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JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
ever disgraced the annals of English law. It is only fair to say- 
that he soon repented of the unworthy and undignified attitude 
he had assumed — an attitude which he attributed entirely to the 
entreaties of his wife. 
Judged by the present standard, Raleigh's conduct would in some 
particulars deserve severe condemnation. He not only gave, but 
took large money bribes; but he never made use of bribery to 
compass any dishonourable end, which is more than can be said for 
many of the principal men of his time. Robert Cecil, for instance, 
lived and died a pensionary of Spain. It is distressing to think 
that the principal statesmen of that day should have been open to 
such a gross form of bribery. 
Perhaps the most amiable trait in his character was evinced in 
his treatment of the American Indians, whom he governed justly 
and mercifully, and by whom he was long held in affectionate 
remembrance. 
After the death of Drake, he was incomparably the first of 
living commanders, both by land and sea. At once the Nelson 
and the Wellington of his day, to the love of adventure and 
enterprise he added a capacity for statesmanship, literature, and 
oratory, rendering him alike conspicuous in the Council Chamber, 
in the House of Commons, as a poet, as a philosopher, and as a 
historian. When we speak of the great commander, the great 
discoverer, and the great colonizer, we must remember that we 
are speaking of one who was also the intimate friend of Ben 
Jon son — of one who had Edmund Spenser for a dedicator, and 
Milton for an editor. 
Sir Walter Raleigh was born, in the year 1552, at Hayes Farm, 
in the eastern corner of Devon. He was a Devonshire man to 
the backbone, and spoke with a broad Devonshire accent to his 
dying day. His father, Walter Raleigh, was a person of small 
means, but descended from an ancient and honourable Devonshire 
family. His mother was a daughter of Sir Philip Champernowne, of 
Modbury, and the widow of Otho Gilbert, by whom she had three 
sons, all of them knights ; namely, Sir John, Sir Adrian, and the 
famous Sir Humphry Gilbert. By Raleigh she had, besides Sir 
Walter, another son, Sir Carew Raleigh, and a daughter. Her 
eldest brother was Henry Champernowne, of Modbury, who dis- 
tinguished himself in the Huguenot wars; and her next brother 
was Sir Arthur Champernowne, of Dartington. 
