requires a small sum of money to carry on some design that requires it, and there is perhaps another who has twice as much ready to bestow upon the same design; but these two having no means to hear the one of the other, the good work intended and desired by both parties does utterly perish and come to nothing.' When visiting his Irish estates after his return from Portugal, Raleigh formed or renewed with Spenser an acquaintance which ripened into intimate friendship. He introduced the poet to Elizabeth, and otherwise benefited him by his patronage and encouragement; for which favour Spenser has acknowledged his obligation in his pastoral, entitled 'Colin Clout's Come Home Again,' where Raleigh is celebrated under the title of the 'Shepherd of the Ocean;' and also in a letter to him, prefixed to the 'Faery Queen,' explanatory of the plan and design of that poem. Released from the Tower, Sir Walter engaged in one of those predatory naval expeditions which, in Elizabeth's reign, were common against the enemies of England; a fleet of thirteen ships, besides two of her majesty's men-of-war, being intrusted to his command. This armament was destined to attack Panama, and intercept the Spanish plate-fleet, but, having been recalled by Elizabeth soon after sailing, came back with a single prize. So early as February 1594, Raleigh had contemplated a voyage to Guiana, and in 1595 he undertook, at his own expense, an expedition to this colony, concerning the riches of which many wonderful tales were then current. He accomplished nothing, however, beyond taking a formal possession of the country in the queen's name. After coming back to England, he published, in 1595, a work entitled Discovery of the Large, Rich, and Beautiful Empire of Guiana; this production Hume has very unjustly characterised as 'full of the grossest and most palpable lies that were ever attempted to be imposed on the credulity of mankind.' · It would appear that he now regained the queen's favour since we find him holding, in the same year, a command in the expetition against Cadiz, under the Earl of Essex and Lord Effingham. In the successful attack on that town, his bravery, as well as prudence, was very conspicuous. In 1597, he was rear-admiral in the expedition which sailed under Essex to intercept the Spanish West India fleet; and by capturing Fayal, one of the Azores, before the arrival of the commander-in-chief, gave great offense to the earl, who considered himself robbed of the glory of the action. A temporary reconciliation was effected; but Raleigh afterwards heartily joined with Cecil in promoting the downfall of Essex, and was a spectator of his execution from a window in the Armoury. On the accession of James I. in March 1603, the prosperity of Raleigh came to an end, a dislike against him having previously been instilled by Cecil into the royal ear. Through the malignant scheming of the same hypocritical minister, he was accused of conspiring to dethrone the king, and place the crown on the head of Arabella Stuart; and likewise of attempting to excite sedition, and to establish popery by the aid of foreign powers. A trial for high treason ensued, and upon the paltriest evidence, he was condemned by a servile jury Sir Edward Coke, who was then attorney-general, abused Raleigh on this occasion in violent and disgraceful terms, bestowing upon him such epithets as viper, damnable atheist, the most vile and execrable traitor that ever lived, monster and spider of hell! Raleigh defended himself with such temper, eloquence, and strength of reasoning, that some even of his enemies, were convinced of his innocence, and all parties were ashamed of the judgment pronounced. He was, however, r prieved; and instead of being executed, was committed to the Tower, in which he was confined for twelve years, during six of which his wife was permitted to bear him company. During his imprisonment, he wrote his 'History of the World,' noticed in a subsequent page. In the year 1615, Raleigh was liberated from the Tower, in consequence of having projected a second expedition to Guiana, from which the king hoped to derive some profit. His purpose was to colonise the country, and work gold-mines; and in 1617 a fleet of twelve armed vessels sailed under his command. The whole details of his intended proceedings, however, were weakly or treacherously communicated by the king to the Spanish government, by whom the scheme was miserably thwarted. Returning to England, he landed at Plymouth, and on his way to London was arrested in the king's name. At this time the projected match between Prince Charles and the Infanta of Spain occupied James's attention, and to propitiate the Spanish government, he determined that. Raleigh should be sacrificed. After many vain attempts to discover valid grounds of accusation against him, it was found necessary to proceed upon the old sentence, and Raleigh was accordingly beheaded on the 29th of October, 1618. On the scaffold, his behaviour was firm and calm; after addressing the people in justification of his character and conduct, he took up the axe, and observed to the Sheriff: This is a sharp medicine, but a sound cure for all diseases' Having tried how the block fitted his head, he told the executioner that he would give the signal by lifting up his hand; ' and then,' added he, ‘fear not, but strike home!' He then laid himself down, but was requested by the executioner to alter the position of his head. So the heart be right,' was his reply, it is no matter which way the head lies.' On the signal being given, the executioner failed to act with promptitude, which