Chapter I: Part 1

STATE TRIALS

_All rights reserved_

STATE TRIALS

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL

SELECTED AND EDITED

BY H. L. STEPHEN

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOL. I

LONDON

DUCKWORTH AND CO.

NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

1899

Edinburgh: T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Majesty

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION, vii

SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 1

CHARLES I., 75

THE REGICIDES, 123

COLONEL TURNER AND OTHERS, 169

THE SUFFOLK WITCHES, 211

ALICE LISLE, 239

_The portraits of_ SIR WALTER RALEIGH _and_ LORD RUSSELL _are taken from photographs of pictures in the National Portrait Gallery, by permission of_ Messrs. WALKER and BOUTALL.

To G. DE L'E. D.

DEAR GERALD,--As you suggested the idea of this book to me, and as I know that whether it succeeds or fails I can count confidently on your sympathy, I will throw into the form of a letter to you the few remarks which I might otherwise put into a preface. For as I have confessions to make which amount almost to an apology, I had rather address them to one who is pledged to express the most favourable possible view of my literary efforts, such as they are, than to that hypothetical reader, of whose tastes I feel most shamefully ignorant, though I am ready to assume everything in his favour.

Far abler writers than I have frequently dilated on the charms attending a study of the reports of State Trials, as they are best known to the world; namely, in one-and-twenty stately volumes compiled by the industrious Howells, father and son, and published, a year after the battle of Waterloo, by the combined efforts of on a few of my contemporaries the idea that persons long since dead on the block or the gallows were Englishmen very much like ourselves, my object is secured.

My task has been confined to a selection of passages to be transferred bodily from Howell's pages; to providing in an abbreviated form the connecting-links between them; and to the supply of sufficient notes to enable the ordinary reader to understand the main outlines of the stories of which the trial generally constitutes the catastrophe. As to my takings from Howell, I need say but little. I have indicated their existence by a change of type. I have carefully preserved those departures from conventional grammar, and that involved and uncouth, but, for that very reason, life-like style of narration which he and his predecessors inherited from the original but unknown authorities. As to my abbreviations, I am fully aware that they do not represent any very high literary effort. It is, I suppose, impossible that mere condensation of another man's narrative should be done very well; but it can certainly be done very ill. My aim, therefore, has been rather to escape disaster than to achieve any brilliant success. The charm of State Trials lies largely in matters of detail:--that Hale allowed two old women to be executed for witchcraft; that Lord Russell was obviously a traitor; that an eminent judge did not murder a woman in the early part of his career; and that a sea-captain did murder his brother in order to inherit his wealth, are in themselves facts of varying importance. What the trials in these cases tell us, however, as nothing else can, is what were the popular beliefs as to witchcraft shared by such a man as Hale; how revolutions were planned while such things were still an important factor in practical politics; and what was the state of the second city in the kingdom when a man could be kidnapped in its busiest streets by a gang of sailors and privateers-men. And this effect can only be reproduced by considering a mass of detail, picturesque enough in itself, but not always strictly relevant to the matter in hand. Again, to a lawyer at all events, it is impossible to omit those matters which show that the process which goes on at regular intervals in all the criminal courts in the country is essentially the same that it always has been since the Reformation; and accordingly I have not hesitated to indicate as fully as my original made possible the procedure, in the narrower sense of the word, followed at the various trials reported. In the matter of notes I have done my best, in a very narrow compass, to indicate how the trials were connected with contemporary history. I have also reminded the reader (to use the conventional phrase) of the fate of the various characters who are to be met with in each trial. In particular, I have aimed at bringing to the fore what must, after all, be the main point of interest in any trial; namely, who were the counsel briefed, and how they came to be briefed; who were the judges that tried it, how they came to be judges, and what position they held in the opinion of the junior bar at the time. For this part of my work I have taken care to have recourse to the best and most modern authority, and have stated hardly any facts which are not vouched for by the editor of the _Dictionary of National Biography_.

In my selection of cases to be reported I have been guided by a variety of considerations. Personally, I admit that I like the political cases best. There is a squalor about private crime, which, though I like it myself, is inferior to politics as a staple. Besides, one has heard of the heroes of the political trials before; and to read Raleigh's little retort when Coke complains of a want of words adequately to express his opinion of Raleigh; to be reminded how the worst of kings proved himself an admirable lawyer, and the possessor of manners which, in a humbler station, would assuredly have made the man; to hear the jokes as to Essex's responsibility for the financial prospects of the proposed revolution which amused the company of desperate men in the wine-merchant's upper room; to come across the ghost of the conversation in lonely St. Martin's Lane between the revellers at the Greyhound Tavern, and its interruption by the hostile band hurrying to the duel in Leicester Fields, creates, in my mind at least, the fantastic illusion that Raleigh, Charles I., Russell, Mohun, and the rest of them were all once actually alive.

I feel that I have unduly neglected the claims of what, at the period I have had to do with, was the sister kingdom of Scotland. The Scotch were not then, taking the difference of the population of the two countries into consideration, at all behind the English in the production of treason, murder, and other interesting forms of crime; and their misdeeds were in many respects the more picturesque of the two. I had hoped to place before my readers the true account, or what passes for such, of that murder of Colin Roy Campbell of Glenure which, as we now know, produced such romantic consequences for David Balfour. The 'Forty-five should have been represented, and Lord Lovat's adventures ought to have served my purpose to a turn. But, alas! the lawyers on these occasions have been hopelessly beaten by the professed story-tellers; and the reports of the trials of Lord Lovat and James Stewart are as dull as the romances of _Waverley_ and _Catriona_ are entrancing. Why this should be so I do not know. I can ascribe it only to the inferiority of the Scots criminal procedure to our own; and ignorance prevents me from proving that inferiority by any other fact than the one which I am anxious to account for.

