RALEIGH. 



311 



lUleigh, obtained a patent to plant, colonize, and explore 



.Iter. gom e parts of North Amene-i. In this adventin 

 ** "Y" 1 '' bert wns aided ly several of his friends, and 1! 



entered into tin- scheme with a zeal corresponding to 

 his love of enterprise and wealth. This expedition 

 turned out a very unfortunate one to its projectors. The 

 ships met with a Spanish fleet, and alter a smart engage- 

 ment, they returned without success in the spring of 



Raleigh having obtained no other advanta 

 A knowledge of naval service, which contributed so 

 much to his future aggrandisement. 



Pope Gregory VIII. having in conjunction with the 

 King of Spain, projected a total subjugation of Eng- 

 land, had sent troops, money, and military stores to Ire- 

 land, to aid the Desmonds in the Munster rebellion. 

 Raleigh offered his services to the queen on this occa- 

 sion, and obtaining a captain's commission under Lord 

 Grey of Wilton, then deputy of Ireland, he embarked 

 for that kingdom, and by his services in Munster un- 

 der the Earl of Ormond, he contributed to quell this 

 ill-devised commotion. His skill and personal courage 

 raised him to the situation of Governor of Cork, and, as 

 a reward for his services, he obtained from the crown 

 the grant of a considerable estate in Ireland. A mis- 

 understanding, however, having taken place with Lord 

 Grey, his farther promotion in Ireland was stopped; 

 and he returned to England, where he was introduced 

 to Queen Elizabeth, and speedily insinuated himself 

 into the royal favour. His handsome personal appear- 

 ance, his elegant address, and that air of gallantry 

 which Elizabeth so much admired, contributed no 

 doubt to fix upon him the queen's particular attention. 

 An accident, however, of a more trivial nature, is said 

 to have had its full share in securing him the royal fa- 

 vour. When Raleigh was one day in attendance upon 

 her majesty, in her morning walk, they arrived at a 

 part of the road which was wet and covered with mud. 

 The party had scarcely recognised that the path was 

 but little fitted for royal footsteps, when Raleigh took 

 off' his rich embroidered mantle and spread it on the 

 ground. Her majesty, pleased and surprised with this 

 unpremeditated piece of gallantry, stepped gently up- 

 on the cloak, and is said to have jocularly remarked, 

 that this sacrifice of a cloak might obtain for him many 

 a good suit. 



Raleigh was next employed by the queen as attend- 

 ant on the French ambassador Simier, on his return 

 Lome ; and he was one of the party who accompanied 

 the Duke of Anjou from England to Antwerp, where 

 he became acquainted with the Prince of Orange, and 

 brought over letters from him to her majesty, on his 

 return to England in 1582. 



The favour which Raleigh now enjoyed was not 

 confined to the vicinity of the court. Even the states- 

 men of different parties showed him the highest respect, 

 and strove who should extend to him the most active 

 patronage. His half brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, 

 had planned a second expedition to Newfoundland, for 

 which Raleigh built a new vessel called the Bark Ra- 

 leigh, and completely furnished it for the voyage. For- 

 tunately, however, he did not accompany it in person, 

 for a contagious distemper broke out among the ship's 

 crew, and forced the vessel to return to Plymouth in 

 less than a week. 



This disappointment, which would have paralysed 

 the energies of ordinary temperaments, seems only to 

 have roused the ardour of Raleigh for farther adven- 

 tures. 



In If) SI- he submitted to the queen and council a 

 scheme for exploring North America, and making set- 



tlements in those parts of it which had not been tubju- Rle>f*>. 

 gated by any foreign power. This scheme was too * irW "'- 

 plausibly stated, and the interest of its author too S ""V"' 

 powerful to meet with any opposition. An extensive 

 patent wat immediately granted to him for executing 

 the plan ; and, with the assistance of his friend*, he fit- 

 ted out two vessels entirely at his own cost, which were 

 put under the command of Captains Amadas and Bar- 

 low, and which sailed from Plymouth in 138*. Upon 

 reaching the American coast, they took possession of 

 an island near the mouth of Albemarle river, in North 

 Carolina, and the ships returned in autumn with va- 

 rious commodities, which brought such a high price, 

 that the company of Raleigh's friends who had assisted 

 him, fitted out a fleet of seven vessels, the command of 

 which was intrusted to Sir Richard Greenville, a rela- 

 tion of Raleigh's. In the course of this voyage they 

 took possession of a fine country called Windungocoa, 

 to which Elizabeth herself gave the name of yirginia. 

 Sir Richard left a colony of 107 persons at Roonah, un- 

 der the government of Mr. Lane ; but misfortunes of 

 various kinds befel the colony, and, after expending 

 large sums of money in fruitless attempts to repair them, 

 he assigned over his patent to a company, reserving to 

 himself only a portion of the gold and silver harvest 

 which it was expected they would reap. It was from 

 this colony that Raleigh first imported tobacco into 

 England, and introduced the culture of the potato in- 

 to his estates in Ireland. 



It was about this period that he was elected knight 

 of the shire for the county of Devon ; and soon after 

 this, her majesty conferred upon him the honour of 

 knighthood. 



In another expedition which he fitted out for Vir- 

 ginia in 1585, his ships took a prize worth L.50,000 ; 

 and he was also concerned in Captain Davis's expedi- 

 tion for the discovery of a north- west passage, from 

 which circumstance a promontory in Davis's Straits was 

 called Mount Raleigh. 



With the view of indemnifying her favourite for bis 

 outlays in these public-spirited enterprises, the queen 

 gave him several profitable grants. Among these were 

 the power of licensing retailers of wine throughout the 

 kingdom, and a seigniory of 12,000 acres of forfeited 

 lands in the county of Cork in Ireland, which he plant- 

 ed at his own expence, and sold many years afterwards 

 to Richard Boyle, the first Earl of Cork. In 158G he 

 was appointed seneschal of the dutchies of Cornwall and 

 Exeter, and warden of the Stannaries ; and such a hold 

 did he seem to have taken of the queen's regard, that 

 the Earl of Leicester himself, the queen's favourite mi- 

 nister, took the alarm, and brought forward the Earl of 

 Essex as his rival. 



In the year 1 587, Sir Walter sent another colony of 

 1 50 men to Virginia, under the charge of Mr. John White 

 as governor, with twelve assistants. About this time 

 Raleigh was captain of the queen's guard, and lieute- 

 nant-general of Cornwall, in which last capacity he was 

 of great use in training the county militia. Inconse- 

 quence of his political sagacity, as well as his military ex- 

 perience, he was a member of the council of war appoint- 

 ed by the government for devising the best means of 

 resisting the threatened dangers of that period ; and 

 when the Spanish armada showed itself in the Channel, 

 he was one of the enterprising volunteers who joined 

 the English fleet with ships of their own, and shared in 

 the glory of defeating the enemy. Raleigh was now 

 made gentleman of the queen's privy chamber, and tbe 

 profits of his other situations were greatly increased. 

 In 1589 Raleigh was one of those who accompanied 



