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IB UMI BOOKS ON DEMAND University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Company 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106-1346 1-800-521-0600 313-761-4700 Printed in 1993 by xerographic process on acid-tree paper BRIEF MEMOIR r>» SIR WALTER RALEGH; / . . -in* - PREPARED FOR AND PUBLISHED IN THE NEW ENGLAND HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL AECI3TER FOR APRIL, ia«. AND NOW REPRINTED WITH ADDITIONS. BY SAMUEL G. DRAKE, fOEUXKLT PRISIDEST OF Tni JIW INCHED mSTOUKMUSlALOOICAL 60CTITT. BOSTON : PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR FOR PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION. 18G2. DA k — fiti^im . i ?% **» v BRIEF MEMOIR Of SIR WALTER RALEGH. Reproduced by DUOPAGE PROCESS in the U.S. of America Micro Photo Division Bell & Howell Company Cleveland, Ohio 44112 DP 11555 ^ *•• f Sir Walter than had been done since the labors of Oldys. These volumes were accompanied also by a fine engraving, apparently copied from that of Oldys. They arc by Arthur Cayley, Jr., Esq., who has also deserved well of all readers of history of the age of Elizabeth. But the labored lifo of Ralegh prefixed to the History of the World, published apparently in the lifetime of the Knight,* to which Oldys, Cayley, Birch, and others have been greatly indebted, should not be overlooked. In tho title-page is a portrait of Ralegh, engraved by Simon Bass. Of tho modem lives of him, it is not necessary to speak. Notwithstanding the researches of all who have yet written, there remain numerous documents in the State Paper Office and the British Museum, un- touched by the biographers of Ralegh. Of them much use will be made in this memoir. As Sir Walter Ralegh has been considered by his biographers, a sort of universal genius, they did not know under what head to class him; for he was a soldier, a sailor, a historian, poet, and a courtier. * According to tlio frontispiece, this edition of tlio Iliilory of tht World was printed in 1G14, while tho life prefixed records the beheading of tho author, la 1U18. And then by tho colophon tho work was printed in lo24. This collutiou is given to show how publishers aouietiuies lead us aalrny, howover careful wo intend to be. ■ 8 Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. Some of them have set liim down as a lawyer — probably because he talked like one on various occasions — but though he was for a time in lodgings where lawyers were made, he says himself he did not study the law. Anthony Wood said, in his time, "it still remained a dispute, whether the age he lived in is more o'diged to his pen or his sword." Sir Robert Naunton, his contemporary, has, with as great truth as brevity, exhibited the fortunes of this singularly un- fortunate man. He says: "As for the remaining part of his life [after 157G], it was sometimes low, and sometimes in a middle con- dition, and often tossed by fortune to and fro, and seldom at rest. lie was one that fortune had picked up on purpose, of whom to mako an example, or to use as her tennis-ball, thereby to show what she Could do; for hhe lost him up out of nothing, and to and fro to great- ness, and from thence down to little more than to that wherein she found him, a bare gentleman, not that he was less, for he was well descended, and of good alliance, but poor in his beginnings; and for my Lord of Oxford's jest of him (the Jack, and an upstart), we all know, it savors more of emulation, and his humor, than of truth; and it is a certain note of the times, that the Queen in her choico never took into her favor a mere new man."* The relationsh p of Sir Walter Ralegh to many remarkable men, particularly to Devonians, as well as the pedigree of his family, are exhibited by the following table:f * Hut from (i priority of publication, this might be. attributed to Wlnrtnnlejr, or to Lloyd. Naunton published his Fragnienta Regalia, 1642. Winstnnley Lis Wotthitt, 1CC0, oixt Lloyd his Slattimtn, 1664. t Compiled in part from an ingenious nriicle in The jjrcha-ologia (Soc. j)ntiquaric$) toI. xxxni, p. 225. Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. 13 In the latter half of the sixteenth century, there were living within and about the county of Devon a truly wonderful rare of men. Thcro were the families of the Raleghs, the Gilberts, the Drakes, the Fortes- cues, the Carews, the Champcrnons, the Grcnvilles, the Gorges, and several others which might he named. With all of these Sir Walter Ralegh was connected by consanguinity, and he sometimes spoke with satisfaction of his affinity "with all the great families in those western parts." Sir Walter was born in 1552 (6th Edward VI), at a farm-houso of his father, called Ilaye's, in the parish of East Budlcigh (called Duke's Ilaye's in Prince's time, because belonging to Duke of Otterton). He was the youngest son of Walter Ralegh, of Fardcll a Beat but eight miles to the east of Plymouth. By a reference to Prince, and other writers, the pedigree of Ralegh may be carried back many generations, even to the Norman conquest, before which time Smallridge was in possession of this family. As will be seen by the pedigree annexed, his mother was a daughter of Sir Philip Chatnpernon of Modbury, widow of Otlio Gilbert of Compton, and that Sir Walter was half-brother of the distinguished brothers, Sir John, Sir Humphrey and Sir Adrian Gilbert. Of the early life of Ralegh there appears to be no account. His grandson, Philip llaleigh, Kmp, nayn his ftnnily was " more con- sidnrablo for antiquity tliau largeness of fortune, which liad boon much impaired by the generosity and prodigality of ancestors."