The World's Famous Orations Author:William Jennings Bryan Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: RALEIGH HIS LAST WORDS ON THE SCAFFOLD' (1618) Born in 1558, died in 1618; commanded, in 1580, an English company in Ireland, where he introduced the po... more »tato in 1584; a captain of the guard in 1587; sent expeditions to Virginia in 1584, '85, '87, and '90; served against the Armada in 1588; explored the Orinoco in 1595; commanded a squadron which destroyed the Spanish fleet at Cadiz in 1596; accused of treason and sent to the Tower in 1603, writing while there his "History of the World" ; commanded an unsuccessful expedition to South America in 1616; condemned and executed in 1618. I Thank my God heartily that He hath brought me into the light to die, and not suffered me to die in the dark prison of the Tower, where I have suffered a great deal of adversity and a long sickness; and I thank God that my fever hath not taken me at this time, as I prayed God it might not. There are two main points of suspicion that his majesty hath conceived against me, wherein his majesty can not be satisfied, which I desire to clear and resolve you in. One is, that his majesty hath been informed that I have had some plotwith France, and his majesty had some reason to induce him thereunto. One reason that his majesty had to conjecture so was that when I came back from Guiana, being come to Plymouth, I endeavored to go to Rochelle, which was because I would fain have made my peace before I came to England. Another reason was, that upon my flight I did intend to fly to Prance for saving of my life, having had some terror from above. A third reason was, the French agent's coming to me, and it was reported I had commission from the king of France. 1 Delivered in the Old Palace Yard at Westminster, October 29, 1618. When Raleigh's head lay on the hlock awaiting the ax, some one remarked th...« less