as night descends on the tragedy of roanoke the sun is rising on the land of england.
the victory over the spanish armada has given the english a sense of security which they have never felt before. they have become a composite nation, not only able to defend their country in time of invasion, but able to seek out philip in his spanish home, plunder his towns and ships, and also carry on the subjugation of ireland which henry ii. had begun.
the golden flower of literature has burst into full bloom. grammar schools for the education of the masses are rising all over the land. universities are diligently studying the classics of italy and greece. education is no more confined to the nobility, and the genius of the “poor scholar” is giving england her greatest son, shakespeare. his wonderful mind is raising to the height of splendor the english drama begun by sackville and marlowe. bacon is proclaiming the philosophy of science and gilbert is investigating the mysteries of electricity.
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action, action is the watchword of the nation.
elizabeth’s wars abroad have depleted her exchequer. she must now economize and wait for a more auspicious moment for planting a new colony in her dominion of virginia. but the angel of death waits at the threshold, to carry her where she is to give an account of the deeds done in the body. elizabeth—essex—mary, queen of scots—what did they have to say to each other when they met in the dim world of spirits? ambition, power, and the worshiping love of her people could not fill the hungry heart of elizabeth, embittered by the perfidy of leicester. lonely she lived; lonely she died.
“the queen is dead, long live the king!”
james i, son of mary, queen of scots, sits on the throne, while sir walter raleigh, the “shepherd of the ocean,” lies a prisoner in the tower of london, spending his last days in an effort for the good of mankind—he is writing his history of the world.
shadows, which the glory of elizabeth’s reign had hitherto hid, are overcasting the sky of england. thousands of disbanded soldiers are returning home from the wars. the farmers have abandoned agriculture and taken to sheep raising.36 everywhere there is distress. is there nothing for the unemployed to do?
yes, god has opened the land of virginia.
new hope and energy spring into life and culminate in the formation of the london company for the permanent colonization of virginia, the territory between cape fear and maryland.
