redounded so much to his own advantage and the Interest of the York Family which he had for a long time before espoused by the favour he gained thereby among the Commons of the Realm in general and of the City in particular For when he came to London the Analist informs us he kept such an House that six Oxen were eaten at a Breakfast and every Tavern was full of his Meat and whoso had any acquaintance in his House might have had as much Sodden and Rost as he might carry upon a long Dagger All this notwithstanding when upon disgust and discontent he had turned to the other side and became a favourer of the Lancastrians he was never the less disappointed in his aims and expectations from the Londoners For though by his turning sides the York Party had been once routed King Edward taken Prisoner and King Henry resettled once more on the Throne and he had in a manner the whole power of the Land in his hands besides the general Love and Affection the Commons bore to him and the dread and terror the sound of his Name oft struck into his Enemies Hearts it having in effect altered the Fortune and turned the Scales in two Battels one in King Henry's days for the Yorkists another in King Edwards for the Lancastrians yet upon the return of King Edward from beyond Sea whither he had some time before escaped out of Custody into England to recover his Inheritance and regain his Crown and the News of his Marching up to London both sides saith Baker seeking to make the City their Friends the Citizens backwardness to take up Arms in Defence of Old King Henry his Crown and Dignity and inclination to Young King Edward was so apparent that Warwicks own Brother the Arch-bishop of York distrusting the Event secretly sought King Edwards Favour he himself was received into London King Henry was redelivered unto him and the Great Warwick slain not long after at Barnet in a pitch'd Battell to the utter Ruin of the Lancastrian Party for that Age the consequence of this overthrow being enough to read them their succeeding ill Fate at Tewksbury they themselves having sufficient Cause to be daunted with the loss of their most powerful friends and favourers and the Yorkists to be flush'd with their Success in gaining so important a Victory As the Citizens continued thus favourable to the King so I don't find them them chang'd and alter'd in ther Inclinations to the other side till some of the Yorkists themselves by their own hands began to loose and untye those Bonds of Amity Friendship and Fidelity the Late King's Children being dispossest by his own Brother the Duke of Gloucester and the Earl of Richmond the surviving hopes of the Lancastrians had openly declar'd his Intentions and solemnly Sworn to marry King Edward's Eldest Daughter the rightful Heir of all the Yorkists Greatness which afterwards was as honourably as honestly perform'd whereby both Families became united in one Line and the two Roses happily inoculated each upon the other The expression I hope the ingenious Society of Gardiners and Florists will pardon me if harmlesly guilty of an absurdity in translating the term from fruits to flowers Did the Citizens of London appear so zealously on the Yorkists behalf and yield such powerful assistance to carry on their designs What other than can we expect with reason but that King Edward behaved himself very gratefully towards that City which Espoused his flaughtered Fathers Cause against even the Governing Party and contributed so considerably to his own Restauration Though it is but too commonly seen that as mean services are but meanly recompenced or else wholly ' slighted add forgotten so an excess of merit too great to be rewarded brings oftner danger than advantage to the party concerned Evident examples whereof our own and Foreign Histories can abundantly afford us and it is well if the City of London could produce no experience of her own in confirmation of their verity and validity while some others having gotten well by their services to the facilitating their ascent into high Places have no better improved them in the Eyes of the World than in keeping their Coaches their Horses and their Misses and made little other returns of thanks and gratitude to the City but some small slight acknowledgments and concessions and perhaps a few verbal promises and assurance or else forgetting their former needs and necessities have endeavoured most ungratefully to turn their power upon her which they may be thought to have gained chiefly and principally by her means But King Edward it seems or those about him had honester Principles in them or were better tempered For we find in Baker that he furnished his Councel Table for the most part with such as were gracious among the Citizens and we Read in Stow of no less than eleven Aldermen besides the Lord Mayor and Recorder Knighted by him at one time in the Highway betwixt Islington and Shoreditch upon his return from the Battel at Tewksbury in reward of the good service the Londoners had done him As for the jovial Entertainment of the Mayor Aldermen and Commons in Waltham Forrest by the Kings express order and appointment in his presence about an year before he dyed 't is a Subject Treated on by more English Historians than one with the circumstances and consequents thereof the pleasant lodge of Green boughs set up on purpose for them the Complemental condescention of the King in refusing to go to his own Dinner till he had saw them served the Hunting sport he shewed them the plenty of Venison he gave them at their departure and the noble Present of two Harts and six Bucks with a Tun of Wine he sent to the Lady Mayoress and her Sisters the Aldermens Wives to make merry with which they did afterwards at Drapers Hall where without all peradventure the Kings Health went all round the Table if it was then in Fashon but for this I will not put one finger in the fire If we dive into the reasons of the variation of the Pole at London and search into the occasional Causes of the manifest change and alteration of their Affections from thr Family of Lancaster to the House of York we may impute it partly to the losses crosses and unsuccessful management of Affairs under a weak King and a self seeking Court of Lancastrians but chiefly to the encrease of National grievances without timely care taken to redress them and the fixt Resolution of the Court Party to oppress their opposites the Yorkists any manner of ways by right or by wrong for we may easily observe from History and experience such to have been the usual motives to disgusts and the common incitements to discontent Therefore I presume I may draw hence better grounds and reasons of the Cities Love to King Edward than those alledged by Baker out of Comines viz. that he got the Love of the Londoners by owing them
that it became the fixt Metropolis of the Nation Yet in the Time of the Saxon's Heptarchy we find mention made of this Noble City several times and on several Occasions As upon account of Mordred's choosing this City to be Crown'd in when he rebell'd against King Arthur The holding of it by Mordred's Son against Constantine Son of Cador till he was slain The Flying away of the Bishops of London and York and other Ministers with their Goods and Reliques for fear of the Saxon's Cruelty under Ethelfride Whereby the Commonalty were left without Spiritual Guides the City without Her chief Pastors The setting up an Arch-Bishoprick there by Austine the Monk and the making of Melitus Bishop of the same in Ethelbert's Days The Building of St. Pauls either by the same Ethelbert or else by Sigebert King of the East-Angles as some affirm In this Ethelbert's Time we read in Fabian of the Building the First Church of Westminster in Honour of St. Peter by a Citizen of London in the West-End of London in a Place called Thorny now Westminster which before was over-grown with Bushes and Briars But Stow affirms Sebert King of the East Saxons to have Built it In the Time of Ethelwolph Son of Egbert King of the West-Saxons London is said to be spoild by the Danes and so not likely then to be of any great Strength though we find the Danes drawing themselves thitherward in Alured or Alfred's Days after an Agreement concluded between them But now again begins this City to be often mentioned in Story and grows more Famous every Day after that King Alured having Victoriously repeal'd the Danes return'd thereunto repair'd those Places that before had been injur'd by the Danes and committed it to the Guiding of Ethelred Earl or Duke of Mercia who was his Son-in-Law by Marrying his Daughter Elfleda Hence may we date another Beginning as it were of it's Glory and Lustre from this new Resurrection out of the Ashes of its former Ruines Some of the next News we hear of this Honourable City is of the Londoner's beating away the Danes who Landing in Sussex and comeing to the Town of Lewes and thence towards London had Builded a Castle near the River of Lewes the more to annoy the Country but the Citizens Valour with the Countrys Help soon demolished it In the Reign of Edward the Eldest Son to the forenamed Alured we find London thought so considerable that the King took it under his own Rule not entrusting even his own Sister therewith thinking it probably too important a Charge to be committed to any Subject never so nearly related to him because of the Power that would accrue to the Possessor thereof and the Danger might thereby happen to him the King in those troublesome Times upon any the least Difference arising between them When Egelred or Etheldred Son of Edgar rul'd the Land we read of the Danes coming to London they being ready enough to haunt any Place that could afford them Spoil and Pillage but we find that then they were repel'd by the Citizens The City it seems was strong enough to defend their own But soon after that another sad Accident befell the City against which it was not so well able to defend it self viz. A great Fire whereby a large Part of it was destroyed So rare is it for any thing great in this World to arrive at it's Greatness from small Beginnings without being Subject to many Mischances and meeting with many Turns and Changes of Fortune before it can arrive at the height of its Grandeur Fabian tells us in his Chronicle that the City had then the most Building from Ludgate towards Westminster and little or none where the Chief or Heart of it now is except that in diverse Places there were Houses but they stood without Order This he professes to have known by an Old Book in the Guild-Hall named Domesday But where-ever the Building stood in those Days or how great Harm soever the Fire did it nevertheless it continued of such Strength and Riches that the Danes were willing to have got it into their own Power and in Order thereunto besieged it but that they took it at that season I read not Yet some Years after I find the Londoners sending Gifts and Pledges to the Danes to divert them then coming towards London 'T was in Egelred's Days that the Danes thus harrassed the Land and did almost whatever they pleased selling the English Men Peace for their Money and then breaking it again at their Pleasure to get a greater Sum. This gave the first Occasion to the Imposition of that Tax upon the Land called Danegelt And the Pride and Lordly Imperiousness of the insulting Danes gave Original to the opprobrious Name of Lurdane as now it is esteem'd though then it was Lord Dane a Term the English were for fear compell'd to give those proud lazy Danes that Rul'd and Domineer'd in many of their Houses at the right Owner's cost Neither is it much to be wondred at that this Land was brought into so great Misery by these Hectoring Strangers when as we fiâd Dissention amongst the Lords and such treacherous Dealing that whatsoever was devis'â by Some for the Hurt of their common Enemies it was quickly by Others of the same Councel betraâ'd and made known to them The King giving himself to a vicious and incontinent Life and to get Money any manner of way sticked not to ãâã Men of their Possessions for small or seigned Causes according to the History and after cause them to redeem their own for great Sums of Money In London 't was that I find this unfortunate Egelred more than once residing for his own Security it seems more than for any Aid he attempted to get of the Londoners to defend his Land Here he fell sick died and was also Buried and with him some of the English Men's Shame and Dishonour For Edmund Ironside his Son favoured by the Londoners and some other Lords was Crown'd in that City and thence departing with his Strength so hotly pursued Canutus the Danish King that he was several Times put to the worst and in fair likelihood to have been utterly over-thrown had not the false Edric who having got an Habit of Treachery in Egelreds Days could not so easily forâake his Old base Conditions oft disappointed King Edmund by his Treacherous Dealing By âhis Edric's Treachery I have read That Edmund lost his Life afterwards for which Fact the âalse Traytor expecting a great Reward at the âands of Canutus had his Head exalted according âo the others Promise above all the Lords of Engâand it being stricken off pitch'd upon a Spear ând after set upon the highest Gate of London But about the King's Death and Edric's Authors are found much to vary Neither is it any marvel that Writers differ so often and so much in their Relations of Things done so many Ages since Whenas in things but as it were of yesterday we
all had not faith ââough to trust too much in it when fear and thick âârkness had seized on them though 't was the comâon voice in those days that a few Masses could ãâã mens Souls out of Purgatory But you may be ãâã they were well to be paid for first Noted in ãâã 14th was the Ordinance made by the Mayor ãâã Duke and the Rulers of London that no Sheriff âould continue in Office longer than one year the âuse related was the opportunity some of them âade use of to take extortions and bribes with oââer defaults by reason of the continuance of their Office The 17th is not lightly to be pass'd over that the K. therein kept his Christmas at Worcest according to Stow where he removed all his Officeâ and Councillors Bishops Earls and Barons and ãâã for strangers viz. Pictavians retain'd them in ãâã Service and committed to them the keeping of ãâã Castles and Treasures What could hence be expectâ but murmurings and repinings amongst the Nativeâ Accordingly we hear some time after of Messengeâ sent by the Barons to the King requesting the diâplacing of those strangers and also threatning thâ otherwise they would depose him and create a ãâã King A bold message from as bold Subjects For ãâã may read of the King's Lands being invaded the ãâã year and destroy'd by fire and sword by the Earl ãâã Pembroke and the Prince of North-Wales Whereupââ we find in a little time the Pictavians expell'd ãâã made with these two great discontented men ãâã the King 's natural Subjects recalld and their Coââsel yielded to by the King The 19th is remarkable for the King's Marriage with the Royal Solemnity Justs and Tourneamenâ kept 8 days near Westminster at the Queen's Coroââtion Yet Stow places the time a year after as ãâã doth also many other particular occurrences happeing in this King's Reign From the same Author ãâã are given to understand that to this Coronation ââsorted so great a number of all Estates that the Ciââ of London was scarce able to receive them Great ãâã the splendour wherein the City appeared on this oâcasion it being adorn'd with Silks and in the nigââ with Lamps Cressets and other lights without nuâber besides many Pageants strange devices whiââ were then snewn The Citizens rode to meet ãâã King and Queen being clothed in long garments ãâã broidered with Gold and Silk of divers colours theââ horses finely trapped in array to the number of 360. Every man bearing Gold or Silver Cups in their hands the King's Trumpeters before them sounding The 21th was ominous to the University of Oxford for the Scholars abusing Octoâoon the Pope's Legate who afterwards accursed the misdoers and so punished them that the Regents Masters were at last compelled to go barefoot through Cheapside to Pauls in London there to ask forgiveness of him which was granted it seems with difficulty enough His Master the Pope when cross'd and incens'd is wont to be sufficiently stately and backward in pardoning such as displease him not without much ântercession sometimes why then should not the Servant Ape it after so great an Example In the 23d year for that the Mayor and Heads of the City refus'd to obey the King's Commandment ân Chusing Simon Fitz Marre Sheriff as the King had order'd them which they lookt upon as a derogation to their Liberties The King sent for them and after words of displeasure discharg'd the old Mayor Will. Ioynour newly Elected for the following year and charg'd the Citizens to proceed to a new Election which to content the King they did and Chusing Gerard Bat by his means and policy obtained the King's favour and frustrated the other purpose who had procur'd the aforesaid Commandment and complain'd to the King of the Citizens for their disobeying it In the 25th the Citizens having Chosen Gerard Bat anew for the year following presented him to the King according to Custom He who the âast year had so gain'd the King's favour in behalf of the City was now so far out of it by means of some mens Informations that he with his company was first dismist and put off till another time and at last for some offences alledged and displeasure conceived against him clearly put by the King swearing a greââ Oath that he should not that year be Mayor nor ãâã any time hereafter Whereupon the Commons ceâtified of the King's pleasure Chose Remond Bengley ãâã his stead The Citizens having the year before ãâã prevail'd upon to alter their Election that was Prâsident enough it seems to occasion the like again The City having obtain'd great Priviledges of thiâ King in his younger days we find already some eâdeavouring to frustrate and disappoint the effect ãâã benefit of them The City had appear'd with a greââ deal of success in opposition to the last King's prâceedings and therefore it 's likely such as intendeâ to attempt again for Arbitrary Power thought thâ City too headstrong easily to permit them to suâceed in their desires unless they could first bring thâ Citizens a little under by cunningly under miniââ their Liberties Whereupon we find this year a spâcious pretence taken to oblige the Commonalty bâ offering to free and keep them from being oppresseâ by the Heads and Rulers of the City How well ãâã plausible Plea took for a while will be manifested ãâã the sequel of the Story That there were great heaââ and animosities in those times between the City ãâã the Court may easily be observ'd out of Stow whâ tells us in the 25th years Annals how the Citizeâ were threatned that the Walls and Bulwarks of thâ Tower were builded in despight of them to the ãâã that if any of them would presume to contend ãâã the Liberties of the City they might there be imprison'd And to the intent that many might be laââ in divers Prisons many Lodgings were there madâ that no one should speak with another An occasiââ was also taken sometime after to Fine the Ciââ 1500 Marks for the receiving into the City a peâson banish'd from thence 20 years Notwithstandiââ the Citizens had prov'd that before that time the said âerson had been reconcil'd and restor'd to the King's âavour Another device to exact Money from the Londoners was the proclaiming a Mart at Westminââer to last 15 days with a Command that all Trades âhould cease in the City for that space of time which the Citizens were fain to redeem with 2000l âet they still increast in Riches while the King was âompell'd for want to sell his Plate and Jewels much âo his loss which being sold and boughâ aâ London ãâã the 33d year of his Reign occasioned this his exâression upon knowledge thereof as my Author reâates it I know that if Octavian 's Treasure were to be ââld the City of London would sup it up and by it âhose rustical Londoners quoth the King abound in âealth and call themselves Barons Noted is the 25th âear likewise for the first
deluded though besides the affections and contrary to the inclination of the rest of the Nation could he but have prevailed upon the Londoners by threats or fair words to have sided with him But their opposition quite spoil'd the Game and kept the Duke off the Cushion a Duke stil so Tryumphant were they in Power Prudence and Loyalty Wherefore to satisfie his restless reven geful Spirit the Duke ceas'd not till he had got the old Major put out and a new one Elected the Aldermen depos'd and others set in their places So little did their late Complicance and humble Procession avail them while the Commonalty remain stiff firm and unshaken as well by the Dukes power and greatness as by his Threats and Menaces He had gain'd a great Ascendent over the weak Kings affections but yet for all that could not sway this Honourable City to his Interests and the Interest of his then prevalent Faction at Court The Citizens Loyalty is plainly shewn beyond denial in Couragiously adhering to the Juster claim and Title of the abus'd Nephew and preferring his Birthright before the Pretensions of his Uncle who Ruling the King and those about him thought also to have over-rul'd the City too Their Prudence is manifest in that they wisely chose to yield many things to the times for peace sake but when neck and all was in danger they would not budg a foot nor stir one step further to humour all the Dukes in Kent or Christendom Neither is their power less conspicuous who not only dar'd but did oppose this high minded Duke in the Days of his Visible Grandeur and prov'd a match by far too hard for him For in a short time comes the News of the Old Kings ââing at the point of Death and presently we have the Londoners sending the chiefest and worthiest of their Citizens to the young Prince and his Mother then Resident not far from the City declaring their ready minds and good wills to accept him for their true and Lawful King upon âis Grand-Fathers Decease beseeching him on the behalf of the Citizens and City of London that he would have the City Recommended to his good Grace submitting themselves only to âis Rule and bowing to his Will and Pleasure ânder his Dominion to serve in Word and Deed as being known to be so much at his Devotion as not only ready to spend their Goods and Eââates for his sake but also to jeopard their lives ân his behalf as Stow expresses it in John Philââts Oration in the beginning of the life and Reign of King Richard the second who was thus âo undeniably setled in the Throne of his Fore-âathers by the Cities apparent interest and viâible influence upon the Councels of the Nation in that great turn and change of affairs The Cities power seems plainly demonstrated give me therefore leave to bring one instance more of their wisdom caution and prudence in these dangerous because unsetled times before I pass ân to other particulars The young King being âhus entred upon the Government it was thought good by the King or those about him to have âome care taken to accommodate former differences especially such as had hapned between this potent Duke and the more powerful City Wherefore several persons of Eminency were speedily sent to London to salute the Citizens in the new King's name and acquaint them how the Duke in all things had submitted himself to the Kings will 't was time for 't is certain he had lost the day though not perhaps his high-tow'ring Ambition and that they should do so in like manner and then the King would endeavour a Reconciliation to the City's honour and advantage Fair words and large promises But the worthy Citizens were not Birds to be caught with chaff much less to be hamper'd in a Noose of their own making They were for no Resignations it seems at Discretion though to the dearest Friend alive They knew the King to be but young and weak to help them in such a troublesome business if they should so heedlesly desert their own Cause and put the staff out of their own hands by their own Consent They had enemies enough still they might think at Court as long as the Duke was there and his flattering favourites who might possibly over-rule at least if not over-aw the King to their prejudice should they render all they had at pleasure into his hand by their own voluntary Act and Deed when as they knew themselves well able to defend their liberties and properties in a legal way without hazarding them upon so intire a submission as was required without Reserve Wherefore upon consultation this Medium was at length found out that if the noble persons sent to them with that message would be bound to the Citizens that their submission should not redound to the temporal loss or bodily harm of any Citizen or prejudice of their City they would gladly obey the King's Commandment This those eminent persons of quality undertook by Oath and upon their Knighthood And so upon this surety away go the Citizens to Court and being soon brought before the King besought him as the Annalist words it to reform the peace betwixt the Duke and them affirming that they were ready in all things to submit themselves unto his will and pleasure not as though they confessed they had made any fault against the Duke consider this but as men that came at this time for the benefit of peace and honour as well to the King as the Duke to pacifie the hearts and mitigate the pleasure of both That this was their intent is evident enough from their own request before made to the King that he would vouchsafe to make a good and profitable end of this discord For that they fear'd not the Duke is most certain from the precedent passages and that they were all of a suddain fallen deeply in love with him and his party I can hardly believe No no They love the Nephew too well to dote upon the Uncle and may they always be so minded upon a good account The Citizens having thus prudently though we see not without great caution referr'd themselves to the King the Duke readily accepted of this form of peace as not hoping possibly for such an other opportunity nor expecting so honourable Conditions a second time if refus'd the first and upon his knees became Intercessor to the King to take the cause in hand under the form by the Londoners expressed and so a Reconciliation was made between these two contesting Parties the Duke with an Oath promising them his friendship for the future and in token thereof bestowing a kiss of peace upon each of them before the King at the same time Whereupon the Citizens return'd home with joy and gladness rejoycing that the Duke was brought to such humility who a little before had in great Pride demanded of them for his favour an hundred Hogsheads of Wine and an infinite number of precious
Stones So great a value did this high-flown Duke set upon his grace and favour till the Citizens of this honourable City by their power and prudence had brought down his haughty spirit a Peg or two lower and that visibly too For we don't find him as ambitious as he still continued so openly aspiring to Englands Crown for the future how successfully soever his Son made a Rape thereon at the end of this Princes Reign under the pretence of I know not what hidden right accruing to him from his Mother We read indeed I confess in Cotton's Abridgment of the Records that in the seventeenth of this King the Earl of Arundel laid several things to the Dukes charge as not honourable for the King to suffer in him nor fit for him to do being a Subject as that he went Arm in Arm with the King and his Men wear the same Livery the Kings did which seems to shew much of Arrogancy and Ambition to say no more besides some other Objections but herein he was so far justified by the King himself that the Earl was ordered to crave the Dukes Pardon in full Parliament in a certain form of words appointed him In Stows Annals also we meet with an Accusation brought against him in the seventh of this Kings Reign tending to prove his intent and design suddainly to oppress the King and take upon himself the Kingdom but it seems little notice was taken of it by the King himself who was to have lost most had it been attempted Successfully and doubtless as little believ'd otherwise surely the Schedule containing the time place and other Circumstances had not been presently delivered into the Dukes hands nor the accuser committed at his request to the charge of his near Kinsman nor the occasion of his violent Death so little inquired into afterwards The Duke was not so powerful nor so great a Terror but the City was as well able still to deal with him and his whole party and make as vigorous opposition as ever in defence of their Soveraign Lord the King if occasion should have offered it self This we have reason to believe was known in those days to all the Nation much more to the Duke himself from former experience who therefore may be suppos'd not any more to have aspir'd openly whatever secret fires of Ambition lay hidden within his breast whether or no he design'd and attempted ought by unseen Plots and Conspiracies I leave to the Judicious Reader to believe or not as he pleases without speaking to or for in the case Besides the decree of an over-ruling Providence Common equity in siding with what was reputed the juster title natural humanity in defending the young and weak and a well grounded affection to the Prince for his Father and Grand-Fathers sake one the famous Black Prince the other the Glorious Edward the third their King and Sovereign we may conclude the generality of the Citizens had the greater aversion to the Duke and his faction because he was a known favourer of Wickliff and his Doctrines whether on a good account or only out of any Ambitious Design I shall not determine in this place and so look't upon perhaps as little better than another Juliân the Apostate For we are to know that Londons Religion and consequently the Nations was at that time Popish and the generality of the People in Town and Country Romes Votaries who had Wickliffs Doctrine in as great detestation then under the Notion of Heresy as we Protestants have it now in esteem under the Seal and assurance of Truth As indeed for many of the ages past from our ever-blessed Saviours Birth through which I have drawn the thread of this discourse and under the succeeding Kings for above an hundred years Popery continued the National Religion under the power and prevalency of which perswasion was the body of the Citizens bred up who prov'd so famous in their Generations for their powerful influence on the grand concerns of the Nation in every considerable turn and change of the times before the Reformation And when England was made happy with this blessed alteration the Cities Power Strength and Esteem remain'd the same in effect as ever the change of her Religion introducing no change therein unless for the better she encreasing proportionably in every age in Wealth Riches and Honour as the Nation grew stronger and stronger And still continues as visibly conspicuous under Protestantism as before under the Romish Faith a thing easy to be demonstrated in due time and place How influential the Cities actions were upon the Nations affairs and her Love advantagious to the Orphan Prince in securing his Claim Right and Title to the Crown in his Grand-Fathers life time and setling him quietly on the Throne at his Death in spight of all the opposition the deep designs and daring Spirit of his Aspiring Uncle John of Gaunt and his faction could make when they had got the reigns of publick Government into their own hands through the Old Kings Connivance hath been the subject of several of the aforegoing pages The next thing of course falling under present consideration is to observe how this Honourable City of London behav'd her self after she had lent her âssistance to raise this Young Prince from the âeanness of a Subject to the Royal Dignity and Grandeur of a King under the Name of Richard the Second what place she held in his affections ând of what esteem in the eyes of all the rest of âhe people But where shall I begin and when âhall I end Sooner may I be wearied with readâng and tir'd with writing than fail of matter âo exercise my Pen so copious is my Subject and âo full of Variety For in my searches into the Histories of this Kings Reign I find it plain to a âemonstration that the City carried a great sway âmongst all Ranks and Degrees from the Prince âo the Subject from the King the Supream to âis subordinate Magistrates and Ministers and was highly Honour'd Rever'd and Respected âmong the Nobility Gentry and Commonalty âf the Land both in the calm of peace and the âoisterous storms of civil distractions I begin first with the Honourable House of Commons the known representative of the Commons of England and concerning them obâerve out of Sir Robert Cotton's exact Abridgment of the Records in the Tower revis'd by William Prynne Esq that in the first Parliament of this King in his first year among other Petitions of the Commons there is to be found one particular division under the Title of Petitions for the City of London wherein the House of Commons become express Petitioners so great was the Cities influence over their Debates and so high a respect had they for her to the King for many considerable Grants in favour of the Citizens and to them very advantagious and beneficial As that all their Liberties may be confirm'd with a Non obstante That they attend upon no Commandment
