 Section 26 of Life of Sir Walter Raleigh by Louise Creighton. At last Raleigh himself fell ill. He caught a severe cold from being suddenly called from his bed by a violent storm. For a time his life seemed in danger, and when at last Cape Oyapoke, now Cape Orange, was sighted, he was unable to rise from his bed to look at the welcome land. The ships coasted along for three days, and on the 14th November Raleigh had himself carried on shore at Cayana, now the River Cayenne. He pined for fresh air and change from his uncomfortable sick bed on board the ship which was in a frightful state, from the sickness and death of so many men. Raleigh's first thought on nearing land was to inquire for his former Indian servants. These men had looked eagerly for his return and had boarded the ships which had come from England under Camus, Lee and Harcourt, in anxious hope of finding him. One of them, Harry by name, had been with him in England, and after living two years in the tower with him, had gone back to his own country. He now sent provisions beforehand by his brother to announce his coming. He had forgotten most of his English, but not his love for his old master. He brought with him bread and plenty of fresh meat and fruit which Raleigh did not at first dare to eat on account of his state of health, but he began by degrees to gather a little strength. Though it was thirteen years since he had been amongst them, the Indians had cherished his remembrance as that of the great Casique who had done no harm but only brought them hope of happy days and freedom from the hated Spaniards. From Cayanna Raleigh wrote to his wife, Sweetheart, I can yet write unto you with but a weak hand, for I have suffered the most violent callent tour for fifteen days that ever man did and lived, but God that gave me a strong heart hath also now strengthened it in the hellfire of heat. He went on to tell of the sickness and bad weather which had assailed them. He spoke gratefully of the presence of the governor's wife, saying that without them he could not have lived. He had preserved the fruit in fresh sand and had some of it still to his great refreshing. There were a few joyful pieces of news in the letter for the wife and mother. Your son, wrote Raleigh, had never so good health, having no distemper in all the heat under the line. And again, to tell you that I might be king of the Indians were a vanity, but my name had still lived among them. Here they feed me with fresh meat and all that the country yields, all offer to obey me. This letter was taken home by one captain Ali who was obliged to return for his health. In the safe harbor formed by the mouth of the river Kayana, they refreshed themselves, cleaned and repaired their ships, took in water and set up their barges. On the fourth of December they again set sail and had some difficulty in getting over the bar at the mouth of the river. It had now become clear that Raleigh's state of health made it impossible for him to lead in person the expedition of the Orinoco in search of the mines. Besides this impossibility, says Raleigh, in excuse of his not having gone, neither would my son nor the rest of the captains and gentlemen have adventured themselves up the river, having but one month's victuals, and being thrust together a hundred of them in a small fly boat, had I not assured them that I would stay for them at Trinidado, except I were sunk in the sea or set on fire by the Spanish galleons. For that they would have adventured themselves upon any other man's word or resolution. It were ridiculous to believe. Both for the sake of his own health and for the safety of the explorers, it was necessary that Raleigh should stay with the chief body of the fleet. No one else could be depended upon with perfect security to await their return, whatever dangers might beset him. Next came the difficult question to whom the command of the exploring party was to be given. The only person in any way fitted to take it was Captain Camus. He was a brave and faithful man and knew the country well. But more was wanted for such a difficult post, and Camus, though a faithful servant, was not an intelligent commander. He was not able, under difficult circumstances, to choose the right course and abide by it. He was not able to look before and see the result of his actions. Still there was no one better, and so the general command of the expedition was given to him, while the land forces were put under George Raleigh, a nephew of Sir Walters, under whom young Walter commanded a company. On the 15th December Camus, with the five smaller vessels of the fleet, parted from Sir Walter at the Triangle Isles. Raleigh gave him minute instructions as to the course he was to pursue. It was supposed that there was a Spanish town near the mine. The explorers were to avoid this and encamp between the town and the mine. They were then to examine the nature of the mine. If it proved very rich and the Spaniards began to attack them, they were to drive back the Spaniards. Raleigh had no fear of breaking the peace if he were sure of carrying home great riches. But if the mine did not prove rich, they were to content themselves with carrying off one or two baskets full, enough to satisfy James I, that the mine really existed. On the other hand, if, as it seemed possible, a Spanish force had been sent, in obedience to warnings from Madrid to oppose their approach to the mine, Camus was to be careful how he landed. For, said Raleigh bitterly, I know a few gentlemen accepted what a scum of men you have, and I would not for all the world receive a blow from the Spaniards to the dishonor of our nation. He concluded by promising that they would find him on their return at Punto Gallo dead or alive. If you find not my ships there, he added, you shall find their ashes, for I will fire with the Gallians if it come to extremity, but run away, I will never. So they parted. Better had it been for them if they had never met again, if their worst fears had been realized, if of Raleigh and his ships nothing indeed had been left but the ashes burnt after a hopeless and desperate struggle with Spanish Gallians. But it was not so to be. There was to be tragedy enough, but it was tragedy deeper than defeat in battle. Raleigh spent the time of their absence in cruising about Trinidad, observing the nature of the coast and of the birds and flowers that were to be found there. On the 13th February his diary