collected on all sides.
Raleigh was obliged to sit with folded hands. He could only hope that
the eloquence and patriotism of his _Apology_ might possibly appeal to
the sympathy of James. As so often before, he merely showed that he was
ignorant of the King's character, for James read the _Apology_ without
any other feeling than one of triumph that it amounted to a confession
of guilt. The only friend that Raleigh could now appeal to was Anne of
Denmark, and to her he forwarded, about August 15, a long petition in
verse:

Cold walls, to you I speak, but you are senseless!
Celestial Powers, you hear, but have determined,
And shall determine, to my greatest happiness.

Then unto whom shall I unfold my wrong,
Cast down my tears, or hold up folded hands?--
To Her to whom remorse doth most belong;

To Her, who is the first, and may alone
Be justly called, the Empress of the Britons.
Who should have mercy if a Queen have none?

Queen Anne responded as she had always done to Raleigh's appeals. If his
life had lain in her hands, it would have been a long and a happy one.
She immediately wrote to Buckingham, knowing that his influence was far
greater than her own with the King, and her letter exists for the wonder
of posterity. She writes to her husband's favourite: 'My kind Dog,' for
so the poor lady stoops to address him, 'if I have any power or credit
with you, I pray you let me have a trial of it, at this time, in dealing
sincerely and earnestly with the King that Sir Walter Raleigh's life may
not be called in question.' Buckingham, however, was already pledged to
aid the Spanish alliance, and the Queen's letter was unavailing.

On August 17 and on two subsequent occasions Raleigh was examined before
the Commissioners, the charge being formally drawn up by Yelverton, the
Attorney-General. He was accused of having abused the King's confidence
by setting out to find gold in a mine which never existed, with
instituting a piratical attack on a peaceful Spanish settlement, with
attempting to capture the Mexican plate fleet, although he had been
specially warned that he would take his life in his hands if he
committed any one of these three faults. It is hard to understand how
Mr. Edwards persuaded himself to brand each of these charges as 'a
distinct falsehood.' The sympathy we must feel for Raleigh's
misfortunes, and the enthusiasm with which we read the _Apology_, should
not, surely, b