of his Disposition weakness of his Judgment or fondness of ãâã Affection grounded mostly on humour anâ fancy having grasp'd all publick affairs in Church and State into their own hands too too oft make no better use thereof than to Hector over those who were before their Superiours suppress their Equals oppress their Inferiors and inslave the poor Commons the easier thereby to raise themselves and their own Families upon other mens ruins When these things happen and the reins of Government fall into such men's hands the rich are sure to be the greatest sufferers and such as have most of this Worlds goods are certain to be most watch'd and carpt at and all opportunities greedily laid hold on to bring them under the Lash that they may be squeez'd like Spunges and large sums exacted of them to buy out their Pardons and procure forgiveness till another occasion offer it self to make them be thought Offenders anew of this London sufferings in the fifteenth of this King are attesting proofs For the Londoners having refus'd to lend the King mony as was requested and some abuses being offer'd to the Merchant Stranger that proffered to lay it down Stow tells us the King was marvellously inrag'd hereat and calling a Council of his Nobles at Stamford causes the Mayor Sheriffs and best of the Citizens to be Arrested and afterwards the Mayor and Sheriffs being depos'd sends them to several Prisons there to be kept till he and his Council had consider'd and decreed what should be done with them and it was also further determined that from thenceforth the Londoners should not chose nor have any Mayor but that the King should appoint one of his Knights to be Ruler of the City their Priviledges were revok'd their Liberties disannull'd and their Laws abrogated Neither was this all The Terms likewise and the Courts of Kings Bench Common-pleas Chancery c. Were remov'd from London to York such was the displeasure conceiv'd against them by the King or the ill Offices done them by some busie Courtiers about him For Fabian gives us another account of this affair and says the occasion arose from a contest between the Citizens and the Bishop of Salisburies Servants about one of their fellow Servants who had taken a Loaf out of a Bakers basket openly in the streets and then broke his head with his Dagger for attempting to regain it which grew so high the Citizens striving to have the offender seiz'd on and Committed to Ward and the Bishops Servants rescuing him and shutting up their Gates that the Mayor Aldermen and Sheriffs had much ado by their perswasion presence and Authority to stop further outrages and contain the multitude within bounds though at last they effected it and dismis'd the people home in peace and quietness But the angry Bishop so highly resented this business notwithstanding the fault sprung Originally out of his own House that he and the Arch-Bishop of York incens'd the King all they could against the Londoners even so far that one expresly affirms he was once resolv'd to have utterly ruin'd and destroy'd the whole City A very sharp punishment certainly for such an offence and for a City publickly endow'd with such transcendent Grants and Priviledges as not to be lyable to a just legal seizure of her Liberties and Franchises unless for Treason or Rebellion done by the whole City as hath been before observ'd in the first of Edward the third and the seventh of this present King Now how Treason or Rebellion could be justly charg'd upon the whole City at this time and in these instances which soever of them we give credit to I cannot well conceive The most methinks that could be made of it in the worst construction could amount no further than a Riot notwithstanding the great and hainous matters laid unto the Mayors charge though not a syllable prov'd that I read of as that he no otherwise Rul'd the City but suffered the Citizens to make such assaults upon the Kings head Officers to the Kings great dishonour and hazard of the Kings Treasure then in his Custody The Statute of the twenty fifth of Edward the third which makes it Treason to slay the Treasurer must surely have been very far stretched to have brought the whole City within the compass thereof because some of the meaner Citizens assaulted the Treasurers House upon an injustice first done by one and ân affront afterwards offered by others of his own Servants in refusing to deliver the Offender or âuffer the Constable to enter to seize him he himself being as many Miles distant at that time as Windsor is from London and so not capable of receiving then the least injury in his own person âuch less to be kill'd out-right without which no Treason lies in the Case upon this Act. But if âhe King and Council would have it so or at least âct as if it were so contrary to an establish'd âaw and his own Grand-Fathers grant who âould who would who durst contradict Here âas no Parliament then Sitting that I read of âo House of Commons in Being nor Lords erough present their Friends to stave off the first brunt though at length we hear of a Reconciliation depending before a Parliament was call'd and that too by the mediation of powerful Friends some of them no less than the Principal Lords besides the Queen her self Baker and Stow name the Duke of Gloucester the Kings Uncle who was ever reputed by the Commons a great Friend and Patriot to his Country and his untimely end afterwards severely reveng'd on the Actors and Contrivers thereof and made the occasional cause of enraging the People against the King himself who within few years after the aforesaid Dukes violent Death was publickly dethron'd by such as under the popular pretence of reforming ill Government aim'd at their own Advancement to the chiefeââ Honours Preferments and Dignities in Church and State Through this Noble Peer's Suit and Mediation among others we hear the King was somewhat pacified and by little and little abated the rigour of his purpose calling to mind the divers honours and great gifts he had received of the Londoners as certainly the securing his right to the Crown against the ambitious pretensions of his aspiring Uncle and thâ defending his Life and Person from the furiouâ Outrages of his mutinous Commons were no mean pieces of Service done him by them whereupon he determined to deal more mildly with them and gives them hopes of Grace and Pardon Fabian tells us of a Reverend Bishop a Spiritual Lord that joyn'd with the Queen ãâã procure the Kings favour for them and ãâã their Liberties restor'd them again That the Queen did successfully interceed in their behalf we may perhaps not without some shew of reason conclude from the many great rich and costly Presents made her by the Citizens at the Kings publick entrance into the City about the latter end of August in the same Summer Nay one Writer goes
assuredly raised about their ears to their mutual disadvantage had they been guilty of such unadvised rashness and daring presumption as to slight and contemn her Magistrates Order and Resolution An other stands on Record in the same Author and other Writers among the next years transactions under the Maâoralty of Godfery Boleyn and Shrievalries of William Edward and Thomas Reyner For upon the Kings Calling of a grand Councel at London to accommodate differences and the Lords of each Party coming up thereto with great Retinues they having from Four-hundred to One-thousand-Five-hundred in a Company lodging some within some without the City holding their Consultation apart each from other as if at mutual defyance and ready to put all to the decision of the Sword the Mayor kept Five-thousand Citizens as Fabian Numbers them dayly in Arms riding about the City and Subburbs to preserve the peace and for the night Watch provided Two-thousand to give Attendance upon three Aldermen till Seven a clock next morning that the day Watch was set by reason whereof continues my Author good order and rule was kept and no man so hardy once to attempt the breaking the Kings peace The Councel was held in quietness and a Reconciliation patch'd up for the time For who durst move when the City says nay Several such Instances are to be seen in the Chronicles and have been hinted before in the precedent Relation And if need were I might produce the Disturbance likely to have hapned in the Fourth year of this King by the Bishop of Winchesters meanes then at Variance with the Protector the Duke of Gloucester when upon strict Commandment given to the Mayor he set a sure Watch by night that kept out the Bishops Servants by force and would not permit them to enter the City over the Bridg whereupon a pacification was at length concluded between these two great Men their differencies in time amicably adjusted and the City seems to have protected the Protector himself But that I hasten to the fecond general Head before propos'd under which I am to make out the visibility of the City's affection to the house of Yorke distinguish'd from that of Lancastor by the white Rose their particular badg and thee ffect thereof her influencing the nation in their favour in behalf of the Yorkists Interest to the raising it up above the Lancastrians And this may be demonstrated beyond contradiction both from the suspicions fears and jealousies of the Queen and the Court that in their Hearts the Citizens bore too great Respect to the other side and would assist them upon Occasion and from their actual joyning at last openly with the Yorkists in word and deed to the visible exaltation of that Family above the other whereby the White Rose grew up amain and flourished not only above the rest of the flowers of the field but also above the Red though it's whiteness was first ting'd with a Scarlet dye and the Red had lost much of it 's before lovely ruby Colour so much blood was there shed in this unhappy Contest It being related out of Philip de-Comines that within his Remembrance in the Civil-Wars of England dyed above Eighty Persons of the Blood Royal. For the proof of the Queens Suspicions or others Apprehensions Instances more than one or two and a triumvirate of Witnesses may be brought Stow tells us before the battail of St. Albans how that the King having assembled his Power to oppose the Duke of York then marching towards London at the Head of an Army his meaning was rather to meet the Duke in the North parts than about London where it was thought he had too many friends and therefore departs with speed from Westminster on the same ântent And afterwards acquaints us that upon the difcharging of York and Salisbury of their high Offices and Places of Government about the King This change among the Nobility caus'd sudden alterations and attempts which he calls Seditious to spring in the Commonalty especially in the City of London Fabian informes us that the Queen caus'd the King to remove in his Thirty-fifth from London to Coventry and their held him a long season as suspecting the City of London and deeming it to be more favourable to the Duke of York's Party than to Hers. Baker gives us much the same Story under the Notion of the Queens perswading the King for his Health and Recreation to make a Progress into Warwickshire as finding the little Respect the Londoners bore to Her Party or the Kings And Stow shall here bring up the Rear to back their Informanions with this expression that because the Duke was had more in estimation among the Citizens than either the King or Queen she caus'd the King to make his Progress as perceiving she could attempt nothing against him near to the City of London If we consider Actions and respect Matters of Fact we shall find the Yorkists often received at London when the Lancastrians were either expresly refus'd or at least compell'd to get further off into other parts for their better security and safeguard After the Yorkists had won the Battel at St. Albans London was the place whereto they presently remov'd carrying the King along with them and kept there their Whitsuntide with great Joy and Solemnity When an Assault was made at Court upon the Potent Earl of Warwick a great Yorkist as he was coming from the Councel Table by the Kings Servants with Intentions to have Slain him London was the place whereto he Row'd in all hast as soon as got into his Barge and thereby escaping the danger intended he Consults with the Principals oâ his Party and retires afterwards to Callice Thiâ was the place to which the Chronicle saith the Earl of Salisbury his Father was coming up with some Thousands of Men when he was necessitated to Fight his Way through his Enemies iâ Bloreheath Field Here likewise was Warwick received encouraged and refreshed in the 38th of Hen. 6. before the Battel of Northampton when the Lord Scales appointed by the other side with some Troops to go and secure the City was directly refused admission by the Mayor and being received into the Tower he was besieged by Land and Water and they of the City planted great Guns against it and break the Walls in divers places And after the fatal over-throw of the Lancastrians at the aforesaid Battels hitherto was the King conveyed by the Party a Prisoner in effect tho' in shew a King as if eager there to shew their Triumphant Success or else further to secure to themselves the Londoners good will love and affections by their Presence For Fabian tells us they return'd hither in haste upon their obtaining this Victory the Duke of York comes out of Ireland to them and after a Report banded about the City that King Henry was to be Deposed and the Duke to be made King to make Tryal doubtless of the peoples mind and sound the Citizens
may be the care taken in London to watch and guard the Gates upon the first discovery of the Gun-powder Treason and the great joy and rejoycing manifested therein soon after upon its further detection by filling the Streets with Bonfires and the Solemn Assemblies with publick praises and thanksgiving to the Almighty for the Kings happy Deliverance This Gunpowder Treason so to observe by the way was one of the seven particulars the Intelligencer tells us were sometime since set up in a Table in St. Martins Church at York under this Title Things never to be forgotten by Protestants The other six were The bloody Reign of Queen Mary The many Plots in Queen Elizabeths Reign The Massacre in Ireland in Forty one The horrid Murder of King Charles in One thousand Six hundred and Forty eight The burning of London in One thousand Six hundred and Sixty six And the horrid Popish-plot in One thousand Six hundred and Seventy eight An Inscription that some harmless well meaning persons would have been apt doubtless to have thought very honest in its self and deservedly written in Letters of Gold till an Order came to one of the Church Wardens to take it down or appear at the Spiritual Court to answer the Contempt For 't was above the ordinary Capacity of a Common lay-Protestant to apprehend any thing ill or offensive therein till such wits among the Clergy as had far more sagacious intellects perceived the drift and design thereof and judging it perhaps to be part of the Presbyterian Plot might think fit to have it thrown down that the Vulgar might be no more amus'd with the dreadful remembrance of such things But to return to the Cities Love and Loyalty to King James another remarkable proof thereof may be deduced from the double Guards set in all places about London the Precept issued out by the Lord Mayor to the Wards to raise the Train Bands and the unexpressible distraction of Mens minds upon a flying rumour suddenly spread about the City March 22d somewhat above four Months after the Powder Plot was discovered of the Kings being slain that morning at Oking some twenty Miles from London which occasioned great weeping and waiâing and much lamentation in old and young rich and poor till in three or four hours time all these Clouds were happily dispers'd by better and more certain news brought of the Kings safety and his return to Whitehall thereupon the same afternoon where the peoples hearts were as much raised with joy as before they had been drowned in grief and the Lord Mayor and Aldermen went to congratulate his Majesty upon the assurance of his continued Health and Security Such were the expressions of the Cities affections let us now see the return of Kindness on the Kings part and his Princely acknowledgment of their singular love and loyalty to him Much doubtless of the Kings mind in this particular may be guessed at from the frequent Visits he made the City but I presume by no one Act of his better known than by his repaying the Citizens of London in the seventh of his Reign the Threescore thousand pounds they had lent Queen Elizabeth three years before her death An Act of the greatest Justice and Equity and whereby likewise he got more love saith the Chronicle than he paid mony This may pass both for an Example of the Kings Goodness and Prudence and an Instance of Londons Power and Esteem since his Majesty thought it good to be at such charges to oblige her For to pay their Predecessors Debts is so rare among Princes that many of them hardly ever pay their own Hitherto have I presented the Reader with variety of passages out of our English Chronicles to demonstrate the Glory Honour and Renown of the City of London and the Courage of her Citizens the Power of her Magistrates the Strength of the Commonalty and the undeniable Influence of the whole Corporation upon the rest of the Kingdom and have given him here and there the words and expressions of private men as so many illustrative Arguments on the Points Wherefore now I shall produce no less than what I account a Royal Testimony in confirmation of the many demonstrative Evidences already brought and that of no less a Prince than his present Majesties Royal Father King Charles the First and out of an Author so little partial to the City that the very name of Peter Heylin and the diligent perusal of Arch-Bishop Lauds Life by him writ may sufficiently convince an indifferent Reader that he was none of Londons greatest Favourers or Admirers since 't was look'd on as the Retreat and Receptacle of the Grandees of the Puritan faction as he is pleased to stile all those he thought contrary to that Party of Men he will needs call the Church of England A Proof therefore out of such an Adversary's mouth as Heylins seems a very convincing Argument when he himself is forced meerly by truth and matter of fact to confess and acknowledge the influence of London on all parts of the Kingdom in that passage where he intimates it to have been generally look't upon as the compass by which the lesser Towns and Corporations were wont to steer their course and to plead it's practice on all occasions What I conceive to be the Kings Testimony by that writer deliver'd is by him brought in as the reason of his Majesties preferring Laud to the Bishoprick of London viz. For that he was a Man of a more active Spirit than the former Bishop and so fitter to carry on the design of rendring the City conformable to that propos'd Model of Church Government which was intended for the whole Nation and therein therefore principally to be promoted because of the Influence it had by reason of it's wealth and trading on all parts of the Kingdom and that upon the correspondence and conformity thereof the welfare of the whole depended This Testimony doubtless is of great authority because proceeding from so Judicious a Prince and related by an Author not to be suppos'd over ready to write any thing in favour of this City to which he seems to have born a very great animosity because the Citizens would not be so thorough-pac'd Episcopal as his Reverend Doctorship would have had them to have been But now methinks it should be of greater prevalency than ever since that King Charles himself before he dyed out of his own experience knew much more of the Cities strength and Power than many of his Predecessors did for some ages before For 't is plain beyond denial dispute or contradiction out of the memory of Man and the everlasting Records of time that in the late Wars between him and his two Houses of Parliament 't was the Cities power and influence that rais'd them to that height of Grandeur which made them so formidable to all the Royal party Whereas without her help and assistance how little able they had been to have long subsisted or
Londinum Triumphans OR AN HISTORICAL ACCOVNT OF THE Grand Influence THE ACTIONS OF THE CITY of LONDON Have had upon the AFFAIRS of the NATION for many Ages past SHEWING The Antiquity Honour Glory and Renown of this FAMOUS CITY The Grounds of her Rights Priviledges and Franchises The Foundation of her CHARTER The Improbability of a Forfeiture and Impossibility of a Legal Seisure The Power and Strength of the Citizens and the Prevalency of the Commonalty in their Contests with the Magistracy Collected from the most Authentick Authors and illustrated with variety of REMARKS Nullum est jam dictum quod non dictum sit prius No new thing under the Sun LONDON Printed for the Author and are to be Sold by L. Curtis at the Sign of Sir Edmondbury Godfreys Head MDCLXXXII THE DEDICATION To the HONOURABLE SIr Thomas Allen Kt. Aldermen of the City of LONDON Sir John Frederick Kt. Sir John Lawrence Kt. Sir Robert Clayton Kt. Sir Patience Ward Kt. Sir Thomas Gold Kt. Sir John Shorter Kt. and Henry Cornish Esq And to the Worshipful Thomas Pilkington Esq Another of the Aldermen of the said City and Samuel Shute Esq The Worthy SHERIFFS for the year Past Sir Thomas Player Kt. Chamberlain of the same Thomas Papillion Esq John Dubois Esq And to all the rest of those Eminent Citizens who have so worthily asserted the Rights Liberties Priviledges Franchises and Immunities of this Ancient and Honourable CITY This Book is most HUMBLY DEDICATED by W. G. TO THE READER IF Antiquity and Duration wealth and riches strength and power can make a City famous If an honourable renown visible grandeur and unparallel'd priviledges may render her glorous in the eyes of the World If the Spirit of her Citizens influence of her actions and a continued train of Successes can justly give her the denomination of powerful Then may this great ancient and renowned City of London deservedly be esteem'd one of the eminentest Cities of the Vniverse unless the Lie be given to the most Authentick of all our English Historians and we must not like the Papists believe our own eyes nor give credit to our ears but bid adieu to all rational knowledge and deny the force of true Logical Illations inferences and conclusions Such being the subject of this following Treatise purposely design'd for a demonstration of Londons power and a convincing argument of the irresistible influence of her actions over all the Nation for many hundreds of years strongly founded on undeniable Truths and throughout carried on in an uninterrupted series of affairs by a train of inflances and examples and an unbroken chain of inductions And being conscious to my self of no base slurs nor abuses ingentilely impos'd upon the faith of any one by false quotations corrupting of Authors or wilful mistakes as knowing my self easily disprov'd if guilty and therefore so much the more cautious by how much the more certain that these Papers would be made to undergo the severe Ordeal of a strict and rigid examination from a critical age I am apt to flatter my self into the hopes of being accepted among the lovers and admirers of this Honourable City and of having presented the worthy Citizens with somewhat grateful pleasing and delightful to their palates because treating of their Ancestors glory and renown their own power and the necessary consequence thereof the grand influence of their publick actions and fixt resolutions upon the Councils of this Kingdom But whether my trust and confidence in my own poor abilities and my hopes are so good as my ambition is great to serve this Honourable City and I have any sound reasons to believe it within the sphear of my Capacity and the power of my pen to lay any thing looking like an obligation upon the worshipful Citizens thereof others are the most proper judges and the event will best shew If any out of prejudice to the subject and a censorious Spirit shall lay it to my charge that the whole book looks reflective in answer to the imputation I shall humbly desire this favour at his hands that he would be pleas'd to give himself the trouble of turning to the Authors to whom I so often refer and thence he may be abundantly satisfied of my honesty and sincerity if he be not over much prejudic'd already or of so narrow a Soul as to be wholly and altogether byass'd to the interest of any one particular party against the plainest evidence of sense reason and truth Besides in my further vindication I can assure him that a great part hereof was drawn up the last Autumn and undeniably prove it too by demonstrative Arguments if need were So that if it had appear'd in the world so early as was at first designed though I have been unwillingly hindered hitherto some on the other side might have been by this time ready to have term'd it predictive Though it was never intended as the off-spring of Prophecy or Astrology but only the result of an ordinary judgment and common foresight grounded on easy unforc'd deductions from plain historical truths and the apparent consequences of things acted on the English stage heretofore Therefore I shall not value the impertinence of weekly observations nor dread the doughty remarks of the whole tribe of common ordinary Scriblers as thinking my self secure within the strength of the argument and the authorities here produc'd to confirm and illustrate it whereupon I am bold to defy the art and malice of evil minded men to disprove me in any thing necessarily material as to the substantial part thereof though as to what concerns any of the lesser Errata I hope the courteous Reader will be so much a Gentleman as to look on them but as venial errors and favourably pass over those slips of my Pen if he apprehend any such as unavoidable weaknesses always incident to human frailty For I profess my self rather a Transcriber than an Author and esteem this Relation the product of my reading more than the issue of my brain Which if it may be in any wise advantagious to the publick and acceptable to the Learned and Ingenious I know not but upon good encouragement I may be ready enough to produce somewhat else more extensive than to the Rights of one particular City though it be acknowledged time out of mind to have been the Epitome and Abridgment of the Kingdom as well as the head both of King and Laws Londinum Triumphans HOW considerable a Figure the City of London makes in the present Government is conceal'd I suppose but from few in the Land But the Influence its Actions have had upon the Affairs of the Nation in past Ages is not so generally known The Glory and Splendor of this Noble City is so obvious to the Eyes of the Curious that they cannot rationally conceive it to be the Work of a Day or an Age but that like other Cities eminent in Story it hath risen up by Degrees from small Beginnings to
his Name to the Place Those Monkish Writers scarce thinking their Hero's Valour sufficiently Celebrated unless they make them meet with and encounter some such Gygantick Adventures where the little Knight shall be sure to over-come the great Gyant Brute having bestowed Cornwal upon Corineus after he had throughly searched the Land for the Pleasure he took in Thames he laid There as we are told the Foundation of a City about the Second Year after his Landing in this Isle and in remembrance of Old Troy named it Troynovant which Name it held till the Time of King Lud near upon One Thousand and Sixty Eight Years from whom 't was named Lud's Town afterwards London as shall be declared in Process of Story What Repute and Esteem this City was of in those Days as being Builded by the First Founder of the British Empire I shall leave to the Reader 's Consideration who may find it honoured with the Sepulture of many of their Kings as of Brute himself and his Eldest Son Locrine to whom in the Division made by his Father fell Middle England for his Share wherein Troynovant was situated To whom may be added Cunedagius and Gorbodug the Father of Ferrex and Porrex the Last of Brute's Line But now the Coast begins to clear up a little more after the Storms of Civil Wars by the Success of Mulmutius Dunwallo Son of Cloton Duke of Cornwal This Dunwallo having vanquished the other Competitors and settled the Land caused a Temple to be builded in Troynovant and named it the Temple of Peace the same according to some Men's Opinions that now is called Blackwell-Hall a Place well known to the Clothiers His Fame is much increas'd by the many good Ordinances he made which were called Mulmutius's Laws and used long after his Decease That this City of Troynovant was of Repute and Renown in this so Famous a Man's Days is hardly to be doubted of by him that considers so eminent a Circumstance as the Building of a Temple of Peace within the Circuit of this City as an Effect of that Peace he had so happily settled in the Land and it may be in Gratitude to the Citizens who probably favour'd his Cause and so might much influence his Actions and Enterprizes In the same Temple of Peace was he laid after his Death which he had been the Occasion of Building in his Life In the Time of Belinus and Brennus his Sons after their Reconcilement Accord we read of their going to Troynovant with their Lords and Friends where after many things ordered for the Common Benefit of the Land they joyntly agreed to lead both their Hosts over the Sea to subdue other Countrys the Smart of which Voyage the Romans felt sufficiently under Brennus and his Gauls By Belinus we sind that an Haven was built in the same Troynovant with a Gate over it call'd even at this Day Belings-gate on whose Pinnacle was set a Brazen Vessel which contain'd the Ashes of his Body burnt after his Death In this City we likewise find that Gurguintus was Buried and also Guintellius his Son from whose Wife Marcia came the Marcian-Law fam'd long after âmong the Britains and Saxons These being of some Eminency in their ãâ¦ã Buried in this City after their Deaths It ãâ¦ã safely be concluded That they ãâ¦ã therein as their Principal City and ãâ¦ã of the Realm Yet we read of other ãâ¦ã Note in those Times and after as of ãâ¦ã one where Archigallo before depos'd by his Loââs for his ill Government was through the Intercession of Elidurus his Brother then Reigning at a Councel of the Britains by him call'd restor'd to his former Dignity When the same Elidurus had gain'd the Assent of his Barons and the good Will of the Commons However Troynovant seems in those Days to have been esteem'd a Place of Security and mention of a Tower therein we find on Occasion of the same foremention'd Elidurus's being sent thither by his unkind younger Brothers to be safely kept as a Prisoner therein The succeeding Times are so barbarous that but little considerable is left upon Record concerning any Actions then done untill we come to the Reign of Lud Eldest Son of Heli which began about Sixty Six Years before our Blessed Saviours Incarnatâon according to Stow. This Man is much prais'd by the Historian for his Worthy Actions and Honourable Deeds for his Valour Liberality and Hospitable House-keeping and his repairing Old Cities and Towns Especially in Troynovant he is Recorded to have caused many Buildings to be made encompassing it also round with a strong Wall of Lime and Stone In the West-Part whereof stands a Gate by him Builded and known even at this Day by the Name of Ludgate For his Love to this City he used most to abide therein Whereupon it was called Caer-Lud or Lud's Town Whence by Corruption and shortning of Words comes the present Name London whereby it shall be called for the future and the former Name Troynovant laid aside in this following Relation Lud dying after an Honourable Reign he was Buried in the aforementioned Gate of his named Port-Lud or Lud-gate where are yet standing the Statues of Him and his Sons as a lasting Monument of his Memory In Cassibellan's Reign the next Successour but whether Son or Brother to Lud is not agreed upon by all Authors we find considerable mention made of London in the Story through Occasion of Cassibellan's Victory over the Romans newly Landed under the Leading of Julius Caesar and twice repelled by the Britain's Valour London was the Place appointed by the King to Celebrate this Victory return Thanks to his Gods and Rewards to his Valourous Knights Here therefore we read of a great Assembly held of his Lords and Knights and of the King 's keeping a Noble and Solemn Feast for all Comers and the Exercise of all kind of Games in those Days used But Difference arising at the Wrestling between a couple of Young Noble Knights allied One of them to the King and the Other to Androgeus Earl or Duke of London as he is somewhere called and from Words these Hotspurs coming to Blows occasion'd such sideing and variance amongst the Company that many were wounded and the Kings Nephew slain to the great disturbance of the Court. For Disgust hence growing between the King and Androgeus to whom the King had given the City of London with the Dukedome or Earldome of Kent besides an Honourable Education suitable to his Birth he being Lud's Eldest Son and so Heir to the Kingdom according to some Writers the other being but his Brother and this Disgust producing War wherein the King was likely to be much the stronger Androgeus recalls Caesar with his Romans to his Aid and assists them in their Landing and joyning his whole Power soon turn'd the Scales bringing Victory to the Romans and an Overthrow and Loss of their ancient Freedome to Cassibellan and his Britains So considerable was the Assistance that Androgeus with
