ever, by this harsh reception, which sprang less from incredulity than malice, he prepared a third expedition, which, upon the eve of departure, he was obliged to entrust to Captain Whiddon.

The emergency which now detained him in England, presents a striking proof that he was a clear and far-sighted statesman, as well as a bold military leader. When, in 1588, it was announced, that the indefatigable Philip of Spain was making great preparation for a second invasion, Ralegh had proposed that he should be anticipated in his attack, and that a force should be despatched to burn his fleets in his own harbours. This counsel was deemed ill advised, and was rejected; but the lapse of eight years shewed it to have been well conceived; and, in connection with Essex and Howard of Effingham, Ralegh was now appointed one of the commanders of the Cadiz expedition, to carry it into effect. The enterprise was crowned with the most brilliant success. Seven English ships engaged and destroyed the Spanish fleet, numbering fifty-five vessels, backed by the Fort of Puntal and the batteries on shore.* All the leaders behaved with great bravery, but Ralegh was most conspicuous for his valour; and the success of the attack is largely attributable to him, as he planned it and seems to have been virtually the commander in chief. When the city was taken, Ralegh, although severely injured by a splinter wound received in the naval fight, desiring to encourage the army by his presence, caused himself to be borne on shore upon the shoulders of his men. He afterwards urged upon Essex the adoption of measures for the cap* Oldys, p. 96.

ture of the Plate fleet, which, had his advice been taken, would, in all probability, have resulted in the seizure of those floating El Dorados. Immediately on reaching England he despatched a fourth expedition to Guiana, under Captain Berrie. Ralegh was now restored to favor, and resumed his place in a court, at that time, greatly distracted by the factions and animosities of Essex and Sir Robert Cecil, the Secretary of State.

The occurrences of the "Island voyage," in which Ralegh soon after served under Essex, added strength to the enmity which had grown up between them; nor did Essex scruple to poison the mind of James of Scotland, (with whom he was then intriguing, as the probable successor of Elizabeth,) against Sir Walter among others who were inimical to him at the English Court.* The indignation which such conduct is calculated to induce in our minds, must, however, give place to sympathy for the position of the doomed favorite himself. With many noble qualities and brilliant characteristics, Essex united a heat of disposition, an impetuosity of manner, an impatience of restraint, and, overweening estimate of his influence with Elizabeth, which led him on, with fatal rapidity, to his melancholy end. The long established and endeared favorite of the woman, he utterly forgot that he was no less the subject of the Queen. This was an oversight Elizabeth would not readily pardon; but still there is strong reason to believe that Essex might have reinstated himself in her favor, had not his impatient disposition led him to the commission of acts, which, managed as their representation to the

* Oldys, p. 135. 1 Cayley, p. 305.

Queen doubtless was, by the subtle and unscrupulous Cecil, rendered his fate inevitable. His arrest, trial and conviction followed in rapid succession, and the career of the soldier and courtier closed with the scaffold.*

In connection with this event it becomes necessary to refer to a rumour which was current at the time, and to which some writers have attached importance. The death of this unfortunate nobleman was attributed to the active agency of Ralegh, and it was even urged that he was present at the execution, that he might glut his hatred with the sight of the Earl's sufferings. It is undoubtedly true that a very hostile feeling had for a long time existed between them, and we propose very briefly to sum up the evidence in the matter and give the conclusion which seems fairly deducible therefrom. As we have already stated, Ralegh had been at the outset of his career introduced at court, and otherwise favored by Leicester. The advance of the protegé, however, was entirely too rapid for the patronizing Earl, and soon outran his intent. He therefore brought forward his nephew, Essex, to divert from Ralegh the favor of the Queen, and clip the wings of the aspiring courtier. We may readily suppose that the nephew thus introduced upon the stage, knew the purpose, and to some extent shared the feelings of his uncle. It is certain that he very soon manifested an inimical disposition, which was strengthened by various Occurrences. In the expedition of 1589, in favor of Don Sebastian, Ralegh had the misfortune to offend

He was brought under the notice of the Queen in his seventeenth year, and was executed in his thirty-fourth.-Tytler, p. 101.

Sir Roger Williams, who was an intimate friend of Essex; which so angered the Earl, that he brought Ralegh into temporary disfavor with the Queen, and drove him into Ireland.* In the expedition against Cadiz, in which they served together, the nomination of Ralegh by the Queen, as a commander and one of the council of five who were to control the hot spirit, and provide against the rashness of Essex, the admiral in chief; and the subsequent events of the attack and capture of Cadiz, the matter of the Plate fleet, and above all the preeminent ability displayed by Ralegh, and the great honor which he gained; strengthened this feeling in the bosom of the Earl.

Subsequently again in the "Island Voyage," the accidental separation of Ralegh, and his gallant capture of Fayall, the many gross errors committed by the Earl, the undoubted fact that all the success which attended the expedition was owing to Ralegh, the harsh reception of Essex by the Queen, who bitterly reproached him for his ill conduct, laying the whole blame upon him and highly extolling his associate in command; all these converted concealed dislike into open and avowed enmity, and Essex availed himself of every opportunity to indulge and display his now bitter hostility. The "Feather Triumph,"† as Camden styles it, is a striking illustration of this assertion, and the efforts which he made to prejudice the mind of James, and finally the slanderous charge, after his apprehension, that Ralegh had planned an ambuscade to murder him as he passed to the coun

* Cayley, vol. 1, p. 109.

† See Camden. Oldys, p. 132. And Clarendon, Reliquice Wottonianæ, edition of 1685, p. 190.

cil chamber;* all shew conclusively that it was time Ralegh should ward off the blows of one so able and willing to do him injury.

The authorities on the other hand shew that Ralegh, while he unjustly incurred the anger of Essex in every one of the instances to which we have alluded, made every effort to conciliate and tranquilize the Earl; in one case going almost too far for his honor, as on the return from the Cadiz Expedition, when he treated him, as Camden says, "with the cunningest respect, and the deepest humility"-and in another case risking his life to serve him; as in the effort to warn Essex of the dangers which surrounded him after his return from Ireland, he solicited a meeting with Gorges, and was four times shot at by Sir Christopher Blount, the friend and servitor of the Earl. His presence at the execution of Essex was undoubtedly official; as Captain of the Queen's Guard, the soldier was simply at his post; and, in addition to the entire incompatibility of the motive, charged in the rumour alluded to, with his whole character, we have his own declaration, which is certainly entitled to be considered. His celebrated letter to the Lord Secretary Cecil, which has been by some writers esteemed strong proof of the connection of Ralegh with the condemnation and death of Essex, does not seem to us to justify such a construction. He argues the necessity of keeping Essex down, of diminishing his power, and perhaps even of depriving him of his liberty; and urges this upon Cecil, because, to use the language of the letter, "the