legh
landed to search for the gold mines which he had formerly seen there?
Ralegh remembered full well what a danger he ran if he engaged in a
struggle and fought with them: he knew that he was thereby forfeiting
his life. But on the other side, was he to return without fulfilling
his purpose, and to burden himself with the reproach of not having
told the truth? Worst of all, was he to fail in effecting the object
which he had entertained all his life long, and not to achieve the
discovery on which he staked the future glory of his name? It was
perhaps the greatest moment in a life that almost always lifts itself
above the ordinary level, when the thirst for discovery gained the
victory over considerations of legality and the danger involved in
discarding them. And well might he have hoped that not only pardon but
praise would have been accorded him, if he had actually obtained
possession of the gold mines, by whatever means. He commanded his men
when they advanced inland to behave to the Spaniards as the Spaniards
behaved to them. A collision was thus unavoidable. It took place at S.
Thomas, which was destroyed, but the Spaniards nevertheless had
completely the superiority: Ralegh's only son was killed; and the
captain who had the charge of the expedition was so disheartened that
he committed suicide. These disasters involved the utter failure of
the expedition. His crews, who were naturally insubordinate,
quarrelled among themselves, and on the voyage home the fleet
dispersed. Ralegh came back to England without an ounce of gold, and
without having effected any result whatever: he appeared in the light
of an adventurer who had wantonly desired to break the peace with
Spain. And when the ambassador of this power asked for full and signal
satisfaction, in order to restore the good understanding which
Ralegh's enterprise had at once interrupted, was it to be expected
that the King should take under his protection the man who had not
complied with the conditions prescribed to him, and whom for other
reasons he did not love? And moreover the pulse of free generosity
which befits a sovereign did not beat in the breast of King James. He
consented that the old sentence of condemnation, for fifteen years
suspended over Ralegh's head, should now be enforced against him. It
had been pronounced against him for entering into a secret alliance
with Spain; an attack on Spain led to its execution. Ralegh and the
King exhibit a contra