the Lords of the Privy Council and the Judges should give their advice whether upon these subse quent offences, the King might not with justice and honour give warrant for his execution." For some reasons which do not expressly appear, this latter form was rejected, and the former alternative adopted; and soon after the date of the Report, a Privy Seal was sent to the Judges of the Court of King's Bench, directing them to order the immediate execution of the sentence upon Sir Walter Raleigh.

The novelty and manifest injustice of the case, however, occasioned difficulties in the minds of the Judges as to the mode of proceeding; to remove which, a consultation* of all the Judges was held; and it was resolved by them that neither a writ of Privy Seal, nor a warrant under the Great Seal to the Judges of the King's Bench would be a sufficient authority to that Court after so great a lapse of time, to order execution without calling upon the party to show cause against it; for it was said, amongst other reasons, that the original judgment being of so long standing, the party might have a pardon to show, or he might plead that he was not the same person. They unanimously determined, therefore, that the legal and proper course was to bring the prisoner to the bar of the Court by a Writ of Habeas Corpus, and then to demand of him what he had to say why execution should not be awarded.

In consequence of this resolution, a Privy Seal was directed to the Judges of the King's Bench, commanding them to proceed to execution against Sir Walter Raleigh according to law; upon the receipt of which, a Writ of Habeas Corpus issued, directed to the Lieutenant of the Tower, who on Wednesday, the 28th of October, in pursuance of the Writ, brought Sir Walter Raleigh to the Court of King's Bench at Westminster. As soon as he ap* Hutton's Reports, p. 21.

peared at the bar, Sir Henry Yelverton, the AttorneyGeneral, said,

My Lords, Sir Walter Raleigh, the prisoner at the bar, was, fifteen years since, convicted of high treason at Winchester; then he received judgment to be hanged, drawn, and quartered; but his Majesty, of his abundant grace, hath been pleased to show mercy unto him till now, when justice calls upon him for execution. Sir Walter Raleigh hath been a statesman and a man who, in respect of his parts and quality, is to be pitied; he hath been as a star at which the world hath gazed; but stars may fall, nay, they must fall when they trouble the sphere wherein they abide. It is, therefore, his Majesty's pleasure now to call for execution of the former judgment, and I now require your Lordships' order for the same.

Then the Clerk of the Crown read the Record of the Conviction and Judgment, and called to the prisoner to hold up his hand, which he did. Then he was asked "What he could say for himself, why execution should not be awarded against him?"

Sir Walter Raleigh. My Lords, my voice is grown weak, by reason of my late sickness, and an ague, which I now have, for I was even now brought hither out of it. Montague, C. J*. Sir Walter, your voice is audible enough.

Sir Walter. Then, my Lord, all I have to say is this: I hope that the judgment which I received to die so long since, cannot now be strained to take away my life; for since that judgment was passed, it was his Majesty's pleasure to grant me a commission to proceed in a voyage beyond the seas, wherein I had power, as Marshal, over the life and death of others; so, under favour, I presume I am discharged of that judgment. By that commission I gained new life and vigour; for he that hath power over the lives of others, must surely be master of his own. In the 22d Edward III.+ a man was

*Sir Edward Montague was made Chief Justice of the King's Bench Nov. 16, 1616, on the removal of Sir Edward Coke. He had previously been Recorder of London, and was afterwards made Lord Treasurer, and created Earl of Manchester.

A short note of this case will be found in Fitzherbert's Abridgement, tit. corone, 239.

indicted for felony, and he showed a charter, whereby it appeared that the King had hired him for the wars in Gascony; and it was allowed to be a pardon. Under my commission I departed the land, and undertook a journey, to honour my sovereign and to enrich his kingdom with gold, the ore whereof this hand hath found and taken in Guiana; but the voyage, notwithstanding my endeavour, had no other event but what was fatal to me;-the loss of my son and the wasting of my whole estate.

Montague, C. J. Sir Walter Raleigh, this which you now speak, touching your voyage, is not to the purpose; there is no other matter now in question here, but concerning the judgment of death formerly given against you. That judgment it is now the King's pleasure, upon certain occasions best known to himself, to have executed, unless you can show good cause to the contrary. Your commission cannot in any way help you, for by that you are not pardoned; in felony there may be an implied pardon, as was the case in the 22d Edward III.; but in case of treason, you must show a pardon by express words, and not by implication. Every pardon of high treason requires an express recital of the treason, if not by the common law, at least by the statute of the 13th of Richard II. There was no word tending to pardon in all your commission, and, therefore, you must say something else to the purpose, otherwise we must proceed to give execution.

