m t umi: iiifc *i THE LIBRARY . OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES -f M E :m O I R s OF THE LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH, WITH SOME ACCOtj"NT OF THE PERIOD IN WHICH HE LIVED. BY MRS. A. T. THOMSON, ACTHOR OF MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF HENRY THE EIGHTH. G. W. DONOHUE, 13 SOUTH FOURTH ST. 183 7. ADVERTISEMENT. In submitting to the Public a Life of Sir Waltei. Ralegh, some brief explanation may be deemed ex- pedient, of the reasons which induced the Author to consider such a work necessary, when the valuable labors of Oldys, Cayley, and Birch, are still in ex- istence. Independent of the circumstances, that the efforts of these justly-prized biographers have been far too great- ly actuated by an indiscriminate partiality for the character of Ralegh, it may be alleged, that the narra- tives of the two first of these authors are encumbered with authentic, but heavy documents and dissertations, interspersed within the body of their respective works, rendering them fatiguing ; and, in the case of Oldys, almost revolting to the general reader. The concise compilation of Birch, admirable as far as it goes, is, on the other hand, too limited and cursory a sketch of the life and actions of Ralegh, to afford that satisfac- tory picture of his mind, and disposition, which biog- raphy is intended to furnish. Endeavoring to steer between these extremes, the Author of the Memoirs, now presented to the Public, entertains a well-grounded hope, that if her attempt to compose a full, and yet connected, narrative of Ra- lech's life be considered inefficient, the additional docu- ments which she has been enabled to supply will re- deem it from being wholly useless. In the Appendix IV ADVERTISEMENT. to this work, she presents to the PubHc fifteen original Letters, now for the first time printed, from the collec- tion in the State Paper Office. These, whilst they throw but little new light upon the participation of Sir Walter Ralegh in certain public affairs, are valuable, as confirming, in a manner satisfactory to the inquirer after historical truth, the impressions previously con- ceived of the share which he took in the political transactions of his times. For permission to peruse and transcribe these inter- esting papers, the Author has to express her grateful acknowledgments to the Right Honorable Robert Peel, whose Uberality in this instance is as gratifying to the lovers of English literature, from the zeal for its in- terests which it evinces in that distinguished Statesman, as it is eminently beneficial to the humble, but earnest laborer in pursuit of historical knowledge. The Author has also considerable pleasure in ex- pressing her obligations to Robert Lemon, Esq., Deputy Keeper of the State Papers, for the polite and prompt assistance which he afforded to her, enabling her to reap the full benefit of the privilege conferred by Mr. Peel. 3 Hinde Street, Manchester Square, April 15, 1830. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Birth and Origin of Ralegh : — His Education and Choice of a Pro- fession : — His Services in France and the Low Countries : — Mari- time Enterprises: — His Services in Ireland: — His Return tQ Court : — Characters with whom he had to deal. — Expeditions to Newfoundland — To Virginia. — Proofs of Favor from the Queen. — Ralegh's Occupations in Peace : — His Patronage of Hakluyt and Herriot. — Charge of Deism against Ralegh from various Writers. 1552 to 1586 Page 9 CHAPTER II. Favor of Ralegh commented upon by Tarleton.— Further, Under- takings of Ralegh.— Virginia.— Tobacco. — The Spanish vasion. — Lord Howard of Effingham. — Ralegh's Share in repelling the Armada :— His Visit to Ireland. — Spenser.— Ralegh's IJniwnularity with the Clergy. — Dr. Godwin. — Udall. — the Brownisis. — The Jesuits.— Father Parsons.— Ralegh's Marriage :— His Disgrace at Court:— His Voyage to Guiana.— Services in the Atlantic with Essex 38 CHAPTER III. The Island Voyage. — Mortifications sustained by Ralegh : — Failure of the Expedition.— Slate of Affairs at Home.— Decline, and sub- sequent Ruin of Essex :— The Share which Ralegh had in that Affair 74 CHAPTER IV. Accession of James. — Intrigues against Ralegh. — Mediation of the Earl of Northumberland. — Character of Cecil : — Of James : — His First Interview with Ralegh. — Causes of Ralegh's Disgrace. — Acts of Oppression on the Part of James. — Memorial Addressed by Ralegh to the King. — Reason assigned by James for his Dis- like to Ralegh. — State of Foreign Affairs. — Particulars of the Con- spiracy, commonly called "Ralegh's Plot." — Arabella Stuart — Brook — Cobham — Grey. — Examinations of Cobham and Ralegh : — Their Committal to the Tower. — Ralegh's attempt at Suicide : —His Trial.— Character of Coke.— The Trial and Fate of the other Conspirators. — Observations upon the Degree of Blame to be attached to Ralegh 130 A2 Vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Trial of Ralegh. — Character of Sir Edward Coke. — Affair of the Lady Arabella. — Conduct and Sentence of the Prisoners 161 CHAPTER VI. Estimate of Ralegh's Property: — His Estates and Occupations in Ireland. — Ralegh's Companions in Prison : — His Schemes with respect to Guiana. — Death of Cecil and of Prince Henry. — Ra- legh's Release from the Tower 191 , CHAPTER VII. Ralegh's Designs with regard to Guiana: — His last Voyage thither: — Its unfortunate Issue. — His Return: — Apprehension — Trial — Death. — Account of his Literary Works, and Character 213 • APPENDIX. Note A. Notices relative to the Polatoe, by Dr. A. T. Thomson, Page 269 Note B. Notices relative to Tobacco, by Dr. A. T. Thomson 269 Note C. Letter from Sir Robert Cecil from the Tower at Dartmouth, 21st September, 1592, 280 Note D. Letter from Ralegh to Cobham, 281 Note E. Letter from Ralegh to Cobham, written during the last Progress made by Queen Elizabeth, 282 Note F. Letter from Lord Grey to King James 282 Note G. Postscript to a Letter from Ralegh to Cobham 283 Note H. Letter from the Lieutenant of the Tower to Cecyll. Signed John Peyton 283 CONTENTS. Vii Note I. Sir W. Wade to Cecil. "Endorsed to me" in Cecil's hand writing, 284 Note K. From Sir W. Waad to Lord Cecyll, 284 Note O. Endorsed in Cecil's hand-writing. "My Letter to my Lord Grey," 284 Note P. Letter from Hen. Cobham addressed to the Ryght Ho. my very Good Lord the Erie of Nottingham, Lord High Admiral, the Erie of Suffolk, Lord Chamberlain, y^ the lord Cisell, His Ma'tie's principall Secretarie 285 Letter from George Brooke to Cecyle 285 Note Q. Notice relative to a Letter from Wade to Cecil, 285 Note R. Letter of Sir W. Ralegh to King James 1 285 Note S. To the Queen's most excellent Maiestie 286 Note U. Document signed. Addressed to Cecil. Endorsed, in Cecil's hand-writing "The Judgment of Sir W. Ralegh's case," .. 287 Note Y. From Q. Elizth. to her Vice Roy in Ireland 1582. By the Queene, 287 LIFE OP SIR WALTER RALEGH. CHAPTER I. Birth and Origin of Ralegh :— His Education and Choice of a Profession : —His Services in France and the Low Countries :— Maritime Enter- prises :— His Services in Ireland :— His Return to Court :— Characters with whom he had to deal.— Expeditions to Newfoundland— to Vir- ginia.— Proofs of Favor from the Uueen.- Ralegh's Occupations in Peace :— His Patronage of Hakluyt and Herriot.— Charge of Deism against Ralegh from various Writers. 1552 TO 1586. The county of Devon was renowned, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, for the valor of its inhabitants in naval services ; and it is still honored as the birth-place of three celebrated navigators. Sir Francis Drake, Sir John Haw- kins, and Sir Walter Ralegh. Ralegh was born in the year 1552, at Hayes, a farm rented by his father, situated in the parish of Budely, near that part of the eastern coast of Devonshire where the Otter discharges itself into the British Channel. To the scene of his childhood, Ralegh, in common with many men who have afterwards encountered the cares of a public career, retained an indelible attachment. It is pleas- ing to find him, at a subsequent period of his life, when ambition appears to have engrossed him, endeavoring, though without success, to possess the humble residence of his youth. The patrimonial estate was Fardel, in the parish of Cornwood, near Plymouth ; and Smalridge, near Axminster, is said to have belonged to his ancestors, in the time of Henry the Eighth, but to have been sold, from the prodigality of its owners.