abruptly closes. It is probable that on the next day he heard news which even he had not sufficient courage to write down. What need was there to record the events of the voyage any longer. Camus and his companions entered the Orinoco by its principal mouth, past Punto Añegara, now Port Barema, and continued their journey up the river till the 1st January when they reached the island of Yahya, called Asapanabai Raleigh. They passed on, hoping to reach the mine before the Spaniards could hear of their presence on the river. Great was their surprise when they perceived among the trees on the river bank a cluster of houses which was clearly a Spanish settlement. It was a new town of Santome which had sprung up since the English were last there, and consisted of 140 houses, or rather bamboo huts, with a church in two convents. They could not hope to pass on to the mine unseen by the Spaniards. Still to have gone on would have been far the wisest course. They might then have reached the mine, and there if need be have repelled the attack of the Spaniards. But here Camus showed his want of wisdom. He began at once to land his men. The Spaniards had been warned of their coming by an Indian fisherman and formed an ambiscade from which they attacked the English, but were soon forced back upon Santome. In the night of the 1st January the English attacked the town. The Spaniards made a gallant defense, though they were very inferior in numbers. They continued fighting till the English reached the little open square in the middle of the town, then they threw themselves into the houses, and fired upon their foes till the English set fires at the houses when they were forced to fly into the forest. Whilst the English were fighting their way into Santome, none had fought more bravely than young Walter Raleigh. He had been wounded but still pressed on, encouraging the rest, till a blow felled him to the ground to rise no more. His last words were, Go on, may the Lord have mercy upon me and prosper your enterprise. So, to gain a miserable little Spanish settlement, wherefore all their searching the English could find no treasure, this bright young life had been lost, which was dearer far to Raleigh than all the gold in Guiana. The next day young Raleigh and four others who had fallen were buried in the church. All the soldiers followed under arms with muffled drums beating, pikes trailing, and five banners carried before them. They laid their admiral's son near the altar, and this sad task done, there remained the question, What was to be done next? Camus seems to have lost heart and courage. He started with two launches to go up the river in search of the mine, but he was attacked by some Spaniards who killed nine of his men. He turned back to Santo May for more. His men were beginning to grow discontented whilst the difficulties in his way increased daily. The Spaniards who knew the country well were watching his movements from the thick woods or the river bank, ready to spring upon him at any unguarded moment. How was he to reach the mine and besides what would be the good of finding it, he could neither hold it nor work it. It would only fall into the hands of the Spaniards. Even if he could take any gold back safely to England, it would only be seized by the king. Camus gave way before the difficulties which beset him and determined to go back to the ships. Before he did so, George Raleigh made an expedition up the river for one hundred and ten leagues with a view of examining the fitness of the country for colonization. He was struck with its rich resources, but amongst the crowd of discontented men at Santo May, the scum of the whole earth as Raleigh called them, there were none capable of sharing his views. He found them on his return only more impatient to return. So at last they turned their backs on the mine and dropped down the river again, leaving Santo May in ashes and carrying with them only the small amount of booty they had found in the town. Camus had already sent the sad tidings of young Walter's death to the Admiral by an Indian pilot. Now he brought the news of the total failure of the expedition. It was not to be expected that Raleigh would listen to his excuses with patience. What availed such feeble apologies when everything was lost, since Camus had not even brought back a basketful of gold to prove that the mine existed? Raleigh listened to him with growing anger and at last burst forth. It is for you to satisfy the King, since you have chosen your own way, I cannot do it. Camus had been full of remorse before and grew more and more dispirited as he tried in vain during two wretched days to convince either himself or his Admiral that he had acted rightly. He had lost his old master's confidence. He had ruined Raleigh's credit as Raleigh bitterly told him. At last he wrote a letter in excuse of his conduct to the Earl of Arundel who had been one of the chief promoters of the Enterprise and brought it to Raleigh. Raleigh would not look at it. You have undone me, he said, by your folly and obstinacy and I will not favor or color in any sort your former folly. Camus asked sadly if this was his final resolution and when Raleigh said it was, Camus said as he turned toward his cabin, I know then what course to take. A little while afterwards the report of a pistol was heard and Raleigh sent a boy to ask what had happened. Camus called out from his cabin to the boy that he had fired the shot to clean his arms. Half an hour afterwards the boy went into the cabin and found Camus lying dead upon his bed, a long knife in his heart. The pistol had only broken a rib and he had finished the work with his knife. Discontent and mutiny were beginning to break out in the fleet. Raleigh would have liked still to make a desperate attempt to find the mine but no one would second him. Letters had been found at Santo May from Madrid warning the settlers of his cunning. He felt as if he had been betrayed to the Spaniards and he heard more over that daily reinforcements from Spain were expected. If his men would not agree to face the risks of another attempt to find the mine they might at least lie and wait for the Mexican fleet but they would agree to nothing and two ships even deserted him. The exact date from which he set sail from Trinidad is not known but on March 21st he wrote to Winwood of whose death in October he had not heard. From St. Christopher's in the Antilles he had nothing to write