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
two Towns in the Province of Gascoign in France and furnishing him with men and money sufficient to secure himself against his Enemies creating him Baron of Wallingford and Earl of Cornwal and giving him the whole Revenue of that County as well as of Ireland to be disposed of at his pleasure with such store of Plate and Jewels that he might well think his Banishment was but a splendid Ambassage and an occasion offered to the King by fortune to make him the more Rich and Honourable He was no sooner arrived there but the King sent Messengers to him with his gracious Letters requiring him to be cheerful and merry in his exile assuring him that his troubles should in the end be recompenced with greater dignities and favours than he had yet received and indeed the King's mind was so fondly transported that he could not live without him and the exigency of his affairs being over he soon made it appear that what he had done against him was absolutely contrary to his humour and that his Heart went not along with his Tongue and Hand He therefore sends for him back who arriving in Wales and coming to Flint Castle was there met by the â—…ing and received with such extraordinary satisfaction as if the greatest blessing of Heaven had been bestowed upon him and to fix him more strongly if possible in his affections he Married him to Joan of Acres Countess of Glocester his Sisters Daughter resolving with himself to retain his Gaveston in despight of all his Lords and People and to adventure his Crown and Life in protecting of him from their displeasure wherein both the King and He shewed much indiscretion it being as equally dangerous for a Prince to shew extravagant love to his Favourite as for him to accept and make use of the same and at length it proved fatal to them both For Gaveston who was naturally insolent and ambitious being thus above his hopes or expectationâ— advanced to an alliance with the Blood Royal seemen now to endeavour if possible to exceed in his former outrages and practifed many more notorious Villanies than ever he had done before wasting and consuming the King's Treasure with such monstrous profusion that he had not wherewithal to defray the ordinary expences of his Court or to provide necessaries for his Family For he continually studied to supply the King 's luxurious fancy with fresh and chargeable delights both in banqueting costly Wines and Lascivious dalliance whereby be clouded his understanding and viâ—ated his Soul insomuch that he abandoned the Lawâ—… Bed and Society of his Religious and Virtuous Queen and gave himself up to the imbraces of wanton and impudent Harlors The Queen was extreamly grieved at these unsufferable wrongs and abuses which she endeavoured to redress by her earnest Prayers to God and her obliging demeanor to the King but all her pains were fruitless for the beams of her excellent endowments could not disperse the thick mists of his debauched temper neither could her sighs nor tears soften his Heart hardned with the variety and continuance of sinning and the malevolent example of the cursed Gaveston Neither were the Common People silent but took much liberty to talk of these great misdemeanours of the King who still continued resolute in those dissolute courses to which he intiâ—ed him The Queen being thus abâ—…ed both in her Honour and Maintenance having not a sufficient Maintenance allowed her by the preâ—ominant Gaveston to support her Royal Dignity sends her â—…plaints to her Father the French King and the Abbot of St. Dennis in France being 〈…〉 Pope's Legate to demand the Legacy that thâ— King's Father lest for the recovery of the Holy Land used his earnest importunities with him to banish that lewd Companion Gaveston from his Court and Kingdom with whose Conversation all Mankind that had converse with him were infected but all was in vain After this the King Summoned a Parliament to meet at Northampton designing to go from thence to Scotland The Barons came thither well armed and guarded of which the King having intelligence sent them word he would not come yet at last he came as far as Stony-Stratford to whom the Lords sent the Earls of Warwick and Clare with their earnest intreaties that for his own safety and the benefit of the Kingdom he would appear at his Parliament Whereupon he was prevailed with to come in the Habit of an Esquire and the Lords were present unarmed and in conclusion an happy agreement was made and the Expedition to Scotland laid aside for the present Soon after the Parliament assembled at London to which came Lewes Brother to the French King and the Bishop of Poictou to endeavour to settle a lasting Concord between the King and the Peers At this Parliament many good Laws were Enacted and among others one for banishing Peirce Gaveston once again which the King was obliged to pass tho' sore against his will with this condition added by the Lords That if he were ever found again in any of the King's Dominions he should be taken as a Common Enemy and executed by Martial Law without any farther Tryal Hereupon Gaveston went into France but that King being his sworn Enemy upon the account of the Queen his Daughter he durst not continue long in any one place but wandred from one Country to another seeking for Rest but could find none Wherefore â—…ing still confidence in the love and favour of the 〈◊〉 whose Sister he had Married he with many Foreigners adventured once more to England having scarce been absent three months and coming to the King who then kept his Christmass at York he was received and entertained with the former endearedness and so much joy that an Angel from Heaven could not have been more welcom to the King who instantly made him Principal Secretary of State The Queen Nobility and People were all mightily disturbed at Gaveston's return and the Lords perceiving the irreclaimable Temper of the King they consulted how to put an end to those notorious mischiefs and at length concluded that there could be no peace in the Kingdom while Gaveston was alive Hereupon they resolved to venture their Lives and Estates for the destruction of this infamous Foreâ—gner who seemed to design nothing but the utter ruin of the Nation Pursuant to which resolution they constitute Thomas Earl of Lancaster to be their Leader and put themselves in Arms but being sensible of the miseries of intestine Wars they were willing first to try all peaceable Expedients and therefore several Great men were sent with an humble Petition to the King at York requesting him to deliver into their hands or drive out of his Company and Kingdom the wicked Gaveston assuring him that they were all of opinion that he would never have any Money in his Exchequer nor any love for his Queen whilst that profligate stranger was in so much Grace and threatning that if he did not gratifie them in their requests
they would renounce their Allegiance and prosecute him as a perjured Prince But the obstinate King would not condescend to their desires resolving to lose all rather than part with his dear Gaveston and therefore he instantly sent for several Foreign Souldiers and having hired three hundred Horsemen commanded by the Earl of Hannow and the Viscount Foix in their passage through France for England they were seized by that King who kill'd most of the Souldiers and hanged up the Officers He then solicited aid from Robert Bruce King of Scotland from 〈…〉 Thomas a Great man in Ireland and likewise from the Welsh but they all denied to give him any assistance against his Barons Whereat being inraged he fortified Windsor Castle and built Forts in several other parts of the Kingdom The Lords likewise raised Forces and resolved to march toward York from whence the King was gone to Sea for his recreation leaving Gaveston behind him who lodged in the Castle and caused that and the City also to be strengthned with new Fortifications The Barons rendezvoused at Bedford where they made Gilbert Earl of Glocester Lord Keeper of England and ordered strict Guards to be set upon the Sea-Coasts for preventing any Foreign Forces from landing to assist the Ring From hence they proceeded to York at whose approach Gaveston fled from thence to Scarborough the Lords pursued him thither and Besieging the Town they quickly took it and made him a Prisoner committing him to the Custody of Aymer de Valence Earl of Pembroke who carried him to a Village called Dathington between Oxford and Warwick designing to have conveyed him the next day to Wallingford Castle and going that night to lodge with his Countess who was hard by the next morning Guy Earl of Warwick with a strong Party took him away from thence and brought him to Warwick Castle And the Lords having called a Council of War it was unanimously resolved by the Earls of Lancaster Warwick and Hereford that he should be instantly put to death as a subverter of the Government and a notorious Traytor to the Kingdom And thereupon he was carried to a place called Blacklow and afterward Gaveshead where he was beheaded in the presence of the Lords aforementioned in 1312. His Body was by the Friers Predicant conveyed to Oxford and there kept above two years till the King caused it to be removed to Kings Langley in Hartfordshire where he in person to demonstrate his endeared affection to him dead as well as living attended with the Archbishop of Canterbury four Bishops with many Abbots and principal Clergy Men caused him to be interred in the Friers Church which he had built with all manner of Funeral Pomp and Solemnity Few or none of the Temporal Lords being present whose great Hearts could not comply to honour him being dead whom they so mortally hated when alive This was the fatal end of this angracious Favourite who if he had used moderation and discretion might have long enjoyed the grandeur to which he had arrived but the publick wrongs he was guilty of together with the private and personal abuses offered to the principal Nobility made him odious and abhorred no injuries being harder to be forgiven or forgotten than Scoffs and Jeers at mens Personal defects which have occasioned the destruction of many in all Ages and made this unfortunate man dye unpitied and unlamented being reckoned to fall a just Sacrifice both to publick and private vengeance Remarks on the Lives Actions and Fatal Fall of Hugh Spencer the Father Earl of Winchester and Hugh Spencer the Son Earl of Glocester Both Favourites to King Edward the Second INnumerable are the mischiefs that a Kingdom is subject to which is governed by a perverse and wilful Prince which commonly occasions great calamities both to himself and his People and of which we have scarce a more pregnant instance than in the Reign of that unhappy King Edward the second who though he had suffered so many troubles for his inordinate and unreasonable favours to Peirce Gaveston and by whose removal the Nobility seemed so well contented that he might now have settled himself and the Realm in Peace yet his violent nature was such that instead thereof he made it his Study how â—o destroy those Lords who had deprived him of his beloved Gaveston whose death so afflicted him that he seemed as if he had lost half of himself and whose Blood he designed to revenge upon them to the utmost as the only means to revive his languishing Spirit and remove the mourning and sorrow that had lain upon his mind ever since his fatal Fall The Barons were very sensible of his rage and displeasure against them and therefore resolved not to 〈◊〉 down their arms till they had sufficiently provided for their future security and settled the Government upon its antient and legal foundation This unnatural division between the King and his Peers was much heightned by the ill Offices of the Queens Kindred and Countrymen the French who coming over in great numbers to attend the solemnity of the Baptizing the King's Son afterward the Victorious King Edward III. who was about this time born at Windsor they so aggravated these proceedings of the Lords against him that he who was too much inflamed before seemed now irreconcileable to them So that nothing but the miseries of an Intestine War were expected To prevent which the young Queen the Bishops and some other Noblemen procured an enterview between them where the King sharply charged the Barons for their rebellious and presumptuous taking up Arms against him and for seizing and wickedly murdering his dear and faithful Friend Peirce Gaveston The Lords resolutely answered That they were not guilty of Rebellion nor had done any thing but what deserved his Royal thanks and favour since they had not raised any Forces against his Sacred Person but only in their own defence and to bring to Justice that impious Traytor Peirce Gaveston the publick Enemy and Fire-brand of the Realm But though both were very fierce in words yet the Queen and Bishops used all manner of means to prevent their coming to action and by their incessant endeavours wrought so effectually that the King seemed willing to be pacified if they would acknowledge their Fault And the Lords for preventing the dangers which now threatned them from Robert Bruce King of Scotland were contented to make their humble submissions to the King in open Court at Westminster and desired him to forgive all their offences against him which the King graciously granted them offering his Pardon to all that would Petition him for the same Upon which happy agreement the Parliament then sitting being sensible of the King 's great want of money freely granted him a fifteenth of their Estates for his support But Guy Earl of Warwick did not long survive this happy union being secretly Poisoned as the Lords reported by some of the King's Friends The Office of Lord Chamberlain being vacant by
were obliged by Act of Parliament to pay the King one hundred eighteen thousand eight hundred and forty Pounds Cromwel after this came into great Favour with the King who made him a Knight Master of his Jewel House and a Privy Councellour and soon after Knight of the Garter Earl of Essex Lord Privy Seal and Lord Great Chamberlain of England and lastly he was constituted Vicegerent in all Ecclesiastical Affairs by Virtue whereof both in Parliament and elsewhere he had the precedence of the Archbishop of Canterbury This Authority he used upon all occasions for the extirpating Romish Superstition and Idolatry to which he always was an utter Enemy and for which there was a fair occasion offered For the King being inraged against the Pope for refusing to annul his Marriage with Queen Katherine though he had the Judgement of nineteen Universities on his side he resolved to have the matter determined by the Clergy of his own Kingdom and having summoned a Convocation they after mature debate declared the Marriage null and void from the beginning and confirmed the Kings second Marriage with Queen Ann of Bullen which he had consummated some time before And a Parliament being called several Acts were passed against the Popes Supremacy whereby all Clergymen that should make any appeal to Rome were declared guilty of a Praemunire and that the King should have power to visit examine and reform all the Monasteries and Nunneries of the Kingdom and should give Licenses for electing Bishops to all Vacancies without the Popes consent or approbation and declaring the King Supream Head on earth of the Church of England after which a stop was put to the Persecutions which the Protestant Ministers had suffered many of whom were cruelly burnt by the Popish Clergy for want of stronger Arguments to convince them The Nobility and Gentry were generally well satisfied with this change but the Body of the People who were more under the Power of the Priests were by them possest with great fears of a change of Religion being told that the King had now joined himself with Hereticks and that Queen Ann Cranmer now Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Cromwel favoured them For the Monks and Friers saw themselves left at the King's Mercy the Trads of new Saints was now at an end they had also some Intimations that Cromwel was forming a Project for suppressing Monasteries so that in Confessions and Discourses they infused into the People a dislike of the Kings Proceedings which prevail'd so far upon them as they afterward broke out into formidable Insurrections and Rebellions in divers Parts of the Kingdom Cromwel by his Vicegerency had precedence of all next the Royal Family and as the King came in the Popes Room so the Vicegerents Authority was in all Points the same that the Legates had in the time of Popery the first Act of Cromwel's after his being Vicar General was with a Delegation of the Kings Supremacy to him to visit all the Monasteries and Churches in England of which the Bishops and Abbots were so jealous that of their own accord before any Law was made about it they swore to maintain the Kings Supremacy however the Visitation went on throughout England and in many places monstrous disorders were found as the Sin of Sodomy in some barbarous Murthers and Cruelties in others Tools for false Coining in others and great Factions and Divisions in many The Report that was made contained many other abominable Crimes not fit to be named hereupon Cromwel procured the Parliament to pass an Act that thirty Persons Spiritual and Temporal such as his Majesty should impower under his Great Seal should have Authority to make and establish Laws and Ordinances Ecclesiastical which should be obligatory upon all the Subjects of this Realm and likewise that all Religious Houses either Monasteries Priories or Nunneries whose revenues did not exceed two hundred pounds a Year should be supprest and dissolved and all their Possessions and Lands setled on the Crown for ever And the Reasons alledged for doing this were because these Houses were erected upon gross abuses and subsisted by them the Foundation of all their Wealth being founded upon the belief of Purgatory and of the Virtue that was in Masses to redeem Souls out of it and that these eased the Torments of departed Souls and at last delivered them out of them so it past among all for a piece of Piety to Parents and of care for their own Souls and Families to endow those Houses with some Lands upon Condition they should have Masses said for them the number of which were usually according to the value of the Gift this was like to have drawn the whole Wealth of the Nation into those Houses had not some restraint been put to that Superstition they also perswaded the People that the Saints interceded for them and would kindly accept offerings made at their Shrines and the greater they were the more earnestly would they use their Interest for them The credulous Vulgar measuring the Court of Heaven by those on Earth believed that Presents might be very prevalent there so that every new Saint must have new Gifts presented him Likewise some Images were believed to have an extraordinary Virtue in them and Pilgrimages to them were much extolled and there was great Contention among the Monasteries every one magnifying their one Saints Images and Reliques above others the Wealth that these Follies brought in occasioned great Corruptions so that the Monks and Friers were very debaucht and very Ignorant And the begging Friers under the appearance of Poverty course Diet and Cloathing gained much esteem and became almost the only Preachers and Confessort in the World but not being able to conceal their Vices they were now fallen under much Scandal and a general Disesteem and the King designing to create new Bishopricks thought it necessary in Order thereto to make use of some of their Revenues and that the best way to bring them into his hands would be to expose their vices that so they might quite lose the esteem they yet had with some and it would be the less dangerous to suppress them Cromwel was imploy'd in this Reforming Work and for removing all Images and Superstitious Pictures out of the Churches many of the Abbots surrendred their Monasteries and in most Houses the Visitors made the Monks sign a Confession of their former Vices and Disorders in which they acknowledged their Idleness Gluttony and Sensuality for which the Pit of Hell was ready to swallow them up others acknowledged that they were sensible that the manner of their former pretended Religion consisting only in some Dumb Ceremonies whereby they were blindly led without any Knowledge of God's Laws and being exempted from the Authority of their own Bishops and wholly subjecting themselves to a Forreign Power who took no care to reform their abuses it had occasioned great disorders among them but the most perfect way of Life revealed by Christ and