After diligent and minute inquiry, I am pleased, though not surprised, to find that Ireland was perfectly free from serious crime during the whole of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Since making my selection of trials I have become aware that Mr. Leslie Stephen, in his _Hours in a Library_, has chosen for notice precisely those trials which I have reported. I must disclaim any merit in having made the same selection as such an eminent critic; but at the same time I can confidently affirm that my choice was made before I had read the essay in question. Whether I have been guilty of the crime of plagiarism in this particular I cannot say; neither, as far as that goes, do I care. My readers at least have no reason to complain, and I can count on you, Gerald, to join with me in deprecating the wrath of the outraged author.

Trusting confidently in your co-operation to secure for this little collection as favourable a reception as may be from that public for whose taste we both have so much respect,--I remain, yours to command,

H. L. STEPHEN.

THE INNER TEMPLE,
_31st December 1898._

SIR WALTER RALEIGH[1]

Raleigh's trial is so closely connected with the politics of the time that it cannot be properly understood without reference to them. James owed his succession to the throne, at all events the undisputed recognition of his right to that succession, in a great measure to Cecil's elaborate and careful preparations. It was therefore natural enough that Cecil's position as chief minister should be confirmed at the beginning of the new reign: but this fact drove two important parties into opposition to the new order of things. The Earl of Northumberland, Lord Grey, Lord Cobham, and Sir Walter Raleigh found themselves deprived of all chance of obtaining power, and the Catholics gradually realised that their position was not likely to be substantially improved. Northumberland indeed was won back by promises of royal favour, but Raleigh was deprived of his captainship of the Royal Guards and his post of Warden of the Stannaries, whilst his monopoly in wine was threatened. The all-important question of foreign politics formed a centre on which the international struggle for power turned. James himself was a stranger to the national hatred for the Spaniards which had hitherto been Raleigh's guiding principle. Cecil was probably more anxious for peace than anything else, though desirous to do all he could to advance the power of the Netherlands and hold the Spaniards in check. Meanwhile the various foreign powers concerned prepared to make what profit they could out of the altered state of England. A mission from the Netherlands effected practically nothing. The Duke of Sully, the ambassador from Henry IV. of France, obtained some assistance towards prolonging the defence of Ostend against the Spanish forces. The Archduke Albert[2] sent the Duke of Aremberg, not to negotiate, but to protract the time till the Court of Spain could decide upon a policy.

Northumberland, together with Raleigh and Cobham, seem to have made overtures to Sully which were rejected, on which the two latter transferred their attentions to the Spanish interest, and certainly put themselves into communication with Aremberg. Meanwhile an extreme and apparently weak party among the Catholics entered into an obscure and violent undertaking popularly known as the 'surprising' or 'Bye' plot as contrasted with Raleigh's, known as the 'Main.' Watson, a secular priest, whose main motive, in Professor Gardiner's view, was a hatred of the Jesuits, had taken a leading part in reconciling the English Catholics to James's accession. Irritated by the exaction of fines for recusancy instituted at the beginning of the new reign, he allied himself with Clarke, another priest, Sir Griffin Markham, a Catholic gentleman discontented with the government for private reasons, George Brooke, Lord Cobham's brother, and Lord Grey. A fantastic scheme propounded by Markham was adopted, and the conspirators decided to seize the King while hunting, to carry him to the Tower, on the plea of protecting him from his enemies, and there install themselves in power under the shadow of his name. They were, as represented by Coke in Raleigh's trial, to swear to protect the Sovereign from all his enemies, and they affected to have a large following in the country. Copley, an insignificant recruit, was added to the party, and the execution of the plot was fixed for the 24th of June. On that day, however, their partisans proved to be too few for their designs, and the next day Grey separated himself from them. Meanwhile the Jesuits had become aware of the plot and communicated their knowledge to the government; and the conspirators were soon arrested. The connection of Brooke with the 'Bye' plot suggested Cobham's complicity; and Raleigh, as his nearest friend, was summoned to Windsor by Cecil to be examined before the Council.

After this examination he wrote the letter to Cobham so often referred to in the trial, saying that he had said nothing to compromise him, and reminding him that one witness, possibly referring either to Aremberg's servant, or Brooke, was not enough to convict of treason. He subsequently wrote to Cecil informing him that Cobham had been in communication with Aremberg, and Cobham was arrested. Raleigh's own arrest followed on July 17th, and within a fortnight he attempted to commit suicide. He and Cobham were both subsequently examined, with the results that appear in the course of the trial. It must be remembered that the government probably had a quantity of private information which they did not produce, partly no doubt with the view of protecting Aremberg. This is particularly so in relation to the most serious part of the case; that, namely, relating to the scheme of placing Lady Arabella on the throne; as to which see Gardiner's _History_, vol. i. pp. 132, 133.

The leading members of the 'Bye' were tried and convicted two days before Raleigh. Cobham and Grey were tried and convicted by the Chancellor sitting as Lord Steward soon after. The two priests and Brooke were hung. Cobham, Grey, and Markham were brought to the scaffold that they might be induced to make their dying declarations, and were then granted their lives. Cobham, when in instant expectation of death, persisted in avowing Raleigh's guilt.