of, he said, than of the greatest and sharpest misfortunes that have ever befallen any man. After giving an account of all that had happened he said that had it not been for the desertion of the two ships I would have left my body at Santo May by my sons or have brought with me out of that or other mines so much cold or as should have satisfied the king that I had propounded no vain thing. What shall become of me now I know not. I am unpardoned in England and my poor estate consumed and whether any other prince or state will give me bread I know not. To his wife he wrote, I was loath to write, because I knew not how to comfort you and God knows I never knew what sorrow meant till now. Comfort your heart dearest best, I shall sorrow for us both. I shall sorrow the less because I have not long to sorrow because not long to live. My brains are broken, it is a torment for me to write and especially of misery. Raleigh seems to have gone to Newfoundland on his way home. The fleet met with much rough weather, the men were discontented in muteness and when Raleigh reached Plymouth on the 21st of June, his ship, the destiny, was alone. The other ships had deserted him. End of Section 26 Section 27 of Life of Sir Walter Raleigh by Louise Creighton. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 16 The Execution of Sir Walter Raleigh, Part 1 The news of the doings of the English on the Orinoco had reached London in the second week of May. Sarmiento was at once loud in his complaints to the King of Raleigh's conduct. James was quite ready to listen to him and to agree with him that Raleigh had been the first to break the peace. On the 9th of June he issued a proclamation inviting all persons who might be able to supply information about the doings of Raleigh and his fleet to come and give evidence before the Privy Council. In the proclamation he spoke of the horrible invasion of the town of Santome and of a malicious breaking of the peace which had been so happily established and so long inviolately continued. James showed himself all eagerness to propitiate Spain and his conduct makes it all a more wonderful that he should ever, thinking as he did, have allowed the expedition to start at all. No sane man can have supposed that Raleigh would have been allowed to get possession of a mine situated in a territory which the Spaniards claimed as their own and in which they had made settlements without having some fighting with the Spaniards. Raleigh has been blamed for having gone on the expedition, promising that he would not break the peace whilst he clearly meant to do so. In so doing there was in his mind no attempt to deceive. He still held to the viewcurrent and Elizabethan days of no peace beyond the line. To fight with the Spaniards who had been guilty of putting to death with horrible cruelty English merchants who had come merely to trade with them was no crime in his eyes. He was firmly persuaded that if he could only bring back gold or even clear proof of the existence of the mine, James with his empty treasury would willingly pardon the death of a few Spaniards. In the days when he and Drake and Hawkins had sailed the seas before, Elizabeth had not made too curious inquiries whether they broke the peace. He did not understand this new spirit of trucking to the Spaniard. True, it was not wise to go under the circumstances, but after those thirteen years in the damp gloomy tower were not a few whiffs of fresh sea air worth any risk? What wonder if he grew careless, caught at everything, promised anything if only he might be allowed once more to try to do something? As soon as she heard that the destiny had reached Plymouth, Lady Raleigh hastened to meet her husband, and said must the meeting have been for both, whilst the future grew more gloomy to Raleigh as he heard of the way in which the King had received the tidings of his doings. He left Plymouth on his way to London in the second week of July, his wife and one of his officers kept in King going with him. They had not gone more than twenty miles when they met Sir Louis Stucley, Vice Admiral of Devon, who said that he had orders to arrest both Sir Walter and his ships. They had to turn back to Plymouth together. Stucley treated Sir Walter as a friend, for he wished to gain his confidence, and so learn his secrets. At Plymouth Raleigh lodged with his wife and King in a private house, whilst Stucley was busy looking after the ship. Lady Raleigh in her fear for the future pleaded anxiously with her husband that he would try to escape. King joined in her pleading. At last Raleigh yielded to them, and King engaged a vessel to carry him to France. At midnight Raleigh and King started in a little boat to row to the vessel, but when they were within a quarter of a mile of it Raleigh gave orders to turn the boat around. Before he sailed for Guyana he had solemnly promised Arundel and others that he would come back. By merely landing at Plymouth he had not kept his word. He would not fly. He allowed King to give orders that the vessel should be kept in readiness for another night or two, but he did not try to get to her again. He preferred to be true to his word and come back to face his accusers. Stucley was busy selling the tobacco with which the destiny had been laden, but on the 25th of July in obedience to an order from the Council he started for London with his prisoner. They passed through country well known to Raleigh which must have wakened many fond recollections. They went close by the fair woods and pastures of Sherbourne which he had hoped to leave to his children for ever, and the men of Devon and Dorset, who knew and loved him well, must have crowded to gaze on him as he passed. Raleigh was very anxious to gain some time before reaching London. Time was wanted to enable his friends to prepare to do for him all they could, and he himself wished to write, whilst it was possible, a statement of his doings in Guyana to send to the King. He felt that his condition was very desperate. The next day after passing Sherbourne, when near to Salisbury, he got out to walk down the hill and drew Manurie, a French doctor who was one of his company aside, and began to speak to him of his desire to gain time. In order he said that I may work my friends, give order for my affairs, and it may be pacify his majesty before my coming to London, for I know well that as soon as I come there I shall to the tower, and that they will cut off