The Unfortunate Court-Favourites OF ENGLAND Exemplified In some Remarks upon the Lives Actions and Fatal Fall of divers Great Men who have been Favourites to several English Kings and Queens Namely I. Peirce Gaveston Earl of Cornwall II. Hugh Spencer Earl of Winchester â—II Hugh Spencer the Son E. of Glorester â—V Roger Mortimer Earl of March V. Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham VI. Thomas Woolsey Cardinal of York VII Thomas Cromwell Earl of Essex VIII Robert Devereux Earl of Essex IX George Villiers Duke of Buckingham X. Thomas Wentworth Earl of Stafford By R. B. LONDON Printed for Nath. Crouch at the Bell in the Poultrey 〈◊〉 Cheapside 1695. The Kings and Queens of England to whom the following Unfortunate Great Men were Favourites I. PEirce Gaveston Earl of Cornwal Favourite to King Edward II. II III. Hugh Spencer the Father and Hugh Spencer the Son both Favourites to King Edward II. IV. Roger Mortimer Earl of March Favourite to Queen Isabel Widow to King Edward II. and Mother to King Edward III. V. Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham Favourite to King Richard III. VI. Thomas Woolsey Cardinal of York Favourite to King Henry VIII VII Thomas Cromwel Earl of Essex Favourite to King Henry VIII VIII Robert Devereux Earl of Essex Favourite to Queen Elizabeth IX George Villiers Duke of Buckingham Favourite to King Charles I. and King James I X. Thomas Wentworth Earl of Stafford Favourite to King Charles I. To the Reader NOthing is more obvious than that Ambition Envy and Emulation are the usual Attendants on the Courts of Princes and that the effects of them have been often very fatal to many Great Men who had the fortune to have a larger share in their Masters affections than others It is likewise as notorious That there are certain Crises of Government wherein Princes have been obliged to Sacrifice their darling Ministers either to their own safety or to the importunity of their People Lastly it is as evident That some Court-Favourites have justly merited the unhappy Fate they met with for their many Rapines Insolencies and Enormities as that others have been ruined meerly from the Caprichio or inconstant Temper of the Prince whom they served Of all these in my opinion the ensuing Favourites are pregnant Instances But I shall leave the Reader to particularise them according to his own Judgment and will only add That they are not all to be condemned as Criminal meerly because they all happened to be unfortunate R. B. Remarks on the Life Actions and Fatal Fall of Peirce Gavestone Earl of Cornwall and Favourite to King Edward the Second THAT Unhappy Prince Edward the 2d was certainly the most Unfortunate in his Favourites of any King of England either before or fince his Reign The first and Fatal Favourite he had was in his Youth before he came to the Crown whose name was Peirce Gaveston born in Gascoigne a Province of France and for the good Service performed by his Father in the Wars in that Kingdom his Son was taken into such Favour at Court that by K. Edward the First 's own appointment he was Educated and made a Companion to the young Prince And indeed his outward Accomplishments seemed to render him worthy of such great Honour being a Person of a sharp Wir an excellent Shape and of a valiant Temper of which he gave notable proof in a Battel against the Scots and for which they afterward bore him a mortal Hatred But all these worthy Qualities were utterly defac'd and clouded by his vicious Incliâ—ations so that as to his Christian and Moral Vertues which are only really commendable in Men Authors are very silent in mentioning them though all give large accounts of his Faults and Immoraâ—ities And King Edward was so sensible that his Son the Prince had been debauched by the corrupt Conversation of Gavestone that some time before his Death he was banished the Kingdom And upon his Death-bed commanding the Prince his Son to repair to him with all speed to Carlisle in Cumberland where he was with a great Army ready to invade Scotland He gave him many worthy Admonitions and much good Advice particularly That he should be merciful just and kind faithful in word and deed an incourager of those that were good and ready to relieve those that were in distress That he should be loving to his two Brothers Thomas and Edmund but especially to honour and respect his Mother Queen Margaret That upon pain of his Malediction and Curse he should not presume without common consent to recall Peirce Gavestone from Exile who for abusing his tender Years with wicked practices by common Decree of the Nobility was banished He also added a strange Injunction for a dying man namely That after his Death the Prince should not presume to take the Crown of England till he had honourably revenged the Injuries his Father had received from the Scots and finisht the present Expedition against them and that he should carry his Father's Bones about with him in a Coffin till he had marched through all Scotland and subdued all his Enemies assuring him that while they were with him he should be always victorious Lastly Whereas by the continual Attempts of Bruce King of Scotland he was prevented from performing his Vow of going in Person for the recovery of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Infidels that he should send his Heart thither accompanied with 140 Knights and their Retinue for whose support he had provided Thirty two thousand pounds of Silver That after his Heart was conveyed thither he hoped in God all things would prosper with them Adjuring the Prince upon pain of Eternal Damnation that he should not expend the Money upon any other use After these Admonitions and having taken an Oath of this vain Young Prince to perform his Will he gave up the Ghost After his Father's Death the Son soon made it appear how little regard he had to perform his dying Requests and to shew what his future Behaviour was like to be he in the first place revenged himself upon Walter Langton Bishop of Chester Lord Treasurer of England and Principal Executor of his Father's Last Will whom he imprisoned in Wallingford Castle seizing upon all his Estate no man daring to intercede on his behalf because of the extream hatred which the King shewed against him the Bishop's Crime being only in using a modest freedom in K. Edward's days in gravely reproving 〈…〉 for his 〈◊〉 meanours and not suffering him to have what 〈…〉 he required to waste prodigally upon his 〈…〉 Gavestone against whom he likewise made such great and just Complaints as occasioned the imprisonment of the Prince the banishment of his leud Favourite Soon after the young King married Isabel Daughter to Philip the Fair of France the March being concluded before his Father's death and was now performed with extraordinary Magnificence at Bullen At which Solemnity there were five Kings namely Philip the French King the
the death of Peirce Gaveston the Nobility recommended Hugh Spencer the younger to the King to succeed in his place because he had been formerly of their Party and they did not doubt but he would be a very faithful Counsellor But as the Proverb says Honours change Manners for though the King before hated him yet he soon insinuated himself so far into his weak Mind that he became as intimate a Favourite and succeeded in all the Graces Familiarity and Power of his Predecessor as well as in the Hatred and Envy of the Nobility and People occasioned by his Insolence Ambition and Lewdness wherein he seemed to equal if not exceed the Wicked Gaveston and thereby rendred himself so acceptable to the vitiated Soul of King Edward Hugh Spencer his Father an antient Knight was yet living and accounted a Person of great vertue a wise Counsellor and a Man of Valour but seeming very forward in promoting his Son's Interest and Grandeur he was likewise introduced into Court and in great favour with the King so that he was made partaker of the guilt and calamity of his Son rather out of Natural and Paternal Love and Tenderness than from the wilfulness or depravity of his Mind But young Spencer was nâ—… of a more lovely shape and comely Personage than he was of a profligate and flagitious temper The Spirit of Pride Rapine Oppression and all the most intolerable vices seeming to have wholly possest him So that in comparison of him the People were ready almost to wish for Gaveston again By his leud advice the K. pursued his former course of Debauchery spending his Time and Treasure among lascivious Harlots and Concubines and utterly renouncing the sweet Conversation of his excellent Consort which made him a scorn to Foreign Princes and hateful in the sight of all Civil Men. He was the cause of the ruin of divers Widows and Fatherless of the destruction of many Noblemen and Gentlemen and at length of the utter overthrow and confusion of Himself his Father and the King also This evil management of Affairs caused new dscords between the King and his Nobility whereby many mischiefs happened in the Kingdom and their Enemies had a fair opportunity to put in practice their designs against them Among others the Scots having joyfully Crowned the valiant Robert Bruce for their King resolved to use their utmost efforts for recovering their Country and Liberties which had been Ravished from them by the valiant King Edward I. who had made an entire Conquest of their Kingdom and appointed John Cummin Earl of Buquan a Scot to be Governour thereof for the English Him King Robert had vanquisht in Battel and was now grown so powerful while King Edward was buried in soft and unmanly luxury and delight that he sent his Brother Edward to Besiege the Castle of Sterling which bold attempt began to awaken the King of England out of his destructive Slumbers So that with all speed raising a very potent Army he with all diligence marched toward the relief thereof Hector Boetius the Scots Historian gives a very surprizing account of the number of Soldiers that King Edward carried with him to this Siege which he reckons to be one hundred and fifty thousand Horsâ—â—en and as many Foot and because this may seem incredible he adds That besides the English he had likewise the assistance of the Hollanders Zealanders Flemings Picards Boulonis Gascoigns Normans and many more from other Provinces in France and other Countries Besides which three hundred thousand Men of War he relates that there were a vast multitude of Women Children Servants yea whole Families with their House-hold-stuff which followed the Camp wherein this Author may be thought to have designed the magnifying the Valour of his Countrey-men who with far more inconsiderable Forces defeated this mighty Host His Darling Spencer accompanied the King in this Expedition but the Earls of Lancaster Warren Warwick and Arundel the greatest Peers of that Age positively refused to attend him since He and his Evil Ministers continued their Invasions and Depredations upon the Liberties and Estates of the People notwithstanding the provisions they had so often made and he had so often consented to for securing the same And as this must needs diminish his strength so it likewise deprived him of their Counsel and Conduct which was so absolutely necessary in Military Affairs However his number of Men was sufficient if Multitude without Discipline Piety or Courage could always obtain Victory But K. Edward and his Army seemed rather to be going to a Wedding or a Triumph than to engage a rough and hardy Enemy for their Targets Bucklers and other Habiliments of War were so glorious with Gold and Silver and their bright Armour gave such a dazling lustre against the Sun-beams as raised wonder in the admiring Spectators and seemed very much to correspond with the wanton Humour of the Prince And herein it is very apparent what great Advantages true and sober Courage usually obtains against vain Gallantry and ungrounded Confidence King Robert with his Forces which were much inferiour to the English being incampt near King Edward's he published a strict Order the Evening before That his Souldiers should prepare themselves for Battel the next day and that they should make humble Confession of their sins and offences in order to the receiving of the Blessed Sacrament and then no doubt the Lord of Hosts would give them Victory since they designed only to free themselves from the many woful Calamities which they had suffered from the English and to recover the Liberty and Freedom of their Countrey Far otherwise was it in the Camp of K. Edward for the Scots having the day before surprized and cut off several English Horse-men he was so far from being discouraged at such a slight presage of ill Fortune that he resolved the very next day to take a terrible Revenge upon them of which he had such a confident assurance that he triumpht before the Victory his Souldiers drinking carousing and threatning their Enemies with the utmost Cruelties that could be executed upon them But the Scots to obviate their strengâ—h by Policy had digged before the Front of their Battalions several Trenches three foot in depth and as many broad wherein they placed sharp Stakes with their points upwards and covered them over so exactly with Hurdles that Foot men might pass lightly over but Horse would certainly sink in and this Strategem nâ—xt to the Anger of Heaven against the English for their Vain-glory and Effeminacy was the principal cause of the Defeat of King Edward for he reposing much Confidence in his Cavalry the fury of their first Charge was intercepted and stopt by these Pit-falls into which the Horses plunging in great numbers the Riders were miserably destroyed with much ease by the Scots whom King Robert marching on foot in the head of led on with the utmost Courage and Gallantry The King of England had marshall'd his Army
in very good Order but this unexpected and dismal Discomfiture of his Horse in those mischievous Ditches utterly confounded all his measures so that he was compelled after some disordered Resistance to leave to the Scots the greatest Victory that ever they obtained against the English in any Age either before or since King Edward could hardly be persuaded to make his Escape it being the first time that ever he discovered any symptoms of the Courage of a Valiant English King but at length being over-persuaded by his Friends himself and his cowardly Favourite Spencer whom K. Edward's own Historian calls A Faint-hearted Kite fled with all speed to a place of safety All things proved unfortunate in this Battle for when the Foot perceived the Horse in that wretched condition they shot their Arrows at the Scots who came to kill them but they being Armed in their fore-parts received little or no damage so that they slew a great number of their Friends whose backs were towards them unarmed The loss fell much upon the Nobility for there was slain in this Battel Gilbert Clare Earl of Glocester a Man of singular Valour and Wisdom the Lord Clifford with several other Peers besides seven hundred Knights Esquires and Officers of Note The slaughter of the rest could not be great since the Scots fought on foot Hector Boetius saith There were 50000 English kill'd though no other Author will allow of above 10000. The Riches and Plunder taken doubtless was very valuable Among the Prisoners the chief was Humphrey Bohun Earl of Hereford who was after exchanged for King Robert's Queen who had been long time Prisoner in England This Battel was fought at a place called Bannocks Boum near Sterling in Scotland on Midsummer day June 24 1314. and King Robert having been formerly Resident in England Treated the Prisoners with all kind of Civility and sent the Bodies of the Earl of Glocester and Lord Clifford to England to be honourably buried with their Ancestors From this Overthrow King Edward and his Minion Spencer made their Escape to Berwick and came from thence to York where he publickly declared That he was resolved instantly to raise new Forces and to regain the Honour he had lost or else to lose his Life in the Attempt But all his Designs of that kind proved utterly fruitless For soon after the strong and almost impregnable Castle of Berwick was treacherously betrayed into the hands of King Robert by one Peter Spalding whom the King of England had made Governour thereof but he instead of the promised Reward was hanged by the King of Scots for his Treachery After this the King raised another Army against the Scots but received a second great and unhappy Overthrow returning home with much Ignominy and Shame leaving his Subjects in the North distrest and unrelieved from the continual Ravages of their Implacable Enemies the Scots in as lamentable a manner as ever any People were abandoned by an unworthy and careless Prince Of these Disgraces Losses and Troubles we may make this useful Observation That as the Heroick Virtues of excellent Princes are usually crowned with Blessings from Heaven so for the Iniquities and heinous Transgressions of wicked and ungodly Kings both themselves and their Subjects likewise are severely punished by the Almighty before whom Princes must fall as well as common Men except their true and hearty Repentance with amendment of their Lives do procure his Mercy and Favour before it be too late And indeed the Hand of God seem'd now stretcht out against this Kingdom for about this time so great a Pestilence and Mortality happened that the Living were hardly sufficient to bury the Dead This was attended with a dreadful Famine occasioned by immoderate Rains in Harvest which destroyed all the Corn almost throughout England and at length the Dearth grew so terrible that Horse-flesh was counted dainty Victuals The Poor stole fat Dogs to eat them yea some compelled with hunger are their own Children and others stole their Neighbours Children to eat them Thieves in Prison kill'd and tore in pieces those that came newly in and greedily devoured them half alive As for Cows Sheep Goats c. they were generally rotten and corrupted by eating the Grass which was infected as it grew so that those who eat of them were poisoned But neither these woful Visitations nor the innumerable dishonours afflictions and discontents under which the Nation lay had any influence upon the King or his Ministers which gave encouragement to one John Poydras a Tanner's Son at Exeter to attempt a very daring Enterprize he boldly affirming himself to be the truly begotten Son of the last King Edward the first and said That he was changed in his Cradle by his Nurse for a Carter's Child offering divers colourable Allegations to prove the same and among the rest he strongly insisted upon the unprincely and unworthy qualities and actions of the King such as none could be guilty of that was not of a mean sordid and obscure Birth and Descent His confident Claim and daring Assertions quickly affected the Minds of the common People so that many gathered to him and acknowledged him for their King But at length he was apprehended and having confest his Treason he was Condemned and Executed for his folly near Northampton declaring that he did it by the motion of a Familiar Spirit whom he had serv'd three years in the likeness of a Cat. About the same time divers notorious Thieves and Robbers near two hundred in number being all clothed like Grey Friers robbed and murdered and destroyed the Inhabitants of the North-Countrey without regard to Quality Age or Sex but some Forces being sent against them took the greatest part who were deservedly Executed for the same The Nobility and Gentry perceiving that the Distempers and Mischiefs in the Realm did daily increase and grow more dangerous they like good Physicians determined to search narrowly into the Causes of all these Maladies and to provide some Remedy for their Redress before it were too late and the miserable Oppressions and Violencies daily committed in their view made them take courage to inform the King That the two Spencers by their Mismanagement and ill Conduct in the Affairs of State of whom alone the King took Advice and Counsel were the immediate and only occasion of all those Calamities and Misfortunes which now miserably afflicted and disturbed the whole Kingdom and plainly told him That they had so great an Interest in the King's Person and Government that they judged themselves bound in Honour and Conscience to inform his Highness of all such Misdemeanours aâ— were committed by any of his Subjects which tended â—o the subversion of the State and to the disturbing of the Publick Peace thereof They concluded 〈◊〉 â—umbly imploring his Majesty That he would be pleased to dismiss the two Spencers from his Preâ—ence Court and Council for ever 〈◊〉 corrupted â—im with monstrous Vices and render'd him altogeher careless