Sir Walter Raleigh. If your opinion be so, my Lord, I am satisfied, and must put myself on the mercy of the King, who I know is gracious; and I hope he will be pleased to take compassion upon me. Concerning that judgment at Winchester, passed so long ago, I presume that most of you that hear me know how that was obtained; nay, I know that his Majesty was of opinion that I had hard measure therein, and was so resolved touching that trial; and if he had not been anew exasperated against me, certain I am I might (if I could by nature) have lived a thousand and a thousand years before he would have taken advantage thereof.

Montague, C. J. Sir Walter Raleigh, you must, remember yourself; you had an honourable trial, and it were wisdom in you now to submit yourself, and

to confess that your offence did justly draw upon you the judgment which was then pronounced against you. I pray you, therefore, to attend what I shall say unto you. I am here called upon to grant execution upon the judgment given against you fifteen years since, all which time you have been as a dead man in the law, and might at any minute have been cut off; but the King, in mercy, spared you. You might justly think it heavy if you were now called to execution in cold blood; but it is not so; for new offences have stirred up his Majesty's justice, to move him to revive what the law hath formerly cast upon you. I know you have been valiant and wise, and I doubt not but you retain both these virtues, which now you shall have occasion to use. Your faith hath heretofore been questioned, but I am satisfied you are a good Christian, for your book, which is an admirable work, doth testify as much. I would give you counsel, but I know you can apply unto yourself far better counsel than I am able to give you; yet, with the good Samaritan of the Gospel, who finding one in the way, wounded and distressed, poured oil into his wounds and refreshed him, so will I now give unto you the oil of comfort; though in respect that I am a minister of the law, mixed with vinegar. In one sense, sorrow will not avail you; for, were you pained, sorrow would not ease you; were you afflicted, sorrow could not content you; but the sorrow for your sins will be an everlasting comfort to you. Fear not death

too much nor too little: not too much, lest you fail in your hopes; nor too little, lest you die presumptuously. And here I must conclude, with my prayers to God, that he would have mercy on your soul. And so the Lord Chief Justice ended with these words: " Execution is granted."

Sir Walter Raleigh. My Lord, I most humbly beseech your Lordships that you will grant me some time before my execution, that I may settle my affairs and my mind more than they yet are; for I have much to do for my reputation and my conscience. And I would beseech the favour of pen, ink, and paper, to express something thereby, and to discharge myself of some trusts of worldly nature, that were put upon me. And I beseech you to think, that I crave not this to gain one minute

of life; for now being old, sickly, disgraced, and certain to go to death, life is wearisome unto me. And, lastly, I do beseech your Lordships, that when I come to die, I may have leave to speak freely at my farewell; for I desire to satisfy the world that I was ever loyal to the King, and a true lover of this Commonwealth. And this I will seal with my blood, and justify where I shall not fear the face of any King on earth. My Lords, I beseech you all to pray for me.

The Court having awarded execution, the Sheriffs of Middlesex were commanded, for that purpose, to take him into their custody, who presently carried him to the Gate-house.

Upon Thursday*, the 29th of October, 1618, Sir Walter Raleigh was conveyed by the Sheriffs of London to a scaffold, in Old Palace Yard, at Westminster, about eight in the morning. Amongst the spectators, were the Earl of Arundel, the Earl of Oxford, the Earl of Northampton, Lord Doncaster, Lord Sheffield, Lord Percy, and a large company of Knights and Gentlemen. When Sir Walter came upon the scaffold, he saluted, with a cheerful countenance, the Lords, Knights, and Gentlemen who were there present. After which, a proclamation was made for silence, and he addressed himself to speak in this manner :-" I was yesterday taken out of my bed in a strong fit of fever, which hath much weakened me, and whose untimeliness, forbearing no occasion nor place, I likewise expect to-day. And I do, therefore, first desire the Almighty God to keep sickness from me, that I may have time to deliver my mind; and my next desire unto you all is, that if disability in voice, or dismayedness in countenance, shall appear, you will ascribe it to sickness rather than to myself."

Then pausing awhile, he directed himself towards

*This account of Raleigh's execution is taken from that pub. lished by Cayley; and some additions have been made from a letter by an eye-witness, preserved in the valuable collection of papers relating to Raleigh in the State-Paper Office.