my head if I use no means to escape it. He proceeded to ask Manurie to give him an emetic, so that he might counterfeit illness which would make a delay necessary. That night at Salisbury he complained of headache and giddiness. The next morning early he sent his wife with King and her servants on to London, so that they might lose no time in doing all they could for him. King was commissioned to hire a ship in London or Graves End to lie in readiness to take Sir Walter to France, should there be any opportunity of escape. Shortly after they had gone, Raleigh feigned to be seized with a fit, so that his servant rushed into Stucley's room crying, my master is out of his wits, I have just found him in his shirt upon all force gnawing at the rushes on the boards. Manurie was sent to see if he could do anything for Raleigh and gave him the emetic which he had asked for. To make the deception still more complete, Manurie also gave Raleigh an ointment which produced blisters and sores on any part of the body to which it was applied. Seeing him in this condition, Stucley thought he must indeed be seriously ill, and sent in all haste to the bishop's palace where Andrews, the saintly bishop of Elie, was then staying. Andrews sent two physicians to see Raleigh, and they together with Manurie stated that he was unfit to go on with his journey. The expedient appears to us quite unworthy of Raleigh, but he does not seem either then or subsequently to have felt any shame about it. Speaking of it afterwards he said, I hope it was no sin, the prophet David did make himself a fool, and to him it was not imputed as a sin. The time he had thus gained he employed in writing his apology for the voyage to Guyana. This, even under those strange circumstances, was written with glowing eloquence and as full of bitter scorn of his enemies. It shows us more clearly than anything else that he afterwards said, his own point of view about the matter. For in it he states clearly the question as it then appeared to him, before he had heard the comments and accusations of others. On the fourth day of Raleigh's stay at Salisbury, James who was then on progress arrived in the town. Raleigh may have cherished some slight hope that he would be allowed to see the king, but a council warrant ordered that he should proceed on his journey immediately. Digby, who was with the king, heard that he was ill and obtained permission for him on reaching London to go to his own house in Bread Street instead of to the tower. On the way up to London, Sir Walter, according to statements made afterwards by Manuri, talked much to him of plans for escape and offered to pay him liberally if he would help him to do so. Manuri's statements are made rather incredible by the fact that Sir Walter was an impoverished man and hardly in the position to offer Manuri fifty pounds a year as a reward for his assistance. Sir Louis Stucley now thought it wise to gain Raleigh's confidence by affecting deep pity for him and a desire to help him in every way. They reached London on August 7th. Raleigh remained in his own house in Bread Street under the charge of Stucley. Here Captain King came to him and told him that he had made arrangements for a vessel now lying at Tilbury to take him over to France. Stucley professed himself perfectly willing to aid him to escape and to go to France with him. Two Frenchmen by name Chesnay and Leclerc also came to Raleigh with offers of assistance. They said that they had letters of recommendation which they would give him to different persons in France and that they would put a French bark at his disposal. Raleigh accepted the letters but thought that the bark provided by King would be more suitable for his purpose. Meanwhile, Hart, the owner of the boat, had betrayed the whole scheme to a certain Herbert Accordier who had told it to someone else who had informed the King. Arrangements were made not to prevent the attempt to escape altogether but only to prevent it from succeeding so that to the other charges against Raleigh the charge of having tried to escape might be added. Stucley played the traitor to such perfection that he was afterwards awarded by the indignant English with the name of Judas and was commonly known as Sir Judas Stucley. On Sunday evening, 9th August, Raleigh, King, Stucley and one or two servants who were to be of the party met on the river side. Two wearies under the charge of Hart were in readiness to convey them to the vessel which lay at Graves End. Another boat also lay nearby in which was Herbert with a large crew. This boat followed them at a distance as they put out and excited Sir Walter's suspicions. Stucley was indignant with him for doubting and with many oaths exclaimed against his bad fortune and having adventured his life with a man so full of doubts and fears. Doubts and misgivings delayed them so that they lost the advantage of the tide. The Waterman said they would not be able to reach Graves End till morning. The other boat meanwhile still followed them. From the conduct of Hart it at last became so clear to Raleigh that he had been betrayed, that he ordered the boats to turn and row back in hopes that he might reach his house before morning and nothing be known of his attempt to escape. Stucley continued to assure him of his friendship and even went so far as to embrace him in the boat with vehement protestations of love. At Greenwich he persuaded Raleigh to land, saying he durst not take him to his house. Herbert and his men landed at the same time. Here Stucley tried to persuade King that it would be better for his master if King should pretend that he had betrayed Raleigh, but to this the sturdy sailor would not agree. At last Stucley gave up the deception, arrested King, and gave him over to some of Herbert's men. Raleigh seems to have been neither indignant nor surprised at such treachery, but only said to Stucley, Sir Lewis, these actions will not turn out to your credit. Words which were to prove truer even than Raleigh thought. In the morning as they were led into the tower Raleigh found opportunity for a few words of comfort to King. Stucley has betrayed me. For your part you need be in fear of no danger, but as for me it is I am the mark that is shot at. When Raleigh was taken into the tower his person was searched and all the jewels and trinkets which were found on him were given over to Stucley. Raleigh was a great lover of jewels and there seemed to have