* However, he was, by some means, fitted for college, and was entered • Philip *|'<'1'« I1i» ftntnn of hi* grandfather, UnliigH, in Accordance with his own. The second edition of hut acoount was printed in 1702, In octavo. Ii Ima » preface by the well known Laurence Echard, dated 25th Oct., 1C97. 3 14 Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. of Oriel, at Oxfoid, about 15C8. There he continued about a year, after which we find him at the Inns of Court. But, remarks Naunton, " his approaches to the University and Inns of Court were the grounds of his improvement, but they were rather excursions than sieges, or sittings down, for he stayed not long in a place." By the close of another year, he is found embarking with hia kins- man, Henry Champcrnon, in an expedition into Fiance, which expe- dition was for the succor of the Uugucnots. About six years of his life is supposed to have been passed in this service, in which, accord- ing to Cayley, "nearly thirty battles, sieges, treaties and capitula- tions" took place. "The school must have been a fine one" for his initiation into the arts of war and diplomacy. lie was in that country when the bloody massacre of St. Bartholomew, in 1572, took place. Returning to England in 1576, he immediately entered into the Bcrvice against the Spaniards in the Low Countries. There, under Sir John Norris, he acted a conspicuous part, and was at the battle of Kimenant, on Lammas-day, 1578, in which Don John of Austria, the hero of Lepanto, was defeated, which defeat he survived only two mouths. On his return to his own country, in 1579, he found his half- brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, fitting out an expedition for New- foundland, of which the Queen had given him a patent. Capt. Francis Drake had returned from the West Indies, with much wealth taken from the Spaniards, and was again upon a secret expedition into unknown seas. No little emulation had been excited among seamen by his adventures. Ralegh seized upon the first opportunity, therefore, to become familiar with maritime affairs. Ho accordingly Memoir of Sir Walter Rategh. 15 embarked with Sir Humphrey, but, falling i'< with some Spanish ships of war, was attacked by them and the voyage ruined. Soon after this misfortune be embarked for Ireland. The Pope had sent soldiers there to root out the Protestants, and Elizabeth was determined to sustain them. In this service lie fought in many sanguinary skirmishes, thereby came into notice, and received the appointment, among others, of governor of Cork. This brings our history to 1580, at which time Lord Grey was sent over to take the chief command in that country, between whom and Ralegh a dispute arose, of the nature of which history is not very explicit. However, it was probably the cause of Ralegh's quitting Ireland and returning to England, where the fame of his exploits had doubtless preceded him. His return is fixed "towards the close of 1581," at which timo all Europe was astir in admiration of the then wonderful achievements of Sir Francis Drake, who had recently returned from 'his voyago around the world, with immense wealth, and, as Camden Hays, still greater renown. This mighty undertaking filled the souls of such men as Ralegh, and Bpurrcd them on to emulate, as far as they might, the glory of that enterprise. Drake, too, had performed signal service in Ireland, by the means of which he was brought to the notice of Elizabeth; and now the same thing happened to Ralegh. But ho was not so fortunate in the Queen's acquaintance as Drake had been, for the latter was not beguiled into a fawning dalliance about her, but only used his introduction at Court for the furtherance of mighty undertakings for the glory of England and the Protestant cause. It is said that Ralegh first attracted Elizabeth's notice by one of thoso servile acts so much esteemed in thoso times. The Queen walking abroad one day, and coming to a fenny place, was hesitating 16 Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. how to pass it. Ralegh was an accidental ohserver of her difficulty, and hastening to the spot, took off his richly emhroidcrcd plush cloak, spread it upon the place, upon which she passed lightly over.* At another time, being in an apartment of the Queen, he wrote upon a window, for her observation, " Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall." Under this, when ehe saw it, the Queen wrote, "If thy heart fail thee, climb not at all." Whether these were actual occurrences or not, it is quite certain, ns Lodge remarks, that they were consistent with the practices of tl oso times, aud agreeable to the frivolities of Elizabeth. If the person of Ralegh is accurately described by Sir Robert Naunton, who knew him well, it is highly probable that Queen Elizabeth used those arts to attract him which she possessed in per- fection, aud which she did not fsul to exercise on other occasions. Ralegh had, says Sir Robert, " in the outward man, a good pre- sence, in a handsome and well compacted person, a strong natural wit, and a better judgment, with a bold ami plausible tongue, whereby he could set out his parts to the best advantage; and to these he added the adjuncts of some general learning, which by diligence he enforced to a great augmentation and perfection; for he was an indefatigable reader, whether by sea or land, and none of the least observers both of men and times." In this connection may be noted what another has said: " He seemed to be born to that only which he went about; 60 dexterous was he in all his undertakings, p . __ — , — _ — , * Fuller nnyi« Ralegh's olotbes wore Own n considerable pnrt of hi* ostivto ; but that the Queen rewarded him afterwards with many suits, for his ao free aud sea- sonable tender of so fair a foot-cloth. — Worthitt, in, 419. Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. 17 in camp, in court, by sea, by land, with sword, with pen."