reflections on his character at tliis period, 271. His estate of Sherborne given to Carr, earl of Somerset, 273-275. His correspond- ence and friendship with Prince Henry, 276-287 ; his writings ad- dressed to this prince ; on war, 27(J ; on the naval pov\er of Eng- land, 279; on the match with Sa- voy, 280-285. His History of the World, 289 ; criticism upon this great work, 292-302. His sorrow for the death of Prince Henry, 305, 306. He regains his liberty; scheme for the settlement of Gui- ana, 3U8. Account of the expedi- 412 INDEX. tion, 312-322. His return to Eng- land; proclamation against him, 322. Attempts to escape, 327- Recommitted to the Tower, 330. His examination by the commis- sioners, 332. Relation of his con- versations vnth Sir Robert Wil- son, 338-347. The queen entreats for his pardon, 349. Warrant for his execution, 352. His last inter- view with Lady Raleigh , 355. His behaviour on the scaffold, 359-365. His execution, 365. Reflections on his character, 366-372. Raleigh, Sir Walter, his Account of Guiana defended against Hume's attack (Appendix), .373. He insti- tutes a club at the Mermaid, 374- 376. Alleged attempt to stab him- self, 376. Hume's errors in his account of. 377-381. Cecil'.s enmity to, 381. Plotagainst — itsoriginand secret history, 383-396. Errors of Mr D'Israeli regardinj; his Historv of the World, 396-400. Wilson's notes of his conversations, pre- served in the State-paper Office, 400. Confinement in the Tower— His unpublished manuscripts, 402- 405. Inventory of his jewels and trinkets, 405. His portrait, 406. Boanoak, island of, North America, 52 54 64. Roch, Lord, capture of, in the Irisli civil war, 31. S. Sarmiento, Pedro, Spanish goremor of the Straits of Magellan, anec- dote of, 56. Sidney, Su- Philip, his character, 36,111. Spanish Armada, for the invasion of England, 67-70. Sails from the Tagus. 78. Dispersed and driven back, 79. Sails the second time ; its arrival off the Lizard, 80. En- gaged by the English fleet, 81-85. Anchors before Calais, 86. Its discomfiture, 87-89, and wreck in the North Seas, 90, 91. Spenser, Edmimd, is present at the siege of Rakele, 27- His share of the Earl of Desmond's domains, 60. I Is visited by Raleigh ; their friend- I ship, 102-106. Is introduced to Queen EUzabeth, 108. ; Stanneries, warden of, nature of the j office ; Raleigh's appointment, 60. 1 Stawart, Arabella, conspiracy re- garding, a fiction, 229, 241. Stuart, Sir Robert, commands a Scottish force at the battle of ' Rimenant, 24. Stukely, Sir Lewis, eomraissioned to arrest Sir Walter Raleigh, 323, 324. His treacherous conduct, 329. Sully, Duke of, passage from his Memoirs regarding Raleigh, 378. Sussex, Earl of, hi-s character, 35. T. i Tobacco, its first introduction into I Englandby Raleigh, 57. Hariot's 1 description of, 58. Tounson, Dr, dean of Westminster, his account of the last hours of Sir Walter Raleigh, 357-366. Trinidad visited by Raleigh, 136. Tyrone, Earl of, heads the rebellion in Ireland, 177. Virginia, so named by command of Queen Elizabeth, 49. Settlement of, 51. Difliculties of the infant colony, 52-55. Second settlement of, 64. W. AVIiite, John, appointed governor of Virginia, 64. His return to England, 66. Wilson, Sir Thomas, appointed to the charge of Sir Walter Raleigh in the Tower, 335. Conduct to his prisoner, 336. His relation of conversations with Sir Walter, 338-347, of which he sends a daily report to the king and Secretary Naunton, 341. Letter to the king, enclosing one from Raleigh, 345. Second letter to the king, 349. Is recalled from the Tower, 361. Notes of conversations with Ra- leigh, preserved in the State-paper Office (Appendix), 400-402. Winwood, Secretary, Raleigh's let- I ter to, 309. THE ENf>. M'i ':'::;:; ,«,' 'I !t 1 ' \r 'i b _ !! :: : ■1 ' , ',' » !' < I'l \' 'ii il V III,'. . ■ '1. I'll ^ Ii- '1, ■ ,1' 1 1 lOtiHIUIHI illllHiilDHHI