Beyond the interest that attaches to Raleigh's trial from the historical and personal points of view, it is interesting as showing the methods in which an important trial was conducted at the beginning of the seventeenth century. The most remarkable feature of the trial itself in the eyes of a modern reader, beyond its extreme informality, is that Raleigh was condemned on the statement of a confederate, who spoke under extreme pressure, with every inducement to exculpate himself at Raleigh's expense, and whom Raleigh never had a chance of meeting. The reasons given by Popham for refusing to allow Cobham to be called as a witness at the trial are instructive, and, as Professor Gardiner points out, prove that in political trials at all events, when the government had decided that the circumstances of the case were sufficient to justify them in putting a man on his trial, the view of the court before which he was tried was that he was to be condemned unless he succeeded in proving his innocence. This fact alone leads the modern Englishman to sympathise with Raleigh, and this feeling is naturally increased by what Sir James Stephen calls the 'rancorous ferocity' of Coke's behaviour. The second cause added to Raleigh's popularity, and the political reasons which led to his trial are probably what produced the same feelings among his contemporaries. It is beyond my present purpose to discuss how far Raleigh was really guilty of treason, even were I competent to express any opinion on the subject worth attending to. But for the credit of the lawyers who presided at the trial, I may point out that the assertions that the statute of Edward VI., requiring two witnesses in cases of treason, had been repealed, and that the trial at common law was by examination, and not by a jury and witnesses, were not as incomprehensibly unjust as they appear to us. A statute of Philip and Mary enacted that cases of treason should be tried according to the due order and course of common law, and the statute of Edward VI., being regarded as an innovation upon the common law, was thus held to be implicitly repealed. The rule as to the two witnesses seems to have been construed as referring to trial by witnesses as it existed under the civil law, which was taken to require two eye- or ear-witnesses to the actual fact constituting the crime. With such a trial, trial by jury was frequently contrasted, and if the rigour of the civil law was not to be insisted on, the only alternative seemed to be that the jury should form their opinion as they could, if not from their own knowledge, then from any materials that might be laid before them. This naturally did away with any rules of evidence as we understand them, and consequently Cobham's confession became as good evidence as the jury could expect to have. In fact, as Sir James Stephen says, 'The only rules of evidence as to matters of fact recognised in the sixteenth century seem to have been the clumsy rules of the mediaeval civil law, which were supposed to be based on the Bible. If they were set aside, the jury were absolute, practically absolute, and might decide upon anything which they thought fit to consider evidence.' See further Gardiner's _History_, vol. i. pp. 108-140; and Stephen's _History of the Criminal Law_, vol. i. pp. 333-337.

Sir Walter Raleigh was tried at Winchester on the 17th of November 1603 before a commission consisting of Thomas Howard,[3] Earl of Suffolk, Lord Chamberlain; Charles Blunt,[4] Earl of Devon; Lord Henry Howard,[5] afterwards Earl of Northampton; Robert Cecil,[6] Earl of Salisbury; Edward, Lord Wotton of Morley; Sir John Stanhope, Vice-Chamberlain; Lord Chief-Justice of England Popham;[7] Lord Chief-Justice of the Common Pleas Anderson;[8] Justices Gawdie and Warburton; and Sir W. Wade.

The indictment charged Raleigh with high treason by conspiring to deprive the King of his government; to alter religion; to bring in the Roman Superstition; and to procure foreign enemies to invade the kingdom. The facts alleged to support these charges were that Lord Cobham,[9] on the 9th of June 1603, met Raleigh at Durham House in London, and conferred with him as to advancing Lady Arabella Stuart[10] to the throne; that it was there agreed that Cobham should, with Aremberg, the ambassador of the Archduke of Austria, bargain for a bribe of 600,000 crowns; that Cobham should go to the Archduke Albert, to procure his support for Lady Arabella, and from him to the King of Spain; that Lady Arabella should write three letters to the Archduke, to the King of Spain, and to the Duke of Savoy, promising to establish peace between England and Spain, to tolerate the Popish and Roman superstition, and to be ruled by them as to her marriage. Cobham was then to return to Jersey, where he would find Raleigh and take counsel with him as to how to distribute Aremberg's bribe. On the same day Cobham told his brother Brook of all these treasons, and persuaded him to assent to them; afterwards Cobham and Brook spoke these words, 'That there would never be a good world in England till the King (meaning our sovereign lord) and his cubs (meaning his royal issue) were taken away.' Further Raleigh published a book to Cobham, written against the title of the King, and Cobham published the same book to Brook. Further, Cobham, on the 14th of June, at Raleigh's instigation, moved Brook to incite Lady Arabella to write the letters as aforesaid. Also on the 17th of June Cobham, at Raleigh's instigation, wrote to Aremberg through one Matthew de Lawrency, to obtain the 600,000 crowns, which were promised to him on the 18th of June, and of which Cobham promised 8000 to Raleigh and 10,000 to Brook.

To this indictment Raleigh pleaded Not Guilty; and a jury was sworn, to none of whom Raleigh took any objection.

Heale, the King's Serjeant, then opened the case very shortly, merely reciting the facts mentioned in the indictment, concluding: 'Now, whether these things were bred in a hollow tree, I leave him to speak of, who can speak far better than myself; and so sat down again.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL (Sir Ed. Coke[11])--I must first, my lords,
before I come to the cause, give one caution, because we shall
often mention persons of eminent places, some of them great
monarchs: whatever we say of them, we shall but repeat what
others have said of them; I mean the Capital Offenders, in their
Confessions. We professing law must speak reverently of kings
and potentates. I perceive these honourable lords, and the rest
of this great assembly, are come to hear what hath been
scattered upon the wrack of report. We carry a just mind, to
condemn no man, but upon plain Evidence.

