SIR WALTER RALEGH.* IF Sir Walter Ralegh is not one

of our greatest men, there is at least no other Englishman who has achieved all but the highest reputation in so many and so different directions. The splendour of his exploits by sea and land, the graces of his person, the sweetness of his poetry, and the magnificent flow of his prose writings, have all contributed to form our idea of a soldier, sailor, scholar, courtier, orator, historian, and philosopher, the like of whom is not to be found in our annals, and who has been one of our most popular heroes for nearly three centuries.

Few Englishmen have been the subject of more biographies or of more persistent eulogy than Sir Walter Ralegh. The " best-hated man of the world in court, city, and country," of the great men whose names have made the reign of Elizabeth illustrious, and not only the most generally un- popular, but perhaps the man with the fewest personal friends, his long and unmerited imprisonment, and his unjust, if not illegal execution by James I., caused a complete revul- sion of feeling in his favour, and contributed more even than his actual merits, great as they were, to hand him down to posterity, not only, as he was admitted to be even by those who least loved him, as one of the greatest writers both in prose and verse of that great period, but—what his con- temporaries doubted—one of the foremost and ablest, though by no means one of the most successful, men of action. More than a dozen biographies—one, that of Oldys, of unusual merit—were given to the world in the two centuries and a half which followed his death, all to be superseded by two which appeared in 1868, when the late Edward Edwards and Augustus St. John published almost simultaneously, laborious and copious biographies, each based on independent research and original documents, and hardly more than overlapping each other in new and interesting matter. But though Edwards's book is nothing less than a mine of information for the life of Ralegh, and though St. John's researches in the archives of Simancas add largely to the value of his biography, neither writer displays the smallest critical or historical insight ; neither clears up any of the perplexities and mysteries which envelop so many of the actions and circumstances of Ralegh's life, or in the least enables us to understand his character ; while Edwards is as dull and unreadable as St. John is diffuse and commonplace. More recently, Mr. Edmund Gosse collated for the first time the original matter brought to light by Messrs. Edwards and St. John, and gave us an interesting monograph in the "English Worthies" series. But though written with all the literary skill and careful treatment that the author's name leads us to expect, it is too brief even to claim to be the biography of Sir Walter Ralegh.

There was, then, room for another work which should narrate to us the facts of his life with all the detail which they deserve, and which the flood of letters and papers let loose upon us during the last half-century has at length made possible; which should explain, as far as they can be explained, the perplexing problems which attend nearly every action of Ralegh's life, and nearly every event with which his name is connected ; which should sum up judicially not only the evidence upon which he was condemned and executed, but that upon which his contemporaries generally passed so different a judgment from that of posterity ; which should give us an appreciative and just criticism on his writings, and, above all, should portray in a manner really to live before our eyes the singular personality of the man to whom we may apply (though in a favourable sense) the well-known lines of Dryden :—

" A man so various that he seemed to be Not one, but all mankind's epitome."

Such a biography is now before us. Mr. Stebbing has evi- dently devoted much thought and much labour to a most conscientious study of all the available materials, including Ralegh's own writings and all that has been written of him since his death by biographers, historians, and critics. He has carefully weighed the evidence, and has summed it up fairly, and in general, judicially, neither concealing nor attempting in the slightest degree to gloss over the facts —and they are numerous and weighty—that tell against his hero in the many equivocal actions of his life, but summing up, as an effective biographer must do, with a leaning to the side of the accused, and after he has summed • Bir Walter /kWh : a Biography. By William Stabbing. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

up, and has converted himself into a jury, pronouncing in nearly every case a verdict of " Not guilty,"—a verdict in which we think that the majority of readers will in general be disposed to agree, though sometimes "Not proven" would seem to be more in accordance with the evidence.

Mr. Stebbing's book is a biography, strictly and properly

so called. Its author constantly bears in mind the distinc-

tion between biography and history, and has nothing in common with that objectionable class of writers who commence their title-page with the words, "The Life and Times." He

treats of the general history of the period only so far as is absolutely needed by his narrative. Indeed, occasionally—

for instance, in reference to the state of Ireland, and the rela- tions between England and Spain—he presupposes in his readers a good deal more knowledge than we suspect many of them will possess, and his book will thus be caviare to all who have not a fair acquaintance with the history of the reigns of Elizabeth and James. There are no attempts at fine-writing in the book, no florid amplifications of hypo- thetical facts such as swell to an inordinate extent so many biographies. In the terse, crisp sentences in which the greater part of the book is written, there is never an unnecessary word, nor ever the slightest possibility of mistaking the writer's meaning. Indeed, sometimes in the determination to attain simplicity of diction, and avoid complex sentences, he cuts up his paragraphs into too short periods, which become irritating and even fatiguing to the reader.

Mr. Stebbing has not disguised from himself or from his readers the difficulties of the task he has undertaken. He does not claim to have cleared up all the perplexing mysteries which envelop many circumstances of Ralegh's life. His

introduction to the Court and the Queen, the causes of his successive disgraces and restorations to favour, his relations with Essex, and his connection with those still more per-

plexing mysteries, the Bye and the Main, his attempt at suicide, his real intentions in his second voyage to Guiana, to mention only a few matters, are still shrouded in mist, which his biographer, though he has somewhat lightened, has been unable entirely to disperse. But he has at least laid before us all the available evidence on these questions, and has done so without prejudice or partiality.