his Londoners and other Knights brought to the Enemy So difficult was it even to Caesar himself to Conquer Britain having been more than once foil'd by the Britains Caesar tells us of the Trynobants being the strongest of all those Cities by which understand London which submitted to him over whom he placed at their request one Mandubratius whose Father their chief Lord or Ruler Cassibellan had before Slain Be these two Histories the same or different yet either I believe will serve to make good my Assertion of Londons Power Fame and Esteem in those ancient Times Though Britain was hereby made Tributary yet I do not find that London lost it's Esteem For Tenancuis is said to be Buried here and also Cunobelinâs or Kymbeline his Son both King 's after Cassibellan In this Kymbeline's Days near about the Nineteenth Year of his Reign or Fourteenth according to Stow Our Blessed Saviour Christ Jesus was Born as is the Opinion of most Writers Henceforth therefore leaving off the Old way of accounting from the World's Creation I shall follow the Christian manner of Computation reckoning from the Birth of our Lord Christ which was in the Forty Second Year of Augustus's Empire as a surer and more certain way Except the Crowning of Arviragus in London I find but little mention of this Honourable City till the Reign of King Lucius who being esteemed by many the first Christian King in the World turn'd the Arch-flamins-See at London into an Arch-Bishoprick the Names of some of which Arch-Bishops we meet with âver and anon in Story as such who had a considerable Power in the Land About 226 London was of such Strength that Alectus with his Romans as Fabian relates being over-press'd by the Britains under the Leading of Asclepiodotus chose this City for his Refuge as being then it seems of greatest Security and he being afterwards slain Livius Gallus another Roman Leader manfully desended himself and his Romans in the same City then closely besieged by the Britains till in their entring he was slain near a River running thereby and thrown thereinto which occasioned it afterwards to be call'd Gallus or Wallus-Brook Some Memorial whereof we find remaining at this Day in the Street now standing where that River sometimes ran and known by the Name of Wall-brook After the Departure of the Romans out of this Land many Outrages being committed ãâã by the Picts and Scots in the Time of ãâ¦ã Honorius we read of ãâ¦ã by the Arch-Bishop ãâ¦ã the Britains to consâlt of ãâ¦ã many Miserie 's then haâging âver ãâ¦ã by reason of their Enemies Strength and ãâ¦ã Inability to defend themselves as being ãâ¦ã no certain Head The Result of which Meetâââ was to desire Aid of the King of Little Britain which they by Embassy obtain'd under the Conduct of his Brother Constantinus and after Victory by him gain'd over their Enemies Crown'd him King of the Land according to their Promise before made Here was a turn of Affairs effected by the Consult at London Another Change we find not long after through the Treachery of Vortiger and the Pict who slew Constantinus's Son Constantius then King and presented his Head to the aforenam'd Vortiger then at London Which City doubtless in those Days was of much Esteem and Regard and thereupon Vortiger who bare the Chief Rule in the Kingdom at that time though the other had the Name of King probably was much resident therein expecting it may be and waiting for the Performance of this Treasonable Act that he being on the Place might have the better Opportunity to caress the Chief of that Eminent City 'T is certain we find him afterwards endeavouring to cajole the People by the great Sorrow and Heaviness he made shew of for the Kings Death and by putting the accursed Traytors to Death for their Wicked Fact according to the Law of the Land Thus many Love the Treason well enough when successful who nevertheless hate the Traytors after their own Turns be serv'd This is that Vortiger so Infamous in the British Story for his own Vices as Incest with his own Daughter Adultery c. and the Vices of the Times under him For we read that Vice was then accounted of small or no Offence Leachery reigned amongst the Spiritualty and Temporalty Every one turned the Point of his Spear against the true and innocent Man and the Commons gave them all to Idleness and Drunkenness whence ensued Fighting Strife and much Envy After the King 's Exâmple the World runs a gadding is a Saying commonly too true As this Vortiger gain'd his Power by Treachery so he Reigned in a manner Precariously For he was so perplexed on the one side for fear of the Return of Constantinus's surviving Sons to claim the Kingdome and the Land on the other side so harrass'd by the In-rodes of the Picts and Scots that he was after a sort compell'd to send for the Heathen Saxons who came under their Leaders Hengist and Horsus to support him about Four Hundred and Fifty Years after Our Saviours Birth The coming in of these Strangers prov'd but as it were the beginning of Miseries For being once let in they soon began to Play their Reakes in the Land and never left till by introduceing more Colonies they had settled themselves and dispossessed the Britains of the best of the Country Neither was it any great wonder that the poor Commons endur'd such Miseries from these New-come Guests when as their Spiritual and Temporal Guides were so given up to all manner of Debauchery One of Hengist's Pranks we find to be his Treacherous slaying of the British Lords at Stonehenge on Salisbury Plains under pretence of a Treaty for Peace But the better to work out his own Ends he is said to have sav'd the King alive whom he knew to have become his Enemy in shew more out of Constraint for fear of his British Lords than for any Hatred towards him he having him sufficiently intangled in the Snares of his Daughter Rowens Beauty So common a thing is it for crafty subtle Men to serve their own Ends by working upon anothers Lusts through the Mediation of an handsome Face and Prostitute Body We read of the Saxon's having got London under their Rule but whether by their own Power or the King's Gift I find not clearly mention'd That he gave Kent and other Counties to Hengist is declar'd by the Historian It may be that he gave them also London to curb it for fear least the Citizens should joyn with Constantinus's Sons whose Return he much dreaded and assist them to regain their Fathers Kingdom Henceforward for some time we are not to expect to find London so Considerable in Power under the Saxon Heptarchy as it was before and after But when all the Seven were reduc'd into one Kingdome and the Affairs of the Land settled in a little more Peace and Quietness London began again more and more to Flourish and soon rose up to such an height
may observe so much difference in the different Relaters especially if it concerns divers Parties Authors too too often Writing partially in Favour of their own Side That London was in those Days of very considerable Strength we have much reason to believe since that by Help thereof chiefly Edmund was able to bear up so valiantly against the Fortunate Canutus whom most of the Lords especially oâ the Spiritualty favoured 'T is certain enough in the Story that Canutus was not ignorant of the great Influence the City had then upon the Nation Affairs and therefore was as desirous to get it into his Power as Edmund was sure he had it at hiâ Devotion For Canutus soon drew with his People to London and would have entered but waâ hindered by the Citizens Then he would havâ forc'd his Enemies but he was quickly compell'â to withdraw and go else where Such valiant Resistance did the Citizens make against his Assault Another time he was drawing apace thitherward but King Edmund was as diligent in preventinâ him and after a cruel Fight forc'd him to ââgone So eagerly did these two hardy Competâtors strive for the Possession of this Renowneâ City in Particular as well as for the whole Kingdom in General The Possession and Favour of ãâã One is a good Step to the safe keeping of the Othe This also I presume was Canutus's Opinion ãâã History acquaints us with a Councel kept at Londoâ by the same Canutus after Edmund Ironside's Deatâ The Design whereof if we may Judge by the âvent was to exclude the others Sons from all Claim and Pretensions to that Part and Share of the Kingdom that their Father once enjoyed quietly by mutual Consent and Agreement The very place might contribute somewhat to Canutus's Design though the Inhabitants should not be brought to give their Assent in open and express Words 'T was done at London a pat Answer to such as durst seem to dislike the Kings Proceedings What Dare you question what was done in the Capital City of the Realm A pretty Fellow indeed to murmur at those Actions which the Citizens of the Head City the Metropolis of the Nation did not openly dislike nor disavow It is observable in the Time of this Canutus that in the Contest between Him and the English King Edmund the Spiritual Lords especially were his Favourers and sided with him A remarkable Instance of Temporizers among the Chief of the Clergy and that they do not always stick to that Rule of Birth-right which they so much applaud when they think it may turn to their Secular Advantage but like other poor simple ignorant Souls among the Laicks can be content sometimes to squint aside upon the more prevalent Object of prosperous Might and Power and leave that which they are pleas'd to call Right as forsaken and forlorn for the sake of their Temporal Concerns Here was on the One side Edmund Ironside the Eldest Son as far as I can perceive by the Story of Egelred putting in for the Crown as his Birth-right and lawful Inheritance but under the Preâudice of a weak Fathers unprosperous Reign and his own Strength small in appearance and of little Ability in Humane likelihood to defend such as would adhere to him On the Other side stands a Strong and Fortunate Competitor his Arms in his Hands a numerous Attendance of Victorious Soldiers waiting on him most part of the Country under his Subjection and prosperous Success attending much upon his Banners though a Stranger an Enemy by Inheritance a Dane one that could pretend no other Title to the Crown that we hear off but what his Predecessors did owe to the Sword and he could make good by the same Claim Yet to this more powersul Pretender with a long Sword in his hand do these Time-serving-Priests chuse to joyn themselves against an Old Friend by Birth a Native an English Man with a better Title according to their own Doctrine at some Time but shorter Sword as was them thought before sufficient Tryal had been made But now I think on 't they have like Passions and Infirmities with other Men and do mind Secular Interests of their Own as well as Others at the same time that they endeavour to bring the Vulgar into a belief of a Commission they say they have receiv'd from an Higher Power and so pretend to greater Sanctity True it is said They had before time sworn Fealty to Canutus's Father A finâ delicate way to defeat another's Right Eitheâ they had before sworn Allegiance to Egelred Edmund's Father or they had not If they had whaâ became of their Loyalty here to forswear Thaâ and swear anew to a Stranger an Enemy-King and after persist in the latter Oath in prejudice ãâã the Former persevering in giving away whââ was none of their own to bestow they having aâ ready by their first Oath sworn away themselvââ to another If they had not how came they ãâã readily to swear Fealty to their Native-King's prâfessed Enemy Did they well herein or ill If well what then becomes of that darling Doctrine of Primo-geniture and of Mens Right of Inheriting by the Law of Nature not to be cut off forsooth under even the freest Constitution of Government by any Humane Law whatsoever though never so many urgent Inconveniencies be clearly foreseen threatning the utter overthrow of the Nations Fundamental Rights If ill what made them continue therein when they had so seasonable an Opportunity of retrieving themselves by acknowledging bewailing and forsaking their former Error But it may be they knew not how to escape the Imputation of Perjury Nay rather did they not lack Will more than Power to return to their English Sovereign from that more Fortunate Outlandish Prince to whom these wiley Priests had addicted and devoted themselves Had they Will they knew not it may be how to disentangle themselves out of the Snare of those Bonds wherewith they had once bound themselves and wanted the Face openly to break them without some Fig-leaf Cover or other to hide themselves under the Shadow thereof They had not it may be hear'd of or not well observed the plausible fine-spun Pretences that had been used before in the World neither had they cunning enough to find out those more Politick Shifts the Wit of after-Ages have either since invented or much improv'd Be they either the Popes Infallible Power as some call it of absolving Subjects from their Allegiance or the nice distinguishing between the Matter and Form of an Oath The Default of âome pretended necessary Circumstances in making or the Train of ill Consequences suggested âpon the keeping the Oath or Impossibility of its Observation after taking it slily insinuated The picking a starting Hole out of some general Term or dubious Interpretation of a Word Or the yet neater way of bribing a great Company a considerable Number many Thousands of Men out of a Common Stock with good Places and Honourable Preferments by publick Subscriptions to
declare the Oath for some few small minute petty fancied Inconveniences invalid and of no binding force But be it by the Power of the Sword or by whatsoever Claim else Canutus held the Crown we nevertheless find him to have Govern'd the Land honourably after that he came to be sole King and it may be to the Content of many of his Subjects for 't was the Memory doubtless of his Repute that set and kept the Crown upon the Heads of both his Sons otherwise of themselves of little Worth or Value if compar'd with their Father One remarkable worthy Act of Canutus's is recorded amongst others viz. That in the Nineth Year of his Reign he call'd a Parliament so my Author terms it at Oxford where amongst other things it was enacted That Englishmen and Danes should hold the Laws of Edgar lately King In the Transactions of these Times we may believe the City of London had no small Share aâ being probably at length pretty well pleas'd with the Father's Reign whereupon the Citizem mav be supposed to conduce at least in some measure to the settling his Sons on his Throne For Harold Harefoot is said by some to have dyed at London after a Three Years Reign and the other of Canutus's Sons Hardicanute was joyfullâ Receiv'd and Crown'd at the same City In Edward the Confessor's days the Land being not much troubled with intestine Broils there happ'ned but little Occasion for trying London's Strength And thereupon I find no great mention of that Honourable City unless in a Passage or two as about Edward the Outlaw's dying therein and of the King 's being there some time before with his Councill when Earl Goodwin was charg'd to come to Court and render into the King's Hands all his Knights-Fees-that he and Harold his Son held in England The Effect whereof was the Outlawing of the foremention'd Goodwin for his Disobedience and departure out of the Land with his Sons by Authority of a Parliament call'd alittle after In this King's Reign also we hear at both Ears of the evil Manners among the Bishops the Chief of the Clergy of their Voluptuousness Gluttony Leachery Covetuousness Wordly Pomp c. as also of their Endeavours to excuse their Manners by answering that they were suitable to the Times A generall Corruption among Men of a Religious Habit being the Common Forerunners of great Turns and Changes in a Land as it fell out here soonafter this King's Decease This is the King to whom according to the Annalist Stow we are indebted for the Common Law gather'd out of the Laws and Ordinances of the Mercian's West Saxons Danes and Northumbers What Spirit was in the Men of those Times is ân part manifested in the Message sent to Harola by the Inhabitants of Northumberland when he was âent thither by the King to do Correction upon those who had risen against his Brother Tostus their Duke for a cruell Act by him committed taking away what he had and chasing him out of âhe Country Continuing together in a considerable Body they gave him to understand that they were freely born and freely nourish'd and might suffer no cruelness of Dukes That they had learned of their Elders and Sovereigns to maintain Freedom or to suffer Death and to live in quietness under an easy Duke Upon which Message their Pardon was procur'd them of the King and another Duke assign'd Within less then a year after Edward the Confâssâr's Death we read of the landing of Duke Wâllââm with his Normans at Hâstings in Sussâx who came with a strong Army to demand the Crown of Harold who had no Title but what he claim'd by the Power of his Sword and the Dukes Claim also went but upon a limping Foot As great as the Duke's Host was enough it seems by the Event to help to win a Crown we find London so Strong as to hold him out when he and his Army came thereto till he had given good Assurance that he and his People would pass through the City without tarrying which was also observed accordingly When Harold was utterly over-thrown by these Normans and so room made for the Title of Edgaâ Atheling to take place we find the Londoners among the chief of those who were upon Associating themselves each to other to defend his Right to thâ utmost of their Powers This Agreement indeeâ was afterwards broken but by the making of it we are well enough assured that the Câtys Strengtâ was then esteem'd very considerable Another Argument let me produce out of Stow'â Annalls where it is recorded that Edwin anâ Marcar both then Powerfull Earles the One ââ Mercia the other of Northumberland after Harold Death came to London and solicited the Citizen to erect one of them to the Kingdom Though this their enterprise was frustrated yet doubtless it may prove Londons Power otherwise 't is hard to believe these two potent Earls would have applied themselves to the Citizens that they would chuse one of them for King and upon the Failure of their Design would have quietly departed without shewing some resentment had not the City been too strong easily to be dealt with or slightly to be anger'd with Safety and Security The other more rightful Heir was the Person pitch'd upon But the other Nobles of the Realm not powerfully assisting and Edward Atheling not being it seems of Ability sufficient to manage his own Concerns himself and undertake so great a Charge 't is no wonder that this Renowned City suffering it self to be born down the Stream with the Times submitted it Self with the rest of the Land to Duke William who made some pretence to a Title Whereas Harold could shew nothing for his but his Sword And therefore it may be 't is that we read not in antient Histories that I remember of this Citys assisting him to defend himself against Duke William's Power Here now is a great Change indeed The Power and Strength of the Kingdom turned from both the Britains and Saxons and devolved upon the Normans by means of this King William the Date of whose Reign begins reckoning immediately after Harold's Death October the Fourteenth Anno Christi 1066 according to Chronology In this King who himself by the General consent of Writers was basely Born is founded the Succession for higher they care not much to go who keep such a stir about our Princes inheriting according to their Birth-right Though if this be made the fixt unalterable Rule of Twenty Six Kings and Queens reigning Successively upon recourse to the History of their Reigns we shall meet with a dozen at least of them who cannot be denied but to have come to their Crowns with Flaws in their Titles Nay if we reckon in the Number such as may have been controverted upon that Account we may safely add the other Half dozen That from the general Rules there are many exceptions we learnt almost as soon as we went to our Grammar-School This King William is
commonly called the Conquerour in History which acquaints us That he came in with an Army and conquered Harold who is esteemed little less than an Vsurper But that from thence we should conclude him a Conquerour of the whole Land and look on it as a Nation totally subjected by Force of Arms it seems to me to lack a little better Proof than I have yet met with That King William after he was well fixt in the Government might reckon this Conquest amongst his other Titles and Claims whether by Harold's Oath the Pope's Gift the King's Testament and a little of Kindred I shall not deny For I have read that King Henry the Seventh had a mind to put in for this Title also but 't was after he had well and surely gained the main point Possession But upon perusal of the Histories about those Times it appears a little unlikely that this Duke William should get the Land into his own Power so wholly by Conquest as some would insinuate for secret intents possibly and purposes of their own Though Harold was Conquered by that one Battail yet I do not think the Land was For besides Londons Strength where William was forced to yield Conditions before he could pass through as afore the Earls of Mercia and Northumberland then of considerable Power are said to have withdrawn themselves and their People to that City without so much as being present at the Battel How also the Kentishmen enclosed Duke William and his Victorious Army and compelled him to grant them the continuance of their Old Laws and Customs is sufficiently manifested if only by the single Evidence of their Antient Law of Gavelkind yet continued amongst them If this be Conquest to be forced to yield Conditions What is it to be Conquered Wherefore we may better I believe from these premised Considerations conclude That the Chief of the Nation knowing him to be a Man of Strength and Ability and of great Fame chose rather to submit to him upon fitting reasonable Conditions than hazard the running into the Miseries of War by committing themselves to the Guidance of so young and weak an Head as Edgar Atheling That King William made a League with such as submitted and swore Fealty to him stands recorded in Stow's Annals True indeed after he was well fixt in the Throne he might not much mind his former promises but contrary to them might do many irregular Acts to strengthen himself as he thought and settle the Crown the surer upon his own Head Whereof we find mentioned in Story his endeavour to raise his Normans by introducing them into the chief Places in Church and State and impoverish the English by setting grievous Impositions and Taxes on them One we read of very considerable in the Nineteenth Year of his Reign when he made to be gathered Six Shillings of every Hide of Land which would rise high according to my Authors reckoning who says an Hide contains Five Yards a Yard Four Acres an Acre Forty Perch in length Four in bredth Eight of these Hides make a Knights-Fee or Ploughtill Forty Eight shillings upon Eightscore Acres was a great matter in those Days though it sounds but a small Sum with Us who have lived to hear of the Wealth of a New World brought into the Old One. To this may be added his Craft in inrolling his Baroâs Land their Knights-Fees Towns Number of Men and Cattle within the Realm in Dooms-day Book the better doubtless to know the Strength of the Land and be the more able to raise what Tâxes he pleased without being very easily deceived by concealments More instances of Arbitrary Power might possibly be observed which nevertheless are not deservedly esteemed Tokens and Markes of Conquest That great Persons in the height of their Grandeur often forget former Covenants and Promises is no such wonder it is so common so usual for some Men to promise more in half an hour when they conceive it for their present Advantage than others find performed in Seven Years If Arbitrary Acts of Rule are able to prove King William a Conquerour of this whole Land I do not know but many others may also be esteemed Conquerours who passed for good Ruling Kings in the days of their Power Though King William held the Englishmen so low that in his days there was almost no Englishman that bare an Office of Honour or Rule if Fabian may be credited for some others deny it as to some particulars This being certainly the too too common Effect of letting in a Forreign Power into a Land where those that were the Introducers of the Forreigners as Friends have hardly escaped Polyphemus's Courtesy of being devoured last Witness in this Land the introducing the Saxons by the Britains and the Normans upon them Yet the same Historian intimates that he somewhat favoured the City of London and granted to the Citizens the First Charter that ever they had written in the Saxon Tongue and sealed with Green Wax being expressed in Eight or Nine Lives This may be construed to be done either in gratitude to the City for giving place so easily to his Fortune or because he found the Citizens so pliable to his Will or rather in policy to have so considerable a Place the more at his Devotion and six it the stronger to his Interest So subtle a King as he was being in no wise ignorant I presume of the great Impression the Actions of the chief City in a Conntry usually makes upon the whole Nation So that though London changed Masters it changed not Fortune but notwithstanding it received damage by Fire which burnt a great part thereof and also of St. Pauls rather gained more Honour and esteem under the Normans Rule by becoming the Metropolis of the whole Nation and the Theatre wherein hath been acted some of the most considerable Passages that have since happened in this Land whether in Peace or War Most of our Parliaments many of the Bishop's Synods and Convocations the Kings usual Residence his Court his Council and Places of Judicature having been generally kept either in the Liberties of this City or not far distant from it at Westminster which being of a much later Date as is hinted before is nevertheless known to be a distinct City of different Rites and Customs and under another Government though the Buildings joyning both Cities in a manner together may occasion Forreigners to give the Common Appellation London to the Whole and we Natives also many times use the same General Term in private Discourse In St. Pauls in London was kept that Synod of the Clergy in William the First 's days which order'd many Bishop's Sees to be translated from small Villages and such obscure petty Places to the greater Cities For by this time the Policy of the Popes of Rome in diverse parts of Europe had introduc'd a distinct Government in the Church different from that of the State And so founded as it were one Empire within another
to have the whole the better at their Devotion So that if Kings or Rulers of States were not as submissive to their Imperious Commands as they desir'd they had the Church in the Land to overaw those who bore the Temporall Sword and lest the chief Church-men being often preferr'd by the Magistrates means through the Popes great Condescention as they would have it thought should prove a little Refractory they had the Monasteries Abbies Priories Nunneries and such like in a manner under the Popes peculiar Jurisdiction to curb them by the Power they could raise out of their Tennants Friends and Kindred Romes high and lofty Prelates thus striving to have their Spoons in every Ones Dish which Desire of theirs we do not find at all diminished though now their Wings be much clipt Nay we find them the more eager now in their pursuit after their antient Greatness under the pretence of a former Right which was first obtain'd by none of the best and honestest ways And so they might regain it Experience tells us they would not stick at the perpetration of the most Execrable Villanies the Art of Man can invent or the Hand can act Whence else come all those Wars Massacres Persecutions Plots Conspiracies Designes Intreagues Frauds Deceits raising of Publick Jealousies fomenting of Private Feares exasperating of Mens minds heightning their Animosities debauching their Moralls and Corrupting Religion it self with the rest of those Cursed Arts and Seed-Plots of Sedition where with our Ears have been so long filled that the sound is not yet gone out of them nor know we when ever it will as long as they can meet with so many foolish Bigots and prophane Debauchees among the Sons of Men The One to be gull'd with the Hopes of Heaven for the Performance of such Meritorious Acts as they will put them upon the Other to be purchased with a Bag of Money or a Plump Whore to favour their Designes falicitate their Purposes carry on their Projects and protect their Crimes if detected from Publick Justice As London was favoured by the first William so I find no great reason otherwise to believe but that it continued in favour and fame under the Second William's Reign Yet I meet with but few Passages of it excepting what may seem to tend to its disadvantage as the Harm it sustained from a Violent wind that is said to have overthrown at one time above 600 houses and much injured the roof of St. Mary Bow in Cheapside as also the hurt was done another time about it by the Inundation of Thames unless we should think it received some addition of honour from the great charges William Rufus was at about the Tower which was to adorn it I suppose for that it was builded long before hath been related above that it was of good strength in the preceding Kings dayes is enough evident in that we read it was made Marcharus the Earl of Northumberland's Prison This Tower having been before times and very often in later days the place of confinement for great Men when esteemed Offendors This is the King that built Westminster-Hall and being after displeased at it for being not big enough to his mind intended as 't is said to have built one much larger and make the other to have served for a Chamber The wicked Lives of the insulting Normans the Miseries and Vices of the depressed Englishmen with the depraved Manners of the corrupted Clergy were so notorious in this Kings dayes that Writers could not well pass them over without mention In Henry the 2d's Time we read of the founding of St. Bartholomew's Church Priory and Hospital in Smithfield which was begun 't is said by Rayer one of this Kings Minstrells but ended by some good and well disposed Citizens of London This Smithfield was then a Place for the casting out of filth where also Felons and other Transgressours were executed and not put it seems to the use that now it is Length of time commonly changes the use of Places and some times for the better There are upon Record no less than Three Councills Synods or Convocations of the Clergy which were kept in this City in this Kings Reign to reform the Church and Church-men was the usuall Pretence but it was commonly done in such away that it tended mostly to the exalting of their own Power We read in Stow of a Parliament of Prelates Nobles and Commons Assembled by this King in the Sixteenth Year of his Reign Anno Christi 1116. This King was the better beloved of the Englishmen for Marrying a Wife of the Old Saxon Line Edgar Atheling's Sisters Daughter for using Edward the Confessors Laws with Amendment at his coming to the Crown and making some good ones of his own for freeing the Church Impriâoning Ranulph the covetous Bishop of Durham his Brother William's Procurator and Gatherer of his Taxes in the Tower of London and also releasing âo Englishmen the Old Tax of Danegelt lately reâived by his Father and Brother and restoring âo them the Use of Lights by Night which with âire had been by his Father forbidden to be used âfter the Ringing of the Cuâfââ-Bâll at Eight of âhe Clock In the time of King Stephen we meet with an eâinent Instance of London's Strength Mâud the âmpress the Late Kings onây Sârviâing Heir haâing upon the Fortune of a Battail took and Imârisoned King Stephen and being theâ by much âxalted in her mind deeming her self sure of the âossession of the whole Realm would not make âây Grant to the Citizen's Requests They thereâpon becoming discontented designed to have ââized on her Person Whereof she having âarning fled in haste for her own Safe guard to âxford and her People were divided and scatterââ whereas not long before she was in a fair âossibility of enjoying all that she claimed King ââephen's Queen promising upon his Delivery that ãâã should surrender the Land into her Possession ãâã become a Religious Man or a Pilgrim to his ââves end Either of which at that time was a ãâã of Spiritual Death as to what concerned âorldly Affairs But her unfortunate diâobâiging is City soon turned the Scales The Queen's âârength encreases Maud's diminishes The King a little after is delivered upon Exchange and thâ Empress at last departs with a small Company and returns into Normandy without obtaining he Desire So considerable then was the City of Loâdon as to be able to wrest the Power out of thiâ Conqueresses Hands and return it back at length to the same Person whom she had once overcome and held many Months Prisoner at her own ãâã and Pleasure That for which the Citizens of London made ãâã great Labour was that they might use the Law of Edward the Confessor as they were granted bâ William commonly called the Conquerour and ãâã the Laws of her Father which were of ãâã straitness Here in my Opinion seems to be iâtimated that this King Wâlliam came not into ãâã quiet Possession
