from the People drag'd to a Gallows set up on purpose fifty foot high where being hanged he was afterward cut down and beheaded and quartered His head set upon London Bridge and his Quarters in four principal Towns of the Kingdom Simon Reading was hanged ten foot lower on the same Gallows and Robert Baldock was committed Prisoner to Newgate where with grief and hard usage he soon after died This happened in 1326. Thus Divine Vengeance pursued these two ambitious and profligate Wretches the Spencers Father and Son and brought those who set at defiance the Nobility Gentry and People of the Realm to such shameful and ignominious deaths as by their vile actions they had justly merited Since by their leud and prosligate Counsels they prevailed upon the King to commit all manner of Enormities by forsaking the Company and Bed of his lawful Wife and living in all manner of debauchery with common Strumpets By destroying and ruining his Nobility and Gentry by all manner of Rapines upon the Common People by suffering their Enemies to Plunder and Beggar them without any redress and by all other misdemeanors which rendred him odious to his Subjects and made him rule rather like a Tyrant than a King And thereby occasioned his Deposition and Death which soon after followed For the Queen having summoned a Parliament it was by General consent of the three Estates concluded That King Edward should reign no longer but his Son the Prince should be advanced to the Throne The Archbishop of Canterbury Preaching a Sermon and taking for his Text this Maxim Vox Populi Vox Dei The Voice of the People is the Voice of God Exhorting all his Auditors to Pray to the King of Kings to bless and prosper the King that they had Elected The Queen seemed very sorrowful and even distracted at her Husband's deposition and the P. lamented for his Mothers grief swearing that he would not accept of the Crown without his Father's consent To content them both Commissioners are sent to the King who persuaded him to make a formal Resignation of the Government and then his Son was Crowned King And not long after the Father being removed to Corf Castle was barbarously murdered by his Keepers who through a horn run a burning hot Spit into his Fundament of which he instantly died I shall add no more having already given a particular account of his Resignation and Death in a Book called Admirable Curiosities and Rarities in every County in England c. Remarks upon the Life Actions and fatal Fall of Roger Mortimer Earl of March Favourite to Queen Isabel Widow to King Edward II. and Mother to King Edward III. SUCH is the Malignity of Humane Nature that though there are daily examples of Divine Vengeance executed upon notorious Offendors yet men continue to perpetrate the same crimes that plunged their Predecessors into misery and ruin Of this Roger Mortimer is an obvious instance who though he were an Eye-witness of the fatal fall of the three unfortunate Favourites Gaveston and the two Spencers with divers of their Associates in the former Reign Yea though he himself was very instrumental in their destruction and very active in pretending to reform the Grievances of the Kingdom Yet no sooner was King Edward by his means deposed and a young Prince advanced to the Throne under the Government and Management of his Mother but he by managing the Queen occasioned many mischiefs not much inferior to those of the former abhorred Minions yea exceeding their wickedness in one point namely in being criminally concerned with the Queen Dowager that being one of the Articles the Parliament charged him with But as he wilfully disregarded these warnings and impudently committed the like faults so the Justice of Heaven visited him with the same deserved punishment He was descended from Roger called the Great Lord Mortimer of Wigmore in the Marches of Wales who was his Grandfather and revived and erected again the Round Table at Kennelworth after the Antient Order of King Arthur's Table with the Retinue of an hundred Knights and 100 Ladies in his house for the entertaining of such Adventurers as came thither from all parts of Christendom This young Roger inherited his Estate and Grandeur And Queen Isabel Wife to King Edward II. and Daughter to Philip the Fair King of France being in the glory of her youth forsaken by the King her Husband who delighted only in the company of Peirce Gaveston his Minion and Favourite she fell passionately in love with this Lord Wigmore though before she was accounted the most virtuous chast and excellent Lady of that Age. After the ignominious but deserved death of Gaveston the King instead of being reformed was presently infatuated with the love of two others the Spencers Father and Son who were as bad if not worse than he for all manner of leudness and debauchery Whereupon the Earls of Lancaster Hereford Warwick Lincoln and others rise in Arms against them they having taken an Oath to King Edward I. on his death bed to oppose and withstand his Son Edward if he ever recalled Gaveston from Exile and finding that his death had not much bettered the state of the Kingdom they thought themselves obliged by the same Oath to endeavour the ruin of them also and thereby the redressing the many oppressions and violencies under which the Nation groaned This Roger Lord Wigmore a man of an invincible Spirit and his Uncle Roger Mortimer the Elder resolved to join with the Lords in this attempt and being very busie in raising Forces were taken before they could muster them and by the King committed to the Tower of London But the Queen by means of Torlton Bishop of Hereford Beck Bishop of Durham and Patriarch of Jerusalem then both Mighty Men in the State prevailed so far with the King that upon the submission of the Mortimers the King was somewhat pacified But afterward when He had gained a great Victory against the Barons the young Lord Wigmore and his Uncle were condemned to be Drawn and Hang'd at Westminster and the day of Execution was appointed Whereupon the Younger Spencer some time before pretended to make a great Feast in honour of his Birthday inviting thereunto Sir Stephen Seagrave Constable of the Tower with the rest of the Officers belonging to the same and after he had made them very merry he gave to each a large Cup of a sleepy Drink prepared by Queen Isabel by which means he made his escape breaking through the Wall of his Chamber and coming into the Kitchen near the King's Lodgings and getting into the top thereof came into a Ward of the Tower and so with a strong Ladder of Ropes provided by a Friend he got over the Wall leaving the Ropes fastened thereunto which the next day the Spectators beheld with much astonishment considering the desperate danger which he ventured in the attempt He then swam over the Thames into Kent and avoiding the Highaways came at length
to the Seaside near Portsmouth where happily meeting with a Ship bound for France he passed over thither and lived in the French Court several years His Uncle Roger was detained in a loathsome Prison five years after and at length died and was Buried at Bristol King Edward was so inraged at his escape that he turned Sir Stephen Seagrave out of his place of Constable of the Tower and several Citizens were seized and accused of being accessary to his getting away and of corresponding with and maintaining him beyond Sea but there note being sufficient proof against them they were all acquitted Mortimer continued in France till Queen Isabel and the Prince arrived there to avoid the insults of the two insolent Spencers He after attended the Queen into Germany and came over with her and the rest of the English Lords accompanied with the Earl of Heynault and several German and English Forces And upon King Edward's Flight and afterward his Seizing and Imprisonment Mortimer presumed to manage all affairs according to his own pleasure and therefore the death of the Spencers Reading and some others not satisfying his revenge being high in the Queens favour who could not deny him the Heads of a few of his Enemies he procured that the Earl of Arundel and two Gentlemen more named John Daniel and Thomas Mochelden against whom he had a particular aversion should be Beheaded at Hereford After this the Queen her Son and the beloved Mortimer went to Wallingford Castle where they kept their Christmass with all manner of jollity From thence they proceeded to London where the Queen and Prince were received with much Joy and many rich Presents and a Parliament being called it was concluded that King Edward should be Deposed and his Son advanced to the Throne In the management whereof Mortimer discovered very much zeal activity and diligence as hoping thereby to become Chief Minister of State as well as principal Favourite of the Queen King Edward was Deposed accordingly and confined to Kennelworth Castle the Queen Roger Mortimer and Torlton Bishop of Hereford having concluded to allow him an hundred Marks a month for his necessary Expences And now it was hoped that the Kingdom having suffered so many Concussions and Miseries for several years would have been settled and restored to its former peace and tranquility But it soon appeared that though the Nation had changed its Master yet other evil Instruments succeeded to trouble and disquiet the already harassed People So that one Historian writes thus The beginning of the Reign of King Edward III. was very troublesome for he by reason of his tender Age being but fifteen years old when he came to the Crown was drawn aside by evil Counsel and committed many foul errors of State and Government The chief occasion of which were the Queen her Darling Roger Mortimer and some others For first they procured so great a part of the Revenue of the Nation to be settled for maintaining the Queen and her Family that the young King had scarce a third part of it for himself and his necessary Attendants and Officers So that she and her Favourite Mortimer lived in the greatest State and Grandeur imaginable and the People began to exclaim against him and say publickly That the great zeal and hatred he had shewed against the Rapines of the Spencers was not because they had been oppressive to the Subject but that he was desirous no Body should abuse them but himself Secondly The Queen and he having intelligence that several Great Persons and the whole Order of Friers Preachers taking pity of the late King's Captivity seemed to Consult for his deliverance and knowing that his Restoration would be their confusion they wickedly plotted and contrived to add Murther to their former Impieties and therefore Roger Mortimer was sent with that ambiguous Order to his Keepers devised by Torlton Bishop of Hereford Edwardum occidere nolite tinere bonum est To shed King Edward's Blood Refuse to fear I count it good Where by leaving out the stops they sufficiently incouraged the Murtherers and yet afterward produced the Writing under Queen Isabels Seal for their own Justification when the horrid Fact was committed Though this was very far from clearing them from the guilt of it in the opinion of the Vulgar whose Tongues spare none and who had before heard that though the Queen in her outward deportment pretended much grief and sorrow for the Imprisonment of the King her Husband yet instead of visiting him in his distress which he often desired as still retaining a very great love for her She only sent him fine Clothes and kind Letters but contrary to the Laws of God and Man refrained from rendring him any Nuptial Duties which they plainly reported she bestowed freely enough upon her bloody Adulterer Mortimer Pretending in the mean time that Reasons of State would not allow her to converse with him And soon after this desolate Prince was by an express order from the Young King wholly procured by them removed from Kennelworth to Corf Castle and there miserably deprived of his life Thirdly In the second year of the young King's Reign Robert Bruce King of Scotland denounced War against him and his Kingdom which occasioned the raising of a strong Army consisting of above fifty thousand men with which the King accompanied by the Queen Mother Roger Mortimer the Lord of Heynault John Lord Beumont and many others of the Nobility and Gentry marched toward the Scots who had Invaded England And had so happily incompast them in the Wood of Wiridale and Stanhope Park that the English seemed fully assured of Victory Yet by the Treachery of Roger Mortimer they were not only suffered to make a total escape without any loss but Sir James Dowglass in the dead of the Night with 200 Light-Horse assaulted the King 's own Pavilion and had certainly killed him had not one of his Chaplains a Valiant Man sacrificed his own life in defence of his Soveraign's Dowglass after this bold attempt escaped back without damage but not without honour for his daring Courage this misfortune was afterward charged upon Mortlmer as designing by the death of the King to Usurp the Crown The Scots left their Camp entire behind them wherein the English found 500 Oxen and Cows ready killed a Thousand Spits full of Roast-Meat 500 Caldrons made of Cow-hides new with the Hair on full of Flesh Boyling over Fires And Ten thousand pair of Shoes made of raw Hides with the Hair outward All which became a welcome booty to the hungry English Souldiers Fourthly After this dishonourable retreat of the King who was extreamly grieved to return so ingloriously notwithstanding the expence of a vast Treasure and the imminent danger of his own Person and just before the death of King Robert who died of the Leprosie being accounted one of the most Valiant Warriors of that Age as having redeemed his Country from Slavery and by whose loss it appeared of
