will for it would turn highly to the dishonour of God and to the displeasure of the People if the priviledge of that Holy place should be now broken which had so many Years been inviolably preserved which so many good Kings and Princes had granted and confirmed and which Holy Ground was 500 Years ago by St. Peter in his own Person accompanied with great numbers of Angels by Night so miraculously hallowed and Dedicated to God And for proof whereof they have St. Peter's Copy yet in Westminster Abbey to show and from that time to this there was never any King so indevout and prophane that durst violate that Sacred place nor any Bishop so Holy that durst as to presume to Consecrate it and therefore quoth the Archbishop God forbid that any Man for any Earthly thing should presume to break the Priviledges and Liberties of that Holy Sanctuary and I hope in God I shall not need to fear it for my utmost endeavours shall not be wanting The other Bishops and Clergy in the Council were of the same opinion that no violence ought by any means to be used toward the Queen or that Sacred Place The Archbishop added But my Honourable Lords If the Mothers fears or Womanish dread render my message ineffectual I hope I shall receive no prejudice in your judgments thereby Womanish fear nay Womanish frowardness replied the Duke of Buckingham for I dare take it upon my Soul she very well knows there is no just cause for her to fear any danger can accrue thereby either to her Son or her self for surely no Man will make War with Women I would to God that some Men of her Family were Women too and then we should all be quickly quiet Yet are none of them the less respected because they are her Relations but by reason of their ill actions but if we had no kindness for her or her Kindred yet no Man can believe that we have any hatred or evil design against the King's Noble Brother who is a Kin to us all for whose Honour and welfare if his Mother had so much regard as we of the Nobility have She would not suffer him any longer to be without his Brother's society nor give occasion to Men to think that we have any surreptitious intentions toward him For though she be a Wise Princess yet I hope she does not so presume upon her own Wit as to prefer it before the Wisdom of this Illustrious Assembly nor suspect any unfair dealing from us whom she knows to be devoted to the Service both of the K. and his Brother Her refusal must therefore be the effect of her pevishness and preversness and not of her real fears unless she dreads her own shadow Besides if upon pretended doubts she is not willing to part with him we have the greater reason to take him out of her hands lest to prevent us she should convey him out of the Kingdom and it would much reflect upon the discretion of this Honourable Council to suffer the King's Brother to be carried out of the Realm before our Faces I am therefore clearly for taking him from her not that I would have Sanctuary violated but as I would not break the Priviledges they have so long enjoyed so if they were now to be given I would not be one that should consent to confirm them I will not deny but it may be necessary that those Men whom unfortunate accidents and not their own ill Husbandry have reduced to Poverty should have a place of security from their cruel Creditors Likewise If their be a Contention about the Rights of Princes to the Crown whereby sometimes one Party and soon after another are declared Traytors as it has lately happened I judge it convenient that there be some places of refuge for both But for Thieves and especially wilful Murtherers whom God Almighty commands should be taken from the Altar and put to Death I know no reason that they should have any protection For if either necessity self defence or misfortune brings a Man into danger he is either acquitted by the Law or the King out of his Clemency has power to grant him a Pardon Now let us consider how few Sanctuary men are necessitated to go thither and how great a number their own flagitious crimes drive into them What a rabble of Thieves Murtherers Traytors and other heinous Offenders shelter themselves from Justice in two Sanctuarys only The one in the Elbow of the City as I may call it I mean this at Westminster the other in the very bowels of it St. Martins Le Grand and I dare avow that if we compare the mischiefs that are occasioned by them with the benefits received from them we must conclude that we were better without both This I affirm though they were not abused as they are and having so long continued bad there is now little hope of redress since no Man dares presume to talk of reforming them and Men thereby seeming to make God and St. Peter the Patrons of Profligate and Vitious People For how many live prodigally and