caused Raleigh to exclaim: Why dost thou not strike? Strike, man! By two strokes, received without shrinking, the head of this earless and noble Englishman was severed from his body. · The night before his execution, he composed the following verse in prospect of death: While in prison in expectation of death, either on this or the former occasion, he wrote also a tender and affectionate valedictory letter to his wife, of which the following is a portion: You shall receive, my dear wife, my last words in these my last lines: my love I send you, that you may keep when I am dead, and my counsel, that you may remember it when I am no more. I would not with my will present you sorrows, dear Bess; let them go to the grave with me, and be buried in the dust. And seeing that it is not the will of God that I shall see you any more, bear my destruction patiently, and with a heart like yourself. First, I send you all the thanks which my heart can conceive, or my words express for your many travails and cares for me, which, though they have not taken effect as you wished, yet my debt to you is not the less; but pay it I never shall in this world. Secondly, I beseech you, for the love you bear me living, that you do not hide yourself many days, but by your travails seek to help my miserable fortunes, and the right of your poor child; your mourning cannot avail me, that am but dust. Remember your poor child for his father's sake, who loved you in his happiest estate. I sued for my life, but, God knows, it was for you and yours that I desired it: for know it, my dear wife, your child is the child of a true man, who, in his own respect, despiseth death, and his mis-shapen and ugly forms. I cannot write much -God knows how hardly I steal this time when all sleep-and it is also time for ine to separate my thoughts from the world. Beg my dead body, which living was denied you, and either lay it in Sherburne or Exeter Church, by my father and mother. I can say no more; time and death calleth me away. The everlasting God, powerful, infinite, and inscrutable God Almighty, who is goodness itself, the true light and life, keep you and yours, and have mercy upon me, and forgive my persecutors and false accusers, and send us to meet in His glorious kingdom. My dear wife, farewell; bless my boy, pray for me, and let my true God hold you both in his arms. Raleigh's short poems are excellent. He was more a man of ' action, of roving and adventurous spirit, than of poetic contemplation; but he had a daring and brilliant imagination, with a Shakspearian energy of thought and condensed felicity of expression. His long imprisonment had also turned his mind inward on itself, and tamed the wild fire of his erratic hopes and ambition. Spencer's allusions to his friend's poetical genius are well known, and Raleigh repaid the compliment by his beautiful sonnet on the 'Faery Queen.' One lost poem of Raleigh's,' Cynthia,' is only known through Spenser's mention of it. Passions are likened best to Floods and Streams. There is no doubt that these beautiful verses are by Raleigh; but in the Ashmole Manuscript, where the poem is signed Lo: Walden,' instead of Lo. Warden (Raleigh being Lord Warden of the Stanneries), Ritson entered the name of Lord Walden, afterward Earl of Suffolk, as the author. Raleigh's claim is supported by numerous independent testimonies. Passions are likened best to floods and streams; The bottom is but shallow whence they come. Wrong not, sweet empress of my heart, With thinking that he feels no smart, Since if my plaints serve not t' approve For knowing that I sue to serve I rather choose to want relief, Than venture the revealing- Thus those desires that aim too high When reason cannot make them die, Yet when discretion doth bereave Silence in love bewrays more woe Then wrong not, dearest to my heart! A Vision upon this Conceit of the Faery Queen. Queen, 1550 -Prefixed to the Faery Methought I saw the grave where Laura lay, At whose approach the soul of Petrarch wept; Lines prefixed to Sir A. Gorges's Translation of Lucan.* Had Lucan hid the truth to please the time, By flattery or seeking worthless men. For this thou hast been bruised; but yet those scars Received in just and in religious wars; Though thou hast bled by both, and bear'st them too. Who, with a manly faith, resolves to die, May promise to himself a lasting state, Supposed to be written by Raleigh in 1603, in the interval between his condemnation and his respite. He was kept in suspense for at least three weeks after his trial in 1603. Give me my scallop-shell of quiet, My gown of glory, hope's true gauge, Where spring the nectar fountains: I'll take them first to quench their thirst, At those clear wells where sweetness Drawn up by saints in crystal buckets. High walls of coral, and pearly bowers. No forged accuser, bought or sold, ney, For there Christ is the King's Attorney; To Him that made heaven, earth, and sea, Set on my soul an everlasting head! To tread those blest paths which before I writ. Of death and judgment, heaven and hell, One of the finest of Raleigh's poems is one never included in his works, an epitaph on Sir Philip Sidney, appended to Spenser's 'As *This translation was published in 1614, but probably executed many years before. Sir Arthur Gorges wrote some original poetical pieces. He was a friend of Spenser, and the Daphnaida of the latter was written on the death of Gorges's wife, a lady of the Howard family. The above two sonnets by Raleigh are remarkably like the sonnets of Milton. They have the same high feeling, stately march, and cadence. Milton must have studied them. |