de gentil Mortimer Good Son Good Son take pity upon the gentle Mortimer For she suspected the King was there though she did not see him Then were the Keys sent for and all the Castle with the Amunition and Provisions were delivered up to the King so secretly that none without the Castle had any knowledge of it but only the King's Friends This was counted a very daring enterprize in regard that Mortimer had usually 180 Knights besides Esquires and Gentlemen as a constant Guard for the security of his Person The next Morning early Roger Mortimer and his Accomplices were carried with mighty shoutings and rejoycings of the Common People the poor Earl of Lancaster though blind making up the cry toward London and was committed to the Tower And soon after in open Parliament at Westminster was Condemned by his Peers without being brought to Tryal by a Law of Mortimer's own contriving whereby the Earls of Lancaster Winchester Glocester and Kent were formerly out to Death The following Articles of High Treason were laid to his charge 1. That he was consenting to the Murther of the King's Father 2. That he Treacherously occasioned much loss and dishonour to the King at Stanhope Park by procuring the escape of the Scots for which he had received a great Sum of Money 3. That he caused several Ancient Deeds and Charters to be burnt wherein the King of Scots was obliged to do homage to the King of England and had made a dishonourable Contract between the King's Sister and David Bruce King Robert's Son 4. That he had prodigally and lewdly wasted the King's Treasures as well as those of the two Spencers 5. That he had been an Evil Councellor to the King and had been too familiarly conversant with the Queen Mother All which Articles are sum'd up in the following ragged Rymes which might very well have been in Prose but for their Antiqutty and brevity I will here insert them Five heinous crimes against him soon were had 1. That he caused the King to yield the Scot To make a Peace Towns that were from him got And therewithal the Charter called Ragman 2. He by the Scots was brib'd for private gain 3. That by his means King Edward of Carnarvan In Berkley Castle Treacherously was slain 4. That with his Prince's Mother he had lain 5. And finally with polling at his pleasure Had rob'd the K. and Commons of their Treasure For these Treasons he was sentenced to be hanged and afterward ignominiously drawn in a Sledg to Tyburn the common place of Execution then called the Elms and there upon the common gallows was as ignominiously Executed hanging by the King's command two Days and two Nights a publick and pleasing spectacle to the wronged People There died with him Sir Simon Bedford and John Deverel Esq as well for the expiation of the late King Edward's detestable Murther as in complement as it were to so great a Man's fall who seldom or never perish without company they suffered in 1330. The King by the advice of Parliament deprived the Queen of her excessive Dowry allowing her only a Thousand Pound a Year and confining her to a Monastery during Life but giving her the honour of a visit once or twice a Year though otherwise judging her scarce worthy to live in regard of her Debaucheries with Mortimer and her many other heinous practices From the sudden ruin of this great Favourite Mortimer we may Remark what Inchantments Honour Riches and Power are to the minds of Men how suddenly how strangely do they blow them up with contempt of others and forgetfulness of themselves And surely the frailty and uncertainty of Worldly felicity is very visible in this Great Person who when he was drunk as it were with all humane happiness so that he seemed to fear neither God nor Man was suddenly overtaken by Divine Justice and brought to utter confusion when he least dreamt of it But it was very equitable that he who would not take example by the wretched Fate of his Favourite Predecessors should himself be made an Example by the like shameful and Ignominious Death Remarks on the Life of Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham Favourite to King Richard the Third TWO Or three considerable Remarks do naturally result from the following History 1. That Tyrants being but single Persons could never perpetrate the many mischiefs which they are usually guilty of did they not meet with proper Instruments to imploy therein 2. That the pravity of Mankind is so deplorable that the temptations of Honour and Riches too often prevail upon Men and ingage them in the most vile and destructive designs 3. That those who are imployed by Tyrants must never boggle not strain at the greatest Villanies since if they be not as thoroughly wicked as their Master he will account them his implacable Enemies and they are subject to be justly ruined by his unjust and revengeful hand All these Maxims seem to be verified in the Life Actions and Fall of this Great Man Henry Stafford Duke of Buckinham He was Son to Humfry Stafford of Brecknock-shire in Wales who was created Duke of Buckingham and Lord High Constable of England by King Henry VI. Being descended from a Daughter of Thomas of Woodstock youngest Son to King Edward III. His Son succeeded him in his Titles and Honour and was a great Favourite to King Richard III. and very Instrumental in advising him to his Usurped Throne as by the following Relation appears When King Edward IV. died he left behind him two Sons Edward his Successor of thirteen and Richard Duke of York of eleven years of Age. The Young King and his Brother were by their Father's Will committed to the care of the Earl of Rivers the Queens Brother whom he made Protector of the King during his Minority The Court was at this time kept at Ludlow in Wales to retain the Welsh in obedience who began to be unruly and in the mean time the Earl of Rivers disposed of all Offices and Places of Preferment which very much dislatisfied the Duke of Glocester Brother to King Edward IV. and Uncle to the Present King who upon his Brother's Death possed from the North where he then was to London and finding the Queen and her Kindred had the whole Government of affairs about the King he was very much displeased as judging it a main obstacle to his Usurpation and and Advancement to the Throne which it seems he had long before designed for it was reported that the very night wherein King Edward IV. died one Misselbrook came early in the morning to one Potter living in Redcross street near Cripplegate and told him that the King was dead By my Troth man says Potter then will my Master the Duke of Glocester be King For surely if he had not been acquainted with his Master's Intentions he would not have thus spoke But the Duke knowing that a business of such consequence was not to be managed alone he
commonly subject to when they fall into adversity as having neither good Consciences nor manly Courage to support their drooping Spirits From hence he was carried to the Earl of Shrewsbury's to Sheffeild where he continued till the King sent Sir William Kingston Captain of the Guard and Constable of the Tower to bring him to London the sight of whom so daunted him that he redoubled his lamentations and would receive no comfort and much doubting he should lose his Head he took so strong a Purge or poysonous Potion for fear of being brought to open punishment for his many enormities as in a few days put an end to his Life at Leicester Abbey in his Journey toward London Being near his end he called Sir William Kingston to him and said 'Pray present my Duty to his Majesty who is a Noble and Gallant Prince and of a resolved Mind for he will venture the loss of his Kingdom rather than be contradicted in his desires I do assure you I have sometimes kneeled three hours together to dissande him from his resolutions but could never prevail therefore you had need take care what you put into his Head for you can never get it out again And now Mr. Kingston had I but served God as diligently as I have served the King he would never have forsaken me in my Gray Hairs but this is the just reward that I receive for all my pains and labour who neglected the Service of God and studied only to please and humour my Prince He then proceeded to vilifie the Protestants whom he named Hellish Lutherans and that the King should take care to suppress and extirpate them as being the occasion of Rebellions and Insurrections in Bohemia and England in King Richard II's time and other places and that these Seditions and Heresies would ruin Holy Church and bring destruction upon the Realm About eight a Clock at Night he gave up the Ghost as himself had predicted the day before A Person in whose Arm he died affirmed that his Body when dead was as black as pitch and so heavy that six men could hardly carry it and stank so horribly that they were forced to bury him that very night before it was day At which time so great a Tempest of Wind and such a lothsome stench arose that all the Torches were blown out and the Corps being hastily thrown into the Grave was there left without Tomb Monument or Remembrance Of which the Poet thus writes And though from his own Store Woolsey might have A Palace or a College for his Grave Yet here he lies interr'd as if that all Of him to be remembred were his Fall Nothing but Earth to Earth no pompous weight Upon him but a Pebble or a Quait One Historian thus concludes his Story Thus Lived and thus Died this great Cardinal who was Proud and Ambiâ—ious VVanton and Letcherous Rich and Covetous a Liar and a Flatterer a Tyrant and Merciless forgetful of his beginning disdainful in his Prosperity dispirited and base in adversity and wretched in his end VVhose Death made the King joyful the Nobles jocund and the People glad This happened in 1530. Thus died this mighty Prelate who though guilty of so many horrid crimes yet to the last hour pretended much zeal for the Church breathing forth Death and murder against the Protestants and charging them with those Rebellions and Disturbances which the Clergy only were the cause of by their violent Counsels and their bloody cruel illegal and arbitrary decrees and practices Insomuch that Sir Richard Baker in his Chronicle of England writing the Character of King Henry VIII says thus But it will be injurious to charge all the Blood spilt in his Reign to his account They were the bloody Bishops that made those bloody Laws and the bloody Clergy that put them in execution the King oft-times scarce knowing what was done and when he heard of some of them he extreamly condemned their barbarous cruelty Remarks upon the Life Actions and Fatal Fall of Thomas Cromwell Earl of Essex Favourite to King Henry the Eighth 〈◊〉 the Life of this Great Person we may remark That those Noble Virtues which sometimes adâ—… Men to Honour and Dignity are not always priâ—…es intailed and appropriated to high Birth and â—…rable Descent But that those that proceed from mean and abject Families are oftentimes indued with such singular VVisdom Dexterity and Industry that they rise to high preferment and authority VVe may likewise observe That though his Predecessor VVoolsey could not bear the great Fortune to which he arrived with any moderation but by his Pride and Insolence became distastful to all men yet our great Cromwell on the contrary carried an even Sail in all conditions being neither elated with Prosperity nor deprest when fallen from it Lastly We may hence conclude with the Wise man that all things happen alike to all in this life Woolsey the greatest slave to Vice and Cromwell a Person of the most sublime Virtue being both Favourites to the same King both falling into disgrace with him and both expiring by a fatal Fall Thomas Cromwell was the Son of a Blacksmith at Putney in Surrey to whom may be applied what Juvenal said of Demosthenes the famous Orator who had the same Original Whom his poor Father blear-ey'd with the Soot Of Sparks which from the burning Iron did shoot From Coals Tongs Anvil and such Blacksmiths Tools And dirty Forge sent to the Grammar Schools His Father educated him according to his mean ability and though his low condition was at first a great hindrance to his promotion yet such was his pregnancy of wit his solid judgment his ready elocution his indefatigable diligence his couragious Heart and his active Hand that so many excellencies could not lye long concealed insomuch that though he were without Friends or Money yet nothing being too difficult for his Wit and Industry to compass nor for his Capacity and Memory to retain he soon got into Imployment For having passed over his Youth with the common diversions of that state when he grew toward man he had a great inclination to travel abroad and learn experience in the World and gain those Languages which might be serviceable to him in the future course of his Life Whereupon going over to Antwerp he was there retained by the English Merchants for their Secretary It happened about this time that the People of Boston in Lincolnshire thought fit to send to Rome to renew the Great and Little Pardon which formerly belonged to a Church in their Town by which they found much advantage from those who came to have the benefit of the remission of their Sins by them which were no small number of superstitious Zealots And being very sensible that all things at Rome were to be purchased only by Money they sent one Jeffery Chambers with a round sum upon this notable errand who in his Journey coming to Antwerp and much doubting his ability for managing
