ke, underwent the
hideous doom which had been pronounced upon Ralegh. They were drawn,
hanged, and quartered. They still lived when the quartering began. On
December 6 Brooke was beheaded. His last words were: 'There is somewhat
yet hidden, which will one day appear for my justification.' Nothing
ever has appeared. James at Wilton House signed warrants for the
execution of Cobham, Grey, and Markham on Friday, December 10. He had
not the hardihood to sign the warrant for Ralegh's execution; but it is
believed to have been fixed for the Monday after. Queen Anne, it is
said, was interceding for his life. So was the King's host, Lord
Pembroke, at his mother's bidding. Cecil wrote to Winwood, afterwards
Secretary of State, that the King 'pretended to forbear Sir Walter
Ralegh for the present, till the Lord Cobham's death had given some
light how far he would make good his accusation.' James, we will hope,
had been staggered in conscience by the reports of his own messengers
from Winchester. He and his courtiers had won from the criminal law
Ralegh's condemnation. They were still hunting after apologies for the
conviction. Watson, Clarke, and Brooke had supplied none of the missing
links. In vain had Commissioners been examining and re-examining the
prisoners. Their forlorn hope was the agony or recklessness of the two
lords and Markham on the scaffold.

[Sidenote: _Farewell to his Wife._]

Meanwhile, in his prison in the Castle, Ralegh made ready for death. He
had the spiritual assistance of Bishop Bilson of Winchester, whom the
King had deputed to console or confess him. Bishop Bilson, who was said
by an admirer to carry prelature in his very aspect, furthered later on
the divorce of Lord and Lady Essex. Ralegh found no fault with his
behaviour to him, and gratefully characterized him in his History as
grave and learned. He satisfied the Bishop of his Christian state; he
could not be persuaded to acknowledge the truth of any of the charges
against him, unless, very partially, as to the pension. That, he said,
was 'once mentioned, but never proceeded in.' The day appointed for his
death, he thought, was December 13. He had penned a last farewell to his
wife on December 9, 1603. It reads very unlike the All Souls' College
paper. He sends his 'love, that, when I am dead, you may keep it, not
sorrows, dear Bess; let them go to the grave with me, and be buried in
the dust. Bear my destruction gently, and with a heart like yours