uence that Raleigh was
still forbidden the Queen's presence. Essex, and the Secretary of
State, Sir Robert Cecil, regarded each other with mutual distrust and
dislike. Cecil and Raleigh were connected by ties of common interest,
and, as the latter supposed, of friendship. Still Raleigh found the
interest of the minister too weak to serve his purpose, while the
interest of the favorite was employed against him; and, as the only
method of effecting his own restoration to the Queen's favor, he
undertook to work a reconciliation between these two powerful rivals.
In this he succeeded, to the great admiration of all spectators; and
the fruit of his policy was seen in his re-admission to the execution
of his official duties at court, June 1, 1597. In the following August
he was appointed Rear Admiral in the expedition called the Island
Voyage, of which Essex held the chief command. The slight successes
which were obtained were again due to the military talents of Raleigh;
the main objects of the voyage were lost through the Earl's
inexperience.

From this time to the death of the Queen, Raleigh enjoyed an
uninterrupted course of favor. Elizabeth was now old; Cecil took no
steps to diminish the high esteem in which she held Sir Walter
Raleigh, but he secretly labored to prejudice her successor against
him, and he succeeded to his wish. Very soon after the accession of
James I., Raleigh's post of captain of the guard was taken from him;
and his patent of wines was revoked, though not without a nominal
compensation being made. To complete his ruin, it was contrived to
involve him in a charge of treason. Most writers have concurred in
speaking of this passage of history as inexplicable; it is the opinion
of the last historian of Raleigh, Mr. Tytler, that he has found
sufficient evidence for regarding the whole plot as a device of Cecil,
and he has supported this opinion by cogent arguments. Lord Cobham, a
violent and ambitious but weak man, had engaged in private dealings
with the Spanish ambassador, which brought him under the suspicion of
the government. By a device of Cecil's (we here follow the account of
Mr. Tytler) he was induced, in a fit of anger, and in the belief that
Raleigh had given information against him, to accuse Sir Walter
himself of being privy to a conspiracy against the government. This
charge Cobham retracted, confirmed, and retracted again, behaving in
so equivocal a manner, that no reliance whatever can b