of the Realm so much by Conqueââ as on Conditions accordingly here 's mentiââ made of one Grant The Occasion of Stephen's coming to the Crowâ contrary to his own former Oath swore to Kiââ Henry and in prejudice to Maud's Claim is Râcorded by one Author to have been the Oath one Hugh Bâgot sometime King Henry's Stewarâ who swore that the Late King in his presence little before his Death chose this Stephen for ãâã Heir by reason that he had received some discoâtent at his Daughters hands Whereunto the ãâã giving easy Credence admitted him King ãâã Favour of the Londoners did doubtless at thâ time conduââ not a little to his advantage in pââferring him an able Man before a weak Womaâ For Stow's Annals inform us That he was receivââ by the Londoners when he had been repulsed at âther Places certainly it redounded to his ãâã Benefit afterwards as hath been related before Another Addition of Strength might be his not imposing heavy Taxes upon the People which it may be increased their Love to him and made so many side with him As indeed we find upon his first Admission that he sware among other things before the Lords at Oxford to forgive his People the Tax of Danegelt Neither do I read of any Taxes that he raised upon the Commons It is affirmed positively in the Câllâction of Wonders and Remarkable Passages that he raised none with which Stow likewise agrees So that a King 's needless laying of many heavy and grievous Taxes upon his People occasions him to lose much of their Love and his forbearing it when he hath Power in his hands unites his Subjects Hearts the faster to him But instead of Taxes we read of this Kings permission given to his Lords to build Castles or Fortresses upon their own Grounds Many whereof we find pulled down in the next King's time they having been the occasion of many Miseries in the Land and the ready means to foment Civil Wars therein which generally brings greater Damages to the Commonâlty than a few Impositions and Taxes can be presumed to do This King Stephen was twice Crowned but for what cause or for what intent is not so easily known whether it was that he thought his Imprisonment had diminished somewhat of his Royalty or else thinking by a second Coronation to âlude the Force of the Oath made at the first I find not delivered Certain it is soon after my Author tells of his taking away a Castle from the Earl of Chester who before had appeared against him on Maud's side with a very considerable Strength but had been afterwards reconciled to the King But what is much more considerable we read not long after of the King 's new danger and ill Success and of his Party being weaken'd particularly by the loss of London For Duke Henry after King coming into England with a great Army after some small Success gets up to London and wins the Tower as much by Policy and fair Promiâes saith my Author as by Strength Then he had Opportunity enough to caress the Câtizens being so near them and it may be he got not the Tower without their Consert if not by their Affistance Hereby we find that he retrieved what his Mother's Haughtiness before had lost and so having got the City's Affection and Power he was in a fair way to obtain his Desires as he did not long after For we quickly read of Mediators and Treaties of Peace between these two Competitors which took Effect at last though the Interest and Policy of some hindered it for a time In Conclusion the King was fain to consent to the adopting the Duke his Heir so that he might Reign during his Life Which justly to perform the King being sworn with his Lords Spiritual and Temporal in the next place we hear of their riding up to London as if to bind the bargain it was requisite to ask the consent of that Honourable City whose Favour seems to have been of so great weight in those unsettled Times as to turn the Scales twice once in the King's behalf and erewhile on the Dukâ's Such was their Influence such their Power as to pull down and set up in a manner whom the Citizens pleased Happy was this Agreement to the Land by settling peace therein as beneficial likewise was it to the Duke it being a fair Step to the Throne whereon we find him mounted within a little time For not long after this Accord we hear of the King's Death Whether the Troubles of his Mind or Diseases of his Body brought him to his End vexation for the disappointment of his Designs in being after a sort compelled to adopt his Competitor his Enemy for his Son and Heir or Grief for the loss of London's Favour which helped to effect so great a Turn in his Affairs I shall not determine It might be one it might be the other or neither or all conjoyned that became the occasional Causes so to phrase it of his Death I like not to be very positive where I am not very certain Stephen's Death making thus way for Henry to ascend the English Throne he became one of the âreatest Kings that ever ruled this Land for the Largeness and Extent of his Territories if we reckon the Inheritance he enjoyed from his Father the Land he held by the Title of his Mother the Dowry he had with his Wife and what he obâained by the Success of his Arms Yet notwithâtanding all this he lived not free from Troubles ând intestine Broils which sprung much out of his âwn Bowels So that the Glory of his Youth beâan somewhat to be eclipsed by the Misfortunes of âis elder Years He Crowned his eldest Son liâing King sometime before the middle of his âeign to the end as one Author affirms that he âight have full Power and Authority to rule this âand and People while his Father was busied in âther Countrys where some of his Lands lay This âight be one Reason but the King having learnt ãâã experience to his Mother's Loss and his own âost how easy it was for Stephen to attempt and âain the Crown being present on the Spot while ââe right Heir was far distant in the vacancy of the âhrone may be supposed in his intent to have designed the hinderance of such an Intrusion for the future by Crowning the next Heir King while he himself lived I read that Stephen had some such design to have Crowned his Son King in his own days as he declared at a Parliament called at London An. Reg. 17 to have fixt the Crown the surer to his Posterity But the Bâshops refused the Deed Which I do not find they did so much out of Conscience or in Favour to Mââd's Title as by the Command forsooth of the Pope who in those days was very apt to be clapping his Fingers into almost everâ ones Pye where he thought any good pickinâ might be had This King Henry got but little by Crowning
hiâ Son in his Life-time besides Troubles Crosses and Vexation of Spirit For upon one Occasion oâ other we find his Sons oft thwarting him anâ some times warring upon him Famous were those days for the Contest betweeâ the King and Thomas Beckââ which brought Beckââ to his end and the King to a severe Penance at thâ last though he disowned the Fact and is noâ plainly proved to have given any other consent tâ it unless what may be deduced from a few angââ Words uttered in his Passion The ground ãâã occasion of this Dissention between the King anâ the Arch-Bishop is declared by the Chronicle ãâã have sprung from diverse Acts and Ordinancââ which the King had procured at his Parliament ãâã Northampton to pass against the Liberties of ãâã Church which thereupon this lofty Prelate witâ stood The Popâsh Clergy being then grown to thâ height that crowned Heads were in a manner coâpeâled for their own Security to veil Bonnet them and scarce durst so far presume as but endeavour to cross their Ambitious Designs They could be content by their Canons and Councels to encroach upon the Laity as they termed them but they poor Men by the Clergy's good Will must not be allowed to vindicate their Own Native Liberty from the Others unjust Usurpations This King Henry is said to have been Peerless in Chivalry in War and in Leachery This last is sufficiently notorious in his Love to the Fair Rosamond and further manifested in his deflowring as we read his Son Richard's intended Wife the French King's Daughter whom we are also told he would have Married could he have obtained a Divorce from his Queen And this he intended 't is said to have the more favour of the Frenchmen by their Aid the better to disinherit his Sons who among other things done to his Displeasure had warred upon him in Vindication of their abused and slighted Mother Three several Warnings I read of that he had to amend his Life but to little or no purpose Some of his Patience or else fear of the Imperious Clergy we find in his forbearance shewed to Heraclius Patriarch of Jerusalem who upon the King's Refusal to go into the Holy Land being discontented sharply rebuked him reflecting on him for the Death or Martyrdom as those Times were pleased to term it of Thomas Becket and upon Henry's further excusing the Voyage for fear of his Son's Rebellion in his Absence departed in great ire with these words in his Mouth saying That it was no wonder for of the Devil they come and to the Devil they shall Part of his Devotion we meet with in that Shift he found out to fulfil the Condion of building three Abbies in England enjoyned him by the Pope in the Dispensation granted him for the Voyage he hâd before solemnly vowed to take intâ tâe Hâly Land in Person Such was mucâ of the Religion tâen of those Times eââner tâ bâild ãâ¦ã and the like so manâ ãâã Castles or Fortrâssâs as it were ready manâed and victâalled at the Pâpâ's Service oâ else to take upon them the Cross and away to thâ ãâ¦ã to fight for Christ'â ãâã as wert the cry Angliâe to subduâ more Laâd to the Pâpe's Obedience A cunning crafty trick of the Pâpe's to send away packing such Princes whose Power they feared would grow too greât at home that they might in the meaâ time domineer over their Subjects Purses and Consciences and the better advance their own Worldly Pomp and Grandeur in their Absence For read not of any of the Popâs who went themselveâ iâ Persons They forsooth could not be spared fâom their Charge alâas their Preferment noâ be absent from home out of care to the Feeding of then Flââk i. e. looking to their own Gain So that the serding Mân while in their Bodies to the Hâly Land was almost as beneficial a Project as long as it lasted as the âreterce of Fetching their Souls out of âââgatory after their Death for a round Sum of ãâã and a set of Massâs The Triâk King Henry almost as Cunning though not as Fârtunate as these subrle Priests fouâd out to fulfil the Condition enjoyned and which he put in Execution was First Putting Secular Cannons out of Waltham-House and setting Cannons Regular in their stead Secondly His thââstiâg the Mârkâ out of Amesbury-House and placing there another sort of Religious Persons which he had brought from beyond the Sea And for the Third His coursly renewing the Charter-House of Witham beside Salisbury The King having had so large Tryall and so much Knowledge of the City of London's Power did not very much I suppose at any time disoblige the Citizens Especially having such powerfull Enemies to deal with as the King of France abroad and at home the insulting incroaching Clergy and his own unnaturall refractory Sons though one saith that he nourished Strife amongât his Children with all Diligence hoping thereby to live himself in the more rest But it seems that device avail'd him but little As we have but little reason to think that the City of London lost ground in Henry's days so under his Son and Successour King Richard we find that Foundation laid where upon was after erected that Famous and Free Way of Electing it's own yearly Governours wherein she now glories Like as William the First gave the Citizens their First Charter so this Noble Richard Cuer de Lyon was the King that ordain'd London to be ruld by Two Bailiffs whose Names were Henry of Cornhil and Richard Fitz Ryver as Fabian tells us in that worthy Chronicle which he compiled of the English and French Nation This Fabian being Sheriff of this City in Henry the Seventh's Days by that advantage may be presumed to have best known the Affairs of the City and seeming to write with a great deal of Integrity in this Relation I chiefly follow him and so intend as far as he reaches especially when I shall have occasion to Name any of the Bayliffs Mayors or Sheriffs through whose yearly Government in his Second Volume he deduces the History in form of Annals down to the beginning of King Henry the Eight's Reign In the Prolâgue to this Second Part he tells us That the City was antiently under the Rule oâ Portgrieves which word Portgrieve signifies in Sax on the Guardian Ruler or Keeper of a Town Thââ Book called Doomsday wherein were registred iâ Saxon the Laws and Customs then used being lost ââ he acquaints us also that the Remembrance oâ those Rulers before this Richard's Days was losâ and forgotten In the same Prologue likewise he hath left us a Copy of Verses written in praise oâ the City wherein we are told That this City was never cast down as other Famous Ones have been that herein Divine Service was always continued in Religious Houses in such an Order that when one had done another began and that it was famed also for the Mayor and Sheriffs Noble House-keeping with much more which any
one that please may peruse at his leasure in the forecited Place We likewise find there declared the severaâ Wards of the City as they stood in Fabian's Time together with the Parish-Churches and other Religious Houses within and without summed up to the Number of One Hundred Sixty Eight This King Richard in the Beginning of whose Reign we first hear of the Name of Bailiffs giveâ to the Rulers of London having taken a Voyagâ into the Holy-Land according to the Religion oâ those Times and done his Devoir for the Recovery of it according to his Strength the Clergy-men had reason to esteem well of him to humour whose designs he had undertaken so chargeable ãâã Enterprize So accordingly we find that the Ecclesiastucks stuck as close to him as any of his Subjects in his Adversity For in his Return from the Holy War as 't was term'd Richard being Shipwrack't took and imprison'd by the Duke of Austria and long detain'd by the Emperour he was compell'd to redeem himself after a Year and three Month's Imprisonment at a large Ransom An hundred thousand Pounds were either presently paid or good Pledges left behind him to ascertain the full and true Payment A vast Sum in those days when Wheat was esteem'd at a high Price being sold at fifteen Shillings the Quarter as we find it in the fifth Year of King John's Reign about half a dozen Years after So that for this Ransom were sold the Ornaments of the Church Prelate's Rings and Crosses with the Vessels and Chalices of the Churches throughout the Land Wool of White Monks and Cannons and also twenty seven Shrines scrap't and spoil'd of the Gold and Silver laid on them in former Times No Priviledge of Church then regarded no Person spar'd A costly Voyage indeed it prov'd to the Land undertaken to satisfie the Clergy-men's Ambition and therefore they might well be content to bear much of the Charges and use their utmost Endeavours in the Imprison'd King's Vindication And so the Pope did as far as Curses would go to which was imputed those Mischiefs that befel the Duke of Austria and his Country a little after as the Effects of the Pope's Indignation The Power and Esteem of this City's Favour in those Times of the King's Captivity we need but remark out of Neubrigensis who acquaints us That when the Chancellour being then Bishop of Ely and Governour of the Land dreaded the Force of the opposite Lords who strove to suppress him for his Insolency and ill Government he retir'd to London and humbly intreated the Citizens not to be wanting to him in that point of time But they being not unmindful of his former Behaviour rather favour'd the other Party whereupon the proud haughty Prelate was compell'd to resign his Office which he had so ill manag'd and depart to the no small Benefit to the Land in those troublesome Times At London likewise was it that the Lords consulted together for the ordering the Land in the King's Absence which after the late ill Governour had been discarded and after an Oath of Fideliây to the absent Prince was put into another's Hands When King Richard was delivered as soon as he landed at Sandwich we find him coming straightway to London as the fittest Place it seems to receive him and assist him So accordingly we read of his Reception there with all Joy and Honour in so splendid a Pomp that the German Nobles present beholding it affirm'd That if the Emperour had known of such Riches in England he would not have dimiss'd the Ransom'd King under an Intolâerabâe Price A little afteâ we hear of his riding thence with a convenient âârângth to recover the Places that stood out ãâã him After this by a Councel of Lords call'd at Winchester having deprived his Brother John of his Honours and Lands for his Rebellion he took care to have himself crown'd King of England anew As if the Force of his former Coronation was impaired by his Imprisonment or else he thought by this politick Shift to take off all Obligations that might haply lie on him for any thing done before As indeed we quickly after read of a Resumption of all Patents Annuities Fees and other Grants mâde before his Voyage But then it 's affirmed to be done by the Authority of a Parliament call'd after his Coronation After these Passages two State-Informers are âoted to have riâen up promising the King great Matters the Scenes of whose chief Acts were either laid or to have been laid at London One of them the Abbot of Cadonence warning the King of the Fraud of his Officers by vertue of a Warrant from him called divers Officers before him at London to yield to him their Accounts This Place was made choice of by him as the fittest it seems wherein to ingratiate himself with the common People by âo plausible an Act as bringing offending Officers to conâigne Punishment But Death soon cut him off and so put an end to all his Designs The other Informer call'ed William with the Long Beard reported to be born in London of a sharp Wit having shew'd the King of the Outrage of the Rich who as he said in publick Payments spar'd their own and piâled the Poor and being upheld by him became the Patron and Defender of poor Men's Causes and stirred up the common People to a desire and love of Freedom and Liberty by blaming Rich Men's Excess and Insolence Hereupon he was followed with such numbers of People that being called before the King's Councel upon suspicion of a Conspiracy the Lords were fain with good words to dismiss him for the present for fear of the Multitude attending him and commanded certain to seize on him in the Absence of his numerous Abettors But those thus commanded mistaking the time and so failing in their intended Design he escaped and took Sanctuary in St. Mary Bow Church where his Strength quickly grew so great by the Access of the Multitude that he was not easily taken hold of nor without shedding of Blood However being at last taken after that the Heads and Rulers of the City had diminish'â the People he with other his Adherents waâ arraign'd before the Judges cast condemn'd anâ hang'd very shortly after even the following daâ saith the Chronicle so desirous were the rich anâ great Men to have him out of the way as sooâ as they could But as his Plea of Freedom was ââ acceptable to the Commons in his Life-time thââ he became a Terror to the Great so after ãâã Death he ceased not for a while to be a Dread ãâã many by reason of a Rumour raised and banded about among the Commons of his Innocencâ and favourably received of the People even to ãâã approving of him as an holy Man and Martyr anâ making Pilgrimages to the Place of his Execution to the no small trouble of those that had a hanâ in his Death At last the Flame of this Devâtion was somewhat cool'd by the
Publishing somâ Acts of his with other detestable Crimes laid tâ his Charge whether true or false let them looâ to it who industriously spread them abroad Yââ it was not quite put out till the Arch-Bishop ââ Canterbury upon whom among others a greââ Crime was rais'd for procuring his Death haâ accursed the Priest this William's Kinsman ãâã had openly divulged the Vertue the Chain wheââwith William was bound in the time of his Imprâsonment had upon a Man sick of the Feaver This Instance sufficiently proves that the namâ of Liberty sounds sweet and that such as prâmise to procure it shall have Admirers and Foâlowers enough But that also the Favour of thâ Multitude is deceitful and for a Man to put ãâã his ââat to the People many times is the occasioâ of losing his Head is evidently manifested by thâ very same Example How small an Occasion is iâ that sometimes raises a Man's Fame Yet you here find as petty small Matters soon likewise depress it That is no lasting Name that depends meerly upon Vulgar Breath To Defend the Poor and Needy and protect the Oppressed is a plausible Plea Yet it shall go hard but the Rich Oppressor will find one way or other to ruine that Man in his Goods and good Name if not as to his Life who undertakes so noble a Defence As this King Richard under whose Reign these two Informers rose up was Couragious and Valiant in his Life so a little before his Death an Act of his Magnanimity and Christian Forbearance was shewed by him in his freely forgiving and remitting the Person then in his Power that occasioned his Death after that he heard from the other's Confession that in that Deed he intended to avenge the Death of his Father and Brethren before slain by the King But yet the Man scaped not with his Life though forgiven by King Richard if that be true which is said of the Duke of Brabant that he after caused him to be taken flead quick and hanged After Richard's Decease his Brother John being then in Normandy seizes upon his Treasure and not long after procures himself to be crown'd King at Westminster though in prejudice to the Title of an Elder Brother's Son Whereto his Mother Eleanor is thought to have contributed not a little being possibly desirous rather to set the Crown upon her Son's Head under whom she might hope to have a greater Share in the Government than she could reasonably expect under her Grand-child then within Age where her Daughter-in-law the other 's Mother was likely to bear the greatest sway So that the ambitious Desire of Rule is not incident only to Men but invadâ even the Hearts of the Female Sex Here thâ Mother's Ambition raises up her Younger Son even to the Prejudice of her Eldest Son's Heir Though Women be born subject to Men yet it ââ in a manner connatural to them to desire the Power of commanding them at their own will and pleasure Shew me the Land where the Scepter hatâ not often bowed to the Dâstaff and the Princâ Power together with his heart been subject to â câpricious Womans Humour When they creep in to Mens Hearts and lye in their Bosoms it is ãâã wonder that they dive into their Secrets and swaâ their Councels So that the Affairs of the State often turn upon the Hinges of an Imperious Woman'â Will. Under even the most Absolute Despotical Government of the Turks the Ottoman Power manâ times lies in a Womans Breast and the Sultanaââ do not seldome over-rule the Consults of the Divan Of which let the Ambitious Roxolana sometime Empress to Solyman the Magnificent sufficâ for an Inâtance But what need we go so far when as neareâ home our own Ears if not our Eyes may serve for Witnesses of this Truth Yet to the Glory oâ England be it spoken this Land flourished in sucâ Peace and Prosperity even to a Miracle undeâ Queen Elizabeth and the Tranquility of her Reigâ hath so Honourably Consecrated her Memory iâ Fame's Temple that few of our English Monarchs ever equal'd her none that I know of all those who went off the Throne surpassed her The Happiness indeed of her Reign may possibly be imputed much to the Wisdom of her Conduct in suffering the Affairs of the Nation to be guided by thâ Councels of Men Whereas under some of ouâ Kings our Governours have had such a deal of Chamber-practice that the State hath been much ât the Guidance of Women or else of such Effeâinate Persons as were quite degenerated from âhe Spirits and Courage of their Ancestors as âho by their Immoralities Luxury and Debauâheries had little left in them of Heroick and Masculine and were scarce fit for any thing else âut to be dub'd Knights of the Carpet But what ever was the Title and Means we ând John got into the Throne and by the aid âe obtained of his Lords and Commons before ââe End of the Year to recover what was lost â Normandy we may conclude it was not withâut their Consents From Stow's Relation 't is ââain enough that he was Elected at London âfter that Hubert Arch-Bishop of Canterbury had âade a Speech to that purport in the Presence âf the Bishops Earls Barons and Others They ãâã may be preferring him a Man of Courage ând Spirit and so fitter to rule and govern the âealm before the Title of young Arthur then ãâã his Non-age though of the Elder House For seldom 't is that unusual Changes happen âithout some previous Preparatives to make way ââr them And if a Nation hath once fixt upon a âule to guide the Succession they do not presentââ vary from it but upon urgent Occasion So find âe in Kingdoms meerly and properly Elective ââey commonly chuse the next Heir of the Blood ãâã less upon the Interposition of some notable Imââdiment In Sweden that War-like Nation amidst the ââeatest Success of their Arms submitted themâââves to Gustavus Adolphus's Heir though a Child ââd of the Female Sex and when she grew up to Womans Estate they would willingly have coâtinued her their Queen would she but have Marââed according to their Desires When that great Change happened in Denmâââ of late Years which turned it from an Elective ãâã an Hâredâtary Kingdom we may have heard it wââ effected by the Policy of the present King whâ made use of the Distractions of the Nation thââ almost conquered by the Sweeds and that Scaââing of Fame he had got by defending his Capitââ City against their furious Assaults to encline thâ pââty Remainder of his Subjects to give way ââ such an universal Change in the Constitution ãâã their Government So that whatever Towns or Câties were afterwards reduced they must be coâtent to yield to the new-made Law as the establisâed Decree of the Nation A hard thing it migââ possibly appear to such who had no hand in thâ making of that Ordinance and it may be woulâ not very readily have given their
Consent therâunto And yet it might have seemed as hard tâ them to have remained under the Sweeds wheâ they had but little hopes of having much Share ãâã the Government or be lookt upon and dealt with âtherwise than as a Conquer'd People The Fame ãâã may be of this succeeding Policy of the Daniââ King with the Excitation of some of the Boutifeââ of Europe may be supposed to have put somâ thoughts of the like Nature into the Polish King'â Head if all be true that hath been reported oâ the Sloth and Negligence laid to his Charge by ãâã Senator of the Land of his Backwardness to call ãâã General Diet of the Nation and of the Purport ââ a Speech made to him once within these few Yearâ by an Ambassador from out of these Parts of Europâ Hence likewise may have proceeded the Fears anâ Jealousies of the Sweeds hinted to us in Forreign News lest their King by his Neighbours Example ââould be encouraged to attempt the like Which ââems since to have been very much legitimated by âhe Alteration lately made in the Senate of that âingdom if our Modern Intelligencers have given âs a true Account and Relation of that Affairs After that Elective Princes have thus obtained to âe made Hereditary Monarchs one of their next deââres is to render themselves Absolute in their Goâernment Wherein they may have received no âmall Encouragement from the Successful Attempts âf some such Tyrannical Invader of other Mens âights as the present Hector of France And no litâle Help in the neat way of subduing and inslaâing their own Country they may have learnt ârom some such contriving Paâe as was one of âhe Catholick Kings of Spain who with an Army âut of one of his Kingdoms subverted the Liberty of ânother So ambitious are some Men of the so much ânvied Honour of ceasing to be Kings of Men and âecoming Tryants over Slaves at their Pleasure With some such kind of Disease do we find King âohn also to have been infected in his time But â Chargeable Disease you may well call it which cost âim the Loss of much of his Territories abroad the âearts of many of his Subjects among both the Spiâitualty and Temporalty at home and his Peace ând Tranquility within together with a free Imperiâl Crown and all the Regalities attending it and âet he dyed at last without obtaining his so much-âesired Remedy as I doubt not to make sufficientây Evident in the following Relation In the Second Year of this King John by Counâel of the Burgesses of the City of London Thirty âive of the most substantial and wisest Men are Recorded to have been chosen and after some caâled the Council of the City of which yearly weââ Elected the Eayliffs as long as they lasted anâ after them the Mayor and Sheriffs Which nameâ we meet with in few Years after For about thâ latter end of this King 's Nineth Year we read ãâã a Grant made to the Citizens and confirmed by thâ King's Letters Patents whereby they had Poweâ to chuse Yearly a Mayor and Two Sheriffs Tââ First Mayor upon Record is Henry Fitz Alwiââ sworn and charged upon Michaelmas-day in thâ Tenth Year of this King Anno Christi 1210. whâ continued several Years Mayor The Sheriffs werâ Peter Duke and Thomas Neel sworn the same timâ And the former Name and Rule of Baylâffs clearââ discharged St. Matthew's Day Nine Days befoââ Mâchaelmas was the time the Citizens then alloted for their Sheriffs Election and on Michaelmââ day was the Mayor Ordained by the like Ordeâ to be chosen and charged then with the other though now this in part is altered This same Year is likewise noted in Fabian as fââ the altering of the Rulers of the City from Bayliââ to a Mayor and Sheriffs so also for the changiââ of the Bridge from Timber to Stone which ãâã perfected about this time by the Aid of the Ciââzens and Passengers it having been Thirty ãâã Years in building according to Stow who plaââ the Beginning hereof as high as Henry the Second days So that thence forward we may expect ãâã find the Power of the City and its Glory more anâ more encreasing every Age. That the Government of the City should be thâ changed at the Request of the Citizens and in favââ of them fixt as they would have it argues that the Strength then was thought considerable their ââfluence upon the rest of the Nation esteemed not to ãâã small For at this time was K. John over-pressed by âhe Pope and his Clergy and reduced to so low an Ebb âf Fortune that but few Years passed before he âas fain to buy his Peace at no less a price than the âesignation of his Crown And therefore in the âidst of his distress by these Acts of Favour he âay be thought to endeavour to fix the City to his ââterest as hoping thereby to oblige the Citizens ãâã appear in his behalf against the Pride of these ââsulting Priests An Argument doubtless of their âower and the King's Esteem of it The Occasion of the difference between the King ââd the Pope which brought such Woe to the âand and Trouble to the King was the displeaââre he took against the Monks of Canterbury for ââeir Electing one to the Arch-Bishoprick contrary ãâã his Mind together with his Refractoriness in âot hearkning to the advice of his Lords and ââiends who would have had him have yielded to ââe Pope then too potent an Adversary safely to be âântested with To which may be added his conâânued Obstinacy in not yielding to terms of Acââmmodation and Accord when as his Enemies ââew more powerful and his own Strength was âuch weakned by the loss of Normandy A sharp âârrection it proved to the King to have much of ãâã Territories abroad his Normans antient Inheââtance took from him by the War which the ââench King made upon him by the Pope's exciting âccording to some Authors to have his Land ââd Himself accursed at home his Lords absolved ãâã their Allegiance that they might be enabled to ââe against him and depose him and he himself ât last compelled for his own security to give aâay his Crown and Dignity and take it again of the Pope at a certain Rent As hard measure had the Kingdom to have the Doors of Churches and other Places of Divine Service shut up in City and Country in London and in the other Parts of the Land that no Religious Worship might be useâ publickly but the Dead must be buried likâ Dogs in Ditches and Corners No Sacramentâ administred no Baptisms no Marriages or ãâã there were in any Places it must be by special Licence purchased it may be at great rates and all this for the Offence of one Man or a few ãâã which most probably did neither consent to noâ could amend without breaking former Laws and Oaths and offending against the Principles of Honesty and the Christian Religion Suppose the Heaâ Shepherd had offended yet what
