wrote the King a letter, in which he threw all the blame of Essex's death upon Cecil, and even went further back, to lay the blame of the execution of Mary Queen of Scots upon Cecil as well as his father.

The authenticity of this letter has been considered doubtful; but the French Ambassador, Beaumont, in a despatch written on May 2nd, says that Ralegh was in such a rage at being dismissed that he went to the King and protested that he would declare to him, and show him in writing, all the intrigues and the stories that Cecil had got up in his prejudice. This statement makes it very likely that Ralegh wrote the letter. But at all events it is certain that he gained nothing by doing so, and probably only excited Cecil's animosity against himself. Ralegh was not the kind of man whom James could have liked under any circumstances. He was too independent, energetic, and impetuous to suit the cautious King. He was as eager as ever for war with Spain, and hoped to make James share his views. At an interview which he had with him at Beddington Park, where James was the guest of Sir Nicholas Carew, Ralegh offered to raise 2,000 men at his own expense and lead them to invade Spanish territory. This sort of talk was very distasteful to James. He had a profound dislike for war; he had won his crown peacefully, and meant to hold it peacefully. It had no doubt been necessary for Elizabeth, whose legitimacy was doubtful,

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to make war to defend her throne. He, on the contrary, was a legitimate monarch, and his fondest desire was to be recognised as such by all powers, Protestant and Catholic alike. But there was a strong party in England who, like Ralegh, wished him to continue the war with Spain, and above all not to desert the cause of the Netherlands.

Philip II., just before his death, had hoped to make the settlement of affairs in the Netherlands more easy, by giving over his sovereignty there to his eldest daughter Isabella and her husband, the Archduke Albert, a younger brother of the Emperor Rodolph II. But the Netherlanders were no more inclined to submit to the Archdukes, as Isabella and her husband were called, than to the Spanish King himself; for the Archdukes, supported by Spanish troops, were clearly only tools in the hands of Spain. Ambassadors from the different powers now hastened to the Court of James to congratulate him on his accession, and to gain him, if possible, for their ally.

First came an important embassy from the Dutch Republic; amongst its members was the greatest statesman of the Republic, John of Olden Barneveldt. James answered their demands for alliance with commonplaces, and made no promises. Before the Dutch Embassy had left London, a French ambassador, De Rosny, arrived with a splendid suite of two hundred gentlemen. The special object both of Barneveldt and De Rosny

was to obtain such help from James as would prevent Ostend, which was then besieged by Spanish troops, from falling into the hands of Spain. De Rosny wished to bring about a secure alliance between England and France; he proposed a double marriage between the two royal houses; the Dauphin was to marry James's only daughter, Elizabeth, whilst Prince Henry, James's eldest son, was to marry Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of the King of France. James listened, but promised nothing. The children were still young, and he shrank from taking any step which would commit him to any decided course of action. All that could be got from him was a promise to allow the levy of soldiers in England and Scotland for the defence of Ostend.

Cecil, as well as James, seems to have been averse to war with Spain. He cordially disliked Spain; but as a statesman he saw great difficulties in the way of war. England was poor. Elizabeth had always been obliged to use the strictest economy, so as to keep order in financial affairs. The revenue of the Crown was decreasing, and it was clear that the country would not easily bear the burden of war. Financial matters were to be made still more difficult as time went on by the extravagance of James's Court, and the lavish way in which he spent money on his favourites.

Under these circumstances, Ralegh's talk of war with Spain was very distasteful to James. But

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though he met with no favour from the King, Ralegh still stayed about the Court, hoping doubtless that some way might appear for him again to take an active part in affairs.

CHAPTER XI.

Conspiracies against James E.

THE disfavour with which Ralegh was regarded

was shown, amongst other things, by the way in which he was deprived of his London house. Durham House was situated in the Strand. It had originally belonged to the Bishops of Durham, but had been resigned to the Crown in the time of Henry VIII. In 1584 Queen Elizabeth had granted a lease of the house to Ralegh, who spent much money in repairing it. Immediately on James I.'s accession, the Bishop of Durham claimed the house as its rightful owner, and Sir Walter Ralegh was ordered by royal warrant to deliver quiet possession of it to him. He was bidden to clear out with all his goods in a fortnight, a hardship of which he bitterly complained; for he had stocked the house with provisions for forty persons, and hay and oats for twenty horses for the spring. Some years afterwards, in 1608, on the site of the yard and tumble-down offices of Durham House, arose a mighty building, founded at the suggestion of Robert Cecil, and called the New Exchange. Below were cellars