the death of Peirce Gaveston the Nobility recommended Hugh Spencer the younger to the King to succeed in his place because he had been formerly of their Party and they did not doubt but he would be a very faithful Counsellor But as the Proverb says Honours change Manners for though the King before hated him yet he soon insinuated himself so far into his weak Mind that he became as intimate a Favourite and succeeded in all the Graces Familiarity and Power of his Predecessor as well as in the Hatred and Envy of the Nobility and People occasioned by his Insolence Ambition and Lewdness wherein he seemed to equal if not exceed the Wicked Gaveston and thereby rendred himself so acceptable to the vitiated Soul of King Edward Hugh Spencer his Father an antient Knight was yet living and accounted a Person of great vertue a wise Counsellor and a Man of Valour but seeming very forward in promoting his Son's Interest and Grandeur he was likewise introduced into Court and in great favour with the King so that he was made partaker of the guilt and calamity of his Son rather out of Natural and Paternal Love and Tenderness than from the wilfulness or depravity of his Mind But young Spencer was nâ—… of a more lovely shape and comely Personage than he was of a profligate and flagitious temper The Spirit of Pride Rapine Oppression and all the most intolerable vices seeming to have wholly possest him So that in comparison of him the People were ready almost to wish for Gaveston again By his leud advice the K. pursued his former course of Debauchery spending his Time and Treasure among lascivious Harlots and Concubines and utterly renouncing the sweet Conversation of his excellent Consort which made him a scorn to Foreign Princes and hateful in the sight of all Civil Men. He was the cause of the ruin of divers Widows and Fatherless of the destruction of many Noblemen and Gentlemen and at length of the utter overthrow and confusion of Himself his Father and the King also This evil management of Affairs caused new dscords between the King and his Nobility whereby many mischiefs happened in the Kingdom and their Enemies had a fair opportunity to put in practice their designs against them Among others the Scots having joyfully Crowned the valiant Robert Bruce for their King resolved to use their utmost efforts for recovering their Country and Liberties which had been Ravished from them by the valiant King Edward I. who had made an entire Conquest of their Kingdom and appointed John Cummin Earl of Buquan a Scot to be Governour thereof for the English Him King Robert had vanquisht in Battel and was now grown so powerful while King Edward was buried in soft and unmanly luxury and delight that he sent his Brother Edward to Besiege the Castle of Sterling which bold attempt began to awaken the King of England out of his destructive Slumbers So that with all speed raising a very potent Army he with all diligence marched toward the relief thereof Hector Boetius the Scots Historian gives a very surprizing account of the number of Soldiers that King Edward carried with him to this Siege which he reckons to be one hundred and fifty thousand Horsâ—â—en and as many Foot and because this may seem incredible he adds That besides the English he had likewise the assistance of the Hollanders Zealanders Flemings Picards Boulonis Gascoigns Normans and many more from other Provinces in France and other Countries Besides which three hundred thousand Men of War he relates that there were a vast multitude of Women Children Servants yea whole Families with their House-hold-stuff which followed the Camp wherein this Author may be thought to have designed the magnifying the Valour of his Countrey-men who with far more inconsiderable Forces defeated this mighty Host His Darling Spencer accompanied the King in this Expedition but the Earls of Lancaster Warren Warwick and Arundel the greatest Peers of that Age positively refused to attend him since He and his Evil Ministers continued their Invasions and Depredations upon the Liberties and Estates of the People notwithstanding the provisions they had so often made and he had so often consented to for securing the same And as this must needs diminish his strength so it likewise deprived him of their Counsel and Conduct which was so absolutely necessary in Military Affairs However his number of Men was sufficient if Multitude without Discipline Piety or Courage could always obtain Victory But K. Edward and his Army seemed rather to be going to a Wedding or a Triumph than to engage a rough and hardy Enemy for their Targets Bucklers and other Habiliments of War were so glorious with Gold and Silver and their bright Armour gave such a dazling lustre against the Sun-beams as raised wonder in the admiring Spectators and seemed very much to correspond with the wanton Humour of the Prince And herein it is very apparent what great Advantages true and sober Courage usually obtains against vain Gallantry and ungrounded Confidence King Robert with his Forces which were much inferiour to the English being incampt near King Edward's he published a strict Order the Evening before That his Souldiers should prepare themselves for Battel the next day and that they should make humble Confession of their sins and offences in order to the receiving of the Blessed Sacrament and then no doubt the Lord of Hosts would give them Victory since they designed only to free themselves from the many woful Calamities which they had suffered from the English and to recover the Liberty and Freedom of their Countrey Far otherwise was it in the Camp of K. Edward for the Scots having the day before surprized and cut off several English Horse-men he was so far from being discouraged at such a slight presage of ill Fortune that he resolved the very next day to take a terrible Revenge upon them of which he had such a confident assurance that he triumpht before the Victory his Souldiers drinking carousing and threatning their Enemies with the utmost Cruelties that could be executed upon them But the Scots to obviate their strengâ—h by Policy had digged before the Front of their Battalions several Trenches three foot in depth and as many broad wherein they placed sharp Stakes with their points upwards and covered them over so exactly with Hurdles that Foot men might pass lightly over but Horse would certainly sink in and this Strategem nâ—xt to the Anger of Heaven against the English for their Vain-glory and Effeminacy was the principal cause of the Defeat of King Edward for he reposing much Confidence in his Cavalry the fury of their first Charge was intercepted and stopt by these Pit-falls into which the Horses plunging in great numbers the Riders were miserably destroyed with much ease by the Scots whom King Robert marching on foot in the head of led on with the utmost Courage and Gallantry The King of England had marshall'd his Army
in very good Order but this unexpected and dismal Discomfiture of his Horse in those mischievous Ditches utterly confounded all his measures so that he was compelled after some disordered Resistance to leave to the Scots the greatest Victory that ever they obtained against the English in any Age either before or since King Edward could hardly be persuaded to make his Escape it being the first time that ever he discovered any symptoms of the Courage of a Valiant English King but at length being over-persuaded by his Friends himself and his cowardly Favourite Spencer whom K. Edward's own Historian calls A Faint-hearted Kite fled with all speed to a place of safety All things proved unfortunate in this Battle for when the Foot perceived the Horse in that wretched condition they shot their Arrows at the Scots who came to kill them but they being Armed in their fore-parts received little or no damage so that they slew a great number of their Friends whose backs were towards them unarmed The loss fell much upon the Nobility for there was slain in this Battel Gilbert Clare Earl of Glocester a Man of singular Valour and Wisdom the Lord Clifford with several other Peers besides seven hundred Knights Esquires and Officers of Note The slaughter of the rest could not be great since the Scots fought on foot Hector Boetius saith There were 50000 English kill'd though no other Author will allow of above 10000. The Riches and Plunder taken doubtless was very valuable Among the Prisoners the chief was Humphrey Bohun Earl of Hereford who was after exchanged for King Robert's Queen who had been long time Prisoner in England This Battel was fought at a place called Bannocks Boum near Sterling in Scotland on Midsummer day June 24 1314. and King Robert having been formerly Resident in England Treated the Prisoners with all kind of Civility and sent the Bodies of the Earl of Glocester and Lord Clifford to England to be honourably buried with their Ancestors From this Overthrow King Edward and his Minion Spencer made their Escape to Berwick and came from thence to York where he publickly declared That he was resolved instantly to raise new Forces and to regain the Honour he had lost or else to lose his Life in the Attempt But all his Designs of that kind proved utterly fruitless For soon after the strong and almost impregnable Castle of Berwick was treacherously betrayed into the hands of King Robert by one Peter Spalding whom the King of England had made Governour thereof but he instead of the promised Reward was hanged by the King of Scots for his Treachery After this the King raised another Army against the Scots but received a second great and unhappy Overthrow returning home with much Ignominy and Shame leaving his Subjects in the North distrest and unrelieved from the continual Ravages of their Implacable Enemies the Scots in as lamentable a manner as ever any People were abandoned by an unworthy and careless Prince Of these Disgraces Losses and Troubles we may make this useful Observation That as the Heroick Virtues of excellent Princes are usually crowned with Blessings from Heaven so for the Iniquities and heinous Transgressions of wicked and ungodly Kings both themselves and their Subjects likewise are severely punished by the Almighty before whom Princes must fall as well as common Men except their true and hearty Repentance with amendment of their Lives do procure his Mercy and Favour before it be too late And indeed the Hand of God seem'd now stretcht out against this Kingdom for about this time so great a Pestilence and Mortality happened that the Living were hardly sufficient to bury the Dead This was attended with a dreadful Famine occasioned by immoderate Rains in Harvest which destroyed all the Corn almost throughout England and at length the Dearth grew so terrible that Horse-flesh was counted dainty Victuals The Poor stole fat Dogs to eat them yea some compelled with hunger are their own Children and others stole their Neighbours Children to eat them Thieves in Prison kill'd and tore in pieces those that came newly in and greedily devoured them half alive As for Cows Sheep Goats c. they were generally rotten and corrupted by eating the Grass which was infected as it grew so that those who eat of them were poisoned But neither these woful Visitations nor the innumerable dishonours afflictions and discontents under which the Nation lay had any influence upon the King or his Ministers which gave encouragement to one John Poydras a Tanner's Son at Exeter to attempt a very daring Enterprize he boldly affirming himself to be the truly begotten Son of the last King Edward the first and said That he was changed in his Cradle by his Nurse for a Carter's Child offering divers colourable Allegations to prove the same and among the rest he strongly insisted upon the unprincely and unworthy qualities and actions of the King such as none could be guilty of that was not of a mean sordid and obscure Birth and Descent His confident Claim and daring Assertions quickly affected the Minds of the common People so that many gathered to him and acknowledged him for their King But at length he was apprehended and having confest his Treason he was Condemned and Executed for his folly near Northampton declaring that he did it by the motion of a Familiar Spirit whom he had serv'd three years in the likeness of a Cat. About the same time divers notorious Thieves and Robbers near two hundred in number being all clothed like Grey Friers robbed and murdered and destroyed the Inhabitants of the North-Countrey without regard to Quality Age or Sex but some Forces being sent against them took the greatest part who were deservedly Executed for the same The Nobility and Gentry perceiving that the Distempers and Mischiefs in the Realm did daily increase and grow more dangerous they like good Physicians determined to search narrowly into the Causes of all these Maladies and to provide some Remedy for their Redress before it were too late and the miserable Oppressions and Violencies daily committed in their view made them take courage to inform the King That the two Spencers by their Mismanagement and ill Conduct in the Affairs of State of whom alone the King took Advice and Counsel were the immediate and only occasion of all those Calamities and Misfortunes which now miserably afflicted and disturbed the whole Kingdom and plainly told him That they had so great an Interest in the King's Person and Government that they judged themselves bound in Honour and Conscience to inform his Highness of all such Misdemeanours aâ— were committed by any of his Subjects which tended â—o the subversion of the State and to the disturbing of the Publick Peace thereof They concluded 〈◊〉 â—umbly imploring his Majesty That he would be pleased to dismiss the two Spencers from his Preâ—ence Court and Council for ever 〈◊〉 corrupted â—im with monstrous Vices and render'd him altogeher careless