of Eââlish men Do you think they will alter their mâners by shifting their Habitations That ãâã Blackamore will ever change his Skin by comâ into a colder Climate Let us look a little upon the first Discoveries ãâã their late grand Plot so often inculcated upon ãâã Nation by His Majesties many Royal Proclamatiââ and Speeches that no Loyal Spirits can any ãâã doubt of the Truth of it who give any deference deferencâ the Word of a King and we shall find there ãâã âain Design after our King's Murder to have rooted âut the Gentry of the Nation whose Lives should it ââems have been offered up as so many Sacrifices to âppease the injur'd Ghost of their Murder'd Prince âome of your Women perhaps they might have conâescended to have sav'd for their Lusts your little âhildren for Slaves the Poor and bâser sort for their âervants but the Men of Substance must in likelihood âave gone all to pot as Obstacles to their cruel inâânded Design And yet still 't is but a perhaps we ãâã not sure they would have spared any Nay raââer we are morally certain that all of any tolerable ãâã must have Died if the Deposition of Mr. Bedlow ãâã often credited remains yet of any value amongst ãâã from whose Attestation publickly sworn upon âath in Ireland's Tryal we find the extent of the âesign besides the subversion of the Government to ââve been the extirpating of the Protestant Religion ãâã that Degree which was alwaies concluded on in ãâã the Consults wherein he was that they would not ââve any Member of any Heretick in England that âould survive to tell in the Kingdom hereafter that âere was ever any such Religion in England as the ââotestant Religion If discovered and so frustrated âântrivances may not sufficiently warn you to beââre of the Jesuits Intentions to youward Consider âatters of Fact and see what hath already been ãâã in other places and so come from thinking what ãâã been done to what may be done and what ãâã should be done if some might have their ãâã minds and desires Cast a look or two upon âââemia that once flourishing Land under Wickliff's ââctrine Famous for the Martyrdom of John Huss ãâã Jerom of Prague the Courage of blind Zisca ãâã his valiant Souldiers and noted also for their âââerty of Chusing their Princes See now how much of the Bohemians Antient Liberty or Religiââ is yet remaining amongst them Enough of the pââctices and devices the Jesuits used to new ãâã the Nation after they had once reduc'd it by ãâã of Arms you may find in the History of the ãâã Persecution London Printed by B. A. John Walker But to return to King John whence I have ãâã gressed after his Resignation and Reassumption of ãâã Crown at the yearly Rent of 900 or 1000 ãâã Silver the Return of the Archbishop and the ãâã Exiles into the Land we read of the releasing ãâã annulling of the Interdiction which had lasted years odd months and days but it was not beâ that the King according to one of the Articles made restitution to the sufferers which the ãâã saith amounted in the whole to 18000â Marks would have thought after so much trouble the ãâã would have been weary of endeavouring after Aâââtrary Power But the Event may make us apt to ãâã that among other inducements to yield to the ãâã hard terms of Accommodation one mighâ some hope to domineer the better over the ãâã he was reconciled to the Clergy and so take a ãâã revenge upon such as would not ere while assist against the Pope For not long after the late ãâã we find mention made of so great ãâã between the King and his Lords that much ãâã were raised on either part One occasion alledgââ that the King would not hold Edward's Laws yet he had taken an Oath at the Return of Exil'd Clergy-men into England to call in all ãâã Laws and put in place of them the Law King Edward if Stow's Annals record the ãâã Another that the King would have Exil'd wiâââaw the Earl of Chester for some Advice he given him relating to his Vices which the other did not well digest The King's Party being then the stronger the Lords took the City of London for their Refuge and remained therein Though we read of much harm done this year in London by Fire and of the burning a great part of the Burrough of Southwark yet it seems the City was strong enough to become the Barons Bulwark against the inrag'd King's Ire And siding with them so inhanced the Barons fame that as Stow tells us all except a few went to the Barons side so that King John durst not peep out of Windsor Castle At length by the Prelates Mediation a Peace was made for a while and to establish it the firmer the King and the Lords soon after met with great strength on either side on Berham Down where a Charter was devis'd made and sealed by the King to the Barons content A.C. 1214. according to Falian's account Henry Fitz. Alwyn continued then Mayor of London Ralph Egland and Constantine le Josne being Sheriffs in this 14th year of K. John's Reign Yet in Stow we read of a Meeting appointed in a Meadow between Stains c Windsor where the King granted the Liberties without any difficulty the Charter whereof is dated June 16. An. Reg. 17. As for the loud and clamorous Declamations of such who tell us that the grand Charter of our Lives Liberties and Estates our Properties and Priviledges was gain'd at first by Rebellion and would thus slily as it were insinuate that it was and is retained by like unlawful waies and means We would desire them to give us better proofs for what they say than their own bare Asseverations which will not yet go for currant Coin in all Markets That Edward the Confessor's Laws were very acceptable to the generality of the Nation we have great reason to believe from their continued desire to retain them That William the first granted the use of them to the Nation is sufficiently instanced above That Henry the first used them ãâã likewise mentioned before for so affirms the Chronicle That King John himself accorded to them at hiâ coming to the Crown we may I doubt not reasosonably believe considering his Title and the Conteââ he was like to have about it If a Negative may be admitted an Argument in the case I do not remember that I have read of any difference between hiâ and his Lay-Barons about them till after that he was reconciled to the Pope by the resignation of hiâ Crown and performance of the other conditions enjoyned him But after the King 's giving away hiâ Crown and resuming it again upon a Foundatioâ wholly and altogether new I know not but he mighâ think all former obligations void and so would endeavour to have his Will of the Laity when he hop'd he had fixt the Clergy fast enough on his side by thâ new condescension
into his own Country there were hopes doubtless ãâã a happy peace to ensue and long to continue But seems those hopes were soon blasted For the ãâã next year viz. the 15 we read of the late agrââ peace's being violated and broken by the King ãâã according to my Author persevering in his wroââ would in no wise be induc'd to hold his own graââ but to execute all things after pleasure nothing ââter Law and Justice These violations produc'd new War between King John and his Nobles ãâã ended not till after the Kings Death So troublesââ was it to the Nation so dangerous to the King ãâã he should have such ill Ministers about him ãâã were either authors or followers of no better adviââ then what could not consist with the Kings keepiââ his Royal Word That the Sheep were made ãâã for the Shepheard to clip shear pill and slay at own will and pleasure is a Doctrine that the ãâã quiet innocent harmless Sheep would no longer âââlingly assent to than while the Knife is held at ãâã throat how acceptable soever it may be to the ãâã Wolves and the degenerate Dogs of the ãâã When King John found himself too weak to ââtend with his Barons and yet it seems by the ãâã not willing enough to keep to his former ãâã he sent beyond Sea and call'd in strangers his Assistance We read that Northfolk and ãâã were the Lands promised to those strangers ãâã would come over to aid the King who had a little âefore got the Pope to disannul the aforesaid Charter ând liberties granted ere while by him and excommuâicate the Barons We have mention made in Stow ãâã or 3 times of strangers coming over So many of âhem were cast away at one time by Tempest who âere coming over Men Women and Children that ââ's said of 4000 not one escap'd alive So that we âay observe 't is an old trick to call in Foreigners âpon the Natives when Arbitrary designs are on ãâã When the King was found to have invited âtrangers to his aid the Lords also sent into France âor help and succour When two Women fall a scolâing and pulling one anothers head-cloths whoever âârst began the fray it is much but both will be in ââult before it end London was the place where the âords kept themselves together till the expected aid ând succour from beyond Sea was brought to them ânder Lewis the French Kings Son who landing ãâã England with a strong Army came afterwards to London and was there received Hence he with the Lords departing won many Castles in the Land and ãâã their return had the Tower of London given up to âhem by appointment Tho the Tower held long for âhe King yet 't was the City it seems that bare the âway and adhered to the Lords What a strength ââey were of we may observe out of Stow where âing John is said to have made hast to besiege Lonâon but the Londoners were hereby so little daunted âhat they set open their Gates and were ready to meet âim ten miles off the City whereupon the King withârew understanding their boldness and multitude âhen the Major Roger Fitz. Alwyn was accused to be ââvourable to the Kings Party we find him quickly âischarg'd of his Office and one Serle Mercer chosen ãâã his place so great was the favour of the Citizens to the Barons and their Cause that they spar'd not their own head Officer and Ruler when he lay under thâ suspicion of favouring Arbitrary designs so contrary to the mind of the Citizens The War still continuing and King John being not able to prevail tho thâ Pope interceded by his Legaâe he had at last ââ some writes all his Arbitrary designs quench'd with a Cup of Poyson at Swinstead Abby about Lincoln Tho another Author is said to affirm that he died ââ the flux at another place Soon after this unhappy unfortunate King John death we meet with an eminent instance of Englisâ mens Loyalty as well as of their love of liberty anâ freedom for though the King and his Lords were ãâã so great a difference most of the latter part of hiâ Reign and he left the Throne and his life at such ãâã time when his Barons were likely in outward appearance to be much too strong for him his his survâving Heir being but then a Child of about 9 years ãâã age Yet as if all rancour and animosity against thâ King and his Party was dead and buried with him ãâã his Grave the wheel of affairs was so turn'd as ãâã were in an instant that Lewis and his strangers weââ disgusted and the young Fatherless Prince was proclaim'd and Crown'd King of the Land at an agâ wherein he was not fit to be left to his own guidanââ without a Tutor It 's plain enough by this instancâ that English hearts were more loyal than naturallâ to desire the ruine of their Prince and his Family ãâã at any time they appear'd in Arms against him in defence of their Lives Liberties and Freedoms hoâ ready have they shewed themselves to accord anâ submit as soon as those men of ill Principles and Aâbitrary practices were remov'd from their Princâ who had rais'd those clouds of discontent betweeâ him and his People The chief of those that so soon returned to their Allegiance were the powerful Earls of Pembroke and Chester who drew with them a very considerable reâinue They may be probably thought to hope to âânfuse better Principles into their young Prince in his Nonage than appeared by former Arbitrary actions âo have been in his Father and so model the Goâernment into a better frame in the time of that powâr they were as the chief Nobles most likely to âave under the King in his younger days Neither âo I know but somwhat might proceed from reâorse of Conscience The Earl of Chester in the 2d âear of the Kings Reign taking his journey into the Holy-Land the Religion of those times having made âhat the usual way of Expiation Some such intent of âhe Earl stands likewise upon record in one of the Chronicles saith my Author Another very probaâle occasion of this sudden change of Affairs in the Kingdom may be supposed to have risen from the Death-bed confession of a French Nobleman who ãâã reported to have discovered Lewis's intent to ãâã destroy and quite root out those English Lords âhat adhered to him as if in detestation of their disâoyalty to their own natural English Soveraign When âhe Barons came once to find that he whom they âad called in to defend them against their Kings Arâitrariness intended to violate and break their Coâenants established at first between them when he âould come to have opportunity and so turn their ââplored aid into their certain destruction they âight well think they had reason enough to disclaim ãâã Alliance and endeavour to frustrate his privy inâântions by returning to their former Allegiance as ãâã as a fit season presented it self Conditional
proâises not being very commonly reputed to bind the ãâã party when the conditions required are not performed by the other Whatever the true occasioâ was London we find the place where this turn ãâã first publickly declared by proclaiming Henry Kiââ throughout the City Oct. 20. so considerable was ââven the reputed favour of the Citizens Lewis aboââ there indeed afterwards a while and the Barous ãâã his side but his strength so diminished in a littââ time that he was glad at last to take Money and ãâã away upon composition even in the 1st year of thâ King or beginning of the 2d This K. Hen. being the Son of such a Father whoâ practices too much betrayed his Principles and ãâã in so troublesom a time as his Fathers contest ãâã the Clergy we may be apt to believe he had a ãâã of his Fathers malady So full of troubles do we ãâã his Reign such complaints of the Government suââ amendments endeavoured and reformations maââ one while by the peaceable Councils of the Parâââment another while by the compulsive power ãâã the Barons Swords all which we may impute ââther to his own natural inbred disposition or else the over-ruling advices of ill Ministers so ãâã working upon the Kings Good-nature as upon sligââ pretences to make his power serve their own Interâââ to carry on their corrupt arbitrary designs So ââny were the ups and downs risings and falls changââ and turns of Fortune in these times such variabââness and mutability of Councils in affairs and the ãâã of London so much concerned in most of the cââsiderable Actions then on foot now in the Kinâ favour as soon again out of it one while enjoyâââ their ancient Priviledges and Customs another ãâã deprived of their Liberties and their Franchises ãâã upon slight occasions and anon again restored all with addition of new grants that I find it cââvenient through much of this Kings Reign to ãâã Annals after my Author In the 3d of this King is mention made of a Parââament kept at London In the 4th were Proclamaââons made in London and through the Land that all âtrangers should depart out of the Land except such ãâã came with Merchandize the intent hereof is said ââ be wholly to rid the Land of such strangers as posââst Castles in it contrary to the Kings Will and Pleaââre This year also was the King Crowned the 2d ââme at Westminster In the 6th was detected a Conââiracy within London which the King is said to have ââken so grievously that he was minded to have ârown down the City Walls till considering that it âas only a design of some of the Rascality and not ãâã the Rulers he assuaged his displeasure taken aââinst the City Robert Serle was then Mayor Rich. âânger Ioseus ãâã Iosne Sheriffs An. Reg. 7. in a Counâââ kept at London Stow tells us the King was reââired by the Peers Spiritual and Temporal to conâââm the Liberties for which the War was made aââinst his Father and he had sworn to observe at the ââparture of Lâwis out of England whereupon the ãâã commanded the Sheriffs to enquire by the ãâã of Twelve lawful men what were the Liâââties in England in his Grand-fathers time and ãâã the Inquisition so made up to London Hence ãâã we observe that England had Liberties and ââghts of their own before the Barons War in ãâã Iohn's days and therefore seem injuriousââ upbraided as if they got them first by Rebelliââ The good Government of England which as a ââdern Author words it was beâore like the Law Nature only written in the hearts of men came âpon obtaining the 2 Charters to be exprest in ââchment and remains a Record in writing though ââse Charters gave us no more than what was our ãâã before The 8th is noted for the grant made to the King by his Barony in Parliament of the Warâ and Marriage of their Heirs A good advantage somâtimes for the King to fix Noble mens Estates in sucâ Families as he best pleased A. R. 9. A Fifteenth was granted to the King to ãâã him in his right beyond the Seas and he by confirming the great Charter granted to the Barons anâ People their rights The 11th year is of note foâ many beneficial Grants made to London by the King The Sheriffwick of London and Middlesex was let ãâã farm to the Sheriffs of London for 300 l. yearly Oâ Feb. 18. was granted that all Wears in Thames shoulâ be pluckt up and destroyed for ever On March 1ââ the King granted by his Charter ensealed that thâ Citizens of London should pass Toll-free through thâ Land and upon any Citizen's being constrained ãâã pay Toll in any place of England the Sheriffs ãâã impowered to attach any man of that place cominâ to London with his goods and to keep and with-hoââ till the Citizens were restored all such Moneys ãâã from them with costs and damages Aug. 18. ãâã granted to the Citizens Warren that is free liberââ of Hunting within a certain circuit about Londââ Yet notwithstanding we read in another Author this years History of the Kings compelling the Lââdoners to lay him down a large sum of Money bâsides the 15th part of their moveables because ãâã sooth they had given Lewis who came to their aidâ K. John's days with an Army 5000 Marks at his ââparture out of England It may be the King ãâã them some of these Priviledges which cost him ââthing to induce them to give down their Money ãâã more willingly and not too much to displease theâ whose power was so well known in those days ãâã afterward experienced to some mens cost Roger ãâã Mayor Stephen Bockerel and Henry Cobham Sheriââ this year and also the next viz. 12. when the Franâhises and Liberties of the City were by the King âonfirmed and to each of the Sheriffs was granted to âave 2 Clerks 2 Officers to the Citizens that âhey should have and use a common Seal This year ãâã read that the King in a Council held at Oxford âroclaimed that being of age he would rule himself ãâã pleasure and forthwith cancelled the Charters of âiberties as granted in his Nonage Whereupon it ââllowed says my Author that whoso would enjoy ãâã Liberties before granted must renew their Charâârs of the Kings new Seal at a price awarded But ãâã Barons shortly after declared to the King that ââcept he would restore the Charter lately cancelled ââey would compel him by the Sword Such brisk âssertors were they it seems resolved to be of ââeir Liberties On the 13th while the Bishop of âondon was at high Mass in St. Pauls happened sudâenly such dark mists of Clouds and such a Tempest ãâã Thunder and Lightening that the People got out ãâã the Church and left the Bishop there in great âar with but a small attendance For all the many ãâã Papists make of their Mass and the wonderââl power and vertue they would fain persuade us to ââlieve there is in it it seems then
Chusing of Aldermen who âhen had the Rule of the City and its Wards and âere yearly chang'd as are the Sheriffs In the 29th âear Nicholas Bat contrary to a former Ordinance âeing Chosen Sheriff again was discharg'd and punish'd âs being convict of Perjury The Mayor likewise Miâhael Tony Chosen anew for the following year was deâos'd and punish'd after that by Deposition of the Alâermen he was found guilty in the said Crime Whatâver were the grievances and faults committed in the âest of the Land some we read complain'd of particuâarly among the Clergy the City-Officers shall be sure ãâã be watch'd if they were not of the side some would âave them In the 31th year Pyers Aleyn being Mayor John Voyle and Nicholas Bat Sheriffs the Franchises of London were seized on St. Bartholomews Eve for a Judgâent pretended to be wrongfully given by the Mayor ând Aldermen against a Widdow woman named Marâaret Vyell and the Rule of the City committed to Will. Haveryll and Edward of Westminster till Lady day when the Mayor and Sheriffs were again admitted ãâã their Offices How ready were some to carp at the ãâã of this Honourable Society Rather than fail of an âcasion to diminish the Cities Liberties we find thâ here wrongfully making a pretence for upon due Eâamination afterwards made the former Judgment ãâã found good and true In the 32th year Queen ãâã Wharf was Farm'd by the Commonalty of the City ãâã 50 l. yearly and committed to the Sheriffs charge But ãâã Fabian's time the Profits were so diminished that ãâã was worth but little more than 20 Marks one yeâ with another That sublunary things ebb and flow ãâã no strange thing to be wondered at it is so common ãâã observation Though the Citizens this year enjoy ãâã their Liberties without interruption the former pretenâ proving vain and frivolous and falsly grounded yet ãâã King is said to have been grieved and displeas'd wiââ them for that they would not at his request exchang the Liberties granted aforetime to them by the King ãâã Middlesex for others to be had in other places ãâã these Liberties were on either hand I have not found ãâã may be they had a suspicion they might be trappan'd ãâã so be loâers by the change They were excellent good ãâã seems at hold-fast and did not like Childrens play giââ and take Though some body should have come ãâã promis'd them in the King's Name that they should haââ such and such Priviledges in exchange and be greââ gainers by the Bargain yet how could they tell he ãâã sufficient Authority from His Majesty to make so largâ a Promise Where were his Credentials I read of ãâã produced Therefore in my opinion they had but ãâã great reason to suspect to have had the Dy put upoâ them should they have parted with present Priviledgââ in hopes of future Graces A Bird in the hand is commonly reputed worth two in the bush But when thâ Bird is carelesly let slip and flown who is that skilfââ Fowler that can be sure of catching a better or perhaps any at all In the 34th year Simon Fitz Marr Alderman of London for his disobedience evil Counsel given to the above-named Widdow with other secret labour and matters by him intended to the City's hurt was discharg'd of his Aldermanship and put out of the Council of the City It behov'd them to turn out of their Society such a one who in contradiction to their former order had once before procur'd the King's Command to make them break it and had given such Advice against them that their Liberties were seized on and their own City Officers for a time discarded for no other than a pretended Crime wrongfully laid to their charge Such false Friends and secret Enemies are most carefully to be watched against as alwaies dangerous too too oft destructive to humane Societies In the 36th year was granted by the King that an yearly Allowance should be made of 7 l. for certain Priviledges or Ground belonging to Paul's Church which Fabian tells us continued also to be allowed in his days by the Barons of the Exchequer to every Sheâiff when they make their Accounts This same year was also granted for the Citizens more âase that whereâs before they us'd yearly to present their Mayor to the King in whatsoever place he was in England that henceâorth they should for lack of the King's presence at Westminster present the Mayor when Chosen to the Baâons of his Exchequer there to be sworn and admitted as before-times he was before the King Joh. Toleson Mayor Will. Durham Tho. Wymborn then Sheriffs In the 37th âear was granted That no Citizen should pay Scavage âthat is Shewage or Toll for any Beasts by them ârought as they before-time had The swelling of Thames this year drowned many houses about the waâer side to the damage of much Merchandise Thames is one of the best friends the City has by whose means their Riches grow and increase by importing and exporting her Citizens Wares 'T is also a fast friend even in adversity which the power and malice of her Enemies have never yet depriv'd her of and yet you here find that she sometimes receives damage even from so good a friend If the best friends may sometimes accidentally injure us what would our Enemies do were their power as large as their malice For these two last years past you may here perceive the favour K. Henry openly shew'd to the City by the beneficial Grants he made her Citizens Yet in the 38th that Tyde is turn'd by procurement of Rich. Earl of Cornwall the King's Brother for displeasure he bare to the City for exchange of certain Ground to the same belonging So that the King under colour that the Mayor had not done due Execution upon the Bakers for default in their Sizes seized the Liberties of the City The offence pretended in the 25th year was that the Mayor had received a certain Sum of Money of Bakers Brewers and other Victuallers which his Predecessors also had done before him In this 38th year here is another pretence found out What an easie matter is it for such to pretend faults who must not be contradicted or at least not without a great deal of caution and circumspection The manner of this Seizure according to the Author is thus to be understood That whereas the Mayor and Commonalty of the City had by the King's Grant the City to Farm with divers Customs and Offices for a stinted ascertained Sum the King at this time set in Officers at his pleasure which were accountable to him for all Revenues and Profits accruing and arising within the City But about the 19th of Novemb. the Citizens having agreed with the foresaid Earl for 600 Marks they were soon after restor'd unto their Liberties Oh the powerful commanding force of Money that can so often make enemies friends and friends enemies The Mayor this year Rich. Hardell being sent for with the
Sheriffs by the King newly come to London and lodg'd in the Tower fared better in this year's Mayoralty than he did within some few years after wherein he continued Mayor For being taxt by the King for the escape of one that had slain a Prior related to the King he put off the charge of this matter from himself to the Sheriffs for so much as to them belong'd the keeping of the City-Prisons Whereupon he returned home and the Sheriffs Rob. Belyngton and Ralph Aschewye were detain'd for a space Pâisoners and others chosen in their places but how they got off my Author sets not down In the 39th year Edw. the King's Son's Wife was honourably received at London by the Citizens and the City adorn'd with rich Cloaths for the more state Yet notwithstanding all this Respect it was not long before the King seiz'd their Liberties anew for certain Money which the Q. claim'd for her right of them So that about Martins-tyde they were in a manner necessitated to give her 400 Marks before their Liberties were restor'd them and the King's Under-Treasurer discharg'd who for the time was made Custos or Keeper of the City What had she no other way to recover her Money if it was due but the Cities Liberties must presently be seized on The King's Brother had got well the last year by falling out with the City and getting their Liberties seiz'd Was it not then do ye think cunningly done of the Queen to try the same trick over again 'T was it seems too gainful a project to suffer it quietly to lye still without further prosecution before it grew too stale Though the Citizens and their Franchises were thus carpt at by Court-Favourites yet we find them still continuing their wonâed respect to the King and Queen when they came to London where they were honourably received this very same year and so convey'd to Westminster When the Citizens had to do with the Court and the King was pleased to interest himself in the affair History tells ãâã that they were more than once compelled to draw theâ purses for Peace sake and Reconciliation but when they had their other fellow Subjects to deal with they proved Matches hard enough as particularly in their suiâ with the Abbot of Waltham which was at last accorded in the 40th year to their own advantage Come we now to the 41th year a year not lightly to be forgotten by the worthy Citizens and such aâ bear any respect to this honourable City by reason oâ the many troubles that the Heads thereof underwent aâ this time through the power and malice of some ill disposed Persons who bore no Good will to this ancienâ foundation Hitherto we have met with but light Skirmishes a few trivial matters in comparison of whaâ you shall here find related out of Fabian to have happened in the Mayoralty of Richard Hardell and Shrievalties of Rich. Ewell and William Ashwey A. C. 1257 The Relation is as followeth almost word by word In this 41th year and beginning of the same waâ found in the Kings Wardrobe at Windsor a Bill or Rolâ closed in green Wax and not known from whence it should come in which was contained divers Articles against the Mayor and Rulers of the City and that by them the Commonalty of the City was grievously taxed and wronged which Bill was presented at length to the King Whereupon he sent John Mansel one of his Justices unto London where on St. Paul's day by thâ Kings Authority he called a Folk-moot or Common-Hall at Pauls-Cross there being present Richard dâ Clare Earl of Gloucester and divers others of the Kingâ Council Whereupon the said John Mansel caused the said Roll to be read before the Commonalty and afteâ shewed to the People that the Kings pleasure and mind was that they should be ruled with Justice and thaâ the Liberties of the City should be maintained in every point and if the King might know those Persons that so had wronged the Commonalty they should be grievously punished to others example That done John Mansel charged the Mayor that every Alderman in his Ward should upon the morrow following assemble his Wardmoots and that all those Wardmoots should assemble in one place and choose of themselves 36 Persons without any Counsel or advice of any of their Aldermen and present them before the Lords and him at the same hour the next day in the Bishops Pallace at Pauls Upon the morrow all was done according to his Command When the said 36 Persons were presented before the said John Mansel Henry Baa Justices and others he said unto them that they upon their Oaths should certifie all such persons as they knew guilty in the Articles before shewed to the Commonalty Whereupon the 36 answered that it was contrary to âheir Liberties to be sworn so many for any matter of Trespass between the King and any of his Citizens Wherefore they required a sparing with which answer John Mansel being discontented warned them to appear before the Kings Council at Guild-hall upon the morrow following where they kept their day Thither âame the said Justices John Mansell and Hen. Baa Sir Hen. Wengham Chancellour of England Philip Lovel Under treasurer and divers others of the Kings Council Then the said John Mansell exhorted the said Persons âo be sworn by many means as he the other day had âone but all was in vain For they excused themselves âat it was contrary to their Oath and Liberty of their City Wherefore the Kings Council departed from the Hall in part discontented and shewed to the King the âid Citizens demeanour Upon Candlemas Eve the Mayor being warned that the King would come to Westminster he with the more part of the Aldermen âode to Knightsbridge and tarried there to salute the King and know his further pleasure But when thâ King came near that place and heard of their beinâ there he sent to them an Esquire of the Houshold anâ charged them that they should not presume to come iâ to his sight with which message they being greatââ discomforted returned home to the City Afterwardâ in the Octaves of the Purification Michael Tony anâ Adam Basynge returned from Court who before weââ sent by the Mayor to such Friends as they had in thâ Court to know the cause of the Kings high displeasurâ and brought word back that the King was well minded towards the City but he was in full purpose to havâ such persons chastized that had oppressed the Commoâalty of the same Upon the morrow following came uâ to the Guild Hall John Mansell with others of thâ Kings Council who to the People there assembleâ shewed many fair and pleasant words Amongst whicâ he declared that the Kings Mind and Will was to coârect all such persons as had oppressed the Commonalty of that his dearest beloved City and asked of the Coâmons whether they would be agreeable to the samâ The which incontinently many such as knew littââ what the
