having got matter enough against the King at least to justifie their taking up Armes march'd directly to London with forty thousand men and some of them going to the King in the Tower they shew'd him the very Letter which he had writ to the Duke of Ireland to levy an Army for their destruction as also the Letters writ to him by the French King importing a safe Conduct for him to come into France there to do Acts tending to his own dishonour and the prejudice of the Kingdom which being done they civilly retreated upon the Kings promise to come next day to Westminster to concert all matters but the fickle King alter'd his mind before he went to Bed and discover'd his purpose to avoid the meeting next day The Lords being advertis'd of this sent a peremptory message to him That if he did not come according to his promise they would choose another King that should hearken to the faithful Counsel of his Lords The King sensibly touch'd with this sharp message gave them a meeting and they positively insisting that the Traytors so often complain'd of should be removed from the Court he at last with much reluctancy consented to their Desires and so the whole Nest of Vipers was dissipated some expell'd the Court some bound by good Sureties to appear and answer and some committed to Prison When the Parliament met they proceeded roundly the corrupt Judges were arrested in their Seats of Judicature and carried to the Tower for acting contrary to the Agreement made in the preceding Parliament the Duke of Ireland and the rest of that Crew cited to appear and answer to certain Articles of High Treason and for non-appearance banish'd and their Lands and Goods seized to the Kings use Sir Robert Tresilian was hang'd Sir Nicholas Brember beheaded several others executed and the Judges condemned to die and the King obliged by Oath to stand to such order as the Lords should set down Some years after upon a Riot committed in London the King seised on their Liberties and took away their Charter which could not be restored till they paid a Fine of ten thousand pounds I intend a compendious Abstract and not a compleat History therefore I studiously omit the recital of many Transactions and Occurrences coincident with this relation as not having a direct and principal concernment in the Estate and Life of King Richard. Unstable Fortune had the Ascendent over all the Affairs of the poor King and the course of his Reign was imbroiled with a strange Vicissitude of prosperous and adverse Accidents The Duke of Gloucester and other Lords entring into a combination to seise upon the King the Plot was detected and their lives taken away for the assurance of his safety A Parliament was call'd wholly conformable to the Kings will they that opposed him were banish'd confiscated and executed and the whole power of it devolved on a certain select number of Commissioners to the great prejudice of the State and a dangerous example to future Times a Pardon was granted to all the Subjects except fifty whose Names not being expressed he kept the Nobility under an awe that if any of them offended him they might come under the notion of exempted persons and thus the King seem'd secure against all mischances But an unforeseen Accident grounded on a very slight occasion produced an extraordinà ry Revolution by which the whole frame of Government was unhinged and that Cloud which at first appear'd but of the bigness of a hand soon overspread the sky and dissolved in a tempestuous shower of Blood. The Duke of Hereford was banish'd the Kingdom for six years and several Persons of Note and Quality either by voluntary withdrawing or a compulsory Exile went beyond the Seas The Duke within a short time was advertis'd that his Father was dead and thereby he became Duke of Lancaster and that King Richard had seised into his hands all the Estate descended to him by his Fathers death And meeting often with the Archbishop of Canterbury then in Exile and mutually lamenting the deplorable condition of England the enormous actions of the King and the Impossibllity of ever reclaiming him they began to enter into Consulation by what means best to get him removed and in the very Nick Solicitations came from several Parts of England to urge the Duke to hasten over and to take the Government upon him promising all ready Assistance to that work The Duke presently grasp'd the Opportunity and without further Deliberation prepared for his Return and with a very few Lords and Gentlemen and about threescore Persons presently put to Sea and landed in York-shire which was no sooner known but several Lords and great Numbers of the Gentry and Common sort flockt into him And tho he was invited to come and take the Government upon him yet he pretended no other cause but to take Possession of the Inheritance descended from his Father and most unjustly seized and detain'd by King Richard. His Forces increased dayly and a mighty Army was got together and all the Kings Castles forthwith surrendred to him many of the Kings Friends were Arrested and some put to death All this while King Richard was in Ireland and for six weeks by reason of contrary Winds had no Notice of the Dukes Landing After which time wasting many daies in a dilatory Preparation he landed in Wales but hearing that all the Castles from the Borders of Scotland and Bristol were delivered up to the Duke of Lancaster that the greatest Part of the Nobility and Commons were joynd with him and his principal Counsellors taken and executed he fell into absolute Despair dismissed his Army bidding every one to shift for himself and the next Night stole away and got to the Castle of Couwey The Duke proceeded on his March and every day some Lords and Gentlemen of account came in to him and having proferred Conditions to the King with which he seem'd to be content he agreed to meet the Duke but upon his Journy was seis'd by an Ambush laid for him and carried to Flint-Castle Thither the Duke came and carri'd the King with him by easie Journeys to London and the next Day lodged him in the Tower. Presently a Parliament was called by the Duke but in the Name of King Richard aad many heynous Crimes laid to his Charge ingrost and sum'd up in three and thirty Articles for which the Parliament adjudg'd him to be deposed from all Kingly Honour and Princely Government thereupon the King by a formal Instrument made a Solemn Resignation of his Crown and Authority making it his Request that the Duke of Lancaster might be his Successor and in token thereof taking the signet from his Finger and puting it upon that of the Dukes Which being reported to the Parliament they approved of it and appointed the Sentence of his Deposition to be publickly proclamed We have followed this most unfortunate Prince to the last Scene of his Life but the manner
