shall be drawn upon a hurdle through the open streets to the place of execution, there to be hanged and cut down alive, and your body shall be opened, your heart and bowels plucked out and thrown into the fire before your eyes; then your head to be stricken off from your body, and your body shall be divided into four quarters, to be disposed of at the King's pleasure; and God have mercy upon your soul." Sir Walter bore without flinching the announcement of this horrible penalty, but when it was finished he arose once more and preferred the request that their Lordships would endeavor to secure from the King a mitigation of the sentence to the end that his execution might be honorable and not ignominious. They all readily promised to employ their good offices in his behalf. The Court then rose and the prisoner was conducted back to his place of confinement in the Castle. The conviction of Sir Walter was so obviously unjust and was received with such universal disapprobation that the King did not venture to have the sentence carried into execution, and instead ordered the Knight's confinement in the Tower during the royal pleasure. It will be remembered that his Majesty's pleasure remained constant in this respect for more than twelve years, and then was induced to change only to enable Raleigh to conduct an expedition to Guiana for the development of some gold mines and the consequent improvement of the King's finances. The failure of this enterprise and its incidental depredations upon Spanish territory are well-known historical facts. The King, who just at this time was eager for the marriage of his son Charles to the Spanish Infanta, was highly incensed when he learned of the hostile acts committed by Raleigh's men in Guiana. Upon Sir Walter's return he was promptly restored to his place in the Tower, and his Majesty soon determined that he must be put to death in order to appease the wrath of Spain. But an embarrassing legal difficulty was now presented. The Law Officers of the Crown advised the King that Raleigh, ever since his conviction of high treason, had been a dead man in contemplation of law and could not be guilty of any new offense, and that the only mode of procedure to effectuate his Majesty's intention, was to execute the former sentence. In pursuance to this advice Sir Walter was brought by writ of habeas corpus before the Court of King's Bench and execution of the old sentence was formally ordered. The remarkable spectacle was thus presented of a great English patriot being sentenced to death for undue friendliness toward Spain, and actually put to death, under the same sentence, for undue enmity toward the same nation. The execution ocurred on October 29, 1618, nearly fifteen years after the trial. Death by decapitation was substituted for the inhuman requirements of the original judg ment. The final scene was full of dramatic incidents and was enlivened by the pathetic play of the doomed Knight's ready wit down to his last moment of life. His comment, as he examined the axe-"This is a sharp medicine, but it is a physician for all diseases," and his response, when asked how he would lay his head for the fatal stroke—“So the heart is right it is no matter which way the head lies"have come to us, through the centuries that have intervened, as familiar and classic proverbs of our mother tongue. Thus perished the courtliest English gentleman of his time and one of the most liberal and aspiring minds that his race has ever produced. His poetic spirit found expression, upon the eve of the execution, in these simple yet exquisite lines: "E'en such is time! which takes in trust The President: That finishes the business of the evening session, and I trust that we shall all be able to start promptly tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock, when Judge George Gray will deliver his address, to be followed by that of Mr. Edgar H. Gans. A motion to adjourn is now in order. William S. Bryan: I move we adjourn until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. David Ash: I second the motion. The President: The motion is that we adjourn until tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock. The motion was duly seconded, and after vote was declared carried. MORNING SESSION July 3rd, 1913. Pursuant to adjournment, the Maryland State Bar Association reassembled at 10 o'clock A. M., the President in the Chair. The President: Ladies and Gentlemen: I feel that this Association has been especially favored at this meeting. We have already had addresses from two distinguished members of the House of Representatives, in addition to those from members of our own Association. We have with us this morning the Hon. George Gray, of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, who will address you on "The Democracy of the Constitution." I now have the pleasure of introducing to you Judge George Gray. THE DEMOCRACY OF THE CONSTITUTION. Mr President and Gentlemen of the Maryland State Bar Association: It is well nigh impossible today to make an address to a body of lawyers that does not in some degree take color from the mental ferment and so-called "popular unrest," which disturb the political thought and action of our time. To many our horizon seems hung with foreboding clouds, and the raucous voice of social agitators seems like the muttering thunder presaging the storm. Far be it from me to lightly regard such portents-if portents they be—but I constantly renew my courage and hopefulness for the future with the reflection that our form of Government, instituted by the fathers, not only to form a more perfect Union, but also to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity, has not failed of its high purpose. It has vindicated in the face of all the world, thus far at least, the capacity of our people for self government, and that a true democracy is not incompatible with liberty regulated by law. It must surely be with a feeling the reverse of pessimistic, that we look back thoughtfully and gratefully upon the century and a quarter through which we have passeda century and a quarter characterized by many vicissitudes, during which our country has been menaced by many dangers, but they have been met and overcome by the intelligence and courage of the people, and by their devotion to the ideals of free government, as embodied in the Constitution. It was the fervent and widespread belief in the perma nence and wisdom of our constitutional system, which animated our countrymen and enabled them, in more than one crisis of our history, to thwart the efforts made to dislodge their loyalty and devotion to their own institutions of government. It was this belief that enabled us to survive the tempest of the Civil War, and to reunite the country under the old Constitution and in the enjoyment of our old liberties. This confidence must not betray us, however, into a state of supineness and indifference to certain malign influences that enter into the social and political activities of our time. It is as true now as when first uttered that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," and the bulwarks of democratic government must ever be manned by those ready to defend them. More and more we recognize in the light of advancing civilization, that public opinion is the controlling force in the practical working of civil government. The wonderful material advances of the last century have increased its potency. Steam and electricity have brought the nations of the world nearer together. The estranging seas no longer divide, but unite, the peoples of the two hemispheres, and the growing freedom of commercial intercourse has created a certain solidarity in the civilization of the world, and a world-wide public opinion, that dictates the policies of kings and cabinets, and must ultimately determine the destinies of nations. To it, we owe in large measure the modern development of International Law, to whose behests it has added a moral sanction more powerful than the sword. It may be a commonplace to say that an enlightened public opinion is the only security for the permanence of our free institutions. But it is here that the battle must be fought in their defense. Especially to the men of this generation does it belong to combat the propaganda of those who are industriously and insidiously seeking to poison the well springs of public opinion, and to supplant in the minds |