BALEIGH 422 BAM of the best of Tennyson's ballads. After he had regained the favor of the Queen, he turned once more to his colonizing schemes. In February, 1595, he began his voyage to Guiana, his object being to fight Spain by cutting off the source of Philip's supplies, the immense wealth of the South American provinces. His story of this expedition is one of the most brilliant stories of travel in our literature, important not only for his- torical reasons and for the charm of its style, but also because it showed the abid- ing passion of his life, to found an Eng- lish nation in the new world. Immedi- ately upon his return he was one of the commanders of an expedition against Cadiz, which resulted, largely through his efforts, in a great victory for Eng- land. Descriptions of the battle, and of the later engagements at Fayal, are to be found in his writings; he was both man of action and historian. It is impossible within the limits of a brief sketch to set down the activities of Raleigh, now at the zenith of his power. He was in high favor with the Queen. He had charge of the entertainment of distinguished foreign visitors. He is said to have been the founder of the famous meetings of wits and men of let- ters at the Mermaid. He sat in Parlia- ment, and played his part as zealously as though his one ambition were to handle parliamentary business. He was Governor of Jersey, and instituted many reforms. He never abandoned his idea of colonization, sending new expeditions to both Guiana and Virginia. He de- veloped his private property as though his sole interest were to be a man of af- fairs. Yet he won no office at all com- mensurate with his great ability, and the chief impression we get of these busy years is that of resistless energy spent on a dozen fields, any one of which might have contented a man of ordinary ambition. "With the accession of James (1603) his fortune failed. Accused from the first of hostility to the claims of the new Stuart King, he became the victim of the ambition and jealousy of men who were desperately striving to secure favor for themselves. He was accused of treason, was convicted, and in No- vember, 1603, was sentenced to death. In a short time, so great was the stoma of indignation aroused by this treatment, he was reprieved, and began his long im- prisonment in the Tower. For 12 years he was a captive, but he made these years glorious by the triumphs of his mind. He turned his cell into a research lab- oratory, scientific, historical, and on mat- ters of state. He wrote a "History of the World," distinguished for its learn- ing, its philosophy, and the quality of its style. He wrote many tracts on govern- ment and on England's destiny. He urged the building of a merchant marine, the building of a fleet able to command the seas, and the establishment of an imperial domain in America. Only in this way could England curb the power of Spain. "The matter," he said, "is nothing less than the sovereignty of the whole world." His writings had the power of his personality ; they stimulated the imaginations of all Englishmen. He founded no colony, no navy, no merchant marine, yet it was his vision that later became the reality on which so much of England's greatness was to rest. Final- ly, in 1617, he was released for the pur- pose of making one more attempt to found a colony in Guiana. The expedi- tion failed, and he returned, a broken old man, to the Tower. He was put through the formality of a second trial for trea- son; his enemies triumphed, and he was executed, Oct. 29, 1618. EALLENTANDO, in music, a direc- tion that the time of the passage over which it is written is to be gradually de- creased. RALPH. JAMES, an English poet; born in Philadelphia, Pa., about 1695. He went to England in 1725 with Ben- jamin Franklin, and was unsuccessful in his first efforts to win public favor. His poem on "Night" (1728) was ridi- culed by Pope in his "Dunciad"; but his continuation of Guthrie's "History of England" (1744-1746) won public praise. He died in Chiswick, England, Jan. 25, 1762. RALPH, JULIAN, an American jour- nalist; born in New York, May 27,1853. He was connected with the New York "Sun" (1875-1895); the New York "Journal" (1896); the London "Daily Mail" (1899). His publications include: "On Canada's Frontier"; "Our Great West"; "People We Pass"; "Alone in China, and Other Stories"; "An Angel in a Web"; "War's Brighter Side"; etc. He died Jan. 20, 1903. RAM, in machinery, the weight of a pile or post driver (see Monkey). In nautical language: (1) A beak of iron or steel at the bow of a war-vessel, de- signed to crush in the sides of an adver- sary by running against her "end on"; the ram can be detached from the ves- sel. (2) A steam iron-clad, armed at the bow below the water-line with such a beak. In old warfare, same as Bat- tering Ram (q. v.). In shipbuilding, a spar, hooped at the end, and used for moving timbers on end by a jolting blow.