Here is Mischief, Mischief _in summo gradu_, exorbitant
Mischief. My Speech shall chiefly touch these three points:
Imitation, Supportation, and Defence. The Imitation of evil ever
exceeds the Precedent; as on the contrary, imitation of good
ever comes short. Mischief cannot be supported but by Mischief;
yea, it will so multiply, that it will bring all to confusion.
Mischief is ever underpropped by falsehood or foul practices:
and because all these things did concur in this Treason, you
shall understand the main, as before you did the bye. The
Treason of the bye consisteth in these Points: first that the
lord Grey, Brook, Markham, and the rest, intended by force in
the night to surprise the king's court; which was a Rebellion in
the heart of the realm, yea, in the heart of the heart, in the
Court. They intended to take him that is a sovereign, to make
him subject to their power, purposing to open the doors with
musquets and cavaliers, and to take also the Prince and Council:
then under the king's authority to carry the King to the Tower;
and to make a stale of the admiral. When they had the King
there, to extort three things from him, first, A Pardon for all
their Treasons: Secondly, A Toleration of the Roman
Superstition; which their eyes shall sooner fall out than they
shall ever see; for the king hath spoken these words in the
hearing of many, 'I will lose the crown and my life, before ever
I will alter Religion.' And thirdly, To remove Counsellors. In
the room of the Lord Chancellor, they would have placed one
Watson, a priest, absurd in Humanity and ignorant in Divinity.
Brook, of whom I will speak nothing, Lord Treasurer. The great
Secretary must be Markham; _Oculus patriae_. A hole must be found
in my Lord Chief-Justice's coat. Grey must be Earl-Marshal, and
Master of the Horse, because he would have a table in court;
marry, he would advance the earl of Worcester to a higher place.
All this cannot be done without a multitude: therefore Watson
the priest tells a resolute man that the king was in danger of
Puritans and Jesuits; so to bring him in blindfold into the
action saying, That the king is no king till he be crowned;
therefore every man might right his own wrongs: but he is _rex
natus_, his dignity descends as well as yours, my lords. Then
Watson imposeth a blasphemous Oath, that they should swear to
defend the king's person; to keep secret what was given them in
charge, and seek all ways and means to advance the Catholic
Religion. Then they intend to send for the Lord Mayor and the
Aldermen, in the king's name, to the Tower; lest they should
make any resistance, and then take hostages of them; and to
enjoin them to provide for them victuals and munition. Grey,
because the king removed before Midsummer, had a further reach
to get a Company of Sword-men to assist the action: therefore he
would stay till he had obtained a regiment from Ostend or
Austria. So you see these Treasons were like Sampson's foxes,
which were joined in their tails, though their heads were
severed.

RALEIGH--You Gentlemen of the Jury, I pray remember, I am not
charged with the Bye, being the Treason of the priest.

ATTORNEY--You are not. My lords, you shall observe three things
in the Treasons: 1. They had a Watch-word (the king's safety):
their Pretence was _Bonum in se_; their Intent was _Malum in
se_: 2. They avouched Scripture; both the priests had _Scriptum
est_: perverting and ignorantly mistaking the Scriptures; 3.
They avouched the Common Law, to prove that he was no king until
he was crowned; alledging a Statute of 13 Elizabeth.

He then proceeds to mention other cases of treason where the accused had considered that their acts were _bonum in se_, and, defining treason, lays down that--

There is Treason in the heart, in the hand, 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. Now I come to your Charge,
You of the Jury: the greatness of Treason is to be considered in
these two things, _determinatione finis_, and _electione
mediorum_. This Treason excelleth in both, for that it was to
destroy the king and his progeny. These treasons are said to be
_crimen laesae majestatis_; this goeth further, and may be termed,
_crimen extirpandae regiae majestatis_, and _totius progenici
suae_. I shall not need, my lord, to speak anything concerning
the king, nor of the bounty and sweetness of his nature whose
thoughts are innocent, whose words are full of wisdom and
learning, and whose works are full of honour, although it be a
true saying, _Nunquam nimis quod nunquam satis_. But to whom do
you bear Malice? To the Children?

RALEIGH--To whom speak you this? You tell me news I never heard
of.

ATTORNEY--O sir, do I? I will prove you the notoriest traitor
that ever came to the bar. After you have taken away the king,
you would alter Religion: as you, sir Walter Raleigh, have
followed them of the Bye in Imitation: for I will charge you
with the words.

RALEIGH--Your words cannot condemn me; my innocency is my
defence. Prove one of these things wherewith you have charged
me, and I will confess the whole Indictment, and that I am the
horriblest traitor that ever lived, and worthy to be crucified
with a thousand thousand torments.

ATTORNEY--Nay, I will prove all: thou art a monster; thou hath
an English face but a Spanish heart. Now you must have Money;
Aremberg was no sooner in England (I charge thee, Raleigh) but
thou incitest Cobham to go unto him, and to deal with him for
Money, to bestow on discontented persons, to raise Rebellion on
the kingdom.

RALEIGH--Let me answer for myself.

ATTORNEY--Thou shalt not.

RALEIGH--It concerneth my life.

LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--Sir Walter Raleigh, Mr. Attorney is but yet
in the General: but when the king's Council have given the
evidence wholly you shall answer every Particular.

ATTORNEY--O! do I touch you?

LORD CECIL--Mr. Attorney, when you have done with this General
Charge, do you not mean to let him answer every Particular?

