yet hee knew there was a very great difference betweene a King that holdeth his Crowne by a cicuill act of Estates and one that holdeth it originally by the Law of Nature and descent of Bloud Neither wanted there euen at that time secret Rumors and whisperings which afterwards gathered strength and turned to great troubles that the two young Sonnes of King EDWARD the Fourth or one of them which were said to be destroyed in the Tower were not indeed murthered but conueyed secretly away and were yet liuing which if it had beene true had preuented the Title of the Lady ELIZABETH On the other side if he stood vpon his owne Title of the House of Lancaster inherent in his Person hee knew it was a Title condemned by Parliament and generally preiudged in the common opinion of the Realme and that it tended directly to the disinherison of the Line of Yorke held then the indubiate Heires of the crowne So that if he should haue no Issue by the Lady ELIZABETH which should bee Descendents of the Double-Line when the ancient flames of Discord and intestine Warres vpon the Competition of both Houses would againe returne and reuiue As for Conquest notwithstanding Sir WILLIAM STANLEY after some acclamations of the Souldiers in the Field had put a Crowne of ornament which RICHARD wore in the Battaile and was found amongst the Spoiles vpon King HENRIES head as if there were his chiefe Title yet he remembred well vpon what Conditions and Agreements hee was brought in and that to claime as Conquerour was to put as well his owne Partie as the rest into Terror and Feare as that which gaue him power of disanulling of Lawes and disposing of Mens Fortunes and Estates and the like points of absolute power being in themselues so harsh and odious as that WILLIAM himselfe commonly called the Conquerour howsoeuer he vsed and exercised the power of a Conquerour to reward his Normans yet he sorbare to vse that Claime in the beginning but mixed it with a Titularie pretence grounded vpon the Will and designation of EDWARD the Confessor But the King out of the greatnesse of his owne minde presently cast the Die and the inconueniences appearing vnto him on all parts and knowing there could not be any Interreigne or suspension of Title and preferring his affection to his owne Line and Bloud and liking that Title best which made him independent and being in his Nature and constitution of minde not very apprehensiue or forecasting of future Euents a-farre off but an Intertainer of Fortune by the Day resolued to rest vpon the Title of Lancaster as the Maine and to vse the other two that of Marriage and that of Battaile but as Supporters the one to appease secret Discontents and the other to beat downe open murmur and dispute not forgetting that the same Title of Lancaster had formerly maintained a possession of three Descents in the Crowne and might haue proued a Perpetuitie had it not ended in the weaknesse and inabilitie of the last Prince Whereupon the King presently that very day being the two and twentieth of August assumed the Stile of King in his owne name without mention of the Lady ELIZABETH at all or any relation therunto In which course hee euer after persisted which did spin him a threed of many seditions and troubles The King full of these thoughts before his departure from Leicester dispatched Sir ROBERT WILLOVGHBY to the Castle of Sheriffe-Hutton in Yorkeshire where were kept in safe custodie by King RICHARDS commandement both the Lady ELIZABETH daughter of king EDWARD and EDWARD PLANTAGENET Sonne and Heire to GEORGE Duke of Clarence This EDWARD was by the Kings warrant deliuered from the Constable of the Castle to the hand of Sir ROBERT WILLOVGHBY and by him with all safetie and diligence conueyed to the Tower of London where he was shut vp Close-prisoner Which Act of the Kings being an Act meerely of Policie and power proceeded not so much from any apprehension he had of Doctor Shawes tale at Pauls Crosse for the bastarding of EDWARD the fourths Issues in which case this young Gentleman was to succeed for that Fable was euer exploded but vpon a serled disposition to depresse all Eminent persons of the Line of Yorke Wherin still the King out of strength of Will or weaknesse of Iudgement did vse to shew a little more of the Partie then of the King For the Lady ELIZABETH shee receiued also a direction to repaire with all conuenient speed to London and there to remaine with the Queene Dowager her Mother which accordingly she soone after did accompanied with many Noble-men and Ladies of Honour In the meane season the King set forwards by easie iourneys to the Citie of London receiuing the Acclamations and Applauses of the People as he went which indeed were true and vnfained as might well appeare in the very Demonstrations and Fulnesse of the Crie For they thought generally that hee was a Prince as ordayned and sent downe from Heauen to vnite and put to an end the long dissentions of the two Houses which although they had had in the times of HENRY the Fourth HENRY the Fifth and a part of HENRY the Sixth on the one side and the times