now actually King disturbed by no Competitor or Pretender might with all affluence of Honour Wealth and Pleasure have enjoy'd his Kingdom in profound Peace but in despight to Fortune who hitherto had Courted him He created Troubles to himself and was the unlucky Author of his own misery For tho the Rebellious Insurrection of the Welsh in the first Year of his Reign did somewhat discompose his quiet yet the Issue of it did only tend to aggrandise his Name to make him more revered at Home and more awfully consider'd abroad But the Expedition into Scotland was the product of his own injustice Stephen his Father by Adoption had granted Cumberland and Huntington shire to Malcolm King of the Scots and Maud his Mother had given Northumberland to the same Henry disdaining to see his Kingdom Cantonised and grudging that such considerable Parts of it should be dismember'd from the Body and become the Patrimony of his Neighbour demands the Estate by a military Claim and marching thither with a powerful Army repossesseth himself of part of these alienated Lands and voluntarily relinquisheth the rest The same restless Humour prompted him to persecute his Brother Geoffrey For his Father on his Death-Bed bequeath'd the Dukedom of Anjou to him but with this limitation that so soon as He should become King of England he should deliver up Anjou to his Brother Geoffrey And for the further assurance of it he obliged his Lords to Swear not to suffer his Body to be buried till his Son Henry had taken his Oath exactly to perform it Henry solemnly binds himself by Oath to perform his Fathers Will but afterward as wickedly breaks his Vow having obtain'd a Dispensation for so great an Impiety from his Holy Father Pope Adrian and entring into Anjou with an Army took from his Brother who was in no Capacity to resist so puissant an Invader not only the Country of Anjou but some other Cities also which his Father had absolutely given him for his maintenance which unnatural Treatment had so fatal an operation on the poor Duke that within a very short time it broke his heart And now Lewis King of France began to find him a costly and hazardous diversion for having not well digested the affront put upon him by King Henry in marrying of Eleanor his divorced Queen and seeking all occasions to demonstrate his Resentments he became an open Abettor of Raymond Earl of St. Giles with whom King Henry had a Controversie about the Earldom of Tholouse Hereupon the Litigants began mutually to arm and great forces were rais'd on both sides but being just ready to joyn in a bloody Battel a Peace was concluded by the Mediation of Friends And least matters should be wanting to propagate new cares and interruption to the progress of his Felicity by an over fond and unexampled Indulgence he assumed his Son Henry then seventeen years of age into a Partnership in the Throne whose arrogant behaviour and picgant Repaâ—tee at the very time of his Coronation administred just cause to the King to repent his rashness For the King to do honour to his young Colleague at the Coronation feast would needs carry up the first Dish to the Table which the Archbishop who had perform'd the Ceremony observing said merrily to the new King What an honour is this to you to have such a waiter at your Table The other reply'd Why what great matter is it for him that was but the Son of a Duke to do service to me that am the Son of a King and a Queen Neither was it long before the King was sensibly convinced of his weakness For the young King having imbibed some mutinous Notions of discontent from the insinuations of the French King and being animated by his advice and assistance began openly to oppose his Father For an aggravation to the old Kings misfortunes Eleanor his Queen inraged with jealousie and not able to endure the sight of so many Concubines to which her Husband had given up himself she not only incenseth her Son Henry to proceed in his Enterprise but secretly perswadeth Richard and Geoffery two other of her Sons to joyn with him against their Father encouraging them to expect a more liberal maintenance from their Brother than their penurious Father did allow them by these Instigations they repair into Normandy and joyn themselves with their Brother who growing more insolent by their assistance return'd a haughty and imperious answer to a kind and loving message from his Father disdaining to lay down arms unless he would first lay down his authority and resign the Kingdom To shuffle matters into the greater perplexity Lewis King of France began to form a League against King Henry and having call'd together the great Lords of his Kingdom and inveigled William King of the Scots Hugh Earl of Chester Roger Moubray Hugh Bigod and other the Accomplices of his Son they all joyn'd in an Oath to aid and assist the young King with their whole power and thereupon in one day they began their Attacks the French invading Normandy Aquitain and Britain and the King of Scots Northumberland The old King in a short time disincumbred himself from these Exigencies and triumphed over all his Enemies but new troubles like Hydra's Heads sprung up every day to arrest his Tranquillity and he had no sooner made a Truce with his Son Henry but the defection of his Son Richard who had possest himself of a great part of the Province of Poictou obliged him to transport an Army thither and by the influence of it to reduce him to obedience But the splendor of his success was darkned with a sensible misfortune Henry his Darling the copartner of his Empire but the Excrescence of the Throne ended his Competition with his life to the equal content and sorrow of his Father Within a while Richard his Heir apparent revived his former discontent relapsed into the old fit of Rebellion and drew along with him his Brother John with many more of his Fathers Adherents and Followers who all joyn'd with Philip King of France the Inheritor of his Fathers Crown and his animosity against King Henry he presently form'd an Army and least natural affection should prevail above conceived Injuries with all speed and vigour laid Siege to the City of Mentz in which King Henry was then personally present who apprehending himself to be in great danger and unwilling to fall into the hands of such Enemies secretly withdrew out of the Town and escaped But the Town being taken the place of his Nativity and in which he took great delight he became almost distracted with grief and passion and in the extremity of his rage utter'd this blasphemous expression I shall never hereafter love God any more that has suffer'd a City so dear to me to be taken from me Indeed this inconsiderable loss made a mortal Impression on his spirits bereaving him of that vigor and Majestick grace which accompanied him in all