about him Before this he writ a Letter to the King which none durst undertake to deliver him but Mr. Sadler his old friend willing to do him a kindness first went to understand the King's pleasure whether he would permit him to do it which the King granting he presented the Letter to him who commanded him to read it to him thrice over seeming much affected with it And some write that after his death the King being in a great exigency and not knowing whom to trust or with whom to advise he much lamented his Death saying O that I had my Cromwell again But the Act of Parliament being passed he could not conveniently dispense with it and his Enemies being so many and mighty was obliged to take him off So that July 28. 1541. the worthy and noble Lord Cromwell was brought to the Scaffold on Tower-Hill where he spake thus to the multitude that surrounded him ' I am come hither to dye and not to clear my self as some peradventure may think that I will I am condemned by the Law to dye and thank my Lord God that hath appointed me this death for mine offences For since the time that I came to years of discretion I have lived a Sinner and have offended my Lord God for which I ask him heartily forgiveness It is not unknown to many of you that I have been a great Traveller in this World and being of mean degree was called to an high estate and since I came thereto I have offended my Prince for which I ask him heartily forgiveness and beseech you all to pray to God with me that he will forgive me And now I pray you all to bear me record that I die in the Catholick Faith not doubting in any Article of my Faith no nor doubting in any Sacrament of the Church Many have slandered me and reported that I have been an Hearer of such as have maintained evil opinions which is untrue But I confess that as God by his Holy Spirit doth instruct us in the Truth so the Devil is ready to seduce us and I have been seduced but bear me witness that I die in the Catholick Faith of the Holy Church and I heartily defire you to pray for the King's Grace that he may long live with you in health and prosperity and that after him his Son Prince Edward that goodly Branch may long reign over you And once again I desire you to pray for me that so long as life remaineth in this flesh I may never waver in my Faith Then kneeling down on the Scaffold he prayed thus ' O Lord Jesus who art the only health of all men living and the everlasting life of them which dye in thee I wretched sinner submit my self wholly unto thy most Blessed Will And being sure that the thing cannot perish which is committed to thy mercy I now willingly leave this frail and wicked Flesh in sure hope that thou wilt in better wise restore it to me again at the last Day in the Resurrection of the Just I beseech thee most merciful Lord Jesus Christ that thou wilt by thy Grace strengthen my Soul against all Temptations and defend me with the Buckler of thy Mercy against all the assaults of the Devil I see and acknowledge that there is in my self no hope of Salvation but all my confidence hope and trust is in thy most merciful goodness I have no merits nor good works that I may alledge before thee Of sins and evil works alas I see a great heap But yet through thy mercy I trust to be in the number of them to whom thou wilt not impute their Sins but will take and accept me for Righteous and Just and to be an Inheritor of Everlasting Life Thou merciful Lord wert born for my sake Thou didst suffer both hunger and thirst for my sake Thon didst teach pray and fast for my sake All thy holy acts and works thou wroughtest for my sake Finally Thou gavest thy most precious Body and Blood to suffer on the Cross for my sake Now most merciful Saviour let all these things profit me who hast given thy self for me Let thy Blood cleanse and wash away the spots and foulness of my Sins Let thy Righteousness hide and cover my Unrighteousness Let the merits of thy Passion and Blood make satisfaction for my Sins Give me O Lord thy Grace that the Faith of my Salvation in thy Blood waver not in me but may be ever firm and constant That the hope of thy mercy and everlasting life in me may never decay nor thy love wax cold in me Finally That the weakness of my flesh be not overcome with the fear of Death Grant O merciful Saviour that when Death hath shut up the Eyes of my Body yet the Eyes of my Soul may still behold and look upon thee and when Death hath taken away the use of my Tongue yet my Heart may cry and say unto thee Lord into thy hands I commend my Soul Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Amen After this he quietly laid down his Head on the Block which was cut off at three or four strokes by the hand of an unskilful and butcherly Executioner Thus fell this Magnanimous Worthy who rose meerly by the strength of his natural Parts for his education was suitable to his mean extraction He carried his greatness with extraordinary moderation and his zeal for the Reformation created him many potent adversaries who continually sought for matter against him till in the end by lies falshood and flattery they had thrown him out of the King's favour He mixed none of the Superstitions of the Church of Rome in his Devotions at his Death and used the word Catholick Faith to express the antient Apostolick Doctrine of Christ in opposition to Popish Novelties With him fell the Office of Vicegerent and none since ever had that Character The miseries that befell the new Queen Katherine and the Duke of Norfolk and his Family were thought to be the Judgments of Heaven upon them for their cruel prosecuting this Unfortunate Favourite The Queen being in a few months beheaded for her former lewd Life together with the Lady Rochford her Bawd as the Act of Parliament called her who had been very instrumental in the ruin of Queen Ann Bullen and of her own Husband the Lord Rochford who being now discovered to be so vile a Woman it tended much to raise both their reputations again The Duke of Norfolk and his Son the Earl of Surrey were both condemned for High Treason a few years after and the Son was beheaded the Father happily escaping by the death of King Henry To conclude The Lord Cromwell had several eminent Virtues so conspicuous in him that they ought not to be concealed His gratitude eminently appeared toward one Frescobald an Italian Merchant who had relieved him in his necessities in that Country which he rewarded afterward with so excessive a generosity as several eminent Pens have strove who
the Council going into the House with Essex The People cried Shut 'em up close keep 'em fast Whereupon the Earl bolted them into the room saying ' Be patient but a little my Lords I must needs go to the City to take order with my Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs and I will return instantly The Lords being thus made Prisoners the Earl issued forth with about 200 Followers without Order among whom were the Earl of Bedford the Lord Cromwell and some other of the Nobility and coming into London Essex cries out continually ' For the Queen for the Queen there is wait laid for my Life Exhorting the Citizens to take Arms and join with him but notwithstanding their pretended kindness not a man appeared for him And soon after he was proclaimed Traytor and the Earl of Nottingham marched with all speed against him which so discouraged him that casting away all hopes of success he thought of returning home and making his Peace with the Lords which he had in Custody But found his way Chained up at the West end of St. Pauls Whereupon he drew his Sword to have forced his passage but had three of his associates slain besides two Citizens and his own Hat shot through So that making haste to Queen Hith he there got a Boat wherein he returned to his own House where he was soon Besieged both by Water and Land and was advised by the Lord Sands to issue out upon his Enemies telling him ' The most valiant Counsels were the most safe and that it was far more honourable to dye fighting with Noblemen than by the hand of an Hangman But Essex his Mind being as inconstant as his Fortune he at length yields to the Admiral And soon after he is brought to a Trial for High Treason with the Earl of Southampton where they made the best defence they could but at length were both condemned the Lord Chief Justice Cork concluding his Sentence with this bitter Sarcasm against Essex ' That it wâ—…e to be wisht that this Robert should be last of the name of Earl of Essex who affected to be Robert the First of that name King of England ' Feb. 25. 1601. was the day appointed for his death on a Scaffold upon the Green within the Tower where sate several Lords and Aldermen of London The Earl mounting the Scoffold uncovered his Head and lifting his Eyes to Heaven confest the many and grievous sins of his youth and especially the last which he said was a bloody crying and contagious sin for which he asked God and the Queen forgiveness protesting he never had any ill design against her Person wishing her long life and a happy reign He thanked God that he was neither Atheist nor Papist but put all his trust and hopes in the Merits of Christ Beseeching God to strengthen him against the fears of death Then he forgave the Executioner and fitted his Neck to the Block Intreating the Spectators to join in a short but fervent prayer and â—aculation to God He then repeated the Creed and the five first verses of the 51. Psalm adding Lord I submit humbly and obediently to my deserved punishment Thou O Lord have mercy upon thy Servant that is cast down Into thy hand O Lord I commit my Spirit ' So laying down his Head it was stricken off at the third â—…w but the first took away all sense and motion Sir Walter Râ—wâ—eigh his great Enemy was present which many thought very unbecoming him King Henry IV. of France and Marshal Byron his Prime Favourite hearing the Christian manner of his death scoft at him saying He died more like a Parson than a Souldier ' But this very Byron was soon after beheaded by this very King for Treason raving at his Death against his Master and dying more like a madman than a Christian And King Henry having renounced the Protestant Religion was stab'd to Death in his Coach by a bloody Villain without having hardly time to say Lord have mercy upon him Thus was this noble E. snatcht out of the Arms of his Mistriâ—s and torn from the Hearts of the People that doted on him and by the subtilty of his Enemies brought to an untimely end in the sight of them both who were quiet Spectators of his ruin in the 34 year of his Age. The tears of her Subjects for his loss and the little kindness they discovered afterward for her for signing the Warrant for his Death together with her own passion for him cast the Q into a deep melancholy which was much augmented by the following Passage When Essex was in greatest favour with her which was on his return from Cales he importuned her to give him some token of her affection that might renew her favour to him if at any time his Enemies should mis-represent him Whereupon in much familiarity she gave him a Ring which she vowed and swore should free him from all danger upon his sâ—nding it to her even in the greatest distress After his Commitment to the Tower he sent this worthy Token to her Majesty by the Countess of Nottingham but Sir Robert Cecil would not suffer her to deliver it This made the Q think her self scorned and that what his Enemies had reported he should say was true That she grew old and doted and that her mind was now as crooked as her body Which she thoughâ— to be high Blasphemy against such a divine beauty as he◠〈…〉 persuaded her she was But the Lady Nottingham comâ—ing to her death-bed and finding by the daily sorrow the Q. exprest for the loss of Essex that she was the principal Agent in his destruction could not be at rest till she had sent for her and discovered all imploring mercy from God and Forgiveness from her Earthly Soveraign The relation of which so inraged the Q. that shaking her as she lay in her Bed she said she would never forgive her and sent her with most fearful Curses to the Judgment Seat of God Not long after the Queen's sickness appeared Mortal For having thus unfortunately cut off her endeared Favourite she took comfort in nothing besides But upon all occasions of signing Pardons would say to her Courtiers You can beg Pardons for these wretches but could never speak a word for the gallant Essex whose less to my self and the Nation can never be recovered Some thought Essex would have discovered some secret commerce between the Q. and himself at his Death but others were of opinion that nothing Criminal ever passed between them only a generous kindness that she had for a man noble lovely and every way accomplisht To conclude her happiness and her power both seemed to be buried in the Tomb of Essex whose absence with continued fighs and tears she bemoaned for some few months and then was likewise laid in her Grave The E. of Southampton was pardoned but Sir Christ Blount Sir Charles Danvers Sir Gill. Merick and Henry Cuffe were condemned and executed for this
