W. Ralegh having
gazed and sighed a long time at his study window, from whence he
might discern the barges and boats about the Blackfriars stairs,
suddenly brake out into a great distemper, and sware that his
enemies had on purpose brought her majesty thither to break his gall
in sunder with Tantalus's torments, that when she went away he might
see death before his eyes; with many such like conceits. And, as a
man transported with passion, he sware to Sir George Carew that he
would disguise himself, and get into a pair of oars to ease his mind
but with a sight of the queen, or else he protested his heart would
break." This of course the gaoler refused, and so they fell to
fighting, "scrambling and brawling like madmen," until parted by
Gorges. Sir Walter followed up his absurdity by another letter to
Cecil, couched in the language of romance, in which he declares
that, while the queen "was yet near at hand, that I might hear of
her once in two or three days my sorrows were the less, but now my
heart is cast into the depth of all misery."

[69] These letters were written by Lord Cecil to Sir Thomas Parry,
our ambassador in France, and were transcribed from the copy-book of
Sir Thomas Parry's correspondence which is preserved in the Pepysian
library at Cambridge.

[70] He had undertaken the expedition immediately upon his release
from the Tower in 1617. The king had never pardoned him, and his
release was effected by bribing powerful court favourites, who
worked upon the avarice of James I. by leading him to hope for the
possession of Guiana, which, though discovered by the Spaniards, had
never been conquered by them; and which Rawleigh promised to
colonise.

[71] This occurred during the attack on the town of St. Thomas; a
settlement of the Spaniards near the gold mines. It ended
disastrously to Rawleigh: his ships mutinied; and he never recovered
his ill-fortune; but sailed to Newfoundland, and thence, after a
second mutiny, returned to Plymouth.

[72] A friend informs me, that he saw recently at a print-dealer's a
_painted portrait of Sir Walter Rawleigh, with the face thus
spotted_. It is extraordinary that any artist should have chosen
such a subject for his pencil; but should this be a portrait of the
times, it shows that this strange stratagem had excited public
attent