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RALEIGH, SIR WALTER. 



RALEIGH, SIR WALTER. 



parish of Budleigh, near the coast of Devonshire. He was the second 

 eon of Walter Raleigh and his third wife Catherine, daughter of Sir 

 Philip Champernon and widow of Otho Gilbert, Esq., of Coinpton, 

 Devon. Sir Humphry Gilbert, whose name is connected with the 

 attempts to discover a north-west passage, was Sir Walter Raleigh's 

 half-brother. In the retired neighbourhood of Budleigh, Raleigh 

 received the rudiments of his education. He was entered a commoner 

 of Oriel College, Oxford, in or about 1568, where, to vise the words of 

 Anthony Wood, " he was worthily esteemed a proficient in oratory 

 and philosophy." In 1569 Raleigh accompanied his relative, Henry 

 Champernou, with a volunteer corps to France in aid of the Huguenots. 

 He served in France five years, and subsequently in the Netherlands 

 as a volunteer under the Prince of Orange. In 1576 Sir Humphry 

 Gilbert obtained a patent to colonise any parts of North America not 

 settled by the allies of England. Raleigh and Gilbert attempted a 

 joint expedition, from which Raleigh returned unsuccessful in 1579. 

 In the next year we find him commanding a company of the royal 

 troops in Ireland during the rebellion raised by the Earl of Desmond. 

 Some difference arising between the Lord Deputy Gray and Raleigh, 

 the latter was called upon to defend himself before the council, which 

 he did with so much ability and grace that he gained the queen's ear. 

 The romantic incident which tradition gives as the origin of his favour 

 with the queen is well known. In two or three years from the time 

 lie was introduced at court he was knighted, made captain of the guard, 

 seneschal of the county of Cornwall, and lord warden of the stannaries ; 

 and he received a grant of 12,000 acres of the forfeited estates of the 

 Earl of Desmond, and a lucrative patent for licensing the vendors of 

 wine in England. 



In 1583 Sir Humphry Gilbert sailed on a second expedition to North 

 America, towards which Raleigh, now too much engaged at court to 

 accompany it himself, subscribed 2000. This attempt also proved 

 abortive, and Gilbert perished on his return in a storm in which his 

 ship foundered. Raltigh, undismayed, obtained for himself in 1584 a 

 patent investing him with power to appropriate, plant, and govern any 

 territories that he might acquire in North America. In 1585 the 

 first body of colonists landed, under the government of Mr. Lane, in 

 Virginia, so called in honour of the virgin queen. Harriott, a cele- 

 brated mathematician of the day, went out to survey the colony ; his 

 survey and report, and the introduction of the potato and the tobacco- 

 plant into England for the first time, were almost the only fruits of 

 this attempt. [HARRIOTT.] The misconduct of the colonists brought 

 the hostility of the Indians upon them ; and they re-embarked within 

 a year on board Sir Francis Drake's squadron, who visited the 

 Chesapeake on his homeward voyage. A second body went out in 

 1587 with instructions to form an agricultural colony, on the Bay of 

 Chesapeake, where was to be founded the ' City of Raleigh." The 

 colonists landed on Roanoke Island, in what is now the state of North 

 Carolina; but they were disheartened, and this expedition also failed. 

 The governor returned home for fresh forces, which were very difficult 

 to obtain, as he arrived in the height of the preparations for the Spanish 

 invasion. Raleigh however despatched two small vessels, which were 

 plundered at sea, and forced to put back ; and when at length assist- 

 ance was sent out, the colonists had been murdered by the Indians. 

 In 1589, having expended 40,000. in the attempt, and finding that 

 his resources were unequal to the forming of a colony, he made over 

 his patent to a company of merchants. Raleigh has been charged 

 with neglecting those wretched men who were left among the Indians ; 

 but it appears from Purchas that previous to the year 1602 he had 

 sent five several times, at his own charge, to find these people, who 

 were left in Virginia in 1587 (iv., p. 1653). In America the memory 

 of Raleigh has always been cherished, and Mr. Bancroft thus concludes 

 his notice of these abortive attempts to form a settlement: "After a 

 lapse of nearly two centuries [in 1792] the state of North Carolina, 

 by a solemn act of legislation, revived in its capital 'the City of 

 Raleigh ; ' thus expressing its grateful respect for the memory of the 

 extraordinary man who united in himself as many kinds of glory as 

 were ever combined in an individual." (' History of America,' vol. ii., 

 chap. 3.) 



In 1587 Raleigh had been appointed one of a council of war to put 

 the forces of the realm in the best order to withstand any invasion, 

 and had command of the forces in Cornwall, of which county he was 

 lieuttnaut-geueral. In July 1588, after the Armada had passed up the 

 channel, he joined the British fleet with a small squadron, and greatly 

 distinguished himself in the several engagements which ended in the 

 discomfiture of the Spaniards. As a reward for these services he 

 received an augmentation to his patent of wines, and the right to levy 

 tonnage and poundage on them. In 1589 he accompanied the Lisbon 

 expedition under Drake and Norris, the object of which was to place 

 Don Antonio on the throne of Portugal. [ANTONIO.] In 1591 he 

 sailed on an expedition to intercept the plate fleet, which was unsuc- 

 cessful ; and during his absence, the queen having discovered that an 

 intrigue existed between Raleigh and Elizabeth, daughter of Sir 

 Nicholas Throckmorton, one of the maids of honour, he was immedi- 

 ately on his return thrown into the Tower. Raleigh married Miss 

 Throckmorton, and on being released after a short confinement, retired 

 to his estate of Sherborne in Dorsetshire. It was during this retire- 

 ment that he formed his scheme for the discovery and conquest of 

 El Dorado, that fabulous land of gold and unbounded wealth in the 



Bioa. DIV. VOL. v 



interior of South America, in the existence of which he firmly believed. 