his actions so that he tamely condescended to seek a Peace at their hands to whom before he scorn'd to vouchsafe the favour of any conditions but when he came to understand that his beloved Son John was in the Conspiracy against him he fell into a fit of fainting and dy'd within four days King Henry was the Author and instrument of his own misfortunes He came to the Crown in peace and quiet but never injoy'd it in content or satisfaction He was an ungrateful Son an indiscreet Father an unnatural Brother an unjust Husband a niggardly Master a fickle Friend a severe Enemy a valiant King but too penurious His Actions were great and renowned but smutted with the tincture of notorious Vices He dealt unjustly with the King of the Scots and to his cruelty extended to his Brother was added a manifest Perjury He made his Son a Rival in his Throne and took many strange Women to be Rivals in his Bed. As his Wife was divorced from her other Husband so was his conjugal love estranged from her His Partiality to his Sons is too manifest while he fondly gave to Henry a share of his Crown and substracted from his other Sons a competent maintenance But these contrary causes produced the same effect his Indulgence to one and his Niggardliness to the rest provoked them all to be Rebels against him His Incontinency is so evident that it supersedes all the misprisions of Jealousie His close Amours with the fair Rosamond were palpably detected by the industrious curiosity of his Queen but his incestuous dalliance with the Spouse of his Son has left an indelible blot upon his memory His carriage toward Thomas Becket while alive speaks him brave and magnanimous but his mean submission to a sordid Penance at the Tomb of that sawcy Prelate discovers plainly that Superstition was predominant in him beyond a sense of true Religion Parsimony which is commendable in men of lower ranks was a vice in him by it he lost the love of his Children and disobliged his Subjects while by Taxes Confiscations Seisure on Bishopricks and Abbies and other avaritious practises he lived poorly only that he might die rich THE LIFE and REIGN OF EDWARD the Second EDWARD of Carnarven was the Eldest Son of Edward the First and succeeded his Father in the Kingdom of England He was in his Person handsome in his Conversation acceptable in his Inclinations not extrémely Vicious continent beyond any of his Predecessors not given to grind his Subjects by hard Taxations or to enrich himself by their Impoverishment He ascended the Throne with the Universal Joy and Acclamations both of the Nobility and the People the way to it was plain and the Seat easy He had the Advantages of an extraordinary Education the example of an Illustrious Father and a Victorious King an early initiation in the Business of State a happy opportunity to understand the Art of Reigning by commanding the Realm and presiding in Parliament during his Fathers absence When he took the Reins of Government into his hands he was neither in his Nonage nor Dotage the Kingdom stood in no need of a Protector because of His Minority nor an Administrator because he was super-annuated He was just ripe for Rule and all circumstances concurr'd to make the Conclusion of his Reign as prosperous as the beginning Notwithstanding all these happy Prcludiums never was there a Prince more unfortunate never was there a Life perplexed with more Disasters or a Death attended with sharper Instances of Misery and Horror being persecuted by his Subjects deserted by his Qeen deposed by the People and inhumanly Murdered by wretched Miscreants He began his Reign with a rude and irreligious contempt of his renowned Fathers Will and dying Commands which as it gave just cause to the Subjects to suspect his Veracity and Constancy so it appear'd an ominous presage of his future Calamities and Desertion by Heaven For whereas his Father had expresly charged him never to recall Pierce Gaveston from Banishment who had been the Pandar to the young Prince's Lusts and the Debaucher of his Youth he immediately sent for him home heaped Honours and Riches upon him and grew scandalously fond of him His Father setled his Quarrel with Scotland upon him by Entayl requiring him to carry his Bones about with him through that Kingdom till he had subdued it but so little Veneration had he for those Glorious Reliques that he neither took them with him in a Military Procession nor regarded their quiet Sepulture but rather to affront them he entred into a Treaty for his own Nuptials before he had solemnized the Funerals of his Father The Old King had obliged him to send his heart to the Holy Land with Sevenscore Knights to prosecute the Holy War and two and thirty Thousand Pounds a mighty Sum in those Days which he had gathered for that Pious use But he not only neglected his Fathers Directions but in plain scorn and despight to his Commands he prodigally squander'd it on that same Gaveston from whose very sight he was precluded by his dying Father I shall not need to divide the History of his Life into several Acts I may recite it as it was in one Scene of Trouble and misfortune The revocation of Peirce Gaveston from perpetual Exile was very displeasing to the People His admission to the highest Honours and Favours about the Court did smartly aggravate their just Resentments but his Pride and Ostentation at the Marriage of the King in France where the Four Kings and Four Queens were seen in all their Pomp besides the King and his Bride yet he was observed to excel them all in Bravery had so sensible an Operation on the Lords of England that when Edward and Isabel expected to be Crown'd in the presence of many Princes and Noble Persons they boldly went to him and briskly told him how haynously he had transgressed his Fathers Will in recalling Gaveston to which since they were Cautioners they would see it performed and unless he would remove Gaveston from Court and Kingdom they would not suffer his Coronotion to proceed King Edward confounded with this stinging Declaration gave them satisfaction and solmnly Swore to do what they desired in the next Parliment and so the Coronation proceeded In the solmnizing whereof the King again provoked the Lords to Discontent adding the honour of carrying St. Edwards Crown before him to the other Titles he had conferred on Gaveston which urged them to enter into Consultation how to contrive some plausible way to restrain the Violence of the Kings Affection which in a short time took affect For Gaveston not content to engross the Kings Favor and dictate his arbitrary Orders through the Kingdom encroached on the honour of the Nobility and placed opprobious Nick-Names upon divers of them who therefore did not only envy him for his undeserved Advancement but mortally hated him for his un-sufferable Insolency It was not long before a Parliment met