Bridg thy Bowels taken out and Burnt thy Body quartered and thy four Quarters set up in four principal Cities of England for an example to such heinous Offenders And this Sentence was accordingly executed upon him Thus ended this unfortunate expedition to the great reproach and loss of the English and the scandal of the King who was grown sufficiently infamous already for making the Kingdom a shambles for the Nobility Yet in the midst of these calamities the two Spencers rid Triumphant in the Chariot of Favour Power Honour and Riches enjoying great part of the Estate of the late unfortunate Earl of Lancaster and in this grandeur they continued for the space of five years notwithstanding the utmost efforts of their potent and numerous adversaries who continually meditated their destruction During which time the Queens Interest extreamly declined who for shewing some relentings for the severity used to the Lords and expressing her dislike of the overgrown authority of the two wicked Favourites by whose persuasions she was sensible the King her Husband abandoned her Company and Bed was extreamly hated by them So that they continued their impious Artifices to allure the King with the Company and Dalliance of Leud and Lascivious Harlots and to avoid any converse with her And it did appear that these evil minded and vile men working upon the King's inclination were the principal Authors and Advisers of that sharp revenge taken upon the Lords for their own ambitious and avaritious ends whereby at length they brought inevitable ruin upon the Crown Dignity and Life of their Soveraign Which the following instance seeâ—… plainly to confirm Among those who were condemned for joining with the Earl of Lancaster the King's Uncle there was one very poor Fellow for whose life because he had long continued at Court many great Courtâ—…rs interceeded very earnestly and pressed the matter so far that the King in a rage replied 'A plague upon you for a company of Cursed Whisperers malicious Backbiters Flatterers and wicked Counsellors who can beg so heartily for saving the life of a notorious wicked Knave and yet could not speak a word in the behalf of the most noble Knight Earl Thomas of Lancaster my near Kinsman whose Life and Counsels would now have been of great use and service to the Kingdom Whereas this wretch the longer he lives the more villanies will he commit having already made himself notorious throughout the Realm for his horrid Crimes and desperate Outrages For which by the Soul of God he shall dye the death he hath justly deserved And he was accordingly executed This may be some evidence that the King was over persuaded to commit those Tragedies upon the Lords 〈…〉 was reckoned to be naturally merciful and 〈◊〉 according to the Religion of those times but 〈◊〉 â—…iâ—led by depraved Counsellors though he 〈…〉 inexcusable since it is usually said That good 〈◊〉 cannot satisfie for publick Errors and Mischiefs The Spencers still continued their Rapines and Profligate courses and aspiring to more absolute Dominion resolved to leave nothing unattempted that might rivet them in the affections of the King and inrich themselves which begot implacable enmity in the People both against them and their Master their insolence rising to such an height that they abridged the Queen of her usual allowance so that she had not wherewith to maintain her self while themselves abounded in all manner of plenty and magnificence Which caused her publickly to complain ' That the Daughter and Sole Heir of the King of France was Married to a miserable Wretch who did not allow her necessaries and that being promised to be a Queen she was now become no better than a waiting Gentlewoman subsisting only upon a Pension from the Spencers And dreading their malice she took her Eldest Son Prince Edward and privately withdrew into France to her Brother King Charles by whom she was kindly received and comforted with solemn Oaths and Promises that he would effectually assist her against all her Enemies and redress the grievances of the Kingdom A while after the Barons by their Letters assured her of their best help and service to her Self and Son declaring that if she would return to England with the aid of only a thousand valiant men at Arms they would raise so great a strength here to join them as should make the Spencers feel the smart of their unsufferable follies The Queen was exceedingly rejoiced with the hopes of her fortunate success But the two Spencers much doubting the event if she should return with Forces and having the Treasure of the Kingdom at command they corrupted King Charles and his Council with such prodigious sums of Gold and Silver and of Rich Jewels that not only all succour was denied her but the French K. reprimanded her very sharply for having so undutifully and imprudently forsaken her Lord and Dear Husband Yea the Pope likewise and many of the Cardinals being ingaged with rich Presents by the Spencers required King Charles under the Penalty of Cursing to send the Queen and Prince to King Edward And doubtless she had been unnaturally betrayed by her own Brother had she not privately and speedily made her escape to the Earl of Heynault in Germany where she was entertained with extraordinary joy by the Earl and the Lord Beumont his Brother who resolved to accompany her to England In the mean time King Edward and his profligate Favourites having intelligence of their Intentions he sent to demand his Wife and Son to be returned home but not succeeding and the Spencers knowing that if an happy Agreement should have been made between the King his Queen and the Barons they must both have been made Sacrifices of Peace-Offering to appease the resentments of the People they therefore resolve to make the Breach irreconcileable by persuading the King to proclaim the Queen and Prince with all their Adherents Traytors and Enemies to the King and Kingdom banishing all that he thought were well-affected to them and keeping a severe Eye over the discoâ—ented Barons and it was reported That a secret Plot was laid to have taken away the Lives both of the Queen and her Son While the Queen continued in Heynault she concluded a Marriage between the Prince then about fourteen years old and the Lady Philippa that Earl's Daughter and with the Money of her Dowry Listed Souldiers in Germany and soon after with three hundred Knights and gallant Warriours and about 1700 Common Souldiers Germans and English commanded by the Earl of Heynault with the Earls of Kent Pembroke the Lord Beumont and many other English-men of Quality she safely arrived at Orwell in Suffolk Upon the first Intelligence of their Landing the Lords and Barons with joyful hearts and numerous Troops of resolute Gallants compleatly Armed repaired to her Assistance with all speed so that her Forces hourly increased Her Arrival being reported to the King He poor Prince was so surprized that he knew not what course to take
being as destitute of Friends and Means to defend himself as he was of Courage and Counsel However he requested Aid of the Citizens of London whose Answer was That they would honour with all duty the King Queen and Prince their Son who was lawful Heir to the Kingdom but that they would shut their Gates against all Foreigners and Traytors to the Realm and with all their Powers withstand them but that they were not obliged to go out of their Ctiy to fight no farther than that according to their Liberties they might return home again before Sun-set This uncertain Answer so discouraged the King that he resolved to withdraw from the City to the Marches of Wales for the present levying of an Army attended with his inseparable Favourites the two Spencers and Robert Baldock Bishop of Norwich their intimate Friend Before he went he ordered the Tower of London to be fortified which he committed to the Custody of Sir John Weston who was well provided with Men and Victuals leaving also to his care his younger Son called Lord John of Eltham with the countess of Glocester the King's Niece Wife to the younger Spencer and gave the Government of the City to Walter Stapilton Bishop of Exeter a Creature of the Spencers his chief Treasure and caused a Proclamation to be published enjoyning all his Subjects to oppose kill and destroy all the partakers with the Queen her self her Son and the Earl of Kent his half Brother only excepted On the other side the Queen made Proclamation That no Person whatsoever should receive any hurt or damage from her Army but only those two notorious Miscreants the Spencers Bishop Baldock Lord Chancellor and their Associates and that she came over for no other end but to bring to condign punishment those notorious Traytors and Misleaders of the King promising a thousand pound to any who should bring her the Head of the younger Spencer The King had no sooner took his last leave of the City and thereby of his Crown and Dignity but the Londoners scorning to submit to their proud and insolent Governour apprehended Stapilton and two of his Servants and without any Tryal or Judicial proceeding beheaded them at the Standard in Cheapside with one John Marshal a Citizen and Friend of the Spencers They likewise surprized the Tower killing all that opposed them and declared Lord John the King's Son Keeper of the City securing that and the City for the use of the Queen and the young Prince All Prisoners throughout the Kingdom were likewise set at liberty and all Fugitives and banished Men recalled which much augmented the Queen's Power The King hearing of this Revolt altered his purpose of raising Forces But whither could this poor Prince flie What course could he take for his own safety who to gratifie a few profligate Miscreants had made his Wife his Son his Nobility and his People his avowed Enemies At length he concladed to flie to Bristol which he fortified as strongly as he was able giving the Government of the Town to the Earl of Arundel and Hugh Spencer the Elder himself with the younger Spencer retiring into the Castle which they resolved to defend to the utmost The Queen marched from Oxford to Glocester in her way to Bristol which she designed to besiege her Forces increasing all the way The Earls of Leicester and Marshal the Lords Peircy Wake and other Noblemen both from Wales and the North with the Bishops of Hereford Ely and Lincoln and a great number more of Barons Knights and Gentlemen coming in to her Assistance With this great Army she arrived at Bristol and besieged it The City was taken in a few days with the Elder Spencer the Governour whom the Queen at the earnest importunity of the common People commanded to be hanged without examination in his Armour on the common Gallows without the City and then cut down alive his Bowels taken out and burnt before his Eyes his Head cut off and then his Body hanged up again by the Feet and after having four days hung a miserable spectacle to all Beholders his Body was cut all to pieces and given to the Dogs to eat and his Head set upon Winchester Castle The King the younger Spencer and Bishop Baldock much distrusting their ability to defend the Castle retired from thence secretly in the night and getting into a small Fisher-boat determined to flie into the Isle of Lundy in the mouth of the River Severn about two Miles in length and as many broad stored with Rabbits Pigeons and other Fowls incompassed with the Sea and having only one passage into it so narrow that two Men can scarce go abreast But Divine Providence seemed to withstand their purpose as designing them to be brought to Justice so that every day for a week or more when they attempted to Row their Boat thither the Wind and Waves drove it back again toward the Castle which being at length perceived by the Lord Beumont he chased the Fisher boat with a small Vessel and boarding it found therein the King young Spencer and Baldock whom they so much desired and brought them to the Queen who caused them to be carried and set in sight of the Besieged in the Castle which was still defended by Hugolin Grandchild to the Elder Spencer with much courage and now finding no hope of relief surrendred it upon condition to have his own and his Companions Lives saved Some Authors write That the King going into a Vessel out of Bristol Castle designed to flie into Ireland and that after he had wander'd a week upon the Sea Sir Thomas Blount one of his Friends forsaking him and going to the Queen he came ashoar in Glamorganshire where with his few Friends he intrusted himself with the Welsh who had still a kindness for him The King not appearing Proclamation was made That the Barons and People desired his return to the Exercise of the Government provided he would remedy what was amiss Whereupon Henry Earl of Lancaster Brother to the late Earl Sir William Zouch and Rice ap Howel who had all Lands in Wales were sent with Money and Forces to discover him which so prevailed upon the Welsh-men that they delivered him up together with the younger Spencer Baldock and one Simon Reading and received a Reward of 2000 pound They were brought to the Queen who was then at Hereford with Adam Tarlton the active Bishop The King was conveyed by the Earl of Lancaster to Kennelworth Castle After which the Queen and Prince attended by the Barons and a strong Army marched toward London carrying with them young Spencer in Chains like a Slave before whom certain pitiful Fidlers and other Varlets scornfully played upon Pipes made of Reeds skiping dancing and singing through every Town as they passed along Spencer and Simon Reading another evil instrument were sentenced to Death by the Judge Sir William Trussel as Traytors Spencer in his Armour was with all manner of scorn and insults
from the People drag'd to a Gallows set up on purpose fifty foot high where being hanged he was afterward cut down and beheaded and quartered His head set upon London Bridge and his Quarters in four principal Towns of the Kingdom Simon Reading was hanged ten foot lower on the same Gallows and Robert Baldock was committed Prisoner to Newgate where with grief and hard usage he soon after died This happened in 1326. Thus Divine Vengeance pursued these two ambitious and profligate Wretches the Spencers Father and Son and brought those who set at defiance the Nobility Gentry and People of the Realm to such shameful and ignominious deaths as by their vile actions they had justly merited Since by their leud and prosligate Counsels they prevailed upon the King to commit all manner of Enormities by forsaking the Company and Bed of his lawful Wife and living in all manner of debauchery with common Strumpets By destroying and ruining his Nobility and Gentry by all manner of Rapines upon the Common People by suffering their Enemies to Plunder and Beggar them without any redress and by all other misdemeanors which rendred him odious to his Subjects and made him rule rather like a Tyrant than a King And thereby occasioned his Deposition and Death which soon after followed For the Queen having summoned a Parliament it was by General consent of the three Estates concluded That King Edward should reign no longer but his Son the Prince should be advanced to the Throne The Archbishop of Canterbury Preaching a Sermon and taking for his Text this Maxim Vox Populi Vox Dei The Voice of the People is the Voice of God Exhorting all his Auditors to Pray to the King of Kings to bless and prosper the King that they had Elected The Queen seemed very sorrowful and even distracted at her Husband's deposition and the P. lamented for his Mothers grief swearing that he would not accept of the Crown without his Father's consent To content them both Commissioners are sent to the King who persuaded him to make a formal Resignation of the Government and then his Son was Crowned King And not long after the Father being removed to Corf Castle was barbarously murdered by his Keepers who through a horn run a burning hot Spit into his Fundament of which he instantly died I shall add no more having already given a particular account of his Resignation and Death in a Book called Admirable Curiosities and Rarities in every County in England c. Remarks upon the Life Actions and fatal Fall of Roger Mortimer Earl of March Favourite to Queen Isabel Widow to King Edward II. and Mother to King Edward III. SUCH is the Malignity of Humane Nature that though there are daily examples of Divine Vengeance executed upon notorious Offendors yet men continue to perpetrate the same crimes that plunged their Predecessors into misery and ruin Of this Roger Mortimer is an obvious instance who though he were an Eye-witness of the fatal fall of the three unfortunate Favourites Gaveston and the two Spencers with divers of their Associates in the former Reign Yea though he himself was very instrumental in their destruction and very active in pretending to reform the Grievances of the Kingdom Yet no sooner was King Edward by his means deposed and a young Prince advanced to the Throne under the Government and Management of his Mother but he by managing the Queen occasioned many mischiefs not much inferior to those of the