RALEGH. 



his fquadron at Fayal, after waiting fome time for ElTex, 

 he thought it expedient to make an attack on the place by 

 himfclf, which proved fuccefsful. The commander-in-chief 

 was mortilied with this adlion, thinking it was defigncd to 

 rob him of the glory due to iiim, and would have cafliiered 

 Ralegh, if lord Thomas Howard had not interpofed his fer- 

 vices to effeft an apparent rcconcihation. On their return 

 lord EfTex publiflied fome remarks upon what had happened 

 in the courfe of the voyage, in which he queilioned every 

 body's conduft but his own. " Tlie queen, however," fays 

 Campbell, " taking time to inform herfclf, made a right judg- 

 ment of the whole affair; in confequence of which (lie paid 

 a due refpccl to every man's merit, and greater to none than 

 to that of fir WaUer Ralegh." 



During the remainder of this reign Ralegh chiefly ap- 

 pears as a member of parliament, and as an aflertor of tlie 

 privileges and interefts of the people in the weft, over 

 whom his authority extended. That he was completely re- 

 ftored to the favour of his royal millrefs is evident from the 

 circumllance, that in 1661 he attended lier in a progrefs 

 through part of the kingdom. He was likewife appointed 

 by her to receive the duke of Biron on his arrival as .\m- 

 baflador from France, and conferred with him on the fubjeCl 

 of his miflion. In the queen's laft parliament fir Walter 

 was a very aftive member, and diftinguifhed himfelf upon all 

 occafions, by oppofing fuch bills as, under colour of deep 

 policy, were contrived for the opprclTion of the middle and 

 lower ranks of fociety. He witncfled the ruin of his great 

 antagonift the earl of Eflex, whofe execution he indecently 

 urged upon tlie minifter Cecil ; and he was even an cye- 

 vvitnefs of the deed. Campbell, endeavouring to juflify him 

 in every thing, is evidently, in fome inftances, a pancgyrill 

 rather than a faithful hiftorian. The deccafe of the queen, 

 which foon followed the execution of her former favourite 

 lord ElTex, and which was probably haftened by it, gave a 

 final, and to Ralegh a very unexpefted, blow to his own 

 profperity. 



When James came to the crown it was a fort of contefl 

 between fir Walter Ralegh and fir Robert Cecil, who {hould 

 obtain the confidence ol his majefty ; the latter, however, 

 was admitted to the royal councils, to the exclulion of fir 

 Walter Ralegh. In truth, James had a preponeflion againll 

 Ralegh, as having been the enemy of Eilex, and ftill more, 

 as having, with fome others, entertained a defigii of forcing 

 the king to agree to certain limitations with refpeft to the 

 cumber of his countrymen whom he was to bring with him. 

 Sir Walter's martial and enterprifing fpirit was alfo obnoxi- 

 ous to a prince of a pacific difpofition. He was, therefore, 

 received, barely with civility, a circumftance which preyed 

 upon his high fpirit, and was probably the means of throw- 

 ing Inm into the party of the difcontentcd. A confpiracy, 

 for the purpofe of placing upon the throne lady Arabella 

 Stuart, was at this time formed, in which Ralegh in fome 

 meafure participated. He was apprehended, and brought 

 to trial on a charge of high treafon ; but, fays the hiftorian, 

 his condemnation, upon the evidence produced, was one of 

 the moft difgraceful inltances on record, of the bafe fubfer- 

 vience of an Englifh jury to the vindiftive wiflies of a court. 

 His only accufer was lord Cobham, a man of bad character, 

 and c.ie who was deeply implicated in the plot, to whofe 

 propofals he had given ear, but probably without entering 

 into, or even approving them. In his defence he difplayed 

 fo much eloquence, temper, and force of argument, that 

 fome, who had been highly prejudiced againit him, were 

 brought to regard him as an innocent viftim, and, it fhould 

 fcem, from t?ie teflimony of contemporary hiilorians, that 

 all parties were afhamcd of the injufticc of his condemnation. 