The Unfortunate Court-Favourites OF ENGLAND Exemplified In some Remarks upon the Lives Actions and Fatal Fall of divers Great Men who have been Favourites to several English Kings and Queens Namely I. Peirce Gaveston Earl of Cornwall II. Hugh Spencer Earl of Winchester â—II Hugh Spencer the Son E. of Glorester â—V Roger Mortimer Earl of March V. Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham VI. Thomas Woolsey Cardinal of York VII Thomas Cromwell Earl of Essex VIII Robert Devereux Earl of Essex IX George Villiers Duke of Buckingham X. Thomas Wentworth Earl of Stafford By R. B. LONDON Printed for Nath. Crouch at the Bell in the Poultrey 〈◊〉 Cheapside 1695. The Kings and Queens of England to whom the following Unfortunate Great Men were Favourites I. PEirce Gaveston Earl of Cornwal Favourite to King Edward II. II III. Hugh Spencer the Father and Hugh Spencer the Son both Favourites to King Edward II. IV. Roger Mortimer Earl of March Favourite to Queen Isabel Widow to King Edward II. and Mother to King Edward III. V. Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham Favourite to King Richard III. VI. Thomas Woolsey Cardinal of York Favourite to King Henry VIII VII Thomas Cromwel Earl of Essex Favourite to King Henry VIII VIII Robert Devereux Earl of Essex Favourite to Queen Elizabeth IX George Villiers Duke of Buckingham Favourite to King Charles I. and King James I X. Thomas Wentworth Earl of Stafford Favourite to King Charles I. To the Reader NOthing is more obvious than that Ambition Envy and Emulation are the usual Attendants on the Courts of Princes and that the effects of them have been often very fatal to many Great Men who had the fortune to have a larger share in their Masters affections than others It is likewise as notorious That there are certain Crises of Government wherein Princes have been obliged to Sacrifice their darling Ministers either to their own safety or to the importunity of their People Lastly it is as evident That some Court-Favourites have justly merited the unhappy Fate they met with for their many Rapines Insolencies and Enormities as that others have been ruined meerly from the Caprichio or inconstant Temper of the Prince whom they served Of all these in my opinion the ensuing Favourites are pregnant Instances But I shall leave the Reader to particularise them according to his own Judgment and will only add That they are not all to be condemned as Criminal meerly because they all happened to be unfortunate R. B. Remarks on the Life Actions and Fatal Fall of Peirce Gavestone Earl of Cornwall and Favourite to King Edward the Second THAT Unhappy Prince Edward the 2d was certainly the most Unfortunate in his Favourites of any King of England either before or fince his Reign The first and Fatal Favourite he had was in his Youth before he came to the Crown whose name was Peirce Gaveston born in Gascoigne a Province of France and for the good Service performed by his Father in the Wars in that Kingdom his Son was taken into such Favour at Court that by K. Edward the First 's own appointment he was Educated and made a Companion to the young Prince And indeed his outward Accomplishments seemed to render him worthy of such great Honour being a Person of a sharp Wir an excellent Shape and of a valiant Temper of which he gave notable proof in a Battel against the Scots and for which they afterward bore him a mortal Hatred But all these worthy Qualities were utterly defac'd and clouded by his vicious Incliâ—ations so that as to his Christian and Moral Vertues which are only really commendable in Men Authors are very silent in mentioning them though all give large accounts of his Faults and Immoraâ—ities And King Edward was so sensible that his Son the Prince had been debauched by the corrupt Conversation of Gavestone that some time before his Death he was banished the Kingdom And upon his Death-bed commanding the Prince his Son to repair to him with all speed to Carlisle in Cumberland where he was with a great Army ready to invade Scotland He gave him many worthy Admonitions and much good Advice particularly That he should be merciful just and kind faithful in word and deed an incourager of those that were good and ready to relieve those that were in distress That he should be loving to his two Brothers Thomas and Edmund but especially to honour and respect his Mother Queen Margaret That upon pain of his Malediction and Curse he should not presume without common consent to recall Peirce Gavestone from Exile who for abusing his tender Years with wicked practices by common Decree of the Nobility was banished He also added a strange Injunction for a dying man namely That after his Death the Prince should not presume to take the Crown of England till he had honourably revenged the Injuries his Father had received from the Scots and finisht the present Expedition against them and that he should carry his Father's Bones about with him in a Coffin till he had marched through all Scotland and subdued all his Enemies assuring him that while they were with him he should be always victorious Lastly Whereas by the continual Attempts of Bruce King of Scotland he was prevented from performing his Vow of going in Person for the recovery of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Infidels that he should send his Heart thither accompanied with 140 Knights and their Retinue for whose support he had provided Thirty two thousand pounds of Silver That after his Heart was conveyed thither he hoped in God all things would prosper with them Adjuring the Prince upon pain of Eternal Damnation that he should not expend the Money upon any other use After these Admonitions and having taken an Oath of this vain Young Prince to perform his Will he gave up the Ghost After his Father's Death the Son soon made it appear how little regard he had to perform his dying Requests and to shew what his future Behaviour was like to be he in the first place revenged himself upon Walter Langton Bishop of Chester Lord Treasurer of England and Principal Executor of his Father's Last Will whom he imprisoned in Wallingford Castle seizing upon all his Estate no man daring to intercede on his behalf because of the extream hatred which the King shewed against him the Bishop's Crime being only in using a modest freedom in K. Edward's days in gravely reproving 〈…〉 for his 〈◊〉 meanours and not suffering him to have what 〈…〉 he required to waste prodigally upon his 〈…〉 Gavestone against whom he likewise made such great and just Complaints as occasioned the imprisonment of the Prince the banishment of his leud Favourite Soon after the young King married Isabel Daughter to Philip the Fair of France the March being concluded before his Father's death and was now performed with extraordinary Magnificence at Bullen At which Solemnity there were five Kings namely Philip the French King the
Bridg thy Bowels taken out and Burnt thy Body quartered and thy four Quarters set up in four principal Cities of England for an example to such heinous Offenders And this Sentence was accordingly executed upon him Thus ended this unfortunate expedition to the great reproach and loss of the English and the scandal of the King who was grown sufficiently infamous already for making the Kingdom a shambles for the Nobility Yet in the midst of these calamities the two Spencers rid Triumphant in the Chariot of Favour Power Honour and Riches enjoying great part of the Estate of the late unfortunate Earl of Lancaster and in this grandeur they continued for the space of five years notwithstanding the utmost efforts of their potent and numerous adversaries who continually meditated their destruction During which time the Queens Interest extreamly declined who for shewing some relentings for the severity used to the Lords and expressing her dislike of the overgrown authority of the two wicked Favourites by whose persuasions she was sensible the King her Husband abandoned her Company and Bed was extreamly hated by them So that they continued their impious Artifices to allure the King with the Company and Dalliance of Leud and Lascivious Harlots and to avoid any converse with her And it did appear that these evil minded and vile men working upon the King's inclination were the principal Authors and Advisers of that sharp revenge taken upon the Lords for their own ambitious and avaritious ends whereby at length they brought inevitable ruin upon the Crown Dignity and Life of their Soveraign Which the following instance seeâ—… plainly to confirm Among those who were condemned for joining with the Earl of Lancaster the King's Uncle there was one very poor Fellow for whose life because he had long continued at Court many great Courtâ—…rs interceeded very earnestly and pressed the matter so far that the King in a rage replied 'A plague upon you for a company of Cursed Whisperers malicious Backbiters Flatterers and wicked Counsellors who can beg so heartily for saving the life of a notorious wicked Knave and yet could not speak a word in the behalf of the most noble Knight Earl Thomas of Lancaster my near Kinsman whose Life and Counsels would now have been of great use and service to the Kingdom Whereas this wretch the longer he lives the more villanies will he commit having already made himself notorious throughout the Realm for his horrid Crimes and desperate Outrages For which by the Soul of God he shall dye the death he hath justly deserved And he was accordingly executed This may be some evidence that the King was over persuaded to commit those Tragedies upon the Lords 〈…〉 was reckoned to be naturally merciful and 〈◊〉 according to the Religion of those times but 〈◊〉 â—…iâ—led by depraved Counsellors though he 〈…〉 inexcusable since it is usually said That good 〈◊〉 cannot satisfie for publick Errors and Mischiefs The Spencers still continued their Rapines and Profligate courses and aspiring to more absolute Dominion resolved to leave nothing unattempted that might rivet them in the affections of the King and inrich themselves which begot implacable enmity in the People both against them and their Master their insolence rising to such an height that they abridged the Queen of her usual allowance so that she had not wherewith to maintain her self while themselves abounded in all manner of plenty and magnificence Which caused her publickly to complain ' That the Daughter and Sole Heir of the King of France was Married to a miserable Wretch who did not allow her necessaries and that being promised to be a Queen she was now become no better than a waiting Gentlewoman subsisting only upon a Pension from the Spencers And dreading their malice she took her Eldest Son Prince Edward and privately withdrew into France to her Brother King Charles by whom she was kindly received and comforted with solemn Oaths and Promises that he would effectually assist her against all her Enemies and redress the grievances of the Kingdom A while after the Barons by their Letters assured her of their best help and service to her Self and Son declaring that if she would return to England with the aid of only a thousand valiant men at Arms they would raise so great a strength here to join them as should make the Spencers feel the smart of their unsufferable follies The Queen was exceedingly rejoiced with the hopes of her fortunate success But the two Spencers much doubting the event if she should return with Forces and having the Treasure of the Kingdom at command they corrupted King Charles and his Council with such prodigious sums of Gold and Silver and of Rich Jewels that not only all succour was denied her but the French K. reprimanded her very sharply for having so undutifully and imprudently forsaken her Lord and Dear Husband Yea the Pope likewise and many of the Cardinals being ingaged with rich Presents by the Spencers required King Charles under the Penalty of Cursing to send the Queen and Prince to King Edward And doubtless she had been unnaturally betrayed by her own Brother had she not privately and speedily made her escape to the Earl of Heynault in Germany where she was entertained with extraordinary joy by the Earl and the Lord Beumont his Brother who resolved to accompany her to England In the mean time King Edward and his profligate Favourites having intelligence of their Intentions he sent to demand his Wife and Son to be returned home but not succeeding and the Spencers knowing that if an happy Agreement should have been made between the King his Queen and the Barons they must both have been made Sacrifices of Peace-Offering to appease the resentments of the People they therefore resolve to make the Breach irreconcileable by persuading the King to proclaim the Queen and Prince with all their Adherents Traytors and Enemies to the King and Kingdom banishing all that he thought were well-affected to them and keeping a severe Eye over the discoâ—ented Barons and it was reported That a secret Plot was laid to have taken away the Lives both of the Queen and her Son While the Queen continued in Heynault she concluded a Marriage between the Prince then about fourteen years old and the Lady Philippa that Earl's Daughter and with the Money of her Dowry Listed Souldiers in Germany and soon after with three hundred Knights and gallant Warriours and about 1700 Common Souldiers Germans and English commanded by the Earl of Heynault with the Earls of Kent Pembroke the Lord Beumont and many other English-men of Quality she safely arrived at Orwell in Suffolk Upon the first Intelligence of their Landing the Lords and Barons with joyful hearts and numerous Troops of resolute Gallants compleatly Armed repaired to her Assistance with all speed so that her Forces hourly increased Her Arrival being reported to the King He poor Prince was so surprized that he knew not what course to take