* Thus he was a fit subject for an artful woman, as Elizabeth was, to prac- tice her arts upon. And, although he was doubtless quite as attractive to the female sex as tliey were to him, he had not tho power of repulsion in an equal degree. And thus, in the language of one of Iiis early biographers, "he dallied like u tly in tho flame till it consumed him." Ralegh's long confinement in tho Tower had tho effect to gain him a high reputation for learning, and, judging from what he has left us, ho was one of the best scholars of the age in which ho lived. His great work, The History of the World, ip indeed a great monu- ment to Iuh memory, uh it Ih equally a monument to his want of judgment in the choice of a subject. It is said that ho brought tho work down to his own times, in another volume, and that before his death ho burnt it, because his publisher of the former volumo told him it had sold ho badly it had undone him. The continuation would doubtless havo been of great value to us, if he had but treated of the affairs known to him personally, while few now think of reading his history of the antediluvian world. Being now, 1582, in the full sunshine of Elizabeth, Ralegh was by her sent to France, with Simier, who was an agent of the Duke of Anjou, for effecting the Duke's marriage with the Queen, and after- * From the anonymous Life of Ralegh prefixed to his History of the World, edition purporting to have been published iu lt>14, but containing an account of his execution in 1618. The plagiarisms of early authors are very embarrassing to writers who wish to give due credit. Tbo above extract was supposed to belong to quaint Fuller. See his Worthitt, as cited in the last note. 18 Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. wards attended Anjou himself to Antwerp. The next year, with tho approbation of her majesty, he adventured with Sir Humphrey Gil- bert, in his fatal voyago for Newfoundland, in a ship of his own, and bearing his name. This vcascl was forced to return bcforo getting far from the English coast, owing to a contagious disease which broke out among the crew. From this attempt at colonizing New- foundland by Gilbert, but one ship returned besides that of Ralegh, just mentioned.* But, with some temperaments, the more difficult the object to bo attained, the greater will be the energy brought into action to over- come it. Dazzled by tho renown acquired by Drake in his disco- veries, Ralegh determined to plant a colony in America. On the for- tunes attending that enterprise it is unnecessary to enlarge, as no one can be supposed to be ignorant of them. Suffice it to be said, that in bis attempts to colonize Virginia, Ralegh himself never accompanied an expedition. One of his principal men in tho enter- prise was Arthur Barlow, who had served with him in Ireland, and wrote an account of bis voyage to Virginia, which has been many times printed. The fame of his discoveries, or those made under his auspices, added to that he had previously acquired, occasioned him so much popularity that he was elected to Parliament in 1584, and was soon after honored as "Sir Walter Ralegh." When or where he received the honor of knighthood, does not appear, but it was undoubtedly * The Queen advised Sir Humphrey to give up his enterprise to others, telling him he was known " for no good hap at sea." /ho might well have said the same to Ralegh, for in all of his undertakings, save possibly that of 1596, he was unfor- tunate. Whatever was accomplished, was done without bis being present. • Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. 19 conferred during one of his expeditions by its chief commander, as was the custom of the time; though some of Ralegh's recent biogra- phers assert that ho was knighted by the Queen, yet they arc careful not to state the timo or occasion. About this time Ralegh was mado farmer of wines in the kingdom, which brought him a largo revenue. In 1585, Capt. John Davis began his voyages to the North West. Ralegh was concerned with this adventurer. The same year, he Bcntout seven ships under Sir Richard Granville, to prosecute farther his settlement of Virginia. Ralph Lane, afterwards with Drako and Norris in Spain, was sent over as governor. Granville returned with good success, having captured a rich Spanish ship during tho voyage. And about the same time a grant of 12,000 acres of land was con- ferrcd on him in Ireland, of which the real owners had been dispos- sessed by tho sword. But Ralegh's colony of Virginia was badly governed by Lano, and poorly provided with the means necessary to make it permanent; and despairing of aid from England, Lane took the first opportunity to abandon the country. The colony was accordingly taken on board Sir Francis Drake's fleet, and landed at Plymouth, in Devonshire, July 27th, 1586. Thus the country concerning which such glowing accounts had been published, was entirely abandoned; and yet Sir Walter was very high in the Queen'p favor, of which ho had new proofs, being appointed by her, Seneschal of the Duchies of Cornwall and Exeter, and Lord-warden of the Stannancs in Devonshire and Cornwall. To these was about the same timo added tho Captaincy of the Queen's guard. With Ralegh's colonists tobacco was brought into England, and by Ralegh its use was introduced into respectablo society, if such 20 Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. then existed in high places. Connected with its introduction, somo anecdotes are told, and among them these. Sir Walter was smoking alone iu his private room one evening, and being thirsty, ordered his servant to bring him a mug of ale. The servant having never seen a person in the act of Bmoking, and opening the door of Sir Walter's apartment, seeing a volume of smoke issuing from his