On the scaffold the Sheriff harangued the three men on the heinousness of their crimes, while the rain continued to fall: and he at last brought his harangue to an end with the words, "Now see the mercy of your prince, who, of himself hath sent hither a countermand and given you your lives."
The shouts of applause that greeted the unexpected finish, must have revealed the meaning of the strange scene to Ralegh. The shouting was taken up all through the town. Men loudly rejoiced in the clemency of the new King.
So weak men in authority love to display their power. James had carefully arranged this trivial cat's-play. Nearly it failed of its effect. He forgot to sign the pardon. In Winchester too the messenger, John Gib, the Scotchman, could not get near enough to speak with the Sheriff, but was thrust out among the boys and was forced to call out to Sir James Hayes or else Markham might have lost his neck. Ralegh was to have been executed on Monday. News of his reprieve was brought him after he had witnessed the singular farce on the scaffold, in which the King's feline cruelty was shown.
At Wilton too, where the Court was being held (the plague still raged in London) the new King enacted another farce. He signed the death-warrants of Cobham, Grey, and Markham: Ralegh's sentence he withheld in case more light was thrown upon his case by confessions on the scaffold. He gave special instructions that no hope of pardon should be given to any of the prisoners. He kept his intentions from his most intimate ministers. Then he assembled the council, the day after the execution was to have taken place. He began a complicated speech, which puzzled his hearers, who were expecting a messenger every moment to bring news of the execution. "He contrasted the ardent and resolute spirit of Grey with the base and cowardly nature of Cobham; and then asked if it were at all consistent with kingly justice to execute the high-spirited Grey and to spare that pitiful creature, Cobham." He went on to point out the insolence of Grey who disdained to entreat for his life; the penitence of Cobham, who begged his life with humility. And so he continued until the minds of all the men who heard him were sufficiently muddled, and ended with what Edwards well calls, the triumphant tag, "So I have saved the lives of them all."
Again loud applause broke out in recognition of his clemency. But such applause, though it deafens the ears, does not last on in the hearts of men. His showily arranged mercy captivated the unthinking multitude. Wise men were not pleased that a King could stoop to such pettiness. It boded ill for the country that supreme power should be vested in a man who could behave in this manner. To them the action bore proof that the King was a little cruel man. But the people shouted for joy. The action made him popular: and when the Gunpowder Plot was dramatically discovered the following year, and the King's life was saved by a presentiment, his popularity increased a thousand-fold. Who could doubt that in very truth King James was the Lord's anointed? Only as the years went by, dark events happened. Why did the Prince die suddenly in the prime of his vigorous youth? Who was Car that he should enjoy such favour? Why was Gondomar the Spanish ambassador held in such esteem? There was the scandal of Overbury's death. Men began to wonder and fear. Men heard the bitterness spoken in Troilus and Cressida or in Timon, and the bitterness began to find an answer in their hearts.
A week after the royal farce at Winchester Ralegh was removed to London: first to the Tower, then to the Fleet, and finally to the Tower, where he remained.
Thus Ralegh was overthrown, who, if the time had been ripe, might have proved a Mirabeau to England, and saved the country from Civil War and the destructive power of the Puritans, which eventually became necessary to purge England from the mischief of weak rulers with absolute power, kings who could not carry on the tradition of the great Elizabeth. In very truth, with Elizabeth, as de Thou said of Catherine, not a woman but royalty died.