(1552-1618)
Very little is known concerning the youth of Sir Walter Raleigh. He
was a younger son, descended of an ancient family, and was born at a
farm called Hayes, near the mouth of the river Otter, in Devonshire,
in the year 1552. He went to Oriel College, Oxford, at an early age,
and gained high praise for the quickness and precocity of his talents.
In 1569 he began his military career in the civil wars of France, as a
volunteer in the Protestant cause. It is conjectured that he remained
in France for more than six years, and returned to England in 1576.
Soon after he repaired to the Netherlands, and served as a volunteer
against the Spaniards. In such schools, and under such leaders as
Coligni and the Prince of Orange, Raleigh's natural aptitude for
political and military science received the best nurture; but he was
soon drawn from the war in Holland by a pursuit which had captivated
his imagination from an early age--the prosecution of discovery in
the New World. In conjunction with his half-brother, Sir Humphrey
Gilbert, a man of courage and ability, and a skilful sailor, he made
an unsuccessful attempt to establish a colony in North America.
Returning home in 1579, he immediately entered the Queen's army in
Ireland, and served with good esteem for personal courage and
professional skill, until the suppression of the rebellion in that
country. He owed his introduction to court, and the personal favor of
Elizabeth, as is traditionally reported, to a fortunate and
well-improved accident, which is too familiar to need repetition here.
It is probable, however, that his name and talents were not unknown,
for we find him employed almost immediately in certain matters of
diplomacy.
[Illustration: Walter Raleigh. [TN]]
Among the cares and pleasures of a courtier's life, Raleigh preserved
his zeal for American discovery. He applied his own resources to the
fitting out of another expedition in 1583, under command of Sir
Humphrey Gilbert, which proved more unfortunate than the former one;
two out of five vessels returned home in consequence of sickness, and
two were wrecked, including that in which the admiral sailed; and the
only result of the enterprise was the taking possession of
Newfoundland in the name of England. Still Raleigh's desire for
American adventure was not damped. The continent northward of the Gulf
of Florida was at this time unknown. But Raleigh, upon careful study
of the best authorities, had concluded that there was good reason for
believing that a considerable tract of land did exist in that quarter;
and with the assent of the Queen in council, from whom he obtained
letters patent, granting to himself and his heirs, under certain
reservations, property in such countries as he should discover, with a
right to provide for their protection and administration, he fitted
out two ships, which sailed in April, 1584. The first land which they
made was an island named Okakoke, running parallel to the coast of
North Carolina. They were well received by the natives, and returned
to England in the following autumn, highly pleased. Nor was less
satisfaction felt by Raleigh, or even by the Queen, who conferred on
him the honor of knighthood, a title which was then in high esteem,
inasmuch as it was bestowed by that wise princess with a most frugal
and just discrimination. She also gave him a very lucrative mark of
favor, in the shape of a patent for licensing the selling of wine
throughout the kingdom; and she directed that the new country, in
allusion to herself, should be called Virginia. Raleigh did not think
it politic, perhaps was not allowed, to quit the court to take charge
in person of his undertaking; and those to whom he entrusted the
difficult task of directing the infant colony, appear to have been
unequal to their office. It is not necessary to pursue the history of
an enterprise which proved unsuccessful, and in which Sir Walter
personally bore no share. He showed his earnestness by fitting out
several expeditions, which must have been a heavy drain upon his
fortune. But he is said to have derived immense wealth from prizes
captured from the Spaniards; and we may here observe that the lavish
magnificence in dress, especially in jewels, for which Raleigh was
remarkable, even in the gorgeous court of Elizabeth (his state dress
is said to have been enriched with jewels to the value of L60,000),
may be considered less as an extravagance, than as a safe and portable
investment of treasure. A mind less active might have found employment
more than enough in the variety of occupations which pressed upon it
at home. He possessed a large estate, granted out of forfeited lands
in Ireland; but this was always a source rather of expense than of
profit, until, in 1601, he sold it to the Earl of Cork. He was
Seneschal of the Duchies of Cornwall and Exeter, and held the
wardenship of the Stannaries; and in 1586, as well as formerly in
1584, we find that he possessed a seat in Parliament. In 1587, the
formidable preparation of the Spanish Armada withdrew the mind of
Raleigh, as of all Englishmen, from objects of minor importance, to
the defence of their country. He was a member of the council of war
directed to prepare a general scheme of defence, and held the office
of Lieutenant-General of Cornwall, in addition to the charge of the
Isle of Portland; but as on this occasion he possessed no naval
command, he was not actively engaged in the destruction of that mighty
armament. In 1589 he served as a volunteer in the expedition of Norris
and Drake to Portugal, of which some account has been given in the
life of the latter. Nor were his labors unrewarded even in that
unfortunate enterprise; for he captured several prizes, and received
the present of a gold chain from the Queen, in testimony of her
approbation of his conduct.
