After 1587 Sir Walter Raleigh's position as favourite was challenged by the earl of Essex. (See ESSEX, 2nd EARL OF.) In 1588 he was in eclipse. He was in Ireland for part of the year with Sir R. Grenville, and as vice-admiral of Devon looked after the coast-defences and militia levy of the county. In 1589 he was again in Ireland, visiting Edmund Spenser at Kilcolman. It was by Raleigh's help that Spenser obtained a pension, and royal aid to publish the first three books of the Faerie Queen. In 1589 Raleigh accompanied the expedition to the coast of Portugal which failed to raise a revolt against Philip II. In 1591 he was at the last moment forbidden to take part in the voyage to the Azores, being replaced by his cousin Sir R. Grenville. In 1592 he was again at sea with an expedition to intercept the Spanish trade, but was recalled by the queen, having seduced one of her maids of honour, Elizabeth Throgmorton. Raleigh denied the stories in a letter to Robert Cecil. On his return he was put into the Tower, and if he was not already married was married there. To placate the queen he made a fantastic display of despair at the loss of her favour. The maids of honour could not marry without the queen's consent, which Elizabeth was always reluctant to give and would be particularly unwilling to give when the husband was an old favourite of her own. Raleigh proved a good husband and his wife was devoted to him through life. He superintended the distribution of the booty from the Portuguese carrack "Madre de Dios." He had provided large sums for the expedition, but the queen left him barely enough to cover his expenses.
Raleigh now retired to an estate at Sherborne in Dorsetshire, which he had extorted from the bishop of Salisbury by unscrupu lous use of the royal influence. A son was born to him here in 1593. But a retired life did not suit Raleigh, and in 1595 he sailed on a voyage of exploration to the coast of South America. The object was undoubtedly to find gold mines, and Raleigh had heard the wild stories of El Dorado. His account of his voyage, The Discoverie of Guiana, published on his return, is brilliant, but contains much manifest romance and was received with incredu lity. He was now the most unpopular man in England for his greed, arrogance and scepticism in religion. In 1590 he was named with Marlowe and others as an atheist. The share he took in the capture of Cadiz in 1596, where he was wounded, was followed by a return to favour, and he was apparently reconciled to Essex, whom he accompanied to the Azores in 1597. This co-operation led to a renewal of the quarrel, and Raleigh became still more unpopular. In 1600 he obtained the governorship of Jersey, and in 16o1 took a part in suppressing the rebellion of Essex, at whose execution he presided as captain of the Guard. In 1600 he sat as member for Penzance in Elizabeth's last parliament. He was a steady friend of religious toleration, and a bold critic of the fiscal and agrarian legislation of the time.
James I., who regarded Essex as his partisan, had been preju diced, and Raleigh's desire for war with Spain was against James's peace policy. Raleigh sold his Irish estates to Richard Boyle in 5602. He was expelled from Durham House, which was reclaimed by the bishop, dismissed from the captaincy of the Guard, de prived of his monopolies and of the government of Jersey. He was concerned in the complication of conspiracies of the first months of James's reign, and was committed to the Tower on July 19, 1603. Here he tried to stab himself, but only inflicted a small wound. His trial at Winchester, November 1603, was con ducted with outrageous unfairness, and his gallant bearing in face of the brutality of the Attorney-General, Sir Edward Coke, turned public opinion in his favour. Raleigh was probably cognizant of the conspiracies, though the evidence against him was insufficient to prove his guilt. Much was kept back by the council, and the
jury was influenced by knowing that the council thought him guilty.
The sentence of death passed on Raleigh was not carried out, but he was sent to the Tower, where he remained till March 19, 1616. His estate of Sherborne, which he had transferred to his son, was taken by the king. A sum of L8,000 offered in compensa tion was only paid in part. Raleigh's confinement was easy, and he turned to chemical experiments and literature. He had been known as a minor poet, and in prison he composed the only vol ume of his vast History of the World published. He invented an elixir, a very formidable quack stimulant. Hope of release never deserted him, and he secured his freedom in a way discreditable to all concerned. He promised the king to find a gold mine in Guiana without entrenching on a Spanish possession. It must have been obvious that this was impossible, and the Spanish ambassa dor, Gondomar, warned the king that the Spaniards had settle ments on the coast. The king, who was in need of money, replied that if Raleigh was guilty of piracy he should be executed on his return. Raleigh gave promises he obviously knew he could not keep and sailed on March 17, 1617, relying on the chapter of accidents, and on vague intrigues he had entered into in Savoy and France. The ill-equipped expedition reached the mouth of the Orinoco on Dec. 31, 1617. Raleigh was ill with fever, and re mained at Trinidad. He sent five small vessels up the Orinoco under Lawrence Keymis, with whom went his son Walter and a nephew. The expedition found a Spanish settlement on the way to the supposed mine, and a fight ensued in which Sir Walter's son and several Spaniards were killed. Keymis returned to Sir Walter with the news of his son's death and his own utter ruin, and killed himself as a result of Raleigh's reproaches. After a miserable scene of recriminations and mutiny, the expedition re turned home. Raleigh was arrested, and in pursuance of the king's promise to Gondomar was executed under his old sentence on Oct. 29, 1618. When he knew his end to be inevitable he died with serenity and dignity. His wife survived him, and he left a son, Carew Raleigh. His enmity to Spain made him a popular hero.