Hugh De Sélincourt - Great Ralegh

SIR WALTER RALEGH SIR WALTER RALEGH

New York : G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
London : METHUEN & CO.
1908

This book has been written for the general reader. Caveat scholasticus. My aim has been to make the character of Ralegh live again, and to draw a picture of the times in as lively a manner as I see it. England in Elizabeth's maturity touched greatness; in Elizabeth's old age and during the reign of King James, England declined. Ralegh embodied the greatest qualities of the great days, and survived to carry on the Elizabethan tradition when the great Elizabethans had passed away.

The books to which reference has been made are too many to need mention in a book of this kind: dramatists, poets, pamphleteers, memoirists have been freely pillaged. But I should like to acknowledge here my extreme indebtedness to the works of Major Martin Hume, Mr. T. N. Brushfield, and the late Mr. Edward Edwards, and to thank again Miss Janet Wheeler for her kind help, notably in that arduous taskthe making of an Index.

H. de S.

The spread of newsBirthInfluence of birthplaceHis fatherHis mother.

Life is a series of accidents more or less controlled; the play of circumstances upon character infinitely various and infinitely involved. Elizabethan life was superb for the reason that there were fewer men, and they had the immense advantage of realizing their power and of possessing scope for their energy. It was the age of discovery, not only of new lands, but of discovery in every branch of life. Now, a man may grow old before he has acquired an inkling of what has been found out, before he has read what has been written finely. The world stands at ease uneasily, and has time for shuffling and discontent. Vitality and opportunity then worked in wonderful harmony. We are not less vital, but our energy is apt to be stifled. Everything is so easy. We read day by day what has happened throughout the world. There is nothing surprising except our friends and ourselvesand they are apt to surprise us too much. Effort begets effort, and effort, strength. The Elizabethan, without railways, without posts, without telegraphs, was bound to rely upon himself for everything.