mouth, and supposing ho must be on fire inside and had called for alo to quench it, dashed the ale in his face, and running out, gave the alarm that his master was all on fire. At another time, he was conversing with the Queen upon the properties of tobacco, and their conversation happened to lead to the question of the weight of the smoke of a given quantity of the herb; and when Ralegh told her ho coidd determine accurately its weight, she was somewhat incredulous, thinking he was " playing the traveler," and proposed a wager that be could not perform such an operation. Whereupon Ralegh weighed oat a pipe of tobacco, and then smoking it out, put the ashes into the scale and weighed it. The solution was easily seen by the Queen. The difference in weight between the tobacco and its ashes was the weight of the Bmokel She paid the wager, remarking that "6he bad known many who had turned gold into smoke, but that he was the first ono she had ever known who turned pmoke into gold." In 1586, Ralegh fitted out an expedition to the Azores. Several prizes were taken, in one of which was Pedro Sarmiento, who had been sent by the Spanish government to plant a colony in and to fortify the Straits of Magellan. With him wero taken numerous papers of value to the British government. Many of them, of pri- mary importance, are yet extant in the British Museum, but have not Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. 21 been printed Sarmiento was delivered to Ralegh, and for some time remained his prisoner in England. Some time in the course of the following year, 1587, he conveyed or assigned his American interest to some merchants of London. The Court seems to have engaged all or nearly all of his attention at this period. Sir Francis Drake had performed the important service of destroying the King of Spain's preparation for invading England, and was now turning his attention again to another Indian expedition, and applied to Ralegh in relation to it. Ralegh wrote to the Earl of Leicester respecting it, and, "with much ado," as he says, " procured the Queen's leave for Sir Francis to visit his Excel- lency."* Jin t the new preparations of Philip delayed Drake's going at this time to the Indies, as Drake's operations in Spain had delayed Philip in his intended invasion of England. The next year, he fur- nished a ship and men in the expedition against the Spanish Armada, hut nothing appears to show that he went in the ex- pedition himself.f Neither were his services of much account in the expedition under Drake and Norris to restore Don Antonio to the throne of Portugal, as he is not mentioned by either of the commanders in connection with it J After the return of that expedition, a quarrel * I found the original in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford. It is endorsed Oct. 8th, 20th Eliz. t Yet Home of his biographers, particularly Mr. Oldys, give a whole history of that affair, as appropriate to the Lift* of Ralegh I He was captain of the Queen's guard, and, though he doubtless famished one or more vessels fur the fleet, he canuot bo supposed to have left the post of guarding the Queen's person. X After Ralegh's return, it is said the Queen presented him and several other gentlemen with gold chains. The gold chains bad probably nothing to do with the expedition of 1589. 4 22 Memoir of Sir Walter Ralcyh. arose between him and Sir Roger Williams, which grew out of some booty claimed by Ralegh, because brought home in his ship, while the ship itself could not have returned but for the aid rendered by Sir Roger's men. but Ralegh had then too much influence with tho Queen and others to allow a less influential man to carry a point against him, although it may have been a just oue. Yet it is told that Essex had caused the Queen to become cold towards Ralegh at this time, which occasioned his flight, or retirement into Ireland. But the truth teems- to be, that Ralegh went to Ireland to look after the estates which he owned in that country, and to visit his poetical friend, Edmuud Spenser, whom he had settled there upon lands which he had previously given him.* From some poetical effusions of Spenser, at this period, it appears that Ralegh was laboring under the Queen's displeasure. However, our Knight soon returned to Eng- land, and taking Spenser along with him, introduced him to the Queen. He also encouraged that poet to publish his Faerie Queen, which he dedicated to Ralegh. In 1590, tho great scholar and eminent divine, John Ddall, was sentenced to be put to death for the exercise of too free a judgment upon the ecclesiastical government of England. Ralegh knew him, and sympathised with his ideas to some extent. lie applied to Ralegh to use his influence in his favor, which he did, and Udall was Bet at liberty. On some other similar occasions, it is said Sir Walter interceded with the Queen successfully, and that at length sho in- * Mr. Souther seems to have formed a very erroneous opinion about Ralegh's visit to Ireland. He gays he was banished there, and that there he made the ao* qoalntanoe of Bpenaer I Memoir of Sir Waller Ralegh. 23 quired of him "when he would cease to be a beggar," upon which he readily replied, " Wlien your Majesty shall cease to be bcncG- ccnt." In tho con mo of the next year, 1501, Ralegh wan Imihv in fitting out a great expedition against Spain, in the West Indies. At the samo time, he got into trouble by too great familiarity with one of the Queen's maids of honor, named Elizabeth Throgmorton. From a lottcr of liin, preserved in Murdcn'H Collections, it is inferable that the lady, perhaps through a friend, had intimated to him that his marriage might be necessary to set matters in a safe way. How- ever this may have been, he protested, in a letter to Sir Robert Cecil, that " there was none on the face of the earth that he would be fast- ened unto."