ATTORNEY--Yes, when we deliver the Proofs to be read. Raleigh
procured Cobham to go to Aremberg, which he did by his
instigation: Raleigh supped with Cobham before he went to
Aremberg; after supper, Raleigh conducted him to Durham-House,
from thence Cobham went with Lawrency, a servant of Aremberg's
unto him, and went in by a back way. Cobham could never be quiet
until he had entertained this motion, for he had four Letters
from Raleigh. Aremberg answered, The Money should be performed,
but knew not to whom it should be distributed. Then Cobham and
Lawrency came back to Durham-House, where they found Raleigh.
Cobham and Raleigh went up and left Lawrency below, where they
had secret conference in a gallery; and after, Cobham and
Lawrency departed from Raleigh. Your jargon was Peace: what is
that? Spanish invasion, Scottish subversion. And again, you are
not a fit man to take so much Money for procuring of a lawful
Peace, for Peace procured by money is dishonourable. Then Cobham
must go to Spain, and return by Jersey, where you were Captain:
and then, because Cobham had not so much policy, or at least
wickedness, as you, he must have your advice for the
distribution of the money. Would you have deposed so good a
king, lineally descended of Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward
IV.? Why then must you set up another? I think you meant to make
Arabella a Titular Queen, of whose Title I will speak nothing;
but sure you meant to make her a stale. Ah! good lady, you could
mean her no good.

RALEIGH--You tell me news, Mr. Attorney.

ATTORNEY--Oh sir! I am the more large, because I know with whom
I deal: for we have to deal to-day with a man of wit.

RALEIGH--Did I ever speak with this lady?

ATTORNEY--I will track you out before I have done. Englishmen
will not be led by persuasion of words, but they must have books
to persuade.

RALEIGH--The Book was written by a man of your profession, Mr.
Attorney.

ATTORNEY--I would not have you so impatient.

RALEIGH--Methinks you fall out with yourself; I say nothing.

ATTORNEY--By this Book you will persuade men, that he is not the
lawful king. Now let us consider some circumstances: my lords,
you will know my lord Cobham (for whom we all lament and
rejoice; lament in that his house, which hath stood so long
unspotted, is now ruinated: rejoice, in that his Treasons are
revealed): he is neither politician nor swordman; Raleigh was
both, united in the Cause with him and therefore cause of his
destruction. Another circumstance is, the secret contriving of
it. Humphry Stafford claimed Sanctuary for Treason: Raleigh, in
his Machiavelian policy hath made a Sanctuary for Treason: he
must talk with none but Cobham; because, saith he, one Witness
can never condemn me. For Brook said unto sir Griffith Markham,
'Take heed how you do make my lord Cobham acquainted; for
whatsoever he knoweth, Raleigh the witch will get it out of
him.' As soon as Raleigh was examined on one point of Treason
concerning my lord Cobham he wrote to him thus: 'I have been
examined of you, and confessed nothing.' Further, you sent to
him by your trusty Francis Kemish,[12] that one witness could
not condemn; and therefore bade his lordship be of good courage.
Came this out of Cobham's quiver? No: but out of Raleigh's
Machiavelian and devilish policy. Yea, for Cobham did retract
it; why then did ye urge it? Now then see the most horrible
practices that ever came out of the bottomless pit of the lowest
hell. After that Raleigh had intelligence that Cobham had
accused him, he endeavoured to have intelligence from Cobham
which he had gotten by young sir John Payton: but I think it was
the error of his youth.

RALEIGH--The lords told it me, or else I had been sent to the
Tower.

ATTORNEY--Thus Cobham, by the instigation of Raleigh, entered
into these actions: so that the question will be, whether you
are not the principal traitor and he would nevertheless have
entered into it? Why did Cobham retract all the same? First,
because Raleigh was so odious, he thought he should fare the
worse for his sake; secondly, he thought thus with himself, If
he be free I shall clear myself the better. After this, Cobham
asked for a Preacher to confer with, pretending to have Dr.
Andrews;[13] but indeed he meant not to have him but Mr.
Galloway,[14] a worthy and reverent preacher, who can do more
with the King (as he said) than any other; that he seeing his
constant denial, might inform the king thereof. Here he plays
with the preacher. If Raleigh could persuade the lords that
Cobham had no intent to travel, then he thought all should be
well. Here is forgery! In the Tower, Cobham must write to sir
Thos. Vane, a worthy man, that he meant not to go to Spain:
which letter Raleigh devised in Cobham's name.

RALEIGH--I will wash my hands of the indictment, and die a true
man to the king.

ATTORNEY--You are the absolutist traitor that ever was.

RALEIGH--Your phrases will not prove it.

ATTORNEY--Cobham writeth a letter to my lord Cecil, and doth
with Mellis's man to lay it in a Spanish Bible and to make as
though he found it by chance. This was after he had intelligence
with this viper, that he was false.

LORD CECIL--You mean a letter intended to me; I never had it.

ATTORNEY--No, my lord, you had it not. You, my masters of the
jury, respect not the wickedness and hatred of the man, respect
his cause: if he be guilty, I know you will have care of it, for
the preservation of the king, the continuance of the Gospel
authorized, and the good of us all.

RALEIGH--I do not hear yet, that you have spoken one word
against me; here is no Treason of mine done: If my lord Cobham
be a Traitor, what is that to me?

ATTORNEY--All that he did was by thy instigation, thou viper;
for I 'thou' thee, thou Traitor.

RALEIGH--It becometh not a man of quality and virtue to call me
so: But I take comfort in it, it is all you can do.

ATTORNEY--Have I angered you?

RALEIGH--I am in no case to be angry.

CHIEF-JUSTICE POPHAM--Sir Walter Raleigh, Mr. Attorney speaketh
out of the zeal of his duty, for the service of the king, and
you for your life; be valiant on both sides.