former abhorred Minions yea exceeding their wickedness in one point namely in being criminally concerned with the Queen Dowager that being one of the Articles the Parliament charged him with But as he wilfully disregarded these warnings and impudently committed the like faults so the Justice of Heaven visited him with the same deserved punishment He was descended from Roger called the Great Lord Mortimer of Wigmore in the Marches of Wales who was his Grandfather and revived and erected again the Round Table at Kennelworth after the Antient Order of King Arthur's Table with the Retinue of an hundred Knights and 100 Ladies in his house for the entertaining of such Adventurers as came thither from all parts of Christendom This young Roger inherited his Estate and Grandeur And Queen Isabel Wife to King Edward II. and Daughter to Philip the Fair King of France being in the glory of her youth forsaken by the King her Husband who delighted only in the company of Peirce Gaveston his Minion and Favourite she fell passionately in love with this Lord Wigmore though before she was accounted the most virtuous chast and excellent Lady of that Age. After the ignominious but deserved death of Gaveston the King instead of being reformed was presently infatuated with the love of two others the Spencers Father and Son who were as bad if not worse than he for all manner of leudness and debauchery Whereupon the Earls of Lancaster Hereford Warwick Lincoln and others rise in Arms against them they having taken an Oath to King Edward I. on his death bed to oppose and withstand his Son Edward if he ever recalled Gaveston from Exile and finding that his death had not much bettered the state of the Kingdom they thought themselves obliged by the same Oath to endeavour the ruin of them also and thereby the redressing the many oppressions and violencies under which the Nation groaned This Roger Lord Wigmore a man of an invincible Spirit and his Uncle Roger Mortimer the Elder resolved to join with the Lords in this attempt and being very busie in raising Forces were taken before they could muster them and by the King committed to the Tower of London But the Queen by means of Torlton Bishop of Hereford Beck Bishop of Durham and Patriarch of Jerusalem then both Mighty Men in the State prevailed so far with the King that upon the submission of the Mortimers the King was somewhat pacified But afterward when He had gained a great Victory against the Barons the young Lord Wigmore and his Uncle were condemned to be Drawn and Hang'd at Westminster and the day of Execution was appointed Whereupon the Younger Spencer some time before pretended to make a great Feast in honour of his Birthday inviting thereunto Sir Stephen Seagrave Constable of the Tower with the rest of the Officers belonging to the same and after he had made them very merry he gave to each a large Cup of a sleepy Drink prepared by Queen Isabel by which means he made his escape breaking through the Wall of his Chamber and coming into the Kitchen near the King's Lodgings and getting into the top thereof came into a Ward of the Tower and so with a strong Ladder of Ropes provided by a Friend he got over the Wall leaving the Ropes fastened thereunto which the next day the Spectators beheld with much astonishment considering the desperate danger which he ventured in the attempt He then swam over the Thames into Kent and avoiding the Highaways came at length
to the Seaside near Portsmouth where happily meeting with a Ship bound for France he passed over thither and lived in the French Court several years His Uncle Roger was detained in a loathsome Prison five years after and at length died and was Buried at Bristol King Edward was so inraged at his escape that he turned Sir Stephen Seagrave out of his place of Constable of the Tower and several Citizens were seized and accused of being accessary to his getting away and of corresponding with and maintaining him beyond Sea but there note being sufficient proof against them they were all acquitted Mortimer continued in France till Queen Isabel and the Prince arrived there to avoid the insults of the two insolent Spencers He after attended the Queen into Germany and came over with her and the rest of the English Lords accompanied with the Earl of Heynault and several German and English Forces And upon King Edward's Flight and afterward his Seizing and Imprisonment Mortimer presumed to manage all affairs according to his own pleasure and therefore the death of the Spencers Reading and some others not satisfying his revenge being high in the Queens favour who could not deny him the Heads of a few of his Enemies he procured that the Earl of Arundel and two Gentlemen more named John Daniel and Thomas Mochelden against whom he had a particular aversion should be Beheaded at Hereford After this the Queen her Son and the beloved Mortimer went to Wallingford Castle where they kept their Christmass with all manner of jollity From thence they proceeded to London where the Queen and Prince were received with much Joy and many rich Presents and a Parliament being called it was concluded that King Edward should be Deposed and his Son advanced to the Throne In the management whereof Mortimer discovered very much zeal activity and diligence as hoping thereby to become Chief Minister of State as well as principal Favourite of the Queen King Edward was Deposed accordingly and confined to Kennelworth Castle the Queen Roger Mortimer and Torlton Bishop of Hereford having concluded to allow him an hundred Marks a month for his necessary Expences And now it was hoped that the Kingdom having suffered so many Concussions and Miseries for several years would have been settled and restored to its former peace and tranquility But it soon appeared that though the Nation had changed its Master yet other evil Instruments succeeded to trouble and disquiet the already harassed People So that one Historian writes thus The beginning of the Reign of King Edward III. was very troublesome for he by reason of his tender Age being but fifteen years old when he came to the Crown was drawn aside by evil Counsel and committed many foul errors of State and Government The chief occasion of which were the Queen her Darling Roger Mortimer and some others For first they procured so great a part of the Revenue of the Nation to be settled for maintaining the Queen and her Family that the young King had scarce a third part of it for himself and his necessary Attendants and Officers So that she and her Favourite Mortimer lived in the greatest State and Grandeur imaginable and the People began to exclaim against him and say publickly That the great zeal and hatred he had shewed against the Rapines of the Spencers was not because they had been oppressive to the Subject but that he was desirous no Body should abuse them but himself Secondly The Queen and he having intelligence that several Great Persons and the whole Order of Friers Preachers taking pity of the late King's Captivity seemed to Consult for his deliverance and knowing that his Restoration would be their confusion they wickedly plotted and contrived to add Murther to their former Impieties and therefore Roger Mortimer was sent with that ambiguous Order to his Keepers devised by Torlton Bishop of Hereford Edwardum occidere nolite tinere bonum est To shed King Edward's Blood Refuse to fear I count it good Where by leaving out the stops they sufficiently incouraged the Murtherers and yet afterward produced the Writing under Queen Isabels Seal for their own Justification when the horrid Fact was committed Though this was very far from clearing them from the guilt of it in the opinion of the Vulgar whose Tongues spare none and who had before heard that though the Queen in her outward deportment pretended much grief and sorrow for the Imprisonment of the King her Husband yet instead of visiting him in his distress which he often desired as still retaining a very great love for her She only sent him fine Clothes and kind Letters but contrary to the Laws of God and Man refrained from rendring him any Nuptial Duties which they plainly reported she bestowed freely enough upon her bloody Adulterer Mortimer Pretending in the mean time that Reasons of State would not allow her to converse with him And soon after this desolate Prince was by an express order from the Young King wholly procured by them removed from Kennelworth to Corf Castle and there miserably deprived of his life Thirdly In the second year of the young King's Reign Robert Bruce King of Scotland denounced War against him and his Kingdom which occasioned the raising of a strong Army consisting of above fifty thousand men with which the King accompanied by the Queen Mother Roger Mortimer the Lord of Heynault John Lord Beumont and many others of the Nobility and Gentry marched toward the Scots who had Invaded England And had so happily incompast them in the Wood of Wiridale and Stanhope Park that the English seemed fully assured of Victory Yet by the Treachery of Roger Mortimer they were not only suffered to make a total escape without any loss but Sir James Dowglass in the dead of the Night with 200 Light-Horse assaulted the King 's own Pavilion and had certainly killed him had not one of his Chaplains a Valiant Man sacrificed his own life in defence of his Soveraign's Dowglass after this bold attempt escaped back without damage but not without honour for his daring Courage this misfortune was afterward charged upon Mortlmer as designing by the death of the King to Usurp the Crown The Scots left their Camp entire behind them wherein the English found 500 Oxen and Cows ready killed a Thousand Spits full of Roast-Meat 500 Caldrons made of Cow-hides new with the Hair on full of Flesh Boyling over Fires And Ten thousand pair of Shoes made of raw Hides with the Hair outward All which became a welcome booty to the hungry English Souldiers Fourthly After this dishonourable retreat of the King who was extreamly grieved to return so ingloriously notwithstanding the expence of a vast Treasure and the imminent danger of his own Person and just before the death of King Robert who died of the Leprosie being accounted one of the most Valiant Warriors of that Age as having redeemed his Country from Slavery and by whose loss it appeared of
how much value the Courage and Conduct of a Prince is yet before he died by the contrivance of the Queen Mother Roger Mortimer and their Adherents such a dishonourable Peace is made with the Scots as exceedingly displeased the whole Kingdom and in the end proved fatal to the principal actor Mortimer For at this Treaty the King then in his Minority Sealed Charters to the Scots at Northampton contrived by the Queen her Favourite and Sir James Dowglas without the knowledge or consent of the Peers of England whereby that famous Charter called Ragmans Roll was surrendred to them with several Jewels and among them one of an extraordinary value called the Black Cross of Scotland all which were taken from the Scots by the Victorious King Edward I. The Scots Kings were likewise freed and discharged for ever from doing homage and fealty to the Kings of England or from acknowledging them to have any Right or Superiority over that Kingdom And that all Englishmen should forfeit their Lands in Scotland unless they went and resided there and swore Allegiance to that King Moreover under pretence of making reparation for damages King Robert was obliged to pay the King of England Thirty Thousand Marks Sterling which Money was given to Mortimer as a reward for his procuring this destructive and mischievous Treaty And to conclude all David Bruce Prince of Scotland a Child of Seven or Eight Years Old and Heir to K. Robert Married Jane Sister to K. Edward at Berwick whom the Scots in derision both of the Peace and Marriage scornfully nicknamed Jane Make Peace Lastly The Queen and Mortimer being sensible that some of the Principal Nobility disliked their proceedings and hindred their absolute Government they resolved to contrive some means for removing them out of the way and among others Edward Earl of Kent the King's Unckle To effect this it is said Mortimer caused a report to be spread abroad that K. Edward II. was still alive at Corf-Castle but not to be seen in the day time and to countenance the deceit for many Nights together there were Lights set up in all the Windows of the Castle and an appearance made of Masquing Dancing and other Royal Solemnities as if for the King's diversion This being observed by the Countrey People they confirmed the rumour of the late King 's being there which was soon dispersed throughout England The Earl of Kent hearing the news sent a Preaching Frier to the Castle to find out the truth of it who by giving Money to the Porter was admitted into the Castle lying very privately in his Lodg all day at night the Porter causing him to put off his own Priestly Robes and put on his the Frier was brought into the Hall where he saw as he imagined King Edward II. sitting in Royal Majesty at supper The Frier returning to the Earl assured him of the reality of what he had seen whereupon the Earl being discontented swore that he would endeavour by all ways possible to deliver his Brother out of Prison and restore him to his Throne To which purpose he ingaged several other Noblemen in the design with the Provincial of the White and Carmelite Friers the Bishop of London and others This Conspiracy being discovered though it were only a Lye and fancy the Frier being imposed upon only by a King made of Clouts Yet the Earl of Kent by his words and some Letters that were found about him was condemned as a Traytor for conspiring to set a dead Man at liberty But so generally was this Noble Lord beloved and honoured that he stood upon a Scaffold at the Castle-Gates at Winchester from Noon till five a Clock at Night for want of an Executioner none being to be found that would behead him till at length Mortimer sent for a poor wretched Fellow out of the Jayl who with much ado and many blows hack'd his Head from his Body The Malice and Ambition of Mortimer and his Associates in making so little conscience of shedding Royal Blood with the many other Male-administrations aforementioned raised inveterate discontents throughout the Kingdom against the Insolent Authors of them But in the mean time they who resolved to support their Grandeur in despight of Peers and People summoned a Parliament at Nottingham where Roger Mortimer appeared in the utmost splendor and glory being Created Earl of March and having greater attendance and stronger Guards than the King himself whom he would suffer to rise up to him and with whom he walked as his Companion yea went before him with his Officers He likewise very scornfully and insolently rebuked Henry Earl of Lancaster the King's Cousin that without his leave he had taken up Lodgings in the Town so near the Queen and obliged him with the Earl of Hereford and Effex to remove their Lodgings a Mile from Nottingham This notorious affront caused great murmuring among the Noblemen who said publickly That Roger Mortimer the Queens Gallant and the Kings's Master sought by all means possible to destroy all the Royal Blood thereby to Usurp the Crown and Government which some of the King's Friends being mightily concerned at endeavoured to make him sensible of his danger swearing that if he would espouse their Cause they would faithfully assist him and secure his Person The Young King began already to put on serious thoughts and acted the Man much beyond his years so that the Lords soon prevailed upon him to join with them in asserting his own Authority which he himself saw so much lessened by Mortimer's 〈◊〉 grown Power He was likewise informed that 〈◊〉 was commonly reported the Queen was with Child by Mortimer to the great dishonour both of his Mother and himself and to the grief of all his Loyal Subjects Hereupon he resolutely ingaged with the Peers to bring this Miscreant and his Abettors to punishment In order to which Robert Holland who had been long Governour of Nottingham-Castle and knew all the secret passages and conveyances therein was taken into the design Now there was in the Castle a private Passage cut through the Rock upon which it is built which was divided into two ways one opening toward the River of Trent which runs under it and the other went a great deal farther under the adjoining Meadows and was after called Mortimer's Hole The King lying one Night without the Castle was conducted by Torch-light through this Passage himself and his Valiant Attendants being all well Armed and their Swords drawn till he came to the door of the Queens Bed-Chamber which the secure and careless Lords had left wide open Some of the foremost entred the Room desiring the King to retire a little that the Queen might not see him and slew Sir Hugh Turpington who opposed them from whom they went towards the Queen Mother with whom they found Mortimer both just ready to go into Bed and seizing him they led him out into the Hall whom the Queen followed crying out Bel silz bel filz ayes pitie
