140 TWO CHAPTERS ILLUSTRATIVE OF 



ample of capacity and invincibility of temper exhibited by Raleigh, 

 that a Scotchman, who was appointed to make a report of the pro- 

 ceedings to the king, declared that, previously to Sir Walter's enter- 

 ing upon his vindication, he would have travelled a hundred miles 

 to see him hanged in the morning, and would have gone the same 

 distance to save his life before they separated in the evening. 



The circumstance of Raleigh stabbing himself upon his commit- 

 tal to the Tower, is broadly assumed as an attestation of the truth 

 of the charges that could be brought against him. But the infe- 

 rence, we think, is more logical and correct, that, in utter despair of 

 his acquittal, from the dishonourable practices resorted to for his 

 condemnation, the fierce and haughty soul of this " rare renowned 

 knight," (as he is quaintly styled by Howell, the celebrated letter 

 writer), could ill brook to remain on earth a living monument of 

 the tyranny of James, and of a systematized series of goading annoy- 

 ances from his prime minister, Cecil ;* and that, therefore, having 

 so much of the old Roman spirit, he attempted self-destruction. 

 More is not necessary to be said to prove the total disregard of jus- 

 tice in the administration of the law towards Sir Walter, which, 

 indeed, the government tacitly acknowledged, since upon no other 

 principle can be explained the grant of a reprieve to this distin- 

 guished man after his conviction. So, then, those who hold the 

 protection of our legal rights or good laws well dispensed to be 

 the nerves of the slate (to borrow the figurative language of Ba- 

 con), must allow that there is great truth in the remark of Burnett, 

 that " the first condemnation of Sir Walter was very black ;" while 

 there cannot be the smallest doubt as to the propriety of his second 

 observation, that " executing of him after so many years, and after 

 an employment that had been given him, was counted a barbarous 

 sacrificing him to the Spaniards." It seems, indeed, to be supposed 

 by certain writers, that James proceeded to extremities against Sir 

 Walter for some alleged misconduct in South America. " You 

 might think it heavy," said the tool and minion of the court, the 

 Lord Chief Justice Montague, in passing sentence upon him, " if 



• The never-to-be-forgiven otfence of Raleigh was, presenting a memorial 

 to James, at his accession, in which, says Kennet (Complete History of Eng- 

 land, vol. ii, p. 663), " with a singular bitterness of style, he vindicates 

 Queen Elizabeth from the death of Mary, and lays the death of that unfor- 

 tunate queen chiefly at the door of Cecil, the monarch's minister, and his 

 father ; for which he appeals to Davison, then in prison, the man that had 

 despatched the warrant for her execution contrary to Queen Elizabeth's 

 express command." 