_The Lord Cobham's Examination._[15]

'He confesseth, he had a Passport to go into Spain, intending
to go to the Archduke, to confer with him about these Practices;
and because he knew the Archduke had not Money to pay his own
army, from thence he meant to go to Spain to deal with the king
for the 600,000 crowns, and to return by Jersey; and that
nothing should be done, until he had spoken with sir Walter
Raleigh for distribution of the Money to them which were
discontented in England. At the first beginning, he breathed out
oaths and exclamations against Raleigh, calling him Villain and
Traitor; saying he had never entered into these courses but by
his instigation, and that he would never let him alone.' (Here
Mr. Attorney willed the Clerk of the Crown Office to read over
these last words again, 'He would never let him alone.')
'Besides he spake of plots and invasions; of the particulars
whereof he could give no account, though Raleigh and he had
conferred of them. Further he said, he was afraid of Raleigh,
that when he should return by Jersey, that he would have
delivered him and the Money to the king.' 'Being examined of sir
A. Gorge he freed him, saying, They never durst trust him: but
sir Arthur Savage they intended to use, because they thought him
a fit man.'

RALEIGH--Let me see the Accusation: this is absolutely all the
Evidence that can be brought against me; poor shifts! You
Gentlemen of the Jury, I pray you understand this. This is that
which must either condemn, or give me life; which must free me,
or send my wife and children to beg their bread about the
streets. This is that which must prove me a notorious Traitor,
or a true subject to the king. Let me see my Accusation, that I
may make my Answer.

CLERK OF THE COUNCIL--I did read it, and shew you all the
examinations.

RALEIGH--At my first examination at Windsor, my lords asked me
what I knew of Cobham's practice with Aremberg; I answered
negatively: and as concerning Arabella I protest before God I
never heard one word of it. If that be proved, let me be guilty
of 10,000 Treasons. It is a strange thing you will impute that
to me, when I never so much as heard the name of Arabella
Stuart, but only the name of Arabella. After being examined, I
told my lords, that I thought my lord Cobham had conference with
Aremberg; I suspected his visiting of him; for after he departed
from me at Durham-house I saw him pass by his own stairs, and
passed over to St. Mary Saviours, where I knew Lawrency, a
merchant, and a follower of Aremberg, lay, and therefore likely
to go unto him. My lord Cecil asked my opinion concerning
Lawrency; I said that if you do not apprehend Lawrency, it is
dangerous, he will fly; if you do apprehend him, you shall give
my lord Cobham notice thereof. I was asked who was the greatest
man with my lord Cobham; I answered, I knew no man so great with
him as young Wyat of Kent. As soon as Cobham saw my Letter to
have discovered his dealing with Aremberg in his fury he accused
me; but before he came to the stair-foot, he repented, and said
he had done me wrong. When he came to the end of his Accusation
he added, that if he had brought this money to Jersey, he feared
that I would have delivered him and the Money to the King. Mr.
Attorney, you said this never came out of Cobham's quiver; he is
a simple man. Is he so simple? no: he hath a disposition of his
own, he will not easily be guided by others; but when he has
once taken head in a matter, he is not easily drawn from it: he
is no babe.

He then goes on to point out the inherent improbabilities of Cobham's story; he himself had no means for persuading the King of Spain to disburse money, having lost his wardenship of the Stannaries; he knew England to be stronger and Spain to be weaker than they had been; the Spanish fleet had been ruined, and the trade with the Indies had fallen off. Cobham had no money of his own. When Raleigh was examined, he had L40,000 worth of Cobham's jewels which he had bought of him. 'If he had had a fancy to run away he would not have left so much as to have purchased a lease in fee-farm. I saw him buy L300 worth of books to send to his library at Canterbury, and a cabinet of L30 to give to Mr. Attorney for drawing the conveyances; and God in Heaven knoweth, not I, whether he intended to travel or not. But for that practice with Arabella, or letters to Aremberg framed, or any discourse with him, or in what language he spake unto him; if I knew any of these things, I would absolutely confess the indictment, and acknowledge myself worthy of ten thousand deaths.'

_Cobham's second Examination read._

The lord Cobham being required to subscribe to an Examination,
there was shewed a Note under sir Walter Raleigh's hand; the
which when he had perused, he paused, and after brake forth into
those Speeches: Oh Villain! oh Traitor! I will now tell you all
the truth; and then he said, His purpose was to go into
Flanders, and into Spain, for the obtaining the aforesaid Money;
and that Raleigh had appointed to meet him in Jersey as he
returned home, to be advised of him about the distribution of
the Money.

LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE POPHAM--When Cobham answered to the
Interrogatories, he made scruple to subscribe, and being urged
to it, he said, if he might hear me affirm, that if a person of
his degree ought to set his hand he would: I lying then at
Richmond for fear of the plague was sent for, and I told he
ought to subscribe; otherwise it were a Contempt of a high
nature: then he subscribed. The lords questioned with him
further, and he shewed them a letter, as I thought written to
me, but it was indeed written to my lord Cecil; he desired to
see the Letter again, and then said, 'Oh wretch! oh traitor!'
whereby I perceived you had not performed that trust he had
reposed in you.

RALEIGH--He is as passionate a man as lives; for he hath not
spared the best friends he hath in England in his passion. My
lords, I take it, he that has been examined, has ever been asked
at the time of his Examination, if it be according to his
meaning, and then to subscribe. Methinks, my lords, when he
accuses a man, he should give some account and reason of it: it
is not sufficient to say we talked of it. If I had been the
plotter, would not I have given Cobham some arguments, whereby
to persuade the king of Spain, and answer his objections? I
knew Westmoreland and Bothwell, men of other understandings
than Cobham, were ready to beg their bread.