Soon after these events, Raleigh retired to his Irish property, being
driven from court, according to some authorities, by the enmity of the
Earl of Essex, then a young man just rising into favor. He there
renewed a former intimacy with the poet Spenser, who, like himself,
had been rewarded with a grant of land out of forfeited estates, and
then resided at Kilcolman Castle. Spenser has celebrated the return of
his friend in the beautiful pastoral, "Colin Clout's come home again;"
and in that, and various passages of his works, has made honorable
mention of the highly poetic spirit which enabled the "Shepherd of the
Ocean," as he is there denominated, to appreciate the merit of the
"Fairy Queen," and led him to promote the publication of it by every
means in his power. The loss of Raleigh's court-favor, if such there
were, could not have been of long duration on this occasion But he
incurred more serious displeasure in consequence of a private marriage
contracted with Elizabeth Throgmorton, one of the Queen's maids of
honor, a lady of beauty and accomplishments, who proved her worth and
fidelity in the long train of misfortunes which beset the latter years
of Raleigh's life. In consequence of this intrigue, he was committed
to the Tower. One or two amusing anecdotes are related of the devices
which he employed to obtain forgiveness, by working on that vanity
which was the Queen's chief foible. He succeeded in appeasing his
indignant mistress so far as to procure his release; and about the
same time, in 1594, she granted to him the valuable manor of
Sherborne, in Dorsetshire; but though she requited his services, she
still forbade his appearance at court, where he now held the office of
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard. Raleigh was peculiarly fitted to
adorn a court by his imposing person, the graceful magnificence of his
taste and habits, the elegance of his manners, and the interest of his
conversation. These accomplishments were sure passports to the favor
of Elizabeth; and he improved to the utmost the constant opportunities
of intercourse with her which his post afforded, insomuch that, except
the Earls of Leicester and Essex, no one ever seems to have stood
higher in her graces. But Elizabeth's jealousy on the subject of her
favorites' marriages is well known, and her anger was lasting, in
proportion to the value which she set on the incense of Raleigh's
flattery. He retired, on his disgrace, to his new estate, in the
improvement and embellishment of which he felt great interest. But
though deeply alive to the beauties of nature, he had been too long
trained to a life of ambition and adventure to rest contented in the
tranquil routine of a country life; and during this period of
seclusion he again turned his thoughts to his favorite subject of
American adventure, and laid the scheme of his first expedition to
Guiana, in search of the celebrated El Dorado, the fabled seat of
inexhaustible wealth. Having fitted out, with the assistance of other
private persons, a considerable fleet, Raleigh sailed from Plymouth,
February 6, 1595. He left his ships in the mouth of the river Orinoco,
and sailed 400 miles into the interior in boats. It is to be recorded
to his honor, that he treated the Indians with great kindness; which,
contrasted with the savage conduct of the Spaniards, raised so
friendly a feeling toward him, that for years his return was eagerly
expected, and at length was hailed with delight. The hardships of the
undertaking, and the natural advantages of the country which he
explored, are eloquently described in his own account of the
"Discovery of Guiana." But the setting in of the rainy season rendered
it necessary to return, without having reached the promised land of
wealth; and Raleigh reaped no other fruit of his adventure than a
certain quantity of geographical knowledge, and a full conviction of
the importance of colonizing and taking possession of the newly
discovered region. This continued through life to be his favorite
scheme; but neither Elizabeth nor her successor could be induced to
view it in the same favorable light.
On reaching England, he found the Queen still unappeased; nor was he
suffered to appear at court, and he complains in pathetic terms of the
cold return with which his perils and losses were requited. But he was
invested with a high command in the expedition of 1596, by which the
Spanish fleet was destroyed in the harbor of Cadiz; and to his
judgment and temper in overruling the faulty schemes proposed by
others, the success of that enterprise was chiefly due. Indeed, his
services were perhaps too important, and too justly appreciated by the
public, for his own interests; for the great and general praise
bestowed on him on this occasion tended to confirm a jealousy of long
standing on the part of the commander-in-chief, the Earl of Essex; and
it was probably owing to that favorite's influence that Raleigh was
still forbidden the Queen's presence. Essex, and the Secretary of
State, Sir Robert Cecil, regarded each other with mutual distrust and
dislike. Cecil and Raleigh were connected by ties of common interest,
and, as the latter supposed, of friendship. Still Raleigh found the
interest of the minister too weak to serve his purpose, while the
interest of the favorite was employed against him; and, as the only
method of effecting his own restoration to the Queen's favor, he
undertook to work a reconciliation between these two powerful rivals.