* This was in March, 1592, and his West India fleet was not yet ready for sea, although it had been many months in preparation. It was the 6th of May, 1502, before the expedition, consisting of fifteen ships, sailed. And it would bocmi that the Queen had just learned what had happened between Ralegh and her maid of honor. Whereupon she sent a messenger with a letter recalling him.f With this letter, Sir Martin Frobishcr overtook him at sen the next day. Ralegh was disinclined to obey the summons; but when, four days after, on arriving near the Land's End, ho met a French ship, and learned from an Englishman on board, named Novel Davis, who had * Mr. Tytler, Lift of Ralegh, 129, Imagines that they were already married, but offers no reasons for bis conclusion. Ho assumes that they were privately married, but there is nothing to show when or how they were married. t Had Mr Southey and the other biographers of Ralegh aeon the original lettorg and document! In the LantJownt Mi:, B. M., their account* would have appoared to much better advantage. • 24 • Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. just left Spain, where lio had been twelve yeaiB a captivo, that thcro was no hope of any success in the West Indies, as the King of Spain had knowledge of tho expedition, and had taken all precautions to frustrate its object, ho changed his plan. Ilo therefore gave tho command of tho fleet to Sir Martin Frobiahcr and 3ir John Burgh, ordered them to cruise about the Azores and the coast of Spaiu for prizes, while he obeyed the Queen's order and returned to London. As soon as Ralegh arrived at the Court, he was by the Queen sent to the Tower; and, it is said, the lady also. In the mean time, his fleet intercepted a great Spanish carack and brought her into Eng- land; tho richest prizo, it was reported, ever before captured by Englishmen.* She was named the Mad re dc Dios (Mother of God), commanded by Fernando de Mendoza; was of 1000 tons burthen, whereof 900 were merchandize. She was not captured without a desperate fight, of which there are many accounts in print and ori- ginal manuscripts, all detailing one of the most bloody and obstinate naval battles ever recorded. There are to be seen in the British Museum the original accounts drawn up by Sir John Burgh, Sir Rob- ert Cross, and snrao others, all claiming to have been tho chief men in the capture. But to Cross evidently belongs the greatest credit. f • • The expedition of whim this rich prize wus the result escaped the notice of Dr. Berkenhout, in his otherwise neat and perspicuous memoir of Ralegh. See hia Biographia Liltraria, I, 518, &c. t He was vice-admiral, and commanded the Foresight, one of the Queen's ships. On hia return, he was Implicated In the embexzlement question, and defended liim- telf in nevcial Uttrrs which I have Bonn. In one to the Loidn of tint Council, dated Oct. 18th, 15D2. he complains that he had been accused of swearing falsely respect- ing the goods in the carack. To this charge he answers that it was made by those who " never Bwear true except to serve their own turns." But being now to be Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. * 25 Tho battlo was fought on the 3d of August, ami it was tho 7th of September when the prize was brought into Dartmouth. No sooner had she been captured than the English mariners commenced an indis- criminate pillage of her cargo, which continued till her arrival, by which several thousand pounds wore lost to the adventurers. Tho ship is reported to have drawn several feet less water on her arrival than wiien she was taken. The Queen had a large interest in her, she having been a considerable adventurer in the expedition. She therefore had commissioners immediately upon the spot, who took possession of the prize. These Commissioners were Sir Francis Drake, William Kyllygrcwc, nnd John Bland. Drake immediately heard nml judged by tho Honorable Council, he feels safe. He then goes <>n to inake some statement!) which will in duo time correct the past history and affect the biography of Ralegh. He Bays^stteiug he was vice-admiral, and commanding one of the Queen's ships, and being more interested by bis own adventure than most others, and seeing "goodes being taken out" of tho carack "by others, I thought myself and her Majestie's Bhipp to be so sulli. Lent as any of the rest to answer anything that should be taken, .... because by my place and warrant. I was reported more answerable for the scenritie of things then others and, besides, I was tho principall cause of lakinge the caracke [Camden endorses this statement]. Yea, had not ray no ad nine persuaded a contrary resolution, Sir Wi.ltor Hawleigh with the whole ileeto hud returned back home agayno without doing any BCrvioe. As for mine other p'formaticeg in this ai tion, I wi li rather they were wit- nessed [related] by other indifferent [disinterested] men, then reported by mynolf. Only nowe I will saye this mneh for myselfe, that I havo faithfully served her Ma'tie now this 27 yeares w'hout recompence, and have all this tyme spent of noo man's purse nowe lyvinge but onlye of myne owno: ami therefore I bopo In this, to be well delt withall. May it please your Lordshippcs to consider well my letter of adventure given me from Sr. Walter Rawlelgh, her Majestie's (Jenerall of tho Fleetn ; yl mayo he I hhulhe thought the more exou-iiihle, and yf In ca»i> (w'ell I think not), throughe strielnes of lawo and quiddytles of warres, it seemo not to reach home to that w'ch I have done, yet I beseech your L: consider that souldiors are more skiifull in mannaging arms then in construing tonnes of lawe," ic— Lmntdown* Mu., B. M., vol. lxx, No. 192. 