Sir Walter Ralegh: A BiographyStebbing, W. (William)
History
Sir Walter Ralegh: A Biography
Stebbing, W. (William)
Biography; Raleigh, Walter, Sir, 1552?-1618
He reckoned up, besides, the
interest he had been paying on £11,000 since the voyage began. The Queen
was grasping in such matters. So, too, was her Lord Treasurer. Sir John
Fortescue, Chancellor of the Exchequer, had to remonstrate: 'It were
utterly to overthrow all service if due regard were not had of my Lord
of Cumberland and Sir Walter Ralegh, with the rest of the Adventurers,
who would never be induced to further adventure if they were not
princely considered of.' He added in a courtly strain: 'And herein I
found her Majesty very princely disposed.'
CHAPTER XI.
AT HOME; AND IN PARLIAMENT. (1592-1594).
[Sidenote: _Negotiation for Hayes._]
Ralegh generally could hold his own, even in a bargain with his Queen.
In 1592 his hands were tied. He had to use his prize, as he said
himself, for his ransom; and it effected his purpose. Once more he was a
free man, and he had much to render liberty precious and delightful. He
had a bride beautiful, witty, and devoted; and in 1594 a son was born to
him, whom he named Walter. He had many pursuits, and wealth which should
have been abundant, though all Elizabeth's courtiers were impecunious.
An important addition had been made to his possessions shortly before
his disgrace. For some time after his rise he had intended to fix his
country residence in Devonshire. He is said to have had a house in
Mill-street, Ottery St. Mary. In 1584 he had asked Mr. Duke, of
Otterton, to sell him Hayes. His written request, which Aubrey copied,
with omissions and inaccuracies due to the creases and stains undergone
by the paper through careless handling, is, on uncertain authority, said
to have been at one time preserved at the farmhouse. Subsequently, if
not from the first, it was kept at the residence of the Duke family,
Otterton House, between two and three miles off. Polwhele saw it at
Otterton House shortly before 1793. Afterwards it disappeared. Dr.
Brushfield found the original, as he believes, at Plymouth, in the 1888
collection of Armada and Elizabethan relics. It is the property of Miss
Glubb, of Great Torrington. The letter was written from the Court, on
July 26, 1584, by Mr. Duke's 'very willing frinde in all I shal be able,
W. Ralegh,' and runs as follows: 'Mr Duke--I wrote to Mr Prideux to
move yow for the purchase of hayes a farme som tyme in my fathers
possession. I will most willingly geve yow what so ever in your
conscience yow shall deeme it worth: and if yow shall att any tyme have
occasion to vse mee, yow Shall find mee a thanckfull frind to yow and
yours. I have dealt wth Mr Sprinte for suche things as he hathe at
colliton and ther abouts and he hath promised mee to dept wth the moety
of otertowne vnto yow in consideration of hayes accordinge to the valew,
and yow shall not find mee an ill neighbore vnto yow here after. I am
resolved if I cannot 'ntreat yow, to build att colliton but for the
naturall disposition I have to that place being borne in that howse I
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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