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
demanded so that governing all things according to his own mind he seemed to Rule more than the King himself In the first Year of King Henry's Reign a difference happened between him and the French King Lewis XII who upon some private quarrel with Pope Julius II. Marched with a great Army into Italy and possest himself of the Rich City of Bolonia King Henry having a great respect for the Pope because he had dispensed with his late Marriage with Queen Katherine of Spain his Brother Arthur's Widow and likewise finding the Pope was unable to defend himself offered to be a Mediatour of Peace between them But the French King flushed with Success refused or neglected his Proposal which so inflamed the vigorous mind of the Young King that he declared to the World As he scorned to be neglected so he abhorred to be idle in this affair and therefore resolved by Invading the Dominions of France to withdraw that King out of the Pope's Territories In pursuance of this couragious resolution he instantly sends Ambassadors to King Lewis requiring him to deliver up to him the peaceable possession of his two Dutchies of Guien and Normandy together with his Ancient Inheritance of Anjon and Mayn which had for many Years been wrongfully detained from his Predecessors and himself The little acquaintance that the French King had with Henry and the contempt of his Youth caused him to return a slighting denial of this his demand whereupon King Henry proclaimed War against him and resolved to Invade his Countrey in Person with a gallant Army and believing no Man more proper to make provision for this great Expedition than his Almoner Woolsey The King committed the sole management thereof to his Wisdom and Policy and he scrupling no command of the King 's undertook this difficult charge and proceeded therein so dexterously that all things were in a very short time provided necessary for this noble Voyage Upon which the King Marched with his Army to Dover and Transporting them to Callice he proceeded in order of Battle to the strong Town of Tymyn which he vigorously assaulted and took In which Siege the Emperor Maximillan with Thirty Noblemen repaired to his Camp and were all inrolled in the King's Pay The King Marched from thence to Tournay which he likewise attack'd with such briskness that it was soon surrendred to him which Bishoprick the King bestowed upon his Almoner Woolsey in recompence for his care and diligence in this Expedition And then the King returned into England where he was welcomed with the News of a great Victory obtained by the Earl of Surrey against James King of Scotland he himself being Slain with divers of his Nobility and 18000 Scots and French who came to his assistance After the King's return the Bishoprick of Lincoln becoming void he bestowed the same upon his Lord Almoner and then the Archbishoprick of York which was likewise vacant Lastly he obtained of the Pope to be made a Cardinal and his Master Henry for his great Zeal to the Holy Chair had the new Title of Defender of the Faith confer'd upon him Being suddenly mounted to such a mighty height and the King's affection daily increasing it made him so extream proud and insolent that he thought none to be his equal and erected Ecclesiastical Courts and had the boldness to summon the Archbishop of Canterbury and all other Bishops and Clergymen to appear before him And as his Authority was superiour to all so he exceeded them all in Covetousness and Ambition so that for many Years the Kingdom groaned under his monstrous Oppressions and violent Depredations Yet his Ambition was so excessive that he still hunted after greater Dominion intermedling with affairs wherein he was not concerned especially in the Chancellorship which then pertained to the Archbishop of Canterbury who being Old and perceiving how great a Favourite Woolsey was with the King he chose rather to deliver up the Seals than have them taken from him Upon this surrender the King delivered them to Woolsey which Favours and Dignities might have satisfied any but the insatiable mind of this Mighty Prelate who was now Cardinal Archbishop Lord Chancellor and Councellor of State But he still aimed to be Higher and to gratifie his humour this occasion offered In 1517. Pope Leo sent Cardinal Campeius as his Legate to King Henry to Solicite him as he had done the Kings of France and Spain and the Princes of Germany to join in a League against the Turks who made horrible ravages into Christendom The subtil Cardinal being sensible that when Campeius arrived he must have the precedency of hiâ— upon all occasions on the account of his Legateship he privately sent two Bishops to Callice as if to attend on him who cunningly insinuated into Campeius that his Journey would be ineffectual unless Woolsey were joined in equal Authority with him in this matter Whereupon Campeius dispatched an account thereof to Rome and in Forty Days received a new Commission whereby Woolsey was made the Pope's Legate and joint Commissioner with him But Woolsey having notice of the ragged condition of his Brother's Retinue he instantly sent a great quantity of Red Cloath to Callice wherewith to Cloath his Servants answerable to the Dignity of so great a Personage When all things were ready Campeius passed the Seas and landed at Dover and in his passage to London by Woolseys Order he was received with Procession by the Clergy and Magistrates through every Town he came to and attended by all the Lords and Gentlemen of Kent Being arrived at Black-heath near Greenwich he was there met by the Duke of Norfolk a great number of Prelates and Clergy and many Persons of Quality The Cardinal was brought into a Tent covered with Cloth of Gold where he shifted himself into his Cardinals Robes Furred with Rich Ermin and then mounting his Mule rid toward London having Eight Mules more laden with his Equipage attending him but these not being sufficiently Magnificent in proud Woolsey's Eyes he therefore sent him twelve more to make the Pageantry more gay through the Streets of London The next day these Twenty Mules were led through the City as if loaden with treasures and other necessaries to the great admiration of the People that the Legate should be possest of such vast Riches but their wonder quickly ceased by an unlucky accident which turned all this vain Pomp into ridicule For in going through Cheapside one of the skittish Jades affrighted with the multitude of Spectators broke the Collar he was led with and running upon the other Mules put them all into such disorder that they threw their Sumpters to the ground which flying open discovered the Cardinal's gallant Wealth some of them being filled with old Cloaths Rags old Boots and Shoes Horshoes and old Iron Others with Marybones Scraps of Meat Roasted Eggs Mouldy Crusts and a great deal of other Trumpery which gave sufficient diversion to the People who shouted and clap'd
in the Morning they fell to rifling the Houses of several Foreigners but four or five hundred of them being seized by the Lord Mayor were committed to Prison and two hundred seventy eight were afterward indicted for High Treason but John Lincoln only was executed the King by the intercession of three Queens Katherine Queen of England and the French Queen and Queen of Scots his Sisters and by the persuasion of Cardinal VVoolsey without whose advice he would do nothing pardoning all the rest who being in number four hundred men and eleven women were brought by the Lord Mayor with Ropes about their Necks into VVestminster Hall where the Cardinal severely reprimanded the Lord Mayor and Aldermen for their negligence in not securing the peace of the City and then aggravated the high crime of the Prisoners who had justly deserved death Upon which they all cried to the King for mercy who thereupon told them That he would pardon them all which he had no sooner pronounced but the Prisoners gave a loud shout all at once throwing up their Halters toward the top of the Hall and so were dismissed and the Gibbets that had been set up in several parts of the City for their Execution were taken down and afterwards this was named The evil May Day About this time Maximilian the Emperor died and Charles V. his Son succeeded him in the Empire of Germany the Kingdom of Spain and the Low Countrys Upon which Cardinal VVoolsey was sent over to Bruges in Flanders to condole with and Congratulate the young Emperor who was then Resident there being furnisht for his Journey in all respects like a Great Prince his Attendants being clothed some in Crimson Velvet and Chains of Gold about their Necks Others in fine Scarlet edged with black Velvet and was received by the Emperor with as much honour as if he had been the King himself having the Great Seal of England with him which was always carried before him being served upon the knee by several English Noblemen and Gentlemen to the admiration of the Germans for his strange Pride and Insolence After which he returned into England in great Triumph being more in favâ—… with the King than before The French King Lewes being weary of the VVar with England and having a great Kindness for the Lady Mary King Henry's Sister sent Ambassadors to Treat of Peace and of a Marriage with her Both which were soon concluded and the Lady was sent to France and Crowned Queen at Paris the French declaring That they thought themselves the happiest People in the VVorld who had so good a King and fair a Queen to reign over them But King Lewes after twelve weeks converse with his most beautiful Lady died and his Brother Francis I. succeeded him who renewed the former amity between the two Kingdoms and for further confirmation of the same desired an enterview between them which the Cardinal persuaded the King to gratifie him in VVhereupon King Henry and his Queen attended by VVoolsey and a great number of Noblemen and Gentlemen sailed over to Callice and in a plain near Guisness a large Palace of Timber was framed where both the Kings met and imbraced each other with much seeming affection and where nothing was wanting as to Justs Turnaments and the other Princely Military Exercises of that age which were proper for such a Royal Assembly Soon after Charles the Emperor coming out of Spain to Sail into the Low Countrys landed at Dover where he was received and entertained by the Cardinal and King Henry went to Canterbury to meet with him and having sumptuously treated him for a few days the Emperor pursued his Voyage to Flanders in forty four men of VVar. A while after some differences happened between the French King and the Emperor to compose which Cardinal VVoolsey with some other Noblemen were sent but they not prevailing King Henry fell from the French King alledging that he had stirred up the Scots to make VVar with him but King Francis laid all the blame on the Cardinal's dissimulation and base treacherous practices However the VVar proceeded becteixt the two Kingdoms between the French King and the Duke of Bourbon insomuch that the Duke fled out of France to the Emperor to save his life the Cardinal having notice of it he contrived that he should be King Henry's General against the French King VVho thereupon raised a great Army against Burbon and drove him into the Town of Pavia in Italy where he was so closely besieged that he could get no Provisions the Cardinal being secretly corrupted by the French King to withhold his pay so that his Souldiers were ready to mutiny against their new General Hereupon finding his case desperate he resolved to attempt an escape and in the dead of the Night he sent part of his Forces to attack that part of the French Camp which was weakest himself marching out on the other side the