Sir Walter Ralegh: A BiographyStebbing, W. (William)
History
Sir Walter Ralegh: A Biography
Stebbing, W. (William)
Biography; Raleigh, Walter, Sir, 1552?-1618
Elizabeth herself devised for the virgin land discovered in the reign of
a virgin queen the appellation of Virginia. Possibly the name was
favoured by some resemblance to a native phrase Wynganda coia. This
means, writes Ralegh, in the _History of the World_, 'You wear good
clothes,' which the settlers supposed to be the reply to their question
of the name of the country. The similarity of the king's name may have
assisted the choice. Spenser entitles Elizabeth, in the dedication of
his great poem, 'Queen of England, France, and Ireland, and of
Virginia.' Ralegh had a seal of his arms cut, with the legend, 'Walteri
Ralegh, militis, Domini et Gubernatoris Virginiae propria insignia,
1584, amore et virtute.' He hastened to realize his lordship, which was
still somewhat in the air. He obtained a fair amount of support, though
his brother, Carew Ralegh, could not prevail upon the Exeter merchants
to become partners. They were not moved by his catalogue of the
merchantable commodities which had been found. They stigmatized the
undertaking as 'a pretended voyage,' which certainly it was not. On
April 9, 1585, 'at the pleasant prime,' says Holinshed, a fleet of seven
sail set forth from Plymouth, under Ralegh's cousin, Sir Richard
Grenville, as general of the expedition. Mr. Ralph Lane was Governor of
the colony, and Captain Philip Amadas was his Deputy. Lane had an Irish
commission. Elizabeth ordered that a substitute should be found for him,
that he might go to Virginia for Ralegh. Ralegh drew up rules, which
have been lost, for the political government. Thomas Cavendish, a future
circumnavigator of the globe, and Thomas Hariot, or Harriot, were among
the colonists. Hariot, who describes himself as 'servant to Sir Walter
Ralegh,' was commissioned to survey and report. He published a
remarkable description of the territory in 1588. Manteo and Wanchese
returned to America with the expedition. On the way out, by Hispaniola
and Florida, Grenville took two Spanish frigates. He reached Wokoken in
June, and visited the mainland. He was not happy in the conduct of the
expedition, being reported by Lane, writing to Walsingham on September
8, 1585, to have exhibited intolerable pride and ambition towards the
entire company. Already, on August 25, not a day too soon, he had sailed
for England. He had, he reported at his return to Walsingham, peopled
the new country, and stored it with cattle, fruits, and plants. He left
Governor Lane and 107 colonists. On the homeward voyage a third Spanish
ship was captured. Stukely, a kinsman both of Grenville and of Ralegh,
was with Grenville on board the Tiger. For some unintelligible reason he
thought himself entitled to £10,000 of the booty. According to his
estimate, as reported by his mendacious son, Sir Lewis, the whole was
worth £50,000. Much of the treasure consisted of a cabinet of pearls.
Sir Lewis Stukely alleged that Ralegh charged Elizabeth with taking all
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