ESSEX. THE ARMADA (1587-1589).
[Sidenote: _Popularity of Essex._]
As a favourite Ralegh was certain to have originally been hated by the
people. His favour might have been tolerated by courtiers, or by a
sufficient section of them, if he had been content to parade and enjoy
his pomps, and had let them govern. His strenuous vigour exasperated
them as much as his evident conviction of a right to rule. They never
ceased to regard him on that account as a soldier of fortune, and an
upstart. So poor a creature as Hatton had his party at Court. When he
retired to the country in dudgeon at a display of royal grace to Ralegh,
his friends, as Sir Thomas Heneage, were busy for him so late as April,
1585. Elizabeth was persuaded by them to let them give him assurances on
her behalf, that she would rather see Ralegh hanged than equal him with
Hatton, or allow the world to think she did. When Hatton was out of date
the courtiers combined to set up Essex against him, and had the
assistance of the multitude in their tactics. The popular attitude
towards Essex is the solitary exception to the rule of the national
abhorrence of favourites. It is explained as much by the dislike of
Ralegh as by Essex's ingratiating characteristics. Animosity against
Ralegh stimulated courtiers and the populace to sing in chorus the
praises of the stepson of the detested Leicester. No anger was exhibited
at the elevation of a lad of twenty to the Mastership of the Horse.
Stories of the Queen's supposed infatuation, how she 'kept him at cards,
or one game or another, the whole night, and he cometh not to his own
lodgings till birds sing in the morning,' amused, and did not incense.
Meanwhile the approved soldier, the planter of Virginia, was in the same
May, 1587, truthfully described as 'the best hated man of the world in
Court, city, and country.'
[Sidenote: _His Antipathy to Ralegh._]
For the crowd Essex may have had the merit of being of an ancient
nobility, which needed no intricate demonstration by antiquaries and
genealogists. He had enough patrimonial wealth to justify the Sovereign
in showering largess upon him. He was not one of the irrepressible west
countrymen who brought their nimble wits, comeliness, and courage to the
market of the Court. He was more bright than stately. His petulance did
not produce an impression of haughtiness. For the courtier class he
possessed the yet higher virtue of willingness to be at once a centre
and watchword and an instrument. From the first he was manipulated as an
engine against Ralegh. In a letter to one of his many confidants he
shows the readiness with which he accepted the office. In 1587 Elizabeth
was on a progress, and was staying at North Hall in Hertfordshire.
Ralegh, as Captain of the Guard, and Essex both attended her. Essex
writes to his friend, Edward Dyer, that he reproached the Queen for
having slighted his sister, Lady Dorothy Perrot, the wife of Ralegh's
old antagonist, Sir Thomas. He declared to her 'the true cause of this
disgrace to me and to my sister, which was only to please that knave
Ralegh, for whose sake I saw she would both grieve me and my love, and
disgrace me in the eyes of the world. From thence she came to speak of
Ralegh, and it seemed she could not well endure anything to be spoken
against him; and taking hold of the word "disdain," she said there was
"no such cause why I should disdain him." This speech did touch me so
much that, as near as I could, I did describe unto her what he had been,
and what he was. I did let her know whether I had cause to disdain his
competition of love, or whether I could have comfort to give myself over
to the service of a mistress which was in awe of such a man. I spake,
what of grief and choler, as much against him as I could, and I think
he, standing at the door, might very well hear the very worst that I
spoke of himself. In the end I saw she was resolved to defend him, and
to cross me. For myself, I told her I had no joy to be in any place, but
was loth to be near about her, when I knew my affection so much thrown
down, and such a wretch as Ralegh highly esteemed of her.' When he
called Ralegh a wretch the Queen expressed her disgust at the
impertinence by turning away to Lady Warwick, and closed the interview.
[Sidenote: _Ralegh's Decline._]
Essex spoke, and perhaps thought, thus of Ralegh in 1587. So the nation
at large spoke and thought of him then, and for many years afterwards.
If he had only been such as he had as yet shown himself, posterity might
have found it difficult to prove the condemnation unjust. He had risen
in virtue of a handsome person and a courtly wit. He had equipped
expeditions of discovery, in which he took no share of the perils, and
the whole of the glory. He had fought and spoiled the Spaniards, chiefly
by deputy, risking his own person as little as 'the noble warrior' of
his reputed epigram, 'that never blunted sword.' The hardships and
dangers he had sturdily braved in France and Ireland were for his
contemporaries simple myths, as they would have been for us, had he died
at thirty-five. Had he retained the Queen's favour uninterrupted, had
she not been capricious, had there been no Essex, had there been no
Elizabeth Throckmorton, he might have died at sixty, at seventy, or at
eighty, and a verdict hardly less severe been pronounced. It is not
certain. Possibly in any event, the vigour inherent in the man, his
curiosity, his instinct for stamping his will on the world outside, his
eagerness to impel his nation to empire westwards, might have had their
way. They might have mastered the contradictory ambition to be
victorious in a contest of factions. While he was still absorbed in
Court strifes, and in the seductive labour of building up a fortune, he
had proved that he was no mere carpet knight. But it was well that his
natural tendencies towards a life of action were braced by the
experience of a chill in the ardour of royal benevolence. From 1587, as
the star of Essex rose, and his was supposed to be waning, his orbit can
be seen widening. It became more independent. As reigning favourite he
had vicariously explored, colonized, plundered, and fought. Henceforth
he was to do a substantial part of his own work.