City The Guards being weak and the Souldiers asleep it caused a very great disturbance among the French who turned their Cannon toward the Assaulters when Burbon falling unexpectedly upon the backs of them drove them from their Cannon which they turned upon themselves slew their Souldiers cut down their Tents and took Francis the French King Prisoner This great success so much incouraged these brave Germans that with their Imperial Ensigns displayed they marched to Florence and thence to Rome and gave three Assaults to the Walls thereof in one day in the last of which the Duke of Burbon was slain however his Army being commanded by the Prince of Orange and some other brave Generals the Popes Palace and the Castle of St. Angelo were taken and the Pope was made Prisoner with twenty four Cardinals that fled thither for security The City of Rome also was plundred where the Souldiers gained a very rich booty so that they were overloaden with valuable Jewels Plate and Money During the Siege the Souldiers would often Cloath a Man like the Pope and set him on Horseback with a Whore behind him who sometimes blest and sometimes curst as he rid along and whom the Souldiers called Antichrist The Cardinal hearing of the misfortune of his Father the Pope endeavoured by all means to induce K. Henry to declare War against the Emperour and to shew himself the Defender of the Church but the King replied ' My Lord I am more disturbed at this unhappy chance than my Tongue can express but whereas you say that I as Defender of the Faith ought to be concerned therein I do assure you my opinion is That this War between the Pope and the Emperor is not a War of Religion or for the Faith but for Temporal Possessions and Dominions and now Pope Clement is in the hands of Souldiers What can I do I can neither assist him with my Person nor my People cannot rescue him but if my Treasure will help him take what you think convenient Whereupon Woolsey took two hundred and
fit to give or no. Are we come to an end of our Countries Liberties Are we secured for time future We are accountable to a Publick Trust and since there hath been a Publick Violation of the Laws by the King's Ministers nothing will satisfie but a Publick Amends and our desire to vindicate the Subject's Right is no more than what is laid down in former Laws Let us be sure that the Subject's Liberties go hand in hand with the supply and not to pass the one till we have good Ground and a Bill for the other Upon the Petition of Right which the House of Lords would have had this addition to ' We present this our Humble Petition to your Majesty with the care not only of preserving our own Liberties but with due regard to leave intire that Sovereign Power wherewith your Majesty is trusted for the Protection Safety and Happiness of the People Sir Tho. Wentworth spake thus ' If we admit of this Addition we shall leave the Subjects worse than we found them and we shall have little thanks for our labour when we come home Let us leave all Power to his Majesty to punish Malefactors but these Laws are not acquainted with Soveraign Power VVe desire no new thing nor do we offer to intrench on his Majesties Prerogative but we may not recede from this Petition either in part or in whole The King hearing of his ability and understanding used all means to gain him to himself by bestowing of Titles of Honour and Places of Trust upon him Creating him Viscount VVentworth Earl of Strafford and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whereby he made him wholly his own In Ireland he was very active in augmenting the King's Revenues and advancing the Royal Authority by all ways within his Power And upon his return into England he advised the King to go into Scotland and settle the Peace of that Kingdom by his Coronation there he having intelligence that if it were defer'd any longer the Scots might perhaps incline to Elect another King Upon the troubles that rose soon after there on the account of imposing the Common Prayer upon them and the King resolving to raise an Army to reduce them but doubting the Parliament would not supply him the Lords told the King that they would ingage their own Credits to forward the business and the Earl of Strafford for the incouragement subscribed 20000 l. other Noblemen following his example conformable to their Estates and some of the Judges contributed largely April 13. 1639 a Parliament being assembled the Earl of Strafford was led into the House of Peers by two Noblemen to give an account of his proceedings in Ireland having there obrained the Grant of four Subsides for maintaing 10000 Foot and 1500 Horse Implicitely hinting thereby that they should propostion their Supplies accordingly But the Parliament doubting that the Irish Forces might indanger Religion and seeming to allow the justness of the Scots Cause and of the good that might be obtained by favouring them in this Conjuncture the King doubting they might vote against the War with the Scots whom he resolved to Treat severely for not complying with his Will and Pleasure he thereupon suddenly Dissolves them to the great discontent of the People who for eleven years past durst scarce mention the name of a Parliament Being hereby disappointed of a supply the King sends to the Citizens of London to lend Money and to all Knights and Gentlemen who held Lands of the Crown to provide Men Horses and Arms for his Assistance The Citizens generally refused pleading poverty and want of Trade but by the assistance of the Gentry an Army was raised with great celerity of which the Earl of Strafford was made Lieutenant General and the King commanded in Chief The Scots having notice of these preparations speedily raised an Army with which they marched into England to make this the Seat of War The Lord Conway doubting they would take in Newcastle drew off 3000 Foot and about 1200 Horse to secure the Pass at Newburn Lesly the Scots General marching forward sent a Trumpeter to the Lord Conway to desire leave to pass to the King with their Petition which being denied they fell upon the English and kill'd 300 of them Which being accounted an unhappy Omen several of the Lords Petitioned the King for a Parliament which was seconded by another from the Scots and a third from the City of London At length the King consented to it having first by advice of the Peers consented to a Treaty with the Scots at Rippon they refusing to send their Commissioners to York alledging That the Lieutenant of Ireland resided there who proclaimed them Rebels in Ireland before the King had done it in England and against whom as a chief Incendiary they intended to complain in the next Parliament For the Parliament meeting Nov. 3. 1640. the Scotch Commissioners coming to London had many private Conferences with some of the House of Commons and it was concluded that the Earl of Strafford should be immediately Impeached at his first coming into the House of Lords which was done accordingly and thereupon he was instantly taken into Custody and in March following he was brought to his Trial in Westminster Hall The King Queen and Prince were present in a private Closet where they could here all but were seen of none And then Mr. Pym Impeached the Earl of twenty eight Articles of High Treason in the name of the Commons of England sharging him That he had Trayterously endeavoured to subvert the fundamental Laws and Government of England and Ireland and to introduce an Arbitrary Tyrannical Government by Trayterously assuming to himself Regal Power over the Laws Liberties Persons Lands and Goods of his Majesties Subjects Had countenanced and encouraged Papists Had maliciously endeavoured to stir up enmity and hostility between the Subjects of England and Scotland Had wilfully betrayed the King's Subjects to death by a dishonourable retreat at Newburn that by the effusion of blood and the dishonour and loss of New-Castle the People of England might be ingaged in a National and Irreconcileable quarrel with the Scots And that to secure himself from being questioned for these and other Trayterous Courses he had laboured to subvert the Rights of Parliament and to incense his Majesty against them by false and malicious slanders and that upon the Dissolution of the last Parliament he did treacherously and wickedly counsel and advise His Majesty to this effect That having tryed the affections of his People he was loose and absolved from all rules of Government and was to do every thing that power would admit Since having tried all ways he was refused so that he would now be acquitted both by God and Man And that he had an Army in Ireland meaning the Army of Papists who were his Dependants which the King might imploy to reduce this Kingdom to his obedience That he falsly maliciously and treacherously declared before some of the
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
assured of their intent he appears to them in the Gallery to prevent any sinister practice against him The Duke of Buckingham with great reverence tells him That he hoped his Highness would pardon him in what he was going to declare in the behalf of the Lord Mayor and Nobility there present and after many circumstances proceeds to discover the cause of their coming That in regard of the urgent necessities of the Common-wealth they all humbly intreated him to take upon him the Government of the Kingdom in his own Right to whom they all tendered their Alleglance At which word the Protector started back as if extreamly surprized and passionately replied ' I little thought good Cousin that you of all Men would have moved me in a matter which of all things in the World I must decline Far be it from me to accept of that which without apparent wrong to the Children of my dear deceased Brother and my own upright Conscience I cannot well approve of And pretending to proceed in this dissembling Harangue the Duke seemed abruptly upon his Knees to stop him ' Since your Grace says he has been pleased to give free liberty to offer to you in the Name of this Great Assembly the free tender of their Obedience to you I must further add That it is unanimously concluded that your late Brother King Edward's Children as being generally known to be Illegitimate shall never be admitted to the Crown of England and therefore if your Grace shall neither regard your self nor us so far as to accept of the same we are fully determined to confer it upon some other of the House of Lancaster that will be more sensible of his own and our good â—hese words seemed to have such powerful effect upon the Protector 's mind that with a pretended change of countenance and feigned perturbation He replied ' Since I perceive the whole Kingdom are resolved by no means to admit my dear Nephews being but Children to Reign over them and since the Right of Succession justly belongs to me as the undoubted Heir of Richard Plantaginet Duke of York my Renowned Father We are contented to condescend to your Importunities and to accept the Regal Government of the Kingdom and will to the utmost of my power endeavour to procure and maintain the quiet and welfare thereof After this he came down from his Gallery and very formally Saluted them all which so pleased the giddy and inconstant Mobile that they presently shouted out Long live King Richard our Dread Soveraign Lord and so every Man departed Having thus Usurped the Soveraignty He was soon after Crowned Creating his Son Edward a Child of Ten years old Prince of Wales advancing several of the Nobility to higher Honours and Dignifying others And to shew his Clemency and good Nature several whom he suspected would have hindered his proceedings and had been therefore Imprisoned were now released but Morton Bishop of Ely who would never consent to the disinheriting King Edward's Children was committed to the custody of the Duke of Buckingham who secured him in his Castle of Brecknock in Wales And now King Richard with his Queen the Lady Ann Youngest Daughter of the Great Earl of Warwick and the Widow of Prince Edward Son to King Henry VI. whom he had newly Married made a progress to Glocester upon pretence of visiting the place of his former Honour But in truth to be absent while he had a special villany to be acted For though he had satisfied his Ambition by depriving his Nephews of their Livelyhood yet he could not remove his fears without taking away their Lives To perpetrate this villany he durst not use the assistance of his old Friend and Favourite the Duke of Buckingham as being sensible of his abhorrence thereof However it was too easie to find wicked Instruments for Money and upon inquiry he heard of two Brothers in his Court Sir Thomas and Sir James Tyrril the first of an honest sober temper but the other of a proud ambitious humour and ready to commit any