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1592]

ELIZABETH AND THE SPOIL.

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Elizabeth wished in every way to make the most of her bargain. The sale of certain precious articles was forbidden in the ordinary way of trade, so as to get a better market for the merchandise from the Madre de Dios; so that the prize was probably not of so much benefit to the people as to their Queen.

CHAPTER VII.

Ralegh's First Coyage to Guiana.

AFTER his journey to Dartmouth Ralegh did

not go back to the Tower; though it is uncertain when he was relieved of the company of his keeper. He was not again received into favour at Court, or allowed for some years to exercise his duties as Captain of the Guard. In May, 1593, we find him at Sherborne Castle.

This manor of Sherborne, which lay upon the road between London and Plymouth, had attracted Sir Walter's admiration as he passed it on his frequent journeys to Devon and Cornwall. It belonged to the bishopric of Salisbury, which had once been seated at Sherborne. When Ralegh cast longing eyes upon it, the Queen, who was not scrupulous about the way in which she deprived the church of its lands, made the bishop give her a lease of ninety-nine years of the estate, which she made over to her favourite. Ralegh wished to get absolute possession of the estate. When the see of Salisbury next fell vacant, it was decided to make the gift of it conditional on a

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promise from the new bishop that he would convey over to the Queen, for the benefit of Ralegh, the estate of Sherborne. The first man to whom the see was offered on these terms refused it; but it was accepted by Dr. Henry Cotton, Prebendary of Winchester, in 1598, and the estate of Sherborne was granted to Ralegh. In return, an annuity of £260 was granted to the see of Salisbury in perpetuity. From this and suchlike proceedings of Elizabeth towards the church, we may see that the royal supremacy was in its way as oppressive to the clergy as the pope's supremacy had been.

Ralegh made Sherborne his chief residence, and did much to improve it. He shared the taste of the age for building and gardening. A great improvement was made in those days in the homes of the gentry. The days of civil war were past and forgotten. The fortified castles of former times were no longer needed. Men wanted comfort for their daily life, and a new style of domestic architecture sprung up, which has since borne the name of Elizabethan architecture. It was a combination of the old Gothic with classical architecture, the taste for which had been called out by the revival of classical learning, and it was admirably fitted for domestic purposes. The comfort of the houses inside was also greatly increased. The walls were covered with tapestry, or wainscoted with oak. Feather-beds were in common use. Stoves began to be used in the houses of the gentry; cupboards full of silver

adorned the walls; china dishes and plates and rare Venetian glass were favourite articles of luxury. We read in the Dorsetshire County History that Ralegh first began to build on to the castle at Sherborne "very fairly; but altering his purpose, he built in the park adjoining a most fine house, which he beautified with orchards, gardens, and groves of much variety and great delight; so that whether you consider the pleasantness of the seat, the goodness of the soil, or the other delicacies belonging to it, it rests unparalleled by any in that part of the country." In his present retirement at Sherborne he probably enjoyed the society of his wife, and the amusement of planning and laying out his gardens. But he was not a man to delight in leisure. Shut out for a

time from any chance of gaining power or influence at Court or in the government, his busy mind turned to other schemes.

The wealth which Spain was believed to gain from her colonies and conquests in South America filled the English with envy. They saw their own country poor, their Queen obliged to be parsimonious, unable to engage in war from the want of the necessary money. To enrich England by founding colonies was, as we have seen, Ralegh's dream. The stories of the conquests of Peru and Mexico by Pizarro and Cortez had filled Europe with wonder and admiration. To gain a like rich kingdom for his Queen, to fill her exchequer, to extend her power, was Ralegh's ambition. But

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he wished to do it in a different way from the Spaniards. He did not wish to imitate their cruelty to the natives. Instead of making the natives bitter enemies, he wished to make them friends; to bring their kings to seek the alliance and protection of England; and by gaining a mighty subject kingdom for Elizabeth, to set her resources on a level with those which the Spanish King was supposed to have.

With these thoughts in his mind, Ralegh turned his attention to Guiana. He seems to have laid aside his plans for colonizing Virginia, being dazzled by the wondrous tales that he heard about Guiana. Since the early days of Spanish discovery in America, the natives had poured into the ears of the eager and wondering foreigners tales of the untold wealth of Guiana, the country that lay round the great river Orinoco. Fables of the vast city of Manoa and of El Dorado passed from mouth to mouth. The name of El Dorado was first given to the King of this wondrous city, afterwards to the city itself. The empire of Guiana had greater abundance of gold than any part of Peru. Manoa, for greatness, riches, and its excellent situation, far surpassed any city in the world. To this city it was supposed that all the treasure which had been saved from the hands of the Spaniards at the time of the conquests of Mexico and Peru had been carried. Gold was thought to be so plentiful there that "the very boxes and troughs were made of gold

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