[Sidenote: _Antedated._]
Essex, at the period of the North Hall scene, was new to the Court. He
must soon have discovered that Ralegh was not to be spurned as a clown,
or to be stormed out of the Queen's graces by insolence. He did not grow
therefore the less hostile. He rejected Elizabeth's inducements to him
to live on terms of amity with a rival in all essential respects
infinitely his superior. Persuaded that she could not dispense with
himself, he persisted in putting her to her option between them. The
rank and file at Elizabeth's Court had a keen scent for their
Sovereign's bias. They foresaw the inevitable end, though they antedated
by several years the actual catastrophe. In 1587 Arabella Stuart, a girl
of twelve, was at Court. She supped at Lord Burleigh's. The other guests
were her uncle, Sir Charles Cavendish, and Ralegh. Cavendish mentions
the entertainment in a letter to a friend. He relates that Burleigh
praised to Ralegh 'Lady Arbell,' who had been congratulating herself
that 'the Queen had examined her nothing touching her book,' for her
French, Italian, music, dancing, and writing. Burleigh wished she were
fifteen years old. 'With that he rounded Sir Walter in the ear, who
answered, it would be a very happy thing.' Cavendish goes on to observe
that Sir Walter was in wonderful declination, yet laboured to underprop
himself by my Lord Treasurer and his friends. He inferred from the
contrast between Ralegh's former pride and his present too great
humility, that he would never rise again. My Lord Treasurer and his
friends were not given to the support of discarded favourites. Ralegh's
presence at so intimate a gathering, and the confidence vouchsafed him,
are signs that he was still potent. The stream of the royal bounty
continued to flow. The Babington grant was in 1587. For several years
to come other similar tokens of regard were accorded him. Towards the
close of 1587 itself signal testimony was offered of the trust of the
Queen and her counsellors in his wisdom and martial skill.
[Sidenote: _A Council of War._]
In February, 1587, Queen Mary Stuart was executed. It is the one
important event of the period with which Ralegh's name is not connected.
He does not appear to have been consulted, nor to have spoken on the
matter either in or out of Parliament. Its consequences concerned him.
The act quickened the Spanish preparations for the invasion of England.
King Philip had no thought of concealment. He published his designs to
all Europe. The menaced kingdom had full notice. In November, 1587, a
council of war was instructed to consider the means of defence. Its
members were Lord Grey, Sir Thomas Knolles, Sir Thomas Leighton, Sir
Walter Ralegh, described as Lieutenant-General of Cornwall, Sir John
Norris, Sir Richard Grenville, Sir Richard Bingham, who had been
Ralegh's early comrade in Ireland, Sir Roger Williams, and Mr. Ralph
Lane. They advised that Milford Haven, the Isle of Wight, the Downs,
Margate, the Thames, and Portland should be fortified against Spanish
descents. They thought it improbable the King of Spain would venture his
fleet far within the Sleeve before he had mastered some good harbour.
Consequently they recommended the defence of Plymouth by strong works,
and a garrison of 5000 men from Cornwall and Devon. Portland they
reported should be guarded by 2700 from Dorset and Wilts. If the enemy
landed, the country was to be driven so as to leave no victuals for the
invader. Ralegh separately petitioned Burleigh for cannon for Portland
and Weymouth. Thence some have inferred that he was now Governor of the
former.
[Sidenote: _The Armada._]
In December, 1587, he was employed, in concert with Sir John Gilbert and
Lord Bath, in levying a force of 2000 foot and 200 horse in Cornwall and
Devon. Exeter claimed exemption on account of its heavy expenses for the
defence of its trade against Barbary corsairs. By the beginning of 1588
the immediate fear of attack had abated. The invasion was thought to
have been put off. Ralegh took the opportunity to visit Ireland. There
he had both public and private duties. He retained his commission in the
army. Moreover, he was answerable, as a Crown tenant, for twenty
horsemen, though his charges for them were refunded. Thus, in March,
1588, an order was made for the payment to him of L244 for the previous
half year. Always he had his estate to put in order, and functions
connected with it to perform. According to the local records, he served
this year the office of Mayor of Youghal. During a considerable portion
of the term he must have been an absentee. In Ireland the news reached
him that the Armada had started or was starting. Hastening back he
commenced by mustering troops in the West, and strengthening Portland
Castle. But his own trust was in the fleet. In his _History of the
World_ he propounds the question whether England without its fleet would
be able to debar an enemy from landing. He answers by showing how easily
ships, without putting themselves out of breath, will outrun soldiers
marching along the coast. The Spaniards in July, 1588, could, in his
opinion, but for the English ships, have chosen a landing-place with no
sufficient army at hand to resist them. The Armada might have failed, he
admits, against the choice troops gathered about the Queen. He did not
believe in the ability of the remainder round the coast to encounter an
army like that which the Prince of Parma could have landed in England.