wickedness for preferment Being told of this Man as he was at the Close-Stool he instantly rose and went to him whom he found more free to undertake the work than he was to imploy him so the bargain was soon made and nothing remained but an opportunity to effect it King Richard had before sent John Green one of his Privadoes to Sir Robert Brackenbury Lieutenant of the Tower to require him to do the deed he being raised by him but the Lieutenant declaring an absolute aversion thereto Good Lord says the King Whom can a Man trust So that finding he must be removed or else it was impossible to effect it he sends him an absolute Order by Sir James Tyrril immediately to deliver up the Keys of the Tower to him Tyrril being now Lieutenant for the time hires two Rascals like himself Giles Forest and James Leighton his Hostler a stout lusty fellow to join with him in the Murder of these Innocent Children who coming into their Chamber in the Night accompanied only with one Black Will or William Slaughter another bloody Villain they suddenly wrapt them up in the Bed-cloaths and keeping down the Pillow and Bed-cloaths with all their strength upon their Mouths they so stifled them that their breath failing they surrendred up their Innocent Souls to Heaven The Murtherers perceiving First by their strugling with the pangs of Death and then by their long lying still that they were thoroughly Dead they laid their Bodies out upon the Bed and then called Sir James to see them who presently caused their Bodies to be buried under the Stairs under a heap of Stones from whence they were afterward removed to a place of Christian Burial by a Priest of Sir Robert Brackenbury who dying soon after it was never known where they were laid which gave occasion to the Imposture in K. Henry VII Reign of Perkin Warbeck who pretended to be Richard Duke of York the Younger Brother that by the compassion of the Murtherers was saved and sent to seek his Fortune Others write that King Richard caused their Bodies to be taken up and being closed in Lead to be put into a Coffin full of holes hooked at the ends with Iron and so thrown into a place called the Black Deep at the Thames mouth to secure them from being ever seen or rising again But Divine Vengeance soon reached the Murtherers Miles Forrest rotting away alive peice meal at St. Martins Le Grand Leighton dyed at Callice detested of all Men and in great misery Sir James Tyrril was afterward Beheaded for Treason at Tower-Hill and King Richard himself after this execrable Fact never was quiet in mind being tormented with fearful Dreams starting out of his Bed and running about the Chamber with great horror as if all the Fiends in Hell had been about him to torture his vexed Soul And here we may observe That Confederacies in Evil seldom continue long but usually
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
consent to the Murther of them However he fell by the same hand that advanced him to be his chief Favourite and Privado And though King Richard now Triumph'd over his Enemies yet in a very short time he lost both his Crown and Life in one day the foundation of his Ruin having been first laid by this unprosperous Conspiracy against him For a while after he was Slain in a Battle at Bosworth in Leicester shire by Henry Earl of Richmond who succeeded him by the name of King Henry the Seventh Remarks upon the Life Actions and Fall of Thomas Woolsey Cardinal of York Favourite to King Henry VIII THE Magnanimity of Spirit which appeared in the Life and Actions of this Great Cardinal doth clearly evince that Persons of Mean Birth may be indued with as generous and lofty Sentiments and be possessors of as much Grandure of Soul as those of Noble Descent which occasioned some to alledge that he must needs be the By-blow of some Prince and not the Issue of such mean Parents as his were generally reckoned For all Historians relate that he was the Son of an honest poor Butcher at Ipswich in Suffolk who in his Childhood being very apt to learn his Father with the assistance of Friends sent him to a Grammar School from whence he in a short time went to the University of Oxford where he was so great a Proficient that at Fifteen Years Old he was made Batchellour of Arts and therefore called the Boy Batchellour He was after made Fellow of Magdalen College and Master of Magdalen School and had the Education of the Marquess of Dorset's Sons committed to him by whose care they so well 〈…〉 in Learning that the Marquess bestowed 〈…〉 in his gift upon this Ingenious School-Maste◠〈…〉 left his Fellowship and came to reside in his Living Where he had not been long when one Sir James Pawlet upon some displeasure set him in the Stocks which affront was not forgotten nor forgiven by Woolsey Who when by the mighty favour of Fortune he came to be Lord Chancellour of England he sent for Sir James and after having sharply reproved him enjoined him not to stir out of the Middle-Temple without Special License from himself which he could not obtain in Six Year time After the Death of the Marquess of Dorset from whom he expected higher preferment his towring thoughts aimed at some greater imployment and since he found he must now make his own Fortune he resolved to take all opportunities to advance himself To this end he became acquainted with one Sir John Naphant an Ancient Noble Knight formerly Treasurer of Callice under King Henry VII to whom he was Chaplain and by his Wisdom and Discretion gained such favour with his Master that he committed all the care and charge of his Office to his Chaplain At length being discharged of his Imployment for his great Age he returned into England but retained so much kindness for Woolsey that by his Interest at Court he procured him to be made one of the Chaplains to King Henry VIII Having thus cast Anchor in the Port of Preferment he rose amain for he had opportunity hereby to be dayly in the King's Eye by reason of his daily attendance and saying Mass before him in his Closet Neither did he squander away his leisure time but would commonly attend those Great Men who were in most favour and power with the King and among others Doctor Fox Lord Thomas Lovell Master of the Wards and Constable of the Tower who perceiving him to be a Man of a very acute wit thought 〈◊〉 a fit Instrument to be imployed in matters of 〈…〉 And King Henry having occasion to send an Ambassadour to Maximilian Emperour of Germany These two Grave Councellours recommended His Chaplain Woolsey to him as proper for so Honourable an Office The King instantly sent for him and discoursing with him about Matters of State he found him endued with so much Eloquence Learning Judgment and Modesty that he caused his Commission and Instructions to be drawn up with all speed Which having received he took his leave of the King at Richmond at Four a Clock in the Afternoon and in Three Hours arrived at Gravesend from thence he Rid Post to Dover and going a board the Passage-boat he arrived next Day before Noon at Callice and the same Night he made such haste that he came to the Emperour's Court at Brussels in Flanders Who having notice of this arrival of the King of England's Ambassadour out of great Affection to his Master gave him Audience the same Evening The Ambassadour having delivered his Message and Credentials and humbly desiring his speedy dismission the Emperour readily granted all his Master's Requests and fully dispatched him the next Day Hereupon he Rides back that Night Post to Callice being attended by several Noblemen by the Emperour's Order and came thither in the Morning before the Gates were opened and the Pacquet Boat being ready to go off he arrived at Dover by Eleven at Noon and the same Night came Post to Richmond and the next Morning presented himself to the King at his coming out of his Bed Chamber to Mass who checked him for not being upon his Journey May it please your Highness said he I have been with the Emperour already and I hope have dispatched my Embassy to your Graces Satisfaction The King admired at his Expedition Asking him whether he met with the Messenger sent after him before he thought him gone from London with further Instructions of weighty Consequence Yes said Woolsey I met with him Yesterday by the way and though I did know his Message yet presuming upon your Highness goodness and judging those Matters very necessary to be done I made bold to exceed my Commission and dispatch them for which I humbly beg your Majesties Pardon The King much pleased herewith replied We not only pardon you but give you also our Royal Thanks both for your discreet management and great Expedition Soon after the King bestowed on him the Deanery of Lincoln being one of the greatest Promotions under the degree of a Bishop and in a short time made him his Lord Almoner wherein he behaved himself with so much discretion that he was advanced to be one of the Lords of the Privy Council and King Henry bestowed on him Bridewell in Fleetstreet one of his Royal Houses for his Residence and Family and he was observed by the People to be a Rising Favourite For the King was Young and much given to pleasure and his Ancient Councellours advising to be sometimes present in Council to consult about the weighty Affairs of the Government his Lord Almoner on the contrary dissuaded him from imbarasing himself in the Troubles and Intreagues of State assuring him that if he would allow him sufficient Authority he would ease him of those Fatigues and manage all Affairs to his content This Advice was quickly received by the Youthful Prince who gave him what Power he
forty thousand pound out of the Exchequer which he carried over to Callice and from thence in 80 Waggons and a Guard of 1200 Horse 60 Mules and Sumpter Horses and attended with a great number of Lords and Gentlemen he conveyed this great Sum to the French Court at Amiens Having before his going hence sent out Commissions to all the Bishops of England to Sing the Litany after this manner Holy Mary pray for our Holy Pope Clement Holy Holy Peter pray for Pope Clement c. And thus was the Cardinal disappointed in advising the King to declare the Duke of Bourbon his General who proceeded farther then he could ever have imagined The Cardinals ambition being unlimited he during the Imprisonment of the Pope sent to the Emperour to use his interest to advance him to the Papacy but receiving a disobliging answer he grew thereupon so furious that he sent the Emperor word That if he would not endeavour his advancement he would make such a rustling among the Christian Princes as there had not been the like for an hundred years before though it should cost him the whole Kingdom of England The Emperour answering this insolent Letter in Print bid the Cardinal have a care of undertaking what might both ruin himself and the Kingdom Hereupon the Cardinal sent private Letters to Clarentius King at Arms to join with the French Herald and proclaim defiance to the Emperour Who suspecting that it was done without the King's knowledge ordered his Ambassadour at London to complain thereof The King much wondered to hear of it and the Cardinal confidently affirmed that he knew nothing of the matter but that it was the fault of Clarenâ—ius who had done it at the request of the French Herald for which he swore he should lose his Head when he came to Callice Clarentius having intelligence hereof instantly Imbark'd at Bullen and coming to Greenwich was introduced by some of his Friends into the King's Presence before the Cardinal knew of it and produced the Cardinals Letters Commission and Instructions for what he had done At which the King was so surprized that he stood some time silent and then said ' O Lord Jesus He that I trusted most hath deceived me and given a false account of my Affairs Well Clarentius for the future I shall take care whom I believe for I now find I have been informed of a great many things as true which I now find to be utterly false And from that time the King withdrew his favour and confidence from him Some time before this the Cardinal sent Letters to Doctor Stephen Gardiner the King's Orator at Rome and afterward Bishop of Winchester urging him to use all manner of means for advancing him to the Papal Dignity which he said nothing could induce him to aspire to but the vehement desire he had to restore and advance the Authority of the Church wherein no Man should be more Zealous and indefatigable than himself He likewise ingaged the French King and King Henry to write to the Cardinals on his behalf that he might succeed after the Death of Pope Clement and vast Sums of Money were wasted in this business but all the Cardinals ambitious thoughts proved abortive and as he already began to stagger in the King's favour so in a short time he fell into his high