In this he succeeded, to the great admiration of all spectators; and
the fruit of his policy was seen in his re-admission to the execution
of his official duties at court, June 1, 1597. In the following August
he was appointed Rear Admiral in the expedition called the Island
Voyage, of which Essex held the chief command. The slight successes
which were obtained were again due to the military talents of Raleigh;
the main objects of the voyage were lost through the Earl's
inexperience.
From this time to the death of the Queen, Raleigh enjoyed an
uninterrupted course of favor. Elizabeth was now old; Cecil took no
steps to diminish the high esteem in which she held Sir Walter
Raleigh, but he secretly labored to prejudice her successor against
him, and he succeeded to his wish. Very soon after the accession of
James I., Raleigh's post of captain of the guard was taken from him;
and his patent of wines was revoked, though not without a nominal
compensation being made. To complete his ruin, it was contrived to
involve him in a charge of treason. Most writers have concurred in
speaking of this passage of history as inexplicable; it is the opinion
of the last historian of Raleigh, Mr. Tytler, that he has found
sufficient evidence for regarding the whole plot as a device of Cecil,
and he has supported this opinion by cogent arguments. Lord Cobham, a
violent and ambitious but weak man, had engaged in private dealings
with the Spanish ambassador, which brought him under the suspicion of
the government. By a device of Cecil's (we here follow the account of
Mr. Tytler) he was induced, in a fit of anger, and in the belief that
Raleigh had given information against him, to accuse Sir Walter
himself of being privy to a conspiracy against the government. This
charge Cobham retracted, confirmed, and retracted again, behaving in
so equivocal a manner, that no reliance whatever can be placed on any
of his assertions. But as the King was afraid of Raleigh as much as
the secretary hated him, this vague charge, unsupported by other
evidence, was made sufficient to commit him to the Tower; and, after
being plied with private examinations, in which nothing criminal could
be elicited, he was brought to trial, November 17, 1603. For an
account of that memorable scene we shall refer to Mr. Jardine's
"Criminal Trials," Vol. I. It is reported to have been said by one of
the judges who presided over it, on his death-bed, that "the justice
of England had never been so degraded and injured as by the
condemnation of Sir Walter Raleigh." The behavior of the victim
himself was the object of universal admiration, for the tempered
mixture of patience and noble spirit with which he bore the oppressive
measure dealt to him. He had before been unpopular; but it was
recorded by an eye-witness that "he behaved himself so worthily, so
wisely, and so temperately, that in half a day the mind of all the
company was changed from the extremest hate to the extremest pity."
The sentence of death thus unfairly and disgracefully obtained was not
immediately carried into execution. James was not satisfied with the
evidence adduced on the trial; and believing at the same time that
Raleigh had been plotting against him, he set his royal wit to dive
into the mystery. Of the singular scene which the British Solomon
devised it is not necessary to speak, since Raleigh was not an actor
in it. But as no more evidence could be obtained against him, even by
the King's sagacity, he was reprieved, and remanded to the Tower,
where the next twelve years of his life were spent in confinement.
Fortunately, he had never ceased to cultivate literature with a zeal
not often found in the soldier and politician, and he now beguiled the
tedium of his lot by an entire devotion to those studies which before
had only served to diversify his more active and engrossing pursuits.
Of his poetical talents we have already made short mention; to the end
of life he continued the practice of pouring out his mind in verse,
and there are several well-known and beautiful pieces expressive of
his feelings in prison, and in the anticipation of immediate death;
especially "The Lie," and the beautiful little poem called "The
Pilgrimage." He also possessed a strong turn for mathematics, and
studied them with much success in the society and under the guidance
of his friend, Thomas Hariot, one of the most accomplished
mathematicians of the age. Chemistry was another favorite pursuit, in
which, according to the standard of his contemporaries, he made great
progress. But the most important occupation of his imprisonment was
the composition of the "History of the World." The work extends from
the creation to the end of the second Macedonian war. Raleigh meant to
bring it down to modern times; but the untimely death of Henry, Prince
of Wales, for whose use it was composed, deprived him of the spirit to
proceed with so laborious an undertaking. He enjoyed the confidence of
that generous youth in a remarkable degree, and maintained a close
correspondence with him on civil, military, and naval subjects.
