Not long after this occurred the disastrous defeat of CHAP. I. the admiral at Moncontour, on which occasion the vic- Defeat at torious army was commanded by the Duke of Anjou, Moncontour. afterwards Henry III. It appears from Raleigh's own account, that having shared in the perils of this contest, he retired with Count Ludowick of Nassau, who, by his ability in conducting the retreat, saved one-half of the Protestant force, then broken and disbanded,-" of which," says he, "myself was an eyewitness, and one of them that had cause to thank him for it."* There is yet another allusion in his History to the Third French scene of his military education. "I saw," he observes, civil war. "in the third civil war in France, certain caves in Languedoc, which had but one entrance and that very narrow, cut out in the midway of high rocks, which we knew not how to enter by any ladder or engine, till at last by certain bundles of lighted straw let down by an iron chain, with a weighty stone in the midst, those that defended it were so smothered, that they rendered themselves with their plate, money, and other goods therein hidden.”+ Raleigh's France. It seems certain, from a passage quoted by Oldys, that Raleigh remained in France till after the death of Charles stay in IX. This would make the period of his stay upwards of six years, -a circumstance which will account for a considerable chasm in all the memoirs of his life. During this time, we may presume, to use the words of the same author, that "he was initiated in those accomplishments, both civil and military, through the language and politeness of the people, as well as their warlike and ministerial affairs, whereof he afterwards gave such manifold proofs."+ period. The era was indeed remarkable for great changes, and Characteris not less so for men eminent in the arts of peace, of civil tics of the government, and of elegant literature, as well as in war. If it was the age of Condé and Coligni, it produced also the Chancellor de l'Hôpital, the President De Thou, Ronsard, and Muretus; and before leaving France, when * Raleigh's Works, vol. vi. p. 211. Ibid. vol. v. p. 355. CHAP. I still only twenty-three, Raleigh had no doubt availed himself of the advantages which it held out to a mind full of ambition and enthusiasm. On the conclusion of Return to the peace in 1576, which secured to the Protestants the England. free exercise of their religion, he returned to England. It has been supposed by his biographers, that about this time he proved his early predilection for poetry by prefixing some commendatory verses to Gascoigne's satire entitled the Steel Glass; but although written in the quaint style of his age, their poetical merit is below his other pieces, and it is difficult to believe that they flowed from the same sweet vein which produced the answer to Marlowe's Passionate Shepherd. Be this as it may, he allowed himself but a short time for his domestic pleasures, or his recreations with the muses; for soon after quitting France he repaired to the seat of war in the Netherlands, where he served as a volunteer, under the Prince of Orange, against the Spaniards. Earliest verses. Experience at the Fortunately for Raleigh, the condition of this portion Netherlands. of Europe rendered it at that time an instructive school, both for political wisdom and for the military art; so that the rudiments of his education as a statesman and a soldier, which had been received in France, were matured in the Netherlands. Parties in the contest. Elizabeth. In the great contest then maintained, despotic power was arrayed against the rights of conscience. It was the same struggle he had seen carried on in France, in which, under the banner of royal power, devotion to the ancient faith was leagued against the right of private judgment; and in both kingdoms he bore arms on the side of liberty. Position of Elizabeth, under the directions of her able minister Cecil, had early placed herself at the head of the Protestant interests in Europe, and the same principles which led her to support the French Huguenots, and to aim at the extinction of the power of the house of Guise, induced her to thwart the schemes of Philip II. of Spain. The advance of his imperious governor, the Duke of Alva, in the Netherlands, had at first, in 1567, driven the Prince of Orange, a man as illustrious for genius as for ancient CHAP. L lineage, to seek a retreat in his estates in Germany. But the determined spirit of resistance shown by Holland and The Prince Zealand drew him from seclusion; and, at the head of of Orange. a league, by every member of which he was beloved, he organized a resistance against Spain, which, amidst frequent reverses and intolerable oppression, only grew more resolute and decided, till at last, in 1574, it triumphed in the defeat of the ferocious schemes of Alva, and his recall from the government of the Low Countries. Two years after, upon the death of Requesens, who Don John of had succeeded the duke, Don John of Austria, natural brother of Philip, was appointed viceroy of the Netherlands. He was a man of much pride, inordinate ambition, and certainly of some genius. But his plans though vast were ill digested, and his imagination greatly outran his judgment. One of his projects, which had come to the ears of Elizabeth, and deeply incensed her against Spain, Plan of consisted in a plot to marry the Queen of Scots, and marriage. in her right to acquire the sovereignty of the British Austria. dominions. It was this, perhaps, which changed the policy of the English queen from concealed encouragement, to an avowed espousal of the cause of the Protestants, and a determined hostility to Spain. The same motives induced her to conclude a treaty with the States of Holland, to advance them a loan of £50,000 and to despatch to their assistance that force of 5000 foot and 1000 horse in which Raleigh now enlisted as a volunteer. The chief command was given to Sir John Norris, Sir John one of the most experienced soldiers in Europe, of whom it has been well said, that he was no less remarkable for his safe retreats than for his resolute onsets; whilst his conduct and discipline were so exact, that for a long time his actions were considered precedents, and his orders laws of war.