who unanimously press the King to apply a Remedy to their Greivances in the Rere of which they urge the Banishment of Gaveston The King seing no safety in expostulation consents to their Demands and the several Articles like those of the Council of Trent are injoyn'd under an Anathema and pain of Excommunication Hereupon Gaveston was sent into Ireland but as the Chief Goovernour not as an Exile where after he â—ad stay'd a while and acted things much conducing to his Reputation King Edward not able to endure his absence or indeed to live without him remanded him home and married him to the Sister of the Earl of Glocester but Gaveston was incorrigible his Power exceeded all Limits and his expences all possibility of supply the Kings Revenue was wasted the Queens maintenance retrenched and all diverted to the accommodating the Luxury of the Favorite The Lords began to ferment in a new Discontentment and repairing to the King positively told him if he did not immediately remove Gaveston out of the Court and Kingdom they would rise in Arms against him as a perjur'd King. But he after he had strugled a while between Love and Fear condescended to his pertual Banishment making his return a capital Offence and so to be proceeded against if ever found in the Kingdom Gaveston once more is dispatcht out of England and goes to France where finding no safe Abode he past into Flanders and there meeting with no secure shelter he secretly returns to England relying on the immovable Favor of the King and the interest of the Duke of Gloucester The bewitched King received him with transports of joy and slipping out of the sight of the Lords and all other Observers betook himself to York carrying his beloved Minion with him The Lords hearing of it make after him and choosing the great and potent Earl of Lancaster for their General sent a Message to the King to deliver Gaveston into their Hands or at least to send him peremptorily out of the Kingdom But being abused by evil Counsel and disregarding the Message from the Lords he marcht from place to place seeking a sure refuge for his dear Favourite refusing to stay with the Queen who with tears beg'd his company and lodg'd him in Scarborough-Castle which being furiously assaulted by the Confederate Lords Gaveston thought it best to render himself desiring only the favour to be allow'd once to see the King's face and the King reciprocally ask'd the same Gaveston was sent under a Convoy toward Wallingford but being intercepted by the way and forced from his Guard by the Earl of Warwick after long deliberation his Head was struck off at a place call'd Blacklow In the mean time the King of Scots taking notice in how unready a posture Affaires were in England how the King remitted all case of the Government to Gaveston and that he gave himself up to Luxury and Licentiousness in a short time and with little or no opposition reduced almost all Scotland to his obedience and encouraged by that success He entred England burnt and took several Towns and being encounter'd with a splendid Army raised by King Edward more resembling a Court than a Camp and consisting of a hundred thousand men he with an Army hardly amounting to thirty thousand utterly overthrew and defeated them This misfortune was follow'd by the loss of almost all Ireland and the treacherous Rendition of Berwick which yet King Edward was in a fair way to recover had not the Earl of Lancaster discover'd his immoderate kindness to Hugh Spencer the younger whom he had substituted and embraced in the room of Gaveston and thereupon withdrew his forces from his assistance These Crosses were accompanied with the loss of Northumberland whereof all the Towns were taken or burnt by the Scots and an incredible number of Prisoners and Cattel carried into Scotland King Edward in vain attempting to seek a Reprizal and at last forced to pass over all hopes of satisfaction by the conclusion of a Truce The unhappy King postponing the affections of his Subjects to the fond love of a Darling advanced Hugh Spencer to the highest pitch of Honour and Favour committed all Affairs to his sole Administration he in perfect imitation of his Predecessor servilely complying with the Kings Humours and arrogantly insulting over the Lords They to remove this insupportable Nusance continue in Arms confederate together and send a peremptory Message to the King requiring the confirmation and execution of the Articles formerly granted otherwise threatning to constrain him by force of Arms and accordingly assembled a mighty body about Dunstable where the King then lay but by the interposition of the Prelates an Accommodation was made and all things agreed to their mutual satisfaction Soon after a Parliament was call'd wherein the King complain'd that the Lords had taken up Arms had murthered Pierce Gaveston and done him many other Affronts they on the other side justifie their Proceedings as not undertaken against but for the Preservation of his Person and the punishment of the publick Enemies of the Kingdom but the Queen with the Prelates and the Duke of Gloucester found an Expedient to qualifie these heats the Lords became humble Suitors to the King for his Grace and Pardon and he receives them kindly as dutiful and loyal Subjects But this Reconcilement not being founded in sincerity was but of a short duration The two Spencers Father and Son became intolerable in their Covetousness Oppression and Arbitrary disposal of all Affairs wherefore the Earl of Lancaster with divers other Lords entred into a new Confederacy binding themselves by Oath to live and die together in the maintenance of the Rights of the Kingdom and to procure the expulsion of the two Spencers In pursuance hereof they gather a great Army march to London