26 * Memoir of Sir Waller Ralegh. (Sept. 8th) addressed a letter to tlio Lords of tho Quccii'b Trivy Council, detailing the condition of the prize. Among other things he said : "Divers of the ships that were at the first taking of this carrick had already passed eastward, and some were at Plymouth, with which we have taken as good order as we can for the preserva- tion of all things. But we find such confusion and disorder amongst the men of war [soldiers] and such spoil committed by them, that we know not how to redress it." However, he said "they would do the best they could in that troublesome business." Two days after, the Commissioners held a court for the examination of the prisoners taken in the carack, relative to her cargo. From whom it appeared that there were in the Madre de Dios 8500 quintals of pepper, 900 quintals of cloves, 700 do. of cinnamon, 500 do. of anneal, 50 do. of mace, 50 do. nutmegs, 50 do. benjamin, and about 400 chests of other merchandize. Also that there were, probably, in stones, plate, amber aud muske, to the value of 400,000 cruzados.* There were, besides, jewels and precious stones to a great value. The examinations continued three days, viz., to the 11th of Sep- tembcr.f The great value of the prize was known to the Queen. Much expense had accrued thus far in securing it, but the man tho most interested, and who was to provide for the settlement of the ex- pense which had accrued, was locked up in the Tower. Elizabeth was easily reached with a golden rod. Through Ralegh's means the rich carack had been taken. It was highly necessary that Ralegh should • An undent Portuguese coin of the value of 2s. 8d. — Stcvent't Diet. t Camden, in detailing the affair of the Madre de Dios, says : " Hut, though strict inquiry were made by the Commissioners, the dishonesty of the cnplorB was too hard for the industry and care of the Commissioners." — Rtign of Elisabeth, p. 466. Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh, 27 attend, in person, to the business of the prize. Therefore a plan ecerns to have been made to secure his attendance at Dartmouth. How- ever, on the 11th of September, Sir John Hawkins wrote to Borghlcy, stating how necessary it was that Sir Walter should be allowed to attend to the business, and urged him to intercede with the Queen for his liberation for that purpose, adding, that after he had attended to it, he might return to the Tower. This was not all. Sir John well. understood her Majesty's golden propensity, and therefore, in the same letter observed, that by Ralegh's being allowed to attend, " myght very mychc sett forward her Ma'ties service, and myche benyfytte her porcyon, for I Be none of so reddy a dyspocycion to lay the grownd howe her Ma'tie's porcyon may be inereasyd as ho ys, and can best brynge yt about." Sir John's argument was all- powerful, for in a few days after, Ralegh actually appeared at Dart- mouth, and his signature appears to two reports drawn up by the Commissioners and forwarded to Lord Burghley. Sir Robert Cecil doubtless proceeded to Dartmouth with Ralegh. The first report is eigned by " Ro: Cecyll, W. Ralegh, Fra. Drake, Willm Kyllygrewe, Richd. Carm'den, and Thomas Myddelton." It was dated Sept. 27th. The other was dated a few days later, and signed by tho same gen- tlemen, with the exception of Carmarden. Sir John Hawkins was not an entirely disinterested party. lie sent a ship with Ralegh, the Dainty,* of the services and claims of which, ♦ There is a curious account <.f this ship in Fir Richard Hawkins's Obxrvatiom, fol. London, 1C22. " She was," says Sir Richard, " pleasing to tho eye, profitable for stowage, good of sail, and well conditioned." She was built by him in tho river Thames, for a voyage to Japan and tho Philippine islands, and named, agree- able to his request, by his mother-in-law, the Repentance. This caused him " to desist from the enterprise, and leave the ship to his father, who took and paid the 28 Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. he wrote to Burghley in thu samo letter which hue been mentioned as containing an application for the release of Ralegh. "I most humbly desyre," wrote Sir John, "yo r honours the good service of the Daynty may be declared to her Mat'ie; bIic borded tbe Carrake fowre tymes before any ship cold come vp to her, snvyng the Dragon wch wold not bord with her when she came vp. Yf the Daynty had not bordyd so often and so desparately, the Carrak had reeovcryd tho Island of Flores and biene burnt as thother Carrake was. They report yt for trothe that the Daynty in her bordyng slew both the Captayno and master of the Carrake, w'ch were sworn to the Kynge never to yeld the ship to Ynglyshe men, but to fyre her rather." The first dispatch from the Commissioners, after the arrival of Ra- legh, is without day of the month, but was probably on the 20th of September; and the last subscribed by him was on the 27th of the game. Drake wrote to Burghley on the 19th, and in his letter says, Sir Walter's coming was "expected presentlie." And the next day we find he had arrived, and was hard at work with the Commission- ers examining parties respecting the missing goods of the prize. In their first despatch they say, "wee banc examined all paities with- out respect, and began with S r John Gilbert, and Mr. Carew Rawleigh expose of her," because he believed the name surely boded her ill fortune. But as she lay at Deptford not long after, the Queen, as she passed by in her barge for her palace at Greenwich, observing her, inquirer! what ship it was, and being in- formed, said she disliked nothing but her name, and so ordered it to be changed to the Dainty. The ill-boding name being removed, and the Dainty having made divers profitable voyages, Sir Richard became again possessed of her; and while upon a voyage to the East Indies in her, was captured by the Spaniards. Thua proving, to his satisfaction at least, that a change of name could not, in this in- stance, change fortune or avert a certain destiny. Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. 29 by oatho, w'ch Sir Walter Rawleigh would needs have done, that others might nut think thcmseluea hardclio dealt withall to bo sworne."* Thus from the 20th to the 21th of September, 1592, Ra- legh was at Dartmouth. Thence he returned to London, and no doubt settled the matter with the Queen, by marrying Lady Throg- morton, and was finally taken again into the Queen's favor. Remarks highly reflecting on the honesty and morality of Ralegh have been freely indulged in by Dr. Southcy for his conduct respect- ing the maid of honor, and also for other conduct while in the Tower; conduct more like such as might well bo supposed to belong to ono of the followers of Robin Hood, than to any man wlio had ever en- joyed decent society. The reader who desires a nearer view of Ra- legh's private character at this period, may consult a letter of Sir Arthur .Gorges, his intimate friend and relative, and other documents in the labored life of our knight, by Mr. Cayley. I have been somewhat particular on this period of Ralegh's life, because it has not before been done, for the reason that the docu- ments had not been accessible to his biographers. A rapid glanco is all that will be undertaken in this memoir, at the remainder of tho career of Sir Walter Ralegh. It has been seen that tho rich carack had not only restored him to the Queen's favor, but it had mended bis fortune,! bo that he now, according to Lodge, "tilted in silver armor, wearing a sword and belt 6ct with diamonds, rubies and pearls; appeared at court on p lemn occasions, covered with jewels, * Lantdoicnt Mil, B. M., vol. lxx. t Notwithstanding the immense spoil nindo of the cargo by the sailors and sol- diers, the adventurers divided £150,000— a sum in those davs equal, perhaps, to four times that amount in our times. 5 30 Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. nearly to the value of seventy thousand pounds." If such freaks of ostentation and youthful extravagance are common among men, Ra- legh at forty did not exhibit any traits of a superior mind to those discovered in the lower orders, by indulging in them. In two years more, a jealousy and rivalry had begun to causo Ralegh considerable uneasiness. Robert Cecil, son of Lord Burghlcy, and the Earl of Essex, now seemed bent on his ruin; and if Ralegh lacked judgment and decision of character, his rivals were far more deficient in manly uprightness and moral honesty. His extravagance bad reduced his estate, and ho now turned his mind upon improving it by another expedition at sea. This gave rise to the first voyage to Guiana, in which he endeavored to enlist tho Queen. From a want of faith in it, or some other cause, her Majesty declined tho offer; but to appease his disappointment, as it is said, she commis- sioned him admiral in the expeditious of 1590 and 1597. But in i.hese the Earl of Essex had the chief command, and the latter quarreled with Ralegh and was ever after his enemy. Monson, Hakluyt, and the naval histories, are full on these expeditions. To them the reader is referred. But against the power of Essex and Cecil, Ralegh was safe as long as Elizabeth lived, yet his safety hung, says Lodge, by the slender thread that supported her life. This proved to be too true. Yet he saw, by the mad pranks of Essex, that misguided man put out of the way by the loss of his head, but the wily Cecil re- mained, though but a short time, yet long enough to crush Ralegh. Elizabeth died in 1003. Her successor, James, hardly needed the instigation of Cecil to set him against his hated rival, and he soon deprived him of all emoluments and offices. Ho was therefore, now, with reason, bitter against this meanest of kings. This led to his Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh, 31 connivance at, encouragement of, or being in some way connected with, a design to depose James, and to place Arabella Stuart on tho throne. And although there was not enough proved against him, which in an ordinary civil suit at law in a later age, would have mulcted him in a sum of five pounds, yet he was pronounced guilty of high treason. This was in November, 1G03. Tho prosecution against him was conducted without a shadow of decency. Tho attorney general, Sir Edward Coke, was more brutally savago, and . conducted the case with more barbarity, than will easily bo cou- ceived of by any of this distant generation. During it, Rulegh ac- quitted himself with much discretion and marked ability. Owing to a deadly disease in London, Ralegh was tried at Win* Chester. There he remained imprisoned for a time, daily expecting the sentence of death to be executed upon him. At length the King reprieved him and sent him to tho Tower. Thero ho remained twelve years. At the end of that time he found means through friends by bribery, to engage George Villiers to intercede with the King for his liberty. lie was accordingly liberated, but not par- doned. He now revived his old scheme of the discovery of a gold mine in Guiana. His sad fortune in that enterprise need not be detailed, nor the conduct of the Spanish ambassador, Gondomar. Neither will it bo necessary only to allude to the attempted escape of Ralegh, on his return from Guiana, and how he failed in it through a singular want of decision in himself. As to the conduct of Sir Lewis Stcucly it was that of tho false-hearted knave, but Ralegh was his own executioner. Being returned again to tho Tower, tho King's judges held "a solemn mockery of a conference," and then insultingly demanded of 32 Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. the prisoner to Bay why