* To serve under such a master could not fail to be of high advantage to any young soldier; and, although there is no direct reference to it in Raleigh's History or in his other works, there can be little doubt * Lloyd's State Worthies, pp. 618, 619. Norris. Action at CHAP. I. that he shared in that famous action at Rimenant, in which the Spanish army, commanded by Don John of Austria and the Prince of Parma, was overthrown by the forces of the States. The English auxiliaries had been joined by a Scottish force, under Sir Robert Stuart; and the success of the battle is ascribed by De Thou and Lord Bacon to the steady discipline and determined courage of the English and Scots, who, oppressed by a long march and the extreme heat of the weather, stript off their armour and doublets, and fought in their shirts and drawers.* Acquirements of Raleigh. Favourite studies. Although thus engaged in war, both in France and in the Netherlands, Raleigh had found leisure to inform himself on those subjects of cosmography and navigation, which at this time engrossed the attention not only of the learned and the adventurous, but of crowned heads and imperial councils. He had studied the histories of the discoveries of Columbus, the conquests of Cortes, and the sanguinary triumphs of Pizarro; and a writer of good authority, who bears the same name, informs us that such books were his especial favourites, and the subjects of his early conversation. Colonel Richard Bingham, his fellow-soldier, amongst other multifarious projects, was occupied with a scheme for the plantation of America. Nor were there wanting, we may believe, in the army in which he served, many others whose society was fitted to encourage his early devotion to such pursuits. It is not surprising, therefore, that the ardent mind of Raleigh should have eagerly embraced an op * Thuani Historia, vol. iii. p. 608, ed. Bulkely. Richard Bingham was an eccentric and extraordinary soldier of fortune, who had gained experience in the French, Scottish, and Venetian wars. He was a man of wonderfully versatile genius, a great projector," of a fancy high and wild, too desultory and overvoluble," to use the expressive language of a quaint writer he had travelled over most parts of the world; : and although it was his fortune rather to be skilful in many mysteries than thriving in any, his conversation and society must have been agreeable to a young man of an enthusiastic turn of mind. portunity of embarking in an adventure of this nature, which offered itself whilst he was in Holland. CHAP. I Sir Hum bert. His stepbrother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, had published, phrey Gilin 1576, a treatise concerning a north-west passage to the East Indies, which, although infected with the pedantry of the age, is full of practical sense and judicious argument.* The work appears to have made no inconsiderable impression upon the government; and Sir Humphrey Voyage to having obtained a patent from the queen to colonize such America. parts of North America as were not possessed by any of her allies, prevailed with Raleigh to abandon his military pursuits and try his fortune in the voyage. Edmond Haies. The project, however, failed. Many who had eagerly Failure of embarked in it became discontented; all desired an project. equal share of power; discord bred coldness and desertion; and Sir Humphrey and Raleigh at last found themselves obliged to put to sea with a few friends who disdained to leave them under such adverse circumstances. "When the shipping was in a manner prepared," says Edmond Haies, who was a principal actor in the enterprise, “and men ready upon the coast to go aboard, some Account by brake consort and followed courses degenerating from the voyage before pretended, others failed of their promises contracted, and the greater number were dispersed, leaving the general with a few of his assured friends, with whom he adventured to sea, where, having tasted of no less misfortune, he was shortly driven to retire home with the loss of a tall ship."+ On its homeward passage the small squadron of Gilbert was dispersed and disabled by a Spanish fleet, and many of the company Collision were slain; but, perhaps owing to the disastrous issue of the fight, it has been slightly noticed by the English historians. Although unsuccessful, however, in his first voyage, the instructions of Gilbert could not fail to be of service to Raleigh, who at this time was not much above twenty-five, whilst the admiral must have been in the maturity of his age and talent. * Hakluyt has printed it in his third volume, p. 11. + Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. 146. Oldys's Life of Raleigh, p. 28. with the Spanish fleet |