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 _UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE DIFFUSION OF USEFUL
                              KNOWLEDGE._




                                  THE
                         GALLERY OF PORTRAITS:
                                  WITH
                                MEMOIRS.

                               VOLUME VI.


                                LONDON:
                  CHARLES KNIGHT, 22, LUDGATE-STREET.

                                 1836.

                  [PRICE ONE GUINEA, BOUND IN CLOTH.]




                                LONDON:
                  PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,
                         Duke-Street, Lambeth.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                       PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES
                       CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME.


                                           Page.

                        1. Raleigh             1

                        2. Jenner             11

                        3. Maskelyne          20

                        4. Hobbes             25

                        5. Raphael            30

                        6. John Knox          40

                        7. Adam Smith         49

                        8. Calvin             55

                        9. Lord Mansfield     62

                       10. Bradley            69

                       11. Melancthon         75

                       12. William Pitt       84

                       13. Wesley             93

                       14. Dr. Cartwright    102

                       15. Porson            108

                       16. Wiclif            113

                       17. Cortez            122

                       18. Leibnitz          132

                       19. Ximenes           137

                       20. Addison           147

                       21. Bramante          156

                       22. Madame de Stael   161

                       23. Palladio          172

                       24. Queen Elizabeth   177

[Illustration:

  _Engraved by Posselwhite._

  RALEIGH.

  _From a Picture in the Collection of the Duchess of Dorset._

  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
    Knowledge.

  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
]




[Illustration]

                                RALEIGH.


Very little is known concerning the youth of Sir Walter Raleigh. He was
a younger son, descended of an ancient family, and was born at a farm
called Hayes, near the mouth of the river Otter, in Devonshire, in the
year 1552. He went to Oriel College, Oxford, at an early age, and gained
high praise for the quickness and precocity of his talents. In 1569 he
began his military career in the civil wars of France, as a volunteer in
the Protestant cause. It is conjectured that he remained in France for
more than six years, and returned to England in 1576. Soon after, he
repaired to the Netherlands, and served as a volunteer against the
Spaniards. In such schools, and under such leaders as Coligni and the
Prince of Orange, Raleigh’s natural aptitude for political and military
science received the best nurture: but he was soon drawn from the war in
Holland by a pursuit which had captivated his imagination from an early
age—the prosecution of discovery in the New World. In conjunction with
his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a man of courage and ability,
and a skilful sailor, he made an unsuccessful attempt to establish a
colony in North America. Returning home in 1579, he immediately entered
the Queen’s army in Ireland, and served with good esteem for personal
courage and professional skill, until the suppression of the rebellion
in that country. He owed his introduction to court, and the personal
favour of Elizabeth, as is traditionally reported, to a fortunate and
well-improved accident, which is too familiar to need repetition here.
It is probable, however, that his name and talents were not unknown, for
we find him employed almost immediately in certain matters of diplomacy.

Among the cares and pleasures of a courtier’s life, Raleigh preserved
his zeal for American discovery. He applied his own resources to the
fitting out of another expedition in 1583, under command of Sir Humphrey
Gilbert, which proved more unfortunate than the former one: two out of
five vessels returned home in consequence of sickness, and two were
wrecked, including that in which the admiral sailed; and the only result
of the enterprise was the taking possession of Newfoundland in the name
of England. Still Raleigh’s desire for American adventure was not
damped. The Continent northward of the Gulf of Florida was at this time
unknown. But Raleigh, upon careful study of the best authorities, had
concluded that there was good reason for believing that a considerable
tract of land did exist in that quarter; and with the assent of the
Queen in council, from whom he obtained letters patent, granting to
himself and his heirs, under certain reservations, property in such
countries as he should discover, with a right to provide for their
protection and administration, he fitted out two ships, which sailed in
April, 1584. The first land which they made was an island named Okakoke,
running parallel to the coast of North Carolina. They were well received
by the natives, and returned to England in the following autumn highly
pleased. Nor was less satisfaction felt by Raleigh, or even by the
Queen, who conferred on him the honour of knighthood, a title which was
then in high esteem, inasmuch as it was bestowed by that wise princess
with a most frugal and just discrimination. She also gave him a very
lucrative mark of favour, in the shape of a patent for licensing the
selling of wine throughout the kingdom; and she directed that the new
country, in allusion to herself, should be called Virginia. Raleigh did
not think it politic, perhaps was not allowed, to quit the court to take
charge in person of his undertaking; and those to whom he intrusted the
difficult task of directing the infant colony appear to have been
unequal to their office. It is not necessary to pursue the history of an
enterprise which proved unsuccessful, and in which Sir Walter personally
bore no share. He showed his earnestness by fitting out several
expeditions, which must have been a heavy drain upon his fortune. But he
is said to have derived immense wealth from prizes captured from the
Spaniards; and we may here observe that the lavish magnificence in
dress, especially in jewels, for which Raleigh was remarkable, even in
the gorgeous court of Elizabeth (his state dress is said to have been
enriched with jewels to the value of £60,000), may be considered less as
an extravagance, than as a safe and portable investment of treasure. A
mind less active might have found employment more than enough in the
variety of occupations which pressed upon it at home. He possessed a
large estate, granted out of forfeited lands, in Ireland; but this was
always a source rather of expense than of profit, until, in 1601, he
sold it to the Earl of Cork. He was Seneschal of the Duchies of Cornwall
and Exeter, and held the wardenship of the Stannaries; and in 1586, as
well as formerly in 1584, we find that he possessed a seat in
parliament. In 1587, the formidable preparation of the Spanish Armada
withdrew the mind of Raleigh, as of all Englishmen, from objects of
minor importance, to the defence of their country. He was a member of
the council of war directed to prepare a general scheme of defence, and
held the office of Lieutenant-General of Cornwall, in addition to the
charge of the Isle of Portland: but as on this occasion he possessed no
naval command, he was not actively engaged in the destruction of that
mighty armament. In 1589 he served as a volunteer in the expedition of
Norris and Drake to Portugal, of which some account has been given in
the life of the latter. Nor were his labours unrewarded even in that
unfortunate enterprise; for he captured several prizes, and received the
present of a gold chain from the Queen, in testimony of her approbation
of his conduct.

Soon after these events, Raleigh retired to his Irish property, being
driven from court, according to some authorities, by the enmity of the
Earl of Essex, then a young man just rising into favour. He there
renewed a former intimacy with the poet Spenser, who, like himself, had
been rewarded with a grant of land out of forfeited estates, and then
resided at Kilcolman Castle. Spenser has celebrated the return of his
friend in the beautiful pastoral, ‘Colin Clout’s come home again;’ and
in that, and various passages of his works, has made honourable mention
of the highly poetic spirit which enabled the ‘Shepherd of the Ocean,’
as he is there denominated, to appreciate the merit of the ‘Fairy