run in debt upon the incouragement of securing themselves in these places How many Rich Villains carry in thither Poor Mens Goods and leave them and their Families to Starve for want of their just dues How many Women run away from their Husbands with their Plate and Money and are there protected to spend it upon their Gallants How many Robbers bring Stolen Goods thither and live bravely upon them there they contrive new Robberies going out at Night to commit them and having Stolen Plundred and Murdered they return thither again with their prey as if such places gave them not only security to perpetrate these Villanies but a Licence to continue them But much of this mischief might be prevented if good Men would in earnest put their hands to it which might tend much to the honour of God and yet be no breach of Priviledge For since former Popes and Princes who were more Politick than Pious have granted them these long immunities We and others since out of fear have confirmed them we must be content to suffer them and in God's name let them stand in force as far as reason will permit but not in such force as to hinder us from taking this Young Prince out of Prison and restoring him to his Liberty Honour and Estate A Sanctuary is to preserve those Men or Women that are in danger of the Law abroad but not to wrong nor cheat any body by going in thither Now this Prince is in peril by no Law his Youth and Innocence free him from all suspicion of danger as well as his near Alliance to the King therefore he neither needs nor can have any benefit by Sanctuary and I dare say is very angry with those that keep him there But suppose the Duke is willing so long to continue there yet it is my opinion that he may be taken from thence against his will as
Words against the Cardinal who having notice of it sent for the Lord Mayor and Aldermen again saying he would examine them upon Oath what they were worth which they also denied to have done and one of their Counsellours pleaded that the demanding or paying of any Benevolence was contrary to the Statute made in the I. Year of King Richard III. What says the Cardinal do you quote a Law made by an Usurper and Murtherer the Counsellour replied the Act was made by the Lords and Commons of England and not by him alone Well my Lord Mayor and Aldermen said the Cardinal pray tell me what you will give My Lord pray excuse me said the Lord Mayor for if I should offer any thing I do not know but it may cost me my Life ' What for your kindness to your King that 's very strange said the Cardinal why then I am afraid you will constrain the King to force you to your Duty well my Lord pray go home and tell your Neighbours the King will be very kind to them if they do but shew their good will to him in some competent summ next day the Lord Mayor called a Common Council where it was unanimously Voted that the Meeting of the Aldermen in their respective Wards in order to the demanding a Benevolence of the Subject was contrary to Law and therefore not to be regarded two or three of the Common Council moved that every Man should go to the Cardinal and give him privately what they thought fit but this so inraged the rest that they required that these Men should be for ever banisht and excluded from sitting in the Common Council and so the Court broke up in disorder and every Man went to his own home Neither had this Project better success in other places of this Realm the People in Kent Essex Suffolk Norfolk c. assembling three or four thousand in a Company and openly declaring against the Benevolence and the Duke of Norfolk coming to them and demanding what was the cause of their Insurrection and who was their Captain was answered that Poverty was both their Cause and Captain the great Taxes they had already paid having so ruined their Trades that they had not Bread for their Families nor Work to imploy them in desiring the Duke to mediate with the King on their behalf The King having daily Intelligence of these disorders thought it dangerous to proceed further in this matter and therefore summoned a great Council to York Place now Whitehall where he again made a solemn Protestation That he never designed to demand any thing of his People which might tend to the breach of the Laws and therefore desired to know by whose Order those Commissions were issued out to demand the Sixth Part of every Man's Estate the Cardinal answered That it was done by the consent of the whole Council and by the Advice of the Judges for the supply of the King's wants who said it might lawfully be demanded and that he took God to witness he never designed to oppress the Subject but like a true and just Counsellour contrived how to inrich the King and some Clergy men had told him that it might be done by the Law of