associated to himself the Duke of Buckingham Lord High Constable and the Lord Hastings Lord Chamberlain of England two of the most powerful men in the Kingdom prevailing upon the former by promising him the Earldom of Hereford and the other being hereby in hopes to be revenged upon his former Enemies So that they joined with him in opinion that it was not necessary the Queens Kindred should so wholly engross the King and Persons of better Birth and Nobility should be neglected and therefore they ought to use their utmost endeavours to remove them The young King was now coming toward London with a great Attendance of Lords and their Followers in order to his Coronation which the Duke of Glocester judging to be another rub in his way since he could not bring about his purposes without seeming to make an open War He thereupon sends flattering Letters to the Queen with zealous pretences of Loyalty and Service persuading her to dismiss the great Guards about the King since it might raise Jealousies in the Minds of the rest of the Nobility that her Kindred did not raise these Forces for the security of the King's Person but for some Sinister intent and might cause them to raise a strength proportionable to encounter them and so occasion a Civil War in the Kingdom wherein her Kinsmen would by all the World be judged the first Aggressors These plausible reasons had such influence upon the innocent Princess that she sends positive Order to the King and her Brother instantly to disband their Guards for reasons best known to her self without mentioning by whose advice which if she had they would never have done it but upon the receipt of these Letters they presently discharged the Souldiers and came on with a very mean Train and having passed through Northampton were proceeding to Stony-Stratford twelve Miles from thence where the Dukes of Glocester and Buckingham met them But they pretending that the Town was too little for them and their Retinue went back to Northampton where the Earl Rivers had taken up his Quarters for that night intending the next Mornining to follow the King Several Complements passed upon their Meeting and Supper being ended the two Dukes pretend to retire to rest and the Earl went to his Lodgings The two Dukes wasted a great part of the Night in consulting with their Friends how to execute their enterprize and having got the Keys of the Inn Gate they suffered none to go in or out of which Earl Rivers having notice though he suspected mischief yet in confidence of his own innocence he went boldly into the Dukes Chamber where he found the Duke of Buckingham and the rest closely contriving their business with whom he expostulated the unreasonableness of their making him a Prisoner against his Will but instead of a reply they instantly command him to be seized accusing him of divers crimes whereof they themselves were only culpable and then putting him in safe custody they ride away to the King to Stony Stratford coming just as he was taking Horse whom they salute with much seeming reverence but presently begin a quarrel with the Lord Richard Grey the King 's half Brother The Duke of Buckingham giving the King an account that this Lord the Marquess of Dorset his Brother and the Earl Rivers had contrived and almost effected the ingrossing the management of all the affairs of the Kingdom among themselves which might be of dangerous consequence by raising discontents among the Nobility and dissention among the People and that the Marquess had taken out of the Tower of London a great quantity of Money and Arms without Warrant which might justly be suspected is not intended for any good end and that it was therefore thought necessary by the Lords and Peers that he should be seized at Northampton so to be ready to answer what he should be charged with The King not being sensible of their design mildly answered What my Brother Marquess hath done I cannot say but for my Uncle Rivers and my Brother here I am well satisfied that they are ignorant of any unlawful Practices either against me or you Oh says the Duke of Buckingham that hath been their policy to conceal their treachery from your Graces knowledge And thereupon they instantly in the King's presence seized the Lord Grey Sir Thomas Vaughan and Sir Richard Hall and carried the King with all his company back to Northampton turning away all his Old Officers and Servants and putting those in their rooms who were under their direction at which harsh usage the young King wept and was much discontented but without remedy Yet to colour their intents the Duke of Glocester being at Dinner sent a Dish of Meat from his own Table to the Lord Rivers biding him he of good cheer for in a short time all would be well The Earl thanking the Duke desired the Messenger to carry the Dish to the Lord Richard Grey with the same message for his comfort as one to whom such troubles were unusual but for himself he had been inured to them all his life and therefore could the better bear them But notwithstanding this pretended kindness the Duke of Glocester sent the Earl Rivers the Lord Grey and Sir Tho. Vaughan into the North and afterward to Pomfret Castle where they were all in the end beheaded by his Order without Trial. The Duke having gotten his Prey in his Clutches marches with the King toward London declaring to all People in the way that the Queens Relations had conspired to destroy the King and all the antient Nobility of the Kingdom and to subvert the Government of the Nation and that they were taken and imprisoned in order to be brought to a Legal Trial. And to make it more probable they carried along with them divers Waggons loaden with Arms with several Chests which they themselves had provided pretending they were full of Money which the Conspirators had provided to pay the Forces they designed to raise But the finest Intreague of all was that five of the Dukes own Creatures were brought along in Chains who in every place where the K. lodged were given out to be Persons of Quality that had been drawn into this horrid Plot and Treason by the Queens Brother who being now very sensible of their guilt had confessed the whole of these wicked contrivances This Pageantry was acted all the way till the King came to London but then the actors were discovered and the cheat was openly detected About midnight of the next day the Queen had notice of these sorrowful accidents and now too late repented her folly in being so treacherously imposed upon by the bloody Duke of Glocester as to dismiss the Guards about her Son's Person by his instigation and doubting that worse would follow she with her youngest Son Richard and five Daughters takes Sanctuary at Westminster lodging in the Abbot's House there The Young King having intelligence of these things with Sighs and Tears exprest
much grief but the two Dukes made so many protestations of their fidelity and care of his safety that they seemed to wonder at his being any way concerned Soon after the Lord Hastings sent a Messenger to the Archbishop of York then Lord Chancellor of England to signifie to him that he need not be disturbed at what happened assuring him that in a little while all would be well again I am sure replied the Archbishop Let it be as well as it will it will never be so well as we have seen it And presently after the Archbishop attended by all his Servants armed in the midst of the Night came to the distressed Queen whom he found sitting alone upon an heap of Rushes much disconsolate and in Tears whom he endeavoured to comfort by telling her That he had good hopes the matter would not be so bad as she suspected the Lord Hastings having by a Messenger sent on purpose assured him that all would end well ' Ah wretch quoth the Queen that man is one of those who endeavour to ruin me and my Family Madam quoth the Bishop pray be pacified for I will ingage that if they dare presume to Crown any but your Son whom they now have with them the next day we will Crown his Brother who is here with you And Madam I here deliver you the Great Seal which was committed to me by that Noble Prince your Husband and which I resign to you only for the use and benefit of your Son After which he departed and in his way home observed the River of Thames full of Boats with the Duke of Glocester's Servants watching to prevent any from going into Sanctuary without being first searcht and examined These proceedings were very distastful to many of the Nobility and Citizens doubting that all this was intended against the King's Person and to prevent his Coronation Whereupon they went armed about the streets and met together to consult of the common safety But the Lords of the Council being assembled the Archbishop of York fearing that he should be charged with want of understanding for delivering the Great Seal to the Queen without the King or Councils leave he privately sent for it again which being returned he brought it as usually into Council The Lord Hastings whose fidelity to the King was real assured the Lords that the Duke of Glocester was faithful and loyal to his Prince and that the Lord Rivers and Lord Richard with the other Knights were secured for some secret practices against the Dukes of Glocester and Buckingham and that the King should receive no damage thereby and that they should continue Prisoners no longer than till the whole matter was throughly examined before the King and Council He therefore advised the Lords not to judge of it before they had heard it nor to turn their private grudges and quarrels into publick contentions and thereby disturb the King's Coronation which might be of worse consequence than they could at present imagine For the Dukes were now coming to London to that purpose and if the Lords should take up Arms to oppose them they would be counted Rebels Since having the King in their Hands they would pretend his Authority to declare them so to be By these Arguments some of which he knew to be true and others not but chiefly by the near approach of the two Dukes to the City these commotions were pacified At the King's approach the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Sheriffs of London with five hundred Horse went as far as Hornsey to wait upon him and attended him from thence to London where he arrived May 4. 1483. And was Lodged in the Bishop's Palace A great Council was then held and the Dukes of Glocester and Buckingham with the rest of the Lords present swore Allegiance to the King and the Duke of Glocester carried himself so respectfully to him that all the former jealousies of his designing foul play vanished and he gained such reputation and credit with the Council that by their general consent and approbation he was chosen Protector of the King and Kingdom And thus was the Innocent Lamb delivered into the Custody of the Ravenous Wolf The Council severely check'd the Archbishop of York for so inconsiderately delivering the Great Seal to the Queen which was now taken from him and given to Dr. Russell Bishop of Lincoln one of the Honestest and Learnedst Men of that Time Several Knights and Gentlemen had Places bestowed upon them but the Lord Hastings kept his Office of Lord Chamberlain as formerly and so did divers others The Duke of Glocester knowing he could not finish his mischevious purposes without having the other Son Richard Duke of York in his hands for without them both he was as good have had neither Therefore as his actions had made the King Melancholly he now pretends that he ought to have his Brother's company to make him merry and at the next meeting of the Lords of the Council he represented to them That it was a very heinous 〈◊〉 in the Queen to keep the King's Brother in Sanctuary and not to let them come together and 〈◊〉 pleasure in each others conversation That it 〈◊〉 occasion the People to have ill thoughts of the 〈…〉 Councellors since the Queen durst not trust 〈…〉 Son in the hands or those who were 〈…〉 by the Peers of the 〈◊〉 to have the 〈◊〉 and Guardianship of the 〈◊〉 stoyal Person 〈…〉 and office consisted 〈…〉 in preserving him from Enemies or Poyson but in procuring for him such recreations and pleasures as were suitable to his Youth and Dignity and which he could not enjoy so properly in the company of Grave Councellors or Ancient Persons as in that of his own Dear Brother He therefore advised that the Archbishop of York might be sent to persuade the Queen to deliver her Son out of Sanctuary which would be so much to the advantage of the Young Duke the King 's most Noble Brother and after his Soveraign Lord himself his most Dear Nephew and might also prevent any sinister thoughts of the People concerning the Nobility and Council But if she continued obstinate and would not hearken to the Archbishop's Councel in this matter that then by the King's Authority he should be forcibly taken from her and brought to his Royal presence where he shall be so honourably received and treated that the World shall be convinced it was only the malice frowardness and folly of his Mother which occasioned his being kept in Prison so long already This subtil Speech had such effect upon the Council that they all concluded the motion to be just and reasonable And likewise comfortable and honourable both to the King and his Brother and would prevent Evil surmises provided the Queen could be induced quietly to deliver him The Archbishop undertook to use his utmost endeavours to incline her to it but added if she persisted in refusing it he thought it was not to be attempted against her
so it was agreed between them that the Duke should assist the Protector to advance him to the Crown In recompence of which service the Protector 's only Son and Heir should marry the Duke's Daughter and should likewise have the Earldom of Hereford settled upon him and his Successors which he had claimed as his Inheritance from Edward IV. but could never obtain it He also promised the Duke a large sum of the King's Money and a great quantity of his Houshold-stuff Having entred into this cursed combination to delude the People they pretend to make great preparations for Crowning the young King To which purpose all the Lords of the Council were summoned to appear in the Tower Where they met accordingly but the Protector being sensible that the Lord Hastings would be a great obstacle in his way because of his firmness and fidelity to his old Master King Edward's Sons he resolved to be rid of him which he effected in the manner following The Protector coming into Council complemented all the Lords very affably seeming more than ordinarily merry and after some other discourses My Lord says he to the Bishop of Ely I hear you have very good Strawberries in your Garden in Holbourn pray let us have a dish of them With all my heart replied the Bishop and instantly sent for some The Protector then rose hastily up desiring them to excuse his absence for a while And returning about an hour after he appeared so extreamly disturbed and changed in his countenance uttering so many grievous sighs and using such passionate gestures that the Lords were in much admiration of the cause thereof He knit his Brows and bit his Lips appearing extreâ—mly concerned After long silence the more to prepare their attentions he asks confusedly what punishment they deserved who had compassed imagined and contrived the destruction of him who was so near allied to the King and Protector of his Person and Kingdom At this question the Lords were all amazed and sate looking upon each other without speaking a word at ength the Lord Hastings by the instigation of the Duke of Buckingham presuming upon his intimacy with the Protector replied That whoever they were they deserved to be punished as Traytors to which the other Lords assented Whereat the Protector rising up Why it is says he that old Sorceress my Brother Edward's Widow and her Partner that common Whore Jane Shore that have by Witchcraft and Inchantment contrived to take away my life And though by God's Mercy they have not been able to finish their Villany yet see the mischief they have done me for behold and then he shewed his left Arm naked and withered how they have caused this dear Limb of mine to wither and grow useless and my whole body had been in the same miserable plight if they had executed their Wills upon me The Lords who knew the goodness and virtue of the Queen and that his Arm had been always withered from his birth found it a false pretence but were so astonish'd at his confidence that they durst not utter a word till the Lord Hastings thinking to lay all the fault upon the Queen and excuse Jane Shore whom he had taken for his Mistress and Bed-fellow ever since King Edward's death and from whom he had risen that Morning submissively answered If the Queen have conspired which he had no sooner said but the Protector looking fiercely upon him What says he in a great rage dost thou tell me of If 's and And 's I tell thee they and none but they have done it and thou art Confederate with them in their Villany Who I my Lord quoth he Yea thou Traytor says the Protector and therewith striking a sound blow with his hand upon the Table Treason was cried in the next room and immediately a great number of armed men came rushing in as if to guard the Protector one of whom with a furious blow of a Pole-axe wounded the Lord Stanley in the head and had certainly kill'd him but that with the stroke he sunk under the Table The rest of the Council were seized and secured in several Rooms The Lord Hastings the Protector charged with High Treason and wished him to make haste and Confess himself swearing by St. Paul his usual Dath that he would neither eat nor drink till his Head were off It signified nothing to ask a reason for he knew the Protector would give none so he was carried to the Green in the Tower before the Chappel where his Head was laid upon a long peice of Timber and there struck off and his Head and Body afterward buried in Windsor Chappel near King Edward IV. In the Tragical end of this Lord we may observe how inevitable the strokes of destiny are for the very Night before his Death the Lord Stanley sent a secret Message to him at Midnight in all hast to inform him of a Dream he had in which he thought that a Boar with his Tusks had so goared them by the Heads that the Blood ran about their Ears and because the Protector gave the Boar for his Arms or Cognizance this Dream had made so dreadful an impression upon his mind that he was fully resolved not to stay any longer and had his Horse ready requiring the Lord Hastings to go along with him and that they might Ride so fast as to be out of danger before Morning But the Lord Hastings returned this Answer by the Messenger Ah good Lord Doth thy Master insist so much upon Trifles and has he such faith in Dreams which either proceed from fancy or from the thoughts of the preceeding Day but if they foretel things to come why may they not presage that if we run away and should be taken then the Boar might have some reason to use us ill Therefore commend me to thy Master and bid him 〈◊〉 merry and fear nothing for I am as sure of the â—…an he woteth of as I am of my own Right hand The 〈◊〉 he meant was one Catesby a Lawyer who was at 〈◊〉 advanced by his favour and now grown so intimate 〈◊〉 the Protector that he did not doubt but he would discover any ill design against him But he was much mistaken for after he became so great with the Pretector Catesby was the first Man that advised the taking off the Lord Hastings Likewise the same Morning he was Beheaded his Horse stumbled twice or thrice almost to falling which though it often happen by chance yet has been sometimes reckoned a token of misfortune Moreover at the same time coming to Tower-Wharf he there met a Pursivant of his own Name which made him recal what had happened to him some time before in that place for he was accused by the Lord Rivers in King Edward IV. Reign of some Crimes which for a time cast him out of the King's favour and indangered his Life but was after restored again into Grace Now seeing this Man Ah Hastings quoth the Lord