been some fine ones on his person, amongst others a diamond ring which he always wore on his finger and which had been given him by Queen Elizabeth. There were besides upon him sixty-three gold buttons with sparks of diamonds, a jesynth seal with a figure of Neptune cut on it, a lodestone in a scarlet purse, a guiana idol of gold and silver and many other trinkets. There was also a miniature in a case set with diamonds which at Sir Walter's expressed desire was left in the hands of the lieutenant of the tower Sir Allen Apsley. Beside these jewels Stucley obtained afterwards as payment for his services with regard to Raleigh nine hundred and sixty-five pounds. Six counselors were now appointed as a commission to inquire into Raleigh's case. Amongst these were bacon, cook, and abbot, the Archbishop of Canterbury. They held many stittings and Raleigh was thrice examined before them. Many other persons were also examined, chiefly men who had been on the guiana expedition. We still possess the results of some of their examinations from which we are able to see the points upon which the commissioners especially desired information. These were whether Sir Walter Raleigh really believed in the existence of the mine and meant to go there and to work it, whether he himself had directed that the Spanish town should be burnt, whether he would have sailed from Trinidad had his officers allowed it and deserted those who had gone up the Orinoco, whether he meant to turn pirate and what was the nature of his relations with France. To gain still more information a keeper named Sir Thomas Wilson was appointed to attend on Raleigh in the tower to be with him constantly to win his confidence and try to discover something from him. He was to inform the commissioners of anything he thought worth reporting. Wilson entered upon his hateful office on the 10th of September and gave it up on the 15th of October when there seemed no chance of learning anything more. He intercepted Raleigh's letters and means were even found by Secretary Naughton to persuade Lady Raleigh to write asking certain questions of her husband in the hope that through his answers more might be discovered. At last on the 18th October the commissioners report was sent into the king. It seems to have been drawn up by Cook but represented the views of the whole body. The difficulty of the case was that as Raleigh had already in 1604 been declared guilty of high treason and had never been pardoned he could not be put on his trial for any crime committed since as he was legally dead. The commissioners therefore recommended two courses as possible. The first that in publishing the warrant for Raleigh's execution his majesty should also publish a narrative in print of his late crimes and offenses. The second course and the one preferred by the commissioners was that Sir Walter should be summoned before the whole body of the Council of State and the principal judges together with some of the nobility and gentlemen of quality and should be thus publicly charged with acts of hostility, depredation, abuse of the royal commission, attempt to escape, and the other misdemeanors of which he stood accused. The commissioners left it to his majesty how far the matter with the French should be touched upon for their careful examination of the Frenchman who had dealings with Raleigh led them to the conclusion that he had been passive rather than active in the matter. After the examination the king was to take the advice of the lords of the council and the judges as to the execution of Sir Walter and the whole proceeding was to be made a solemn act of the council. James was afraid to follow their advice. For the other course he wrote an answer of a public calling him before our council we think it not fit because it would make him too popular as was found by experiment at the arraignment at Winchester whereby his wit he turned the hatred of men into compassion of him. James therefore resorted to a middle course. A formal proceeding was to take place but only before the commissioners. No publicity was to be allowed. The sentence of his execution which had been so long suspended was then to be carried into effect after which a declaration was to be put forward in print stating the crimes of which he had been found guilty. On one point James was very determined. Raleigh must lose his life. He owed it to Spain that the man who had broken the peace and burnt a Spanish town should not be spared. The Spaniards had long looked upon Raleigh as their bitter foe. James had written to Madrid offering to give up Raleigh for execution there. On the 15th October he received the answer that Philip III would prefer that the execution should take place in England and that he hoped it would take place immediately. In England many were found to intercede for Raleigh amongst others Queen Anne who wrote to Villiers, now Duke of Buckingham, addressing him as my kind dog, and asking him to exert his influence with the king to prevent Raleigh's execution. Raleigh himself wrote to Buckingham a somewhat fawning letter begging him to do what he could to get his majesty's pardon for him. To Lord Carreux, his cousin, he wrote a long and dignified letter in which he justified his doings by his favorite argument that Guiana belonged to the English crown by virtue of the session made to him in 1595 so that the Spaniards had no right to be there at all. From this letter and from his apology it is easy to see what was Raleigh's view about the matter. He did not believe in peace beyond the line and could not understand how other people could believe in it. His early training had taught him to look upon the Spaniard as a foe who must be resisted at any price. It may be urged that he had distinctly undertaken not to break the peace, but he must have thought that this was only exacted as a matter of form. Since everyone knew that he was bound for Guiana and everyone knew that there were already Spanish settlements there, no one could suppose that a collision could be avoided. Elizabeth's subjects had always resisted the Spanish claims to supremacy in the Indies and had looked upon it as lawful to win from Spain by fair fighting all the booty they could. The Spaniards in like manner had treated all Englishmen whom they met in the Indies as their enemies and had even put to death with horrible tortures, peaceable merchants with whom they had been trading. In the true interests of colonization