* The family of Ralegh at the time of his birth was greatly reduced in circumstances, and in the full experience of * Oldys, p. 5. 10 LIFE OP SIR WALTER RALEGH. those privations which attend poverty, encumbered with rank. No title, except that of kniglithood, had, indeed, as yet given false splendor to a name which boasted an an- cient connexion with Robert of Gloucester, a natural son of Henry the First ; but the name of Ralegh had been one of some importance, and of great antiquity. Varying in its ortliography from Rale, or Ralega, to Ralegh, Raw- leigh, or Raleigh, this designation had been affixed to seve- ral villages and towns in Somersetshire, Devonshire, and Essex ; and his ancestors settled in Devonshire before the Norman conquest.* Allied by marriage to the earls of Devon, and related to various families of their own name in Somersetshire and Warwickshire, the ancestors of Ra- legh had suffered a gradual decrease in their landed pos- sessions ; so that Fardel alone, of all their estates, remained as the inheritance of Walter Ralegh, the father of him who was destined again to raise his family to distinction. Some memorials of ancient grandeur were still however preserved from the devastations of time or misfortune ; and Sir Walter received, as an heir-loom, a target, which had been suspended in a chapel at Smalridge consecrated to Saint Leonard, by one of his forefathers, in gratitude for deliverance from the Gaulsf ; and the records of this en- dowment are stated to have been afterwards presented to Sir Walter Ralegh by a priest of Axmiiister.| That the origin and early piety of this ancient race were little known in the days of Elizabeth, until the fame of their celebrated descendant called them forth from obscurity, is evident from the anecdote which Lord Bacon relates, in illustration of the popular error which assigned to Ralegh the term " Jack, or upstart." Queen Elizabeth was one day playing ujxjn the virginals, whilst Lord Oxford and other admiring courtiers stood by : it happened tliat the ledge before tlie jacks had been taken away ; upon observ- ing which the two noblemen smiled, and, when questioned by the queen regarding the cause of their mirth, gave as the reason, " that they were amused to see that when jacks went up heads wentdown."^ The Queen, notwithstanding this sarcastic allusion, hail not^ however, in receiving Ra- legh into her favor, departed from her usual rule of never •Cayley, p. 2. t Prince's Worthies of Devonshire, p. 530. JCayley. § Bacon's Apoththegms, No. 182. LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. 11 admitting " a mechanic or new man into her confidence* ; " and Ralegh had, atlerwards, the credit, by his deeds, of directing the investigation of antiquaries to the details of his lineage. These, as points of curious inquiry, demand some attention ; but are of subordinate interest in the his- tory of one whose very poverty and obscurity became the origin of his fortunes, by being the stimulus to his industry. That Ralegh naturally, and even commendably, prized the advantages of an honorable descent, may be inferred by the solicitude afterwards displayed by his relative Hooker to define, in his dedication to him of the Chroni- cles of Ireland, the claims to distinction which their com- mon ancestry possessed ; since Hooker enjoyed the patron- age and friendship of his kinsman, and sought in his wri- tings to do him honor ; but there is no reason to suppose that he rested his hopes of greatness upon any basis less solid than that of his own merit and exertions. With the inconveniences of a reduced inheritance, the father of Sir Walter Ralegh experienced those attendant upon repeated marriages, and numerous offspring. By his first wife he had two sons, the elder of whom, George, became the pos- sessor, after his death, of Fardel ; which afterwards de- volved, successively, to his two brothers, the younger of whom, Carew, sold his patrimonial property, and it passed for ever from the family of Ralegh. The mother of Ralegh, and the third wife of his father, was the daughter of Sir Philip Champernon of Modbury, and the widow of Otho Gilbert, a gentleman of large property, residing at Comp- ton, in Devon. Three children, Carew, Walter, and Mar- garet Ralegh, were the result of this last union ; after which the father of Sir Walter resided entirely at Hayes, where the younger branches of the family were reared. It is singular that no trace is preserved, either in the let- ters, or by the conversation of Ralegh, of the mode and place of his earliest education. That species of biography which, by describing the pro- gress of intellect, affords the most important assistance, and, oftentimes, encouragement, to the young and aspiring, appears to have been little enjoyed or understood by our ancestors. It was thought much to preserve the name of the college, or even of the university only, where a cele- * Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia, 4to. p. 28. 12 LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. brated individual received his last chance of tuition: and the history of his previous early years, in which the bias of the character is generally determined, has scarcely ever been transmitted to us, even by those who liave been mi- nute and faithful annalists of' the events of mature life. Respecting the portion of instruction which fell to Ralegh's lot, it is n^erely known, that at sixteen he was sent to Ox- ford, and was entered as a commoner both at Oriel College and at Christ-Church, in compliance with a custom not un- usual in former times, and, probably, intended to secure the privilege of aspiring to a fellowship at one or other of these colleges.* During a residence m the University of three years, he devoted hnnself with success to the study of philosophy and of letters ; and, though he left Oxford without a degree, yet, he acquired a higher honor in obtaining the good opuiion of Bacon, who there foretold his future eminence.! In the choice of a profession Ralegh appears to have been divided, for some time, between the bar and the camp. That he actually entered at any of our inns of court is, however, doubtful ; and the prevalent opinion, that he was at one time a student of the IMiddle Temple, arose either from his display of loiral acuteness on his subsequent trial, or irom a temporary residence within the walls of that es- tablislnnent. Queen Elizabeth, with a view, perhaps, to the intellectual culture of her young courtiers, commended our inns of court, and was accustouied to say, " that they fitted young men for the future :" hence it is probable that, in those days of mental slavery, all who aspired to her fa- vor were reported to have pursued the course which slie approved ; and that Ralegh was not unwilling, during her reign, to enjoy the credit of havmg been thus prepared for public lifi,'. He is, liowever, affirmed by one who knew Jiini well, to liave been trained, " not part, but wholly gentle- man, wholly soldier;" and there appears to liave been but little time allowed for any other plans of study, since, from the statement of Hooker, he spent in France "good part of his youth in wars and martial services."}; In the circumstances of his relations Rilegli found inducements to a military career : his maternal uncle, Henry Champer- • Fuller's Church History, lib. 4. and 5. fol. 104. f Oldys, p. 5. J Ralegh's Ghost, 4to. p. 15. and Hooker, Epist. Ded. See Oldys, 9. LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. 13 non, beina: an officer of some note in our armies.