God because Joseph caused Pharaoh King of Egypt to take the Fifth Part of every Man's Goods in that Land ' But however said he since I find every Man is willing to free himself of this burden I am content to take upon me the scandal of it and bear the ill Will of the Multitude for my good Will toward the King and to clear you my Lords and Counsellours but the Eternal God knoweth all Well said the King I have been informed that my Realm was never so rich as now and that no trouble would have risen upon this demand since every Man would freely pay it at the first request but now I find all contrary at which all held their Peace Come said the King I 'll have no more of these disturbances pray send Letters to every County in England to recal the Benevolence I will freely pardon what is past but pray let me hear no more of it The Lords on their Knees returned the King thanks and Letters were sent accordingly wherein somewhat to excuse the Cardinal it was inserted That the Lords Judges and others of the Privy Council first contrived that demand and that the Cardinal only concurred with them in it but however the Common People had a mortal Aversion to him for this and many other illegal Practices and his Interest with the King seemed likewise daily to lessen and to disoblige the Court he insinuated into the King that his Family was much out of Order and thereupon undertook to reform the same by removing several Officers and Servants from their Places and putting ill Men in their Rooms He likewise presented his Mannor and Palace of Hampton-Court to the King a little to sweeten him in recompence of which the King gave him leave to keep his Court in his Palace at Richmond wherein King Henry VIIth did so extreamly delight which yet made him the more abhorr'd both by the Courtiers and Common People who reproachfully said Who would ever have thought to have seen a Butcher's Dog lye in the Palace of Richmond After this the Marriage of the King with Queen Katherine his Brother Arthur's Widow began to be questioned and some Authors say the scruple about it was first put into the King's Head by Cardinal Woolsey who being naturally revengeful and never forgiving any Injury moved it partly to be avenged on the Emperour whose Sister Queen Katherine was for not making him Pope and partly because the Queen had often secretly and modestly reproved him for his Tyranny Covetousness Oppression Pride and Lasciviousness King Henry seemed very much disturbed at this Motion and desired that the Legality of his Marriage might be debated among the Learned pretending that he had no design in it but only to satisfie his Conscience and to establish the Succession of the Crown in a rightful Heir which could not be done if Queen Katherine were not his lawful Wise upon this account a religious Sorrow seemed to seize upon him 〈◊〉 he refrained from the Queen's Bed till by a Ju 〈…〉 Sentence this grand Affair might be settled the Cardinal to advance his Reputation higher with the King procured a Commission from the Pope to himself and Cardinal Campeius that before them as Supream Judges this Question might be debated by legal Processes and Proceedings and determined according to the Laws of God and Man the King declared that he intended nothing but Justice in the Case and therefore allowed the Queen to chuse what Counsellours she pleased to defend her Cause who accordingly nominated Warham Archbishop of Canterbury West Bishop of Ely Fisher Bishop of Rochester the Bishop of St. Asaph and some others Cardinal Campeius being again arrived in England the two Legates caused a stately Court to be erected in Black Fryers
K. of Almain the K. of Sicily the K. of Navar and K. Edward the Bridegroom and four Queens Mary Q. of France Margaret the Q. Mother of England her Daughter the Q. of Navar and Isabel the Bride Q. of England There were likewise present a great number of Persons of Honour and Quality and among them the beloved Peirce Gavestone who was entertained with the tenderest affection imaginable by K. Edward but the Nobility had such a detestation of him that they resolved to have hinder'd the Coronation of the King and Queen which soon after followed had not King Edward solemnly promised to give them a reasonable satisfaction in the matter yet was he so far from it that none appeare◠more great in Attendants Bravery and all other grandeur than Gavestone and as a particular mark of Esteem the King ordered him to carry Sr. Edward's Crown before him at that Solemnity This still increased the Abhorrence of the Lords against him who having the power and favour of the King on his side slighted all their Attempts and Designs and resolved to provoke them to the utmost by abusing miscalling and scoffing at the chief Peers of the Land naming Thomas