Thou canst not forget that the last time I met thee here it was with a heavy Heart Yes my Lord said the Purfivant I remember it very well but thanks be to God your Enemies gained nothing nor had your Lordship any damage thereby and now the danger is over Thou wouldest say so indeed said the Lord if thou knewest as much as I do for the World is well changed now and my Enemies are in greater danger as thou mayst happen to hear in a few days the Enemies he meant were the Lord Rivers and others of the Queens Kindre◠who were that very day secretly ordered to be Beheaded at Pomfret-Castle of which he had knowledge and I was never merrier nor in more safety since I was Born By this we may learn that there is no greater sign of ill fortune than to be too secure and that Men are blind as to their own Fate and though the Ax hangs over their Heads yet are not sensible of it but are oft most in danger when they think themselves safe and most safe when they judg themselves in danger For this Lord notwithstanding his great confidence lost his Head two hours after he spoke these words The same Morning as the Lord Hastings was going to the Council in tht Tower a Knight who pretended kindness to him but was thought to be privy to the Protector 's designs and sent to meet and hasten him thither offered to accompany him The Lord Hastings staid by the way in Tower-street to discourse with a Priest whom he met the Knight jokingly interrupted their talk saying Pray my Lord make haste for you have no need of a Priest yet seeming to be in jest but it was thought meant in earnest that he would in a short time have occasion for one The news of the Death of the Lord Hastings soon flew into the City and much surprized the People but the Protector to prevent any Commotion sent for several of the Principal Citizens to come to him with all speed At their appearance himself with the Duke of Buckingham received them in Old Rusty Armour to make a shew as if the present danger had obliged them to take what they could first come by and then the Protector declared to them That the Lord Hastings and other Conspirators had contrived to have slain him and the Duke of Buckingham in Council and then to have taken upon them to Govern the King and Kingdom at their pleasure Of which Treason they had made discovery but few hours before it should have been acted so that their sudden fear had caused them to put on such Armour as they first met with but that God had so far prevented their Traiterous purposes as some had already received their deserts This he required them to report to the People The Citizens seemed as if they had believed what he said though they all knew nothing was more false Presently after a Proclamation was published throughout the City reciting the aforenamed particulars and adding several reflections upon the Lord Hastings as that he was an Evil Councellour to King Edward IV. Advising him to do many things to his great Dishonour and the damage of the Kingdom by his ill Example and Conversation particularly in the lewdness of his Life which he still continued with Shore's Wife who was one of the principal Conspirators with whom he had converst the very last night and that it was no wonder if such a wicked course of Life had brought him to such an untimely Death which he was condemned to suffer by the special command of the King and his Honourable Privy Council before whom he was clearly Convicted to have contrived this horrid Treason and whose sudden Execution according to his demerits they hoped would prevent the other Conspirators from proceeding in their Traiterous purposes and secure the Peace of the Nation Now this Proclamation was published within two hours after the Lord Hastings was Beheaded and was so exactly perceived and fairly Written in Parchment and withal so long that all the World perceived it had been prepared long before which occasioned the School Master of St. Pauls at the Proclaiming it to say Here is a gay goodly cast foul cast away for haste To whom a Merchant Answered That it was written by Prophesie or Revelation After this the Protector like an Innocent continent Prince sent the Sheriffs of London to Jane Shore's House who lived from her Husband with an order to seize all her Goods which they did to the value of two or 3000 Marks and committed her to Prison He charging her with bewitching him and with conspiring with the Lord Hastings to destroy him but having no proof of any thing be then gravely accused her of what all the Kingdom knew before and she her self could not deny that she was Unchaste of her Body which made Men smile that it should be now told as new Hereupon he caused the Bishop of London to put her to open Pennance for Incontinency and the next Sunday she was brought out of Ludgate going before a Cross in Procession with a Wax Taper in her hand and though she was then in mean Apparel having only her Girdle on yet she appeared so fair and lovely the crowd of Spectators raising a comely blush in her Cheeks and withal so modest and sober that she was much commended by them who had more love for her Body than for her Soul yea those that hated her vitious life and were glad to see Sin punished yet pitied her misery and hard usage from him who inflicted it for wicked and politick ends and not out of love to Virtue or Chastity This Woman was a notable instance of the mutability of Fortune she was born in London of a good Family and very well Married to one Shore a sober worthy Citizen and Goldsmith but it was thought a little too Young so that she never shewed much affection to her Husband whom she was 〈◊〉 a capable of loving which might incline her the 〈…〉 imbrace King Edward's Kindness Which being attended with Honour Riches Fine Cloaths Ease Pleasure and all other humane delights was hardly to be resisted by such a tender heart as she had When the King had taken her for his Mistriss her Husband wholly abandoned her Bed After his Death the Lord Hastings who had an extream passion for her during the King's Life but either out of respect or faithfulness forbore Courting her now took her home to his House and maintained her in great splendor She was very fair and proper and nothing amiss in her whole Body but that some thought her not tall enough as some report who knew her in her Youth saith Sir Thomas More but now she is Old saith he who saw her she is lean withered and her Skin so extreamly shrivelled that it is scarce to be imagined so much beauty and comeliness ever resided in that wretched Carcass Yet she was not more admired for her handsomeness then for
end in reciprocal ruin And thus it happened with King Richard and the Duke of Buckingham his intimate Favourite who had been Confederates in the Death of many which now dissolves in the destruction of them both What the cause of the first breach was could not be known Whether the Duke did not think he was sufficiently rewarded for his Services Or that King Richard did not judg himself safe whilest he that set him on the Throne remained so Great Or that the Duke being Ambitious and Aspiring grew envious at his own ast in advancing him The last of which conjectures he seemed to confirm by pretending sickness to avoid being present at the Coronation Which King Richard was jealous of and therefore obliged him to come by sending word That if he did not he would ferch him Whereupon the Duke came with so ill a will that ever after there was no good understanding between them retiring presently after to his Castle at Brecknock And here the inscrutable depth of Divine Providence is very remarkable which the greatest Polititians cannot Fathom For the King had committed the Bishop of Ely to the Duke's custody as one that would secure him from doing any hurt and therefore designed it for the Bishop's punishment Whereas this very thing occasioned the Bishop's liberty and advancement and was a means of King Richard's destruction For the Duke retiring home seemed to be much disturbed and discontented in his mind and wanting rest would be sometimes talking with the Bishop who being a Man of great Wit and Judgment the Duke became at length extreamly pleased with his company and opened himself more freely to him whereby the Bishop perceived that the chief cause of his trouble was his envy to King Richard and thereupon he took an opportunity to discourse him to this purpose My Lord ' You know that formerly I took part with King Henry VI. and could have wished his Son had enjoyed the Crown but after God had ordained King Edward IV. to Reign I was never so mad to contend for a dead Prince against a living one and so I was a faithful Chaplain to King Edward and would have been glad his Child had succeeded him but since by the secret judgment of God it hath happened otherwise I will not strive to set up that which God hath pluck'd down And as for the Lord Protector and now King Here the Bishop made a sudden pause saying He had already medled too much in the World and would for the future be concerned with nothing but his Books and his Beads Because he ended with King the Duke was impatient to have him proceed saithfully promising no hurt should come from it but it may be much good assuring him that the reason why he desired the King to put him under his custody was that he might secretly ask his councel and advise My Lord Said the Bishop I humbly thank your Grace but I confess I do not much care to talk of Princes since it may often prove dangerous though nothing be ill meant But a Man's words may be interpreted not as he intended them but as the Prince pleases to construe them which puts me in mind of one of Aesop's Fables The Lyon had published a Proclamation That upon pain of death no Horned Beast should continue in an adjoining Wood now a certain Beast that had a bunch in his forehead flying away in great haste was met by a Fox who ask'd him whither he ran so fast Fast quoth he I think it is time to run if I intend to save my life Why Brother Reynard han't you heard of the Proclamation against Horned Beasts What then you Fool quoth the Fox That does not concern you for I am sure you have no Horns on your Head Ay marry quoth the Beast that I know well enough but what if the Lyon should call my bunch a horn where were I then Brother Reynard The Duke laughed at the story and said My Lord I warrant you neither the Lyon nor the Boar shall pick any matter out of any thing that has been spoken for it shall never come near their Ears In good faith Sir says the Bishop What we have said if taken as we meant it could only deserve thanks but being wrested as some would do might be of ill consequence to us both The Duke intreated him to go on in his former discourse My Lord said the Bishop As for the late Protector since he is now King in possession I shall not dispute his Title but for the good of the Kingdom I could wish he had in him those excellent Virtues wherewith God Almighty has qualified your Grace Here he stopt again My Lord said the Duke I much wonder at these sudden pauses which so interrupt your discourse that I can neither comprehend your thoughts of the King nor your affection to my self I therefore beg of you not to conceal your thoughts any longer but freely to discover your sentiments and upon my Honour I will be as secret as the Deaf and Dumb person is to the Singer or the Tree to the Hunter The Bishop upon the assurance of the Dukes thus followed his discourse My Lord ' I plainly perceive that this Realm is in great danger of being brought to confusion and desolation under the present Government but I have still some hope remaining by the dayly observation of your Noble Personage your Justice your ardent love to your Countrey and likewise the great love the People have toward you and should think the Kingdom fortunate which had a Prince so fit and apt to be their Governour as your self whose Person and actions contain in them all that is truly great just and honourable He then reproached the King for his many Murders Cruelties and Oppressions adding ' And now my Lord If you love God your posterity or your Native Country you must your self take upon you the Imperial Crown and Diadem of this Realm But if you refuse the same I then adjure you by the Faith you owe to God and the regard you ought to have for your Native Land in your Princely Wisdom to contrive some means whereby the Kingdom may be setled in Peace Liberty and safety under a Legal Government and if you think fit to advance again the House of Lancaster or to Marry the Eldest Daughter of King Edward IV. to some powerful Prince the new Crowned King may be quickly removed from his Usurp'd Throne and thereby Peace and Plenty and Tranquility will again be restored to the Nation The Bishop having ended his Speech the Duke remained silent for some time only breathing forth many deep sighs which much startled the Bishop and made his colour change The Duke perceiving it Be not afraid my Lord said he All promises shall be kept and so for that time they parted Next day the Duke sent for the Bishop and having repeated their former discourse he proceeded ' My Lord of Ely Because I discern you have a real
in the Morning they fell to rifling the Houses of several Foreigners but four or five hundred of them being seized by the Lord Mayor were committed to Prison and two hundred seventy eight were afterward indicted for High Treason but John Lincoln only was executed the King by the intercession of three Queens Katherine Queen of England and the French Queen and Queen of Scots his Sisters and by the persuasion of Cardinal VVoolsey without whose advice he would do nothing pardoning all the rest who being in number four hundred men and eleven women were brought by the Lord Mayor with Ropes about their Necks into VVestminster Hall where the Cardinal severely reprimanded the Lord Mayor and Aldermen for their negligence in not securing the peace of the City and then aggravated the high crime of the Prisoners who had justly deserved death Upon which they all cried to the King for mercy who thereupon told them That he would pardon them all which he had no sooner pronounced but the Prisoners gave a loud shout all at once throwing up their Halters toward the top of the Hall and so were dismissed and the Gibbets that had been set up in several parts of the City for their Execution were taken down and afterwards this was named The evil May Day About this time Maximilian the Emperor died and Charles V. his Son succeeded him in the Empire of Germany the Kingdom of Spain and the Low Countrys Upon which Cardinal VVoolsey was sent over to Bruges in Flanders to condole with and Congratulate the young Emperor who was then Resident there being furnisht for his Journey in all respects like a Great Prince his Attendants being clothed some in Crimson Velvet and Chains of Gold about their Necks Others in fine Scarlet edged with black Velvet and was received by the Emperor with as much honour as if he had been the King himself having the Great Seal of England with him which was always carried before him being served upon the knee by several English Noblemen and Gentlemen to the admiration of the Germans for his strange Pride and Insolence After which he returned into England in great Triumph being more in favâ—… with the King than before The French King Lewes being weary of the VVar with England and having a great Kindness for the Lady Mary King Henry's Sister sent Ambassadors to Treat of Peace and of a Marriage with her Both which were soon concluded and the Lady was sent to France and Crowned Queen at Paris the French declaring That they thought themselves the happiest People in the VVorld who had so good a King and fair a Queen to reign over them But King Lewes after twelve weeks converse with his most beautiful Lady died and his Brother Francis I. succeeded him who renewed the former amity between the two Kingdoms and for further confirmation of the same desired an enterview between them which the Cardinal persuaded the King to gratifie him in VVhereupon King Henry and his Queen attended by VVoolsey and a great number of Noblemen and Gentlemen sailed over to Callice and in a plain near Guisness a large Palace of Timber was framed where both the Kings met and imbraced each other with much seeming affection and where nothing was wanting as to Justs Turnaments and the other Princely Military Exercises of that age which were proper for such a Royal Assembly Soon after Charles the Emperor coming out of Spain to Sail into the Low Countrys landed at Dover where he was received and entertained by the Cardinal and King Henry went to Canterbury to meet with him and having sumptuously treated him for a few days the Emperor pursued his Voyage to Flanders in forty four men of VVar. A while after some differences happened between the French King and the Emperor to compose which Cardinal VVoolsey with some other Noblemen were sent but they not prevailing King Henry fell from the French King alledging that he had stirred up the Scots to make VVar with him but King Francis laid all the blame on the Cardinal's dissimulation and base treacherous practices However the VVar proceeded becteixt the two Kingdoms between the French King and the Duke of Bourbon insomuch that the Duke fled out of France to the Emperor to save his life the Cardinal having notice of it he contrived that he should be King Henry's General against the French King VVho thereupon raised a great Army against Burbon and drove him into the Town of Pavia in Italy where he was so closely besieged that he could get no Provisions the Cardinal being secretly corrupted by the French King to withhold his pay so that his Souldiers were ready to mutiny against their new General Hereupon finding his case desperate he resolved to attempt an escape and in the dead of the Night he sent part of his Forces to attack that part of the French Camp which was weakest himself marching out on the other side the City The Guards being weak and the Souldiers asleep it caused a very great disturbance among the French who turned their Cannon toward the Assaulters when Burbon falling unexpectedly upon the backs of them drove them from their Cannon which they turned upon themselves slew their Souldiers cut down their Tents and took Francis the French King Prisoner This great success so much incouraged these brave Germans that with their Imperial Ensigns displayed they marched to Florence and thence to Rome and gave three Assaults to the Walls thereof in one day in the last of which the Duke of Burbon was slain however his Army being commanded by the Prince of Orange and some other brave Generals the Popes Palace and the Castle of St. Angelo were taken and the Pope was made Prisoner with twenty four Cardinals that fled thither for security The City of Rome also was plundred where the Souldiers gained a very rich booty so that they were overloaden with valuable Jewels Plate and Money During the Siege the Souldiers would often Cloath a Man like the Pope and set him on Horseback with a Whore behind him who sometimes blest and sometimes curst as he rid along and whom the Souldiers called Antichrist The Cardinal hearing of the misfortune of his Father the Pope endeavoured by all means to induce K. Henry to declare War against the Emperour and to shew himself the Defender of the Church but the King replied ' My Lord I am more disturbed at this unhappy chance than my Tongue can express but whereas you say that I as Defender of the Faith ought to be concerned therein I do assure you my opinion is That this War between the Pope and the Emperor is not a War of Religion or for the Faith but for Temporal Possessions and Dominions and now Pope Clement is in the hands of Souldiers What can I do I can neither assist him with my Person nor my People cannot rescue him but if my Treasure will help him take what you think convenient Whereupon Woolsey took two hundred and