* At the request of this kinsman, Ralegh enlisted into a troop of gentlemen volunteers under Champernon's command, who purposed leading them into France, in order to assist the Protestant princes engaged in the civil wars of that coun- try. This adventurous band went forth on horseback, bearing on their colors the motto, " Finem del mihi virtus." They were sanctioned by the permission of Elizabeth, who had shown her approbation of the cause by accommodating the Queen of Navarre with a sum of money, upon the deposit of certain jewels in the English treasury.! It is doubtful in what service, or with what success, the troop were distinguished ui France ; but it appears that they were well received by the Queen of Navarre and the Pro- testant prmces, and that they remained six years in their employment. It is conjectured that, unless on some casual leave of absence in England, Ralegh must have witnessed the mas- sacre of Saint Bartholomew in 1572, and shared m the dangers of the unfortunate Hugonots. Perhaps, from his participation in the horrors of this scene, he imbibed that aversion to religious mtolerance which afterwards charac- terized him as a senator, and which was then far less prevalent, even among philosophical and intelligent men, that it has happily proved to be in the present day. What- ever may have been Ralegh's situation on this momentous occasion, no actual traces of its impression on his mind re- main, however, in his writings, nor have been transmitted by his biographers ; a circumstance which may seem to imply his absence from the massacre, since he has alluded to many of his services in his works. It is scarcely proba- ble that allusions to such an exhibition of human ven- geance in its most appalling form would have been omitted by one who, in his History of the World, has frequently drawn a parallel between the scenes which he narrates, and those with which he was identified by his own experi- ence. In that monument of his genius and industry, he refers to his presence at the battle of Moncontour, in Poitou, and extols Count Lodovic of Nassau, brother to the Prince of Orange, who made the retreat on that occasion, with such * Wood, Atben. Oxoniensis, vol. i. col. 435. f Camden, p. 117. B 14 LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. resolution and prudence that he saved one half of the Pro- testant army, then broken and disbanded : — " of which," says Ralegh, " myself was an eye-witness, and was one of them that had cause to thank him for it.'"* It is a fact equally certain, and much mo e important, that in th se tumultuous scenes, Ralegh, then only in his eighteenth year, collected and stored up a portion of those facts and observations with which he afterwards enriched his Histo- ry of the World ; a work to wliich the soldier and the scholar, the courtier and the moralist, may repair both for instruction and delight. In 1575 he returned to England for a few years, but soon resumed his military career, under Sir John Norris, in the Netherlands. Here he was, in all probability, engaged in tlie battle of Rimenant, in which Don John of Austria, then governor of the Netherlands for Philip the Second of , f.~Q Spain, was defeated ; a disgrace which that com- mander only survived two months. An enterprise of a new description now engaged the energetic mind of Ralegh. Various circumstances con- spired to direct his attention to the progress of maritime discovery ; a subject on which the imaginations of the ar- dent, and the speculations of the busy, were then actively engaged. During the two last centuries, a spirit of daring adventure had been encouraged by the splendid examples of Veisco di Gama and of Columbus, and by the merito- rious, though less fortunate, exertions of Magellan, who lost his life before his undertaking was completed. Spain and Portugal, mutually jealous to obtain the earliest knowledge of the shortest passage to the valuable posses- sions of India, vied with one another in endeavoring to promote, throughout their respective dominions, a thirst for maritime glory. England had borne her part in the emulous contention for colonial su])eriority, and, in common with her continental rivals, had, latterly, turned her at- tention towards the north-east coast of America. In the reign of Henry the Seventh, the island of Newfoundland was discovered by a Venetian merchant, Sebastian Cabot, who took the command of an English squadron. To extend our knowledge of this territory, and to obtain a more se- cure and acknowledged possession of it than had, hitherto, * Hist, of the World, hook v. chnpter ii. spct. 8. edit. Lond. 1687. LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. 15 been effected, became, in the reign of Elizabeth, the ob- ject of general solicitude. It was the fortunate lot of Ralegh, not only to possess an enterprising and resolute spirit, but to be connected with those who had the will and the power to encourage his rising genius. His relations on both sides were eminent ; and his mother was, at a later period, authorized to make a boast, rare in those days, of being the parent of five knights. Of these, three were the sons of her former mar- riage, — Sir John, Sir Humphrey, and Sir Adrian Gilbert.* Sir John Gilbert was sheriff and Gustos Rotulorum of the county of Devon, and was a kind of oracle in those parts, as well as a liberal country gentleman, and benefactor to the poor. Sir Adrian was scarcely less estimable, and be- came more famous than his pacific brother, for a patent which he took out for the investigation of the north-west passage. With this patent, and under his auspices, the celebrated John Davis discovered the straits which bear his name. But the most admirable, although the most un- fortunate, of the three brothers, was the distinguished mariner. Sir Humphrey Gilbertf This good and brave man, although a second son, yet received from his father a very ample fortune ; but it was from his mother's judicious care that he derived the still greater advantage of an ex- cellent education, at Eton first, and afterwards at Oxford. Since this lady was, also, the mother of Ralegh, and had, by both her husbands, the credit of giving heroes to the world, it is not extravagant to conclude that she must her- self have been a woman of merit, and that the energetic character of her children might, in a great measure, be attributed to her nurture and example. Like Walter Ralegh, his half-brother. Sir Humphrey, after quitting college, had some intention of studying at one of the inns of court, although his favorite pursuits had been cosmography and navigation| : but being introduced to Queen Elizabeth by his aunt, Mrs. Katherine Ashley, one of her majesty's waiting-women, he made so rapid a progress in her favor, as soon to be preferred to a very im- portant command in Ireland. Here, like Ralegh, he passed * Note in Biographia Britaiinica, Life of Sir H. Gilbert. t There was in the reign of Henry the Seventh a famous navigator of the same name, whose maps are still preserved in Whitehall. I Biographia, note from Hooker's Dedication. 16 LIFE OP SIR WALTER RALEGH. some years in an arduous and bloody service, until he had attained his thirty-third year ; wlien returning to England, he resolved to add to the glory of his name and country by some important and difficult enterprise, the spirit of which he doubtless imbibed from the examples of the other great navigators of the times. Sir Humphrey was thirteen years older than Ralegh, and may be supposed to have possessed a very considerable influence over his mind. — Their characters were, indeed, m many points similar ; their views and pursuits were the same : both were enthusiastic, aspiring, patriotic ; and both were unfortunate. The device which the elder brother adopted early in his career might have been used, also, by his successor in the paths of fame : it represented Mars and Mercury joined by a cross, with this motto, — Quid non ? alluding to the power which is acquired by a strong determination to unite pursuits the most dissimilar, and to conquer difficulties. Successful in the field, and bold and impressive in the House of Commons, in which he sat as representative for Plymouth, Sir Humphrey, about the period when Ralegh had made his first essay in military operations, began to revolve in his mind the practicability of making out a north-west voyage to the East Indies. The existence of such a passage was first discovered by him by means of his mathematical knowledge, and a scientific and perspicu- ous treatise written in support of his arguments ;* but he was destined never to enjoy the honor of executing the project which he had conceived : it was, however, com- pleted after his death, as we have seen, by his brother, Adrian Gilbert. , t-ja Deferring for a time the commencement of this im- portant scheme. Sir Humphrey obtained permission of the queen to plant and inhabit certain parts of North America, which were not occupied by any of her allies.f In this undertaking, which was professedly for the exten- sion of the Christian faith, he was joined by Ralegh, from motives probably mingled, ambition, desire of gain, and ardor for distinction, being, perhaps, his first inducements. For this and similar expeditions, not courage only, but capital, was required. Elizabeth, at the beginning of her * Hakluyt's Voy, iii. p. 11. t Birch. LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. 