and commerce it was necessary that this state of things should cease, that the dealings of one nation with another should be regulated by the same rules in the Indies as they were in Europe. This was what men were beginning to think and what made things like the burning of Santo May entirely unjustifiable to a legal mind like vegans. To Raleigh individually, small blame can be attached because he had failed to understand how men's feelings had changed during those thirteen years which he had spent in the Tower. For the sake of liberty he had been over-ready to promise and had trusted that some chance might turn up to favor his attempt. Looked at from a modern point of view, the capture and burning by an Englishman of a foreign settlement belonging to a people with whom his nation was at peace is an unjustifiable act. But in considering its bearing upon our judgment of Raleigh's character we must remember the state of opinion under which he had grown up and the circumstances of his life. In his eyes at least it was no crime and he was astonished that others should think it so. In his eyes his only crime was the failure of his expedition. James had put himself into a false position with regard to Spain by allowing the expedition to start at all. His one wish now was to give full satisfaction to Spain by the execution of the traitor. He knew it would be an unpopular act and he was afraid of allowing Raleigh to be examined publicly. By refusing to do so he took the unwise course he could possibly have done. He allowed Raleigh to be executed by virtue of the old sentence which was still unrepealed and did not first make clear to the public the reasons why the sentence was now allowed to take effect after the lapse of 14 years. In this way Raleigh appeared to everyone as a martyr and as a martyr to Spain which was just then the object of popular hatred. Even those who at the present day are inclined to judge severely Raleigh's conduct with regard to the Guiana expedition can hardly defend either the fact or the manner of his execution. With regard to his dealings with France we see that the commissioners considered that his part in them was passive rather than active. He confessed them all to the king in a letter written from the tower on the 5th October. What is dealings with Faguer before he went to Guiana we have already seen. After his return he had been visited three times by a French gentleman, Chesnay, and once by the French agent to London Leclerc with offers of assistance. Much irritation had already been excited at the French court by the way in which Chesnay and Leclerc had been examined before the commissioners. James thought therefore that this matter had better be only very lightly touched upon, doubtless through fear lest anything should arise in consequence to disturb his friendly relations with France. On the 28th October Raleigh was summoned from the tower to appear before the counselors at Westminster. As he passed out an old servant of his reminded him that he had forgotten to comb his head. Let them commit that are to have it, answered Raleigh smiling, and added, Test thou, no, Peter, of any playster that will set a man's head on again when it is off? In answer to the charges of the commissioners Raleigh spoke out as fearlessly as ever. He pleaded that he could not be proceeded against on the old sentence which had been annulled by the royal commission which he had received for his voyage, a voyage which, notwithstanding my endeavours, he said, had no other issue than what was fatal to me, the loss of my son, and the wasting of my whole estate. He indignantly affirmed his intention to find the mine, and denied that he had intended to abandon his fleet or bring about war between Spain and England. At the end the commissioners declared that in their opinion the sentence might justly be proceeded with, and Sir Walter was ordered to prepare for death the next morning. He was conveyed from Westminster Hall to a small building in the palace yard, the gatehouse of the old monastery, which had long been used as a prison. As he passed across the yard he met an old friend to whom he said, You will come tomorrow morning? And when his friend answered, certainly, Raleigh added, I do not know what you may do for a place, for my own part I am sure of one. You must make what shift you can. Many came to see him in the gatehouse. One of his kinsmen, surprised at his good spirit, said, Do not carry it with too much bravery. Your enemies will take exception if you do. It is my last mirth in this world, answered Raleigh. Do not grudge it to me. When I come to the sad parting, you shall see me grave enough. Raleigh had always professed scorn of death. Now he seemed to welcome it cheerfully as a friend. Dr. Robert Townsend, Dean of Westminster, was ordered by the Lords of the Council to be with him during his last night in prison and at his death. Townsend says in the letter which he wrote to a friend about Raleigh's bearing at his death, he was the most fearless of death that ever was known, and the most resolute and confident, yet with reverence and conscience. When I began to encourage him against the fear of death he seemed to make so light of it that I wondered at him. He gave God thanks he never feared death, and much less then, for it was but an opinion and imagination. In the manner of death, though to others it might seem grievous, yet he had rather died so than of a burning fever, with much more to that purpose, with such confidence and cheerfulness, that I was feigned to divert my speech another way and wished him not to flatter himself for this extraordinary boldness I was afraid sprang from some false ground. If it sprang from the assurance he had of the love and favour of God, of the hope of his salvation by Christ, and his own innocencey, as he pleaded, I said he was a happy man. But if it were out of an humour of vain glory or carelessness or contempt of death or senselessness of his own estate he were much to be lamented. For I told him that he then men had said as little by their lives as he could do, and seemed to die as bravely. He answered that he was persuaded that no man that knew God and feared him could die with cheerfulness and courage, except he was assured of the love and favour of God unto him. That other men might make shows outwardly, but they felt no joy within, with much more to that effect very christianly, so that he satisfied me then, and as I think