displeasure For these extravagant expences drained the King's Treasury so low that the Cardinal was compell'd to contrive new ways for filling them again To which end he without the King's knowledge and by his own Authority Issued out Commissions under the Great Seal to every County in England for taking an account of every Man's Estate and he that was worth Fifty Pound was charged to pay Four Shillings in the Pound All that were worth above Twenty and under Fifty Pound Two Shillings in the Pound and those not worth Twenty Pound to pay Twelve pence to be paid either in Money or Plate making himself chief Commissioner for raising the same in and about London The Clergy were likewise charged at four Shillings in the Pound for their Livings These unjust Proceedings were grievous both to the Clergy and People who generally refused to comply alledging That these Commissions were contrary to Law and against the Liberty of the Subject and that it was not possible for those who were worth more yet to raise the half of what they were charged with either in Plate or ready Money and therefore they Petitioned the Cardinal to intercede with the King for remitting it To whom he haughtily replied That he would rather have his Tongue pluck'd out of his Mouth with Pincers then move any such thing and that he was resolved to make them pay the utmost Farthing and the Lord Viscount Lisle one of the Commissioners in Hampshire sending a Letter to the Cardinal that he doubted the raising this Money would occasion an Insurrection he swore deeply that his not following the Instructions given him should cost him his Head But however the discontents of the People were so general that the Cardinal doubting the Event thought fit to recal those Commissions and to issue others whereby he demanded a sixth part of every Mans Estate according to the aforesaid Rates which he did not doubt but they would have complied with but on the contrary they renewed their complaints and cursed the Tyrannical Cardinal for his Arbitrary Proceedings which at length reach'd the King's Ear. who being told that all Places were filled with Clamours Discontents and Mutinies he openly protested that these Commissions were issued out without his Knowledge or Consent and to prevent farther Mischief he by Proclamation vacated them declaring that though his necessities were never so urgent yet he would never force his Subjects to pay any Tax without their own consent in Parliament but that his wants being extream at this time if they would of their own accord by way of Benevolence supply his present exigencies he should accept it as an infallible Proof of their Love and Duty toward their Soveraign The Cardinal perceiving himself obliquely struck at by this Proclamation as the principal Author of these heavy Pressures and publick Grievances he Politickly sent for the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Common Council of London before him to whom he declared That perceiving the former Demands to be grievous to the People he had upon his Knees for the Love and Kindness he bore toward them perswaded the King to annul those Commissions and wholly to relie upon the free Gift of his People and though the King might have justly demanded the former Summs as a due Debt yet he freely released them of the same not doubting but they would equal if not exceed the Rates formerly required of them the Lord Mayor and Aldermen assembled their respective Wards and acquainted them with the King's desire but the Citizens absolutely refused to give any thing alledging that they had pay'd enough already and were able to do no more adding many opprobrious
it not a marvellous thing to think into what great Debt this great Cardinal hath brought you to all your Subjects How so quoth the King Why says she there is not a man in your whole Kingdom worth an hundred pounds but he hath made you a Debtor to him Meaning the Loan which the Cardinal had borrowed for the King some years before and which he procured the House of Commons who were most the King's Servants to discharge without repaying a farthing to the great loss of the People Nay added she how many violencies and oppressions is he guilty of to your great dishonour and disgrace in divers parts of the Realm so that if my Lord of Norfolk my Lord of Suffolk my own Father or any other Nobleman had done but half so much wrong as he they well deserved to lose their Heads Then I perceive said the King that you are no friend of my Lord Cardinal 's Why Sir quoth she I have no cause no more have any others that love the King Neither has your Grace any reason to be kind to him considering his indirect and unlawful actions The King said no more but went away The Council and the Nobility perceiving that the King's Heart was estranged from Woolsey they resolved if possible utterly to depress him for he was generally hated for his excessive Pride insulting Tyranny grievous oppressions monstrous injustice unsatiable covetousness abominable debauchery malicious and cruel revenge and likewise for his secret Intreagues with the Pope and Church of Rome whereby the King's Authority and Prerogative Royal in all things touching the Church and Clergy were made void Hereupon they concluded him guilty of a Praemunire and that consequently he had forfeited all his Promotions Spiritual and Temporal with all the rest of his Estate and likewise his Liberty to the King These crimes the Nobility drew into Articles which were ingrossed and signed with their hands and then delivered to the King Which were as followeth I. That by subtil and indirect means he had procured himself without the King's consent to be made a Legate whereby he deprived the Bishops and Clergy of England of all jurisdiction in Ecclesiastical Affairs II. That in all his Letters to Foreign Princes he used the insolent stile of Ego Rex meus I and my King as if the King were his Inferior or Servant III. That he unchristianly and abominably slandered the Church of England to the Pope affirming That they were Reprobates and without Faith and that there was an absolute necessity for him to be made a Legate to reduce them to the true belief IV. That without the King's consent he carried the Great Seal of England to Flanders only for vain Glory and to the great damage of the Subjects of England V. That he being filthily powdered with the French Pox by reason of his excessive Letchery and Debauched Life did oft presume to discourse with and cast his unwholesome Breath into the King's Face VI. That he caused the Cardinals Hat to be put on the King's Coin VII That to obtain his Dignities he had conveyed out of the Realm 240000 l. at one time and incredible sums at other times And to inrich the K. again had of his own accord sent out Commissions for exacting infinite sums contrary to Law which raised hatred and insurrections among the People against the King These with many other Articles being charged against VVoolsey he with his own Hand freely Subscribed to them confessing all of them to be true throwing himself upon the King's mercy hoping he would have forgiven him but afterward finding that he disposed of his Offices and part of his Estate he secretly procured a Bull from the Pope to Curse and Excommunicate the King unless he would restore to him all his Dignities and Lands who likewise declared that the King himself nor no other authority on Earth but the Pope alone had power to punish any Clergyman for any crime or offence whatsoever This Bull with the Letters sent him by several Cardinals to incourage him not to faint or be discouraged assuring him of his Restoration and that the King should be certainly crost in the business of his Marriage so animated the Cardinal that he did not doubt of his re-advancement if not with yet without the King's consent so that he made great preparations for his in stalment into his Archbishoprick of York which he designed to solemnize with extraordinary Pomp and Magnificence to which purpose he had erected a stately seat of an extraordinary height in that Cathedral resembling the Throne of the King and writ Letters to the Nobility and Gentry of the North wherein he kindly invited them to be present at his Instalment for which he had made extraordinary provision of all manner of Dainties These mighty preparations being made without acquainting the King therewith and seeming to be in contempt of him who had been so kind to allow him the Bishopricks of York and VVinchester though justly forfeited to the Crown caused the King to put a stop to his aspiring purposes so that he sent order to the Earl of Northumberland to Arrest him and deliver him to the Earl of Shrewsbury Lord High Steward of the Houshold The Earl accordingly went to his Mannor of Caywood about seven Miles from York and coming into his Chamber told him he arrested him for High Treason in the King's name The Cardinal was so astonisht that for some time he stood speechless at length recovering himself he said You have no power to Arrest me who am both a Cardinal and a Legate and also a Peer of the See Apostolick of Rome and ought not to be Arrested by any Temporal Power for I am Subject to none and none I will obey Well said the Earl here is the King's Commission and therefore I charge you to submit I remember when I was sworn Warden of the Marches you your self told me that with my staff only I might Arrest any man under the degree of a King and now I am stronger for I also have a Commission for what I have done The Cardinal at length recollecting himself Well my Lord said he I am contented to submit but though by negligence I fell into the danger of a Praemunire whereby I forfeited all my Lands and Goods to the Law yet my Person was under the King's Protection and I was pardoned that offence therefore I much wonder I should be now Arrested especially considering I am a Member of the Sacred College at Rome on whom no Temporal Man ought to lay hands Well I find the King wants good Counsellors about him He was then kept close in one of his Chambers and Dr. Austin his Physician was at the same time Arrested for High Treason and sent to the Tower The Cardinal's Goods were all seized and his Servants discharged And he himself was so dejected that he continually lamented his hard fortune with such a mean and unbecoming forrow as such haughty Spirits are
were obliged by Act of Parliament to pay the King one hundred eighteen thousand eight hundred and forty Pounds Cromwel after this came into great Favour with the King who made him a Knight Master of his Jewel House and a Privy Councellour and soon after Knight of the Garter Earl of Essex Lord Privy Seal and Lord Great Chamberlain of England and lastly he was constituted Vicegerent in all Ecclesiastical Affairs by Virtue whereof both in Parliament and elsewhere he had the precedence of the Archbishop of Canterbury This Authority he used upon all occasions for the extirpating Romish Superstition and Idolatry to which he always was an utter Enemy and for which there was a fair occasion offered For the King being inraged against the Pope for refusing to annul his Marriage with Queen Katherine though he had the Judgement of nineteen Universities on his side he resolved to have the matter determined by the Clergy of his own Kingdom and having summoned a Convocation they after mature debate declared the Marriage null and void from the beginning and confirmed the Kings second Marriage with Queen Ann of Bullen which he had consummated some time before And a Parliament being called several Acts were passed against the Popes Supremacy whereby all Clergymen that should make any appeal to Rome were declared guilty of a Praemunire and that the King should have power to visit examine and reform all the Monasteries and Nunneries of the Kingdom and should give Licenses for electing Bishops to all Vacancies without the Popes consent or approbation and declaring the King Supream Head on earth of the Church of England after which a stop was put to the Persecutions which the Protestant Ministers had suffered many of whom were cruelly burnt by the Popish Clergy for want of stronger Arguments to convince them The Nobility and Gentry were generally well satisfied with this change but the Body of the People who were more under the Power of the Priests were by them possest with great fears of a change of Religion being told that the King had now joined himself with Hereticks and that Queen Ann Cranmer now Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Cromwel favoured them For the Monks and Friers saw themselves left at the King's Mercy the Trads of new Saints was now at an end they had also some Intimations that Cromwel was forming a Project for suppressing Monasteries so that in Confessions and Discourses they infused into the People a dislike of the