how much value the Courage and Conduct of a Prince is yet before he died by the contrivance of the Queen Mother Roger Mortimer and their Adherents such a dishonourable Peace is made with the Scots as exceedingly displeased the whole Kingdom and in the end proved fatal to the principal actor Mortimer For at this Treaty the King then in his Minority Sealed Charters to the Scots at Northampton contrived by the Queen her Favourite and Sir James Dowglas without the knowledge or consent of the Peers of England whereby that famous Charter called Ragmans Roll was surrendred to them with several Jewels and among them one of an extraordinary value called the Black Cross of Scotland all which were taken from the Scots by the Victorious King Edward I. The Scots Kings were likewise freed and discharged for ever from doing homage and fealty to the Kings of England or from acknowledging them to have any Right or Superiority over that Kingdom And that all Englishmen should forfeit their Lands in Scotland unless they went and resided there and swore Allegiance to that King Moreover under pretence of making reparation for damages King Robert was obliged to pay the King of England Thirty Thousand Marks Sterling which Money was given to Mortimer as a reward for his procuring this destructive and mischievous Treaty And to conclude all David Bruce Prince of Scotland a Child of Seven or Eight Years Old and Heir to K. Robert Married Jane Sister to K. Edward at Berwick whom the Scots in derision both of the Peace and Marriage scornfully nicknamed Jane Make Peace Lastly The Queen and Mortimer being sensible that some of the Principal Nobility disliked their proceedings and hindred their absolute Government they resolved to contrive some means for removing them out of the way and among others Edward Earl of Kent the King's Unckle To effect this it is said Mortimer caused a report to be spread abroad that K. Edward II. was still alive at Corf-Castle but not to be seen in the day time and to countenance the deceit for many Nights together there were Lights set up in all the Windows of the Castle and an appearance made of Masquing Dancing and other Royal Solemnities as if for the King's diversion This being observed by the Countrey People they confirmed the rumour of the late King 's being there which was soon dispersed throughout England The Earl of Kent hearing the news sent a Preaching Frier to the Castle to find out the truth of it who by giving Money to the Porter was admitted into the Castle lying very privately in his Lodg all day at night the Porter causing him to put off his own Priestly Robes and put on his the Frier was brought into the Hall where he saw as he imagined King Edward II. sitting in Royal Majesty at supper The Frier returning to the Earl assured him of the reality of what he had seen whereupon the Earl being discontented swore that he would endeavour by all ways possible to deliver his Brother out of Prison and restore him to his Throne To which purpose he ingaged several other Noblemen in the design with the Provincial of the White and Carmelite Friers the Bishop of London and others This Conspiracy being discovered though it were only a Lye and fancy the Frier being imposed upon only by a King made of Clouts Yet the Earl of Kent by his words and some Letters that were found about him was condemned as a Traytor for conspiring to set a dead Man at liberty But so generally was this Noble Lord beloved and honoured that he stood upon a Scaffold at the Castle-Gates at Winchester from Noon till five a Clock at Night for want of an Executioner none being to be found that would behead him till at length Mortimer sent for a poor wretched Fellow out of the Jayl who with much ado and many blows hack'd his Head from his Body The Malice and Ambition of Mortimer and his Associates in making so little conscience of shedding Royal Blood with the many other Male-administrations aforementioned raised inveterate discontents throughout the Kingdom against the Insolent Authors of them But in the mean time they who resolved to support their Grandeur in despight of Peers and People summoned a Parliament at Nottingham where Roger Mortimer appeared in the utmost splendor and glory being Created Earl of March and having greater attendance and stronger Guards than the King himself whom he would suffer to rise up to him and with whom he walked as his Companion yea went before him with his Officers He likewise very scornfully and insolently rebuked Henry Earl of Lancaster the King's Cousin that without his leave he had taken up Lodgings in the Town so near the Queen and obliged him with the Earl of Hereford and Effex to remove their Lodgings a Mile from Nottingham This notorious affront caused great murmuring among the Noblemen who said publickly That Roger Mortimer the Queens Gallant and the Kings's Master sought by all means possible to destroy all the Royal Blood thereby to Usurp the Crown and Government which some of the King's Friends being mightily concerned at endeavoured to make him sensible of his danger swearing that if he would espouse their Cause they would faithfully assist him and secure his Person The Young King began already to put on serious thoughts and acted the Man much beyond his years so that the Lords soon prevailed upon him to join with them in asserting his own Authority which he himself saw so much lessened by Mortimer's 〈◊〉 grown Power He was likewise informed that 〈◊〉 was commonly reported the Queen was with Child by Mortimer to the great dishonour both of his Mother and himself and to the grief of all his Loyal Subjects Hereupon he resolutely ingaged with the Peers to bring this Miscreant and his Abettors to punishment In order to which Robert Holland who had been long Governour of Nottingham-Castle and knew all the secret passages and conveyances therein was taken into the design Now there was in the Castle a private Passage cut through the Rock upon which it is built which was divided into two ways one opening toward the River of Trent which runs under it and the other went a great deal farther under the adjoining Meadows and was after called Mortimer's Hole The King lying one Night without the Castle was conducted by Torch-light through this Passage himself and his Valiant Attendants being all well Armed and their Swords drawn till he came to the door of the Queens Bed-Chamber which the secure and careless Lords had left wide open Some of the foremost entred the Room desiring the King to retire a little that the Queen might not see him and slew Sir Hugh Turpington who opposed them from whom they went towards the Queen Mother with whom they found Mortimer both just ready to go into Bed and seizing him they led him out into the Hall whom the Queen followed crying out Bel silz bel filz ayes pitie
have I to believe that since my Kindred are as Innocent as my self and all the malice against us is because we are so near a kin to the King As for the Gentleman my Son I intend he shall be where I am till I see farther for I assure you the more earnest I see some men to have him away without any real ground the more I dread to part with him And truly Madam quoth the Archbishop the more loth you are to part with him the more afraid are other men that you should convey him away and therefore since he can have no privilege that does not ask it nor for any fault can want it they will think it no breach of privilege to take him from you by force Ah Sâ—r quoth the Queen hath the Protecter so much love and tenderness for him that he only fears he should escape him Alas whither should I send him if he be not safe in this Sanctuary the privilege whereof there was never any Tyrant so wicked or devilish to break But it seems my Son deserves no Sanctuary and therefore cannot have it What is this place of security for a Thief and not for an Infant But he is in no danger say they I would to God he were not I wish the Protector may prove a Protector to him but the matter is plain he hath one Son already in his Hands and could he get the other and destroy them both he would then Usurp the Crown I shall give no other account why I have such a fear but only what the Law gives which as Learned men tell me forbids any man to have the custody of one by whose Death he may inherit far less than a Kingdom I shall say no more but that whosoever breaketh this holy Sanctuary I pray God he may soon have need of one but not enjoy it The Queen then proceeded in severe reflections upon the Protector 's designs which the Archbishop did not then believe and was therefore loth to heaâ— but told her in short That if she would deliver her Son to him and the rest he durst pawn his Soul and Body for his safety but if not he much doubted she would be obliged to do it against her will and that he would never move her any more in that matter These words made the Queen stand silent and considering she had no time or place to secure him from them the Sanctuary being strongly guarded and that she did believe the Archbishop and some of the rest of the Lords were good men and would not see her Child wronged and finally that if the Protector was resolved to have him he would scruple at nothing to compass his ends she concluded to deliver him her self to their fidelity and taking the young Duke by the Hand she said My Lords I neither mistrust your prudence nor am jealous of your faithfulness of which I now give you a convincing proof and wherein if I should be mistaken it would be a very great affliction to me and would bring much mischief to the Realm and eternal reproach upon your selves For behold here is the Gentleman you require whom I doubt not but I could have kept safe in this place whatever is alledged to the contrary Though I do not question but I have some such deadly Enemies to my Family and Blood abroad that if they thought they had a drop of it in their own Bodies they would let it out For we have had many examples that the ambition of Soveraignty makes void all tyes of Kindred and Alliance for this cause Brothers have been the ruin of Brothers and may the Nephews find better usage from their Uncle While these Children are apart the life of one is a defence to the other and their safety consists in each others welfare Keep one safe and that will secure the other but nothing is more dangerous than that they should be in one place for no wise Merchant will venture all his Estate in one Ship But however here I deliver him and his Brother in him into your hands of whom I shall require them both in the sight of God and the World I know very well that you are both Just and Wise and that you want neither Will nor Power to preserve them if you think otherwise pray leave him with me But one thing I earnestly recommend to you to be very cautious lest while you count me too fearful you your selves be not too fearless and secure Then turning to the Child Come my own sweet Son said she let me Kiss you before you go for God knows whether ever we shall kiss one another again to whose holy protection I commit you Having Kissed and Blessed him she turned aside and wept and then went away leaving the Child weeping as fast as she The Lords having received the Duke brought him into the Star Chamber where the Protector and Council were sitting As soon as he was entred the room the Protector rises up and takes him in his Arms Kissing and Imbracing him saying Dear Nephew you are welcome with all my heart for next to my Soveraign Lord your Brother nothing gives me so much contentment as your presence And herein it was thought he did not dissemble having now got the prize which he so much desired Soon after upon pretence of removing the two Princes into a place of more security till the Peoples minds were settled the Protector caused them to be carried in great Pomp and State through London to the Tower there to continue till the King's Coronation from whence they never after came abroad The Protector now began more openly to prosecute his designs but the work being great he must make use of Great men in it and at that time none was more potent than that Duke of Buckingham Some have writ that the Duke was privy to all the contrivances of the Duke from the death of King Edward IV. Others thought the Protector never durst adventure to discover a matter of such great consequence to him and that he now imployed some cunning people to insinuate into the Duke that the young King had a secret hatred to him for being accessary to the Imprisonment of his Kindred and that if he were ever in a capacity he would revenge it upon him for if they should be again at liberty to be sure they would incite him to it and if they should be put to death this would the more inrage the King against him That there was no way for the Duke to retreat or make his Peace with the King since the King himself with his Brother and Kindred were now in such safe custody that the Protector with a word of his Mouth could destroy them all and him also if he found him fall off from his Interest Though the Duke might be troubled at what he had done yet being sensible of the Protector 's cruelty and his own danger he resolved to join with him in all his trayterous enterprizes and