17 reign, possessed seventeen ships of war only, and the rest of tlie British navy, which effected afterwards such glorious achievements, was composed either of ships supplied by Bristol, Barnstaple, or other commercial towns, of vessels hired by the queen, or furnished by the company of mer- chant adventurers, by the city of London, or even by pri- vate individuals.* The share which Ralegh had in the risk or profits of his first voyage to Newfoundland, was, probably, confined to his personal participation in its dan- gers ; tor, at this early period, he had little to venture in any enterprise. He joined his kinsman with several other gentlemen, but circumstances were adverse to their success. Many who had promised to assist them with men and ships failed in their engagements. They set out with two sail only ; one of which, after various perils, was lost in an unfortunate engagement with the Spaniards; and Raleigh, after encountering dangers which would have disheartened a man of a less sanguine temperament, re- turned to England, not to relax into maction, but to point his exertions towards other objects. He soon found em- ployment for his active temperament in a school of military science, similar to that in which his brother-in-law had been already trained. The situation of England, with respect to neighboring countries, afforded to her young, half-civilized, and warlike nobility, a constant and yet varied school of mili- tary science, tiie favorite study as well of a barbarous as of a corrupt age. France, the Netherlands, and especially Ire- land, gave continual occupation to her armies, and prevented the courtiers who thronged around the queen from becoming exclusively the indolent minions of her vanity. The Irishry, as they were vulgarly called, were with difficulty kept even in the semblance of subjection; and disturbances, succeeded by actual rebellion, were the incessant results of the attempts which Elizabeth made to introduce, by force, the reformed religion into the sister kingdom. In- deed, being, as Camden describes them, " an uncivill peo- ple, and the more prone to superstition," it required a far greater military force than the parsimonious expenditure of the queen allowed, to prevent the frequent recurrence of such broils during the whole of her reign. New troubles had now arisen ; and a plot, commenced in 1570, at the instigation of Philip the Second, in order to place the natu- * Campbell's British Admirals, vol. i. p. 441. B2 18 LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. ral son of Pope Gregory the Thirteenth on the throne of Ireland, was revived under a more threatening aspect. The invaders, composed partly of Spaniards, partly of Ital- ians, landed under the command of an officer named San Joseph, at Smerwich, in Kerry, where they erected a fort, to which they gave the imposing designation, " Del Oro."* It was at this crisis that Ralegh obtained a commission, under Lord Grey of Wilton, then Lord Deputy of Ireland, a nobleman of considerable abilities, sullied, unhappily, by cruelty. The principal services in which Ralegh joined, were performed under the command of Thomas, earl of Ormond, Governor of Munster, whom he assisted in quell- ing the rebellion in that province. The conduct of the young soldier, although commended for valor, was yet dis- graced by a degree of barbarity scarcely to be excused in earlier times than those in which he lived. Having sur- prised the rebels at Rakele, he observed one of the prison- ers laden with withies. To the inquiry what he meant to have done with these, the undaunted reply was given, " To have hung up the English churls." Ralegh, unmoved by the hardihood of the unfortunate man, caused him to be in- stantly strangled with his own withies, and ordered his companions to be treated in a similar manner.f This con- duct, which presents not the only charge of cruelty with which the memory of Ralegh has been taxed, appears, however, to have been approved by the Lord Deputy, who, like the other English commanders of the period, regarded the Irish rather as a race of wild and noxious animals that ought to be exterminated, than as human beings, subjects of the same monarch, children of one heavenly Father, and creatures capable of being reclaimed from error and turbu- lence by mild and just, yet vigilant, measures. The dis- position evinced by Ralegh towards this wretched people proves how frequently scenes of bloodshed obliterate, for a time, virtuous dipositions and the convictions of philosophi- cal reasoning. Ralegh was, indeed, brought by adversity and reflection to see the folly, tlie guilt, and the shame of those pursuits, however skilfully conducted, which en- croach upon the happiness of our fellow-men. Stripping away the false colors in which the prejudices of education * Rapin, vol. vii. p. 404. Gordon's Ui.st. Ireland, vol. i. p. .173. t Uirrh's Life of Kaleipli, from Hooker's Suppleiiicnl of the Chroniclt: of Ireland, in Holinshed, fol. 107. LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. 19 and the ardor of youth had once arrayed the mighty con- querors of the earth, Ralegh has left his testimony to the great truth, that we shall one day cast off our false notions of glory, separated from virtue, as pernicious and grovel- ling delusions. "And as certainly," says he, "as fame hath often been dangerous to the living, so is it to the dead of no use at all, because separate from knowledge : which were it otherwise, and the extreme ill bargain of buying this lasting discourse understood by them which are dissolved, they themselves would then rather have wished to have stolen out' of the world without noise, tlian to be put in mind that they have purchased the report of their actions in the world by rapine, oppression, and cruelty, — by giving in spoil the innocent and laboring soul to the idle and indolent, and by having emptied the cities of the world of their ancient in- habitants, and filled them again with so many and so variable sorts of sorrows."* Such were the sentiments of Ralegh, when in confinement, old age, and sorrow, he awoke to the feelings of nature, and yielded to the dictates of reason. Meanwhile, the season of his youth was occupied in furthering those designs which, in his later days, he justly execrated and contemned. His zeal hi the queen's service was rewarded by an appointment to command in the siege of Del Oro. By tliis post the Spanish vessels were enabled readily to bring supplies to the insurgents, and it was con- sequently of the utmost importance. It soon fell before the assaults of the English, who, under the command of Admi- ral Winter, invaded it by sea, and, by land, under that of Lord Grey, while Ralegh fought with great valor in the trenches. Such was the barbarous policy of the Lord Deputy that, although the garrison surrendered, yet the greater part were slaughtered ; and to Ralegh, -^^^ g and to another officer who first entered within the -^^^j ' castle, the execution of the iniquitous task was intrusted. Unwearied with this terrible service, Ralegh remained at Cork during the winter, and occupied this season of re- pose from military toils, in watching the most conspicuous individuals amongst the rebels, and in harassing those whose wealth rendered them desirable prizes to the Eng- lish government. Cruel, indeed, were the dissensions of * Hist, of the World. Conclusion. 