Kings Proceedings which prevail'd so far upon them as they afterward broke out into formidable Insurrections and Rebellions in divers Parts of the Kingdom Cromwel by his Vicegerency had precedence of all next the Royal Family and as the King came in the Popes Room so the Vicegerents Authority was in all Points the same that the Legates had in the time of Popery the first Act of Cromwel's after his being Vicar General was with a Delegation of the Kings Supremacy to him to visit all the Monasteries and Churches in England of which the Bishops and Abbots were so jealous that of their own accord before any Law was made about it they swore to maintain the Kings Supremacy however the Visitation went on throughout England and in many places monstrous disorders were found as the Sin of Sodomy in some barbarous Murthers and Cruelties in others Tools for false Coining in others and great Factions and Divisions in many The Report that was made contained many other abominable Crimes not fit to be named hereupon Cromwel procured the Parliament to pass an Act that thirty Persons Spiritual and Temporal such as his Majesty should impower under his Great Seal should have Authority to make and establish Laws and Ordinances Ecclesiastical which should be obligatory upon all the Subjects of this Realm and likewise that all Religious Houses either Monasteries Priories or Nunneries whose revenues did not exceed two hundred pounds a Year should be supprest and dissolved and all their Possessions and Lands setled on the Crown for ever And the Reasons alledged for doing this were because these Houses were erected upon gross abuses and subsisted by them the Foundation of all their Wealth being founded upon the belief of Purgatory and of the Virtue that was in Masses to redeem Souls out of it and that these eased the Torments of departed Souls and at last delivered them out of them so it past among all for a piece of Piety to Parents and of care for their own Souls and Families to endow those Houses with some Lands upon Condition they should have Masses said for them the number of which were usually according to the value of the Gift this was like to have drawn the whole Wealth of the Nation into those Houses had not some restraint been put to that Superstition they also perswaded the People that the Saints interceded for them and would kindly accept offerings made at their Shrines and the greater they were the more earnestly would they use their Interest for them The credulous Vulgar measuring the Court of Heaven by those on Earth believed that Presents might be very prevalent there so that every new Saint must have new Gifts presented him Likewise some Images were believed to have an extraordinary Virtue in them and Pilgrimages to them were much extolled and there was great Contention among the Monasteries every one magnifying their one Saints Images and Reliques above others the Wealth that these Follies brought in occasioned great Corruptions so that the Monks and Friers were very debaucht and very Ignorant And the begging Friers under the appearance of Poverty course Diet and Cloathing gained much esteem and became almost the only Preachers and Confessort in the World but not being able to conceal their Vices they were now fallen under much Scandal and a general Disesteem and the King designing to create new Bishopricks thought it necessary in Order thereto to make use of some of their Revenues and that the best way to bring them into his hands would be to expose their vices that so they might quite lose the esteem they yet had with some and it would be the less dangerous to suppress them Cromwel was imploy'd in this Reforming Work and for removing all Images and Superstitious Pictures out of the Churches many of the Abbots surrendred their Monasteries and in most Houses the Visitors made the Monks sign a Confession of their former Vices and Disorders in which they acknowledged their Idleness Gluttony and Sensuality for which the Pit of Hell was ready to swallow them up others acknowledged that they were sensible that the manner of their former pretended Religion consisting only in some Dumb Ceremonies whereby they were blindly led without any Knowledge of God's Laws and being exempted from the Authority of their own Bishops and wholly subjecting themselves to a Forreign Power who took no care to reform their abuses it had occasioned great disorders among them but the most perfect way of Life revealed by Christ and
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
it is forbidden to a Priest but I never heard before that it was prohibited to a Prince and soon after he Married the Lady Elizabeth Grey Upon this Pretext the Protector would found the Bastardy of King Edward's Children That he had been formerly Contracted to the Lady Elizabeth Lucy though the Lady her self upon Examination acknowledged she had a Child by him but denied there was any Contract between them However upon this ground Doctor Shaw took for his Text Bastâ—… Plants shall take no deep root and in his Sermon 〈…〉 King Edward was never Lawfully Married to 〈◊〉 Queen but was before God Husband to the Lady Lucy and so his Children were Bastards adding that those in the Family had great jealousie that neither King Edward IV. himself nor his Brother the Duke of Clarence were begotten by his Father they much resembling other Persons in Court that were well known but that the Noble Prince Richard Lord Protector had the the very Lineaments Complexion and Countenance as well as the Courage and Magnanimity of the Renowned Richard Duke of York his Father Now it was contrived That at the uttering these words the Protector should have come in and appeared to the People that the Preacher's words and his presence thus corresponding it might be thought he had spoke them by the special Inspiration of the Holy Ghost But this trick failed for either by the Protector 's delay in coming or the Doctor 's haste in Preaching he had proceeded for some time upon other matters At length observing the Protector was coming he without order or reason diverted from the matter he was upon and began to repeat the same words again This is that Noble Prince the Father 's own Picture his own Face and the express Image of his Father's Person In the mean time the Protector with the Duke of Buckingham pressed through the crowd to the Pulpit and there sate to hear the Sermon But the People were so far from crying out God save King Richard as was expected That they cried shame on the Preacher for abusing his Calling to such vile purposes The Tuesday following the Duke of Buckingham with divers Lords and Knights came to Guildhall London and the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Commons being their assembled the Duke of Buckingham made a long Speech to them to this effect ' That the Lord Protector and the rest of the noble Peers were come to acquaint the worthy Citizens with a matter of great consequence and which they did not doubt would be very pleasing and acceptable to them A matter they had long in vain desired and which was â—bsolutely necessary to their welfare and happiness even the future security of their Lives Wives Children and Estates which had been all indangered by the ill government of the late King Edward IV. who by tricks and shams endangered their Lives and by â—…reasonable Taxes Pillings and Pollings to maintain his Riot and Prodigality wasted their Estates and what people he respected most appeared by his favours to Shore's Wife who in his Reign was more sought unto and managed greater affairs by her influence over his vain mind than the greatest Peer in England whereby he raised the hatred and ill will of the People both against himself and his Children He then reminded them of the Doctor 's Sermon the last Sunday who being a Preacher of God's Word had by his God's Authority declared the just Right and Title of the Protector to the Crown of this Realm which he doubted not but they would regard considering the honesty and wisdom of the Preacher beyond what he could say to them he having so clearly proved that King Edward was before Married to the Lady Elizabeth Lucy and that therefore his Children by the Lady Gray cannot be Legitimate so that for want of lawful Issue the Lord Richard had an undoubted Right and Title to the Crown by whose Renowned Virtues and Valour he did not doubt but the Kingdom would enjoy all happiness and be freed from that woe which the Wise Man pronounces that Nation to be subject too whose King is a Child All which the Lords of the Council having taken into consideration had thereupon agreed to accept of him for their King ' And now said the Duke I am come to acquaint you with it and to require your consents which I do not doubt but for your own benefit you will readily give both in electing so worthy a Prince and thereby also obliging his Majesty who will be kind to those who are most zealous for his advancement to the Throne Having ended his long Oration the People stood mute as admiring at the motion but none cried King Richard King Richard as was expected At which the Duke being amazed supposing the Lord Mayor had before informed and prepared the Common Hall he whispered to him to know the meaning of this sullen silence The Lord Mayor answered It may be they did not hear or at least understand what he had said Hereupon the Duke repeated the same words more audibly and earnestly but this obstinate silence still continued Then the Duke desired that the Recorder who usually spoke to the People might move them in it But the Recorder named Fitz Williams being an honest man and newly come to his Office repeated the Duke's words only without adding any of his own So that this nothing prevailed upon their resolved sullenness At last the Duke told them plainly That all the Nobility and Commons of the Realm were determined to chuse the Protector for their King as the true and undoubted Heir and that it was only out of respect and kindness to the Citizens that they had acquainted them with it desiring them freely to speak whether they would join with them in this Election or No. Upon this some of the Duke's Servants and others planted on purpose at the lower end of the Hall threw up their Caps and shouted aloud King Richard King Richard while the Citizens stood murmuring and inquiring among themselves what the meaning of it was However the Duke took the advantage of it as of an unanimous consent A goodly cry quoth he Giving them all thanks for their universal approbation promising he would acquaint the Protector with their great kindness toward him requiring the Lord Mayor and Citizens to meet the Protector the next Morning at Baynard's Castle Being met accordingly the Duke of Buckingham sends up word to the Lord Protector that the Lord Mayor and his Bretheren were come to present a supplication to him in a matter of great consequence The Protector though pre-acquainted with the matter yet pretended to admire what the business should be and though he did suspect no ill from any thing which the Duke of Buckingham should offer yet desired some hint of what it might be It was Answered That the business was to be communicated only to himself in person and therefore they humbly desired to be admitted into his presence Hereupon as if not well
