CHAPTER XIII.

Ralegh in the Tower.

IR WALTER RALEGH expressed his gratitude to James I. for saving his life, in twoletters, which seem to us unworthy of their writer on account of the high-flown and exaggerated language in which they are written. But we must remember that this was the fashion of the day; and that what appears to us absurd, and almost revolting, was then looked upon as quite natural. To Cecil also Ralegh expressed his gratitude, and added entreaties that he would go on exerting himself in his favour. "Good my Lord," he writes, "remember your poor ancient and true friend, that I perish not here, where health wears away, and whose short times run fast on in misery only. Those which plotted to surprise and assail the person of the King, those that are Papists, are at liberty. Do not forget me, nor doubt me."

During the first year of his imprisonment he seems to have still cherished the hope that he might be allowed to leave the Tower, if not to

His

enjoy complete liberty. He asked Cecil if he might not be allowed to live at Sherborne ; adding, "or if I cannot be allowed so much, I shall be contented to live in Holland, where I shall perchance get some employment in the Indies." He was willing even to be put under the care of some bishop or nobleman, as was then sometimes done with state prisoners. He was in bad health, and was anxious to go to Bath to drink the waters. "God doth know," he writes, "that if I cannot go to Bath this fall, I am undone for my health, and shall be dead or disabled for ever." But all his hopes were to be disappointed. Cecil had done all he meant to do for him. policy seems to have been to keep out of the way all such men as he feared might prove dangerous rivals. He bore Ralegh no malice; but he was afraid of his genius, and very likely honestly thought that he might be dangerous to the state. Cecil wished to keep all the chief power of the state in his own hands, and he succeeded in so doing. The King himself submitted to his guidance, and trusted everything to him. Cecil was afraid of all violent measures, and profoundly believed that his own policy was the only true policy. He was afraid of Bacon in the same way that he was afraid of Ralegh; for he did not believe in the schemes of reform which Bacon advocated, and so did his utmost to prevent Bacon from exercising too much influence at Court. If we look at Cecil in this way, we shall easily under

stand his conduct to Ralegh, and shall not need to suspect him of base motives.

By degrees it became clear to Ralegh that he could hope for no more mercy from the King and Cecil. Once, in March, 1604, he was removed from the Tower for a short period; but only to be taken to the Fleet. This was because King James wished to celebrate Easter by coming with all his Court to a grand bear-baiting at the Tower. To commemorate his visit, he wished to pardon all the prisoners then in the Tower; but in order that Ralegh, Cobham, and Grey might not be included. in the general pardon, he had ordered them to be removed to the Fleet during his visit.

Ralegh did not waste the time of his imprisonment in vain regrets; and as he was no longer able to take part in the active work of life, he devoted his energies to study. A great deal of liberty was allowed in most cases to the state prisoners in the Tower. They had their own servants to attend upon them; visitors might come and see them; and they were allowed to take exercise within the enclosure of the Tower.

The mass of buildings known as the Tower covers twelve acres of land. In the centre, in the Inner Ward, stands the White Tower, the oldest part of the building, and adjoining it were the royal apartments, with the royal garden. Here at times. the English sovereigns had lived, undisturbed by the neighbourhood of their prisoners. Around the White Tower is a circuit of walls with towers,

and in these the state prisoners were lodged. Outside them comes an open space, and then the outer circuit of walls. The tower in which Ralegh was lodged was called the Bloody Tower. The origin of the name is not known, though tradition ascribes it to the fact that in it the boy-king, Edward V., and his brother were murdered. From this tower on one side Ralegh looked over the river, and could watch the boats and shipping as they passed by, and gaze out on the wide expanse of country beyond; behind, he had access into a garden, called the lieutenant's garden; and there was also a pleasant walk along the top of a wall which he used frequently to pace, and which still is called "Ralegh's Walk."

During some part of Ralegh's imprisonment his wife and his son Walter were allowed to be with him. At other times Lady Ralegh lived in a house on Tower Hill, which she had hired so as to be near her husband; and here probably, in the spring of 1605, she gave birth to a second son, who was named Carew. The Tower was not a healthy spot, and the plague which had been ravaging London lingered long within its walls. Ralegh's own health suffered severely, and he wrote to Cecil in 1604, begging that he would remember his "miserable estate, daily in danger of death by the palsy, nightly of suffocation by wasted and obstructed lungs; and now the plague being come at the next door unto me, only the narrow passage of the way between us, my poor

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RALEGH'S CHEMICAL STUDIES.

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child having lien this fourteen days next to a woman with a running plague sore, and but a paper wall between, and whose child is also this Thursday dead of the plague." In spite of the plague, Ralegh had to stay on in his unhealthy prison. It was fortunate for him that he had the garden in which to take exercise. Here he built a small laboratory, and devoted himself to chemical studies. The use of this garden was granted him by Sir George Harvey, then Lieutenant of the Tower, who treated his prisoner with great kindness. Harvey frequently dined with him, and allowed his friends easy access to him. But in 1605 Harvey was succeeded by Sir William Waad, who had no such friendly feelings towards Ralegh. He objected to the notice which Ralegh attracted, for he could be seen by passers-by in the garden, and wrote to Cecil, who was now Earl of Salisbury: "Sir Walter Ralegh hath converted a little henhouse in the garden into a still, where he doth spend his time all the day in his distillations. I desire not to remove him, though I want by that means the garden. . If a brick wall were built, it would be more safe and convenient." Waad seemed anxious to make the prisoners feel their position, and in 1607 brought out a new code of ordinances for the government of the Tower, which, though they made no important differences, imposed all kinds of small and vexatious restrictions on the liberty of the prisoners.

Ralegh grew famous as a chemist. The Queen,