matter meant cried without discretion Yeâ Yea Yea nothing regarding the Liberty of the City After the grant thus had of the Commons the said Joââ Mansell discharged the Mayor Sheriffs and Chambeâlain of their Offices and delivered the Custody thereunto the Constable of the Tower and put in the rooâ of the Sheriffs Michael Tony and John Audrian Aâ over that all Rolls of Tolls and Tallages before madâ were delivered unto the said John Mansel which ãâã there sealed and redelivered to the Chamberlain Whââ the Commons had beheld all this business they returnââ unto their Houses all confused Do we wonder at the Commons readiness in this afair that they who usually have been such brisk assertâ of their Liberties should now be the occasional cause of bringing them into danger We may suppose that this was no proper Common-Hall but rather called by an order from Court and filled with the populace for in those days I do not find there was any express Act made by King Lords and Commons in being to forbid the Council Table from intermeddling in Civil Causes and determining of the Subjects Liberties or so to regulate its Jurisdiction Power and Authority as to leave such matters to be tried and determined in the ordinary Courts of Justice and by the ordinary course of Law Or else we conclude the Restriction of the Common-Hall to the Livery-Men was not then in use so that the Rabble being intermixt it might be no hard matter to get a âry raised by some of them in favour of the proceedings âhen on foot The Mobile being as liable to be wrought âpon by fear or fair promises as the great and rich to be corrupted by the hopes of Honours and Preferments ând the favour of more potent Grandees while as the âiddle sort of People like the golden mean between âwo Extreams are not generally so capable of being ârawn aside after the lure being too many to be brib'd ând not few enough to be frighted not so high and wealthy as to aspire after greater Grandeur nor so low âean and despicable as to be imposed upon by the empty âames of Greatness and Honour without Virtue sprung âp at first from Vice and nourished by and amidst reâeated Debaucheries This matter thus ordered John Mansell with divers âf the Kings Council kept their Courts daily the Sunâays except till the 1st Sunday of Lent which that yeaââas Jan. 25. calling before him 12 Wards of the Ciây out of every of which Wards were taken 3 men âo that 36 men were impannelled and sworn to enquire âf the aforesaid Articles and what Persons of the City âad offended in them This Court being thus kept and holden at Guild-Hall no man was called to answer nor no question put to any Person by the said Inquest or any other Upon the foresaid 1st Sunday of Lent the Mayor Aldermen and Sheriffs with the forementioned Inquest and 4 men of every Ward were charged to appear at Westminster before the King at which appearance they were countermanded till the next morning At which season coming into the Kings Exchequer they found sitting there the Earls of Glocester and Warwick Joh. Mansell Hen. Baa Justices the Constable of the Tower the Custos of the City and divers others of the Kings Council Then was called by name Ralph Richard Hardell that year Mayor Nicholas Batts Nicholas Fiz Josne Mathew Bockerel John Tolesham and John ãâã Minoure Aldermen Then John Mansell said that the King by his Laws and Inquisition of the Citizens had found them culpable that they had wronged and hurt the Commonalty of his City by divers means as by the saiâ Inquisition appeared and forthwith caused it to be read before them When the more part thereof was read he said unto them Thus may you see that the Commonalty of the City hath been by you grievously oppressed and by your means and Counsel the Commonwealth ãâã the same destroyed as by altering of the Tolls and otheâ good ancient Customs turning them to your singular advantage and lucre All which matters the said Ralpâ Richard and his Company denied and that the Commons were not grieved or hurt by them or any of them by any such means and offered to be justified and judged by the Law and Customs of the City Then Heâââ Baa Justice asked of them whether they would abiââ the adventure of the Inquiry that they had heard reââ before ãâã stand upon the saying of the other Ward that yet had not beân sworn but they kept to their ãâã Answer There John Mansell asked of the Mayor whââ was their Law and Custom The Mayor answered ãâã said that for trespass of a Citizen done against the King he should defend himself by 12 Citizens for Murder or slaying of a man by 30 Citizens and for trespass against a stranger by the Oath of six and himself Then after many reasons made by the said John Mansell and also by the Mayor and Aldermen day was given them to appear the morrow before the King and his Councel Upon the day following the King with many of his Lords sitting in the Exchequer the aforesaid Inquisition was read That done the Mayor and Aldermen were called in by name and two Aldermen more which before were not called viz. Arnâld Thedmare and Henry Waldmode When Ralph Richard Hardâll had heard âhe King speak in the matter he took such fear that he ând Nicholas Batt without further Answer put themâelves in the King's grace saved to them their Liâerties and Franchises of the City But the other six âesought the King of his wisdom that they might be ââdged after the Laws and Customs of the City Then was laid to their charge that over many wrongs by âhem done to the King and the Commonalty of the Ciây they had alter'd the King's Beam and order'd it to âe advantage of themselves and other rich men of the City Whereupon the Parties answered and said That âe alteration of the Beam was not done by them only but ãâã the advice and consent of 500 of the best of the City âor where before-time the Weigher used to lean his âraught toward the Merchandise so that the buyer had ây that means 10 or 12 pounds in a draught to his adâantage and the seller so much disadvantage now for ââdifferency and equality of both persons it was orâain'd that the Beam should stand upright the cleft âereof inclining to neither party as in weighing of âold and Silver and the buyer to have allowed of the ãâã for all things four pounds only in every draught âfter these Reasons and others by them made the King commanded that upon the morning following a Folk-moot should be called at Paul's Cross and so that Court was dissolved and the Mayor and the others returned to London Upon the morrow the Folk-moot being at Paul's Cross Assembled these six Aldermen hearing the murmuring of the common people and knowing that the Aldermen or Worshipful of the City should have
little or no saying in this matter and fearing their Cause they went into a Canon's house of St. Paul's where at that time John Mansell and others sent from the King tarryed the Assembling of the People and shewed them that they intended not any longer to plead with the K. but were contented to put themselves fully in the King's grace and mercy saving alwaies to themselves and all other Citizens their Liberty and Franchise of the City After which Agreement John Mansell with the others came into the Court of Folk-moot whereunto the people was rehearsed a fair and pleasant Tale promising to them that their Liberties should be wholly and inviolably preserved by the King with many other things to the great comfort of the common people And lastly it was asked of them whether the Law and Custom were such as is above rehearsed or no whereunto like undiscreet and unlearned people they answered and eryed Nay nay nay notwithstanding that the said Law and Custom had before-time been used time out of mind To this was neither Mayor nor Aldermen nor other of the great of the City that might impugn or make any reason for upholding their antient Laws or Customs And no wonder continues my Author Fabian though the King were thus heady or grievous to the City for by such evil disposed and malicious people as he had about him the Land was ill ruled and much mischief was used whereof ensued much sorrow after Then John Mansell called the Mayor and Aldermen before him and charged them to be at Westminster the morrow following to give attendance upon the King Upon the morrow the Mayor and Aldermen tarrying the King's coming in the great Hall at Westminster the King came into St. Stephen's Chappel where for a season he had a Council with his Lords after went into the Exchequer-Chamber and there sate him down and his Lords about him Anon after the Mayor and Aldermen were called into the said Chamber and soon after called by name and commanded to stand near the Bar. Then Henry Baa Justice said unto the Mayor and 7 Aldermen That for so much as by form of the King's Laws they were found culpable in certain Articles touching transgression against the King therefore the Court awarded that they should make fine and ransom after the discretion of the said Court But for that they had put themselves in the King's grace and mercy the King hath commanded the Fine to be put in respite that ye be not pained so grievously as ye have deserved After which Judgment gâven they kneeled down and then the Mayor with weeping Tears thanked the King for the bounty and goodness and besought him to be a good and gracious Lord to the City and unto them as his faithful Subjects Whereunto the King made no Answer but rose straight up and so went his way leaving them there Anon as the King was departed they were all arrested and kept there till they had found Surety and every Alderman of them discharg'd of his Ward and Office that they had within the City But shortly after they put in Sureties and so returned heavily to London Shortly after was William Fitz Richard by the K. Commandment made Mayor Thomas Fitz Thomas and William Grapsysgate Sheriffs After this day by day the Chamberlain was call'd to Account before John Mansell of all such Tolls as were gathered in the time of the Mayoralty of John Tâleshaâ and Ralph Richard Hardell there being present to hear the said Account divers of the Commonalty of the City but none oâ the Heads By which Account no default might be laid to any of the forenamed persons convict before the King By reason whereof divers of them were admitted to the King's favour shortly after and restor'd to their Officâs again but not without paying of money whereof the certainây is not known saith my Author What a broil was here What endeavours us'd to find faults to set the King at difference with his Loyal Citizens and keep them from Reconciliation A Bedroll of Crimes and Ostences devised made and formed and none to own it lâst they themselves should at laââ be punish'd for those wrong Accusâtions which they had laid to other mens charges and could not weâ prove What was this but to make divisions betweeâ the Commons and their Head Rulers To pretend tâ oblige the one and depress the other Divide anâ Reign was a Maxim put in use before ever Machiavââ was in being What pray now was all this for Was it not to weaken the City's Power To makâ the Rich appear Offenders and then seem to lay oblâgations upon them by pardoning what they were nâver realây and dâsignedly guiâty of Or else to ãâã Money out of their hands and yet persuade people that they were favourably dealâ with You may heââ see their actions were in a manner wire-drawn to bâ made offences and their Accounts sâârcht to pick ãâã somewhat to lay to their charge And yet how visiblâ were all the tricks and devices of ill men frustrated and sappointed the very saâe way whereby they though to have confirm'd and made good their malicious Dâsigns when after all their searches they were in sort compelâ'd to approve the others faultless wholââ doubtlâsâ ãâã their minds wills purposes and inâântions How hard a matter had it been for the aâcured clearly to have deseated ill mens suggestions ãâã not they themselves pav'd them the way by searching into their accounts where it seems no faults were to be found to make good their accusations Let those transactions be brought into open Court which before were wont to be done privately and then all the present Auditors are made Judges of the reasonableness of the proceedings Here were large imputations and yet the accused suffered to go at freedom and not clapt up till they were frightened into submission What! Could they get none to swear roundly against them Never an outlandish Evidence for love nor mony for fear favour nor affection then clap them up in Prison not letting them see the faces of their Accusers Why did not they search their houses seize upon their Trunks and Boxes and so rake into their private Writings to ferret out some Crimes out of them or else in defect thereof privily foist in something criminal and blameworthy and afterwards openly produce it and with full cry and âoud exclamations impose the belief thereof on their credulous Partizans as if really found upon them We need not stay for the revolution of Plato's year expecting former Transactions to be acted over again Are any of us such strangers in Jerusalem as not to know the things which have come to pass there in the latter days As the Heads of the City in this Richard Hardâll's Mayoralty had their share of troubles and afflâctions as hath been related above so the Commons were not without their care likewise For Wheat is said this year âo have been so scarce that it was sold at London
at 24 â â Quarter Scarcity of Corn in those days made this a considerable summ Dâarer we are told it would have been had not some been brought out of another Counâry which made People flock to the City because 't was âheaper there than in many Shires of England This is the year wherein the K. kept his high Court âf Parliament at Oxford which of some Writers is named the mad Parliament because of many Acts there madâ for Reformation of the State the prosecution of which prov'd in event the death and destruction of many Nobââ Men by means of that famed strife then begun anâ called at this day the Barons War True the accidental Consequences proved fatal to many But if unfortunate broils give to any Laws the denomination of evil I know not but in time some may grow so presumptuously bold as upon the like account prophanely to branâ even the Christian Religion which we have been assured at first from the divine Oracles should prove thâ occasion of much strife in the world and the Experience of these latter times confirm it plain enough to our Understandings Whether the forementioned Parliamenâ justly and really deserves the opprobrious Title thââ some have given it I shall very willingly submit to the Judgment of any experienc'd Reader who hath throughly perused weighed and considered the Equity Justice and reasonableness of the English Liberties and Priviledges contained in the grand Charter sealed and given to the Nation by K. John Father to this Hen. 3 d which was confirmed in this very same Oxford Parliament according to Matthew Paris as the chief thing then desired and insisted on by the Nobles and whereon were likewise grounded the other Acts and Ordinances then and there made by the King and his Lords For that the King his Brethren the Noblemen and Bârons took their Oaths to see the same observed I appeal to Stow's Annals for proof That these Acts might be kept firm and stable we read of 12 Peers then chosen to whom Authority was given to correct all such as offended in breaking of these Ordinances and others by the said Peers to be devised and ordered touching and concerning the same matter and purpose It was not long after the end of this Parliament before strife and variance began to kindle between the King and the Earls of Leicester and Glocester by reason of such Officers as the Earls had removed and put others in their room Amongst which John Mansell of whom enough is mentioned above was discharged of his Office and Sir Hugh Bygot admitted for him Upon occasion of this difference beginning to arise between the King and his Barons we meet with an eminent Instance of the City's Power and esteem for when the Peers heard of the murmur at Court fearing that the King would be advised to alter his Promise to make their party the stronger they are said to have come about Maudlintide to the Guild-Hall at London where the Mayor Aldermen and Commonalty of the City were assembled to whom they shewed an Instrument or Writing at which hung many Labels with Seals as the King's Seal Edward his Son's Seal with many others of the Nobles of the Land wherein were contained the Articles ordained and made at Oxford willing as saith the Book the Mayor and Aldermen considering the said Acts were made to the Honour of God Fidelity to the King and profit of the Realm that they would also in upholding of the same set their common Seal of the City thereto After this Request the Mayor and Citizens at first indeed desired to be excused till they knew the Kings Pleasure but no excuse at that time being to be granted at last by the labour of the Lords and such solicitors as they had within the City the common Seal was put to the forementioned Writing and the Mayor with divers of the City sworn to maintain the same their Allegiance saved to the King with preservation of their Liberties and Franchises After this obtain'd we find the 12 Peers assembling day by day as if now they feared no colours the City being on their side and valued no ones Threats keeping their Councils and Courts for the Reformation of old grievances removing from the King divers of his Menial Servants and setting others in their places and moreover a Proclamation comes forth that none of the Kings Takers should take any thing within the City without the owners will except a small customary matter therein excepted upon which what the Kings Officers took was straight paid for within the City and Liberty of the same and so continued to be for a while Can any one then desire a better proof of the City's repute in those days Yet within few years following we shall meet with more Instances of her power in the History In the 42d year Sir Hugh Bygot with Rogââ Turkelay and others kept his Court at St. Saviours and held there the Itinerary Pleas to the sore punishment ââ many convicted offending Officers Though this Hugh Bygot was put in by the Peers to reform as may be supposed old grievances yet power seems to have made him also go astray or else corruption or to colloguâ with another party Whereof the City in General waâ like to have tasted deeply could he have had his Will some of the particular Citizens scaped him not for hâ summoned the Citizens to the aforesaid Court for Toll taken on the further side of the Water And though it was answered that they were taken lawfully and they were ready to prove it in places and Court convenienâ within the Precinct of their Liberty Yet notwithstanding he charged upon Inquest 12 Knights of Surry to enquire thereof who acquitted the Citizens and sheweâ that the said Toll belonged to them of Right Afterwards coming to Guild-Hall he kept his Court anâ Pleas there according to my Author without all order of Law and contrary to the Liberties of the City inflâcting new punishments on the Bakers and ordered many things at his Will This year the Citizens had opportunity of shewing their Respect to the Kings Brother Ricbard Earl ââ Cornwall coming over from beyond Sea where he had been dealing in the affairs of the Empire unto London where he was joyfully received the City being richly hang'd with Silk and Arras In the 43d year John Gysours being Mayor and John Adrian and Robert Cornhill Sheriffs Fryday after Simon and Jude's day we hear of the reading in the Parliament kept at Westminster in presence of all the Lords and Commonalty at sundry times of all the Acts and Ordinances made at Oxford with other Articles added by the Peers After which reading we find all those very solemnly accursed that attempted in word or deed to break the said Acts or any of them The Form of the Curse which was most solemnly denounced against the Violaters and Infringers of Magna Charta is to be seen in Matthew of Paris and this here intimated was in probability
much like that which I find in a modern Author thus Englished BY the Authority of God Omnipotent of the Son and of the Holy Ghâst and of the glorious Mother of God the Virgin Mary and of the blâssed Apostles Peter and Paul and of all other Apostles and of the holy Martyr and Archbishop Thomas and of all the Martyrs and of the blessed Edward King of England and of all Confessors and Virgins and of all the Saints of God We excommunicate and Anathematize and sequester from our âoly Mother the Church all those which henceforth knowingly and maliciously shall deprive or spoil the Church of her right and all those that shall by any Art or Wit rashly violate diminish or change secretly or openly in deed word or Counsel by crossiâg in part or in whole those Ecclesiastical Liberties or ancient approved Customs of the Kingdom especially the Liberties and free Customs which are contained in the Charters of the Common Liberties of England and the Forrests granted by our Lord the King to the Archbishops Bishops Prelates Earls Barons Knights and Freeholders And all those who have published or being published have observed any Statutes Ordinances thing against them or any thing therein contained which have brought in any Customs to the contrary or ãâã served them being brought in and all Writers of such Oâdinances or Councils or Executioners and all such as shâ presume to judge according to such Ordinances All ãâã every such Persons as are or at any time shall be knowingly guilty of any such matters shall ipso facto incur thâ Sentence such as are ignorantly guilty shall incur the saââ if being admonished they within 15 days after amend ãâã For everlasting memory whereof we hereunto put our Seaâ Thus far the words of the Curse Nor was the maâner of pronouncing less solemn in open Parliament ãâã King with all the chief Nobility of the Realm in the Robes and the Bishops in their Vestments with buââing Tapers in their Hands standing to hear this ãâã read and immediately as soon as the Charters and ãâã were read and signed all throwing down their Tapeââ extinguished and smoaking cry out So let all ãâã who incur this Sentence and go against this Curse ãâã extinct and have no better savour than these Snuffs ãâã then the King having stood all this while with ãâã hand upon his Breast said with a loud voice So ãâã me help I will observe all these things sincerely and faitâfully as I am a man as I am a Christian as I am Knight and as I am a King crowned and anointed But what could any one think these so solemn ãâã would avail without a suitable Power and strength Arms to make them good per force When as ãâ¦ã known that there lived in those days a Clergy-man Rome who pretended to dispense even with the Almigâty's Laws whose Power was at that time openly prâfessed to be believed sufficient by the âânerality of Eârope to absolve all manner of Oaths and Covenantâ and from whom Dispensations more than a good maâ might be had for Money The confirmation of the foâmentioned Acts we may believe well paid for by the Parliament For we read of a Tax called Scutage that âs 40 s. of every Knights Fee through England then granted to the King which extended to a large summ of Money viz. Six score Thousand Pounds or more For upon occasion of this large Tax I find the number of the Knights Fees in England at those days in possesâion of Spiritualty and Temporalty summ'd up by my Author to 60000 l. and above Upon supposition that âhe Clergy paid nothing it is said that the Tax would âot have amounted over the summ of 64000 l. whereây we may guess what a deal of the Land even almost âne half was then belonging to the Clergy Devotion as the times went then brought forth Riches and the Daughter since devoured the Mother Nov. the 6th we are told the King came to St. Pauls and commandâng a Folk-moot to be assembled according to the forâer Ordinances made asked license of the Commonalây of the City to pass the Sea and promised there in âresence of a great multitude of People that he would âe a good and gracious Lord unto the City by the âouth of Sir Hugh Bygot Chief-Justice and to mainâain their Liberties unhurt whereupon the People for ây made an exceeding shout Observe here the turn of âhings the Courtiers seem to have sought not long time âânce to oppress the Head Rulers of the City by a Folk-âoot of the Commons Now the King to prevent the âffect of ill mens advice hath bound himself to ask their âave before he goes out of the Land for a season E're while the Folk-moot or Common-Hall was abused to âârve for a property to destroy their own Cities Liberââes Now the conservation of the whole Nations welââre is put into their hands What greater Evidence can âe demanded to prove this Honourable Cities Power ând Influence than to find the Citizens entrusted by âing Lords and Commons with so high a charge We may presume the Reason of entrusting the Commons of the City with so large a Grant as the Kinâ could not pass the Sea without License first obtain'â of them was to prevent the Evil and Mischief thââ might happen to the Land by advice of ill Counselloâ who might be persuading the King at every turn to gâ out of the Realm he having also Lands beyond the ãâã that they might have the better opportunity to ãâã out their own ends though to the Peoples oppressioâ in his absence What trouble affliction and oppressioâ the land suffered under this Kings Uncle Richard thâ first 's Imprisonment at the Hands of the Kings Officeââ who rak'd and pill'd what they could of Clergy ãâã Laity on pretence of raising Money for the Kings Râdemption I had rather send the Reader back to pag. to satisfie himself where I have related somwhat of thâ charge of the Kings Ransom than stay to repeat it ovââ again A fuller description the curious may meet wiââ in Neubrigensis l. 4 cap. 35. treating particularly therâof Some I believe may have observed in these unsettlââ times that they have fared much better and more eâsily avoided the malitious attempts of their Fellow Suâjects who have liv'd as it were in the Sunshine of thâ Kings presânce than such who being many scores ââ may be Hundreds of Miles distant have liv'd so ââ phrase it in the shadow I know not but ãâã âresence of the head Governour ãâã as needful always ãâ¦ã as is the General in ãâã Army Certâin enough it is by the History that ãâã this Kinâ Henry was thus absent from his Kingdom ãâ¦ã ways in France that Dissention arose'â Englaâd between the Kings Son Edward and the ãâã of Gloucestâr which might have immediately brougââ no small trouble to the Land had not there been greââ endeavours used to prevent it wherein this Honourabââ City shew'd much of her
care and vigilance Whââ the occasion of this difference was I have not yet read âut to appease it I find a Counsel of the Lords called ãâã Westminster Fabian gives it likewise the Title of a Parliament which continued Three weeks and more To this Council came the Lords with great companies âarticularly the two contesting Parties intending it seems ãâã have lodg'd within the City So desirous so ambitiâus of pretending to London's favour that such seem ãâã have thought the bare lodging therein might have âdded to their strength But upon the Mayors consultââg with such as the King had left Rulers in his Abâânce and through the advice of the King's Brother it âas concluded that neither the said Edward nor the said âarl should come into the City there to lodge nor any ââat held upon either side And further it was proviâed that all within the City of the Age of 15 years ând above should be in Arms to watch and keep the âity day and night and that the Gates should be kept âut by day and certain men in Arms keep every Gate ãâã the City For the further safeguard of the City and ãâã keeping of the Peace therein the aforementioned âulers came into London and there lodged with their âompanies and such other persons as they assigned to âârengthen the City if need required Do people ãâã mathematical Demonstration Look here and see âhat care's taken to keep the City safe and harmless ând in Peace as if then the Land must needs be in âuiet too Preserve the City and its just Liberties and ââen the Nations Quietness Peace and Safeguard is âârongly secured Behold here the Eyes of the Nation ãâã upon the City of London and her Actions and âhere's the party that dare strike while she Guards ââeps and preserves the Kings Peace while he is ââeased to busie himself in foreign Countries Such as âill not believe but what they see and so know let ââem here credit their own Eyes if they be not Popish Transubstantiators or shut them to keep the light ãâã After the King was returned to London from ãâã the Sea by his order many of their lodgings ãâã altered direction was taken between the aforesaid ãâã testing Parties and a new Assembly of Parliament ãâã signed Anno 44. William Fitz Richard being Mayor ãâã Browning Richard Coventre Sheriffs after Candlââââ by the Kings Command a Folk-Moot was called ãâã Pauls-Cross whither he came in person with his Bââther Richard King of the Romans and many othââ Nobles and commanded the Mayor that every strââling of 12 Years and above should before his ââdermen be sworn the day following to be true to ãâã King and his Heirs Kings of England and that ãâã Gates of the City should be kept with armed Men ãâã before was determined Not long after this we ãâã of more suspicions of a breach between the King ãâã his Barons which in few years broke out into an ãâã War What did all this swearing then avail Those amoâââ the Children of men who look abroad into the world ãâã take notice of the common course of the Generality of ãâã living or are much conversant with the Monuments ãâã the dead may find it no very difficult matter to obserââ that let men take never so many Oaths make never so ââny Covenants Promises and Compacts that if they ãâã come to have Apprehensions that those to whom thâ have sworn themselves endeavour to make use of thâ religious Ties and Obligations designed at first ãâã mutual preservation to encroach upon their Liberââ deprive them of their Priviledges their Propertiââ their Birth-rights to the enslaving of them and thâ whole Posterity all former Subscriptions Oaths ãâã Promises Pacts and Covenants will scarce avail ãâã with the most But if Experience should chancâ legitimate their doubts and Fears by the others actual endeavours in the open face of the World it is rarely seen but that notwithstanding past transactions they will make the greatest opposition they can against the others arbitrary pretences And so all former religious Bonds are snapt asunder like Tow burnt by the Fire They who imposed Oaths for such ill intents might have considered if they pleased that many in such cases would not have scrupled at all to have broke them Or if any of the more devout had been a little ââicer they could not doubtless be ignorant in those days what Remedies might have been bought for Money out of the Popes publick Store-house if other common ways of Evasion would not have pass'd currant with them How many of that nature have âaffed up and down in the World it may not be unworâhy of our consideration sometimes to revolve in our minds if it be a thing feasible to bring them within âhat compass True indeed quoth the subtile Sophiâter I have sworn Allegiance but a latter lesser Tie ãâã invalid when a greater Obligation lies upon me True an Oath lies upon me but here 's my Liberty Life and Religion lying all at stake I was born free what can dispense with me to deprive me of my Birth-âight Life is sweet Self-preservation is near and âear to me by the Instinct of Nature 'T is natural to âreated Beings to defend their Lives against such as ââould destroy them what then can oblige me to sufâer my Life violently to be taken away by anothers inââry whenas I dare not deprive my self thereof by my âwn Endeavours unless I will run into so foul an Ofâânce so unnatural a Fact as to proclaim my self to ââe World a Self-Murtherer and so force my Soul to ây out of my Body before I know 't is my Creator's âill she should My Religion is to obey God above ââd before Man my Soul is his that gave it me and where 's the Obligation that can impower me justly ãâã give away that which is not my own to bestow ãâã my Religion which I believe is according to the Laâ of the Almighty stand or fall at another mans pleasure Must I take the matter manner and height of my Dâvotions from the imperious dictates of another's ãâã and that too upon the account of my Oath Must destroy my Religion in effect or else I cannot keep in shew Besides know ye not that my Oath was coâditional Mutual Bonds make mutual Obligation Service was vow'd where Protection was promised anâ expected Can any but an Idiot be supposed to sweââ away himself to be destroyed instead of being defended Must I still pay Obedience upon account of former Cââvenants where I cannot get due Protection and haââ but little encouragement to expect it though it was ãâã first promised since that now thence I fear utter ruiââ and infallible destruction instead thereof With ãâã Inventions some may chance to be full and it may ãâã to make them seem more authentick they can produââ them under the Printer's Hand 'T is in Print an Aâgument which may sometimes weigh much with ãâã inconfiderate inobserving Persons who consider ãâã how