their hands at this ridiculous sight crying Behold the Cardinal 's Rich Treasure The Muliteers were much ashamed at this discovery however quietly gathering up these hungry relicks they peaceably marched on Cardinal Campeius was conducted through the City to St. Pauls where having bestowed his blessing upon the People he was then brought to Cardinal Woolsey's Palace where he lodged having his Golden Crosses Pillars Guilt Axe and Mace carried before him And now as Cardinal Woolsey had the Power so he maintained the Port and Grandeur of a Prince of which we have this account He had in his Hall three long Tables to which belonged three several Officers a Steward who was always a Priest a Treasurer a Knight and a Comptroller an Esq He had also in the Hall a Confessor a Doctor three Marshalls three Ushers two Almoners and two Grooms In the Hall Kitchin two Clarks a Comptroller a Surveyor over the Dresser a Clerk of the Spicery two Cooks twelve Labourers and Children In the Kitchin a Master Cook Clothed in Velvet or Sattin with a Gold Chain two Under Cooks six Labourers four Scullery-men two Yeomen of the Pastry and two Past-layers under him In the Larder a Yeoman and a Groom In the Buttery two Yeomen and two Grooms In the Eury as many In the Cellar three Yeomen three Pages In the Chandery two Yeomen In the Wayfary two Yeomen In the Wardrobe of the Beds the Master and twenty Persons besides In the Landrey a Yeoman a Groom and thirteen Pages two Yeomen Purveyors and a Groom Purveyor In the Bake-house two Yeomen two Grooms In the Woodyard a Yeoman and a Groom In the Barn a Yeoman Two Yeomen and two Grooms Porters at the Gate A Yeoman of his Bing A Master of his Horse A Clerk and Yeomen of the Stables A Farrier and Yeoman of the Stirrup A Malter and sixteen Grooms every one keeping four Geldings His Chappel was furnished with a vast number of costly Ornaments and Rich Jewels Forty four Copes gloriously imbroidered with Gold and Silver Silver Candlesticks and other necessary Utensils In which were the following Officers a Dean a Sub-Dean a Repeater of the Quire a Gospellor an Epistoler of the Singing Priests a Master of the Children In the Vestry a Yeoman and two Grooms beside other Retainers that appeared at principal Feasts He had likewise two Cross-bearers and two Pillar-bearers in the Great Chamber and in his Privy-Chamber the Chief Chamberlain Vice Chamberlain Gentleman Usher twelve Waiters six Gentlemen Waiters Also nine or ten Lords who had two or three Men to wait on them and the Earl of Darby five Then he had Gentlemen Cup-bearers Carvers and forty Sewers of the Great and Privy Chamber six Yeomen Ushers eight Grooms twelve Doctors and Chaplains daily Guests besides his own a Clerk of his Closet two Secretaries two Clerks of his Signet four Councellours Learned in the Law As he was Lord Chancellour of England he had a Riding Clerk a Clerk of the Crown of the Hamper of the Check four Footmen with gallant Liveries a Herald at Arms a Serjeant at Arms a Phisician an Apothecary four Minstrels a Keeper of his Tents when upon a Journey and an Armourer Also in his House a Surveyor of York a Clark of the Green Cloth All these attended daily At Dinner he had every day eight Tables furnisht for his Chamberlains and Gentlemen Officers half of whom were young Lords who had two or three Persons to wait on them and all the rest had one These were all his inrolled Servants besides Retainers and other Persons that came about business who daily Dined in his Hall which according to the List amounted to eight hundred Persons So that he was as bountiful an House-keeper as any in that Age and much superior to any since When he went to Westminster Hall to hear Causes as Lord Chancellor his Magnificence was as conspicuous as in other Offices He was clothed in red like a Cardinal his upper Garment all of Scarlet or else fine Crimson Taffety or Crimson Satrin in Grain A black Tippet of Sables about his Neck and an Orange in his hand the Meat taken out and filled with Confections to prevent the ill scents from the Crouds of People Being mounted his two Cross bearers and his two Pillar bearers all in fine Scarlet upon tall Horses rid before him then one with the Purse and Great Seal of England Another with his Cardinals Cap then a train of Gentlemen with every one a Pole-ax next the Cardinal himself attended on each side by four Footmen In the same State he used to go every Sunday to the Court at Greenwich in a very rich Barge and furnisht with Yeomen all round where when he arrived he was attended by the Lord Treasurer Comptroller and other principal Officers of the King's House who conveyed him in State into the King's Chamber In this grandeur he continued for fourteen or fifteen years managing all affairs of State to whom all foreign Ambassadors made their application and all Addresses and Petitions were offered And to secure this Soveraign Power which he had gained over the King's affections he contrived all kind of pleasures and divertisements suitable to his juvenile temper as Masking Dancing Banquetting Young Ladies and variety of other Pastimes I saw the King saith my Author come one time suddenly to the Cardinals Palace at Westminster now White-Hall which he had newly built with a dozen Masquers attired like Shepherds in cloth of Gold and Silver imbroidered with six Flambeux And others in Vizors clothed all in Sattin The King came thither privately by Water and arriving at the Stairs several great Guns were discharged which much surprized the Noblemen Gentlemen and Ladys a great number of whom the Cardinal at that time was treating at a sumptuous Supper he himself sitting at the upper end of the Table under a Cloth of State a Gentleman and Lady being placed together through all the Tables The Cardinal at the great noise as if ignorant of the matter desired the Lord Chamberlain to inquire the meaning thereof Who looking out of the Window into the Thames returned again and told him that he believed there were some Noblemen and Strangers coming to the Landing â—tairs My Lord said the Cardinal I intreat you who can speak French to go and receive them and conduct them to our Banquet desiring them to sit down and be merry with us The Lord Chamberlain went into the Hall And with twenty Torches and a great number of Drums and Trumpets brought them into the Dining Room who by two together went up to the Cardinal's Chair and saluted him To whom the Lord Chamberlain said My Lord Cardinal these Gentlemen being Strangers and not speaking English desire me to inform your Grace that they hearing of your Triumphant and Magnificent Banquet this Night and of such a number of handsome Ladies as were assembled thereto they presumed upon your Graces goodness to intrude into your Palace to take a
so weighty a business he made a visit to Mr. Cromwell and giving him an account of the affair he was very importunate with him to accompany him Cromwell knew very well the many Intreagues of the Roman Court and the unreasonable expences they must be at among those Spiritual Cormorants however having some knowledge of the Italian Tongue and being not yet well setled in Religion he was at length prevailed with to adventure with him When they arrived at Rome Cromwell finding it very difficult to get his Pardons dispatcht and being unwilling to spend much time or money he at length perceived that nothing was to be done without making a Present of some Rarity to the Pope and hearing that he was much delighted with delicate new found Dishes he prepared several fine Dishes of Jelly of divers colours according to the English fashion which were not as yet known at Rome Cromwell observing his time when the Pope was newly returned to his Pallace from Hunting he with his English Companions approached him with their Presents which they introduced with singing in English the three Mans Song as it is called The Pope wondring at the Song and understanding they were Englishmen and came not empty handed ordered them to be called in Cromwell making low obeysance presented his jolly junkets being such as he said none but Kings and Princes in England use to Eat desiring his Holiness to accept of them from him and his Companions who were poor Suitors at his Court and had presented them as Novelties proper only for his Table Pope Julius observing the strangeness of the Dishes bid a Cardinal taste them which he liked so well and the Pope after him that inquiring what their business was and then requiring them to give him an account how these Jellies were made he without delay Sealed both the Great and Lesser Pardons and fully dispatcht them All this while Cromwell had no great sense of Religion but was wild youthful and without regard to any thing that was serious as he often declared to Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury being very diligent with Jeffery Chambers in publishing the Pardons of Boston in all the Churches as he travelled and serving sometime under the Duke of Burbon at the Siege of Rome Thus he continued for some years till at length by learning the New Testament of Erasmus by Heart in his going to and from Rome he began to come to a better understanding About this time Cardinal Woolsey began to grow very great in England ruling all under or rather over the King so that Persons of the briskest Wits and noted Abilities addrest themselves to him for imployments Among whom Thomas Cromwell was by him prefer'd to be his Chancellor and at the same time Sir Thomas More and Stephen Gardiner were likewise taken into the Cardinals Family being all three almost of one Age one standing in Learning not much unequal in Wit and their advancements arising from the same foundation though afterward their Studies Dispositions and Fortune were greatly different The Cardinal designing to erect a famous Colledge in Oxford called then Frideswide now Christ Church obtained leave from the Pope to suppress several small Monasteries and Priories in divers parts of the Realm and to convert the Revenues thereof to his own use He committed the charge of this business to Cromwell who used such industry and expedition therein as was displeasing to some Great Persons both of the Nobility and Clergy But afterward the Cardinal who had risen suddenly began to fall as fast first from his Chancellorship which was bestowed on Sir Thomas More and then falling into a Praemunire his Family was dissolved Cromwel being thereby out of Office endeavoured to be retained in the Kings Service and Sir Christopher Hales Master of the Rolls though an earnest Papist yet had so great a kindness for him that he recommended him to the King as a Man most fit to be imployed by him but Cromwel had been so misrepresented by the Popish Clergy for his forwardness in defacing their Monasteries and Altars that the King abhorr'd the very name of him but the Lord Russel Earl of Bedford being present whose Life Cromwel had saved at Bononia in Italy where he was secretly imploy'd in the King's Affairs and was in great danger to be taken had he not been secured by Cromwel's Policy who not forgetting his Benefactor gave him an account of the whole matter and since His Majesty had now to do with the Pope his great Enemy he was of Opinion there was not a fitter Instrument for the King's purpose than he and told him wherein The King hereupon was willing to speak with him of which Cromwel having Private notice he got in readiness the Oath which the English Bishops took to the Pope at their Consecration and being called in after paying his Duty to the King answered to all Points demanded of him whereby he made it plainly appear that his Royal Authority was diminisht within his own Kingdom by the Pope and his Clergy who having sworn Allegiance to the King were afterward dispensed with for the same and sworn anew to the Pope so that he was but half King and they but half Subjects in his own Realm which was derogatory to his Crown and absolutely contrary to the Common Law of England and that his Majesty might therefore justly make himself rich with their forfeited Estates if he pleased to take the present occasion The King was very Attentive to his Discourse especially the last part of it and demanded whether he would justifie what he said He affirmed he would producing the Oath they had taken to the Pope which the King having read he took his Ring off his Finger and first admitting him into his Service by the Advice of his Council sent him therewith to the Convocation then sitting Cromwel coming boldly with the King's Signet into the Convocation House and placing himself among the Bishops Warham being Archbishop of Canterbury declared to them the Authority of the King and the Obedience due from Subjects especially from Bishops and Clergymen to the Laws of the Land which are necessarily provided for the Benefit and quiet of the Commonwealth which Laws notwithstanding they had all highly transgressed to the great Derogation of the King 's Royal Dignity and thereby brought themselves into a Praemunire not only in consenting to the Power Legantine of the late Cardinal Woolsey but also by Swearing to the Pope contrary to their Allegiance to their Soveraign Lord the King whereby they had forfeited all their Spiritual and Temporal Estates real or personal The Bishops were amazed at first to hear this bold Charge and began to deny it but Cromwell shewing them the very Copy of their Oath taken to the Pope at their Consecration made the matter so plain that they began to shrink and desired time to advise about it but however before they could get clear of this Praemunire the two Provinces of Canterbury and York