of EDWARD the Fourth on the other Lucide-interuals and happy Pauses yet they did euer hang ouer the Kingdome readie to breake forth into new Perturbations and Calamities And as his victorie gaue him the Knee so his purpose of marriage with the Lady ELIZABETH gaue him the Heart so that both Knee and Heart did truely bow before him Hee on the other side with great wisedome not ignorant of the affections and feares of the people to disperse the conceit and terrour of a Conquest had giuen order that there should be nothing in his iourney like vnto a warlike March or manner but rather like vnto the Progresse of a King in full peace and assurance Hee entred the Citie vpon a Saturday as hee had also obtained the Victorie vpon a Saturday which day of the Weeke first vpon an Obseruation and after vpon Memorie and Fancie hee accounted and chose as a day prosperous vnto him The Major and Companies of the Citie receiued him at Shore-ditch whence with great and Honorable attendance and troups of Noble-men and Persons of Qualitie hee entred the Citie himselfe not being on Horse-backe or in any open Chaire or Throne but in a close Chariot as one that hauing beene somtimes an Enemie to the whole State and a Proscribed person chose rather to keepe State and strike a Reuerence into the people then to fawne vpon them He went first into Saint Paules Church where not meaning that the people should forget too soone that hee came in by Battaile hee made Offertorie of his Standards and had Orizons and Te Deum againe sung and went to his Lodging prepared in the Bishop of Londons Palace where he stayed for a time During his abode there he assembled his Counsell and other
Friar condemned to perpetuall Imprisonment This also hapning so opportunely to represent the danger to the Kings Estate from the Earle of Warwicke and thereby to colour the Kings seueritie that followed together with the madnesse of the Friar so vainely and desperately to divulge a Treason before it had gotten any manner of strength and the sauing of the Friars life which neuerthelesse was indeed but the priuiledge of his Order and the Pitie in the Common People which if it runne in a strong Streame doth euer cast vp Scandal and Enuie made it generally rather talked than belieued that all was but the Kings deuice But howsoeuer it were hereupon PERKIN that had offended against Grace now the third time was at the last proceeded with and by Commissioners of Oyer and Determiner arraigned at Westminster vpon diuers Treasons committed and perpetrated after his comming on land within this Kingdome for so the Iudges aduised for that he was a Forreiner and condemned and a few dayes after executed at Tiburne Where hee did againe openly read his Comfession and take it vpon his Death to bee true This was the end of this little Cockatrice of a King that was able to destroy those that did not espie him first It was one of the longest Playes of that kind that hath beene in memorie and might perhaps haue had another end if hee had not met with a King both wise stout and fortunate As for PERKINS three Councellors they had registred themselues Sanctuarie-men when their Master did And whether vpon pardon obtained or continuance within the Priuiledge they came not to bee proceeded with There was executed with PERKIN the Maior of Corke and his Sonne who had beene principall Abettors of his Treasons And soone after were likewise condemned eight other Persons about the Tower-Conspiracie whereof foure were the Lieutenants men But of those Eight but two were executed And immediatly after was arraigned before the Earle of Oxford then for the time High-Steward of England the poore Prince the Earle of Warwicke not for the Attempt to escape simply for that was not acted And besides the Imprisonment not beeing for Treason the Escape by Law could not bee Treason But for conspiring with PERKIN to raise sedition and to destroy the King And the Earle confessing the Inditement had Iudgement and was shortly after beheaded on Tower-hill This was also the end not onely of this Noble and Commiserable Person EDVVARD the Earle of Warwicke eldest Sonne to the Duke of Clarence but likewise of the Line-Male of the PLANTAGENETS which had flourished in great Royaltie and Renowne from the time of the famous King of England King HENRIE the Second Howbeit it was a Race often dipped in their owne Bloud It hath remained since onely transplanted into other Names as well of the Imperiall Line as of other Noble Houses But it was neither guilt of Crime nor reason of State that could quench the Enuie that was vpon the King for this Execution So that hee thought good to export it out of the Land and to lay it vpon his new Allie FERDINANDO King of Spaine For these two Kings vnderstanding one another at halfe a word so it was that there were Letters shewed out of Spaine whereby in the passages concerning the Treatie of the Marriage FERDINANDO had written to the King in plaine termes that hee saw no assurance of his Succession as long as the Earle of Warwicke liued and that hee was loth to send his Daughter to Troubles