20 LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. that period, when the fear of Ralegh's unrelenting and destructive hand impelled the Lord Barry to burn his cas- tle at Barrymore rather than leave it in the possession of his bloodthirsty and rapacious enemies. Among the peril- ous services in which Ralegh was engaged, the seizure of Lord Roche, a powerful insurgent nobleman, may be con- sidered as a remarkable instance of his valor and address. To dispel the formidable confederacy in which Roche was engaged, he oft'ered to bring him, with his family, before the Earl of Onriond, at Cork. This design appeared un- practicable, from the numerous partisans of the rebel cliief- tain, scouring the country in bands, or infesting it in am- buscades. But Ralegh stole a night march, with great secrecy and alacrity ; and partly by manoeuvre, partly by force, effected an entrance into tlie very halls of the enemy. Here he was tempted, by the proffered hospitality of the Irish nobleman, to waive the purpose of his visit. He par- took, indeed, of an entertainment, but when it was con- cluded, avowed his resolution to oblige his host to return with him as a prisoner. Lord Roche, finding resistance useless, consented to accompany him, declaring that he would prove himself innocent of the charges brought against him. He found, however, that the young Eng- lishman was resolved on carrying him to Cork by night, notwitlistanding the natural perils of the road, and those which were prepared for them by the vigilant and active Irish rebels. Regardless of tliese sourcesof danger, Ralegh and his prisoners went forth, sheltered by the obscurity of the night from the attacks of the rebels, but exposed to fatal accidents from the rocks and hills, which, in a country scarcely civilized, presented incessant obstacles to a safe journey. Many of his soldiers were severely hurt, and one of them killed by repeated falls; but Ralegh tbrgot his troubles when he presented to the Lord Ormond, on the following day, his hn}X)rtant priz(>s. The most satisfactory result of the affair was, that Lord Roche was honorably acquitted, and tliat he afterwards conducted himself as a faithful subject.* On the diepartiire of Lord Ormond for England, Ralegh was intrusted with the government of Munster, in con- junction with two other officers.f In this situation he con- tinued until the spring of the year 1582, when, upon the ♦ Oldyg, 48. t Spenser's View of the Slate of Ireland. LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. 2l subju oration of the principal rebels, he returned to England ; desTous, probably, to walk in the sunshine of that court, the splendor of which, independent of any substantial ad- vanfag-es, attracted an ardent and ambitious mind. Rilegh was now in his thirtieth year. Few persons have entered public life with advantages of mind and person equal to those which he possessed. Few sovereigns have known better how to prize both mental and external attributes than the vain but discerning Elizabeth. The features of Sir Walter Ralegh are said to have been moulded with the ut- most symmetry, and the outline of manly beauty to have pervaded the whole countenance. He had a noble and ca- pacious tbrehead, an eye beaming with intelligence, soften- ed with the shadows of profound thought. Such at least is the impression conveyed by the most favorable portraits of this gifted man : these differ, however, greatly, and one may almost imagine to trace the changes that mark the gra- dations from youthftil ardor to the cares of maturity, from the cares of his maturity to the sorrows, perplexities, and infirmities of his old age. The person of Ralegh was ad- mirably proportioned, and dignified, his height being nearly six feet.* Thus he united every attribute of grace with strength, and doubtless with expression : for it is impossible that such a mind as his should not have imparted a power of fascination, of which even an ordinary countenance is susceptible when illuminated with genius, and consequently with sensibility. These natural advantages were import- ant circumstances in the eyes of Elizabeth, who frequently selected the objects of her regard from trivial motives, but retained them in her favor only as she found their talents justify her choice. To the attractions of a noble figure Ralegh studied to combine those of a graceful and splendid attire. Many of his garments were adorned with jewels, according to the richest fashions of the day, and his armor was so costly and curious, that it w'as preserved, for its ra- rity, in the Tower. In one of his portraits he is repre- sented in this armor which was of silver richly ornamented, and his sword and belt studded with diamonds, rubies, and pearls. In another, he chose to be depicted in a white satin pinked vest, surrounded with a brown doublet, flow- ered, and embroidered with pearls ; and on his head a little * Oldys, 145. 22 LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. black feather, with a larg-e ruby and pearl drop to confine the loop in place of a button.* These, it may be said, were no extraordinary proofs of costly expenditure in dress, in days when it was the W)ast of Villiers duke of Bucking- ham, to be " yoked and manacled" in ropes of pearl, and to carry on his cloak and suit alone, diamonds to the value of eighty thousand pounds : but the duke was rather a cour- tier than a statesman, and was little else ; whilst Ralegh, as a man of science, of letters, and of martial reputation, might have been supposed worthy of deriving reputation from higher sources without the necessity of descending to the trivial competitions of dress. It is not to be supposed that any of the fair sex could be insensible to this trait of character in the accomplished Ralegh ; and abundant proofs have shown, that the wise and wary Elizabeth prized these adventitious attributes as highly as the weakest and vainest of her attendants. She received therefore, with compla- cency and surprise, the adroit flattery of Ralegh, who, meeting the queen near a marshy spot, threw off the mag- nificent mantle which he wore, and cast it on the ground. This anecdote, which is generally related of their first meeting, if not true, is at least characteristic. He soon received encouragement even from the pen of the queen. He is related to have written upon a window, which she could not fail to pass, this line : " Fain would I climb, but yet fear I to fall ;" which received from the hand of Eliza- beth this reply, " If thy heart fail thee, climb not at all."t To her masculine shrewdness, the queen united some sen- timents of romance which would have accorded with a gentler nature. She commended poetry, especially when addressed to herself, although she allowed the illustrious Spenser to languish in poverty. Ralegh, like many men of genius, in youth expended the exuberance of a power- ful mind in verses which add but little honor to his great name, except as they show the versatility of his talents, and the enthusiasm of his sentiments. Early in life he wrote commendatory stanzas to Gascoigne's " Steel Glass,'" dated from the Temple : the ''tSilenl Lover," and the ^^ Excuse " followed at intervals; but the only masterly * Oldys, 145. Note in Ibid, from a M3. in Harleian. B. H. 90. c. 7. fol. fi72. t Fuller's Worthies of Devon. LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. 