Earl of Lancaster the Stage player Aymer de Valence Earl of Pembroke Joseph the Jew because he wa◠〈…〉 pale and Guy Earl of Warwick the 〈…〉 of Ardern all whom at a Tur 〈…〉 a most contemptible manner 〈…〉 took little notice of these base Af 〈…〉 rather enconraged his Insolence by heap 〈…〉 daily upon him and Gavestone to establish himself was still contriving those Diversions which he knew to be pleasing to his vain Mind so that the Court was filled with Fidlers Players Jesters Flatterers and all such pernicious People as by sensualities and riotous practices might withdraw him from attempting any Noble Enterprizes in performance of his Father's Last Will or for the good Government of his People and led him into all kind of Debauchery and Dissoluteness while Gavestone himself revelled in all outward felicity and wasted the Treasure of the Kingdom in Riot and Folly or else converted it to his private use and likewise transported great Summs beyond the Sea that he might have somewhat to trust to if Fortune should happen to turn her back upon him and force him to a second Banishment And indeed he had so absolutely and intirely ingrossed the King's Favour that he had thereby frequent opportunities of inriching himself for all Addresses to the King for obtaining Offices Honours Pardons or any other Advantages passed through his hands who always espoused their business not according to Justice but by the value of the Presents made him and it is scarce credible to relate with what Prodigality the King squandred away his Money upon him yea so prodigious was his kindness toward him that he bestowed on him the best Jewels Gifts or Rarities that he had nay the Imperial Crown 〈◊〉 Victorious Father and a very fine Table and Stands all of pure Gold with many other rich Ornaments which Gavestone privately conveyed away to the great damage of the Kingdom Nay he treated him by the name of Brother and publickly declared that if it were in his power he would make him his Successor to the Crown The Lords who had hitherto past by the private Affronts and Injuries they had daily received in hope that the King might in time have seen his Errours which they by their daily Admonitions endeavoured to make him sensible of finding that he still persisted in the same Courses which grew now intolerable resolved more plainly to remonstrate the matter to him telling him That to their great grief they perceived that his Dotage and ill-placed Affection was unlimited toward Gavestone a Person of a wicked and infamous Life whose Father was a Traytor to the French King and was hanged for the same That his Mother was burnt for a Witch and that he himself was banisht for being a Confederate with her in her cursed Witchcrafts and that they did verily believe he had bewitcht the King or else certainly he could never retain such an unreasonable Passion for so profligate a Wretch That they much doubted he would abuse his Greatness so far as to bring Foreigners into the Land to defend him in his lawless and destructive Courses to the utter Ruine of the Laws Liberties and Estates of his Subjects They therefore humbly desire him to hearken to the Advice of his Peers which would be both for his own Honour and the Welfare of his People and particularly 1. That he would confirm and maintain those Antient Laws and Customs which were contained in the Charters of the Kings his Predecessors 2. That he would not force any man to part with his goods without payment of the full value thereof 3. That whatever Money Lands Jewels or other valuable things had been given away or alienated from the Crown since his Father's death might be restored 4. That he would remember the Oath he had taken to his Father before his death not to recall Peirce Gaveston from his Banishment And for prosecuting the War against Scotland and that he would rectifie all that had hitherto been amiss that so his Enemies might have no cause to rejoice nor his Friends be any longer troubled and disquieted Lastly That no man should be restrained by the King 's Writ from prosecuting his Suits in any Court of Justice for defending his Right and Property but that Justice might be impartially administred throughout the Kingdom both to Rich and Poor according to the antient and approved Constitutions Customs and Laws of England The King taking Counsel of Peirce Gavestone and his Complices commanded the Lord Chancellor to tell the Lords that he would give them satisfaction to their demands at the next Session of Parliament The Barons were no sooner gone out of London to their own homes but the King ordered the Gates of City to be shut and the Streets to be chained and and strict Watch to be kept then with some Forces both English and Foreigners marched in company of Gaveston to Wallingford Castle and