so much stress upon the burning of San Thome as it did upon the other charges, which posterity has clearly judged to be of no weight.

The declaration, though drawn up by the master hand of Bacon, and possessing all the advantages of his clear and lucid style, produced no effect upon the excited minds of men. The common view was, that Ralegh was executed under his old sentence simply to please Spain. Even Dean Tounson expressed his surprise that Ralegh before his death never made mention of that for which he really died, his former treason.

Perhaps it is easier to forgive James I. Ralegh's execution than it is to forgive him the thirteen years' imprisonment in the Tower. When Sir Walter was executed, at the age of sixty-three, he was broken in health, and worn out with the labours and troubles of his eventful career. Life could have little more in store for him, and death on the scaffold gave him an opportunity of showing the world, in a way which it has not forgotten, how nobly a man can die. But when James came to the throne Ralegh was still in the prime of life, and no man then living was better fitted to do good work for his country. That James should have failed to make use of the noblest spirit amongst his people shows in a striking manner his incapacity for sympathizing with true genius.

Young amongst the heroes who gathered round Elizabeth's throne, Ralegh lived on into an age when genius was feared, not sought for.

1618]

RALEGH'S CHARACTER.

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impossible to say what he might not still have done for his country, had he been allowed; it is difficult to say in a few words what he actually did do. His manysidedness is the most striking thing about him, and by virtue of it he seems to sum up in himself all the leading characteristics of the Elizabethan age. A fearless soldier, a distinguished seaman, he was at the same time a most gallant and accomplished courtier. He could turn a compliment as gracefully as Sir Christopher Hatton, and attack a Spanish galleon as dauntlessly as Drake. Amongst the many great names in the literature of that age, his has found a worthy place as poet, philosopher, and historian. All his life a complete master of the intricacies of foreign politics, he took also, as long as he was able, an active and intelligent share in home politics. He delighted in far-reaching schemes, and saw how England was fitted, by her position and by the character of her people, to send forth offshoots into distant lands. To him we may look back as the father of English colonization.

But whilst busied in great schemes he did not forget the duties which lay near at hand. He administered the offices which he held under Elizabeth with zeal and care; he watched with deep interest the planting of his own estate; he never forgot to care for the faithful servants who had followed him through many dangers. By the introduction of the potato and tobacco he contributed largely to the comfort of his countrymen.

His chemical studies show how anxious he was to alleviate human suffering as much as he could, A self-summed man, of arrogant and overbearing manners, unable to contain the scorn which he felt for mean and common things, he was never loved by the people till his sufferings had taught them the real meaning of his character. The tide of popular feeling was turned at his trial at Winchester; and since then the English people have loved and honoured him amongst their heroes.