and insist stoutly on their former demands to which once more the King is induced to condescend by the mediation of the Queen and the Prelates and by publick Proclamation the Spencers are banished but in a short time after the Edict was revoked they recall'd and restored to their former place and authority The wind â—â—gan now to change and by a strange caprichio of fortune the King got the Ascendent over the mutinous Lords conquered them in Battel slew many of them in the Field and put many to death by the Sword of Justice but so soon as the heat of Revenge was a little qualify'd repented of his proceeding Hitherto the miserable King received only slight wounds in the extreme parts of his Body now he received a stab at the Heart The Queen enraged to see her Husbands love diverted upon upstart Favorites and disdaining to be a Pensioner to their pleasure found a plausible Excuse to repair into France where to be revenged on her Husband for his neglect of her she continued in too scandalous a familiarity with the Lord Mortimer The King being advertised of it commanded her to return and she delaying to come he
Destiny and by Imprudent Actions pernicious Counsels and an Arbitrary Assertion of his indisputable Prerogative to kindle those Flames of Mutiny and Discontent which never were extinguish'd but at the Expence of his own Blood and the Loss of his Crown Robert Vere Earl of Oxford and Marquiss of Dublin was his Darling and Michael de la Pool was his Favorite The first a Gentleman of commendable good Parts he created Duke of Ireland tho he himself was but Lord of it the other a man of mean extraction he made Earl of Suffolk and Chancellour of England both very obnoxious and not accomplish'd with such Merits as might advance them in Titles or Offices beyond the Ancient Nobility without Envy or Obloquy These Wicked Counsellors set a false Glass before the short sighted King and abused him with erroneous representations of his own sufficiency absolute Authority and uncontrollable Power Insomuch that in a Parliament then call'd the King began sharply to expostulate with the Lords and by an undecent Comparison with the Freedom of their Tenures to Challenge to himself an unquestionable liberty This haughty Carriage of the King exasperated the Parliament and fermented them to such a degree of dissatisfaction that instead of consenting to grant him a Subsidy toward his Wars they fell foul upon the New Chancellour and never gave him over till they obtain'd a severe Judgment against him to the Forfeitures of his Life and the Confiscation of his Estate The adverse Party were highly nettled at these proceedings and being push'd on by Revenge and Malice they combined in a horrid Design to Murther the Duke of Gloucester and such other Lords as cross'd the King in his extravagant Courses which Flagitious Plot was to be perpetrated upon an invitation of them to a Supper in London Sir Nicholas Brember the former Lord Mayor was a prime Instrument in this Enterprise but the King imparting this matter to Richard Exton the present Mayor and endeavouring to make him an Accomplice in the Action he would by no perswasions be induced to consent to so vile an Attempt and thereupon they desisted from the further prosecution of it Notwithstanding this and many other untoward passages a Subsidy was granted to the King under certain Limitations but the Parliament were so disgusted because the King had respited the Execution of the Judgment against the Chancellour that they positively declared unless the Chancellour were removed they would proceed no farther in a Parliamentary Course The King hereupon grew Cholerick and plainly told them he would rather apply himself to the French King for Assistance than submit to his Subjects Yet upon good Reasons offer'd by the Lords a great change was made in the Ministers of State and particularly the Chancellour was removed and so desirous were the Lords and Commons to have the Duke of Ireland excluded from the Kings Presence that they were content he should receive thirty Thousand Marks on condition he would transport himself into Ireland But no sooner was the Parliament dissolved but the King recanted all his condecensions revoked all Orders against the Chancellour the Duke of Ireland and the rest and received then into higher Favour than they were in before And tho' the Earls of Arundel and Nottingham performed a Noble exploit hardly to be parallel'd in History yet their Service was disregarded and their persons slighted because the Duke of Ireland gave them no countenance By whose contrivance a New Plot was laid to destroy the Duke of Gloucester and the easie King surrounded with Parasites and corrupt Judges suffer'd them to pursue their extravagant practices and Two Thousand Persons were at once indicted before Sir Robert Tresilian the Chief Justice He then propounded certain Queries to Robert Belknap Lord Chief Justice and other Judges which they soon resolved in defiance of the Law and the priviledges of Parliament And notwithstanding he stood in such ill Terms with his people yet a way was found to pack Juries in London and Indictments were found of many Crimes against some of the Lords Whom having a design to persecute he summon'd the Judges Justices and Sheriffs of the Kingdom that he might be informed what power of Men they could assure him of to serve him against the Lords And intending shortly to call a Parliament he tamper'd with them to have no Knight or Burgess chosen but such as the King and his Council should Name But finding by the Answer of the Sheriffs that they could not raise any Forces upon such a pretence nor infringe the Ancient Liberty in Elections to Parliament the King and the Duke of Ireland sent into all parts to raise men in this Quarrel against the Lords consulting on some Devices how to intrap them The Duke of Gloucester being advertised of this had a secret Conference with the rest and assembling a numerous Body of Men stood upon their Guard and sent Commissioners to the King requiring such Traytors and Seducers as were about his Person to be delivered up to them The King was advised by the Duke of Ireland the Earl of Suffolk and others about him to offer Calice to the French King to procure his Assistance against the Lords and with all sent to the Mayor of London requiring to make an estimate of how many able men might be rais'd in the City who making Tryal of what could be done on such occasion received this Answer from the People that they would never fight against the Kings Friends and Defenders of