as his Conscience did not trouble him for the breach of his Oath so their dislike increased his love to Gavesion for none but Gaveston must do all and nothing was acceptable nor grateful but what came from his hand However the King's lavishness having quite emptied his Exchequer he was compelled to comply with the Parliament at their next Meeting in London so far as to pass an Act for Gaveston's perpetual Banishment and for securing the Liberty of the Subject and the due execution of Justice which the King confirmed by a solemn Oath and for which they gratified him with a subsidy of the twentieth part of their Estates In pursuance of this Decree Gaveston is sent by the King into Ireland himself accompanying him in Person as far as Bristol and giving him a Commission to be Chief Governor of that Kingdom bestowing likewise on him no less then thirty
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
and their Commission being read the Cryer called Henry King of England who answered Here Then he cried Katherine Queen of England come into the Court the Queen made no answer but rising out of her Chair came to the King and kneeling at his Feet she in broken English spake thus to him ' Sir I beseech you do me Justice and right and take some Pity upon me I am a Poor Woman and a stranger Born out of your Dominions having here no indifferent Council and less Assurance of Friendship Alas Sir how have I offended you that you thus intend to shorten my Days I take God to witness I have been to you a True and Loyal Wife ever conformable to your Will and never contradicting your desires but have always complied and submitted to your Pleasure in all things without the least grudging or discontent For your sake I have loved all Men whom you loved whether they were my Friends or Enemies I have been your Wife these twenty Years by whom you have had many Children and when I first came to your Bed God and your own Conscience knows that I was a Virgin If you can prove any dishonesty by me whereby you may lawfully put me from you I am willing to leave you with shame and rebuke but if I am guilty of none I beseech you set me have Justice at your hands The King your Father was a man of excellent VVisdom in his time and accounted a second Solomon and the King of Spain Ferdinand my Father was reckoned one of the wisest Princes that has reigned there for many years And doubtless they had both as wise Counsellors as any are at this day And who could never have imagined when you and I were Married that such new devises should have been invented as to compel me to submit to the decrees of this Court from whom I may expect to receive wrong and may be condemned for not answering but not to have Right administred to me since I can have no indifferent Council assigned me to plead my Cause but must make choice of your own Subjects who know your Mind and dare not contradict your VVill. Therefore I most humbly beseech you spare till I know how my Friends in Spain will advise me But if you will not you may do your pleasure Then making a low Curtesie to the King she departed out of the Court Upon which the King bid the Crier call her back which he did but she refused to return saying It is no indifferent Court to me I will not go back VVhen she was gone the King declared to the Court that she had been a loyal loving and obedient Wife to him and was endued with all the good qualities and virtues of a Woman either of her Dignity or of any meaner Estate After which Cardinal Woolsey said ' I humbly beseech your Highness to declare to this audience whether I have been the first and chief Mover of this matter to your Highness or not for I am much suspected of all men The King declared he was not but rather advised the contrary but that the special cause that moved him in this matter was a certain scruple of Conscience upon some words spoken by the Bishop of Bayon the French Ambassador upon a debate about a Marriage between the Lady Mary his only Daughter and the Duke of Orleans second Son to the French King and the Bishop desiring time to consult his Master whether the Lady Mary were Legitimate as being born of his Brother Arthur's Wife This discourse so affected him considering he had no Heirs Male they all dying as soon as born that he judged God Almighty was displeased at this match Hereupon considering the state of the Realm and dispairing to have any more Children by his Queen whereby the Kingdom might be endangered for want of a Prince to succeed him and to quiet his own mind which was tossed with the Waves of troublesome doubts he desired to have the opinion of the Learned Prelates and Pastors of the Realm whether by the Laws of God and the Land he might take another Wife if his first Marriage were not Legal by which he might have