RaleighhasagreatattemptonthePlate-fleetsinhand;hehurriesofffromChatham，andwritestoyoungCecilonthe10thofMarch，’I
meannottocomeaway，assomesayIwill，forfearofamarriage，andIknownotwhat……ForIprotestbeforeGod，thereisnoneonthefaceoftheearththatIwouldbefastenedunto。’
Thisfamouspassageisoneofthoseoverwhichthevirtuosityofmoderntimes，rejoicinginevil，hashungsofondly，asgivingmelancholyproofofthe’duplicityofRaleigh’scharacter’;asifamanwhoonceinhislifehadtoldanuntruthwasprovedbythatfacttobearoguefrombirthtodeath：whileothershavekindlygivenhimthebenefitofadoubtwhethertheletterwerenotwrittenafteraprivatemarriage，andthereforeRaleigh，being’joinedunto’someonealready，hadarighttosaythathedidnotwishtobejoinedtoanyone。ButIdonotconcurinthisdoubt。Fourmonthsafter，SirEdwardStaffordwritestoAnthonyBacon，’IfyouhaveanythingtodowithSirW。R。，oranylovetomaketoMistressThrogmorton，attheTowerto-morrowyoumayspeakwiththem。’Thisimpliesthatnomarriagehadyettakenplace。Andsurely，iftherehadbeenprivatemarriage，twopeoplewhowereabouttobesenttotheTowerfortheirfollywouldhavemadethemarriagepublicatonce，astheonlypossibleself-justification。Butitisapity，inmyopinion，thatbiographers，beforepronouncinguponthatsupposedlieofRaleigh’s，hadnottakenthetroubletofindoutwhatthewordsmean。Intheirvirtuoushastetoprovehimaliar，theyhaveoverlookedthefactthatthewords，astheystand，areunintelligible，andtheargumentself-contradictory。Hewantstoprove，wesuppose，thathedoesnotgotoseaforfearofbeingforcedtomarryMissThrogmorton。Itis，atleast，anunexpectedmethodofsodoinginashrewdmanlikeRaleigh，tosaythathewishestomarrynooneatall。’Don’tthinkthatIrunawayforfearofamarriage，forIdonotwishtomarryanyoneonthefaceoftheearth，’isaspeechwhichmayproveRaleightohavebeenafool，andwemustunderstanditbeforewecansaythatitproveshimarogue。Ifwehadreceivedsuchaletterfromafriend，weshouldhavesaidatonce，’Whytheman，inhishurryandconfusion，hasomittedTHEword;hemusthavemeanttowrite，not\"ThereisnoneonthefaceoftheearththatIwouldbefastenedto，\"but\"ThereisnoneonthefaceoftheearththatI
wouldRATHERbefastenedto，\"’whichwouldatoncemakesenseandsuitfact。ForRaleighnotonlymarriedMissThrogmortonforthwith，butmadeherthebestofhusbands。Myconjecturalemendationmaygoforwhatitisworth：butthatthepassage，asitstandsinMurdin’sStatePapers（theMSS。Ihavenotseen）iseithermisquoted，ormis-
writtenbyRaleighhimself，Icannotdoubt。Hewasnotonetothinknonsense，evenifhescribbledit。