Several discourses on these topics, addressed to the prince, will be
found in the editions of Raleigh's works. Henry repaid these services
with sincere friendship and admiration; and we may presume that his
adviser looked forward to that friendship, not only for a cessation of
misfortune, but for a more brilliant period of favor and power than he
had yet enjoyed. Fortunately, however, his patron's death was preceded
by that of his arch-enemy, Cecil; and through the mediation of the
Duke of Buckingham, Raleigh was released from the Tower in March,
1615; and obtained permission to follow up his long-cherished scheme
of establishing a colony in Guiana, and working a gold mine, of which
he had ascertained the existence and situation.
The results of this disastrous voyage must be shortly given. Raleigh
sailed March 28, 1617, and reached the coast of Guiana in November
following. Being himself disabled by sickness from proceeding farther,
he despatched a party to the mine under the command of Captain Keymis,
an officer who had served in the former voyage to Guiana. But during
the interval which had elapsed since Raleigh's first discovery of
that country, the Spaniards had extended their settlements into it,
and in particular had built a town called Santa Thome in the immediate
neighborhood of the mine in question. James, with his usual duplicity,
while he authorized the expedition, revealed every particular
connected with it to the Spanish ambassador. The English, therefore,
were expected in the Orinoco, and preparation had been made for
repelling them by force. Keymis and his men were unexpectedly attacked
by the garrison of Santa Thome, and a sharp contest ensued, in which
the English gained the advantage, and burnt the town. In this action
Raleigh's eldest son was killed. The Spaniards still occupied the
passes to the mine, and after an unsuccessful attempt to dislodge
them, Keymis abandoned the enterprise and returned to the ships.
Raleigh's correspondence expresses in affecting terms his grief and
indignation at this double misfortune: the loss of a brave and
promising son, and the destruction of the hopes which he had founded
on this long-cherished adventure. On his return to England, he found
himself marked out for a victim to appease the resentment of the
Spanish Court, to which he had long been an object of fear and hatred.
His conduct abroad had already been closely scrutinized, in the hope
of finding some act of piracy, or unauthorized aggression against
Spain, for which he might be brought to trial. Both these hopes
failing, and his death, in compliment to Spain, being resolved on, it
was determined to carry into effect the sentence passed fifteen years
before, from which he had never been legally released; and a warrant
was accordingly issued to the judges, requiring them to order
execution. He insisted on the nature of his late commission, and on
that plea being overruled, submitted with his usual calmness and
dignity. The execution, with indecent haste, was ordered to take place
on the following morning. In this last stage of life, his greatness of
mind shone with even more than its usual lustre. Calm, and fearless
without bravado, his behavior and speech expressed the piety and
resignation of a Christian, with the habitual coolness of one who has
braved death too often to shrink at its approach. His farewell to his
faithful wife was manly, tender, and most affecting. The accounts of
his deportment on the scaffold effectually refute the charges of
irreligion and atheism, which some writers have brought against him,
unless we make up our minds to believe him an accomplished hypocrite.
He spoke at considerable length, and his dying words have been
faithfully reported. They contain a denial of all the serious offences
laid to his charge, and express his forgiveness of those even who had
betrayed him under the mask of friendship. After delivering this
address, and spending some time in prayer, he laid his head on the
block, and breathing a short private prayer, gave the signal to the
executioner. Not being immediately obeyed, he partially raised his
head, and said, "What dost thou fear? Strike, man!" and underwent the
fatal blow without shrinking or alteration of position. He died in his
sixty-sixth year.
[Illustration: Raleigh parting from his wife.]
Raleigh sat in several Parliaments, and took an active part in the
business of the house. His speeches, preserved in the Journals, are
said by Mr. Tytler to be remarkable for an originality and freedom of
thought far in advance of the time. His expression was varied and
animated, and his powers of conversation remarkable. His person was
dignified and handsome, and he excelled in bodily accomplishments and
martial exercises. He was very fond of paintings, and of music; and,
in literature as in art, he possessed a cultivated and correct taste.
He was one of those rare men who seem qualified to excel in all
pursuits alike; and his talents were set off by an extraordinary
laboriousness and capacity of application. As a navigator, soldier,
statesman, and historian, his name is intimately and honorably linked
with one of the most brilliant periods of British history.