nor league with them from the notorious ãâã these fraudulent Gibeonitish Ambassadours put upon theâ by their lying words and from the murmuring of thâ whole Congregation against them Notwithstanding all this we find they let them live lest Wrath shoulâ have been upon them because of the Oath they ãâã sworn unto them And that they did well in keepinâ this so solemn a league and Covenant though obtainââ by Fraud and hastily made we have divine Authority to assure us from the Lord in the Three Years Famine he sent upon the Land in King David's Days foâ Saul and his bloody House because in his Zeal to thâ Children of Israel and Judah he sought to slay the Gibeonites and so violated the Oath made by their ãâã Fathers hundreds of years before We cannot with out the greatest breach of Charity suppose that ãâã holy a Man as David one after Gods own Heaâ made use of this only as a pretence to ruine and exââpate Saul's Family and settle the Crown the faster ãâã his own Head and to fix it the surer to his posterity aâter him If any of us were so Atheistical as from thââ instance to look upon Religion as only a piece of ãâã Policy our Suspicious Thoughts and Censures woulâ be soon answered from David's own manner of actiââ in this particular who is recorded to have spared ãâã Son of Jonathan Saul's eldest Son and that too upââ account of the Lord's Oath that was sworn betweeâ them many Years before As the Scriptures plainââ shew us that Joshua and the Princes of Israel did we in keeping the Oath they had sworn though draw into it by Fraud and Deceit so in them we find ãâã ill it fared with Zedekiah the last King in Jerusalââ after he had broken the Oath which Nebuchadnezzâ had made him swear by God We doubt not but the there was force enough upon him to compel him ãâã it may be the price of a Kingdom likewise induced him thereto for the benefit of his present occasions but how ill went it with Judah for his breaking that Oath by whatsoever force at first gained of him even to the destruction of the chief City solitary desolation of the Land for many Years and utter ruine of the Monarchy for ever after For afâer the Captivity we find it reduced back again into a kind of Common-Wealth under Rulers and but one of them of David's Line mentioned in the Scriptures that I remember Governours the high Priests the Maccabees the Sanhedrim unto the coming of Shilo So fatal to the Jewish Nation was their Princes Irreligion There is no respect of Persons with the Almighty at whose Tribunal all must once stand to be judged High and Low Rich and Poor Noble and Ignoble Kings Princes and People as sure as the Scripture which we esteem the word of the great God is infallibly true But whither has the overflowing of my thoughts carried me To go back again therefore into the way from whence I have so far deviated In this same 44th year of King Henry wherein he commanded all of Twelve Years and upwards in London to swear to be true to him and his Heirs we read of further grudge and displeasure beginning to kindle between the King and his Lords The occasion is related to be for that the Barons with consent of the Peers discharged one and admitted another for Justice unwitting the King The displeaâure hence arising and encreasing more and more was âowever a little appeased for a while by the Policy of the Kings Brother and some Prelates of the Land ân this Year the Chronicler thought it worthy remark âo make mention of the variance that fell out between âhe Londoners and the men of Northampton at a Fair âhere held for a man of that Town there slain which occasioned a long Suit and Plea between them to ãâã great vexation and trouble of both Parties wherein ãâã the end the City had the better That City that ãâã able to make a Contest with the King 's whole ãâã is likely enough to match a particular Town In the 45th shortly after Alhallontide the Baroâ admitted and made Sheriffs of divers Shires namiââ them Guardians and Keepers of the Counties and Shiââ and discharged such as the King had before admittââ Neither would they suffer the Justices but such as ãâã of their own admission to keep the Itinerary ãâã The Law allowed them power and they were ãâã it seems to use it The King as any may easily suppose was grievously discontented therewith insomucâ as saith the Chronicle that after that Season he ââboured what he might to disannul the former Ordinanââ and Statutes and cause them to be broken To thâ end on the second Sunday in Lent was read by thâ King's Command at Paul's Cross a Bull of Pope ãâã the 4th as a Confirmation of another Bull before pââchased of his Predecessor Alexander the 4th to absolââ the King and all others that before had sworn ãâã maintain the Articles made at Oxford and afterwaââ the said Absolution was shewed throughout Englâââ Wales and Ireland streight charge being given to ãâã that none be so hardy to withstand or disobey the ãâã said Absolution And if any were found disobediââ to this Commandment that he should be put in Prisââ without Ransom or Deliverance till the Kings Plââsure were further known The Pope could pretend ãâã absolve on either side if he were well paid ãâã then could any Oaths be suppos'd to avail without sââable Power to compel their Observance Yet hitheâââ the Commons of the City held their Power formeâ granted them For we read of another License ââven to the King at a Folk-Moot to sail into ãâã according whereunto he departed the morrow followâng from London Anno 46. Tbomas Fiz Thomas being Mayor Phiâââ Walbrook Richard Taylor Sheriffs about Martintide âhe Jews felt the Peoples Fury to some of their costs âo odious was that Nation grown in many parts of âhe World since our Saviour's Crucifixion which had been formerly the darling of Heaven that it must have been a very small mattââ that would not easily have âârred up the common People of the Land where they lived against them In this Year is unkindness âoted to have arisen between the Londoners and the Constable of the Tower for that contrary to the Ciâies Liberties he took certain Ships passing by with Wheat and other Victuals into the Tower and made âhe Price at his Pleasure Hence might great harm have ensued had not by the Policy of wise men the matter been committed to the Chief Justice and others by direction of the Kings Council to set an order and Rule between the said Parties The effect whereof was that after Evidences and Priviledges produced to âhe advantage of both it was firmly adjudged that âf the Constable or any other Officer of the Tower would at any time take any Wheat or Victuals to the ââse of the King or the Tower he should come into
the City Market and have it two Pence in a Quarter within the Mayors Price and other Victuals after the âame rate And if he or any of his Officers would ãâã contrary to that Ordinance that then the Sheriffs âhould make report to the Kings Council and withââand him in all that they might so that the King's âeace were kept Here was Authority given to act âgainst some commissionated by the King What folây is it for every mean petty Officer to think to thwart ââis powerful City and hope to be too hard for her Citizens when their Liberties Priviledges and Franchises ãâã concerned This year silent murmurs passed up and down thâ Land of War that was too too likely to ensue bâtween the King and his Lords in short process of time for the Bull of Dispensation before shewed in ãâã Realm But the mediation of good and wise men appeased and stilled those Emotions for a while that ãâã King agreed again to the maintenance of the aforesâââ Statutes and sent his Writs wherein the said Articlâ were comprised into all the Shires of England givinâ strict Commandment to all men to observe and keââ the same and such other as were to them joined ãâã the discretion of some appointed to that end ãâã this again was shortly after revoked and denieâ What Change in Councils what Uncertainty ãâã Fickleness of Mind was this Give and grant anâ then recal What could be thought the end of ãâã variableness but Strife and Contention Hereupoâ the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury a Star in that coâjuncture of the first Magnitude in the English Firmâment proves erratick For fearing what might eâsue like a cunning subtle worldly Politician ãâã makes an Errand to Rome and by License of boââ Parties departs the Land and so keeps himself out ãâã the trouble was over He had been a main Instrument a few years ago in Cursing the Breakers of thâ aforementioned Acts. Should he have sided with thâ Kings Party he had openly contradicted his formeâ Actions and in effect declared all his so solemn Cursââ to signifie nought Had he sided with the Barons ãâã must have shewn himself an Assenter to their deeâ partaken of all the Changes and Chances of War ãâã publickly slighted and contemned the Popes Dispensââtion A crime in those days of very dangerous Consequence to the offending Party Upon Midlent Sundââ the Mayor and Commons being present at a Folk-Moââ held at Paul's Cross before Sir Philip Basset and otheâ of the Kings Council the Mayor was sworn to be ârue to the King and his Heirs Kings Upon the morâow at Guild-Hall every Alderman is said to have taken the same Oath in presence of the Mayor And so likewise upon the Sunday following we read that every Stripling of the Age of 12 Years and above was aâew charged with the same Oath before his Alderman in his Ward Then according to my Author the Displeasure between the King and his Barons which a long while ââd been kept secret began to appear insomuch that diverse of them assembled in the Marches of Wales gathered unto them strong Power and sent a Letter ânto the King under the Seal of Sir Roger Clyfford âeseeching him to have in remembrance the Oath and manifold Promises that he had made for the observâng of the Statutes made at Oxford with other Ordinances made to the Honour of God for Faith and Alâegiance to his Person Weal and Profit of all his Realm willing him further to withstand and defie all âuch Persons as will be against the said Acts saving âhe Queen and her Children After this Letter thus âent and no Answer received we read of the said Baâons going with Banners displayed against such as they ânew held against the Acts so often before mentioned The effect of their Fury at Hereford the Bishop and âany of his Canons Aliens born soon felt to their great cost and damage Hence we hear of their going to other places where they supposed to find their Eneâies keeping their course towards London this was the place it seems they desired so much to fix to âheir Party bearing before them a Banner of the Kings Arms and encreasing with the access of much People as they held on in their Journey In this March as they found any that they knew to be against âhe Maintenance of the aforesaid Acts they imprisoned them and spoiled their Habitations were they Spiââtual or Temporal Men all the case to them at thâ time In divers of the King's Castles they set in ãâã Persons as they pleased putting out such as were plâced in by the King and gave to them an Oath thâ they should be true and faithful to the King ãâã keep those Castles to his Use and to the Weal of ãâã Realm Here they seem to have outdid the Courtiââ in their own way The Mayor Aldermen and âthers of London were made of late to renew thâ Oaths of Allegiance to the King and his Heirs as if ãâã weaken the Barons Party by a crafty sly insinuatiââ that they went about to deprive the King and ãâã Heirs of their Right But as for those suggestions ãâã hold the Barons disappointing them by giving ãâã like Oaths to these of their own Party put into ãâã of publick Trust and thereby in effect declaring ãâã 't was not against the King but against the ill Ministââ of State about him whom they deemed the Authââ of iil Advice that they thus took up Arms either ãâã remove them or deliver the King out of such ãâã mens hands About Midsummer when they drew near to Londââ the Chronicle tells us that they sent a Letter unto ãâã Mayor and Aldermen under the Seal of Sir ãâã Mountfold willing to know of them whether thâ would observe the Acts and Statutes made in the Pââliament called at Oxford or not or else would aid ãâã assist such persons as intended the breach of the saââ and sent to them a Copy of the said Acts with a Pââviso that if any there specified were to the hurt of ãâã Realm or common-Weal of the same that they thâ by discreet Persons of the Land should be altered ãâã amended See here the Influence the City had upââ the Land the esteem the Barons had of London's ãâã and Authority and how desirous they were to ãâã it to their side and Interest The forementioned Copy was by the Mayor carried to the King then being at the Tower accompanied with his Queen his Brother Richard Edward his Son and others of his Council Then the King intending to know the Cities Mind asked the Mayor what he thought of those Acts and Ordinances who being refused time and leave to conââer with his Brethren the Aldermen and his Judgment demanded at that present season stands upon Record to have boldly answered the King that before-times he with his Brethren and the Commonalty of the City by his Commandment had been sworn to maintain all Acts made to the Honour of God to the Faith of the King
and Profit of the Realm which Oath by his license and most gracious favour they ântended to observe and keep One of the Ingredients âhat according to the Royal Psalmist goes to the comâosure of a Citizen of Zion who shall abide in the Lords Tabernacle and dwell in his Holy Hill is that âe changeth not though he sweareth to his own hurt ând moreover continued the Mayor to avoid all ocâasion that might grow of grudge or variance beâween him and his Barons within the City they would âut all Aliens and Strangers out thereof if he were so âontented The King shewed as if he was well pleaââd with this Answer so that the Mayor with his faâour departed and sent Answer to the Barons acâording to the same their Liberties alway upholden âid saved The Barons lying so near London and âith so considerable a strength 't was time for those âobles who were against those Statutes to be packââg as fast as they could for fear of the associated âords But the King is said to have sent after them ââvers Persons of his Houshold and of the Citizens of âândon to induce them to return and tarry with him ãâã that season according to the Mayor's former words all Aliens suspected of any favour owing to the one Party or the other were put out of the City Impartiality is rarely found among the Children of men though it is so commendable a Virtue not to have respect of Persons But not long after we hear of their being placed in Offices many of them in Windsââ Castle by Edward the King's Son So usual is it for contesting Parties to receive and prefer one anothers outcasts No wonder then if we sometimes see the same done in private Families when at variance among themselves which is so oft acted over and over again in publick differences Then Watch and Ward was kept dayly in the Câty and in the night certain assigned to ride about the Town with some Foot-Men allotted to them to search all the Town over But hence harm ensuing by reason that evil disposed Persons under colour oâ Watch-Men seeking for strangers robbed and spoileâ many Houses in one part of the City while the ridiââ Watch was in another place a standing Watch was oâdained in every Ward The mind of the City being made known by their publick Mouth the Mayor 't was time for men of a different Interest to endeavouâ to draw the King further off from it Accordinglâ we find the King departs from the City when ââ heard the Barons were coming into it The Baroââ enter the City the Sunday before St. Margaret's day and the King shortly after returns to Westminster wiââ the Queen and ohers of his Council Soon after ãâã Hugh le Spencer is made Chief Justice and Keeper ãâã the Tower by consent both of the King and the Bârons Upon the morrow following Maudlin Day was a Writ directed to the Mayor and Aldermââ charging them that the King's Peace be firmly ãâã within the City for in the same it was expressed thâ the King and his Barons were lovingly agreed Fuâthermore in the same Writ it was commanded that if within the Precincts of the City were any person or persons known that would withstand the foresaid Ordinances and Statutes that all such should be attached and put in Prison and their Goods also attached for the King till they knew his further Pleasure Well had it been for many great persons if this agreement had lasted longer but like other Worldly things this new peace was also transitory However here we meet with another instance of the Cities Concern of the Cities Power of the Cities Influence 'T was the Citizens concern to keep the Peace thus happily and quietly made 'T was their Power you here find engaged to see to it And their Influence upon either party you may guess by the due care taken to inform them of the late mutual Agreement In these days of Misrule and time of the Barons residing in the City we are given to understand that many Robberies were committed by divers therein and much harm done but little corrected they were so born out and maintained by their Masters Such is the too too common effect of Civil broils The Commons of the City were far out of Rule by the incensing of riotous Persons so that in the Assemblies and Courts kept at Guild-Hall or other places Worshipful men were little or nothing regarded and simple indiscrcet persons carried away the voice As the City was in those days powerful so the Lords seem well to have known it when to obtain the more favour of the Citizens they willed them to shew them if they had any of their Liberties withdrawn that they might again to them be restored and also to think of some new ones to their Weal and Profit and they would labour to the King to have them granted Can any one desire greater Evidence than Ocular Demonstration The City had a great many good and beneficial Liberties and Franchises already granted to the Emulation and Envy of many of her ill-willers Yet here our own Eyes may easily certifie us of a large offer voluntarily made to her Citizens by such as had Power to encrease them had they had the discretion at that time to have made a good use of it For the Mayor having upon this kind offer assembled the Commons at Guild-Hall and willed the Officers to devise such things as might be beneficial to the City they counselling together are said to have made such a note of Statutes Provisions and Ordinances to their own singular Profit and so prejudicial to all other Foreign Merchants coming to the City to all other Fairs and Markets of England and the universal Weal of the Realm that upon overseeing them the Heads told them they were neither lawful nor charitable and such as they knew would not be admitted So common is it in too too many concerns for private Interest to be brought up in the Van while the publick is left lagging behind as it were a loof off in the Rear The Heads of the City willing the Commons to devise other Ordinances their first being so uncharitably ordered and they I know not upon what account nor upon whose Incitation proving refractory and refusing both those and others right necessary for the Common-Weal of the City were rejected and put off saith my Author For men to go to logging of Bills when they cannot otherwise hinder their passing is a known Practice After St. James's day we hear of the Barons departure from London towards Windsor where they turned out the Aliens before plac'd therein by the King's Son Edward who thereupon with other associates rode to the King with Complaints in their Mouths against the Barons for spoiling them of their Goods But these being then put off by the King with a promise of Justice till more of his Council were with him he with other Attendants sailed into France whence being returned after Michaelmas to
London there passed an Inquest of Twelve Knights of Middlesex sworn upon a Jury between the Abbot of Westminster and the City for certain Priviledges the Citizens of London claimed within Westminster where by the said Jury it was found before the Chief Baron of the Kings Exchequer that the Sheriffs of London at those days might lawfully enter into the Town of Westminster and all other Tenements that the Abbot had within Middlesex and unto the Gate of the said Abby and there to make Summons and distrain for lack of Appearance all and every Tenant of the said Abbot 'T is not now adays only that the Londone's stand so strong for their Priviledges whatsoever some may think of it as if out of stubbornness and opposition Their Fore-Fathers were like-minded and stood up couragiously in defence of their just Rights and Liberties against Arbitrary Encroachers above Four Hundred years ago Anno 1262. After this the former Complaint of the Aliens and others was declared before the King and his Lords in the Parliament at Westminster This is the Term Fabian gives it but whether on the same account as he did before when he expounded a Parliament by a Council of Lords in the 43d Year pag. I am not so certain as positively to determine Here the Chronicle tell us it was at last sentenced but by what means and Inducements is not there set down that the Barons should restore all such Goods as they and their Company had taken from all Persons before that day as well to Aliens as other men both Spiritual and Temporal and also that such Menial Servants as should be daily in the Kings House and about his Person should be such as the King would choose and admit himself But the dissenting Barons utterly rejected these Articles whereupon the Fire of Dissention was again kindled between the King and those his Lords In the 47th Year by procurement of the Barons we are told that the Commons of London chose unto their Mayor for that Year Thomas Fiz Thomas Robert Moumphere and Robert de Suffolk were Sheriffs and without Counsel of the Aldermen swore him at Guild-Hall upon Simon and Jude's day and made no presentment of him the morrow following to the King nor to the Barons of the Exchequer as had been the custom For which we may easily suppose the King was much discontented with the City Whereupon the King perceiving the City would take the Barons part having caused his Son to seise Windsor Castle by a Train early in a Morning a little before Christmas he rode thither from Westminster whither shortly after came also many of the Lords that were upon the King's party As fast likewise the Lords and Knights on the Earl of Leicester's side drew towards London so that on either part was much People assembled In the mean time some well disposed Mediators endeavouring a Concord between the King and his Lords it was finally agreed by both parties that all matters concerning the foresaid Articles of the Statutes and Ordinances made at Oxford and afterwards by the 12 Peers should be referred to the French King to judge which should be held and which not Upon this Agreement were Copies made of the said Statutes with Letters shewing the âffect of the former Agreement and sent unto Lewis the French King Over sails the King with his Sân Edward and others of his Council on one side On the other were sent Sir Peter de Mountford and others as so many Sollicitors for their mutual Parties So that the Statutes were strongly argued before the French King by both sides In the end the French King Lewis calling before him both Parties on January the 24th and sitting in Judgment gave express Sentence that all and every of the said Statutes and Ordinances should be from that day forward utterly void and set at nought and all such Bonds and Promises that the King or any other had made for the maintenance of the same should be annulled and cancelled and the King and all others for any matter concerning those Statutes set at Liberty After this Sentence thus given the King returned into England and so to London February the 15th This King Lewis is named a Saint for that he was not I suppose so bad as other Princes too too commonly are or more probably for some deeds of his pleasing to the Popish Clergy as his sending to destroy the then accounted Heretical Albigenses his taking a Voyage once into the Holy Land and undertaking a second towards the same place at the Popes request For at that time the Holy War as 't is generally called was cried up in these Western parts of the World as a high piece of Devotion But whatever esteem Lewis had got in the World the Barons it seems continued not to have the same Veneration for him but were contrary wise much moved with his Sentence noting great Partiality in him thus to disannul all the foresaid Acts which were at first made in Parliament the King agreeing to them and had been variously confirmed by the Kings Grant his Oath and manifold Promises together with a solemn Curse denounced against such as would attempt in word and deed to break them It may be 't was the Fame of this King Lewis's Goodness that made the Barons consent to have him the Umpire as one concerned on neither party But what could be expected in the Case Could it be supposed that he a King would not favour his Brother King what he might rather than by confirming these Acts pretended so prejudicial to all Royal Prerogative give Example to his own Subjects to require the like at his hands or attempt to compel him thereto by force Had the Lords gotten an Umpire from among some disinterested Subjects of some other Land he perhaps would have adjusted the business wholly in their favour So hard had it been to have met with a just Arbitrator in the case who would not have declined to one or the other Party for fear nor favour King Henry having thus got a Verdict on his side and the Barons noting Partiality and therefore refusing to stand to the Judgment though the Chronicle intimates to us that they had promised assuredly to abide the French Kings Arbitration For King Lewis expresly excepting King John's Charter before granted the Barons persisted in defence of the Oxford Statutes as founded on that Charter What then remains but to commit all to the last Decision of the Sword and so the whole Arbitrement shall be cast more immediately into the hands of Providence Away from London go the Lords Westward into the Marches of Wales where drawing to them great Power they war upon the Lands and Castles of Sir Roger Mortimer to whose aid Edward the King's Son coming his People were distressed and he himself almost taken To redress these grievances a new Parliament was appointed at Oxford which Fabian says never came to effect Yet he mentions another Chronicle which affirms this Parliament
