SIR WALTER RALEIGH.
Sir Walter Raleigh, a distinguished statesman, scholar, and warrior, in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., was born in 1552, at Budleigh in Devonshire, and educated at Oriel College, Oxford. At the age of seventeen he made one of a troop of an hundred gentlemen volunteers whom Queen Elizabeth permitted to go to France, under the command of Henry Champernon, for the service of the Protestant princes. He next served in the Netherlands; and, on his return from the Continent, his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, having obtained a grant of lands in North America, he engaged with a considerable number of gentlemen to go out to Newfoundland: but the expedition proving unsuccessful, Sir Walter returned to England, after being exposed to several dangers, and proceeded thence to Ireland, where he made his bravery so conspicuous in quelling the insurgents, that he was received at court with considerable favor, and obtained permission and supplies to prosecute his discoveries in America, which ended in his settling a colony in that country, called, in honor of his maiden sovereign, Virginia; and he is said to have first introduced tobacco and potatoes into Europe. In the mean time the Queen conferred on him the distinction of knighthood, and rewarded him by several lucrative grants, including a large share of the forfeited Irish estates. When his country’s safety was threatened by the famous Spanish Armada, he raised and disciplined the militia of Cornwall; and afterwards, by joining the fleet with a squadron of ships belonging to gentlemen volunteers, assisted in obtaining the signal victory which it pleased Providence to give to the English over the Spaniards on that occasion. He was now made gentleman of the privy chamber; but shortly after fell into disgrace, and was confined for some months, partly on account of a tract which he had published, entitled “the School for Atheists,” which was unfairly construed by his enemies into a vindication of atheistical principles; and partly for a clandestine attachment to one of the Queen’s maids of honor, the daughter of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton; which lady, however, he afterwards honorably married. During his seclusion he planned the discovery of the extensive country of Guiana, in South America, in which he took an active part himself, as soon as he was set at liberty: but the season being unfavorable, he returned to England, and was soon after appointed to a command in the important expedition to Cadiz, of which the success was in a great measure owing to Sir Walter’s valor and prudence. This, joined to several other important services, restored him completely to the favor of Elizabeth, towards the end of her reign. Her successor, James, prejudiced against him by Robert Cecil, disapproving of his martial spirit, and jealous of his abilities, availed himself of a court conspiracy against this great man, charging him with participating in an attempt to place upon the throne Arabella Stuart, and of carrying on a secret correspondence with the King of Spain. By the base subservience of the jury, he was brought in guilty of high treason, even to the surprise of the Attorney-General Coke himself, who declared that he had only charged him with misprision of treason. Raleigh was reprieved, and committed to the Tower, where his wife, at her earnest solicitation, was allowed to reside with him, and where his youngest son was born. Twelve years was Sir Walter detained a prisoner in the Tower; during which time, besides various minor compositions, he wrote his “History of the World;” a work distinguished for the richness of its information, the judiciousness of its reflections, and the vigor of its style. At length his release was obtained, in 1616, by the advance of a large sum of money to the new favorite, Villiers; and, to retrieve his broken fortunes, he planned another expedition to America. He obtained a patent under the great seal for making a settlement in Guiana; but, in order to retain a power over him, the king did not grant him a pardon for the sentence passed upon him for his alleged treason. Having reached the Orinoco, he dispatched a portion of his force to attack the new Spanish settlement of St. Thomas, which was captured; but he had to lament the death of his eldest son, who fell on that occasion. The expected plunder proved of little value: and Sir Walter, having in vain tried to induce his captains to attack other Spanish settlements, arrived at Plymouth in July, 1618. Being brought before the court of King’s Bench, his plea of an implied pardon by his subsequent command, was overruled; and the doom of death being pronounced against him, it was carried into execution the following day, October 28, 1819, in Old Palace Yard. His behavior at the scaffold was calm, and, after addressing the people at some length in his own justification, he received the stroke of death with perfect composure; remarking to the sheriff, with a smile, as he felt the edge of the axe, “This is a sharp medicine, but it is a physician that will cure all diseases.”