SIR THOS. FOWLER (one of the Jury)--Did sir Walter Raleigh write
a letter to my lord before he was examined concerning him or
not?

ATTORNEY--Yes.

LORD CECIL--I am in great dispute with myself to speak in the
case of this gentleman; a former dearness between me and him
tyed so firm a knot of my conceit of his virtues, now broken by
a discovery of his imperfections. I protest, did I serve a king
that I knew would be displeased with me for speaking, in this
case I would speak, whatever came of it; but seeing he is
compacted of piety and justice, and one that will not mislike of
any man for speaking the truth, I will answer your question. Sir
Walter Raleigh was staid by me at Windsor, upon the first news
of Copley, that the king's person should be surprized by my lord
Grey, and Mr. Geo. Brook; when I found Brook was in, I suspected
Cobham, then I doubted Raleigh to be a partaker. I speak not
this, that it should be thought I had greater judgment than the
rest of my lords in making this haste to have them examined.
Raleigh following to Windsor, I met with him upon the Terrace
and willed him, as from the king, to stay; saying the lords had
something to say to him; then he was examined, but not
concerning my lord Cobham but of the surprizing treason. My lord
Grey was apprehended, likewise Brook; by Brook, we found that he
had given notice to Cobham of the surprizing treason, as he
delivered it to us; but with as much sparingness of a brother as
he might. We sent for my lord Cobham to Richmond, where he
stood upon his justification and his quality; sometimes being
froward; he said he was not bound to subscribe, wherewith we
made the king acquainted. Cobham said, if my Lord Chief-Justice
would say it was a Contempt, he would subscribe; whereof being
resolved, he subscribed. There was a light given to Aremberg,
that Lawrency was examined; but that Raleigh knew that Cobham
was examined is more than I know.

RALEIGH--If my lord Cobham had trusted me in the Main, was not I
as fit a man to be trusted in the Bye?

LORD CECIL--Raleigh did by his Letters acquaint us that my lord
Cobham had sent Lawrency to Aremberg, when he knew not he had
any dealings with him.

LORD H. HOWARD--It made for you if Lawrency had been only
acquainted with Cobham, and not with you. But you knew his whole
estate, and were acquainted with Cobham's practice with
Lawrency: and it was known to you before that Lawrency depended
upon Aremberg.

ATTORNEY--1. Raleigh protested against the surprizing treason.
2. That he knew not of the matter touching Arabella. I would not
charge you, sir Walter, with the matter of falsehood: you say
you suspected the Intelligence that Cobham had with Aremberg by
Lawrency.

RALEIGH--I thought it had been no other intelligence, but such
as might be warranted.

ATTORNEY--Then it was but lawful suspicion. But to that whereas
you said, that Cobham had accused you in passion, I answer three
ways. 1. I observed, when Cobham said let me see the letter
again, he paused; and when he did see that count Aremberg was
touched, he cried out, oh traitor! oh villain! now will I
confess the whole truth. 2. The accusation of a man on hearsay
is nothing: would he accuse himself on passion and ruinate his
case and posterity out of malice to accuse you? 3. Could this be
out of passion? Mark the manner of it; Cobham had told this at
least two months before to his brother Brook, 'You are fools,
you are on the Bye, Raleigh and I are on the Main, we mean to
take away the king and his cubs.' This he delivered two months
before. So mark the manner and the matter; he would not turn the
weapon against his own bosom, and accuse himself to accuse you.

RALEIGH--Hath Cobham confessed that?

LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--This is spoken by Mr. Attorney to prove that
Cobham's speech came not out of passion.

RALEIGH--Let it be proved that Cobham said so.

ATTORNEY--Cobham saith that he was a long time doubtful of
Raleigh that he would send him and the money to the king. Did
Cobham fear lest you would betray him in Jersey? Then of
necessity there must be trust between you. No man can betray a
man but he that is trusted, in my understanding. That is the
greatest argument to prove that he was acquainted with Cobham's
proceedings. Raleigh has a deeper reach, than to make himself as
he said, 'Robin Hood, a Kett, or Cade'; yet I never heard that
Robin Hood was a traitor; they say he was an outlaw. And whereas
he saith that our king is not only more wealthy and potent than
his predecessors, but also more politic and wise, so that he
could have no hope to prevail; I answer, There is no king so
potent, wise, and active, but he may be overtaken through
treason. Whereas you say Spain is so poor, discoursing so
largely thereof; it had been better for you to have kept in
Guiana, than to have been so well acquainted with the state of
Spain. Besides, if you could have brought Spain and Scotland to
have joined, you might have hoped to prevail a great deal the
better. For his six Overthrows, I answer, he hath the more
malice, because repulses breed desire of revenge. Then you say
you never talked with Cobham, but about leases, and letting
lands, and ordering his house; I never knew you Clerk of the
Kitchen, etc. If you had fallen on your knees at first and
confessed the Treason, it had been better for you. You say, He
meant to have given me a Cabinet of L30; perhaps he thought by
those means to have anticipated me therewith. But you say all
these are Circumstances: I answer, all this Accusation in
Circumstance is true. Here now I might appeal to my lords, that
you take hold of this, that he subscribed not to the Accusation.

LORD HENRY HOWARD--Cobham was not then pressed to subscribe.

