as he not the aggressor, even though
it should be true that the Spaniards fired upon his men at landing?
It is said he killed three or four hundred of them. Is that so light a
matter? 8. In his letter to the king, and in his apology, he grounds his
defence on former hostilities exercised by the Spaniards against other
companies of Englishmen. These are accounted for by the ambiguity of
the treaty between the nations. And it is plain, that though these might
possibly be reasons for the king's declaring war against that nation,
they could never entitle Raleigh to declare war, and, without any
commission, or contrary to his commission, to invade the Spanish
settlements. He pretends indeed that peace was never made with Spain
in the Indies; a most absurd notion! The chief hurt which the Spaniards
could receive from England was in the Indies; and they never would have
made peace at all, if hostilities had been still to be continued on
these settlements. By secret agreement, the English were still allowed
to support the Dutch, even after the treaty of peace. If they had also
been allowed to invade the Spanish settlements, the treaty had been a
full peace to England, while the Spaniards were still exposed to the
full effects of war. 9. If the claim to the property of that country,
as first discoverers, was good, in opposition to present settlement,
as Raleigh pretends, why was it not laid before the king, with all its
circumstances, and submitted to his judgment? 10. Raleigh's force is
acknowledged by himself to have been insufficient to support him in the
possession of St. Thomas, against the power of which Spain was master
on that coast; yet it was sufficient as he owns, to take by surprise and
plunder twenty towns. It was not therefore his design to settle, but to
plunder. By these confessions, which I have here brought together, he
plainly betrays himself. 11. Why did he not stay and work his mine, as
at first he projected? He apprehended that the Spaniards would be upon
him with a greater force. But before he left England, he knew that this
must be the case, if he invaded any part of the Spanish colonies. His
intention therefore never was to settle, but only to plunder. 12. He
acknowledges that he knew neither the depth nor riches of the mine,
but only that there was some ore there. Would he have ventured all his
fortune and credit on so precarious a foundation? 13. Would the other
adventurers, if made acquainted with this,