It is faid that even Coke, the attorney-general, who treated 

 Ralegh on his trial with all the abufe that belonged to his 

 character, and was thought autliorifed i)y his office, ex- 

 prelfed furprize at the fentence, and declared that he had 

 charged him with no more than mifprifion of treafon. Three 

 were executed for this plot, two were pardoned, and Ra- 

 legli was only reprieved and committed to the Tower. Hi» 

 wife, at her own earncft folicitation, was permitted to become 

 his fellow-prifoner, and his youngelt fon was born in the 

 Tower. 



In Mr. Cayley's life of fir Walter Ralegh, publiflied in 

 I^ondon in 1806, we have a curioun letter of lord Cecil, 

 then fecretary of ftatc, to fir Thomas Parry, the Englifh 

 ambaffador in France, in which he gives an account of the 

 confpiracy jufl referred to, and of the motives which led the 

 different perfons to take a part in it. Sir Walter waj 

 indifted for confpiring to deprive the king of his govern- 

 ment, to raife up fedition within the realm, to alter the re- 

 ligion and bring in the Roman fuperilition, and to procure 

 foreign enemies to invade the kingdom. The principal overt 

 aft laid in the indiftment was, that fir Walter had a con- 

 ference with lord Cobham, as to the bell means of advanc- 

 ing Arabella Stuart to the crown and throne of this king- 

 dom, and that they (hould apply to the king of Spain to 

 procure his alTiftance in this caufe. Sir Walter made an 

 able ftand in his trial againfl the legality of conviftion upon 

 the evidence of a fingle witnefs, but the judge, rendered 

 infamous by his conduct on the trial, over-ruled the ob- 

 jeftions. 



The aftive mind of fir Walter Ralegh was now left to 

 exert itfelf within the walls of a prifon, and its employment 

 conduced more to his honour than his liberty perhaps would 

 have done. Here he compofed the greater part of his works, 

 efpecially his " Hiflory of the World." Prince Henry, a 

 you'h of mofl amiable qualities, and as ur.like his father as 

 pofiible, contraftcd a generous admiration for the fplendid 

 talents of Ralegh, and cheered him in his folitary confine- 

 ment by his friendfhip and correfpondence. " No king," 

 faid the royal youth, " but my father would keep fucfi a 

 bird in a cage." Henry, however, died, and with him the 

 hopes of deliverance vanifhed from the mind of the flate 

 prifoner. At length, however, after twelve years' confine- 

 ment, fir Walter obtained his liberation, but probably not 

 without the ufe of bribes, applied to the new favourite Vil- 

 HeVs. For the purpofe of repairing his fortunes, he planned 

 a new expedition to Guiana, and his report of a rich gold 

 mine exifling in that country was a fiifficient inducement for 

 a number of adventurers to engage in the fchenie. He ob- 

 tained a patent under the great feal from the king, for mak- 

 ing a fettlement in Guiana. James, however, in order to 

 retain his hold upon him, did not grant him a pardon of the 

 treafons of which he had been convicted. There is no doubt 

 but fir Walter might have />K;r/'fl/f</ a pardon, and, at one 

 time, had thoughts of doing fo. He even confulted fir 

 Francis Bacon, whether it would not be advifeable for him 

 to give 3 round fum of money lor a pardon in common- form ; 

 to which the learned law^yer anfwered; " Sir, the knee tim- 

 ber of your voyage is money ; fpare your purfe in this par- 

 ticular, for, upon my life, you have fufficient pardon for 

 all that is paft already, the king having under his broad feal 

 made you admiral of your fleet, and given vou power of the 

 martial law over your officers and foldiers." Ralegh hav- 

 ing employed all his refources in fitting out the expedition, 

 failed for Guiana with twelve armed veflel-s in July 161 7. 

 He had not fet fail long before he was obliged to put into 

 the harbour of Cork, by llrcfs of weather, where he re- 

 mained till the 19th of Augult. In November he arrived at 



Guiana, 