it not a marvellous thing to think into what great Debt this great Cardinal hath brought you to all your Subjects How so quoth the King Why says she there is not a man in your whole Kingdom worth an hundred pounds but he hath made you a Debtor to him Meaning the Loan which the Cardinal had borrowed for the King some years before and which he procured the House of Commons who were most the King's Servants to discharge without repaying a farthing to the great loss of the People Nay added she how many violencies and oppressions is he guilty of to your great dishonour and disgrace in divers parts of the Realm so that if my Lord of Norfolk my Lord of Suffolk my own Father or any other Nobleman had done but half so much wrong as he they well deserved to lose their Heads Then I perceive said the King that you are no friend of my Lord Cardinal 's Why Sir quoth she I have no cause no more have any others that love the King Neither has your Grace any reason to be kind to him considering his indirect and unlawful actions The King said no more but went away The Council and the Nobility perceiving that the King's Heart was estranged from Woolsey they resolved if possible utterly to depress him for he was generally hated for his excessive Pride insulting Tyranny grievous oppressions monstrous injustice unsatiable covetousness abominable debauchery malicious and cruel revenge and likewise for his secret Intreagues with the Pope and Church of Rome whereby the King's Authority and Prerogative Royal in all things touching the Church and Clergy were made void Hereupon they concluded him guilty of a Praemunire and that consequently he had forfeited all his Promotions Spiritual and Temporal with all the rest of his Estate and likewise his Liberty to the King These crimes the Nobility drew into Articles which were ingrossed and signed with their hands and then delivered to the King Which were as followeth I. That by subtil and indirect means he had procured himself without the King's consent to be made a Legate whereby he deprived the Bishops and Clergy of England of all jurisdiction in Ecclesiastical Affairs II. That in all his Letters to Foreign Princes he used the insolent stile of Ego Rex meus I and my King as if the King were his Inferior or Servant III. That he unchristianly and abominably slandered the Church of England to the Pope affirming That they were Reprobates and without Faith and that there was an absolute necessity for him to be made a Legate to reduce them to the true belief IV. That without the King's consent he carried the Great Seal of England to Flanders only for vain Glory and to the great damage of the Subjects of England V. That he being filthily powdered with the French Pox by reason of his excessive Letchery and Debauched Life did oft presume to discourse with and cast his unwholesome Breath into the King's Face VI. That he caused the Cardinals Hat to be put on the King's Coin VII That to obtain his Dignities he had conveyed out of the Realm 240000 l. at one time and incredible sums at other times And to inrich the K. again had of his own accord sent out Commissions for exacting infinite sums contrary to Law which raised hatred and insurrections among the People against the King These with many other Articles being charged against VVoolsey he with his own Hand freely Subscribed to them confessing all of them to be true throwing himself upon the King's mercy hoping he would have forgiven him but afterward finding that he disposed of his Offices and part of his Estate he secretly procured a Bull from the Pope to Curse and Excommunicate the King unless he would restore to him all his Dignities and Lands who likewise declared that the King himself nor no other authority on Earth but the Pope alone had power to punish any Clergyman for any crime or offence whatsoever This Bull with the Letters sent him by several Cardinals to incourage him not to faint or be discouraged assuring him of his Restoration and that the King should be certainly crost in the business of his Marriage so animated the Cardinal that he did not doubt of his re-advancement if not with yet without the King's consent so that he made great preparations for his in stalment into his Archbishoprick of York which he designed to solemnize with extraordinary Pomp and Magnificence to which purpose he had erected a stately seat of an extraordinary height in that Cathedral resembling the Throne of the King and writ Letters to the Nobility and Gentry of the North wherein he kindly invited them to be present at his Instalment for which he had made extraordinary provision of all manner of Dainties These mighty preparations being made without acquainting the King therewith and seeming to be in contempt of him who had been so kind to allow him the Bishopricks of York and VVinchester though justly forfeited to the Crown caused the King to put a stop to his aspiring purposes so that he sent order to the Earl of Northumberland to Arrest him and deliver him to the Earl of Shrewsbury Lord High Steward of the Houshold The Earl accordingly went to his Mannor of Caywood about seven Miles from York and coming into his Chamber told him he arrested him for High Treason in the King's name The Cardinal was so astonisht that for some time he stood speechless at length recovering himself he said You have no power to Arrest me who am both a Cardinal and a Legate and also a Peer of the See Apostolick of Rome and ought not to be Arrested by any Temporal Power for I am Subject to none and none I will obey Well said the Earl here is the King's Commission and therefore I charge you to submit I remember when I was sworn Warden of the Marches you your self told me that with my staff only I might Arrest any man under the degree of a King and now I am stronger for I also have a Commission for what I have done The Cardinal at length recollecting himself Well my Lord said he I am contented to submit but though by negligence I fell into the danger of a Praemunire whereby I forfeited all my Lands and Goods to the Law yet my Person was under the King's Protection and I was pardoned that offence therefore I much wonder I should be now Arrested especially considering I am a Member of the Sacred College at Rome on whom no Temporal Man ought to lay hands Well I find the King wants good Counsellors about him He was then kept close in one of his Chambers and Dr. Austin his Physician was at the same time Arrested for High Treason and sent to the Tower The Cardinal's Goods were all seized and his Servants discharged And he himself was so dejected that he continually lamented his hard fortune with such a mean and unbecoming forrow as such haughty Spirits are
so weighty a business he made a visit to Mr. Cromwell and giving him an account of the affair he was very importunate with him to accompany him Cromwell knew very well the many Intreagues of the Roman Court and the unreasonable expences they must be at among those Spiritual Cormorants however having some knowledge of the Italian Tongue and being not yet well setled in Religion he was at length prevailed with to adventure with him When they arrived at Rome Cromwell finding it very difficult to get his Pardons dispatcht and being unwilling to spend much time or money he at length perceived that nothing was to be done without making a Present of some Rarity to the Pope and hearing that he was much delighted with delicate new found Dishes he prepared several fine Dishes of Jelly of divers colours according to the English fashion which were not as yet known at Rome Cromwell observing his time when the Pope was newly returned to his Pallace from Hunting he with his English Companions approached him with their Presents which they introduced with singing in English the three Mans Song as it is called The Pope wondring at the Song and understanding they were Englishmen and came not empty handed ordered them to be called in Cromwell making low obeysance presented his jolly junkets being such as he said none but Kings and Princes in England use to Eat desiring his Holiness to accept of them from him and his Companions who were poor Suitors at his Court and had presented them as Novelties proper only for his Table Pope Julius observing the strangeness of the Dishes bid a Cardinal taste them which he liked so well and the Pope after him that inquiring what their business was and then requiring them to give him an account how these Jellies were made he without delay Sealed both the Great and Lesser Pardons and fully dispatcht them All this while Cromwell had no great sense of Religion but was wild youthful and without regard to any thing that was serious as he often declared to Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury being very diligent with Jeffery Chambers in publishing the Pardons of Boston in all the Churches as he travelled and serving sometime under the Duke of Burbon at the Siege of Rome Thus he continued for some years till at length by learning the New Testament of Erasmus by Heart in his going to and from Rome he began to come to a better understanding About this time Cardinal Woolsey began to grow very great in England ruling all under or rather over the King so that Persons of the briskest Wits and noted Abilities addrest themselves to him for imployments Among whom Thomas Cromwell was by him prefer'd to be his Chancellor and at the same time Sir Thomas More and Stephen Gardiner were likewise taken into the Cardinals Family being all three almost of one Age one standing in Learning not much unequal in Wit and their advancements arising from the same foundation though afterward their Studies Dispositions and Fortune were greatly different The Cardinal designing to erect a famous Colledge in Oxford called then Frideswide now Christ Church obtained leave from the Pope to suppress several small Monasteries and Priories in divers parts of the Realm and to convert the Revenues thereof to his own use He committed the charge of this business to Cromwell who used such industry and expedition therein as was displeasing to some Great Persons both of the Nobility and Clergy But afterward the Cardinal who had risen suddenly began to fall as fast first from his Chancellorship which was bestowed on Sir Thomas More and then falling into a Praemunire his Family was dissolved Cromwel being thereby out of Office endeavoured to be retained in the Kings Service and Sir Christopher Hales Master of the Rolls though an earnest Papist yet had so great a kindness for him that he recommended him to the King as a Man most fit to be imployed by him but Cromwel had been so misrepresented by the Popish Clergy for his forwardness in defacing their Monasteries and Altars that the King abhorr'd the very name of him but the Lord Russel Earl of Bedford being present whose Life Cromwel had saved at Bononia in Italy where he was secretly imploy'd in the King's Affairs and was in great danger to be taken had he not been secured by Cromwel's Policy who not forgetting his Benefactor gave him an account of the whole matter and since His Majesty had now to do with the Pope his great Enemy he was of Opinion there was not a fitter Instrument for the King's purpose than he and told him wherein The King hereupon was willing to speak with him of which Cromwel having Private notice he got in readiness the Oath which the English Bishops took to the Pope at their Consecration and being called in after paying his Duty to the King answered to all Points demanded of him whereby he made it plainly appear that his Royal Authority was diminisht within his own Kingdom by the Pope and his Clergy who having sworn Allegiance to the King were afterward dispensed with for the same and sworn anew to the Pope so that he was but half King and they but half Subjects in his own Realm which was derogatory to his Crown and absolutely contrary to the Common Law of England and that his Majesty might therefore justly make himself rich with their forfeited Estates if he pleased to take the present occasion The King was very Attentive to his Discourse especially the last part of it and demanded whether he would justifie what he said He affirmed he would producing the Oath they had taken to the Pope which the King having read he took his Ring off his Finger and first admitting him into his Service by the Advice of his Council sent him therewith to the Convocation then sitting Cromwel coming boldly with the King's Signet into the Convocation House and placing himself among the Bishops Warham being Archbishop of Canterbury declared to them the Authority of the King and the Obedience due from Subjects especially from Bishops and Clergymen to the Laws of the Land which are necessarily provided for the Benefit and quiet of the Commonwealth which Laws notwithstanding they had all highly transgressed to the great Derogation of the King 's Royal Dignity and thereby brought themselves into a Praemunire not only in consenting to the Power Legantine of the late Cardinal Woolsey but also by Swearing to the Pope contrary to their Allegiance to their Soveraign Lord the King whereby they had forfeited all their Spiritual and Temporal Estates real or personal The Bishops were amazed at first to hear this bold Charge and began to deny it but Cromwell shewing them the very Copy of their Oath taken to the Pope at their Consecration made the matter so plain that they began to shrink and desired time to advise about it but however before they could get clear of this Praemunire the two Provinces of Canterbury and York
by the Bearward who shewed it to a Priest he presently perceived it was a Refutation of the six Articles and told the Bearward that the Author would certainly be hanged The Secretary coming to demand his Book which he said was the Archbishops and offering him a Crown to Drink for saving it The Fellow being an obstinate Papist replied he would not part with it for five hundred Crowns The Secretary acquainting Cromwell with the matter he sent for the Bearward who guessing at the business brought the Book with intent to have delivered it to Stephen Gardiner or Sir Anthony Brown both inveterate Enemies to Protestancy Cromwell seeing him snatcht the Book from him and giving it to the Secretary Here says he I know this is your hand take it with you and Sirrah says he to the Fellow you deserve to be punisht for detaining a Privy Counsellor's Book when demanded you being fitter to meddle with Bears than matters of State And so Cranmer was preserved from the danger of Fire which at this time threatned him by Water The blow at Cromwel was suddenly given and being in disgrace he had the common Lot of discarded Favourites to be forsaken by his Friends and insulted over by his Enemies of whom Gardiner was the most implacable only Cranmer stuck to him and in a Letter to the King on his behalf he assured him He had always found that the Lord Cromwel ever loved his Majesty above all things and that he had served him with such Fidelity and Success that he was of the Opinion no King of England had ever a more faithful Minister wishing the King might find a Councellor who was as willing and able to do him Service as he was But the King being freed from his Marriage and having made Katherine Howard his Queen in a few Weeks after the Duke of Norfolk had now an opportunity to be revenged on him she being Daughter to the Lord Edmund Howard Brother to the Duke So that from henceforth the King looked discontentedly upon his former intimate Favourite and inward Counsellor as being told that he was the cause of all his late Troubles Those who had long desired his Downfal soon perceiving this Alteration drew up a long Bill of Attainder against him in the House of Lords which was read twice in one day and sent to the Commons who after ten days debate passed it whereby he was condemned for High Treason and Heresie by that unjust way of Attainder without coming to an Answer wherein it was set forth That though the King had raised him from a low Estate to high Dignities yet it appeared by many Witnesses that were Persons of Honour that he was the most corrupt Traytor that ever was known That joining with the last Queen Ann he had favoured the Lutherans above measure and so strongly supported them against the Catholick Prelates and Priests of this Kingdom that when he was told by some of the Clergy that they doubted not but the King would shortly curb their Boldness and Presumption the said Lord Cromwel did reply That he was sure of the King and that about two Years before he had said the Preaching of Barnes and other Hereticks was good and that he would not turn though the King did turn but if the King turned he would fight in Person against him and all that turned and drawing out his Dagger he wisht he might be pierced to the Heart with it if he did not do it And that if he lived a Year or two longer it should not be in the King's Power to hinder it That he had set many at liberty who were condemned or suspected of Misprision of Treason That he had given Licenses for Transporting out of the Kingdom things prohibited by Proclamation had granted Pasports without searching and had dispersed many erroneous Books contrary to the belief of the Sacrament And had said that every man might administer it as well as the Priest That he had Licensed several Preachers suspected of Heresie and had discharged many that were committed on that account That he had many Hereticks about him and had discouraged Informers He was likewise charged with Bribery and Oppression and that when he heard some Lords were consulting about him he threatned that he would raise great disturbances in England Many of these things were charged upon him in general but no particulars produced And the words about the King being sworn to have been spoken two years before it was strange that they should be so long concealed considering the powerful Adversaries which he had As to the Licenses it was thought he had the King's Order for what he did in it Bribery and Oppression seem to be added only to render him odious who always appeared of a quite contrary temper And therefore Authors think that the chief cause of the King's Indignation was that having discovered his affection for the Lady Katherine Howard to him Cromwell used some words in defence of Queen Ann of Cleve and in dislike of the Lady Katherine which so much displeased the King that he thereupon delivered him up into the hands of his Enemies who thirsted for his Blood and fearing that he would clear himself from all their Calumnies by a Legal Trial they Tried Judged and Condemned him by a way which seems both against Nature and Reason and Justice not being suffered to appear or speak a word in his own defence When he was Prisoner in the Tower several Commissioners were sent thither to examine him who found him in a very composed sedate frame bearing his affliction with a Patient and Christian Constancy of Mind not at all ruffled with the suddenness of his Fall for he foresaw the Tempest before it came and prepared for the same And being sensible of the vigilance power and malice of his adversaries he called his Servants before him and told them that he found himself upon a very uncertain foundation and that a storm was approaching and therefore charged them that they should manage all their affairs with Uprightness and Justice that so he might not be blamed or suffer by any misdemeanors of theirs He entertained the Commissioners with much gravity and freedom and answered all their Interrogatories with great moderation and discretion being as well informed in all matters Ecclesiastical or Civil as themselves He once desired one of these Commissioners supposed to be Stephen Gardiner his most implacable Enemy to carry a Letter from him to the King who replied That he would carry no Letter to the King from a Traytor Then said the Lord Cromwell Pray deliver a Message to him by word of Mouth This he consented to provided it were not against his Allegiance ' Well my Lords said he to the rest pray be witnesses of what this Lord hath promised Pray then present my duty to the King and tell him That when he hath tried and proved you so throughly as I have done he will find you the falsest man that ever he had