so it was agreed between them that the Duke should assist the Protector to advance him to the Crown In recompence of which service the Protector 's only Son and Heir should marry the Duke's Daughter and should likewise have the Earldom of Hereford settled upon him and his Successors which he had claimed as his Inheritance from Edward IV. but could never obtain it He also promised the Duke a large sum of the King's Money and a great quantity of his Houshold-stuff Having entred into this cursed combination to delude the People they pretend to make great preparations for Crowning the young King To which purpose all the Lords of the Council were summoned to appear in the Tower Where they met accordingly but the Protector being sensible that the Lord Hastings would be a great obstacle in his way because of his firmness and fidelity to his old Master King Edward's Sons he resolved to be rid of him which he effected in the manner following The Protector coming into Council complemented all the Lords very affably seeming more than ordinarily merry and after some other discourses My Lord says he to the Bishop of Ely I hear you have very good Strawberries in your Garden in Holbourn pray let us have a dish of them With all my heart replied the Bishop and instantly sent for some The Protector then rose hastily up desiring them to excuse his absence for a while And returning about an hour after he appeared so extreamly disturbed and changed in his countenance uttering so many grievous sighs and using such passionate gestures that the Lords were in much admiration of the cause thereof He knit his Brows and bit his Lips appearing extreâ—mly concerned After long silence the more to prepare their attentions he asks confusedly what punishment they deserved who had compassed imagined and contrived the destruction of him who was so near allied to the King and Protector of his Person and Kingdom At this question the Lords were all amazed and sate looking upon each other without speaking a word at ength the Lord Hastings by the instigation of the Duke of Buckingham presuming upon his intimacy with the Protector replied That whoever they were they deserved to be punished as Traytors to which the other Lords assented Whereat the Protector rising up Why it is says he that old Sorceress my Brother Edward's Widow and her Partner that common Whore Jane Shore that have by Witchcraft and Inchantment contrived to take away my life And though by God's Mercy they have not been able to finish their Villany yet see the mischief they have done me for behold and then he shewed his left Arm naked and withered how they have caused this dear Limb of mine to wither and grow useless and my whole body had been in the same miserable plight if they had executed their Wills upon me The Lords who knew the goodness and virtue of the Queen and that his Arm had been always withered from his birth found it a false pretence but were so astonish'd at his confidence that they durst not utter a word till the Lord Hastings thinking to lay all the fault upon the Queen and excuse Jane Shore whom he had taken for his Mistress and Bed-fellow ever since King Edward's death and from whom he had risen that Morning submissively answered If the Queen have conspired which he had no sooner said but the Protector looking fiercely upon him What says he in a great rage dost thou tell me of If 's and And 's I tell thee they and none but they have done it and thou art Confederate with them in their Villany Who I my Lord quoth he Yea thou Traytor says the Protector and therewith striking a sound blow with his hand upon the Table Treason was cried in the next room and immediately a great number of armed men came rushing in as if to guard the Protector one of whom with a furious blow of a Pole-axe wounded the Lord Stanley in the head and had certainly kill'd him but that with the stroke he sunk under the Table The rest of the Council were seized and secured in several Rooms The Lord Hastings the Protector charged with High Treason and wished him to make haste and Confess himself swearing by St. Paul his usual Dath that he would neither eat nor drink till his Head were off It signified nothing to ask a reason for he knew the Protector would give none so he was carried to the Green in the Tower before the Chappel where his Head was laid upon a long peice of Timber and there struck off and his Head and Body afterward buried in Windsor Chappel near King Edward IV. In the Tragical end of this Lord we may observe how inevitable the strokes of destiny are for the very Night before his Death the Lord Stanley sent a secret Message to him at Midnight in all hast to inform him of a Dream he had in which he thought that a Boar with his Tusks had so goared them by the Heads that the Blood ran about their Ears and because the Protector gave the Boar for his Arms or Cognizance this Dream had made so dreadful an impression upon his mind that he was fully resolved not to stay any longer and had his Horse ready requiring the Lord Hastings to go along with him and that they might Ride so fast as to be out of danger before Morning But the Lord Hastings returned this Answer by the Messenger Ah good Lord Doth thy Master insist so much upon Trifles and has he such faith in Dreams which either proceed from fancy or from the thoughts of the preceeding Day but if they foretel things to come why may they not presage that if we run away and should be taken then the Boar might have some reason to use us ill Therefore commend me to thy Master and bid him 〈◊〉 merry and fear nothing for I am as sure of the â—…an he woteth of as I am of my own Right hand The 〈◊〉 he meant was one Catesby a Lawyer who was at 〈◊〉 advanced by his favour and now grown so intimate 〈◊〉 the Protector that he did not doubt but he would discover any ill design against him But he was much mistaken for after he became so great with the Pretector Catesby was the first Man that advised the taking off the Lord Hastings Likewise the same Morning he was Beheaded his Horse stumbled twice or thrice almost to falling which though it often happen by chance yet has been sometimes reckoned a token of misfortune Moreover at the same time coming to Tower-Wharf he there met a Pursivant of his own Name which made him recal what had happened to him some time before in that place for he was accused by the Lord Rivers in King Edward IV. Reign of some Crimes which for a time cast him out of the King's favour and indangered his Life but was after restored again into Grace Now seeing this Man Ah Hastings quoth the Lord
kindness and affection for me I will freely unbosom my Thoughts to you After I observed the dissimulation and falshood of King Richard and especially when I heard of the Barbarous Murther of the two Young Princes to which God is my witness I never condescended I so much abhorr'd his presence and company that I left the Court upon a pretended excuse he not in the least perceiving my discontent and so returned to Brecknock to you In my return whether by Inspiration or Melancholy I was possest with many Imaginations and Contrivances how to deprive this Unnatural and Bloody Butcher of his Royal Seat and Dignity First I fancied that if I had a mind to take the Crown now was the time the Tyrant being so generally abhorred and detested of all Men and believing that I had the nearest right to the Succession In this imagination I continued two days at Tewksbury and was ruminating whether I was best to take upon me the Crown as Conqueror but I presently thought that then certainly both the Nobility and Commons would use their utmost Efforts against me But at length I happened on something that I did not doubt would have brought forth fair Flowers yet proved at length nothing but Weeds For I was thinking that Edmund Duke of Somerset my Grandfather was with Henry VI. within two or three degrees of John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and my Mother being Eldest Daughter to Duke Edmund I supposed my self to be next Heir to King Henry VI. of the House of Lancaster This Title was well pleasing to those whom I made of my Council but much more to my aspiring mind but while I was perplext whether it were best instantly to publish this my Right or wait some better opportunity observe what happened As I rid from Worcester to Bridgnorth I met the Lady Margaret Countess of Richmond now Wife to the Lord Stanley and Daughter and Sole Heir to John Duke of Somerset my Grandfather's Elder Brother whom I had as utterly forgot as if I had never known her so that she and her Son Henry Earl of Richmond have a Right before me By this I perceived my mistake and resolved to relinquish all Ambitious Thoughts and to endeavour the Establishment of the Earl of Richmond Right Heir of the House of Lancaster and that he should Marry the Lady Elizabeth Eldest Daughter to King Edward so that the two Roses might be hereby united And now said the Duke I have told you my whole Heart The Bishop was very glad that they had both hit upon the same design and extolling his well laid contrivance replied Since by your Graces incomparable prudence this Noble Conjunction is intended it will be necessary to consider who are fittest to be acquainted with it By my troth quoth the Duke we will begin with the Countess of Richmond the Earl's Mother who will inform us whether he be under Confinement or at Liberty in Brittain And thus was the Foundation of a League laid by these two Great Men which fully Revenged the Death of the two Innocent Princes And it was prosecuted with all Expedition one Reynold Bray being imployed by the Bishop to his Lady the Countess of Richmond Doctor Lewis the Dutchesses Physician was sent to Queen Elizabeth and two other Persons were ordered privately to wait upon the Earl of Richmond then in France and acquaint him with the Design and procure his consent to the intended Marriage Who coming to the Earl and giving him information of the Plot He thereupon discovers it to the Duke of Brittain who though by Hutton King Rich. Ambassador he had by many great offers been solicited to detain the Earl in Prison yet he readily promised and really offered him his utmost assistance Several Knights and Gentlemen were also brought into the Confederacy in England Bishop Morton though against the Earl's consent retires in disguise into the Isle of Ely where having prepared his Friends to espouse the Earl's Interest he went from thence to Brittain to him and continued there till the Earl when King sent for him home and made him Archbishop of Canterbury But though all was managed with the utmost Privacy and under Oaths of Secresie yet King Richard had made a discovery thereof but pretending Ignorance he sends for the Duke of Buckingham to come to him Which the Duke endeavouring to avoid by pretended excuses He at last peremptorily commands him to appear upon his Allegiance upon which the Duke returned this resolute Answer ' That ne owed no Allegiance to such a perjured inhumane Butcher of his own Flesh and Blood And so from that time preparations of War are made on each side The Duke had Assembled a good number of Welshman and the Marquess of Dorset having got out of Sanctuary was labouring to raise Forces in Yorkshire The two Courtneys were doing the same in Devonshire and Cornwall and the Lords Guilford and Rame in Kent King Richard sets forward with his Forces The Duke of Buckingham Marches to incounter him intending at Glocester to have past the Severn and joined the two Courtneys but the great Rains had so swelled the River that overflowing its Banks there was no Fording over This Inundation was so great that Men were drowned in their Beds Houses overturned Children carried about the Fields Swiming in Cradles and Beasts were drowned on Hills which rage of Water continued Ten days and is to this time in the Countreys adjacent called The Great Water or the Duke of Buckingham's Water The Welshmen were so affrighted with this accident that judging it an ill Omen they all secretly deserted him so that the Duke being alone without either Page or Footman retired to the House of one Humfrey Banister near Shrewsbury who having been advanced by him and his Father he thought himself safe under his roof But Banister upon King Richard's Proclamation of a reward of 1000. Pound to him that should discover the Duke Treacherously and perfidiously discovered him to John Mitton High Sheriff of Shropshire who took him in a Thread-bare Black Cloak walking in an Orchard behind the House and carried him to Shrewsbury where King Richard quartered and there without Arraignment or Legal Proceeding he was in the Market place Beheaded in 1484. Whether Banister received the proclaimed reward from King Richard's hand is uncertain but it is certain he received a reward of a Villain from the hand of Divine Justice for himself was after hanged for Manshughter his Eldest Daughter was Ravished by one of his Plowmen or as some say struck with a loathsome Leprosie his Eldest Son in a desperate Lunacy Murdered himself and his Younger Son was drowned in a small puddle of Water This was the fatal end of the Great Duke of Buckingham who went too far for a good Man in being accessary to the depriving the Innocent Princes of their Birth-right and declaring them Bastards But it seems he went not far enough for so bad a Man as King Richard because he would not
