It is more than the turn of phrase (though great expressions were common enough then—as for example, "millions of mischief" which Ralegh uses in a letter and which arrests you in Julius Cæsar—
"Men that smile have in their hearts I fear
Millions of mischiefs.")
It is the trend of thought. It illustrates a feature of Elizabethan life that was common to every rank, but most common in the highest. Men were tremendously vital, but life was not valued for its own sake: life was not looked upon as sacred; rather life was regarded as a possession to hold which it was worth while fighting to the death.
During the rebellion—the word can hardly be applied to such a ridiculous outburst—Ralegh sent for Sir Ferdinando Gorges at Durham House. He wanted to warn Gorges, who had served under him, that his arrest had been ordered. Gorges feared treachery, that their conversation might be overheard or that he might be suddenly seized, and consulting Essex, with whom he was staying, at length decided to meet Ralegh in the one safe place—namely, on the river. They rowed out into mid-stream, met, and conferred. In mid-stream their words were safe; their bodies were not. Sir Christopher Blount, who was a partisan of Essex, heard of the prospective meeting, and urged Gorges to kill Ralegh and thus to rid the Earl of his chief enemy at a blow. Gorges was a man of honour and refused. But Blount was strongly in favour of Ralegh's death. As Ralegh was pulled to the place of conference, Blount fired with a musket at him four times. Essex, Gorges, Blount, and other brave men were beheaded, and Ralegh, as Captain of the Guard, was present at their executions. On the scaffold Blount asked, "Is Sir Walter Ralegh here?" Ralegh came forward. "Sir Walter Ralegh," said Blount, "I thank God that you are present. I had an infinite desire to speak with you, to ask your forgiveness ere I died. Both for the wrong done you and for my particular ill-intent towards you, I beseech you forgive me."
"I most willingly," Ralegh replied, "and I beseech God to forgive you, and to give you His divine comfort." He turned to those standing round: "I protest before God that whatever Sir Christopher Blount meant towards me, I, for my part, never bore him any ill-intent."
After the death of Essex, the boy who had recklessly thrown himself against the astute Cecil to gain political power, men watched the demeanour of Ralegh closely; he too was the favourite of his Queen; they watched him and saw that sadness brooded on his face. There were many things to create sadness.
The great Queen was growing old, and in her age had been forced to sign the death-warrant of the young man who was dear to her and who had presumed on her affection. The old Lord Treasurer was dead; Burghley, whom the Queen tended with her own hand in his last illness, knowing the worth of the man who had served his country well for forty years; his son, the astute Cecil, had taken his place; but Robert Cecil played his own game: he was too astute. He desired advantage for his country, but that advantage must come through himself.
The great days were passing. Ralegh had seen the Queen ruling the nation as only a woman and a woman of genius and of beauty could rule it; he saw her when the power of her womanhood was declining and its weakness was in evidence. Who could take her place? What man or what woman? And must not the place itself be changed and its absolute authority be modified? Time was converting the Queen into her country's encumbrance. And who would succeed his Queen Elizabeth? Where were the men to carry on the great traditions of Elizabeth? Robert Cecil was too astute....
Meanwhile Ralegh continued the duties of his own life, at Sherborne and at Durham House. Lord Cobham's name is often found at this time in association with Ralegh. Cobham was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and often on his way to the coast he managed to make a short visit to the Raleghs at Sherborne. He was a weak man, as the event proved. And Ralegh liked him; a strong man is often led into liking a weak man, whom he is able to render pliant to his will.