the Realm In the mean time the Earl of Northumberland interposed with his advice and perswaded the King to send for the Lords under safe Conduct and friendly to expostulate with them to which the Lords consented upon Oath given by the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chancellour that no Fraud or evil practice should be used against them But being ready to come according to appointment they received intimation of an Ambush laid to intrap them and so desisted If the King was privy to this Plot he was guilty of an Action most unworthy of a Prince But the Conspirators were certainly known yet not call'd to Account for it After this upon a more secure Conduct from the King the Lords presented themselves before him and after some cholerick contest a Reconciliation was made and it was concluded that all matters should be heard and regulated in a Parliament speedily to be call'd Hereupon the Favorite-Lords were highly dissatisfy'd and plainly told the King they would not hazard their appearance at such a meeting and so the Duke of Ireland and the rest of that Faction withdrew from Court and absconded But the King not able to brook their absence ordered an Army to be rais'd for the safeguard of the Duke of Ireland and to reconduct him to his Presence who being encounter'd on the way by the Earl of Derby he fled and escaped by leaping into a River but after two or three years dy'd miserably in a foreign Country And now the Lords
of his death is so variously reported that it is hard to pitch upon that Author on whose credit we may safely rely It is most certain that he did not long Survive his Resignation but being carried to Leeds and from thence to Pomfret soon after a Period was put to his Life and Miseryes together in the three and thirtieth year of his Age. If he did not imitate his Father yet he resembled His Mother and was the Goodliest Person alive His Disposition was good but corrupted by Education his Inclinations prompted him to Vertue but were perverted by Flatterrers and Evil Counsellors Crafty men made Advantage of his Credulity and he was ruined by too strict a Constancy If he had not been deficient to himself his Opposer had not so easily prevail'd his Timidity apeared in not fighting for his Crown his Moderation in the Surrendred of it and his Courage in surviving the Loss THE LIFE and REIGN OF CHARLES the Second IAm now ingaged in a difficult Task divided between Truth and Respect being to describe the Life of a Prince who contrary to the custom of the World was better spoken of while he lived than he has been since his Death His Fame had suffer'd a great diminution by succeeding so admirable a Father had it not recover'd by the prospect of such a Brother who was to be his Successor If in the Lives of former Kings any mistake was committed the Records and Ancient Writers must vouch the Relation and the present Age cannot confute it But to give an Account of a Life so lately ended requires an exactness beyond my Reach wherein the least Trip overthrows the Credit of the Reporter To enumerate the Vertues of a Prince without taking notice of his Failings is but to flatter his memory and deceive Posterity to reckon up his Vices without intermingling the mention of his laudable Actions is but so sully his Fame and deduce no Benefit to the Curiosity of Observers I resolve to tread lightly on his Grave and not press too hard upon the Heels of Truth I may pursue my Topic in recounting the Instances which justly denominate him unfortunate and Note the Errors of his Government without reflection on his Person That he was of extraordinary Parts that he had a quick mercurial Wit a great insight into the liberal Sciences and even the mechanical Arts no man will deny He had a piercing if not a solid Judgment his intellect was comprehensive if not profound His Lenity and Clemency were very conspicuous and recommended him to the Love and Praise of the Spectators yet it so fell out that such egregious Acts of Severity and Injustice were exercised upon all sorts of men as will puzzle Posterity to comprehend the meaning In his time no Man had the Reason to set a Value on himself for any promotion nor no man had cause to despair of a preferment The Cards were daily shuffled and unexpected chance turn'd up the Trump Upon all occasions he profest a great Zeal for the Protestant Religion yet every day that profession lost ground Popery was not allow'd yet it hover'd among us The Frogs did not cover the Land yet the Jesuitical Vermin swarm'd in every Corner Tho' the Papists were not shelter'd by a legal Indemnity yet they grew numerous and confident upon the expectation of an approaching Jublie His Brother and Successour had a mighty Ascendent over his Genius catching at all opportunities to gratifie his Ambition and propagate the Faith while the other indulged himself in pleasure and avoided the fatigue of Government There are so many living Monuments of his Incontinency that if I forbear to mention it I shall render the Truth and Impartiality of my other Remarks suspected It is usual with Kings and Princes to prosecute prohibited Amours but so great was his generosity that he thought it a disparagment to manage a secret Intrigue His Liberality was so extraordinary that he spared not to give a Thousand years purchase for a Moments Fruition He lost the Love of his Friends by too fond a Love of his Brother and by too stiff a Refusal to consent to his Exclusion he endanger'd the Interest of his Family and gave a shock to Monarchy it self The first and greatest misfortune that befell Charles the Second was the Cruel and Ignominious Death of his Father that incomparable Charles the First Sentenced to die and publickly Executed before his own Palace by a Jancto of flagitious men garbled out of a Parliament by the Usurper From his Fathers Martyrdom to his own Restauration was one continued Scene of misery and sorrow In the year 1648 Charles the First was deprived of Life by his Evil Subjests his Friends looking on and not able to prevent it In the year 1660. Charles the Second was brought to the Throne by his Good Subjects his Enemies looking on and not able to hinder it The one an inhumane Action and unparallel'd the other wholly surprising and miraculous In the one no Blood shed but that of the King himself in the other not one Drop of Blood drawn even of the meanest Subject Charles the second was then beyond the Seas and succeeded immediately to the Right of three Kingdoms but did not actually possess them for many years And now behold a King truly