wholly of Possessions of this nature or else were greatly inlarged by them and the restoration of them to their former uses was thereby rendred so impracticable that all the flaming zeal of Queen Mary for Popery was never able to effect any thing of that kind And this may be thought to have been one strong Barrier and Security of this Nation against Popish Slavery to this very day notwithstanding the many attempts that have since been made to reduce us back to that House of bondage The Churches being thus cleansed from rubbish the magnanimous Lord Cromwell resolved to place better Ornaments in them and therefore he sent out Injunctions requiring the Clergy to set up English Bibles in their Churches and to incourage all to read them Exhorting the People not to dispute about the sense of difficult places but to leave that to better Judgments Ministers were likewise commanded to instruct the People and to teach them the Creed the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments in English and that once every Quarter there should be a Sermon to declare the true Gospel of Christ and to exhort the People to works of Charity and not to trust to other mens Works to Pilgrimages or Relicks or telling their Beads which was only Superstition Also the folly of offering Candles to Images and that to make any use of Images in Divine Worship was Idolatry and the praying to Saints unnecessary These struck at some of the main Points of the former Superstition but the free use of the Scriptures gave the deadliest blow of all Yet all the Clergy submitted to them without murmuring The Death of Queen Ann Bullen who was beheaded some time before for several pretended Crimes which she utterly denied at the Scaffold and of which a great number of worthy men thought her Innocent gave fresh hopes to the Popish Clergy that a stop would have been put to any further Reformation of which she was reckoned a great promoter and inconrager And the Succession of the Crown being likewise altered by Parliament By whom Queen Mary was declared Illegitimate as born of Queen Katherine in unlawful Marriage and a new Oath imposed upon all the People to acknowledge the Children of the Queen Ann to be rightful Heirs to the Crown and she leaving one Daughter who was afterward the renowned Queen Elizabeth that Party had likewise expectations that she being dead the Lady Mary would succeed to the Crown to which end she was persuaded to submit her self to the King and own him as Supream Head of the Church of England which she had hitherto refused But within twenty days after this Tragedy was over the King Married the Lady Jane Seymour Daughter of Sr. John Seymour by whom he had the most excellent Prince Edward who succeeded him though within few days after the good Queen died The birth of a Son blasted the Papists expectations and therefore Gardiner Bonner and the rest of that Clergy seemed now very zealous in promoting the Injunctions that Cromwell had lately published Yet Gardiner still retaining a secret hatred against the Reformation he by his Artifices and Flatteries prevailed much with the King persuading him that his zeal against Heresie was the greatest advantage that his Cause in renouncing the Pope could have over all Europe Which meeting with the King 's own persuasion of the Corporal presence of Christ in the Sacrament caused him to sit in Person upon the Trial of one John Lambert a learned man who because he would not recant his opinion about Transubstantion was cruelly burnt in Smithfield and in the next Parliament an Act was made for making it death not to consent to the six Articles following which were after called the six bloody Articles I. That after the words of Consecration the Real and Natural Body and Blood of Christ was in the Sacrament II. That Communion in both kinds was not necessary to Salvation III. That Priests by the Laws of God ought not to Marry IV. That Vows of Chastity are to be observed V. That private Massies were agreeable to the Word of God VI. That Auricular Confession was necessary to be retained Against most of these Cranmer argued several days and Cromwell promoted Bonner to the Bishoprick of Hereford to be a faithful second to Cranmer in his Pious designs though he afterward proved a violent Persecutor and indeed Cranmer wanted support against the other Bishops who made great complaints of the rashness of the Protestant Preachers who were very furious against some things not yet abolished Upon which Letters were writ to the Bishops to take care that as the People should be rightly instructed so they should not be offended with too many Novelties Thus was Cranmer's interest so low that he had none but Cromwell to depend on There was not a Queen now in the King's Bosom to support them and the refusal of owning these Articles caused the death of many Protestants as the denying the King's Supremacy cut off several Papist so that at the same time Protestants were burnt on one side Smithfield and Papists hanged on the other which made Forreigners admire as not understanding what Religion King Henry was of Hereupon Cromwell contrived how the King should be ingaged in a nearer Alliance with the Protestant Princes of Germany with whom he had already setled a League and who was acknowledged its Patron he sending over an hundred thousand Crowns a year for the support of it all ingaging That they would join against the Pope as the Common Enemy and set up the true Religion according to the Gospel Now that the King might be prevailed upon both by Affection and Interest to carry on what he had thus begun Cromwell resolved to bring about a Match between the King and the Lady Ann Sister to William Duke of Cleve whose other Sister Frederick Duke of Saxony a very zealous Protestant had espoused And the King unwilling to live any longer a Widower both the Emperor and the King of France proposed Matches to him but Reasons of State inclined him powerfully to that with the Lady Ann. Her Father had before Treated with the Prince of Lorrain about Marrying her but it went no farther than a Contract between the two Fathers And the famous Painter Hans Holbin much favoured her in the Picture which was sent to the King who never liked the Original so well as he did that The Duke of Saxe dissuaded the Match because the King was going backward in the Reformation as appear'd by his enacting the six bloody Articles but Cromwell carried it on with the greatest vigor Some write that the Lady was handsome enough but could speak only Dutch which the King understood not neither had she learned Musick and was also so stiff in her Carriage as no way suited the King's temper However the Marriage was concluded and arriving at Rochester the King was so impatient to see her that he went thither incognito but was much dampt at first sight for he thought
with to Storm it was forced to retire and in his retreat had a great number of his Souldiers kill'd and drowned returning home with great disuonour Upon the return of the Fleet the Cry of the Nation was so great both for the Disgrace and the Seamen's want of Pay that the King was obliged to call a Parliamene which being met the Duke is declared the Grievance of Grievances and the Cause of all the miseries of the Kingdom But the King Proroguing the Parliament before they could proceed against him in the mean time Dr. Lamb the Duke's Creature is murthered in the City out of hatred to his Master And the Town of Rochel who had declared for the English when they were there being now closely besieged by the French The King had prepared a Fleet under the command of the Duke to relieve it who being advanced as far as Portsmouth to go aboard was slain by one Lieutenant Felton in his own Lodgings by one blow with a Knife under the left Rib and up to the Heart leaving the Knife in his Body and got away undiscovered In his fall to the Ground the Duke was heard to say The Villain has killed me Company coming in and finding him weltring in his Blood began to inquire for the Murtherer when Felton immediately stept out and said ' I am the man that have done the deed let no man suffer that is innocent VVhen he gave the fatal blow Felton cry'd The Lord have mercy upon thy Soul VVhich the Duke had not time to pronounce himself Felton had a Paper sticking to the Lining of his Hat wherein he had written as followeth ' I would have no man commend me for doing it but rather discommend themselves for if God had not taken away their Hearts for their Sins he had not gone so long unpunisht The man is cowardly base in mind opinion and deserves not the name of a Gentleman or Souldier that is unwilling to Sacrifice his Life for the Honour of God his King and Country Subscrib'd John Felton He confest to the Council that the motives to it were his want of pay his being disappointed of a Captains place which the Duke promised him Together with the late Remonstrance of the House of Commons against him A. B. Laud askt him whether the Puritans did not incite him to it which he denied or any body else VVell then said Laud we must make you confess your Accomplices on the Rack If you should said Felton it may be the torment would make me accuse you as soon as another So he was tried for murther and suffered very penitently at Tyburn and his Body was hung in Chains at Portsmouth in 1628. An Ingenious VVriter is much offended with Sir Henry VVotton for making a Parallel between the Earl of Essex aforementioned and the Duke of Buckinghim to be found in his remains which he says is much to the disadvantage of Essex who besides his last action never did any thing so ingrateful as might make him fear the anger or beg the favour of a Parliament much less owe his Life to the Dissolution of one He died like a Christian He was no instrument of Tyranny and Oppression his memory being still valuable among the People VVhereas the Duke's retains a contrary Tincture nor can his bounty to his Friends and Servants expunge his faults because the Money was drained either from the People the Publick Treasury or from the general safety of the Nation Whereas Essex obliged his Confidents out of his own store or by such innocent ways as the Subject had no cause to repine at His natural parts were as great and his Learning and Birth greater than the Dukes Nor can his last inconsiderate action that rather deserves the Title of a Riot than Treason come up to so great an ingratitude and indignity to the Nation as Buckingham's proceedings at Rochel wherein the Duke shewed no less folly in procuring so great a hatred among the People than Essex did in misapplying their love And if his Picture be exact Essex was as hand some as he which was the chief cause of Villers advancement Only in this Essex came short in having a Mistress that would attend to reason whether it came from friendship or malice Whereas the Dukes fortune depended on two Princes that in reference to their own weakness or his strongth remained deaf to all Complaints but what were made by him or his Creatures under pain of his high Displeasure which was usually much heavier than the King 's Concerning their Deaths saith my Author I can attest the Duke 's did occasion no lâ—… joy than the other did sorrow though the death of Queen Elizabeth her self be put into the Scale Nor was the Hangman willing to be hired to cut off Essex whereas Felton seemed to be inspired with some Daemon if not the Genius of our Nation Remarks on the Life Actions and Fatal Fall of Thomas Wentworth Earl of Strafford Favourite to King Charles I. THIS great Favourite was born in Chancery Lane London his Mother coming casually to the City but descended from an antient Family at Wentworth VVoodhouse in Yorkshire He was educated in St. John's College in Oxford whereby he was so accomplisht that his endowments soon advanced him to be a Member of the House of Commons wherein he appeared very zealous for the Liberties of his Country and that often with so much strength of reason that his Sentiments prevail'd for or against the Cause he managed Of which I shall give a few instances In the Parliament 3. Charles I. Upon a debate on the Grievances of the Kingdom by quartering Souldiers Loans Benevolence Privy Seals and Imprisoning Gentlemen that refused to lend Money on that account and were refused to be Bailed upon there Habeas Corpus he spake thus ' Surely these illegal ways are punishments and marks of indignation The raising of Loans strengthned by Commissions with unheard of Instructions and Oaths and the Billetting of Souldiers by Deputy Lieutenants have been such as if they could have persuaded Christian Princes that the right of Empires had been to take away mens Properties by strong hands These Projectors have introduced a Privy Council who have ravisht at once the Spheres of allantient Government shprisoning us without either Bail or Bond. They have taken from us what What shall I say indeed What have they left us The remedy I shall propound is To vindicate our antient vital Liberties by reinforcing the Laws made by our Ancestors by giving such a Character of them as no Licentious Spirit shall ever dare enter upon them hereafter Let 〈◊〉 secure our selves and our freedom from imprisonment Les us secure our Goods that no Levies be made but by Parliament no Bilseting of Souldiers If we are not secured in these we cannot give supplies I cannot forget that duty I owe to my Country and unless our Liberties be secured I incline to look upon the state of our Country whether it be
