Great Ralegh

by Hugh De Sélincourt

Sir Ralph Winwood, the Secretary of State, was the only man in authority who was not in favour of a Spanish alliance. The King, as Major Martin Hume points out, "was besotted with Gondomar and the Spanish power; Digby and Cottington were humbly negotiating in Madrid for the marriage of the Prince of Wales with the Infanta, and greedy Buckingham was bribed by the Spaniards to his heart's content."

King James played with Ralegh. The King wanted money, and wanted the friendship of Spain. There was a remote chance that Ralegh might obtain the money. In that case the money would be useful and Ralegh could be disposed of at his convenience, as an atonement to Spain. On the other hand, if the expedition failed, Ralegh could even more easily be disposed of, and his sacrifice would strengthen the tie between Spain and England. In either case James saw carefully to it that he should lose nothing and Ralegh everything.

The King's treatment of Ralegh is absolutely typical of him, and illustrates his treacherous weak nature with decision.

Men did not believe that Guiana was the object of Ralegh's journey. The whole scheme seemed incredible as affairs then stood. The general opinion was that the mine was the merest blind; for how could a sane man give, or a sane man accept, the conditions under which the search was to be carried out? Some thought that Ralegh was taking any opportunity that might lead to his freedom; that once he found the wide sea round him he would not again return to England where he had been so badly handled. Some thought that the expedition was intended not for Guiana but for a sudden raid on Genoa; others thought that Ralegh was going to succour the Huguenots at the King's wish. All the foreign ambassadors were uneasy as to the real intent of the voyage, and had long conferences with Ralegh and wrote long letters to their powers at home. Ralegh alone, loyal to his traditions of Elizabeth, remained steadfast in his purpose.

PHILIP III. OF SPAIN

James demanded from Ralegh the details of the expedition, the number of ships and men and arms, promising on his honour as a king (what more fragile pledge could he find?) not to divulge the secrets to any man. But Sarmiento, the Spanish ambassador, had the exact measure of James. He laughed at the story of the mine, and laughed at James for his childishness in thinking that a man who was no fool would be gulled by such a child's tale. The real motive of the expedition, Sarmiento assured James with laughing suavity, he and all the world knew very well was nothing else than to rob Spain at the distant source of her wealth while keeping her off her guard by the show of friendliness at home. James could not bear his ridicule and his assurance. He swore to Sarmiento that if a hair on the head of one Spanish subject were touched, Ralegh should be sent to Madrid in chains to be hanged in Madrid's chief square. That was not all. To prove that Ralegh's end was the mine, he handed over to Sarmiento all the secret papers of the expedition. So Sarmiento gained his purpose; he had the papers carefully copied and a special messenger was soon on his way to Spain bearing the copy to the Spanish king, as has been seen.

James was friendly with Sarmiento. A weak man likes to deceive himself. James wanted to be friendly with Spain, from fear of Spain's power. But if Ralegh could break Spain's power at the risk only of his life, James was quite content to accept the first place in Europe and then dispose of Ralegh. It was not his nature, however, to face anything and strike boldly. He kept up the illusion in his own mind that the mine was all he wanted, and all that Ralegh intended to make for and, like the weak creature he was, he allowed his personal dislike of Ralegh to hinder his plan, and his fear of ridicule to render the whole scheme ridiculous.

Meanwhile Ralegh's arrangements were proceeding, and gradually the new ship, the Destiny, which he had built, became a fashionable resort, even as his destination was the common talk not only of the Court in London, but also of many foreign Courts. Did England intend to support Spain and the Catholics, or the Protestant cause? The diplomacy of James was even more intricate and twisted than diplomacy is wont to be.