As a man of action, Ralegh was a failure. His one brilliant exploit—the taking of Cadiz—which he shared with others, is hardly a set-off against the miserable result of the single naval expedition in which he commanded in chief. His ex- ploits on land were mere skirmishes with Irish savages, and he never had a chance of distinguishing himself as a serious military commander. Though he is reputed as the founder of Virginia, and the introducer of its products to England and Ireland, it is almost certain that he never set foot on the continent of North America, and the successive expeditions sent out under his auspices to colonise Virginia—or rather, North Carolina—were as disastrous as his own voyage to Guiana, and resulted in no permanent settlement. His great ambition was to be a statesman, and his writings lead us to think that he was, as his biographer describes him, "a master of policy ; " yet he never succeeded even in becoming a Privy Councillor, and his highest office was that of Captain of the Guard.

It is in his literary work that the real greatness of Ralegh consists. As a writer of English prose, only two of his con- temporaries—Hooker and Bacon—attained the same rank. And the thought and matter of his writings are fully equal to the style. In his poetry he is not inferior to his friend Spenser, either in sweetness or poetical power. Mr. Stebbing is at his best in his literary criticisms. He justly says that " in previous English poetry no such dirge is to be found as his epitaph on Sir Philip Sidney," and that its author, "had he lived in the nineteenth century, in default of new worlds to capture or new Armadas to fight, might have written In Memoriam." The chapter on "Science and Literature " is full of judicious and appreciative criticism, and is written in a more flowing style than the greater part of the book. We regret that the descrip-

tion of the History of the World is too long to be quoted in its entirety, and that our limits will only allow us to extract a few sentences :— " On moves the world's imperial pageant; now slowly and some- what heavily, through the domain of Scriptural annals, with theological pitfalls at every step for the reputed free-thinker ; now as Greek and Roman confines are reached, with more use and animation; always under the conduct as if of a Heaven-commis- sioned teacher with a message to rulers, that no `cords have ever lasted long but those which have been twisted by love only.' Throughout are found an instinct of the spirit of events and their doers, a sense that they are to be judged as breathing beings, and not as mummies, an affection for nobility of aim and virtuous con- duct, a scorn of rapacity, treachery, selfishness, and cruelty, which account better for the rapture of contemporaries, than for the neglect of the History of the World in the present century."

We are a little disappointed with the account of the two most interesting episodes in Ralegh's life, the first voyage to

Guiana, and the capture of Cadiz. Each would bear more detail, and in the case of Cadiz, the narrative appears occa- sionally somewhat obscure, and we scarcely get so clear a picture of the event as we expect. On the other hand, nothing can be better than the chapter on the trial at Win- chester, which is graphically narrated, and the actors brought vividly before our eyes.

On several minor points we are unable to agree with Mr. Stebbing, or to share his favourable view of Ralegh's conduct.

To Essex we think he is not quite fair. Certainly Ralegh's jealousy of Essex was equal to, if not greater than, Essex's jealousy of Ralegh. And though it may possibly be the truth that "animosity against Ralegh stimulated courtiers and populace to sing in chorus the praises of the stepson of the detested Leicester," yet the popularity of the Earl rested largely on his own qualities—certainly showy, possibly shallow—but more generous, and displaying a less greedy and grovelling disposition than was the case with many of the favourites and would-be favourites of the great Queen. We hardly know whether to feel more shame at the conduct of Bacon, or at that of Ralegh, in relation to the fall and death of Essex. The letter written to Cecil shortly before the execution of the Earl, is, of all the actions of Ralegh's life, the one which we find it moat difficult to condone.

But though we are not always in accord with Mr. Stebbing, we can cordially recommend his book to all readers who wish to make or renew an acquaintance with one of the most in- teresting personalities of the time, no faultless monster or perfect hero indeed, but one who deserved well of his country, and who at least was free from many of those mean vices and ignoble qualities which disfigure so many of the great names of the reigns of Elizabeth and James. In the eloquent passage with which Mr. Stebbing concludes his book, we find no word from which to dissent :-

"Had he been less vivacious and many-sided, he might have succeeded better, suffered less, and accomplished more. With qualities less shining, he would have escaped the trammels of Court favouritism, and its stains. With powers less various he would have been content to be illustrious in one line. As a poet he might have rivalled instead of patronising Spenser. In prose he might have surpassed the thoughtful majesty of Hooker. As an observer of Nature he might have disputed the palm with Bacon. He must have been recog- nised as endowed with the specific gifts of a statesman or a general, if he had possessed none others as remarkable. But if less various he would have been less attractive. If he had shone without a cloud in any one direction, he would not have pervaded a period with the splendour of his nature, and become its type. More smoothness in his fortunes would have shorn them of their tragic picturesqueness. Failure itself was needed to colour all with the tints which surprise and captivate. He was not a martyr to forgive his persecutors. He was not a hero to endure in silence, and without an effort at escape. His character had many earthy streaks. His self-love was enormous. He could be shifty, wheed- ling, whining. His extraordinary and indomitable perseverance in the pursuit of ends was crossed with a strange restlessness and recklessness in the choice of means. His projects often ended in reverses and disappointments. Yet, with all the shortcomings, no figure, no life gathers up in itself more completely the whole spirit of an epoch ; none more firmly enchains admiration for invincible individuality, or ends by winning a more personal tenderness and affection."