men of the times regarded Raleigh as their leader in thought and deed. His experience, varied knowledge, and subtle reasoning, rendered him, for good or ill, the kind of being who, if any, could influence such a genius as was Marlowe; whilst even the flattery of his addressing the younger man a poem in answer to his popular pastoral song, 'The Passionate Shepherd to his Love,' could not have been read without some pleasure on Marlowe's part.

The famous club at the 'Mermaid,' celebrated for 'wit-combats' between Shakespeare and Ben Jonson, as related by Fuller, and charmingly commemorated for its pleasures in the lines of Beaumont, was founded by Raleigh, who was of a social nature, and loved to gather round him all that was best and most original in society. He held evening receptions, doubtless the first man in London who did so, and collected about him a coterie of eminent people. That Marlowe was one of these there seems little reason to doubt. The earliest references to the poet not only allude to his friendship with Raleigh, but even assert that he read a paper on the Trinity before Sir Walter Raleigh and his brother Carew and others at the knight's house.

The distinguished company which met at Raleigh's house their contemporaries considered, if they did not style, atheists, although more modern nicety of tongue would refer to them as 'Free-thinkers.' It included some of the most remarkable Englishmen of that time. One of them was Edward Vere,

Earl of Oxford, a member of one of the most ancient families of his country, and of whom, although he has been slandered by others, it was said, 'it may be a question whether the nobility of his house, or the honour of his achievements, might most commend him '; Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, whose own talent and goodness in encouraging talent in others were only rivalled by his misfortunes, was yet another and most frequent guest; as were also Matthew Royden, the poet, Walter Warner and Robert Hughes, the mathematicians, and still greater and more remarkable, England's eminent mathematician and, until Isaac Newton, her greatest astronomer, Thomas Harriott.

Little as the name of Harriott is known to the public of these days, his learning, his scientific discoveries, and his inventions place him in the very first rank of England's notable sons. His reputation has been obscured, and his very name forgotten among the mob of England's illustrious men, but research is bringing his deeds and discoveries to light; a preliminary, if not an exhaustive biography of him by a New Englander has recently been published,109 and the time must be near at hand when his name will be lauded and his doings deemed pre-eminent amongst those of the Elizabethan era. His tomb in the centre of the Bank of England, in the very heart of the city of London, will, for his sake, be ofttimes visited as a 'Mecca of the mind.' For nearly forty years Harriott was the friend of Raleigh, standing by him

until his untimely end. He had represented the knight's interests on his voyage to America in 1585 (whither it now seems proved Raleigh himself never went), and on his return published a very remarkable Report of Virginia; remarkable for the comprehensive and foreseeing views it contains with regard to the future of America, and as one of the earliest examples of a statistical survey on a large scale.' 110

Harriott not only foresaw many of the later discoveries in physics and astronomy, but by means of the telescope-the honour of inventing which machine he divides with Galileo-he also made many important discoveries, such as, amongst others, of the spots on the sun, the satellites of Jupiter, and the horns of Venus. He was one of the most illustrious mathematicians not only of his own but of all times ; 'it is believed that in logical analysis, in philosophy, and in many other departments of science, few in his days were his equals, whilst in pure mathematics none was his superior.' Hallam points out that Harriott, 'destined to make the last great discovery in the pure science of algebra . . . arrived at a complete theory of the genesis of equations, which Cardan and Victè had but partially conceived.' Anthony à Wood designated Harriott 'the Universal Philosopher.' That he should be regarded by the people of his times as a magician is not wonderful, but that his blameless life and devoted attachment and gratitude to Sir Walter Raleigh should be made

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