Page images
PDF
EPUB
[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed]
[blocks in formation]

WARD, LOCK, AND CO., WARWICK HOUSE,

[blocks in formation]
[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]
[graphic][merged small]

"The extraordinary man who limited in himself as many kinds of glory as were ever combined in an individual."-GEORGE BANCROFT.

CONTENTS.

Erthplace of Walter Raleigh-His Half-brother, Humphrey Gilbert-A Student at Oxford-Service with the HuguenotsCraeities in Languedoc-Return to England, and Entry as a Student at the Middle Temple-Service with the Prince of Orange Project for Discovering the North-West Passage-Memorial to the Queen-Misconduct of the Knollyses-Service in Ireland-Massacre at the Fort del Oro, Kerry-Appointed Governor of Munster-Reception at Elizabeth's CourtBecomes a Royal Favourite-A Quarrel and brief Imprisonment-Fantastic Love-making with Elizabeth-Death of Sir Humphrey Gilbert-The First Expedition to Virginia-Further Promotion and Favour at Court-Marriage with Elizabeth Throgmarten, and consequent Loss of Royal Favour-Domestic Life at Sherborne-The Binoco Expedition-The Cadiz and Azores Expedition-The Fall of Essex-Patriotic Exertions in Parliament-Death of Elizabeth-Charged with Conpiracy-Trial and Sentence-Intercession of the Queen, Anne of Denmark-"Sir Walter Raleigh's Cordial"-Permitted to take a Second Expedition to Guiana-Return-Revival of Old Charges and Execution-Noble Bearing on the Scaffold -Literary Productions.

PARENTAGE AND EARLY YOUTH. HE most typical man of the "spacious times of Great Elizabeth," who exhibited in himf most of the varied characteristics which inguished the great men of that remarkable d, is certainly Walter Raleigh. Soldier,

mariner, courtier, scholar, historian, poet, and orator, author of a universal history, and founder of our colonial empire beyond the Atlantic, he represented worthily the military spirit which defied successfully the then colossal power of Spain, emulated the adventurous spirit of the Drakes and Frobishers, was a royal favourite

even in the presence of Essex and Leicester, and a poet of repute in the age which produced Shakspeare and Spenser. Handsome in person, he united to the courage of a Paladin the graces of manner and speech which made him the leading figure of the most brilliant court ever known in England; and when misfortune came, his prison was illuminated with light from antiquity, and his spirit was cheered and ennobled by fellowship with the heroism of the past.

In the parish of East Budleigh, about four miles from Exmouth, Devonshire, and near the sea-coast, is a picturesque and solitary farmhouse still known as Hayes Barton. It has gable and portico, a thatched roof, mullioned windows, and a heavy arched door thickly studded with nails. At Hayes Barton, in 1552, when as yet the youthful Edward the Sixth reigned in England, was born the second son of Walter Raleigh-or Ralegh, Rawleigh, or Rawley, the name being variously spelt in the fashion of the uncertain orthography of the time-a Devonshire gentleman of good family, whose third wife (the mother of the infant to be named Walter in due time) was Catherine, daughter of Sir Philip Champernon, a descendant in the female line of the famous Carewe family, and widow of Otho Gilbert, an esquire of Compton, in Devonshire, by whom she was the mother of Humphrey Gilbert, afterwards so famous as a maritime adventurer, in conjunction with his half-brother, Walter Raleigh. The Raleighs were Protestants, had been so in the days when that faith involved danger, and maintained their principles when the evil days of persecution returned. Walter's mother, described by John Foxe, the martyrologist, as "a woman of noble wit, and of good and godly openness," had the courage to visit and speak words of consolation to a Protestant woman, Agnes Prest, imprisoned for conscience' sake in Exeter Jail, and afterwards burned at the stake. The records of the early boyhood of Walter are scarce. We know that he received his first schooling at Budleigh, and can well imagine that, if not one of the most plodding of the pupils in the little grammarschool, he was one of the most keen-witted, and a leader in boyish adventures of daring. His half-brother, Humphrey Gilbert, thirteen years older, no doubt influenced him, and together they listened to the rumours of gallant achievements by sea and land which reached their secluded home. The wondrous conquest of Mexico by Cortez was still fresh in the minds of men; the voyages of Sir John Hawkins were recent achievements; and young Raleigh, who

read eagerly every book-there were not many accessible to him then, but there were broadsheets and ballads commemorating rare exploits -that came in his way; and he burned with boyish eagerness to cross the seas, do battle with the Spanish power and policy, which were "the very type and embodiment of evil," and discover cities of gold, and magic fountains of perpetual youth.

At the age of sixteen-some biographers think two years earlier-Raleigh was entered as a commoner at Oriel College, Oxford, where he formed a friendship with Philip Sidney, a fellow student. He did not take a degree, but Anthony Wood, the historian of the University, says "he was worthily esteemed a proficient in oratory and philosophy."

SERVICE WITH THE HUGUENOTS.

He left college early in 1569, for the purpose of joining a company of young English gentle. men, who volunteered to assist the French Huguenots, under Condé and Coligni. A relation of Raleigh, by the mother's side, Henry Champernon, led the expedition. De Thou, the French historian, describes them as "a gallant company, nobly mounted and accoutred, having on their colours the motto, Finem det mihi virtus, and many of them rose afterwards to eminence, but the most noted of them all was Walter Raleigh." Young as he was, only seventeen, he was a prominent figure in the gallant troop, and distinguished himself by his courage in the battle of Jarnac (March 13, 1569), in which the Huguenots were defeated. Their leader, Prince Louis of Condé. was taken prisoner, and killed by order of the Duke d'Anjou, his kinsman, who paraded the dead body on an ass through the Catholic lines. On the 3rd of the following October, Raleigh was with the Huguenots, when they were defeated at Montcontour.

Raleigh has left us very little information respecting his six years' military service in France. Oppressed, beaten in many battles, desperate, the Protestant soldiers became nearly as ferocious as their enemies; and the young Englishmen, who shared their fortunes, perhaps also shared their ruthless spirit. Raleigh, after his return, did not probably think it necessary to talk much about the exploits achieved in hot blood; for, as with sagacious caution he remarks in his History of the World, Whosoever, in writing a modern history, shall follow truth too near the heels, it may haply strike out his teeth." One incident is recorded which shows the character of the

[ocr errors]
« PreviousContinue »