Part 13 (1/2)
[Sidenote: _Written Retractations_]
Cobham's awakened sense of justice proht have been decisive Peyton was no longer at the Tower
Ralegh's guilt had so far been presuust, that his patent as Governor of Jersey had been declared forfeited through his grievous treason intended against the King The office was conferred on Peyton, in soe of Ralegh The current belief was that his preferrace for connivance at communications between hie Harvey, Cobharant of facilities to hih's behalf: 'Mr Lieutenant, If that I h; besides my letter to my Lord Cecil; God is my witness, it doth touch my conscience As you shall send ainst your son's going I would very fain have the words that the Lords used ofhim falsely' Harvey received this brief and not very coherent, but significant, epistle, and locked the request up in his own bosoe of his tardy explanation to Cecil it is plain that he effectually discouraged Cobhaist to the Council He underrated, however, Ralegh's energy and dexterity Cecil iinal retractation Messages, he suspected, had passed between the two in which Ralegh had 'expostulated Cobha of him' The correctness of his conjecture for the past is unknown It was true of the present Ralegh ed to have a letter, inclosed in, or fastened to, an apple, thrown, in Novehts before they came to Winchester, into Cobham'sin Wardrobe tower At the time the Lieutenant was at supper In it he entreated Cobhanify to hied him in his accusation He added: 'Do not, as my Lord of Essex did, take heed of a preacher By his persuasion he confessed, and so ot the fact, appears to have duly replied in a letter, which was pushed under Ralegh's door In it he ade was not distinct enough It was 'not to ain
He did not ask for another written confession Instead, he besought Cobhaned
Thereupon Cobhaood,' a complete and solemn justification, of which Howell in his _State Trials_ adopts the following transcript: 'Seeing e ofainst me, I protest upon my salvation I never practised with Spain by your procurement God so comfort me in thisthat I know
I will say, as Daniel, _Purus suuine hujus_ So God haveto another version, differing in language, not in tenor, the letter ran: 'To free myself from the cry of blood, I protest upon els, I never had conference with you in any treason, nor was ever s I heretofore accused you of; and, for anything I know, you are as innocent and as clear fro And God so deal with h seee of the existence of this letter for the present, as Sir George Harvey, with less excuse, concealed the fact of Cobhae Harvey's Disclosure_]
The correspondence was arranged partly through Edward Cottrell, a Tower servant aited upon Ralegh Partly it was through the Lieutenant's son, George, whoh had won over, as he had won over Sir John Peyton's son, John It was on account of the discovery by the Council, through Ralegh's production at the trial of Cobhae Harvey's mediation, and of the youth's imprisonment for it, that on December 17, several weeks after the end of the trial, at which it ave Cecil the letter of October 24 In the confidence that the infraction of discipline by his son, as well as by his two prisoners, would be extenuated by his own confession of an excess of official zeal, he acknowledged his suppression of the October letter Incidentally he testified to the sincerity of Cobhareat desire to justify Sir Walter,' he ad been by me then stopped, he diverted it, as I conceive, and it is very likely, unto Sir Walter himself' In this penitent mood Cobham had confessed his misdeeds to others besides He is reported to have told the vicar of Cobhah 'had done hireat deal'
At last Ralegh ht think that Cobham had ceased to be his accuser
Prepared as he was for his cos easily,' he could scarcely have anticipated the layers of retractation still latent in that voluminous repository
[Sidenote: _Animosity of the Howards_]
