enough from another source; perhaps from James's own mouth. For the
first letter to the West Indies about Raleigh was dated from Madrid,
March 19; and most remarkable it is that in James's 'Declaration,' or
rather apology for his own conduct, no mention whatsoever is made of
his having given information to Gondomar.

Gondomar offered, says James, to let Raleigh go with one or two ships
only. He might work a mine, and the King of Spain would give him a
safe convoy home with all his gold. How kind. And how likely would
Raleigh and his fellow-adventurers have been to accept such an offer;
how likely, too, to find men who would sail with them on such an
errand, to be 'flayed alive,' as many who travelled to the Indies of
late years had been, or to have their throats cut, tied back to back,
after trading unarmed and peaceably for a month, as thirty-six of
Raleigh's men had been but two or three years before in that very
Orinoco. So James is forced to let the large fleet go; and to let it
go well armed also; for the plain reason, that otherwise it dare not
go at all; and in the meanwhile letters are sent from Spain, in which
the Spaniards call the fleet 'English enemies,' and ships and troops
are moved up as fast as possible from the Spanish main.

But, say some, James was justified in telling Gondomar, and the
Spaniards in defending themselves. On the latter point there is no
doubt.


'They may get who have the will,
And they may keep who can.'