should the most celebrate the same and of which I have given a particular relation in a Book called Vnparallell'd Varieties or the Transcendent effects of Gratitude c. of the like value with this His Charity was very apparent in that foreseeing himself declining in the King's favour he like a kind and loving Master provided beforehand for almost all his Servants and gave twelve Children of his Musick twenty pound apiece And likewise in delivering many out of danger for having broken Popish Laws and Constitutions His Humility was very eminent in several instances particularly that He and Archbishop Cranmer riding once in state through Cheapside Cromwell seeing a poor Woman to whom he had formerly owed Money called her to him and bid her go to his House where he not only discharged the Debt but setled a Pension of four pound a year upon her during Life At another time observing a poor man at the Court of Sherin imployed in Sweeping the Cloysters and Ringing the Chappel Bell He in the Company of several Lords called him by his name and said This poor mans Father was a great friend to me having given me many a meals meat in my necessity and therefore I am resolved to provide for him as long as I live which he did accordingly His Wisdom and Policy in state affairs was very obvious in the management of all Treaties Negotiations and Transactions both at home and abroad with the utmost prudence dextegity and success Lastly and Principally his fervent zeal for the true Religion was sufficiently discovered by the Injunctions Proclamations and Articles published by his advice for promoting and advancing the same In a word many Ages before and since have not been blest with two such excellent Persons as the Lord Cromwell and Archbishop Cranmer who both flourisht together at this time Remarks upon the Life Actions and Fatal Fall of Robert Devereux Earl of Essex Favourite to Queen Elizabeth BY the fall of this Great Man we may observe that the Love of a People may be of no less dangerous consequence to a Subject to trust to than their hatred proves satal to such Princes as are so unwary to procuse it Nor is the affection of a Prince to a Favourite to be much relied on since their love is oftentimes inconstant and their anger deadly Of both which we can scarce find a more pregnant instance than in the Life and Death of this Eminent Favourite Robert Devereux was born in 1566. and was not above ten years of Age when his Father Walter Earl of Essex and Earl Marshal of Ireland deceased at Dublin Premonishing his Son never to forget the thirty sixth year of his Age as the utmost term of Life which neither himself nor his Father before him survived and which his Son never attained to After his Father's death he was under the Tuition of the Pious and Learned Dr. Whitgift and at sixteen years performed his publick Acts as Master of Arts. His first advancement at Court was procured by the Earl of Leicester his Father in Law and was thought to be designed not so much out of love to him as envy against Sr. Walter Rawleigh His Descent was very honourable his Title being derived from Evereux a City in Normandy His Title of Lord came by Marriage with Cicily the Daughter of William Bourchier whose Grandmother was Sister to Edward IV. King of England whose great Grandmother was Daughter to Thomas of Woodstock Son of King Edward III. born of one of the Daughters of Humfry Bohun Earl of Hartford and Essex whereupon the Title of Viscount Hartford was bestowed upon his great Grandfather Walter by King Edward VI. and that of Earl of Essex upon his Father by Q Elizabeth So that this high Birth might fill him with some ambitious thoughts He was with much ado at first made Master of the Horse the Queen being displeased with his Mother but afterward when by his observance and duty he had procured her full favour she forgave a great debt that his Father owed her made him a Knight of the Garter and a Privy Counsellor when he was scarce twenty three years old His first appearance in action was at Tilbury Camp in 1588. being made by the Queen General of the Horse to whom in the fight of the Souldiery and People she discovered a more than ordinary kindness And now Queen Elizabeth to follow the blow that she had given the Spanish Armada the next year sends Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Norris with a Fleet and some Forces to the aid of Don Antonio who pretended a Right to the Crown of Portugal but Philip II. of Spain being both ambitious and powerful sent the Duke of Alva with an Army thither who drove this new King out of his Country and after many skirmishes wholly possessed himself of that Kingdom for his Master The English Forces landed near the Groin in Gallicia and took the lower Town During this Voyage the Earl of Essex unwilling to be idle when honour was to be gotten went privately to Sea without the Queen's knowledge or consent and joined the Fleet At which she was much disturbed saying This young Fellow is so ventrous that he will certainly be knockt on the Head one time or other The English likewise took Peniche another Town in Portugal and approached Lisbon took the Castle of Cascays burnt the Town of Vigo and finding that the Portuguese did not declare for Don Antonio as he expected sickness likewise increasing among the Souldiers the Fleet returned home After this the Popish Princes of France entring into a League that they would have no Protestant reign over them raised an Army against the King of Navar their rightful Soveraign who thereupon craved aid of the Q. who readily assisted him with money and then with men under the Earl of Essex who gave sufficient proof of his Valour upon all occasions his Brother Walter being slain before the Walls of Roan Upon which the Earl challenged Villars the Governor of the City to a single Combat which he durst not accept of The Earl a while after returned to England being informed by his friends that many envious Courtiers were contriving to throw him out of the Queen's favour In 1595. Arch-Duke Albert Governor of the Spanish Netherlands for the King of Spain suddenly Besieged Callice and took it the news whereof so surprized the Queen because of the near Neighbourhood of this Potent Enemy that to divert the Tempest from England She and the States of Holland instantly set out a Navy of 140 Ships whereon were imbarqued about seven thousand Souldiers and as many Seamen commanded in chief by the Earl of Essex and Charles Howard joint Admirals with several other Inferior Commanders of great Courage and Conduct who Sailing to Cadiz in a short time took both the Town and Castle no man of Note being lost in this Expedition but Captain Wingfield and after having Ransackt the Town and Island whereon it is built
with to Storm it was forced to retire and in his retreat had a great number of his Souldiers kill'd and drowned returning home with great disuonour Upon the return of the Fleet the Cry of the Nation was so great both for the Disgrace and the Seamen's want of Pay that the King was obliged to call a Parliamene which being met the Duke is declared the Grievance of Grievances and the Cause of all the miseries of the Kingdom But the King Proroguing the Parliament before they could proceed against him in the mean time Dr. Lamb the Duke's Creature is murthered in the City out of hatred to his Master And the Town of Rochel who had declared for the English when they were there being now closely besieged by the French The King had prepared a Fleet under the command of the Duke to relieve it who being advanced as far as Portsmouth to go aboard was slain by one Lieutenant Felton in his own Lodgings by one blow with a Knife under the left Rib and up to the Heart leaving the Knife in his Body and got away undiscovered In his fall to the Ground the Duke was heard to say The Villain has killed me Company coming in and finding him weltring in his Blood began to inquire for the Murtherer when Felton immediately stept out and said ' I am the man that have done the deed let no man suffer that is innocent VVhen he gave the fatal blow Felton cry'd The Lord have mercy upon thy Soul VVhich the Duke had not time to pronounce himself Felton had a Paper sticking to the Lining of his Hat wherein he had written as followeth ' I would have no man commend me for doing it but rather discommend themselves for if God had not taken away their Hearts for their Sins he had not gone so long unpunisht The man is cowardly base in mind opinion and deserves not the name of a Gentleman or Souldier that is unwilling to Sacrifice his Life for the Honour of God his King and Country Subscrib'd John Felton He confest to the Council that the motives to it were his want of pay his being disappointed of a Captains place which the Duke promised him Together with the late Remonstrance of the House of Commons against him A. B. Laud askt him whether the Puritans did not incite him to it which he denied or any body else VVell then said Laud we must make you confess your Accomplices on the Rack If you should said Felton it may be the torment would make me accuse you as soon as another So he was tried for murther and suffered very penitently at Tyburn and his Body was hung in Chains at Portsmouth in 1628. An Ingenious VVriter is much offended with Sir Henry VVotton for making a Parallel between the Earl of Essex aforementioned and the Duke of Buckinghim to be found in his remains which he says is much to the disadvantage of Essex who besides his last action never did any thing so ingrateful as might make him fear the anger or beg the favour of a Parliament much less owe his Life to the Dissolution of one He died like a Christian He was no instrument of Tyranny and Oppression his memory being still valuable among the People VVhereas the Duke's retains a contrary Tincture nor can his bounty to his Friends and Servants expunge his faults because the Money was drained either from the People the Publick Treasury or from the general safety of the Nation Whereas Essex obliged his Confidents out of his own store or by such innocent ways as the Subject had no cause to repine at His natural parts were as great and his Learning and Birth greater than the Dukes Nor can his last inconsiderate action that rather deserves the Title of a Riot than Treason come up to so great an ingratitude and indignity to the Nation as Buckingham's proceedings at Rochel wherein the Duke shewed no less folly in procuring so great a hatred among the People than Essex did in misapplying their love And if his Picture be exact Essex was as hand some as he which was the chief cause of Villers advancement Only in this Essex came short in having a Mistress that would attend to reason whether it came from friendship or malice Whereas the Dukes fortune depended on two Princes that in reference to their own weakness or his strongth remained deaf to all Complaints but what were made by him or his Creatures under pain of his high Displeasure which was usually much heavier than the King 's Concerning their Deaths saith my Author I can attest the Duke 's did occasion no lâ—… joy than the other did sorrow though the death of Queen Elizabeth her self be put into the Scale Nor was the Hangman willing to be hired to cut off Essex whereas Felton seemed to be inspired with some Daemon if not the Genius of our Nation Remarks on the Life Actions and Fatal Fall of Thomas Wentworth Earl of Strafford Favourite to King Charles I. THIS great Favourite was born in Chancery Lane London his Mother coming casually to the City but descended from an antient Family at Wentworth VVoodhouse in Yorkshire He was educated in St. John's College in Oxford whereby he was so accomplisht that his endowments soon advanced him to be a Member of the House of Commons wherein he appeared very zealous for the Liberties of his Country and that often with so much strength of reason that his Sentiments prevail'd for or against the Cause he managed Of which I shall give a few instances In the Parliament 3. Charles I. Upon a debate on the Grievances of the Kingdom by quartering Souldiers Loans Benevolence Privy Seals and Imprisoning Gentlemen that refused to lend Money on that account and were refused to be Bailed upon there Habeas Corpus he spake thus ' Surely these illegal ways are punishments and marks of indignation The raising of Loans strengthned by Commissions with unheard of Instructions and Oaths and the Billetting of Souldiers by Deputy Lieutenants have been such as if they could have persuaded Christian Princes that the right of Empires had been to take away mens Properties by strong hands These Projectors have introduced a Privy Council who have ravisht at once the Spheres of allantient Government shprisoning us without either Bail or Bond. They have taken from us what What shall I say indeed What have they left us The remedy I shall propound is To vindicate our antient vital Liberties by reinforcing the Laws made by our Ancestors by giving such a Character of them as no Licentious Spirit shall ever dare enter upon them hereafter Let 〈◊〉 secure our selves and our freedom from imprisonment Les us secure our Goods that no Levies be made but by Parliament no Bilseting of Souldiers If we are not secured in these we cannot give supplies I cannot forget that duty I owe to my Country and unless our Liberties be secured I incline to look upon the state of our Country whether it be
fit to give or no. Are we come to an end of our Countries Liberties Are we secured for time future We are accountable to a Publick Trust and since there hath been a Publick Violation of the Laws by the King's Ministers nothing will satisfie but a Publick Amends and our desire to vindicate the Subject's Right is no more than what is laid down in former Laws Let us be sure that the Subject's Liberties go hand in hand with the supply and not to pass the one till we have good Ground and a Bill for the other Upon the Petition of Right which the House of Lords would have had this addition to ' We present this our Humble Petition to your Majesty with the care not only of preserving our own Liberties but with due regard to leave intire that Sovereign Power wherewith your Majesty is trusted for the Protection Safety and Happiness of the People Sir Tho. Wentworth spake thus ' If we admit of this Addition we shall leave the Subjects worse than we found them and we shall have little thanks for our labour when we come home Let us leave all Power to his Majesty to punish Malefactors but these Laws are not acquainted with Soveraign Power VVe desire no new thing nor do we offer to intrench on his Majesties Prerogative but we may not recede from this Petition either in part or in whole The King hearing of his ability and understanding used all means to gain him to himself by bestowing of Titles of Honour and Places of Trust upon him Creating him Viscount VVentworth Earl of Strafford and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whereby he made him wholly his own In Ireland he was very active in augmenting the King's Revenues and advancing the Royal Authority by all ways within his Power And upon his return into England he advised the King to go into Scotland and settle the Peace of that Kingdom by his Coronation there he having intelligence that if it were defer'd any longer the Scots might perhaps incline to Elect another King Upon the troubles that rose soon after there on the account of imposing the Common Prayer upon them and the King resolving to raise an Army to reduce them but doubting the Parliament would not supply him the Lords told the King that they would ingage their own Credits to forward the business and the Earl of Strafford for the incouragement subscribed 20000 l. other Noblemen following his example conformable to their Estates and some of the Judges contributed largely April 13. 1639 a Parliament being assembled the Earl of Strafford was led into the House of Peers by two Noblemen to give an account of his proceedings in Ireland having there obrained the Grant of four Subsides for maintaing 10000 Foot and 1500 Horse Implicitely hinting thereby that they should propostion their Supplies accordingly But the Parliament doubting that the Irish Forces might indanger Religion and seeming to allow the justness of the Scots Cause and of the good that might be obtained by favouring them in this Conjuncture the King doubting they might vote against the War with the Scots whom he resolved to Treat severely for not complying with his Will and Pleasure he thereupon suddenly Dissolves them to the great discontent of the People who for eleven years past durst scarce mention the name of a Parliament Being hereby disappointed of a supply the King sends to the Citizens of London to lend Money and to all Knights and Gentlemen who held Lands of the Crown to provide Men Horses and Arms for his Assistance The Citizens generally refused pleading poverty and want of Trade but by the assistance of the Gentry an Army was raised with great celerity of which the Earl of Strafford was made Lieutenant General and the King commanded in Chief The Scots having notice of these preparations speedily raised an Army with which they marched into England to make this the Seat of War The Lord Conway doubting they would take in Newcastle drew off 3000 Foot and about 1200 Horse to secure the Pass at Newburn Lesly the Scots General marching forward sent a Trumpeter to the Lord Conway to desire leave to pass to the King with their Petition which being denied they fell upon the English and kill'd 300 of them Which being accounted an unhappy Omen several of the Lords Petitioned the King for a Parliament which was seconded by another from the Scots and a third from the City of London At length the King consented to it having first by advice of the Peers consented to a Treaty with the Scots at Rippon they refusing to send their Commissioners to York alledging That the Lieutenant of Ireland resided there who proclaimed them Rebels in Ireland before the King had done it in England and against whom as a chief Incendiary they intended to complain in the next Parliament For the Parliament meeting Nov. 3. 1640. the Scotch Commissioners coming to London had many private Conferences with some of the House of Commons and it was concluded that the Earl of Strafford should be immediately Impeached at his first coming into the House of Lords which was done accordingly and thereupon he was instantly taken into Custody and in March following he was brought to his Trial in Westminster Hall The King Queen and Prince were present in a private Closet where they could here all but were seen of none And then Mr. Pym Impeached the Earl of twenty eight Articles of High Treason in the name of the Commons of England sharging him That he had Trayterously endeavoured to subvert the fundamental Laws and Government of England and Ireland and to introduce an Arbitrary Tyrannical Government by Trayterously assuming to himself Regal Power over the Laws Liberties Persons Lands and Goods of his Majesties Subjects Had countenanced and encouraged Papists Had maliciously endeavoured to stir up enmity and hostility between the Subjects of England and Scotland Had wilfully betrayed the King's Subjects to death by a dishonourable retreat at Newburn that by the effusion of blood and the dishonour and loss of New-Castle the People of England might be ingaged in a National and Irreconcileable quarrel with the Scots And that to secure himself from being questioned for these and other Trayterous Courses he had laboured to subvert the Rights of Parliament and to incense his Majesty against them by false and malicious slanders and that upon the Dissolution of the last Parliament he did treacherously and wickedly counsel and advise His Majesty to this effect That having tryed the affections of his People he was loose and absolved from all rules of Government and was to do every thing that power would admit Since having tried all ways he was refused so that he would now be acquitted both by God and Man And that he had an Army in Ireland meaning the Army of Papists who were his Dependants which the King might imploy to reduce this Kingdom to his obedience That he falsly maliciously and treacherously declared before some of the
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