23 poem " The Farewell" and most of his admirable prose works, were not composed till the beginning of the seven- teenth century. But though the graces and accomplishments of Ralegh might amuse the fancy of Elizabeth, they could not win her confidence, which was never thoughtlessly nor indis- criminately bestowed. She soon became sensible of the acuteness of his understanding, in the progress of a dis- pute which was argued between him and Lord Grey, in presence of the council. The grounds of this quarrel have not transpired, and have been variously represented ; but the merits of Ralegh's cause may be implied, from his gain- ing a decision in his favor against the veteran soldier and statesman. This circumstance made a great impression upon the public, who probably expected a different result : but merit, at courts, without patronage, resembles a fine plant in an ungenial soil. Yet were there some generous spirits who prized Ralegh's attainments, and sought to make others prize them also ; such was Sir Philip Sidney, the first Eng- lish commoner that ever received the offer of a foreign crown. But that he was calculated to ascend the throne of Poland was scarcely more honorable to him, than the distinction accorded unanimously by his contemporaries, as the pattern of English gentlemen ; the soldier perfected into a hero by Christian principles, which men in those times, and indeed in latter days, have strangely thought incompatible with warlike pursuits. More favored by the circumstances of his birth than Ra- legh, so far as advancement at court was concerned, Sid- ney had received an education somewhat similar to that of his friend, had passed through the same scenes, and had participated in the same interests. There was, however, a wide discrepancy between their fortunes, and the apparent chance which each possessed of being numbered among the fortunate and great of their nation. The father of Sidney, the early companion of Edward VI., and succes- sively the trusted servant of Queen Mary and of Elizabeth, had means of promoting the elevation of his son, of which the remote situation, and reduced estate, of Ralegh's fa- ther, prohibited the expectation. Brought up from his cradle to anticipate the patronage of sovereigns, and re- ceiving his very Christian name from Philip of Spain, 24 IJPE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. young Sidney was sent, after colles^e, to perfect his educa- tion by intercourse with foreign nations ; but with difficulty escaped the horrors of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, by taking refuge in the house of Sir Francis Walsingham, then our ambassador at the court of Charles IX. It is not improbable, that during this eventful visit to France, his intimacy with Ralegh was formed, a tie which was never relinquished until annihilated by the early death of Sidney. Entering thus into life with such unequal prospects of success, tliese highly-gifted youths were, however, en- dowed severally with a proportion of intellectual power, which made the balance even. Much may be allowed for the necessity for arduous exertion, which in the one case might reasonably be supposed to have stimulated a mind capable naturally of strong efforts. But the talents of Sir Philip Sidney were rather elegant than powerful, and the character of his mind that of generous enthusiasm rather than of determined perseverance. He was formed, indeed, more for the ornament and the idol than for the benefit of society, and was more the hero of romance than the bene- factor of his country. Nurtured, also, in the bosom of prosperity, and having his fortunes created by his father, Sidney had not the patience to brook those irritations, nor the art to conceal those natural emotions which are gene- rally suppressed at courts. His romance of the Arcadia was composed, as it is well known, in a season of retirement, occasioned by an affront given to his jealous notions of honor. That very composition, unduly extolled in his own time and too greatly depreciated in ours, bespeaks a mind more replete with poetical associations than strong in origi- nal genius, or polished by sedulous culture. Endowed, however, with enough of Ralegh's spirit and attainrn;' nts to prize and to comprehend him ; and display- ing an exemption from the mr;nier passions, and a degree of disinterestedness wiiich rendered him, in a moral point of view, far superior to his friend ; Sidney possessed means and opportunities of assisting his young associate in his progress to fame ; and he is supposed to have generously availed himself of them by intrcHlucing him to the Earl of Leicester, uncle, on the maternal side, to Sidney.* The * Sir Ilpiiry Piilripy mnrried Mary, eldest daughter of John Dudley, Duke ofNurthuiiibcriaiid. LIPE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. 25 personal credit of Sidney was at this time great with Eliz- abeth, but his influence through Leicester was still more considerable. Never were there characters so dissimilar, as those of the uncle and nephew, who were united, not only by ties of consanguinity, but by an affectionate confi- dence on the part of Sidney, whose spirited work in de- fence of his relative against the libel entitled Leicester's Commonwealth, was both an acceptable tribute to the earl, and a proof of Sidney's devotion to that nobleman. The empire of Leicester at court was, at this time, gene- rally considered as indisputable. The object rather of Elizabeth's passionate admiration than of her affection, Leicester had long held an imperious sway over the pri- vate regards of that princess. Her attachment to him has been a subject of wonder to contemporaries and to pos- terity. His merits as a statesman and commander were doubtful, his crimes were more than suspected.* Unliap- * His guilt, with regard to the death of Amy Robsart, his wife, was 80 generally believed, that a universal sensation of horror attended the preaching of her funeral sermon at Oxford, by one of Leicester's chap- lains, who, instead of saying as he intended, "this lady so pitifully killed," slipped out the word " mnrderfd," a mistake which confirmed the general opinion, an I that her falling dov\ n the stairs of Cumnor Hall '■ wrthout hurting other hood,' was not accidental.— See Osborne's Trad. Memoirs of Queen Eliiaheih. vol. 1.-?-. note. This lady. Amy Robsart, was the daughter of Sir John Robsart, and was a great heiress. Her death happened in 15(i0, at a period when he was thought likely to aspire to the favor of tv\o queens, Mary of Scots and Elizabeth. By the inquest held upon her body, John Walpole, Esq., ancestor to the earl of WaljMile. was found to be the rightful heir to her estate. Those who are curious to know more of her mysterious history should consult .'Xubny's Antiquities of Berkshire, vol. i. p. Uii, from which Osborne has probably borrowed the foregoing anecdote. This unfortunate lady was not. perhaps, the most to be pitied of Lei- cester's victims. Sir Walter Scott has blende. i into his admirable, but heart-reoding, novel of Kenil worth her story with that of Douglas How- ard, Lady Sheffield, wliose tirst husband died suddenly of a severe cold, called by the scandalous " Leicester's rheum." This lady bore Leicester a son and a daughter but he sedulously kt pt their supposed marriage a secret, allowing her, at the same time, to be served as a countess in her chamber, and subscribing himself her "loving husband." After this, when he publicly married the countess dowager of Esse.\ (whose husband it was reported he had also poisoned), these two ladies were styled Lord Leicester's two " testaments." Lady Slu-ffield being the old, and Lady Essex the new. His first wife still asserting her claims, he had an in- terview with her in an arbor in Greenwich (hardens, where, in the pres- ence of witnesses, he ciifeied her XTdO a-year to desist from her attacks ; but she still persisting, he carried his vengeance upon her so far, she was obliged for protection to accept the hand of Sir Edward Stafford; offering as an excuse for this virtual renunciation of her claims, that she had had potions given her which took away her hair and nails. {Biographia, art. Dudley.) With all this, Leicester assumed the air of a c 26 LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. pily for his country, his brilliant career had obliterated the impression which his dark deeds had made ny)on the public mind, and had silenced the imputations of cowardice some- times cast upon him. Yet, in the language of one who personally knew him, Leicester was esteemed to be " more of Mercury than of Mars ;"* and while the partiality of Elizabeth induced her to intrust him with commissions of the greatest importance, he never had the confidence of the people.f It is doubtful whether he also possessed the respect of Elizabeth in so great a degree as her conduct towards hun seemed to imply. Her infatuation for him was devoid of that delicate and confiding attachment which alone can give stability to such ties. This was ap- parent after his death, when, with an avidity natural to her coarse mind, she seized upon a portion of his goods, which were offered to public sale, in order to repay herself for some debt due to her from the deceased nobleman.