by the Bearward who shewed it to a Priest he presently perceived it was a Refutation of the six Articles and told the Bearward that the Author would certainly be hanged The Secretary coming to demand his Book which he said was the Archbishops and offering him a Crown to Drink for saving it The Fellow being an obstinate Papist replied he would not part with it for five hundred Crowns The Secretary acquainting Cromwell with the matter he sent for the Bearward who guessing at the business brought the Book with intent to have delivered it to Stephen Gardiner or Sir Anthony Brown both inveterate Enemies to Protestancy Cromwell seeing him snatcht the Book from him and giving it to the Secretary Here says he I know this is your hand take it with you and Sirrah says he to the Fellow you deserve to be punisht for detaining a Privy Counsellor's Book when demanded you being fitter to meddle with Bears than matters of State And so Cranmer was preserved from the danger of Fire which at this time threatned him by Water The blow at Cromwel was suddenly given and being in disgrace he had the common Lot of discarded Favourites to be forsaken by his Friends and insulted over by his Enemies of whom Gardiner was the most implacable only Cranmer stuck to him and in a Letter to the King on his behalf he assured him He had always found that the Lord Cromwel ever loved his Majesty above all things and that he had served him with such Fidelity and Success that he was of the Opinion no King of England had ever a more faithful Minister wishing the King might find a Councellor who was as willing and able to do him Service as he was But the King being freed from his Marriage and having made Katherine Howard his Queen in a few Weeks after the Duke of Norfolk had now an opportunity to be revenged on him she being Daughter to the Lord Edmund Howard Brother to the Duke So that from henceforth the King looked discontentedly upon his former intimate Favourite and inward Counsellor as being told that he was the cause of all his late Troubles Those who had long desired his Downfal soon perceiving this Alteration drew up a long Bill of Attainder against him in the House of Lords which was read twice in one day and sent to the Commons who after ten days debate passed it whereby he was condemned for High Treason and Heresie by that unjust way of Attainder without coming to an Answer wherein it was set forth That though the King had raised him from a low Estate to high Dignities yet it appeared by many Witnesses that were Persons of Honour that he was the most corrupt Traytor that ever was known That joining with the last Queen Ann he had favoured the Lutherans above measure and so strongly supported them against the Catholick Prelates and Priests of this Kingdom that when he was told by some of the Clergy that they doubted not but the King would shortly curb their Boldness and Presumption the said Lord Cromwel did reply That he was sure of the King and that about two Years before he had said the Preaching of Barnes and other Hereticks was good and that he would not turn though the King did turn but if the King turned he would fight in Person against him and all that turned and drawing out his Dagger he wisht he might be pierced to the Heart with it if he did not do it And that if he lived a Year or two longer it should not be in the King's Power to hinder it That he had set many at liberty who were condemned or suspected of Misprision of Treason That he had given Licenses for Transporting out of the Kingdom things prohibited by Proclamation had granted Pasports without searching and had dispersed many erroneous Books contrary to the belief of the Sacrament And had said that every man might administer it as well as the Priest That he had Licensed several Preachers suspected of Heresie and had discharged many that were committed on that account That he had many Hereticks about him and had discouraged Informers He was likewise charged with Bribery and Oppression and that when he heard some Lords were consulting about him he threatned that he would raise great disturbances in England Many of these things were charged upon him in general but no particulars produced And the words about the King being sworn to have been spoken two years before it was strange that they should be so long concealed considering the powerful Adversaries which he had As to the Licenses it was thought he had the King's Order for what he did in it Bribery and Oppression seem to be added only to render him odious who always appeared of a quite contrary temper And therefore Authors think that the chief cause of the King's Indignation was that having discovered his affection for the Lady Katherine Howard to him Cromwell used some words in defence of Queen Ann of Cleve and in dislike of the Lady Katherine which so much displeased the King that he thereupon delivered him up into the hands of his Enemies who thirsted for his Blood and fearing that he would clear himself from all their Calumnies by a Legal Trial they Tried Judged and Condemned him by a way which seems both against Nature and Reason and Justice not being suffered to appear or speak a word in his own defence When he was Prisoner in the Tower several Commissioners were sent thither to examine him who found him in a very composed sedate frame bearing his affliction with a Patient and Christian Constancy of Mind not at all ruffled with the suddenness of his Fall for he foresaw the Tempest before it came and prepared for the same And being sensible of the vigilance power and malice of his adversaries he called his Servants before him and told them that he found himself upon a very uncertain foundation and that a storm was approaching and therefore charged them that they should manage all their affairs with Uprightness and Justice that so he might not be blamed or suffer by any misdemeanors of theirs He entertained the Commissioners with much gravity and freedom and answered all their Interrogatories with great moderation and discretion being as well informed in all matters Ecclesiastical or Civil as themselves He once desired one of these Commissioners supposed to be Stephen Gardiner his most implacable Enemy to carry a Letter from him to the King who replied That he would carry no Letter to the King from a Traytor Then said the Lord Cromwell Pray deliver a Message to him by word of Mouth This he consented to provided it were not against his Allegiance ' Well my Lords said he to the rest pray be witnesses of what this Lord hath promised Pray then present my duty to the King and tell him That when he hath tried and proved you so throughly as I have done he will find you the falsest man that ever he had
Insurrection And the Lord Grey Lord Cobham and Sir Walter Rawleigh professed Enemies to Essex and no mean instruments in his destruction fell into a Treason of a like depth with his in the Reign of K. James I. Gray and Cobham dying miserably in Prison and Rawleigh being beheaded at Tower-hill Remarks on the Life Actions and Fatal Fall of George Villers Duke of Buckingham Favourite to King James I. and King Charles I. THIS Favourite rose upon the Fall of the E. of Somerset upon whom K. James had heaped many honours advancing him from a Knight to Viscount Rochester Privy Counsellor E. of Somerset and L. Chamberlain But his Glory was soon overclouded for having married the Countess of Essex who had been divorâ—ed from her Husband the Son of the preceding Favourite that unfortunate Knight Sir Tho. Overbury for speaking against the Match was by their procurement poysoned in the Tower 〈◊〉 which the Earl and Countess were both Condemned but Pardoned and banisht the Court. K. James who could not live without a bosom Favourite cast his Eye upon George Villers a young Gentleman of a fine shape second Son to Sir George Villers of Brooksby in Leicestershire with whom the K. was so taken finding him a man of quick understanding and fit to make a Courtier that he advanced him by degrees in honour next to himself making him first a Knight then Gentleman of his Bedchamber Viscount Master of the Horse Lord Admiral Earl Marquess and lastly D. of Buekingham And now lying in the King's Bosom every man paid Tribute to his Smiles and he managed all affairs putting men in or out of Office according to his pleasure Yet his Mother who was a Papist having a great hand in all business and a great power over her Son directed him in all matters of Profit and Concernment and was addressed to first in order to procure any favour from him Which caused Gondemar the Spanish Ambassador to write merrily to his Master ' That there was never more hope of England's Conversion to Rome than now for there were more Prayers and Oblations offered here to the Mother than to the Son He Married the Earl of Rutlands Daughter the greatest Match in the Kingdom who pretended to be a zealous Protestant but his Mother and the Jesuits reduced her to the Popish Religion so that between a Mother and a Wife Buckingham himself grew very indifferent being neither Papist nor Protestant K. James affected the name of a Peace-maker and designing the general quiet of Europe and the reconciling all parties he professed that if the Papists would renounce their K. killing Doctrine and some other gross errors he was willing to meet them half way And being zealous also to maintain the height of Regal Majesty after the death of Prince Henry he resolved to match his Son Prince Charles with some Princess of most high Descent though of a different Religion And there having been a Treaty of Marriage between P. Henry and a Daughter of Spain wherein the Spaniards deluded him with their accustomed gravity and formality he now set his thoughts upon a Match with France which the Spanish King doubting would be to his disadvantage he made new Overtures for a Marriage with his Daughter to Sir John Digby the King's Ambassador there though with as little sincerity as before And at length Articles were agreed on and signed by K. James whereby the Children of this Marriage were not to be constrained to be Protestants nor to lose their right of succession if they were Catholicks The Pope's Dispensation was to be procured the new Queen was to have Popish Chaplains Priests Confessors and all other Privileges The K. was mightily pleased with this Alliance but the People as much displeased who had not forgot the intended cruelty of 1588. and dreaded the consequence of this Popish Contract But the K. not thinking that the business went on with that speed he desired sends the Prince and Buckingham to Spain to consummate the Marriage where he is received with all manner of magnificence by that King and universal joy of that People in hope the Prince would turn Catholick they generally discoursing That he came thither on purpose to become a Christian Neither were any endeavours wanting to seduce him Pope Gregory writing a smooth Letter to him Yea condescended to write another to Buckingham his Guide and Familiar to incline him to the Romish Religion The Prince returned an answer to the Pope's Letter and among other expressions says ' Your Holines's conjecture of our desire to contract an Alliance and Marriage with a Catholick Family and Princess is agreeable both to your Wisdâ—m and Charity for we would never desire so vehemently to be joined in a strict and indissoluble Bond with any Mortal whatsoever whose Religion we hated For it is very certain I shall never be so extreamly affectionate to any thing in the World as to endeavour Alliance with a Prince that hath the same apprehension of the True Religion with my self Therefore I intreat your Holiness to believe that I have been always far from incouraging Novelties or to be a Partizan of any Faction against the Catholick Apostolick Roman Religion 〈…〉 on the contrary I have sought all occasions to take away â—…picion that might rest upon me And I will imploy my self for the time to come to have but One Religion and one Faith seeing that we all believe in one Jesus Christ Having resolved in my self to spare nothing that I have in this World and to suffer all manner of discommodities even to the hazard of my Estate and Life for a thing so pleasing to God I pray God to give your Holiness a blessed Health here and his Glory after so much Travel which yor Holiness takes within his Church After a while the Match was concluded in England and the Articles sworn to by K. James and some private ones much in favour of the Papists And the King was so transported with the assâ—rance of it that he was heard to say ' Now all the Devils in Hell cannot hinder it But a stander by said to one of his Attendants ' That there was never a Devil now left in Hell for they were all gone into Spain to make up the Match And indeed the Spirit of the Nation was so averse to this Union that they boldly vented their Sentiments both with their Tongues and â—ens And among others Abbot Archbishop of Canterbury writ a very warm Letter to the K. against a Toleration of Popery which was one of the Articles agreed to The Treaty was likewise Signed and Sealed by the K. of Spain and the Prince Who also obliged himself That as often as the Infanta pleased he would hearken to such Catholick Divines as she should appoint to debate matters of Religion with him but would never dissuade her from her own Religion and would take care to abrogate all the Laws made against Catholicks in three years But after all this Match
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