he did all his spectators at his death. That night Lady Raleigh came to the gatehouse to bid farewell to her husband. Till midnight they talked together. Of his son Karu he could not bear to talk to her, but he told her how she must try to vindicate his fame before the world if he should be prevented from making an address on the scaffold as he intended. Lady Raleigh told him that the council had given her the disposal of his dead body. It is well, dear Bess, he answered, that thou mayest dispose of that dead which thou hath not always the disposing of one alive. That night too Raleigh employed himself in writing a testamentary note in which he once more vindicated himself from the charges which had been brought against him. Then too he, in all probability, wrote some lines which were afterwards found in his Bible. When such is time that takes on trust, our youth, our joys, our all we have, and pays us but with earth and dust, who in the dark and silent grave when we have wandered all our ways shuts up the story of our days. But from this earth, this grave, this dust, my God shall raise me up, I trust. Early in the morning he received the communion. He was very cheerful and merry, says Dr. Townsend, and hoped to persuade the world that he died an innocent man, as he said. He had his breakfast heartily and took tobacco and made no more of his death than if it had been to take a journey. The execution was to take place early. It was the Lord Mayor's Day, and it had been hoped that the counter-attraction of the show in the city would draw away many from hearing Sir Walter's last words. But the crowd in the yard was dense, and Raleigh escorted by two sheriffs and Dr. Townsend was so much thronged and crowded on his way to the scaffold that he was made quite breathless. One old bald-headed man pressed up toward him, and Raleigh asked him if he would odd of him. The man answered that he only wished to see him and prayed God to have mercy upon his soul. Mr. Walter thanked him in taking off a nightcap of cut lace from his head, threw it to him with the words, Take this, you need it, my friend, more than I do. On reaching the scaffold Raleigh said that he had been suffering from ague on the two last days. If, therefore, he added, you perceive any weakness in me, ascribe it to my sickness rather than to myself. I am infinitely bound to God that he hath vouchsafed me to die in the sight of so notable an assembly and not in darkness, neither in that tower, where I have suffered so much adversity and a long sickness. A number of lords amongst whom was Arendelle and Oxford were watching the scene from a window in a dwelling place which overlooked the yard. Turning to them, Raleigh said he wished his voice were strong enough for them to hear him. They answered that they would come down and came and stood upon the scaffold. After they had shaken him by the hand, he began to speak again. He solemnly denied that he had had any plot or intelligence with the French king, or that he had spoken dishonorably and disloyaly of King James. He called God to witness to the truth of these assertions. It is not now a time, he said, either to fear or to flatter kings. I am now the subject of death, and the great God of heaven is my sovereign before whose tribunal I am shortly to appear. And therefore have a charitable conceit of me. To call God to witness an untruth is a sin above measure sinful, but to do it at the hour of one's death were the greatest madness and sin that could be possible. He said that in taking the sacrament that morning he had forgiven both Stucly and the Frenchman, Manurie. He confessed that he had tried to escape. He once more asserted his belief in the existence of the mine, and said that he had always meant to come home however his voyage turned out. Turning to Arendelle, he said, I am glad my lord Arendelle is here. And he told how he promised Arendelle before he sailed that he would come back again, and had given him his hand upon it, and this Arendelle confirmed. At the end, Raleigh spoke a few words to justify himself of a charge made long ago against him, which he said made his heart bleed, namely that he had been a persecutor of Essex, and had watched his execution from a window with disdain puffing out tobacco. God I take to witness, he said, my eyes shed tears for him when he died. I confess I was of a contrary faction, but I knew that my lord of Essex was a noble gentleman, and that it would be worse for me when he was gone. Finally Raleigh desired all, very earnestly, to pray for him, for that he was a great sinner for a long time, and in many kinds his whole course was a course of vanity. A seafaring man, a soldier and a courtier. The least of these were able to overthrow a good mind and a good man. Then the executioner knelt and asked forgiveness which he granted, laying his hands upon the man's shoulders. He asked to see the axe, and as he felt its sharp edge he said, This gives me no fear. It is a sharp and fair pencil to cure me of all my distempers. Turning again to the executioner he added, When I stretch forth my hands, dispatch me. Then with courtly grace he bade farewell to his friends who stood around and turned with parting salutations to the crowd on either side of the scaffold, begging them heartily that they would give him their prayers. The executioner cast down his own cloak, and Raleigh laid himself upon it, stretching out his hands as a sign that he was ready. But the man hesitated. What dost thou fear? Strike man, strike! said Raleigh, without stirring. His lips moved as if in prayer, and at last the axe fell. There were two blows, and the head rolled off. When the head was lifted up and shown to the people, one man was heard to say, We have not such another head to be cut off. The head was put into a red bag, and the body was wrapped in its velvet gown. They were carried to Lady Raleigh. She had asked her cousins, Her Nicholas Carew, for permission to bury in his church at Beddington the dead body of her noble husband, which the lords had given her, though they had denied her his life. But for some reason or other she changed her mind and had it buried near the altar of St. Margaret's Church Westminster. She caused the head to be embalmed and kept it with her till she died. The way in which Raleigh met death, with the grace of a courtier, the dignity of a philosopher, the courage of a soldier, and the faith of a Christian, had made him more than ever