| While to the world she appeared wholly devoted to Lei- cester, it is probable that the earl, who knew the female character well, may have been conscious of the insecurity of his station in her regard, and of the hollowness of that affection which followed him not to the tomb. This secret perception rendered him peculiarly sensible to the dread of rivalship. When Ralegh first appeared at court, the gleams of royal favor were sometimes supposed to fall abundantly upon the avowed enemy of Leicester, Hunsdon, earl of Sussex, a stout English peer, whose influence over Elizabeth showed how often the same character may be acted upon by qualities totally opposite : for Sussex was honest, and therefore fearless, proud of his relationship to the queen, and of his descent from a long line of illustrious Fitzwalters ; and on that account more acceptable to the people than Leicester, whose lineage recalled the recol- lection of the Dudley, the detested agent of Henry the Seventh. Too unguarded for a courtier, and too unbend- ing for a favorite, Sussex felt all his life the ascendency of saint. " I never," says Naunton, " saw letters more seeming religious than his." * Nauiiton's Regalia, p. 14. t Tlin (liploinatic corps owcht to he miirli indrhted to him, as having been the first to assume, when aiiihassiiilor in the Low Countries, the high-Boundinc title of" Excellency." — Biographia, note. I Note in ilume, 8vo. vol. v. p. 3J7. LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. 27 Leicester, and on his death-bed, bade his friends beware of " the Gipsy ;" a name which he had given to the earl, and then esteemed to be one of peculiar opprobrium* : so equally poised, indeed, was the apparent influence which Leicester and Sussex were supposed to possess at court, that the introduction of Ralegh to the especial notice of the queen has been attributed to both these noblemen. It was not, however, long, before Leicester began to dread his advances, and determined to oppose his career by the introduction of a new rival. This was Robert Devereux, earl of Essex, a man far inferior to Ralegh in natural abili- ties, and in cultivation of mind ; but gifted with disposi- tions far too generous and noble for the part which he had to perform in life. Various circumstances conspired to estab- lish Essex as the idol of the people, and of his sovereign ; and Ralegh found it, perhaps, difficult to forgive the suc- cess which frustrated his ovra rise to greatness. Yet, whilst the prosperity of Ralegh was less dazzling, it was more secure than that of the unfortunate Essex. Sincere and well-intentioned, yet vain, presumptuous, and self- willed, the faults of Essex operated chiefly to his own in- jury, and even his virtues appeared to add to the dangers by which he was surrounded. His popularity was greater than that of any British nobleman of his time, and was the source of much ill-will towards him, on the part of many of his equals ; Ralegh, on the other hand, either avoided public applause, as dangerous, or disregarded it as unim- portant. " Seek not to be Essex, shun to be Ralegh," was the wise counsel of the elder Lord Burleigh to his son ; thus designating those persons as representing the two ex- tremes of popularity and of public aversion. Yet Essex and Ralegh both died upon a scaffold : so difficult is it to steer clear of the quicksands on which despotism hurries its victims. In 1583, Ralegh was employed by Queen Elizabeth to attend Simier, the agent of the Duke of Anjou, in his ad- dresses to Elizabeth, on his return to France ; and afterwards to attend the duke to Antwerp.f The Queen accompanied her foreign suitor as far as Canterbury, and commanded certain of her nobility to continue their attendance upon tiie Duke, until, they reached the Netherlands.^ It has * Naiuiton, p. 15. tCayley, i. p. 43. t Camden's Eliz. ^>''* 28 LIFE OP SIR WALTER RALEGH. been asserted, in the famous work entitled Leicester's Commonwealth, that the Earl, to revenge himself on Si- mier for the discovery of his marriage to Queen Elizabeth, employed pirates to sink tlie Frenchman and his compan- ions at sea, but that tliey were prevented by some English vessels. If this assertion were true, Ralegh must have shared in the perds thus prepared for Simier.* Dissatisfied, probably with the routine of a courtier's life, and aware that his real credit was best to be promoted by exertion, Ralegh soon evinced impatience to be again in action ; and resolved to make a second voyage to New- foundland, in conjunction with Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in which his personal services should be employed. With this intention, he built a ship of two hundred tons ; named it the Bark Ralegh ; equipped it for the voyage, in which he purposed acting as vice-admiral ; Sir Humphrey being the general of the expedition. This respected commander was, in fact, the very soul of the undertaking, which, by his credit alone, received contributions of ships, men, and money, from new adventurers in the voyage to Newfound- land. Encouraged by tlie assistance of his friends. Sir Humphrey was assured also of the Queen's regard, by her presenting hun, as a token of her approbation, with a small anchor of beaten gold, with a large pearl at the peak, an ornament which he wore ever afterwards at his breast. In the patent which Her Majesty had granted to him for the discovery of foreign parts, a clause was inserted, by which it was rendered void if, at the end of six years, no new possession were gained.f It was therefore of importance, that no unnecessary delay should impede the departure of Sir Humphrey and his associates for those remote regions, which they fondly hoped to add to the British colonies. The fleet assembled, upon this occasion, consisted of five sail, and the united officers and crews amounted to two hundred and sixty men. Among these were artificers of every kind, besides miners and gold refiners; nor were they, according to the account of Captain Hayes, of all the connnanders the only one who returned from Newibund- land to relate the sad disasters of tliis fatiil voyage, desti- tute of "Musike in good variety : not omitting the least toyes, as Morris dancers, hobby-horse, and day-like con- • Camd. year 15«3. t B«og. art. Gilbert. LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. 29 ceits, to delight the savage people, whom we intended to winne by all fair means possible."