NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 181 



was reduced to so low an ebb as to be denied beer to quench his thirst ; for, having a 

 sickly stomach, and not liking the beer of the house, he sent now and then to Lord Brook, 

 who lived in the neighbourhood, for a bottle of his beer, and after some grumbling the 

 butler had orders to deny him. 



He died on the 9th of April, 1626, in the sixty-sixth year of his age — a melancholy 

 example of great powers of mind connected with profligacy of heart. 



Sir Edward Coke was tainted with the scholastic learning of the times, and was scur- 

 rilous and malignant in the extreme. As attorney general he conducted the prosecution 

 for high treason against the illustrious Sir Walter Raleigh, in the most barbarous manner. 

 As a specimen of his manner I have made the following extracts : 



" Here is mischief, mischief in summo gradu, exorbitant mischief. My speech shall 

 touch these three points — mutation, supportation, and defence." 



«' There is treason in the heart, in the head, in the mouth, in consummation ; comparing 

 that in corde to the root of a tree ; in ore to the bud ; in manu to the blossom ; and that 

 which is in consummatione to the fruit." 



In the course of the trial several altercations took place between him and the prisoner ; 

 in one of which he thus addressed Raleigh : 



" Thou hast a Spanish heart, and thyself art a spider of hell." 



At one time one of the court gently checked him, on which he sat down in a great rage, 

 and would not proceed until after several urgent entreaties. At the repeating of some 

 things Raleigh interrupted him and said he did him wrong, upon which the following 

 curious dialogue took place, in which Raleigh handled him with great, but just, severity. 



" Attorney. Thou art the most vile and execrable traitor that ever lived. 



Raleigh. You speak indiscreetly, barbarously, and uncivilly. 



Attorney. I want words sufficient to express thy viperous treason. 



Raleigh. I think you want words indeed ; for you have spoken one thing half a dozen 

 times. 



Attorney. Thou art an odious fellow ; thy name is hateful to all the realm of England 

 for thy pride. 



Raleigh. It will go near to prove a measuring cast between you and me, Mr. Attorney." 



Raleigh was condemned, and was imprisoned fourteen years in the Tower, where he 

 devoted himself to study and writing. He was afterwards liberated, and permitted to 

 look for a mine in America, where, having given offence to the king of Spain, he was 

 sacrificed to the resentment of that government, and executed on his old sentence, in 

 1618. Just before his decapitation, he took the ax from the executioner, and, smiling, 

 thus addressed the sheriff: " This is a sharp medicine, Mr. Sheriff, but it is a physician 

 that will cure all diseases." State Trials, vol. 1. 