sentence of death should not bo executed upon liini in accordance with the sentence pronounced fifteen ycarB before. Thus, on the 28th of October, 1618, he was resentenced, conducted to Old Palace Yard, Westminster, and there beheaded, at the age of 6G years, or thereabouts. The visitor to the Tower of London is still shown the apartment in which Ralegh was confined, and where, it is said, he wrote his JlistcTy of the World. His cell is upon tho right hand as you pass through the White Tower. Before the door of the cell is a behead- ing block, and upon it a strange looking axe, calculated to remind all beholders of tho summary method once in use for the advancement of civilization. From the limited space assigned for this memoir in these pages, many things of i.inch interest in tho lifo of Ralegh arc necessarily passed over. But the chief object of it is attained, which was, from unpublished sources, to throw light on several important points, hitherto resting in much obscurity, or entirely unknown. The following lines are 6aid to have been found in Ralegh's Bible, * •written the night before his execution. They are supposed to have been intended by him for his epitaph: " Even such is Time, who takes in trust Our youth, our joys, and all we have, And pays us l),.t wkh earth and duatj Who in tho dark and silent grave, When we havo wunder'd all our ways, 8huls up the ktory of our days. But from that earth, that grave and dust, The Lord shall raise mu up, I trust." S. O. D. Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. 33 Note to the Memoir of Sin W. Ralegh. It is assumed by all the biographers of Ralegh that he was per- sonally engaged in the conflict with the Spanish Armada of 1588; there are documents in the State Paper Office which show pretty conclusively that, if he joined the English fleet, it was not until after the Spaniards had been completely routed, and were flying before the victorious English fleet. Up to the 30th of July Uicro had been four " encounters," and the fire ships had been employed with effect before Calais. On the 31st of the same month, Sir Robert Cecil wrote to his father from Dover, that the Roebuck was that day sent away with a quantity of powder for the fleet. lie speaks of the Roebuck as "a ship which Syr Water Rawly built," but not a word about Ralegh, Tlicro hud been much impatience manifested throughout England, that the Spanish ships had not been captured, instead of being al- lowed to fly. But the commanders 60on satisfied the fault finders that they were as far away from common sense as they were from tho enemy. Notwithstanding, a remonstrance was drawn up by tho Queen's Council, to be sent to the Lord High Admiral, fraught with a great variety of censorious questions relative to tho conduct of tho war. This paper is dated July 31st, and Sir Walter Ralegh's name iB inserted in it as its bearer to tlie Admiral. Rut for somo reason, Sir Walter was not tho bearer, but that service was per- formed by Richard Drake, Esq., the cousin of Sir Francis Drake Tho reason of tho change is left to conjecture, while it is very probablo that Ralegh had left or was about to leave to perform activo service. This conjecture is strengthened from several sourcos. 34 Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. Mcleren, who is accurate and full, says, "tho most furious and bloody skirmish of all,"* was on the 23d of July; that when the news of it reached England, " ships out of all havens of the realm came flocking" to the victorious fleet, "as unto a set field, where immortal fame and glory was to be attained. In which numher there were many great and honourable personages, as namely, tho Earls of Oxford, Northumberland, Cumberland, &c, with many Knights and gentleman; aR Sir Thomas Cecil!, Sir Robert Cccill, Sir Walter Raleig!i,"f &c. This agrees also with Camden's account.^ Hence the most that can be claimed for Ralegh in tho action against the Armada is, that, with a great many others he joined in the pur- suit of it subsequently to tho 31st of July. The passage in tho Hist, of thr. World (B. V, c. I, sec. 6), where Ralegh alludes to the fight with the Armada, is extracted by Mr. Oldys as proof of the im- portant part acted by him in the defeat; whereas nothing of tho kind is intimated; nor does ho on any other occasion claim that ho took any part whatever in the matter, so far as I can discover. Again, if Ralegh had been tho important man against the Armada, as claimed by his biographers, it is extraordinary that he should not * Haec erat omnium cuentistima piigna in qua Adrniralius in medio hostium ptig- nant, kc.—Belgic. Histor. Univcrtalis, edit. 1598, fol. p. 479. t jlnnaUi rtrum dnglicarum tt Hibtrnicarum, Rcgnantt Eliz. edit. 1657, 8vo, p. 668. JMeteren, p. 479. Our author has mado rather hard Latin of some of the Eng- lish names, thus : " Inter hos multi fueruut ningni nominii viri, vt Coniites Oxoniae, Northumbriae, et Combertlaiidiap, cum multis equitihus et Nobilibus, quorum nomiua Thomas et Robertus Cerilij, Wilhelmus Hattonus Walterus Raioleus," &o. His "Henricus Brooti," Sir Henry Brooke; his "Ambrosius Veellougbij," Ambrose WUlooghbj ; " Thomas Wodeas," Thomas Woodhouse, &o. Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh. 35 bo mentioned in any of the numerous dispatches of Howard, Drako, Uawkins, or Seymour. And in the grand council of war held on board tho Admiral's ship on the first of August, to determine how far the fleet should pursue the Armada, Ralegh was not present, nor do we heai of him at sea. Nor in tho list of tho ships and their commandors, carefully mado out and preserved in tho Stato Papor Offico, docs Ralegh's namo appear. University ol Calilorma, Los »'• L 006 857 388 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY ^ACIUTY AA 000 677 107 5