more Issue Affirming in the presence of God that he had no dislike to the Person nor Age of the Queen with whom he could be content to live if it were the Will of God Nor out of carnal Concupiscence or desire of change but only for the setling of his Conscience After this the Court sate daily where many subtile and learned Arguments and Disputations touching the lawfulness or insufficiency of the Marriage were handled but the Queen Appealing to the Court of Rome for deciding this Question from which she could not be dissuaded The King expected a final â—efinitive Sentence on his behalf the two Legates declined to give it which so iâ—raged the King who now perceived their dissimulation and that they purposely contrived delays that from this time he had a mortal hatred against his false Favourite Woolsey whom from a contemptible Birth and Estate he had prefer'd to be Abbot of St. Albans his Almoner a Counsellor of State Bishop of Winchester Durham Lincoln Bath Worcester Hereford Tournay Archbishop of York an Ambassador to Kings and Princes his Chancellor and a Cardinal who by contriving this business thereby to render himself Gracious with the King and to be revenged of his Enemies brought ruin and destruction at length upon himself For notwithstanding the King excused him from being the Author of this scruple of Conscience yet Woolsey seemed at first very forward in promoting it and to incline to have it determined according to the King's Mind but afterward perceiving the fatal consequences which might ensue thereupon so as at length to shake the Infallibility of the Papal Chair if the Case were decided according to the Scriptures he declined proceeding therein For if the Marriage was unlawful then the former dispensation of Pope Julius was null and void and if it was lawful then the Judgment of so many learned Universities as had given their Opinion to the contrary was false In this difficulty his Collegue Campeius went out of the Kingdom before the day of the final determination of the matter leaving Woolsey to bear all the weight of the King's Indignation Another cause of the Cardinal 's opposing the Divorce was that the King during the Ventilation of this Knotty Case had fallen in love with Mrs. Ann Bullen who he after Married one of the Maids of Honour to Queen Katherine and Daughter to Sir Tho. Bullen afterward Earl of Wiltshire a Lady no way favourable to his Pontifical Grandeur nor to the Superstitions of the Church of Rome So that when the King discovered his great affection for her the Cardinal upon his Knees used many arguments to dissuade him from it Which the Lady had notice of and therefore when the King once entertained him at a great Feast She being present among other discourses said ' Sir is
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
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
of the Judges and the Judgment of the Parliament thereupon ought much to sway with him considering the terrible consequences of an inraged multitude and that no other expedient could be found out to appease the People But the main satisfaction of the King's Conscience it is said proceeded from a Letter sent to him by the Earl to this purpose ' Sir to set your Majesties Conscience at Liberty I do most humbly beseech you for preventing of such mischiefâ— as may happen by your refusal to pass the Bill by this means to remove I cannot say this accursed but I confess this unfortunate thing out of the way toward that blessed agreement which I trust God shall forever establish betwixt you and your Subjects Sir my consent herein shall more acquit you to God than all the World can do besides c. The next day the King Signed a Commission to several Lords to pass the Bill which was done accordingly But being unwilling to part with his indeared Favourite he sent a Letter by the Prince of Wales to the House of Lords that mercy might be extended to him as to Life but that he might fulfil the natural course of his Days in close Imprisonment But the Lords sent twelve of their number to the King to satisfie him that it could noâ— be done with safety neither to himself nor his Queen If it cannot says he then Fiat Justitia Let Justice be done May 12. 