and Dangers But hereby as the king did in some part remoue the Enuie from himselfe so hee did not obserue that hee did withall bring a kind of Malediction and Infausting vpon the Marriage as an ill Prognosticke Which in euent so farre proued true as both Prince ARTHVR enioyed a verie small time after the Marriage and the Ladie KATHERINE her selfe a sad and a religious woman long after when King HENRIE the Eight his resolution of a Diuorce from her was first made knowne to her vsed some words That shee had not offended but it was a Iudgment of GOD for that her former Marriage was made in bloud meaning that of the Erale of Warwicke This fifteenth yeare of the king there was a great Plague both in London and in diuers parts of the Kingdome Wherefore the king after often change of Places whether to auoide the danger of the Sickenesse or to giue occasion of an Enteruiew with the Arch-Duke or both sayled ouer with his Queene to Calice Vpon his comming thither the Arch-Duke sent an honourable Ambassage vnto him aswell to welcome him into those parts as to let him know that if it pleased him hee would come and doe him reuerence But it was said withall That the King might bee pleased to appoint some place that were out of any Walled Towne or Fortresse for that hee had denied the same vpon like occasion to the French king And though hee said he made a great difference betweene the two kings yet hee would bee loth to giue a President that might make it after to bee expected at his hands by another whom hee trusted lesse The king accepted of the Courtesie and admitted of his Excuse and appointed the place to be at Saint PETERS Church without Calice But withall hee did visit the Arch-Duke with Ambassadors sent from himselfe which were the Lord Saint IOHN and the Secretarie vnto whom the Arch-Duke did the honour as going to Masse at Saint Omers to set the Lord Saint IOHN on his right hand and the Secretarie on his left and so to ride betweene them to Church The day appointed for the Enteruiew the king went on Horse backe some distance from Saint PETERS Church to receiue the Arch-Duke And vpon their approaching the Arch-Duke made hast to light and offered to hold the kings Stirrope at his alighting which the king would not permit but descending from Horse backe they embraced with great affection and withdrawing into the Church to a place prepared they had long Conference not onely vpon the Confirmation of former Treaties and the freeing of Commerce but vpon Crosse Marriages to bee had betweene the Duke of Yorke the Kings second Sonne and the Arch-Dukes Daughter And againe betweene CHARLES the Arch-Dukes Sonne and Heire and MARIE the Kings second Daughter But these Blossoms of vnripe Marriages were but friendly wishes the Aires of louing Entertainement though one of them came afterwards to Conclusion in Treatie though not in Effect But during the time that the two Princes conuersed and communed together in the Suburbs of Calice the Demonstrations on both sides were passing heartie and affectionate especially on the part of the Arch-Duke Who besides that hee was a Prince of an excellent good nature beeing conscious to himselfe how driely the King had beene vsed by his Councell in the matter of PERKIN did striue by all meanes to recouer it in the Kings Affection And hauing also his eares continually beaten with the Councels of his Father and
Seisines and Alienations being the fruites of those Tenures refusing vpon diuers Pretexts and Delayes to admit men to trauerse those False Offices according to the Law Nay the Kings Wards after they had accomplished their full Age could not bee suffered to haue Liuerie of their Lands without paying excessiue Fines farre exceeding all reasonable Rates They did also vexe men with Informations of Intrusion vpon scarce colourable Titles VVhen men were Out-lawed in Personall Actions they would not permit them to purchase their Charters of Pardon except they paid great and intolerable summes standing vpon the strict Point of Law which vpon Out-lawries giueth Forfeiture of Goods Nay contrarie to all Law and Colour they maintained the King ought to haue the halfe of mens Lands and Rents during the space of full two yeares for a Paine in Case of Out-lawrie They would also ruffle with Iurors and inforce them to finde as they would direct and if they did not Conuent them Imprison them and Fine them These and many other Courses fitter to be buried than repeated they had of Preying vpon the People both like Tame Hawkes for their Master and like Wild Hawkes for themselues in so much as they grew to great Riches and Substance But their principall working was vpon Penall Lawes wherein they spared none great nor small nor considered whether the Law were possible or impossible in Vse or Obsolete But raked ouer all old and new Statutes though many of them were made with intention rather of Terrour than of Rigour hauing euer a Rabble of Promoters Questmongers and leading Iurors at their Command so as they could haue any thing found either for Fact or Valuation There remayneth to this Day a Report that