Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-08-31
Sir, We ter Raleigh Before His
Execution.

thc IIeSIu6IlcyO a Mf. EOrGeT, or Chicago
Sir, Wa. ter Raleigh Before His
Execution.
from the Gentlena rs Magazine,
The eve Of the day fixed for hisaxe~
cntion. Raleigh had taken final fare
veil Of his wife, and the interview be-
tween the two had lasted until the alo-
hey hadtolled the hour of l2. Al bust
ness matters had been settled, and
these. was soothing, therefore, on. the
MIND Of the condemned man 10 inter-
fere with his hopes and thoughts as to
the unseen world into which he was
about to enter. The king, asa last IA
por had granted the wife, speeaily.to be
made q widow, permission to bury the
body OF her husband after the heads
man had done his fell work. 1T is
WE'LL. dear Bessie" said Raleigh, press
"that thou mayst dispose,o fthat den,!
which thou had'st not always, the dispo:
sing Of when alive" So those two par
"the eternal silence" 'God hold me
in my wits!" sighed the poor dana as
she entered her coach. stationed under
the very shadow of tha scafFo)d, upon
which in few brief hours the bic Cd of
her husband was to, be shed, AS
eight o'clock struck. Raleigh held
himself In readiness 80 quit the Gate
house. A cup of excel!ant sack was now
brought him, which be drank at a ouaR.
He was asked how he liked it. LAS
the fellow" he replied, "who drinking
of St. Giles bowl On his way 30. Tybusn,
said, it was good drink if man Nigh
tarry by it," After this reFres l1nent a
procession was made to the scahoEd at
the head of which walked the dean Of
Westminster. On the way to the Old
Palace yard Raleigh met Sir Hugh Bre.
ton, an old friend, whom he had es-
pecially requested to be present at the
execution. >'Sir Hugh, to make sure
work, got q letter from Secretary Lake
to the sheriff to see i'm placed conven-
iently, and meeting them the (process-
ion) as they came near to the scaffold
delivered his letter. But the sheriff by
mishap had left his spectacles at home,
and put the letter in his pocket; in the
meanwhile, Sir Hugh being thrust aside
by the crowd, Sir Walter babe him
farewell, saying IT do not know what
shift you will make, but am sure to
have place" 1t was a bitterly cold
October morning, rendered all the
more sharp by cutting east
wind, and as Raleigh assembled
the scaffold and prepared to address the
mob that thronged the palace yard his
limbs, enfeebled by confinement and ill.
health, trembled 50 visibly that he uld
scarcely support himself. The sheriff
observing this debility, offered to helr
bis ill-fated charge dow n from the scat
folo and take him to fire, so that be.
ing warmed he might be the better able
to believer his dying speech. mo
good Mr.. Sheriff. said Raleigh, "let us
dispatch for within this quarter of an
hour mine ague will come upon me, and
if | be not dead before then mine enc
mics will say that quake for fear.'
Then: holding on by the rail Of the scat
fold, he faced the crowd and thus be-
gan: II thank God heartily that He
has brought me into the light to die
and that He hath not suffered me to die
in the dark prison of the tower, where ]
have suffered great deal of misery and
cruel sickness, and thank God that my
fever bath not taken me at the time,
as prayed to God it might
not" After this preface he proceeded
TO deal with the charges broug hit aga INST
him. He denied that he ever entered
into any plot with France, though he
admitted, to save his life, he had at.
tempted to escape into France. He de-
MED that he had ever been counselled
by Lord Carew and other lords to fl,
the country, or that he had ever offered
Sir Lewis Stukely money to assist him
in escaping: "Bu1, indeed" he acknowl
edged, II showed him letter that if he
would 60 with me there should be order
taken for his debts when he was gone
neither had ! 10000 to give him, for i
lad so much could have made my
peace better with It other ways than IN
giving it to Stukely." He declared that
his only object in starting for Guiana
was to discover the mine which
really existed there. He denied
that he ever intended to
desert his men when at Trinidad, as had
been alleged, or that he had been
forced to return home hv his men
against his will Nor was it true that he
had carried with him to sea numerous
pieces, and that the only object of his
voyage was to get money into his hands
lie had taken out but little money, and
such as he had taken out he had brought
back. "These be the material points, "
he concluded, II thought good to speak
of, and am now at this instant to rem
der, up an account to God; and I pro-
test, as I appear before Him, this that I
have spoken is true. and I hope shall
be believed"