RALEIGH'S CELL IN THE TOWER DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI SIR WALTER RALEIGH was one of the gifted men who enjoyed the favor of Elizabeth, and who repaid her bounty by devoted service. He undertook several voyages to the New World and was the first Englishman who attempted to found a colony in America. Soon after James's accession, Raleigh was arrested on charge of treason and condemned to death (1603). The sentence was not, however, executed until 1618. During the greater part of the intervening fifteen years, this man of genius was held a prisoner in the Tower. He whiled away the weary days in writing a history of the world, a work undertaken at the request of the king's eldest son, Prince Henry. Here writ was the World's History by his hand Had ever shown his ships; what time he hurl'd Abroad o'er new-found regions spiced and pearl'd His country's high dominion and command. Here dwelt two spheres. The vast terrestrial zone His spirit traversed; and that spirit was Itself the zone celestial, round whose birth The planets played within the zodiac's girth; Till hence, through unjust death unfeared, did pass His spirit to the only land unknown. EVEN SUCH IS TIME SIR WALTER RALEIGH THE following poem is said to have been written by Raleigh on the eve of his execution. Even such is time, that takes in trust Our youth, our joys, our all we have, But from this earth, this grave, this dust, THE PILGRIM FATHERS WILLIAM WORDSWORTH RELIGIOUS Controversy had not taught toleration to Englishmen. Dissenters from the established church, whether Romanist or Protestant, were punished and their services forbidden. The Puritans, a body of men who desired greater simplicity and freedom of worship, determined to plant a colony in the New World (Plymouth, 1620) with hope of being at liberty to serve God in their own way. Well worthy to be magnified are they Who, with sad hearts, of friends and country took In freedom. Men they were who could not bend, A will by sovereign Conscience sanctified; But in His glory who for sinners died. TO KING CHARLES AND QUEEN JAMES SHIRLEY (From "The Triumph of Peace") A MAGNIFICENT masque given in honor of Charles I. (1633), expressed the enthusiasm felt for the handsome young king. The hope for a perpetual continuance of the Stuart dynasty, voiced in this "Song of the Hours," was destined to speedy disappointment. They that were never happy Hours Till now, return to thank the That made them so. The Island doth rejoice, powers And all her waves are echo to our voice, Such treasures of her own. Live, royal pair, and when your sands are spent Though late, from your high bowers, Look down on what was yours; For, till old Time his glass hath hurled, THE PRESBYTERIANS SAMUEL BUTLER (From "Hudibras," Part I) THE serious-minded clergy of Scotland had been cordially disliked by James I. from his boyhood. To his son they were still more obnoxious. Charles I. undertook to force the use of the English ritual upon the Scotch church and provoked a general rebellion (1639). Men of all classes entered into a solemn covenant to defend the Presbyterian faith against corruption. The Covenanters had many sympathizers in England. The Puritans, who protested against the king's evident leaning toward Rome, and the Parliamentarians, who steadily opposed the doctrine of divine right, were ready to join with the Scotch in the struggle against arbitrary government. The Presbyterians were, however, detested as breeders of dissension by the king's party and by the adherents of the established church. They were lampooned by Samuel Butler in the satirical poem, "Hudibras." That stubborn crew To be the true Church Militant. And prove their doctrine orthodox A sect whose chief devotion lies As if they worshipped God for spite, In them, in other men all sin. That which they love most tenderly ; Fat pig and goose itself oppose, And blaspheme custard through the nose. |