a hero and a martyr in the eyes of the people. Sir John Elliot, who afterwards himself suffered nobly in the people's cause, was present as a young man at his execution and says, His bearing left only this doubt, whether death was more acceptable to him or he more welcome to death. From the report that has left us of his last words, scanty and insufficient as it necessarily is, we cannot judge the effect they produced. We can better judge of their eloquence from the way in which we are told they stirred the hearts of those who heard them. Afterwards, the town could talk of nothing else. Every day, ballads and pamphlets relating to Raleigh were published. Men looked upon him as having been unjustly executed under his old sentence, and fully accepted his own vindication of the charges since brought against him. The publication of the official declaration which was to set forth the reasons why he had been executed was for some reason or other delayed. Indeed, men were so rooted in their opinions that it was hardly likely to produce any change, still less so, coming as late as it did. Sir Judas, stucly as he was called, became the object of such bitter hatred that he did not know where to hide himself to escape from it. He is said to have died a raving maniac, despised and hated by all men. He had tried to excuse himself by writing an apology but men had not accepted it. The official declaration of the causes which had led to Sir Walter Raleigh's death was drawn up by Bacon at the King's command. It contained a recital of those charges which in the minds of the commissioners had been proven against him. It took for granted that Raleigh had never really known of the existence of the mind that he had pretended to go in search of, and starting from this it naturally found him guilty of having in every way violated his commission. There can be no doubt that Raleigh did go beyond his commission, but it is equally clear that he never believed that he was bound strictly to adhere to it. Neither in his apology nor in his address from the scaffold does he speak as if it had ever occurred to him that his real fault was the burning and sacking of Saint-Tomé. There does not seem any reason to believe that the commissioners themselves looked upon this as his chief crime. Neither he nor anyone else ever denied that Saint-Tomé had been burnt. If that act in itself had been looked upon at that time as so severe a breach of the law of nations as it would be considered now, there would have been no real need of all the examinations of Raleigh himself and his fellow adventurers with a view of proving other things against him. Of that he stood clearly accused by his own mouth, but that was not enough to condemn him in those days. To the great mass of people it was no crime at all, and in James's eyes it was only a crime because he feared less that might bring about a breach with Spain. Even the official declaration did not lay so much stress upon the burning of Saint-Tomé as it did upon the other charges which posterity has clearly judged to be of no weight. The declaration though drawn up by the master hand of Bacon and possessing all the advantages of his clear and lucid style produced no effect upon the excited minds of men. The common view was that Raleigh was executed under his old sentence simply to please Spain. Even Dean Townsend expressed his surprise that Raleigh before his death never made mention of that for which he really died, his former treason. Perhaps it is easier to forgive James the first Raleigh's execution than it is to forgive him the thirteen years imprisonment in the tower. When Sir Walter was executed at the age of sixty-three he was broken in health and worn out with the labors and troubles of his eventful career. Life could have little more in store for him, and death on the scaffold gave him an opportunity of showing the world in a way which it has not forgotten how nobly a man can die. But when James came to the throne Raleigh was still in the prime of life and no man then living was better fitted to do good work for his country. That James should have failed to make use of the noblest spirit amongst his people shows in a striking manner his incapacity for sympathizing with true genius. Young among the heroes who gathered around Elizabeth's throne Raleigh lived on into an age when genius was feared not sought for. It is impossible to say what he might not still have done for his country had he been allowed. It is difficult to say in a few words what he actually did do. His many-sidedness is the most striking thing about him and by virtue of it he seems to sum up in himself all the leading characteristics of the Elizabethan age. A fearless soldier, a distinguished seaman, he was at the same time a most gallant and accomplished courtier. He could turn a compliment as gracefully as Sir Christopher Hatton and attack a Spanish galleon as dauntlessly as Drake. Amongst the many great names in the literature of that age his has found a worthy place as poet, philosopher, and historian. All his life, a complete master of the intricacies of foreign politics, he took also as long as he was able and active and intelligent share in home politics. He delighted in far-reaching schemes and saw how England was fitted by her position and by the character of her people to send forth offshoots into distant lands. To him we may look back as the father of English colonization. But whilst busied in great schemes he did not forget the duties which lay near at hand. He administered the offices which he held under Elizabeth with zeal and care. He watched with deep interest the planting of his own estate. He never forgot to care for the faithful servants who had followed him through many dangers. By the introduction of the potato and tobacco he contributed largely to the comfort of his countrymen. His chemical studies show how anxious he was to alleviate human suffering as much as he could. A self-summed man of arrogant and overbearing manners, unable to contain the scorn which he felt for mean and common things, he was never loved by the people till his sufferings had taught them the real meaning of his character. The tide of popular feeling was turned at his trial at Winchester, and since then the English people have loved and honored him amongst their heroes. End of Section 28, Recording by Pamela Nagami MD in Encino, California, July 2019. End of Life of Sir Walter Raleigh by Louise Creighton.