unfortunate His Father barbarously destroy'd and he in no capacity to call to account the bloody Actors of that Tragedy three potent Kingdoms usurped by violence and by force detain'd from him and he not able to put in a claim for his Right or contend for the recovery His Enemies insulting in their success abjuring his Title and metamorphosing a glorious Monarchy into an Anarchical Commonwealth His Friends harassed imprison'd plunder'd sequestred executed no man daring to own his Allegiance or capable to contribute advice or aid toward his Restoration Himself a deserted Exile wandring from one Princes Court to another to seek for shelter and subsistence while the subtle machinations of the Usurpers did not more sensibly aggravate and advance his unhappiness than the improsperous Attempts of his loyal Subjects to compass his Restitution In Scotland the Heroick Acts of the most renown'd Marquis of Montross who with an inconsiderable handful of men traversed the Kingdom and performed such Exploits as may justly denominate his History the Moral of a Romance only ended in his destruction while he became a sacrifice to his Enemies implacable malice and a glorious Martyr for Loyalty but with an irreparable detriment to his Masters cause In Ireland the most Noble Duke then Marquis of Ormond was so successful in his Undertakings that he had reduced the whole Kingdom to the obedience of the King except Dublin and London-Derry to the first of which having laid a close Siege and beleagured it with a Royal Camp he was disarry'd by a fatal Sally from the Town his Army totally routed and himself obliged to a hasty and hazardous escape which disaster was follow'd by the Rendition of Drogheda
Monmouth and all other his Enemies and with an unusual Expedition they past two Acts to augment his Revenue by a New Imposition on Wine Vineger Tobacco and Sugar and to secure his person an Act of Attainder of the Duke of Monmouth It was morally impossible for such inconsiderable parties to effect their purposes the Parliaments in both Kingdoms were unanimous almost all people relyed on the King's word not doubting but he would continue a Defender of the Faith tho he was not a Professor And so the event proved for within a few days or weeks at most the whole Enterprise came to nothing the forces in each Kingdom were routed and dispersed the Duke and Earl both taken prisoners and both executed on the Scaffold Violent Hurricanes tear Trees out of the Ground but the shaking of small winds make the Tree take deeper Root the quenching of an intestine Rebellion alway sets the Prince some steps higher and depresseth the subject as much The Parliament had now sat long enough to do the Kings Business and the King had Business to do not fit to be intrusted to the Parliament whereupon it was adjourn'd to the fourth of August and from thence to the ninth of November At which time being reassembled the King made the first discovery of his claim to a dispensing Power telling them plainly that he will not want the Services of such men whom he accounted faithful but would imploy them in the Army tho they were not qualified according to the late Tests The Parliament modestly and civilly expostulated this unexpected resolution in an humble Address and proposed an Expedient to moderate the Extremity of the Law purely to gratifie the Desires of their Prince but this did not sound well in the Ears of the Court some other measures must be taken and so the Parliament was Prorogued to the tenth of February and here we may bid them adieu having after several Prorogations been dissolved as a company of inflexible stubborn Protestants who would not tamely comply with the King 's Arbitrary pleasure Several Noblemen and other persons were now indicted and try'd for their Lives some escaped by the merit of their ingenuous Defence some were respited from Execution and some suffer'd Death The Earl of Clarendon was sent Lord Lieutenant into Ireland that the Protestants might be cajol'd into a lavish credulity till matters were ripe for their Destruction An Army of twenty thousand men was rais'd and encamped at Hounslow-Heath because the Militia was not found to be useful and the late Invasions of Monmouth and Argyle were a sufficient warning to the King not to be taken again unprovided But the erecting of a Popish Chappel in the midst of the Camp and the open and daily celebration of the Mass there together with the setting up Convents of Friers and Schools and Seminaries of Jesuits in several places in London the unclean Beasts crossing the Streets and entring their Arkby couples began to startle the people and the Dispatch of the Earl of Castlemain to Rome as an Embassador to the Pope and the entertaining a Nuncio from him gave a mighty Umbrage of offence to all considering men That strict Injunction by Law for every man that exercised any Office to take the Oaths and Test was a great Barricado against the Preferment of Catholick Candidates the Judges must be consulted or rather directed how to apply some Remedy and they to their eternal shame made false Glosses on the Text betray'd the Law the impregnable Fortress of English Property and skrew'd up the Rules of a circumscribed Monarchy to an Absolute and Despotick Government to command without controul and to he obey'd without reserve But the putting a muzzle upon the old Laws to keep them from biting was not enough to carry on the work without introducing some Innovations wherefore a Commission was given to certain persons to order all Ecclesiastical Affairs with an Authority and extent almost unlimited and a Non-obstante to all Rights and Priviledges The first Essay made by this exorbitant Court was on the Bishop of London a person noble by Birth and high in Office reverenced and beloved by all men for his Candor Moderation and many eminent Vertues whom for a frivolous matter without colour of Law or Reason they suspended from his Episcopal Function It was now high time to recall the Earl of Clarendon from the Government of Ireland that the Sword might be put into the Hands of the Earl of Tyrconnel To enumerate the mischiefs that have accrew'd to the Protestants by his Administration would require a Treatise by it self let it suffice to say that in that miserable Kingdom Popery was predominant and bare faced Mass-houses set up in every Town and Village the Corporations changed their Charters condemned all Offices Civil and Military conferr'd on Papists the Act of Settlement which the King had so seriously promised to keep inviolated infringed and