ought, remembred; and the tymes pass away unmesured, of which more profitt might be taken. But I feare I have alreddy presumed to mich, which Love stronger then Reason hath incoraged; for my errors ar eternal, and those of other mortall, and my labors thanckless, I mean unacceptable, for thancks belongeth not to vassalls. If your Majestye pardon it, it is more then to great a rewarde. And so most humblie imbracing and admiringe the memory of thos celestial bewtyes, which with the people is denied mee to revew, I pray God your Majestie may be eternall in joyes and happines.-Your Majesty's most humble slave, W. R.1

Addressed: For the Queen's most Excelent Majestye.

This is another of the letters which I think may arise out of some prompting by Bacon (see the remark on this subject at p. 427).

Of the "paper" to which this letter refers Edwards says (i. 296) that there is no certain evidence, but that there is an anonymous paper among the State Papers at Hatfield entitled "In Defence of the Queen's not nominating a Succession." It may be observed that this was, in effect, the line taken by the writer (anonymous) of the book published by Doleman (from Amsterdam), with a dedication to the Earl of Essex, in 1594, and it was probably desired by those who disliked the prospect of a Scottish succession, and by those who hoped to gain by fishing in troubled waters.

To Sir Robert Cecil, 10th May 1593'

I am my sealf here at Sherburne, in my fortun's folde.2

A somewhat bitter and contemptuous letter, owing to his reverse of fortune and the weakness of the Government in Ireland. The phrase quoted is found in the poem beginning "Like truthless dreams," 3 which was first published anonymously in the "Phoenix Nest," 1593. The poem was printed in "Le Prince d'Amour," 1660, over the initials W. R., with the title "Farewell to the Court." On that authority, which Hannah thinks insufficient (as evidently it is), the poem has been claimed 1 Edwards, Life, ii. 259. 2 Ibid. ii. 80. 3 See p. 445, note.

for Ralegh. But Hannah regards the occurrence of the above phrase in the poem as conclusive evidence of Ralegh's authorship (Courtly Poets, p. 13 and note). I do not agree with this.

To Sir Robert Cecil, from Sherborne, 13th Nov. 1595 [Begging for the Queen's support for the colonisation of Guiana. An example of Ralegh's imperialism and views of the problem of home defence.]

Wee must not looke to mayntayne warr upon the revenews of Ingland. If wee be once driven to the defencive, farr well myght.1 But as God will so it shalbe-who governs the harts of kings.2

In a passage written towards the close of his life Ralegh says:

If the late Queen would have believed her men of war as she did her scribes, we had, in her time, beaten that great Empire in pieces and made their kings kings of figs and oranges, as in old times. But Her Majesty did all by halves, . . .3

To Secretary Sir Robert Cecil, 6th July 1597

[From Weymouth. Preparations for the "Island Voyage"Richard the Second. From the original.]

I acquaynted the Lord Generalla with your letter to mee, and your kynd acceptance of your enterteynemente; hee was also wonderfull merry att your consait of Richard the Second. I hope it shall never alter, and whereof I shall be most gladd of, as the trew way to all our good, quiett, and advancement, and most of all for Her sake whose affaires shall thereby fynd better progression. Sir, I will ever be yours; it is all I can saye, and I will performe it with my life, and with my fortune.

a The Earl of Essex.

W. RALEGH.1

A passage of great interest, from the reference (as I think there can be no doubt) to Shakespeare's play. Edwards notes that the play was not published till later

1 "This reading is doubtful, the last word of the sentence being partly defaced." (Note by Edwards.) 4 Ibid. ii. 169.

2 Edwards, Life, ii. 111.

3 Ibid. i. 245.

in this year, and then anonymously; that early in 1598 a new edition was published bearing Shakespeare's name ; that neither of these editions contains the "Deposition Scene," though there is ample reason to believe that the scene was performed, though not printed, in Queen Elizabeth's lifetime. It appeared first in print in the edition of 1608. This was presumably the play (referred to as "The Play of the Deposition of Richard the Second ") which was performed by the Globe players at the request of Sir Gilly Meyrick, one of the principal followers of the Earl of Essex, the night before the Essex rising in February 1601. It is recorded that in August of that year the Queen exclaimed in conversation, "I am Richard the Second, know you not that?" adding that "That tragedy was played forty times in open streets and houses." Edwards justly observes that in the passage in which the Duke of Hereford is described as "wooing poor craftesmen with the craft of smiles," Shakespeare might well have been painting the portrait from life and have had the Earl of Essex as his sitter. The reference in Henry V. (v. Chor.) to