Privy Council That the Parliament of England had forsaken the King and that in denying to supply him they had given him the advantage to supply himself by such ways as he should think fit and that he was not to suffer himself to be mastred by the frowardness of the People That he was very rigorous in levying the illegal Imposition of Shipmoney and Imprisoned divers Persons for not levying the same And a Great Loan of an hundred thousand pound being demanded of the City and some refusing to lend the Lord Mayoâ— and Aldermen were required to return their names which they with humility refusing to do the Earl said That they deserved to be put to fine and ransom and to be made examples and laid by the heels and that it would never be well till some of the Aldermen were hanged up That by wicked Counsel he had brought on the King excessive charges and then advised him to approve of two dangerous Projects To seize the Money in the Mint and to imbase his own Coin with a mixture of Brass That he had declared that Ireland was a conquered Nation and that the King might do with them what he pleased and speaking of the Charters of former Kings of England he said They were nothing worth and that he would neither have Law nor Lawyers question or dispute any of his Orders and that he would make all Ireland know that so long as he had the Government there any Act of State there made should be as binding to the Subject as an Act of Parliament That he did not only Tyrannize over the Bodies but over the Consciences of Men by forming and imposing a new and unusual Oath which because some Scots refused to take he fined and banished great numbers and called all that Nation Rebels and Traytors and said if ever he returned home from England he would root them out both stock and branch These and a multitude of other crimes he was charged to have committed both in Ireland and England Many of which he confest to be true but not with their aggravations Some he denied and others he extenuated and pleaded that though the whole were proved against him yet it did not amount to Treason Some of the Lords and Commons were of the same opinion Others urged That though he were not guilty of any of the Offences declared to be Treason by the 25 of Edward III. yet so great were his crimes that according to that Statute which impowers the Parliament to declare what is Treason they ought to be declared Treason At length it was concluded to proceed against him by way of Attainder which was much opposed likewise it being alleaged That no man could be convict of Treason but by the Letter of the Statute and the Lord Digby a Member of the House of Commons and an earnest Prosecutor of the Earl spake thus of it ' Mr. Speaker I am still of the same opinion and affections to the Earl Strafford I confidently believe him the most dangerous Minister and the most insupportable to free Subjects that can be found I believe his pâ—actices as high and as Tyrannical as any Subject ever ventured on and the malignity of them highly aggravated by those rare abilities of his whereof God hath given him the use but the Devil the application I believe him still the grand Apostate to the Common Wealth who must not expect to be pardoned in this World till he be dispatcht to the other I do not say but his Crimes may represent him a man as worthy to dye and perhaps worthier than many a Traytor and may justly direct us to enact that they shall be Treason for the future but God keep me from giving Judgment of Death on any man and to ruin his Posterity upon a Law made after the Crime is committed And by any Law yet made I do not believe he is guilty of Treason However the Bill of Attainder passed in the House of Commons and Mr. Sir John's endeavoured to satisfie the Lords in the reasonableness thereof to induce them to Pass it For said he though the proofs at the Trial were insufficient and nothing but Legal Evidence can prevail in Judicature yet by this way both Lords and Commons might proceed by the light of their own Consciences although no evidence were given at all And after many Aggravations of the Earl's Offences in subverting our Laws as he affirmed he concluded thus ' He that would not have had others have any Law should have none himself It is true we give Law to Hares and d ee because they be Beasts of Chase It was never accounted cruelty or foul play to knock Foxes or Wolves on the Head as they can be found because these be Beast of Prey The Warrenner sets Traps for Powl-cats and other Vermine for preservation of the Warren The Lords after this Speech shewing a greater propensity toward the Earl's condemnation than before the King having an account of it came next day to the House of Peers and sending for the House of Commons told them ' That Judgment being ready to pass on the Earl of Strafford he thought it necessary to declare his Conscience therein they being sensible that he had been present at the hearing this great Cause from one end to the other and yet that in his Conscience he could not condemn him of High Treason assuring them That he never intended to bring an Irish Army into England nor was ever advised by any body so to do That there was never any debate before him of the disloyalty of his English Subjects nor had he ever any suspicion of them That he was never Counselled by any to after all or any of the Laws of England since if any durst have been so impudent he should have made them examples to Posterity That he would be rightly understood for though in Conscience he could not condemn him of High Treason yet he could not clear him of such Misdemeanors as he did not think him fit to serve him or the Commonwealth hereafter in any Place or Trust no not so much as a Constable and therefore he hoped they would find out a way to satisfie Justice and their own fears and not oppress his Conscience since neither fear nor any other respect whatsoever should ever make him act against it This Speech relisht so ill with the two Houses that few of them attended next day being Sunday May 2. on the solemnity of the King 's Eldest Daughter Mary being Married to the Prince of Orange On Monday five or six thousand Apprentices and other tumultuous Citizens came down to Westminster to demand justice against the Earl of Strafford and Petitions subscribed with thousands of hands were presented to both Houses about redressing Grievances Soon after the Lords passed the Bill of Artainder but the King seemed very averse to Pass it and consulted both with Lawyers and Divines of the Lawfulness thereof The Bishop of Lincoln urged That the opinion
K. of Almain the K. of Sicily the K. of Navar and K. Edward the Bridegroom and four Queens Mary Q. of France Margaret the Q. Mother of England her Daughter the Q. of Navar and Isabel the Bride Q. of England There were likewise present a great number of Persons of Honour and Quality and among them the beloved Peirce Gavestone who was entertained with the tenderest affection imaginable by K. Edward but the Nobility had such a detestation of him that they resolved to have hinder'd the Coronation of the King and Queen which soon after followed had not King Edward solemnly promised to give them a reasonable satisfaction in the matter yet was he so far from it that none appeare◠more great in Attendants Bravery and all other grandeur than Gavestone and as a particular mark of Esteem the King ordered him to carry Sr. Edward's Crown before him at that Solemnity This still increased the Abhorrence of the Lords against him who having the power and favour of the King on his side slighted all their Attempts and Designs and resolved to provoke them to the utmost by abusing miscalling and scoffing at the chief Peers of the Land naming Thomas Earl of Lancaster the Stage player Aymer de Valence Earl of Pembroke Joseph the Jew because he wa◠〈…〉 pale and Guy Earl of Warwick the 〈…〉 of Ardern all whom at a Tur 〈…〉 a most contemptible manner 〈…〉 took little notice of these base Af 〈…〉 rather enconraged his Insolence by heap 〈…〉 daily upon him and Gavestone to establish himself was still contriving those Diversions which he knew to be pleasing to his vain Mind so that the Court was filled with Fidlers Players Jesters Flatterers and all such pernicious People as by sensualities and riotous practices might withdraw him from attempting any Noble Enterprizes in performance of his Father's Last Will or for the good Government of his People and led him into all kind of Debauchery and Dissoluteness while Gavestone himself revelled in all outward felicity and wasted the Treasure of the Kingdom in Riot and Folly or else converted it to his private use and likewise transported great Summs beyond the Sea that he might have somewhat to trust to if Fortune should happen to turn her back upon him and force him to a second Banishment And indeed he had so absolutely and intirely ingrossed the King's Favour that he had thereby frequent opportunities of inriching himself for all Addresses to the King for obtaining Offices Honours Pardons or any other Advantages passed through his hands who always espoused their business not according to Justice but by the value of the Presents made him and it is scarce credible to relate with what Prodigality the King squandred away his Money upon him yea so prodigious was his kindness toward him that he bestowed on him the best Jewels Gifts or Rarities that he had nay the Imperial Crown 〈◊〉 Victorious Father and a very fine Table and Stands all of pure Gold with many other rich Ornaments which Gavestone privately conveyed away to the great damage of the Kingdom Nay he treated him by the name of Brother and publickly declared that if it were in his power he would make him his Successor to the Crown The Lords who had hitherto past by the private Affronts and Injuries they had daily received in hope that the King might in time have seen his Errours which they by their daily Admonitions endeavoured to make him sensible of finding that he still persisted in the same Courses which grew now intolerable resolved more plainly to remonstrate the matter to him telling him That to their great grief they perceived that his Dotage and ill-placed Affection was unlimited toward Gavestone a Person of a wicked and infamous Life whose Father was a Traytor to the French King and was hanged for the same That his Mother was burnt for a Witch and that he himself was banisht for being a Confederate with her in her cursed Witchcrafts and that they did verily believe he had bewitcht the King or else certainly he could never retain such an unreasonable Passion for so profligate a Wretch That they much doubted he would abuse his Greatness so far as to bring Foreigners into the Land to defend him in his lawless and destructive Courses to the utter Ruine of the Laws Liberties and Estates of his Subjects They therefore humbly desire him to hearken to the Advice of his Peers which would be both for his own Honour and the Welfare of his People and particularly 1. That he would confirm and maintain those Antient Laws and Customs which were contained in the Charters of the Kings his Predecessors 2. That he would not force any man to part with his goods without payment of the full value thereof 3. That whatever Money Lands Jewels or other valuable things had been given away or alienated from the Crown since his Father's death might be restored 4. That he would remember the Oath he had taken to his Father before his death not to recall Peirce Gaveston from his Banishment And for prosecuting the War against Scotland and that he would rectifie all that had hitherto been amiss that so his Enemies might have no cause to rejoice nor his Friends be any longer troubled and disquieted Lastly That no man should be restrained by the King 's Writ from prosecuting his Suits in any Court of Justice for defending his Right and Property but that Justice might be impartially administred throughout the Kingdom both to Rich and Poor according to the antient and approved Constitutions Customs and Laws of England The King taking Counsel of Peirce Gavestone and his Complices commanded the Lord Chancellor to tell the Lords that he would give them satisfaction to their demands at the next Session of Parliament The Barons were no sooner gone out of London to their own homes but the King ordered the Gates of City to be shut and the Streets to be chained and and strict Watch to be kept then with some Forces both English and Foreigners marched in company of Gaveston to Wallingford Castle and as his Conscience did not trouble him for the breach of his Oath so their dislike increased his love to Gavesion for none but Gaveston must do all and nothing was acceptable nor grateful but what came from his hand However the King's lavishness having quite emptied his Exchequer he was compelled to comply with the Parliament at their next Meeting in London so far as to pass an Act for Gaveston's perpetual Banishment and for securing the Liberty of the Subject and the due execution of Justice which the King confirmed by a solemn Oath and for which they gratified him with a subsidy of the twentieth part of their Estates In pursuance of this Decree Gaveston is sent by the King into Ireland himself accompanying him in Person as far as Bristol and giving him a Commission to be Chief Governor of that Kingdom bestowing likewise on him no less then thirty