ATTORNEY--His Accusation being testified by the lords, is of as
great force as if he had subscribed. Raleigh saith again, If the
Accuser be alive he must be brought face to face to speak; and
alledges 25 Edw. 3rd, that there must be two sufficient
Witnesses, that must be brought face to face before the accused;
and alledgeth 12 and 13 Elizabeth.

RALEIGH--You try me by the Spanish Inquisition, if you proceed
only by the Circumstances, without two Witnesses.

ATTORNEY--This is a treasonable speech.

RALEIGH--_Evertere Hominem justum in causa sua injustum est._
Good my lords, let it be proved, either by the laws of the land,
or the laws of God, that there ought not to be two Witnesses
appointed; yet I will not stand to defend this point in law, if
the king will have it so: it is no rare thing for a man to be
falsely accused. A Judge condemned a woman in Sarum for killing
her husband, on the testimony of one Witness; afterwards his man
confessed the Murder, when she was executed; who after being
touched in conscience for the Judgment was used to say: _Quod
nunquam de hoc facto animam in vita sua purgaret_. It is also
commanded by the Scripture; _Allocutus est Jehova Mosen, in Ore
duorum aut trium Testium_, etc. If Christ requireth it, as it
appeareth Matt. xviii.; if by the Canon, Civil Law, and God's
Word, it be required, that there must be two Witnesses at the
least, bear with me if I desire one. I would not desire to live,
if I were privy to Cobham's proceedings. I have been a slave, a
villain, a fool, if I had endeavoured to set up Arabella, and
refused so gracious a lord and sovereign. But urge your proofs.

LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--You have offered Questions on diverse
Statutes, all which mention two accusers in case of Indictments:
you have deceived yourself, for the laws of 25 Edw. 3rd and 5
Edw. 6th are repealed. It sufficeth now if there be proofs made
either under hand, or by testimony of Witnesses, or by oaths; it
needs not the Subscription of the party, so there be hands of
credible men to testify the Examination.

RALEIGH--It may be an error in me; and if those laws be
repealed, yet I hope the equity of them remains still; but if
you affirm it, it must be a law to posterity. The Proof of the
Common Law is by witness and jury: let Cobham be here, let him
speak it. Call my accuser before my face, and I have done.

ATTORNEY--_Scientia sceleris est mera ignorantia._ You have read
the letter of the law, but understand it not. Here was your
anchor-hold, and your rendezvous: you trust to Cobham, either
Cobham must accuse you, or nobody; if he did, then it would not
hurt you, because he is but one Witness; if he did not, then you
are safe.

RALEIGH--If ever I read a word of the law or statutes before I
was Prisoner in the Tower, God confound me.

The Attorney-General then points out that Cobham confessed that he had a passport to travel, by means of which he intended to go to the Archduke, and then to the King of Spain to raise money, after which Raleigh confessed that he was to have joined him in Jersey on his way home. Cobham had further stated that nothing could be settled as to the distribution of the money they were to receive without Raleigh's concurrence. In reply, Raleigh pointed out that all this depended on Cobham's accusation, which he had never signed or vouched. 'I beseech you, my lords, let Cobham be sent for, charge him on his soul, on his allegiance to the King; if he affirm it, I am guilty.'

LORD CECIL--It is the Accusation of my lord Cobham, it is the
Evidence against you: must it not be of force without his
subscription? I desire to be resolved by the Judges whether by
the law it is not a forcible argument of evidence.

JUDGES--My lord, it is.

RALEIGH--The king at his coronation is sworn _In omnibus
Judiciis suis aequitatem, non rigorem legis, observare_. By the
rigour and cruelty of the law it may be a forcible evidence.

LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--That is not the rigour of the law, but the
justice of the law; else when a man hath made a plain
Accusation, by practice he might be brought to retract it again.

RALEIGH--Oh my lord, you may use equity.

LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--That is from the king; you are to have
justice from us.

LORD ANDERSON--The law is, if the matter be proved to the jury,
they must find you guilty; for Cobham's Accusation is not only
against you, there are other things sufficient.

LORD CECIL--Now that sir Walter Raleigh is satisfied, that
Cobham's Subscription is not necessary, I pray you, Mr.
Attorney, go on.

RALEIGH--Good Mr. Attorney, be patient, and give me leave.

LORD CECIL--An unnecessary patience is a hindrance; let him go
on with his proofs, and then repel them.

RALEIGH--I would answer particularly.

LORD CECIL--If you would have a table and pen and ink, you
shall.

Then paper and ink was given him. Here the Clerk of the Crown
read the Letter, which the lord Cobham did write in July, which
was to the effect of his former Examination; further saying, 'I
have disclosed all: to accuse any one falsely, were to burden my
own conscience.'

ATTORNEY--Read Copley's Confession the 8th of June; He saith, He
was offered 1000 crowns to be in this action.

Here Watson's Additions were read. 'The great mass of Money from
the count was impossible,' etc.

Brook's Confession read. 'There have Letters passed,' saith he,
'between Cobham and Aremberg, for a great sum of money to assist
a second action, for the surprizing of his majesty.'

ATTORNEY--It is not possible it was of passion: for it was in
talk before three men, being severally examined, who agreed in
the sum to be bestowed on discontented persons; That Grey should
have 12,000 crowns, and Raleigh should have 8,000, or 10,000
crowns.

_Cobham's Examination, July 18._

If the money might be procured (saith he) then a man may give
pensions. Being asked if a pension should not be given to his
brother Brook, he denied it not.

_Lawrency's Examination._

Within five days after Aremberg arrived, Cobham resorted unto
him. That night that Cobham went to Aremberg with Lawrency,
Raleigh supped with him.