the general of our gracious empress,

from Ireland coming,

Bringing rebellion broached on his sword,

shows clearly that Shakespeare had the analogy in mind. What exactly Ralegh had in mind in writing the passage quoted above is a puzzle for which no solution can be expected. But it appears to indicate that Essex, Cecil and Ralegh were at that time on good terms, and that the subject in question was the anxious one of the succession, the future safety of the country, and their own prospects. All Ralegh's letters show a belief in Cecil, so the last words may be taken as sincerely meant.'

An excellent example of Ralegh's familiar style, and showing the rougher side of his character, is a letter to his nephew, Sir John Gilbert, but it is too long to quote.

1 See remarks by Edwards on this letter, Life, ii. 164-169.

To Secretary Lord Cecil, from the Tower, 1604

In my darck and dead winter.1

No expression of this kind appears in Ralegh's letters before this date. This is possibly one of the reasons which led Hannah to assign the poem "To Cynthia," in which similar expressions occur, to this date. But, in my opinion, it clearly belongs to the period of the breach with Queen Elizabeth, ten years earlier. Yet the expression, though true in 1604, was quite inapplicable to the Ralegh, newly married, of 1593. Similar expressions occur in the "Epistle dedicatory to the Discovery of Guiana," 1596. That introductory epistle, however, is not in Ralegh's style, and, in my opinion (as I shall explain later), was written for him by Bacon.

The last letter to which I have to direct attention is a most inscrutable document, and one which has proved a stumbling-block for biographers, at least for those who recognise no middle course between the extremes of eulogy and condemnation. The letter is evidence of the intensity of the struggle for power at that time, and, read with Mountjoy's letter to the Queen quoted at p. 420, seems to furnish evidence that Ralegh, after the manner of the public men at the Court, had been anxious to bring down his rival by encouraging him to go to Ireland. When he had failed there (as he was very likely to do), there would be an end of his influence with the Queen in matters of State, and of his formidable military popularity in the country. This is rendered the more probable by the fact that the Queen wanted to send Mountjoy, but gave way to the importunities of Essex. It is also important to note that Essex received encouragement at the last moment from Bacon in undertaking the enterprise, and it is significant that Bacon seeks to exculpate himself from what was evidently a matter of odium by a denial of this in his "Apology" written after the accession of James.2 At this period, for reasons already given, I think it 1 Edwards, Life, ii. 301. 2 See Spedding, Life, ii. 127, 129.

probable that Bacon and Ralegh were working together, and I must, in candour, make the suggestion, though reluctant to do so, that Bacon assisted Ralegh in the composition of this letter. The philosophic detachment and power of generalisation and illustration of which it gives evidence are foreign to the manner of Ralegh, as may be seen from the other letters which I have quoted. Instances of similar practices, as I regard them, are given in Chapter VII., and I need not add to what I have said there on this subject. In the present case, the issues at stake were, of course, great, perhaps even (on the death of the Queen) a coup d'état which might have placed Essex, or some one else, on the throne; for there were men (and Ralegh was one of them) who would have risked much to keep out the Scottish King,2 and such things had happened before. Cecil, however, was equal to the occasion, and overcame, by some means, the prejudices of the King and his resentment at the execution of "my martyr Essex," Ralegh was shut up for the rest of his life, and Bacon put his services, with a good grace, however reluctantly, at his cousin's disposal.

Edwards

The following is the letter in question. conjectures 1600 as the date of it, during the detention of Essex after his unauthorised return from his Irish command; but it might have been written, as endorsed, in 1601 after the Earl's imprisonment, which followed the rising of February.

To Secretary Sir Robert Cecil

[From the original, Cecil Papers (Hatfield). Holograph, undated.] Sir-I am not wize enough to geve yow advise; butt if you take it for a good councell to relent towards this tirant, yow will repent it when it shalbe too late. His mallice is fixt, and will not evaporate by any your mild courses. For he will ascribe the alteration to her Majesties pusillanimitye and not to your good nature; knowing that yow worke but uppon her humor, and not

1 Cf. pp. 427, 435.

Cf. Donne, Satire vii., last lines, and Aubrey's notes on Ralegh. 3 Except for the expedition of 1617, which ended in his execution.