able men who surrounded her throne, and carried the terror of her arms into foreign lands, or the thunder of her fleets into the remotest seas of the New World,-by Drake, Howard, Hawkins, Sir Francis Vere, Lord Willoughby, Walsingham, Sadler, Knowles, and many more. But I have preferred to select such as undoubtedly occupied the foreground, and who were leaders and masters in their various classes,-Burleigh among statesmen and civilians, Sussex among soldiers, Leicester among courtiers, and Sidney amid the assembled virtues and graces of them all; and thus to convey to the reader some idea of the busy and extraordinary scene on which our hero was now called to act a part. That Cecil was at this time aware of the talents of an officer who had served with such distinction cannot be doubted; but his personal introduction to Elizabeth has been ascribed by tradition to a circumstance which, though well known, is too pleasing to be omitted.

In her progress from the royal barge to the palace the queen, surrounded by her nobles and officers, came to a spot where the ground was so moist that she scrupled for a moment to advance; upon which Raleigh, stepping forward with an air of devoted gallantry, cast off and spread on the earth a richly embroidered cloak which he then wore. Her majesty, after pausing for a moment, and regarding, not without some little emotion, the fine figure of the young soldier to whom she owed so fair a footcloth, passed over it and proceeded on her way; but, as was to be expected, immediately sent for and took him into her service. The anecdote, though resting on no higher authority than that already mentioned, almost proves itself to be true by the knowledge it evinces Raleigh to have possessed of the character of Elizabeth. Her predilection for handsome men and her love of splendid apparel were well known; while in his sacrifice of the gorgeous cloak, and the air of devoted admiration which none knew better how to assume, he displayed that mixture of generous feeling and high-flown gallantry, not unlikely indeed to meet the ridicule of the graver

sort, yet fitted to surprise and delight the princess to whom it was addressed.

At this moment the subject of public talk and deliberation was the marriage of the queen to the Duke of Anjou,—a match apparently agreeable to Elizabeth, and having the countenance of Burleigh and Sussex; but opposed on selfish grounds by Leicester, and by Sidney on the basis of political expedience. Raleigh appears in this matter to have adopted the notions of the Treasurer and Sussex, and to have been selected by the queen to execute some matters of state diplomacy connected with it. He accompanied Simier, the French ambassador, from England to his own court; and when the intrigues of Leicester or the versatility of the queen had defeated the match, and Anjou departed from England to assume the government of the Netherlands, Raleigh was one of that retinue of nobles and gentlemen who conducted him in a magnificent progress to Antwerp, and saw him invested in his new charge. He was here recognised by the Prince of Orange, under whom he had served in the Low Countries, and invited to remain after the departure of Howard, Leicester, and Sidney, that he might be the bearer of letters to the English queen. Of this circumstance, evincing the consideration in which he was held by no incompetent judge, he gives us an account in his "Discourse of the Invention of Ships," &c. Speaking of the flourishing estate of the Hollanders, he traces it in the first instance to the aid of his own country; "which," says he, "the late worthy and famous Prince of Orange did always acknowledge; and in the year 1582, when I took my leave of him at Antwerp, after the return of the Earl of Leicester into England, and Monsieur's arrival there, when he delivered me his letters to her majesty, he prayed me to say to the queen from him, Sub umbra alarum tuarum protegimur; for certainly they had withered in the bud and sunk in the beginning of their navigation had not her majesty assisted them."*

* Works, vol. viii. p. 331.

Sir Robert Naunton, who had no predilection for Raleigh, describes him as possessing at this time a mind of uncommon vigour, with a person and manners which attracted all who saw him. His countenance was somewhat spoiled by the unusual height of his forehead; but his expression was animated, his conversation varied and brilliant, and in speaking on matters of state he possessed a ready and convincing eloquence. Of this, not long afterwards, he was called upon to give an example before the queen and council, which all the authors of his life agree had a surprising effect. The occasion arose out of a dispute with Lord Grey of Wilton. What was the matter in debate does not exactly appear; though it is probable the severity of the late deputy in the massacre of the garrison at Fort del Ore, and the part borne by Raleigh and Mackworth in its execution, may have called for inquiry. It is certain that on this occasion he defended himself with such spirit, and brought forward the history of the transaction in which his credit was involved with so much force and clearness, that it made an extraordinary impression in his favour both on the queen and the council; whilst the old lord, who was more of a blunt soldier than an orator, found himself overpowered by the weighty reasons urged against him.