His trust in the return of Cobham's veracity would not blind him to the peril he continued to incur froness, in jealousy for the sovereign's safety, to have an innocent scapegoat rather than no exaranted, and that a jury would reflect popular opinion He could look for no real help in any quarter To honest, but unima and a trouble with his ideas They simply wished him out of the way He was sure of the hatred of the new men, 'very honourable men,' like the Tissaphernes of his History, 'if honour reatness and place in Court' He could calculate on no benevolence from the old courtiers His claims of equality had always been an offence to the ancient nobility, which held itself entitled to precedence in glory as in its rewards One fros were to have been expected, the Lord Adh he did not actively join in the prosecution, had his personal reasons for rejoicing in the downfall of a sharp censor of his naval adeneral there had been frequent feuds, and they were opposed on many important questions Lord Henry was not the only Hoho bore hinant
[Sidenote: _Cecil's Coldness_]
Henry Howard's confederate in the Scottish intrigues, Robert Cecil, had no fah's rivalry, he could fear it no more It is very difficult now, as before, to believe that he entertained sentih Canon Kingsley's description of him as one of the most 'accomplished villains in history,' as the archplotter, who had h knew nothing of it till after the trial, is extravagant Even Hallam's reference to 'the hostility of Cecil, so insidious and ierated and unjust The Minister was conscious of no malice He took no pleasure in the present prosecution But moral cowardice and incapacity to dispense with power now, as formerly, explain an attitude, which, it uished fro, after a struggle, clambered on board the new shi+p of State, to identify himself recked comrades known to be distasteful to his present master It was convenient for him to assuuilty, and that the only question hether sufficient evidence could be collected to prove it judicially On October 3 he wrote that Cobhainal accusation was 'so well fortified with other demonstrative circumstances, and the retractation so bleence which they had, as few h's denial coes and juries in trials for treason, affected to think Ralegh could desire no fairer opportunity 'Always,' he wrote in October to Winwood, 'he shall be left to the lahich is the right all es and proceedings to Parry, which were intended for circulation through Europe, convey the saness to warp facts under cover of a cold concern for nothing but the truth He did not deceive foreigners M de Beaumont, whose diplomatic interest it was to abet a prosecution which ie already quoted, as undertaking the affair with so much warmth that it was said he acted doton wrote in 1603: 'I doubt the dice not fairly thrown, if Ralegh's life be the losing stake' He has not deceived posterity
To the new Court, its head, and his Scotch favourites, Ralegh necessarily was an object of aversion He was not the less odious that he was incons had been subjects of suspicion and dread at Holyrood Nohen he was no longer directly dangerous, he was an obstruction and a perplexity In spite of the current charges against hier to be on terms of amity He represented the spirit of national unrest and adventurousness, which James abhorred The obstinate calu's conscience for the unworthier instinct of personal dislike His wisdo, and ere no passports to the favour of the one privileged Soloh's Sufferings_]
He understood all he had to face Vehemently as he fretted and complained, he was equal to the ordeal Heit Unless for it, neither his contemporaries nor posterity could have fully coth of his character Unversed in law, he wasof coke and for his docile bench of judges
His trial, which is the opprobriue in national history for the unique personality it reveals, with all its wealth of subtlety, courage, and versatility
Figures of purer metal have often stood in the dock, with as sold, silver, iron, and clay
The trial, and all its circuht into conspicuous relief the diversity which is no less the wonder of the character than it is of the career The Ralegh who has stalish iination, is not so much the favourite of Elizabeth, the soldier and sailor; it is the baited prey of coke and Popham, the browbeaten convict of Winchester, the attainted prisoner of the Tower Against the Court of Ja for bare life, for no sublih was his spirit, and his bearing so undaunted, that he has ever appeared to subsequent generations a lish liberties
CHAPTER XIX
THE TRIAL (November 17)