the King was on a time entertained by the Earle of Oxford that was his principall Seruant both for Warre and Peace nobly and sumptuously at his Castle at Henningham And at the Kings going away the Earles Seruants stood in a seemely manner in their Liuerie Coats with Cognisances ranged on both sides and made the King a Lane The King called the Earle to him and said My Lord I have heard much of your Hospitalitie but I see it is greater than the speech These handsome Gentlemen and Teomen which I see on both sides of me are sure your Meniall Seruants The Earle smiled and said It may please your Grace that were not for mine ease They are most of them my Retainers that are come to doe me seruice at such a time as this and chiefly to see your Grace The King started a little and said By my faith my Lord I thanke you for my good Cheare but I may not endure to haue my Lawes broken in my sight My Atturney must speake with you And it is part of the Report that the Earle compounded for no lesse than fifteene thousand Markes And to shew further the kings extreme Diligence I doe remember to haue seene long since a Booke of Accompt of EMPSONS that had the kings hand almost to euery Leafe by way of Signing and was in some places Postilled in the Margent with the Kings hand likewise where was this Remembrance Item receiued of such a one fiue Markes for the Pardon to be procured and if the Pardon doe not passe the Monie to bee repaied Except the Partie bee some other-wayes satisfied And ouer against this Memorandum of the Kings owne hand Otherwise satisfied Which I doe the rather mention because it shewes in the king a Nearenesse but yet with a kind of Iustnesse So these little Sands and Graines of Gold and Siluer as it seemeth helped not a little to make vp the great Heape and Banke But meanewhile to keepe the king awake the Earle of Suffolke hauing beene too gay at Prince ARTHVRS Marriage and sunke himselfe deepe in Debt had yet once more a mind to bee a Knight-Errant and to seeke Aduentures in Forraine parts And taking his Brother with him fled againe into Flanders That no doubt which gaue him Confidence was the great Murmur of the People against the Kings Gouernement And beeing a Man of a light and rash Spirit he thought euerie Vapour would bee a Tempest Neither wanted hee some Partie within the Kingdome For the Murmur of People awakes the Discontents of Nobles and againe that calleth vp commonly some Head of Sedition The King resorting to his wonted and tried Arts caused Sir ROBERT CVRSON Captaine of the Castle at Hammes beeing at that time beyond Sea and therefore lesse likely to bee wrought vpon by the king to flie from his Charge and to faine himselfe a seruant of the Earles This Knight hauing insinuated himselfe into the Secrets of the Earle and finding by him vpon whom chiefly hee had either Hope or Hold aduertised the King thereof in great secrecie But neuerthelesse maintained his owne Credit and inward trust with the Earle Vpon whose Aduertisements the King attached WILLIAM COVRTNEY Earle of Deuonshire his Brother-in-Law married to the Ladie KATHERINE daughter to King EDVVARD the Fourth WILLIAM DE-LA-POLE Brother to the Earle of Suffolke Sir IAMES TIRREL and Sir IOHN WINDHAM and some other meaner Persons and committed them to Custodie GEORGE Lord ABERGAVENNIE and Sir THOMAS GREENE were at the same time apprehended but as vpon lesse Suspition so in a freer Restraint and were soone after deliuered The Earle of Deuonshire being interessed in the bloud of Yorke that was rather Feared than Nocent yet as One that might bee the Obiect of others Plots and Designes remained Prisoner in the Tower during the Kings life WILLIAAM DE-LA-POLE was also long restrained though not so straitly But for Sir IAMES TIRREL against whom the Bloud of rhe Innocent Princes EDVVARD the Fifth and his Brother did still crie from vnder the Altar and Sir IOHN WINDHAM and the other meaner ones they were attainted and executed The two Knights beheaded Neuerthelesse to confirme the Credit of CVRSON who belike had not yet done all his Feates of Actiuitie there was published at PAVLES Crosse about the time of the said Executions the Popes Bull of Excommunication and Curse against the Earle of Suffolke and Sir ROBERT CVRSON some others by name and likewise in generall against all the Abettors of the said Earle Wherein it must be confessed that Heauen was made too much to bow to Earth and Religion to Policie But soone after CVRSON when hee saw time returned into England and withall into wonted Fauour with the King but worse Fame with the People Vpon whose returne the Earle was much dismayed and seeing himselfe destitute of hopes the Ladie MARGARET also by tract of Time and bad Successe being now become coole in those Attempts after some wandering in France and Germanie and certaine little Proiects no better than Squibbs of an Exiled man being tired out retired againe into the Protection of the Arch-Duke PHILIP in Flanders who by the death of ISABELLA was at that time King of Castile in the right of IOAN his Wife This yeare beeing the Nineteenth of