1641. The Earl was conveyed from the Tower to the Scaffold erected on the Hill with a sufficient Guard and Archbishop Usher to assist him where it is said he designed to have made a Speech already prepared to this effect ' People of my Native Country I wish my own or your Charity had made me fit to call you Friends It should appear by your concourse and gazing Aspects that I am now the only prodigious Meteor toward which you direct your wandring Eyes I would to God my Blood would cure your sad hearts of all your Grievances Though every drop thereof were a Soul on which a Life depended I could tender it with as much alacrity as some nay most of you are come to triumph in my final expiration In regard I have been by you my Native Country whose wisdom and justice in respect of the generality of it is no way questionable voted to this untimely end I have not one syllable to say in justification of my self or those actions for which I suffer Only in excuse of both give me leave to say my too much zeal to do my Master service made me abuse his Royal authority and howsoever I have been most unfortunate yet at all times a Favourite in the prosecution of my Places and Offices as I shall answer at the dreadful Tribunal whereunto your just anger hath before nature doomed me my intents were fairer than my actions but God knows the overgreatness of my Spirits severity in my Government the Witchcraft of Authority and Flattery of many to sharpen it are but ill Interpreters of my intentions which I have no argument to induce you to believe but that it proceeds from a dying man It would too much hinder your longing expectation of my shameful death to give an account of my Arraignment and Attainder for I have been and whilst I breath am the Pestilence which rages through your Minds your Estates and Trades and you will read the Bills of your losses though the disease that brought the destruct on be removed c. He then declared That he forgave all the World and acquitted them of his death And beseeched the God of Heaven heartily to forgive them That he was never against Parliaments as judging them the most happy constitution and the best means to make the King and People happy That it was a great comfort to him that the King did not think he merited so heavy a punishment as this So wishing all prosperity to the Kingdom he addrest himself to his Prayers and then laying down his Head on the Block it was cut off at one blow Instead of a Character of him I shall conclude with his Epitaph written by Mr. John Cleaveland Here lies Wise and Valiant Dast Hudled up 'twixt Fit and Just Strafford who was hurried hence 'Twixt Treason and Convenience He spent his Life here in a Mist A Papist yet a Calvinist His Princes nearest joy and grief He had yet wanted all relief The prop and ruin of the State The Peoples violent love and hate One in extreams lov'd and abhorr'd Riddles lies here And in a word Here lies blood and let it lye Speechless still and never cry FINIS A Catalogue of Books Printed for Nath. Crouch at the Bell in the Poultrey near Cheapside History 1. ENgland's Monarchs Or A Compendious Relation of the most remarkable Transactions from Julius Caesar to this present adorned with Poems and the Picture of every Monarch from K. Will. the Conqueror to the sixth year of K. Will. and Q. Mary With a List of the Nobility and the number of the Lords and Commons in both Houses of Parliament and many other useful particulars Price one shilling 2. THE History of the House of Orange Or a Brief Relation of the Glorious and Magnanimous Atchievements of his Majestie 's Renowned Predecessors and likewise of His own Heroick Actions till the Late Wonderful Revolution Together with the History of K. William and Q. Mary c. Being an Impartial Account of the most Remarkable Passages from their Majesties Happy Accession to the Throne to this time By R. B. Price one shilling 3. THE History of the two late Kings Charles the II. and James the II. being an Impartial account of the most remarkable Transactions during their Reigns and the secret French and Popish Intrigues in those Times With a Relation of the happy Revolution Pr. 1s 4. THE History of Oliver Cromwel being an Impartial Account of all the Battles Sieges and other Military Atchievements wherein he was ingaged in England Scotland and Ireland and likewise of his Civil Administrations while he had the Supreaâ— Government till his Death Relating only mothers of Fact without Reflection or Observation By R.B. pr. 1 s. 5. THE Wars in England Scotland and Ireland containing an Account of all the Bettels Sieges and other remarkable Transactions which happened from the beginning of the Reign of K. Charles I. His Tryal at large with his last Speech Pr. 1s 6. HIstorical Remarks and Observations of the Antient and Present State of London and Westminster shewing the Foundations Walls Gates Towers Bridges Churches Rivers Wards Halls Companies Government Courts Hospitals Schools Inns of Courts Charters Franchises and Privileges thereof with the most remarkable Accidents as to Wars Fires Plagues and other occurrences for above 903 years past Pr. 1 s. 7. ADmirable Curiosities Rarities and Wonders in England Scotland and Ireland or an account of many remarkable persons and places and likewise of the Battles Sieges prodigious Earthquakes Tempests Inundations Thunders