 On the 5th of February 1595 Raleigh sailed from Plymouth with five 

 vessels, and arrived at Trinidad about the end of March. He surprised 

 the newly-founded town of San Josef, and took prisoner the governor, 

 Don Antonio Berrio, from whom he extracted information which 

 enabled him to ascend the Orinoco about sixty leagues, when he was 

 forced to return. He arrived in England towards the end of the 

 summer of 1595. Raleigh published an account of this voyage, under 

 the sounding title of ' The Discovery of the Large, Rich, and Beautiful 

 Empire of Guiana,' a work which had not the merit of any methodical 

 arrangement of the matter, though it contains numerous vigorous 

 passages, such as characterise the style of Raleigh. His restoration to 

 favour at court, which took place shortly after, prevented any further 

 prosecution of his designs on Guiana during the reign of Elizabeth. 

 In 1596 he was employed, with the rank of rear-admiral, at the taking 

 of Cadiz, where he greatly distinguished himself, and was severely 

 wounded in the leg. In 1597 he took Fayal. About this time he 

 was restored to his.post of captain of the guard, and appointed governor 

 of Jersey. He now became deeply engaged in court intrigue, and 

 combined with Cecil, who afterwards crushed him, to destroy the 

 Earl of Essex. He strongly urged Cecil, in a remarkable letter which 

 appears among his works, to put down the earl, and not to fear " the 

 after-revenges " of his friends or his son ; but it is doubtful whether 

 this letter was written before or after the condemnation of Essex, aa 

 it has no date. Raleigh turned his influence with the queen to good 

 account, by procuring a remission of the sentence for such of Essex's 

 adherents as could afford to purchase his good offices. One of these, 

 Mr. Littleton, paid Raleigh 10,000. A transaction so shameless has 

 no other apology than that it was not condemned by the opinion of 

 the age. But if in such a matter Raleigh did not possess a higher 

 standard of morality than his contemporaries, in the House of 

 Commons, of which he had been elected a member some years prior, 

 he made himself conspicuous by advocating principles far before his 

 age : he maintained that every man should be left at liberty to employ 

 his capital and labour where and how he liked, and that all restrictions 

 on the trade in corn should be removed. 



After the death of Elizabeth, Raleigh's fortunes fell. His haughti- 

 ness and rapacity, with the share he had in the ruin of Essex, had 

 made him universally disliked; and Cecil, his former friend and 

 associate, had completely poisoned James's mind against him. The 

 post of captain of the guard was speedily given to another, and his 

 wine-patent was withdrawn. An opening soon offered for a more 

 serious attack, James had not long been seated on the throne before 

 two or three plots against him were discovered Among these was 

 one named the Spanish or Lord Cobham's treason. Lord Cobhatn 

 being intimate with Raleigh, the idea of his participation instaatly 

 suggested itself. Raleigh being examined before the council, declared 

 his utter ignorance of any plot ; but admitted that he was aware of 

 some intercourse having taken place between Cobham and the Count 

 D'Aremberg, the Flemish ambassador, and he recommended that La 

 Renzi, one of that nobleman's suite, should be examined. This being 

 made known to Cobharu, he flew into a violent rage, declared that in 

 all his intrigues he had been instigated by Kaleigh, and that the money 

 to be paid by Spain was to be lodged in the island of Jersey, of which 

 island Raleigh was governor. He shortly afterwards fully and solemnly 

 retracted all that he had said against Sir Walter, who was neverthe- 

 less committed to the Tower on a charge of high-treason in July 1602. 

 While there he made an attempt at suicide by stabbing himself. In 

 September 1603 Raleigh was tried at Winchester, and found guilty. 

 Doubts have frequently been thrown on the whole of the facts con- 

 nected with Raleigh's accusation. That his condemnation was procured 

 by the power of his enemies, and that the verdict of the jury was not 

 justified by the evidence, there can be no doubt ; but it is certain that 

 such a plot did exist for placing Lady Arabella Stuart on the throne, 

 that the archduke knew of it, and that his minister Aremberg had 

 corresponded with Cobham on the subject, and had promised a sum 

 of money in support of it. It seems at least probable that Raleigh 

 was aware of Cobham's correspondence, although he might not be au 

 actual participator in the plot. The best account of this celebrated 

 trial will be found in Mr. Jardine's ' Criminal Trials.' 



Raleigh's conduct during his trial entirely changed the general 

 feeling of dislike entertained towards him : an eyewitness observed, 

 " In half a day, the mind of all the company changed from the 

 extremest hate to the greatest pity. He was reprieved and sent to the 

 Tower, where he was confined for thirteen years. His family suffered 

 severely by his attainder; he had some years before conveyed his 

 estate of Sherborne to his son, reserving his own life -interest, which 

 was now forfeited, and a slight flaw being discovered in the deed of 

 conveyance, Carr, the king's vile favourite, afterwards notorious as 

 the Duke of Somerset, petitioned for and obtained the estate for him- 

 self, reserving only 8000?. as a compensation for Raleigh's family : 

 Raleigh's lands of Pinford, Primesly, and Barton, were also escheated 

 and made over to the king's minion. 



During his long imprisonment Raleigh turned to intellectual pur- 

 suits, and with many minor pieces, executed his greatest work. ' The 

 History of the World,' a project of such vast extent, that the bare 

 idea of his undertaking it excites our admiration. As an author, 

 Hume says, " he is the best model of our ancient style," and Hallam 



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