Great Ralegh

by Hugh De Sélincourt

The suspense became well-nigh intolerable for him as he settled to endure the second long period of inaction—of waiting whilst with others lay the excitement of finishing for good or ill the scheme of his life's imagining. His son was dead. He could not bring himself to write the bitter news to his wife. He himself, an old man, still lived—and waited on the threshold of discovery. Keymis, however, was a trusted man, and nothing would hinder George Ralegh from his purpose. Keymis wrote that he was within some few hours of the mine. Perhaps even now Keymis was on his way back again, his ships laden with gold—and if gold were once found, there would be little difficulty in founding the colony which would become England's great empire across the seas. No old man could live to see that, but his son might ... if his son were not already dead. He would wait to tell the bad news to his wife until he had some good news—the news of prosperity—that she might know his other son, Carew, though not of young Walter's mettle, would be able to continue his father's tradition.

Still he waited—day after day, week after week, month after month, but no fresh news came from Keymis, and no signs were anywhere apparent of a Spanish fleet. He went on with his botanical studies as much as his enfeebled strength would allow him. He studied the little plants that renew their life each year.

Bow down and worship; more than we
Is the least flower whose life returns
Least weed renascent in the sea.

For Ralegh was a poet and so lost his personal sense of loss in the great mystery of things, which his personal griefs made more vivid to his mind. He was a poet and saw much that he could not express. The idea of Death fascinated him always. Death had slain the young Prince, the hope of the nation; his friend, who would have helped him in his project; had left untouched the father, King James, who had betrayed him. And now Death had taken his son, who had only lived twenty-three years, and left him an old man—once again waiting, as he waited those long years in the Tower, waiting whilst others made or marred the fulfilment of his dream. Why was he thus often doomed to inactivity?

Still he waited.... At twenty-three, the age at which his son met death in a Spanish ambuscade on the eve of a great discovery, with a shining future before him, he himself was fighting in Ireland, an obscure soldier of fortune. The days of his past life appeared before him, his Queen's favour, his Queen's displeasure, the high mark which he had touched, the low place to which he had sunk, his captivity, his renewal of hope through the gallant Prince who was dead, his freedom, and this last tremendous effort to bring greatness to his country, prosperity to his family; and he was still waiting, while Keymis and George Ralegh took the last great step. He would tell his wife of their son's death when he could console her with the knowledge of what he had himself achieved. But no news came from Keymis. He could trust Keymis. He knew the man well and cared for him. All through his captivity who had served him as faithfully as Keymis? Who had believed in him so staunchly as Keymis? Who had helped him even so well? Perhaps Keymis and all his men were slain, or lost, or drowned.

Just before the middle of March Keymis returned. There was gladness on his face to see his master alive, but the gladness did not continue. He brought bad news. The faces of his men showed anger and discontent. Keymis brought the worst news that any man could have brought to Ralegh after his long days of waiting. The scheme had failed, failed beyond all hope of recovery, and there was nothing to show for all the lives that had been thrown away, all the dangers and difficulties that had been surmounted.

For this is what had happened.

After the reinforcement of Captains Whitney and Wollaston, Captain Keymis took two boats further up the Orinoco in search of the mine, leaving the remainder of the company near St. Thomas. Their destination was Seiba, a village on the banks of the river within a two hours' march of the mine. The party made their way without mishap to the creek by the landing-place. But there, too, the Spaniards were in readiness. As the first boat neared the shore, a volley was fired, and nearly all the men in the boat were hit. His force thus enfeebled, Captain Keymis decided to return to St. Thomas for fresh soldiers. He found the company at St. Thomas harassed by sickness and continual attacks of the Spaniards; but they still had spirit enough to make one further effort. This time George Ralegh with three boats made his way right up the Orinoco to inspect the country from the point of view of colonization. He, too, was struck by its richness and beauty. He returned and found the company still more weakened by sickness and assault. The Spaniards made an attempt to burn the English camp. This so infuriated the men that they set upon St. Thomas and razed it to the ground. Captain Keymis discovered from the Indians that in the neighbourhood of St. Thomas also there were rich mines, which lack of labour alone prevented the Spaniards from working; but no other attempt was made to locate them or to test their richness. Then the whole expedition returned. The one actual sign of their toils which they brought, were papers taken from the governor at the sack of St. Thomas, and these papers were documents from Madrid, proving how falsely King James had dealt with Ralegh.

Such was the report which Keymis gave to Ralegh. Ralegh was silent as he listened to the account of the overthrow of all his hopes. When the sad tale was finished, he asked Keymis why he had not obeyed his instructions, why he had not opened the mine and brought back some visible sign of its existence. Keymis gave his reasons at full length. There were not enough men to hold the mine; young Ralegh was dead; his master was ill, dying, nay, for all Keymis knew, he was dead. Why should the mine be opened that others might reap the benefit? But still Ralegh insisted, unwavering in dreadful firmness, on his question, Why had not instructions been obeyed? There were many interviews; there were long discussions that day and the next. Still Ralegh answered, "You should have obeyed instructions." "When I was resolved to write unto your Honour (wrote Ralegh to Sir Ralph Winwood, not knowing that his friend, the Secretary of State, had been dead for five months) he prayed me to joyne with him in excusing his not going to the mine. I answered him, I would not doe it; that if himself could satisfy the King and the State that he had reason not to open it, I should be glad of it; but for my part, I must avow it that he knew it and that he might with little losse have done it; other excuse I would not frame."

The position was a terrible one. Ralegh had been waiting for months, trusting to the loyalty of Keymis to execute his great enterprise; and it was Keymis's very loyalty to Ralegh which was the real cause of his failure; for he would not open the mine unless he was quite sure that his master alone should benefit. Keymis was wrong. But he could not bear Ralegh to think that his conduct had been remiss; he could not bear to think that he had injured the master for whom he would gladly have given his life. Nor could he make Ralegh understand even the reason of his action. "I know then, sir, what course to take," said Keymis, when he found he could not move Ralegh from his attitude of censure, and he went away "out of my cabin into his own, in which he was no sooner entered, but I heard a pistol go off. I sent up to know who had shot a pistol. Keymis himself made answer, lying on his bed, that he had shot it off because it had long been charged, with which I was satisfied. Some half-hour after this, the boy going into his cabin found him dead, having a long knife thrust under his left pap through his heart, and his pistol lying by him, with which it appeared that he had shot himself, but the bullet lighting upon a rib, had but broken the rib, and went no farther."