eluded and Gentlemen dispossessed of their Estates by erroneous Judgments the Protestants disarm'd and dismounted such as were able to remove forced to fly and such as stay'd behind subjected to all the Insolencies and Barbarities of Slaves vested with Authority To Scotland strict and severe Orders were sent to restrain all Field-Conventicles and in England the Dissenters were indicted fined and imprison'd And yet within a short time after a general Indulgence was publish'd to all Perswasions with a counterfeit saving to the Rights of the Church of England the King being made to believe that since he was secure from any Opposition from the Church of England they lying quietly intrenched under the Blinds of Non-resistance and Passive Obedience if he could but cast a mist before the eyes of the Dissenters and muffle their hands and charm them into a supine security the desired Reformation might proceed gradually without Interruption and after a while the Doors might be open'd and Popery let in with a full Breast But they were grosly mistaken in their Politicks The illegal proceedings against the Bishop of London seconded by the Arbitrary and most unjust persecution of the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge and the ejection of the President and Fellows of Magdalen Colledg in Oxford and the intrusion of profest Papists in their rooms open'd the eyes of all sorts and quickly taught the Dissenters what they were to expect whose Toleration was Temporary and precarious when such open Invasions were made on that Church that was firmly establish'd by Law. But unless the Jesuits and Popish Counsellors had been self murderers and conspired to overthrow their own Designs by their imprudent and precipitate actings they had never abused the poor King by such pernicious advice to attack the Church of England in the persons of the Bishops who were the Reverend Fathers of it to lay such a snare before wise and religious men as must endanger their safety or prejudice their Conscience and because they presented an humble Apology by way of Petition a priviledg allow'd to all men by the Laws
First of them came to an untimely End The second died with Trouble of Mind The two next were deposed from Government and violently put to Death The next died suddenly to say no more of it and the last dethroned himself lives miserably and in all human probability will not die happliy One of them was struck to the heart by an Arrow another by Greif two perish'd by the Hands of cruel men The next died of an Apoplexy I guess the Fate of the last but I will not take upon me to prophesie I wish all those who desire to be call'd Protestants would understand their own happiness and joyfully and thankfully acknowledg it to live under a Protestant King and a Protestant Queen a Blessing rare in these Kingdoms and not known for many years past God grant them a long and prosperous Reign attended with all the Instances of Glory and Felicity that under their auspicious Influence true Religion may flourish and detestable Popery may for ever be banish'd out of their Dominions FINIS Books lately Printed for Ric. Chiswell THe Case of Allegiance in our present circumstances considered in a Letter from a Minister in the City to a Minister in the Country A Breviate of the State of Scotland in its Government Supream Courts Officers of State Inferiour Officers Offices and Inferiour Courts Districts Jurisdictions Burroughs Royal and Free Corporations Fol. Some Considerations touching Succession and Allegiance A Discourse concerning the Worship of Images preached before the University of Oxford By George Tully Sub-Dean of York for which he was Suspended Reflexions upon the late Great Revolution Written by a Lay-Hand in the Country for the satisfaction of some Neighbours The History of the Dissertion or an Account of all the publick Affairs in England from the beginning of September 1688. to the Twelfth of February following With an Answer to a Piece call'd The Dissertion discussed in a Letter to a Country Gentleman By a Person of Quality K. William and K. Lewis wherein is set forth the inevitable necessity these Nations lie under of submitting wholly to one or other of these Kings And that the matter in Controversie is not now between K. William and K. James but between K. William and K. Lewis of France for the Government of these Nations An Examination of the Scruples of those who refuse to take the Oath of Allegiance by a Divine of the Church of England A Dialogue betwixt two Friends a Jacobite and a Williamite occasion'd by the sate Revolution of Affairs and the Oath of Allegiance An Account of the Reasons which induced Charles the Second King of England to declare War against the States-General of the United Provinces in 1672. And of the Private League which he entred into at the same Time with the French King to carry it on and to establish Popery in England Scotland and Ireland as they are set down in the History of the Dutch War printed in French at Paris with the priviledge of the French King 1682. Which Book he caused to be immediately suppress'd at the Instance of the English Ambassador Fol. An Account of the Private League betwixt the late King James the Second and the French King. Fol. The Case of the Oaths Stated 4to The Answer of a Protestant Gentleman in Ireland to a late Popish Letter of N. N upon a Discourse between them concerning the present posture of that Country and the part fit for those concern'd there to Act in it 4to An Apology for the Protestants of Ireland in a brief Narative of the late Revolutions in that Kingdom and an Account of the present State thereof By a Gentlemen of Quality â—to A Letter from a French Lawyer to an English Gentleman upon the present Revolution 4to Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Historia Literaria a Christo nato usque ad Saeculum XIV Facili ethodo digesta Qua de Vita illorum ac Rebus gestis de Secta Dogmatibus Elogio Stylo de Scriptis genuinis dubiis supposititiis ineditis deperditis Fragmentis deque variis Operum Editionibus perspicue agitur Accedunt Scriptores Gentiles Christianae Religionis Oppugnatores cujusvis Saeculi Breviarium I 〈…〉 untur suis locis Veterum aliquot Opuscula â—ragmenta tum Graeca tum Latina hactenus inedita Praemissa denique Prolegomena quibus 〈…〉 ma ad Antiquitatis Ecclesiasticae studium spe 〈…〉 ia traduntur Opus Indicibus necessariis â—uctum Autore GVILIELMO CAVE SS Theol. Profes Canonico Windesoriensi Accedit ab Alia Manu Appendix ab ineunte Saeculo XIV ad Annum usque MDXVII Fol. 1689.