[Sidenote: _The Indicth had been indicted at Staines for having, with Cobham and Brooke, compassed in the Parish of St Martin in the Fields to deprive the King of his crown, to alter the true religion, and to levy war The indicted that Cobha Arabella Stuart to the crown; that Cobha of Spain, and had o to Spain in quest of support for Arabella It alleged that Ralegh and Cobhareed Arabella should by letter pro of Spain, and the Duke of Savoy, to maintain a firuided by the three princes in her h to Cobha's title to the crown Finally, it alleged that Cobhareed, when he should have received the ht or ten thousand crowns to Ralegh to enable him the better to effect the intended treasons Jurors were summoned in September for the trial of this indict was deferred till Noveing in London and the neighbourhood may account for the delay Pym relates in his _Diary_ that it killed 2000 a week The Toas reported in Septe's Bench kept the next term at Winchester So to Winchester their respective custodians conveyed Brooke, Sir Griffin Markham, Sir Edward Parham, who finally was acquitted, Brooksby, Copley, Watson, Clarke, Cobham, and Grey They were escorted by under-wardens of the Tower, the Keeper of the Westh set out on Novee of Sir Robert Mansel and Sir William Waad Waad wrote to Cecil that he found his prisoner roup of friends and relatives had assereet him as he passed Generally he encountered none but looks of hatred Precautions had to be taken to steal the planter of Virginia, the hero of Cadiz, the wit and poet, the splendid gentleman, the lavish patron, froe, or murder It was 'hob or nob,' writes Waad to Cecil, whether or not Ralegh 'should have been brought alive through such ainst hiue was hot in London in presence of such a h all the streets, both in London and the suburbs 'If one hare-brain fellow aun to set upon him, as they were near to do it, no entreaty or means could have prevailed; the fury and tureat'
Tobacco-pipes, stones, and mud were, wrote Cecil's secretary, Mr
Michael Hickes, to Lord Shrewsbury, thrown by the rabble, both in London and in other towns on the road Ralegh is stated to have scorned these proofs of the aversion of base and rascal people Mr Macvey Napier, in his thoughtful essay, attributes to him 'a total want of syust, perhaps, was rather evoked by the want of discriood to his dependents, and was beloved by them A arded as 'dogs who always bark at those they know not' He had never flattered a mob He did not noer before it To manifestations of popular odium his nature rose, as to every peremptory call upon his powers He foresaw that posterity would understand hiht him
[Sidenote: _Chief Justice Popham_]
[Sidenote: _The Jury_]
Two days were taken to reach Bagshot, and threethirty h and others of the accused were lodged in the Royal Castle of Winchester, built by Bishop Henry, Stephen's brother A King's Bench Court had been fitted up in Wolvesey Castle, the old episcopal palace, now a ruin There the trial opened on Noveland He was not prepossessing in appearance, 'a huge, heavy, ugly man,' and he had an uncouth history As a child he had been stolen by gipsies In early amester and reveller He took purses, it is stoutly affirmed, on Shooter's Hill, when he was a barrister, and thirty years of age Then he reformed his morals, read law, and entered the House of Commons In 1581 he was elected Speaker, and in 1592 was appointed Chief Justice Essex had i, but protected his life froenerosity to requite the favour by venturing to advise the Queen to grant a pardon He a Littlecote, which he was fabled to have wrested, together with an hereditary curse, from a murderer, Sir Richard Dayrell With Popham, Chief Justice Anderson, and Justices Gawdy and Warburton, there sat as Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, Lord Thomas Howard, since July Earl of Suffolk and Lord Chamberlain, Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy and Earl of Devonshi+re, Lord Henry Howard, Robert Cecil, now Lord Cecil, Lord Wotton, Vice-Chamberlain Sir John Stanhope, and Sir Williae of Henry Howard's fierce hatred of Ralegh, as evinced in the whole private correspondence with Holyrood, should have appointed hie upon decency
Attorney-General coke, Serjeant Hele, who had been Ralegh's counsel against Meere, and Serjeant Phillips, prosecuted The law allowed no counsel to prisoners Sir Michael Stanhope, Sir Edward Darcy, Ralegh's neighbour in Durharew, had been, it was ru found not for their turn' The report of a sudden h the jury, it is said, was a Middlesex jury, and had been ordered long before to attend at Winchester Other Middlesex men, of whom many were at Winchester, h did not except to any names 'I know,'