39 many insults and provocations from the lord lieutenant that he was provoked to resign the office of Major of the Nottinghamsh "resolved unani be given to Joh the Nottinghamsh In 1792, Mr. at the society for neither inactive o At the time of "The Commonw in 1795. In 1796, Mr electors of the 1 ment; but he d same year, he p England, intern: In 1799, Mr "Appeal." From that p Mr. C. have bee in the House of together with S for illegally met mingham; and s of King's Bench of one hundred f The last produ and elaborate Tr In 1822, som represent Westn standing betwee Burdett, he polleu, shut the danntu lieutenanta SIR WALTER RALEGH. But who can speak The num'rous worthies of the maiden reiga? In RALEGH mark their ev'ry glory mix'd; RALEGH! the scourge of Spain! whose breast with all THOMSON. SIR WALTER RALEGH,* a man, in point of bravery and ability, of learning and judgment, inferior to none of the age in which he lived, and superior to most, was born at Hayes, in the parish of Budley, near Devonshire, in the year 1552. It is uncertain where he received the first rudiments of his education; he studied, however, a few years at the university of Oxford; and his age did not exceed seventeen at the time of his departure for France, and he was there during the dreadful massacre of the protestants on the evening of St. Bartholomew, 1572. In 1577, Sir Walter accompanied Sir John Norris, and the English army to the Netherlands, and shared in the honours and dangers of the memorable Lammas-day, 1578. In 1580 he went to Ireland, and served there under Lord Grey, who was dispatched to quell the rebellion: Carley spells it Ralegh; Naunton and Bacon, Rawleigh; King James, Raleigh; and Gascoigne, in his Steele Glass, calls it Rawely but as Sir Walter himself spells it Ralegh, in his Letters, in the Harleian collection, we have adopted it. 2 here Ralegh behaved with the greatest bravery; and these "extraordinary services recommended him to the favour of queen Elizabeth: he was accordingly introduced at court; and appointed to attend Simier to France, and the Duke of Anjou to Antwerp. March 25, 1584, her Majesty granted him letters patent, to discover some remote heathen and barbarous lands, and to hold the same," &c. On the receipt of this patent, Sir Walter fitted out two barks, it is said, principally at his own charge, and sailed from England on the 27th of April, 1584, and steered towards America and discovered Virginia. On his return he was knighted by queen Elizabeth, and elected one of the members for the county of Devon. In 1586 Sir Walter fitted out a ship, at his sole expence, to sail for Virginia: it arrived there safe; and returned to England, bringing with it for the first time, the Nicotiana, or Tobacco. Ralegh was very fond of smoking this herb ; and we are told in the British Apollo, 12mo. 1740, that when he first grew fond of a pipe, his servant one day brought his tankard of ale and nutmeg into his study, where Ralegh was reading and smoking. Seeing the smoke reek from his mouth, the man threw down the ale in a fright, and ran down stairs to alarm the family, crying his master was on fire, and would be burned to ashes if he did not make haste to his assistance. About this time, he was appointed Seneschal of the Duchies of Cornwall and Exeter, and Lord Warden of the Stannaries in Devonshire and Cornwall; and in 1587 received the additional honour of being appointed Captain of the Guard to her Majesty, and Lieutenant General of the county of Cornwall. In 1588 he joined the fleet against the Armada; and in this year was chosen one of the gentlemen of her Majesty's privy chamber, and had a patent granted him to make licences for keeping of taverns, and retailing of wines throughout all England. Ralegh had now experienced the great difficulties he Ead to encounter in establishing the Virginian colony; and after expending £10,000. upon it, he assigned it over to a party of gentlemen, reserving to himself the fifth part of all gold and silver ore. On the 6th of May, 1592, he sailed with a fleet to intercept the Spanish and Portuguese plate-fleet, and on the 3d of August took the Madre de Dios, the richest prize ever brought into England. In this year he married the lovely daughter of Sir Nicholas Thockmorton; after being committed to the Tower by Elizabeth for violating her person. On his release from the Tower he determined on the discovery of the rich and extensive empire of Guiana, in South America; and sailed from England the 6th of February, 1595. Sir Walter, although he discovered that rich and beautiful empire, could not gain possession of it, so he returned to England late in the summer of 1595, and was indifferently received at court. We next find Ralegh engaged in the memorable action at Cadiz, in 1596, commanding the Warspite, and hoisting the ensign of Rear Admiral of the fleet. In this action he behaved with the most heroic bravery, but got wounded severely in his leg; and after demolishing the forts, and setting fire to the city, he re-embarked on the 5th of July, and arrived in safety at Plymouth, by the 10th of August, and was graciously received by the queen. On the 26th of August, 1600, he was made Governor of Jersey. : Ralegh now lost his mistress; and on the death of Elizabeth, his fortunes sank to rise no more. Cecil prejudiced James against Ralegh, and he soon found himself neglected his offices were given to Scotch favourites of the king; he was deprived of his wine license; but a pension of 300l. was granted him for his life. Scarcely had three months of the reign of this James elapsed before Ralegh was charged with treasonable practices against the government. It was a fit beginning for the reign of such a monarch-it was a cruel charge, because it was false-it was cowardly; but then it was done by a king who w called a second Solomon, on account of his learning. Solomon, the son of David the fiddler, as the witty French was monarch called him. But to return to the narrative. Cobham accused Ralegh of being privy to his plan with the Count Aremberg; whereupon he was committed to the Tower. He was shortly after indicted for High Treason; and as the plague raged in London, he was taken to Winchester, and there tried on the 17th of November, 1603, was found guilty, and received the sentence to be hung, drawn and quartered. The king and his government finding the people beheld the villainous conspiracy against Ralegh in its true light, were fearful of executing him; and he was therefore reprieved during his Majesty's pleasure, and again sent to the Tower. The king had neither virtue nor justice enough to release him; and his son, prince Henry, the darling of the people, said, No king but his father would keep such a lord in such a cage. At length, on the 17th of March, 1615-16, after a cruel imprisonment of more than twelve years, he obtained his liberty by bribery, and a change of James's favourites. No sooner was he released than he began to prosecute another voyage to Guiana, and accordingly, on the 28th of March, 1617, he sailed from the Thames with a pretty considerable fleet. This fatal voyage brought on him the vengeance of Gondamor, the Spanish ambassador, then in England, a crafty designing statesman, who so completely gained the ascendancy of the weak James, that, upon hearing the result of the unfortunate expedition, he gave proof of his devotion to the Spanish interest, by issuing a proclamation, declaring his detestation of the conduct of the expedition, and requiring all persons who could give any information, to repair to the privy council. Ralegh, on seeing this proclamation when he landed at Plymouth, immediately surrendered himself; he afterwards meditated his escape, in the act of making which in disguise, he was betrayed by Stukely, and apprehended while in a boat at Woolwich, and re-committed to the Tower on the 10th of August, 1618. He was taken out of his bed in a fit of fever, on the 24th of August, and unexpectedly hurried, not to his trial, but to a sentence of death. Ralegh, on his return to his prison, while some were |