But amidst all this versatility of talent and pursuit, there was one predominant subject to which he was attached from his early years, and which now engrossed his attention: This was the scheme for prosecuting discoveries in the New World, to which the near expiry of Sir Humphrey Gilbert's patent now recalled his attention. The letters had only been granted for six years. Of these, four had elapsed; and Gilbert determined, with the assistance of Raleigh, to fit out a second squadron to promote that plan of discovery which he had explained in his discourse upon a north-west passage to India. The fleet consisted of five ships and barks, the Delight, Raleigh, Golden Hind, Swallow, and Squirrel,-having on board a force of 260 men; and all was ready for their departure on the 1st June 1583. Raleigh had studied

navigation, not only in its higher branches but even in the minuter practical details; and the largest ship in the squadron, which bore his name, of 200 tons, was built under his own eye, equipped at his expense, and commanded by Captain Butler, her master being Thomas Davis of Bristol. The proprietor, who had now risen into favour with the queen, did not embark in the expedition; but he appears to have induced his royal mistress to take so deep an interest in its success, that, on the eve of its sailing from Plymouth, she commissioned him to convey to Sir Humphrey Gilbert her earnest wishes for his success, with a special token of regard,-a little trinket representing an "anchor guided by a lady." We find this interesting circumstance in the following letter written by Raleigh from the court :—

“BROTHER,—I have sent you a token from her majesty, -an anchor guided by a lady, as you see,-and farther her Highness willed me to send you word, that she wished you as great good hap and safety to your ship as if herself were there in person, desiring you to have care of yourself, as of that which she tendereth; and therefore, for her sake, you must provide for it accordingly. Farther, she commandeth that you leave your picture with me. For the rest I leave till our meeting, or to the report of this bearer, who would needs be the messenger of this good news. So I commit you to the will and protection of God, who send us such life or death as he shall please, or hath appointed!-Richmond, this Friday morning. Your true brother, WALTER RAleigh."*

* This letter is indorsed as having been received March 18,* 1582-3; and it may be remarked that it settles the doubt as to the truth of Prince'st story of the golden anchor, questioned by Campbell in his Lives of the Admirals. In the Heroologia Angliæ, p. 65, there is a fine print of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, taken evidently from an original picture; but, unlike the portrait mentioned by Granger in his Biographical History, vol. i. p. 246, it does not bear the device mentioned in the text. Raleigh's * Cayley, vol. i. p. 31. + Worthies of Devon, p. 419.

The expedition, which set out under these happy auspices, was unfortunate even in its commencement, and ultimately fatal to its brave leader. In a short time the Raleigh returned into harbour, a contagious distemper having broken out on board. Gilbert pursued his voyage; and having reached the Baccalaos, originally discovered by John Cabot and since called Newfoundland, took possession of it and the adjoining coasts in the name of the English queen. The ceremony, although performed in the New World, was, according to the usages of the Old, entirely feudal; the royal charter being first read, and a rod and turf of the soil delivered to the admiral. After a partial survey of the island, and an interview with the natives, whose disposition was gentle and pacific,* they steered towards the south, with the intention of bringing the countries in that quarter under "the compass of the patent." But discontent, mutiny, and disease, broke out in the fleet; the Swallow was sent home with the sick, and soon after the Delight was completely wrecked. The remaining barks were the Golden Hind and Squirrel; the first of forty, the last of ten tons burden. For what reason does not appear, the admiral insisted, against the remonstrances of his officers and crew, in having his flag in the Squirrel. It was a fatal resolution: the weather soon after became dark and lowering, the sailors with characteristic superstition declared they heard strange voices commanding them to leave the helm; fearful shapes were said to glare during the night around the ship, and the apparition of the ominous flame, called by seamen " Castor and Pollux,” flitted above the mast.† These portents were the preludes

letter explains this difference. When Sir Humphrey was at Plymouth on the eve of sailing, the queen commands him, we see, to leave his picture with Raleigh. This must allude to a portrait already painted; and of course the golden anchor then sent could not be seen in it. Now he perished on the voyage. The picture at Devonshire House mentioned by Granger, which bears this honourable badge, must therefore have been painted after his death.

*Hakluyt, vol. iii. pp. 151, 153. + Ibid. pp. 156, 158, 159.