* The Bark Ralegh, which was the largest vessel of the expedition, set sail from Plymouth on the 11th of Jmie, 1583, but had not been many days at sea, before it , ^-no was discovered that a contagious fever had seized the whole crew ; and Ralegh, with its captain and crew, were obliged to return to harbor. Providence appears, however, in this event, to have afforded peculiar protection to the ship, and to its commander. Ralegh had indeed the mortification of leaving Sir Humphrey Gilbert to finish the enterprise without him. That gallant officer reached Newfoundland, of which, by the usual form of digging up a turf, and receiving it with a hazel wand, he took posses- sion, in right of the discovery made by Cabot : planted the first British colony there, discovered a silver mine, divided some portion of the lands among his followers, and began his voyage home, in the joyful expectation of fiirther en- couragement from Queen Elizabeth.f But this brave man was destined never to return to his native country. The ship in which he had stored the silver ore, which he de- signed to show as a specimen, was lost ; and, before he had passed the Azores, tempestuous weather and terrible seas sank the spirits of tJie sailors, who, in the true spirit of the superstitious fears to which they are prone, reported that they had heard strange voices in the night, scaring them from the helm. Even the principal officers were alarmed tor the safety of Sir Humphrey, who had imprudently chosen to sail in the Squirrel, a small frigate. In vain did his friends entreat him to change his vessel, and to come on board the Hinde, the largest ship of the squadrc«i. The honor of the dauntless Sir Gilbert had, unhappily, been touched by the imputation of cowardice, a report false, as it was cruel. He persisted therefore in remaining at Ills post, saying, " I will not desert my little company, with whom I have passed so many storms and perils ;" nor would he remain on board the Hinde, except for a short time, for the purpose of a convivial meeting with the offi- cers, their last interview ; and they parted, agreeing that all the captains should give orders to hang out lights at * Hakluyt, iii. 149. t Hakluyt's Voyages, folio 159; also Camden, Eliz. 402. C2 30 LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. night. Meanwhile the dangers thickened; the oldest mariners declared that they had never witnessed such seas ; the winds changing incessantly, the waves, in the simple language of a spectator, " breaking high, and pyra- mid-wise." The hearts of tlie most courageous were ap- palled by a meteor, common in storms, which the seamen consider to be an apparition of fatal import, and which they call " Castor and Pollux." Once, tlie anxious com- pany of the Hinde beheld the frigate nearly cast away ; then again it approached them, and they saw Sir Hum- phrey sitting on the mainmast, with a book in his hand, ex- claiming, as he regarded his companions in distress, " We are as near heaven by water as by land." Suddenly the lights were extinguished ; those who kept watch cried aloud that all was over, and, in the morning, the frigate was beheld no more.* Thus died one, who was a loss, not only to the active service of his country, but to the inter- ests of nautical science. His principal work, " A Discourse to prove the Existence of a Passage by the north-west, to Cathaia and the East Indies," is written, according to the opinion of competent judges, with accuracy, perspicuity, and arrangement. In another treatise, he suggested the invention of a spherical instrument, for the better know- ledge of the longitude, and amended the usual errors of Sia- cards.j But he has been erroneously confounded with his namesake. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who, in the reign of Henry the Seventh, made several voyages of discovery, projected the passage of Cathaia, and made many valuable maps and charts, which were long preserved in White- hall.t ' . . The pursuits, acquirements, and principles of action of Sir Humphrey, may be presumed to have been imitated by his young relative, Ralegh, who improved upon his schemes, and in many respects seems to have imbibed his sentiments. It was not only the precept of Sir Humphrey, but his rule of conduct, " That lie is not worthy to live at all, who, for fear or danger of death, shunnoth his country's service, or his own honor ; for deatli is inevitable, and fame immortal." In consonance with this noble maxim, but exercising it perhaps too rigidly, he perished. * See Mr. Edward Mayes' narrative, Hnklnyt, vol. iii. MH to 159. t Note in Biogriipliia. J Note in Oldys, p. 22. LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. 31 The details of the voyage were brought home by tlie captain of the Huide, which reached England in safety ; but Ralegh, though grieved at the loss of his friend and associate, lost no time in forming schemes for a fresh un- dertaking ; and, in consequence of a representation vi'hich he laid before the Queen and council, he obtained letters patent, empowering him to " discover such remote, heathen, and barbarous lands as were not actually possessed by any Christian, nor inliabited by any Christian people." So in- distinct were the notions which even the most cultivated minds, in this country, at that time, entertained of geojira- phy, that, in this and in some other patents of that period, there was neither mention of any particular part of the globe, nor of any latitude or longitude fixed for the planta- tion proposed.* Tliat the entire merit of this project is due to Ralegh, is a matter of considerable doubt. In conjunction with Sir Humphrey Gilbert, he has the merit of being the first Eng- lish adventurer that took out men as settlers to foreign re- gions ; but it has been supposed, witli some appearance of probability, that Sir Humphrey's first expedition was di- rected to that particular territory which received the name of Virgmia. For, m the house of Ralegh Gilbert, the son of the imfortunate general, was a picture conjectured to have been intended for Sir Humphrey, holding in one hand a general's staff, and resting the other upon a globe, with tlie word Virginia inscribed on it, whilst the noted golden anchor is seen suspended from his dress.f It has been also surmised, that the name of Virginia was applied to tliat country some years previous to the enterprise for which Ralegh obtained letters patent. It is evident that the plan had been a considerable time in agitation, from the promptitude with which Ralegh began it; a degree of dispatch which it would have been scarcely possible to have adopted, in a novel and undigested scheme. It is said that the favorite studies of Ralegh's youth, were the discoveries of Columbus, and the histories of the conquests of Pizarro, Fernando Cortes, and of other Span- ish adventurers in the reign of Charles V.J With this pe- culiar direction of his ideas and hopes, it might almost * Anderson's History of Commerce, vol. ii. p. 158. t See note, Oldys, answered in Biographia, art. Gilbert. X Oldya, 22. 32 LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH. have been expected, that he would have sought a personal participation in those exertions which his enthusiastic tem- per miijht consider as certain to lead to glory. But the recent deatli of his relation, and the variety of his civil oc- cupations, tosrether with his present want of experience in navigation, account for his intrusting his arduous specula- tions in other hands. The project was eminently successful. Ralegh had as- certained from pilots and other seamen who had sailed in Spanish vessels to Mexico, that, on returning, as they usually did, by the Havannah and the Gulf of Florida, a continued coast on the north-west had been observed : and, adding to this information the fact, that the Spaniards had hitherto settled only on the middle and southern parts of America, he formed the natural conclusion that there were yet vast tracts to the north undiscovered. We all know that his conjecture was true to a much greater extent than he probably conceived. The risk on this scheme was entirely his own : he fitted out two vessels, and intrusting them to the charge of able commanders, dispatched them by the Canaries and West Indies, then the usual route to North America. The two captains, after a passage of more than two months, reached the Gulf of Florida ; and, landing on the island of Woko- ken, took formal possession in the name of their Queen : and making acquaintance with the natives of that region, brought two of them back to England. On their return, they imparted so favorable a report of the climate and soil, that Elizabeth was induced to listen to the plan of settling a colony there ; and Ralegh was commanded to name the new acquisition Virginia, in honor of his sovereign. This appellation was since given to all the coasts of North America upon which the English afterwards colonized. The part discovered by Riilegh is now called Carolina.* By various successive voyages under Adrian (iilbert and Sir Richard Grenville, the fame of Ralegh's discovery of Virginia was ke])t alive in the public mind ; and, ;it len