His advice had its weight in inducing Elizabeth to fit out the fleet,
which did noble service under Howard of Effingham.
[Sidenote: _Against 'Grappling'._]
He acted upon his own doctrine. On July 21 the Defiance assailed a
Spanish ship near the Eddystone. On the 23rd the Spaniards were over
against Portland. Thereupon Ralegh gave over his land charge to others.
With a body of gentlemen volunteers he embarked, and joined in the
universal rush at and about the enemy. All day the battle raged. Ships
started out of every haven, to the number of a hundred. All hurried to
Portland, 'as unto a sea-field where immortal fame and glory was to be
attained, and faithful service to be performed unto their prince and
country.' It was for the Englishmen 'a morris dance upon the waters.' We
may be sure he applied his principle of the worse armed but handier
fleet, not 'grappling,' as 'a great many malignant fools' contended Lord
Howard ought, but 'fighting loose or at large.' 'The guns of a slow
ship,' he observes, 'make as great holes as those of a swift. The
Spaniards had an army aboard them, and Howard had none; they had more
ships than he had, and of higher building and charging; so that had he
entangled himself with those great and powerful vessels he had greatly
endangered this Kingdom of England. But our admiral knew his advantage,
and held it; which had he not done he had not been worthy to have held
his head.' Camden reports advice given to Howard by one of his officers
to grapple on July 23. It has been surmised that Ralegh dissuaded him.
It may be so; and Ralegh can be construed as wishing it to be so
understood.
Next day the Spaniards lay by to breathe. The English had leisure to
send ashore for powder and shot. These for the great guns had, he has
recorded, been unduly stinted. On July 25 the battle was resumed, as the
enemy sailed towards the Isle of Wight. A Portuguese galleon was
captured. On moved both fleets to the Straits of Dover. Many fresh
English volunteer ships kept streaming in till the English fleet
numbered 140 sail. Here Camden alludes to Ralegh by name. So does a
correspondent of Mendoza, describing him as 'a gentleman of the Queen's
Privy Chamber.' He must have been at the decisive struggle before
Calais; 'Never was seen by any man living such a battery.' He was
present at the desperate stand of the Spaniards opposite Gravelines. He
helped to hunt the enemy into the northern seas. In a passage,
attributed by Strype to Drake, of his _Report of the Truth of the Fight
about the Isles of the Azores_, he writes: 'The navy of 140 sail, was by
thirty of the Queen's ships of war and a few merchantmen, beaten and
shuffled together, even from the Lizard Point, in Cornwall, to Portland,
where they shamefully left Don Pedro de Valdez with his mighty ship;
from Portland to Calais, where they lost Hugo de Moncada, with the
galleys of which he was captain; and from Calais, driven with squibs
from their anchors, were chased out of the sight of England round about
Scotland and Ireland; where, for the sympathy of their barbarous
religion, hoping to find succour and assistance, a great part of them
were crushed against the rocks; and those others who landed, being very
many in number, were, notwithstanding, broken, slain, and taken, and so
sent from village to village, coupled with halters, to be shipped into
England; where her Majesty, of her princely and "invincible"
disposition, disdaining to put them to death, and scorning either to
retain or entertain them, they were all sent back again to their own
country, to witness and recount the worthy achievements of their
"invincible navy".'
[Sidenote: _Retaliation on Spain._]
Ralegh had much to do with the preliminary arrangements for the repulse
of the Armada. He advised on the manner in which the victory might be
improved. Several of the noble Spanish prisoners were committed to his
charge. A plan was formed, which the completeness of the Spanish
overthrow rendered unnecessary, for the despatch of Sir Richard
Grenville and him to Ireland for the suppression of any armed body of
Spanish fugitives. His part in the actual Channel fighting had been that
simply of one among many gallant captains. When next the State made a
naval demonstration he continued to play a secondary character. In
April, 1589, an expedition, under Drake and Norris, of six Queen's
men-of-war and 120 volunteer sail, started to restore Don Antonio to the
throne of Portugal. It was retaliation for the Armada. Ralegh sailed in
a ship of his own, as a volunteer without a command. Lisbon was assailed
and Vigo burnt. Otherwise the chief result of the attempt was spoil. In
the Tagus 200 vessels were burnt. Many of them were easterling hulks
laden with stores for a new invasion of England. Disease, arising from
intemperate indulgence in new wine, crippled the fleet, and led to a
quarrel between Ralegh and another Adventurer. Colonel Roger Williams
had lent men to bring home one of Ralegh's prizes. Williams treated
ship and cargo as therefore his in virtue of salvage. Ralegh, always
tenacious of his rights, resisted, and the Privy Council upheld him. The
expedition, which ended in June, though it did not gain much glory, was
profitable. He, for example, effected some lucrative captures, and was
paid L4000 as his share of the general booty.