to have been there kept and that the King and his Lords parted thence all at Discord Besides the mutual Strength of People on either side The Barons had the Acts of Parliament made by the King Lords and Commons for of such I have elsewhere read these Assemblies were composed in those days to fight for which to observe the King and many others had been sworn besides a solemn Curse denounced against the Attempters to break them The King with his Party had the Popes Bull of Absolution the Sentence of the Council of Lords at Westminster and the Judgment given on the Kings side by Lewis the French King for their Incitement Such then being the cause contended for these being the mutual advantages to strengthen either side the difference is brought in the Spring into the Field to be decided All things in a manner thus tending to War the Barons drew towards London that 's their Place of Rendezvous where new Assurances by Writing indented was made between them and the Commonalty of the City without Consent of many of the Rulers thereof Whether they were swayed in their minds to the other side by Reasons they carried in their Pockets I find not or thinking they had most to lose they feared to be the greatest Sufferers if the chance of War should fall cross or else out of Envy and Emulation to the Commons who had already been entrusted with so much Power by the so often named Statutes and were in probability likely to get more if the Barons should prevail or at least keep what they had gotten Hence 't is plain that the Commons of the City were the men that stood by the Lords in defence of the Parliament Acts Many of the Rulers seem not to have appeared Wherefore the Commons as men enraged made to themselves Two Captains Thomas de Pywelden and Stephen Bukkerel whom they named Constables of the City At whose Commandment by tolling the great Bell of St. Pauls all the City should be ready in Arms to give Attendance upon the said Captains About the beginning of Lent the Constable of the Tower Sir Hugh Le Spencer came with a fair Company of men at Arms into the City and desired Assistance of the forenamed Constables who commanded the said Bell to be toll'd By means whereof the People shut their Shops and came out in Arms in great Multitudes who after Proclamation made that they should follow their Captains without knowledge what to do or whither to go followed them unto Thystleworth beyond Westminster and there spoiled the Manour of the King of the Romans Richard the King's Brother setting it on Fire and afterwards with great noise and cry returned unto London This Richard King of the Romans appears to have been a Mediator of Peace between the Two Parties but after this outrage what else could be expected but that he should become the Barons Enemy to the utmost of his Power Though 't is commonly seen that from War most come home by Weeping Cross yet there are still too too many found that desire to fish in troubled Waters Would any but such as were in Love with Blood and Wounds have counselled such a Fact as this in the midst of Civil broils thus to compel the only Mediator of Peace likely to prevail to become a man of War and which was worse an Enemy a powerful Enemy instead of a peaceable Friend In the time of these intestine Jarrs between Men of the same Country and Religion 't was much if the Jews should have escaped free who were strangers of different Rites and Customs and so odious to the Common People That they did not escape the enraged Multitudes Fury we find by mention made of Five Hundred of them said to be slain at one time in London on Palmsunday week The occasion is related to be for that a Jew would have forced a Christian to have given him more than Two Pence a Week for the use of Twenty Shillings This being the stinted Usury then permitted the Jews by the King's Grant According to which rate they might take iâ any Summ lent greater or lesser A reasonable man would have thought this might have satisfied the greedy Minds of most ordinary griping Extortioners Eight Shillings Eight Pence by the Year in the Pound Forty three Pounds Six Shillings Eight Pence in the Hundred Usury unconscionable enough of any sense While the Land stood thus divided into Parties the Jews felt the Peoples rage in the City and the Country did not altogether scape tasting the miseries of Civil Wars King Henry by divers places came at length into Sussex with a strong Power whereof the Lords hearing made preparation to go towards him Accordingly in the end of April the Barons with many of the Citizens in the vaward departed from London taking their Journey towards the King and hearing he was at Lewes with a great power by common consent drawing up a Letter sent it in the name of all the Barons to the King But the Answers were so rough and in such a stile that it plainly shewed that the Sword could be the only decider of the Quarrel and final determiner of the Contest so much were their Minds exasperated each towards other though of the same Nation and Kindred The Barons well perceiving by these Answers that there was no other way but to decide the Quarrel by dint of Sword they went forward towards the King Wednesday May the 24th 1263. is the day that may be writ in Red Letters for the great quantity of Blood spilt thereon in the Battle fought at Lewes between the King and his Barons wherein by the Will of Providence the Victory sell to the Barons with such a total rout to the other Party that they took Prisoners the King his Brother his Son with many other Noble-Men to the number of Twenty five Barons and Banerets above Twenty Thousand being slain according to my Author's Account After this so compleat a Victory the other Prisoners being sent elsewhere the Barons kept the King his Brother and Son till they came to London This was the place wherein they had found Shelter and had had such considerable Assistance from the Londoners that there seemed a kind of Obligation lying on them and it implied somwhat of a Recompence due to the City there to shew the Trophies of their Victory Now we may easily conclude that the forenamed Statutes are to stand in full force even by the Kings Consent And so acccordingly we find a Grant made and an Agreement that if any were thought unreasonable they were to be corrected and amended by four Noble Men of the Realm Two of the Spiritualty and Two of the Temporalty And if the four accorded not the Earl of Anjou and the Duke of Brittain were to be Judges in the case To continue this accord the firmer the King's Son and his Brother were to remain the Barons Prisoners till it was compleated A Parliament was also appointed to be
upon Summons the Barons had obtain'd their design but how would the change succeeding have been brought to pass so much to the Courts advantage and the other sides prejudice Where 's the politick Casuist that can here slit a haâ between loyal and disloyal deeds Obedience and Disobedience the duty of subjection and open refâsal thereof According to an Agreement there made in the said Octaves a Parliament was held at Westminster where met as Fabian hath left upon Record the King with his Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons of the Land to begin that Parliament Here was it enacted the King being present that he nor Edward his Son nor none of them should after that day grieve nor cause to be grieved the Earls of Leicester and Glocester the Barons Banerets or Knights the Citizens of London and Barons of the Five Ports nor any other Person oâ Persons of high or low Degree that was upon thâ Party of the said Earls for any matter of displeasure done against the King and his Son Edward ãâã any time before that day To uphold this the King 's Sworn before his Lords After that was shew'd and Read a Charter of Pardon concerning the said Cause and a confirmation of the Statutes of the Forrest with many other Acts and Statutes before granted by the King Here was an Act of Oblivion strong enough one would have thought to have indemnified the offending Parties but before the end of the Year we find the Tide quite turn'd through variance and difference arising between the Two Thiefs of the Barons Party and then the King's side prevailing Casheers what was done before Oaths held them not and another Parliament ââpeals and disanuls the former Pardon So that the ãâã Pardon'd Offendors soon became the reputed Guilty Prisoners upon the old Scores Cancell'd and forgiv'n as was thought a little before The longest Sword will make and mar Laws at pleasure let people say what they will This Party's Might commonly bears down what the other Party calls his Right Edward the King's Son having likewise Sworn to perform the promises which the King had before made in Parliament was deliver'd at liberty and the other Pledg his Cozen upon assurance made ââ abide in the King's Court and not depart without licence of the King and some of the Barons What care do the Barons seem here to have taken to âârengthen and confirm their Party against any future âââerclaps How sollicitous do they appear to have âeen to prevent an after-Reckoning and all Tendenâies thereunto Nay how conformable to them did the King and his Son shew themselves likewise âherein Witness the many Instruments and Bonds âade by them for the performance of Covenants and Pactions before agreed on And yet all was soon destroy'd and brought to none effect One of the ãâã Chiefs helping Penelope-like to unravel the Web they had been so long a Weaving The Ordering the former Statutes made at Oxford which had hitherto so fast united them was the occasion of dissention between the Two Potent Earls ââ Leicester and Glocester to the ruin of the Baron's Party the difference arose as Stow tells us betweeâ them for that Leicester not only kept the King anâ others as Prisoners but also took to himself the Revenues of the Kingdom which it seems should have been equally devided amongst them So that it waâ the Golden-Apple that seems to have occasion'd thââ so fatal Discord The King indeed and his Lords labour'd for an Union but it fell out well for the King's side and ill for the others that they succeeded not This happen'd between Easter and Whitsââtide In the Wââtsun-Week we hear of Edward thâ King's Son secretly departing from the Court at Hereford without Licence and associating himself wiââ the Earl of Glocester and other Lords at Chester froâ whence he hasts to Glocester breaking the Bridges aâ he went that he might not be follow'd till he had Assembled his Power The Earl of Leicester was toâ wife not to guess at his Intent and therefore in all haâ sends to his Son to Assemble his Forces Simon his Soâ with his Forces Assembled draws towards Winchestââ and was at first kept out by the Citizens because theâ knew not whether he came as the King's Friend anâ for that they had also receiv'd a Letter from Edwaââ to that purport But it was not long e're the Ciââ was yielded and then the Castle Besieged after thââ the City had been spoil'd and many of the Jeââ therein Inhabiting Slain They were so odious generally to the People that they should be sure to havâ their share to the purpose in the publick Calamity if the Commons might have their Will The Papistâ after all their discover'd Plots known Practices anâ destructive Principles are not in a vast degree much more hateful to the generality of the English Nation in these Days than where the griping Jews in those Elderly Times At Kenelworth the Baron's Party receiv'd the first ââow under this Simon where they were shamefully defeated by Edward and his Host and many Eminent Prisoners taken without the shedding of much Blood At Eâyshum in Worcestershire were the Barons discâmfited with such a total overthrow and the destruction of so many Men of Note on that side that âis no wonder that their Interest among the People so visibly decay'd for the future and in time was fully lost Soon after this Victory the King and his Son Edward met by whose Authority the Prisoners then in hold were released and many others accus'd and put in for them Not long after was held a Parliament at Winchester where by Authority of the same the Statutes and Ordinances before made at Oxford were Repealed and all Bonds and Writings before made by the King or any other Cancell'd and Broken and all such as had favor'd the Barons disinherited A Rout indeed A Rout first to the Men that would have had the Laws have been kept and then a Rout to the Laws themselves to Parliament Acts and Statutes So destroy first of all the Protestant Men and Women the Subjects of Religion and then the Protestant Religion falls of course What could it at that time avail the defeated Party to plead a former Obedience to the Power then Regnant since the present Powers were otherwise resolv'd If the Parliament in Being will have Obedience paid to a former Parliament esteem'd Treason who dare gainsay it Little boots it the poor weak Beast to cry the Bunch in his Forehead is no Horn when the more powerful Lion says it is After these Parliament Transactions we hear of the King 's reââming into his hands all grants before made and giveâ to any Person After his Sons Victory the King calls not a Parliament at Westminster least possibly it might have been over aw'd by the City of London but assembling it at a place far enough distant and things having there been carried according to the Courts intent and desire now have at London Accordingly
after the Parliament was ended we read of King Henry's coming to Windsor with a great Power intending as the Fame then went to destroy the City for the great Ire and Displeasure he had unto it We need but guess to know with what a wonderful fear the Mayor and Aldermen were thân stricken at this Report Yet we are told that many of the Commons were in full purpose to have defended the City against the King So it seems there weââ then many and divers opinions among them The City being in those days Inhabited with Men of many Nations who were then according to Fabian admitteâ for Citizens At last the Citizens condescended to make a supplication to the King and send it by some Religious Person Many are said to be sent by sundry Persons but to little avail The King being so grievously incensed by some of his Counsel against them that he would not look upon their Supplications and if any spoke in their behalf he soon would make such countenance that even Men in his Favour fear'd to speak for them Now was the time for their Ill-willers to vent the utmost of their Spleen against this Honourable City formetly their Terror and hops to compleat their full Revenge by working its Destruction We doubt not but Men of Arbitrary desires have always hated such sree constituted Corporate Towns and Cities and have little reason to beleive but that there are Men of the like ill Principles and Practises still alive in the World who would heartily rejoyce in their Minds to meet with the like opportuââty to work out their corrupt designs Have you never heard of such a saying as that the Corporations will prove England's Destruction Out of what Mint d' ee think this comeâ Where was it first forg'd but in some such men's Brains We now look upon one of these Corporations as one of the principal Bulwarks of the Protestant Religion and the English Liberty And that it may long so continue in defence of their just Priviledge and true Religion in spight of all Arbitrary endeavours and Popish designâ is the hearty Prayer and Desire I doubt not of every good Protestant and Loyal English-man While the cautionary Protestant Towns in France stood firm and fix and uninjur'd in their just Liberties and Priviledges how gloriously and with what safety did the Protestant Religion flourish in that Land But when through the Force and Violence of Arbitrary Pretenders and treacherous connivance of some corrapt English States-men Rochel was reduc'd in the last age under absolute power what foundation was thereby laid for the Protestants future Ruin and present greatness of the French Monarchy How well the Papists designs have there succeeded since the utter subversion of the Protestant Towns is not unknown to their Neighbours Such sad Reports have not long since pierc'd our English Ears of the Barbarous usages the Protestants there have lately undergone whereof some sorrowful Spectacles may have possibly presented themselves of late to some of our Eyes What further Progress the Jesuits may haply make in their cursed designs by sending into England bloody Papists in the form of distressed Protestants We have but too just Cause to fear Especially if all be true that hath been Reported of the going of some of these suspected Strangers to a Popish Habitâtion and of others being seen going to Mass How well would it be for the Land were all these Reportâ undoubtedly false and our Fears Jealousies and Suspicions altogether causeless When the Citizens Supplications were thus rejected at Court the History tells us that they were counselled by their Friends to make a Writing and Seal it with their Common-Seal whereby they should offer to put themselves whâlly in the King's Grace and Mercy touching their Lives and Goods This we may easily suppose much more Irksome than a barâ Surrender of their Charter yet this was at length done and Eight Persons of the City who had Friends at Court chosen and sent towards Windsor But up on the way encountring with Sir Roger Lâyborn onâ of the Kings Knights he turn'd them unto the City Riding with them till he came near it and then departing from them Rode upon the back side of the Town unto the Tower But at his departing from them he willed them to warn the Mayor with certain of the City to meet him to morrow at Berkiââ Church standing near unto the Tower Upon theiâ meeting next morning Sir Roger after a long preamble shew'd them the Kings grievous Displeasure which he bare towards the City and the means that had been used by their Friends to obtain Grace for it In fine he expressed that no Grace for them might be had except they would by their Common-Seal biââ themselves fully and wholly to stand at the King'â Grace and to put in his Mercy their Lives and Goods This being in the end granted by the Citizens and the foresaid writing delivered to Sir Roger with entreaty that he would be a good mean for them to the King He departed upon the morrow to the King and return'd again in Six Days and willed the Mayor and Aldermen to meet him again at the foresaid Church There he shew'd them that the King by great Instance of their Friends had received their writing and would fââst for the beginning of the content of his mind That all the Chains which stood in every Street and ââne's ând within the City should be loosed from their Posts and the Posts also drawn out of the Earth all be brought into the Tower So belike upon apprehensiââ of great danger to set up Posts Chains in the ãâ¦ã an ancient Custom He also further order'd That thiâ being done the Mayor with about Forty of the ãâã should the Day following be at Windsor to ãâã the Grant of their Writing And that they âight come and goe in safe and sure wise he delivered them the Kings Letter and Seal for the term of Four Days All this being done the Mayor with other Personâ were ready at Windsor on the morrow being Sunday ãâã One of the Clock arâ tarried there till Four At which season the King coming from his Disport as says my Author enters the Castle without counteâance or casting his Eyes upon the Londoners The king and his People being entred the Londoners would have followed but they were warn'd to abide without Then in short time after the King caus'd a Proclamation to be made that no man of high or low degree should make any sayings of displeasure or âuarrel to the Londoners In the Evening Sir Roger and another Knight came to them and brought them into the Gastle and said The Kings pleasure was not to speak with them that Night And after deliver'd them to the Constable of the Castle who Lodg'd them all that Night in a large Tower to their small Chear and worse Lodging Upon the morrow being Monday toward Night they were taken out of the Tower and delivered to the Bayliff
of the Castle and Lodged by his Assignment except these five Persons viz. Tââmas Fizt Thomas Mayor Michael Tony Steven Bukkerââ Thomas Pywellyson and John Dâflete These five ãâã the King given to his Son Edward at whose coâmandment they remained in the said Tower long ââter notwithstanding the King 's safe Conduct to ãâã before made What became then of the King's worâ But who durst oppose a waking Lyons The ãâã Hunter in the fable lik't not to deal roughly wiââ him till his long Teeth were broken out and his ãâã cut off When upon the bruit of Queen Mary'â ãâã with Child King Philip of Spain her Husband ãâã to be chosen the Childs Guardian if the ãâã should Decease and offered the Parliament great ââsurances and Bonds of Security for his redelivery ãâã the Kingdom at the appointed time that Gentlemââ shew'd himself no Fool who when the assurancâ were likely to find acceptance stood up and inqâââed who should ãâã the Bond And the Parliameââ enough approv'd him when they immedintly theââ upon rejected the King's specious offers 'T is very dââadvantagious and often injurious to the Weak to ãâã making of bargains with the more Powerful who ãâã strong enough to break their Promises and Covenaââ with Impunity or keep them but e'en as they pleasâ When the tydings of the usage of the Mayor and thâ rest at Windsor came to London whereas many ãâã fear had absented themselves before upon this newâ many more convey'd away themselves and their good secretly into diverse parts of England so that many of them are said never to have return'd after In the 49th Year November the 6th We find thaâ the King came to Westminster and shortly after gave to diverse of his Houshold-Servants near about sixty Houses and Housholds within the City so that the Owners were compell'd to redeem their Houses and Housholds with all the goods in them or else to depart and suffer such Persons to enter to whom thâând Houses were given This grant is said to have âââended likewise to all the Lands Tenements Gooââ ãâã Chattels which the said Citizens had in any other âââces of England Riches have often made Persons ãâã singled out for offendors while the poor Man ââ the mean time scapes free few envying him his Poveâty After this was ãâã Constable of the Tower ââde Custos or Guardian of the City who chose ãâã Adrian and Walter Hervy Citizens to be Bayliffs ãâã him and to him to be accountable to the King's ãâã Then took the King pledges of the best Men's ãâã of the City that ãâã peace should be surely kept ãâã thâ same These were put into the Tower ând ãâã kept at their Parents cost Shortly after ãâ¦ã Labour and Sâit made the foresaid Londoners ââ the keeping of the Bayliff of the Castle of Windsor ãâã deliver'd and came to London except ãâ¦ã viz. Richard Bonaventure Symon De'Hadâstâk William De Kent and William De Glocester who with ãâã other five afore excepted were still kept in the Towâr of Windsor Then dayly Suit and Labour waâ made to the King to have his Gracious Favour and âo know his Pleasure what fine he would have of the City for their Transgressions and Displeasure by them âo him done The former Transactions seem to beaâ a Tendency hereunto The Citizens were prevail'd upon to resign up themselves their Lives and Goods into the King's hands submitting all to his Mercy that a good large fine might be the easier levied of them and the Nation the better made to beleive that the City was well dealt with for paying no more when as the King might have seiz'd upon all they having surrendred in a manner wholly upon discretion To what else tend the many preparatives before rehears'd but to make this bitter Pill go down ãâã smoother and quieter with them The Book ââquaiâts ââ that the King asked 40000l and ãâã stood at â0000 Marks I But the City alledged ãâã themselves that the poor Commons of the City ãâã of many were gone away were the Trespassers ãâã that the best of the City by these riotous Persoâ were robid and spoilââ and had lost a great part oâ their Substance in this ãâã some time by the Râvers of the Sea as the Wardens of the five Ports and others For these and many other considerations ãâã Citizens besought the King of his most Gracious ãâã your and Pity to take of them as they might âear This matter thus depending the King departââ ãâã Westminister to Northampton having a little ãâã his departure Ordain'd Sir John Lynd and Mâ John ãâã Clerk to be Guardians of the City and Towââ they âeing nam'd in the King 's Writing ãâ¦ã Steward 's of the City Upon the Day after thâ King was gone these Two Stewards sent for Twââty Four of the most notable Men of the City anâ warned them to appear the Day following before thâ King's Councel at Westminster At their appearaâââ it was shown unto them by Sir Roger Leyborn that tââ King's mind was That they should have the Rule oâ the City in his absence under the foresaid Seneschaââ and for to see good Rule kept in the City they should be sworn there before his Councel They were there upon sworn and countermanded unto the City The City's fine was inagitation till about Christmas ãâ¦ã End was made with the King by such friends aâ the City had about him for the Sum of 20000 Marks for all transgressions and offences by them before done some Persons excepted whom the King had giv'n to his Son Edward being those afore nam'd kept in the Tower of Windsor For the payment of this Sum at Days by agreement set where Sir ãâ¦ã and Mr. Robert Wareyn Clerk assign'd to take ãâ¦ã After Surety by them receiv'd and sent to ãâã King at Northampton the King sent immediately ãâã to thâ Citizens a Charter under his Broad ãâ¦ã may be seen in Eabian my Author in these ãâã ãâã needless to make many comments ãâ¦ã upon this affair Through the whole it is âââifest that the City was of considerable Power and ãâã so that the King thought not good to exaspeâââ the Citizens too much least evil should have ãâã of it To make a Bridge of Gold for a flying ãâã is no mean Policy Doubtless it was well ãâ¦ã Court that they us'd not the ãâã violence ãâ¦ã Baron's Party was not wholy destroyed as yet in ãâã hand though it was very much crush'd How ãâã the whole City joyn'd therewith might haâe ãâ¦ã pois'd if not turn'd the Scales had shâ been ãâã âarâhly dealt with I rather crave leave to ãâ¦ã the Readers consideration than hastily presume ãâ¦ã 'T is certain enough that within less than ãâã Years the Cause was in great likelihood to have ãâã reviv'd to purpose had not convenient course ãâã taken to âush it a sleep again without rashly âââceeding to the highest extremities as you may find ãâã the sequel of the History After the aforesaid ãâã was receiv'd by
the Citizens the pledges in the ãâã of London and the Four last mention'd to be ãâã in the Tower of Windsor were deliver'd The ãâã renam'd Stewards were also discharged and the ãâã chose of themselves for Mayor William Fiz ãâã and for Sheriffs Thomas de la Founde and Gregoââ de Rokisây as Fabiân acquaints us For Levying of ãâã foresaid Fine were set as well Servants and Coveâânt-men as Housholders and many refus'd the Liberties of the City to be quit of that charge ãâã which we may give some part of a guess at the ãâã of the fine what a considerable summâ ãâ¦ã marks was in those days before the ââdies were ãâã into Europe some hundreds of years This controversy with London being thus ãâã towards an end the King had leasure to mind ãâã suppressing the remains of the Baron's Party ãâã de Mountford upon certain conditions was ãâ¦ã be at large in the Kings Court and so ãâã a Season But when the King was come to London suddenly departed to Winchelsea where he accompânied with the Rovers of the Sea till after some ãâã taken he departed from them into France and ãâã himself into the Service of the French King So ãâã an end of the Potent Earl of Leycester's Family in Eââland This Powerful Earl bid fair for the Rule of ãâã whole Kingdom but had he reviv'd the Battailâ ãâã a Conqueror how much further he ãâã have gone I may think but not positively ãâã mine Another Act of the Kings this year in order to ãâã total rooting out of the Barons remains was his ââing a Seige to Kenelworth-Castle with a mighty ãâã but this prov'd a task not quickly at an end Now ãâã time comes to revenge old slights and neglects ãâã sides Strangers prepar'd to come over into Englâââ the Queen had also purchas'd a curse of the ãâã a womans aid to accurse all the Barons their ãâã and helpers Commissions were directed to ãâã Bishops of England to execute but they for fear ãâã the Barons are said to have deny'd and deferred ãâã Execution and Sentence of the said curse Wherefoââ she made new labour to the Pope and had it granâââ that the said Bishops should be corrected for their diââbedience Whereupon Octobon the Pope's Legate ãâã Councel by him and the Clergy held this year at Paul's ââch in London suspended those Bishops and sent ãâã to Rome to be absolv'd of the Pope A pretty ãâã to go nine Miles with Waltham's calf to Suck a ãâã In the 50th year about Christmas was Kenelworth ãâã yielded after near half a years Siege upon ãâã of life Limb Horse Armes and all things ãâã in the Castle to the defendants belonging and ãâã to carry them away and not to be disinherited ãâã is it any wonder that they had such ãâã granted them if that be true which Stow relates ãâã that at the King 's coming to besiege the Castle ãâã force was so great and those in the Castle so ãâã daunted at their Enemyes presence that they ãâã âpen their Gates and never closed them day noâ ãâã and come whoso would they came to their ãâã Thus you see the King found it no easy matter ãâã to suppress the remainders though he had ãâã power'd the heads of the Baron's party About ãâã were the Wardens of the five Ports reconcil'd to ãâã King by favour of Edward the King's Son Observe ãâã by the way his policy In his Father's time he ãâã to crush that power which might have ãâã him in his own Reign and having pretty well ãâã it he after seems a pretender to Popularity ãâã mediating with his Father in behalf of many that âddressed themselves to him for reconciliation It much âails to apply our selves to a fit Intercessor So have known a Stepmother when requested prevail with ãâã Father her Husband in her Son in Law 's behalf ãâã he himself could not The Conditions of this reconciliation of the Barons ââque Ports are not unworthy of the remark We ãâã that in Anno. 47. these Wardens of the five Ports ãâã the Sea with Ships that no Strangers should enter the Land to the King's Aid In 48 we are told ãâã they rob'd and spoild all men that they might ãâã sparing neither English Merchants nor others ãâã which preys as the Common Fame-went the ãâã of the Land had a good part In 49. we find ãâã Londoners alledging for themselves in mitigation ãâã the great Fine required of them that they had ãâã great part of their Substance by the Rovers of ãâã Sea among whom are named the Wardens of ãâã Cinque Ports And yet notwithstanding all these ãâã Harms done they are Recorded to have had all ãâã former Priviledges confirmed to them and ãâã was Granted That if any English-man or ãâã would Sue for Restitution of Goods by them ãâã taken or for the Death of any of their Friends ââfore Slain that all such Complaints should ãâã Sued in their Courts there to have their ãâã determin'd and not elsewhere What greaâ Assurance could these Barons desire for their own ââcurity They might well promise themselves impânity when they were in such fair probability to ãâã their own Judges in their own Cause unless we ãâã suppose Juries were to be chosen elsewhere ãâã we might in good reason that the King would ãâã to such Terms of Accomodation had we it not upââ Record that the common Fame at that Day ran ãâã the said Wardens of the Five Ports had then the Dâminion of the Sea Whereupon the King was after sort compell'd to follow their Pleasures When Man is to take an unpleasant Potion after he ãâã drunk up the greatest part thereof it not rarely haâpens that the Remains in the bottom are harder ãâã get down than was all the rest About the Feast of Philip and Jacob we hear of ãâã King's holding a Parliament at Northamptonâ ãâã which were confirm'd the old Franchises and Libertâââ by the King's Progenitors before Granted in the City âf London with a new Grant for the Shire of Midâlesex 'T is good to make things as sure as we ãâ¦ã this Parliament were likewise disinherited many Noble-men of the Land who before-time had taken the Barons Party For which cause they accompaââed together Robbed in divers parts of the Land âook Lincoln and spoil'd it and after Ransomed many of the Rich Burgesses of the Town And taking the âsle of Ely so strengthened it that they held it long ãâã Anno 51 At the choosing of the Mayor of London â Controversie arose between the Rulers and Comâons of the City Wherefore by advice of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen Sir Roger Leyborn a Courtier plain enough by his Actions related before with others âame to Guild-hall being Armed under their Gowns ând upon Fryday following Alhallon day called the Commons to the Election of the new Mayor How ââee was this Election likely to be whither men came âecretly Armed to assist their Party Fabian tells us âhat the best of
the City gave the Nomination to Aleyn ââwch and divers of the others cryed upon Thomas ãâã Thomas at that time Prisoner in Windsor Castle âherefore the said Sir Roger with the Assistance of âhe Mayor and others took those Persons and sent ââemun to divers Prisons So that what they could not âo well get by fair means some seem resolved to obâain by force And yet 't is not unlikely but they âould be ready enough to bear People in hand that âuch was a free Election The Act against Disturbance ãâã Free Elections wherein the King commandeth upon Forfeiture that no man by force of Arms nor by âalice or menacing shall disturb any to make Free âlection was not at that time dreaded as not being ãâã yet enacted for it is plac'd in the third of Edward the First the following King wherefore the Distââbers might not then think they had such cause ãâ¦ã having the Court also on their side as ãâã must have had since as soon as ever they should ãâã acted so imprudently as to bring themselves ãâã the laâh of that standing Law Observe we here ãâã Power and Esteem that usually accompanieâ ãâã Mayoralty of this Honorable City since that ãâã Faction were for choosing one of their own ãâã Shall I further remark upon the whole of this ãâã what Party in a Nation 't is that sticks not at ãâã nor force to effect their Designs when fair ãâã is too weak to compass them But who will ãâã me that this will not be offensive Therefore to ãâã In this Year the Gentlemen who kept the ãâã Ely and liv'd there like Outlaws broke out ãâã times and did much harm in Norfolk Suffolk ãâã Cambridge Shire took Norwich and after spoiling ãâã carried away with them many of the rich men ãâã ransomed them at great sums of Mony This ãâã occasion the story says to Thieves and other ãâã dispos'd People to do many other hurts and ãâã in divers places of the Land and the blame was ãâã to those Gentlemen Then the Pope's Legate labouââ with the King that those disinherited Gentlemââ might purchase their Lands of him by Fine and ãâã some Whereupon it was agreed that they ãâã have their Lands again at five Years value some ãâã excepted and others of small Possessions to ãâã Fined at the discretion of the King's Councel ãâã this took no conclusion saith my Author Anno 52. Aleyn Sowch being Mayor Thomas ââsingâ and Robert de Cornehyll Sherists we read of anâther broyl beginning which was like to have creaââ no little disturbance in the Land had it not ãâã timely appeas'd and brought to an end by the inteâcession of wise Mediators For Gilbert de Clare Earl ãâã Glocester formerly a powerful Man among the Bârons Party by reason of difference and disgust ââising between him and the no less Potent Earl of ãâã of the same Party having turn'd to the King's side adding to it such considerable strength that it soon over powr'd the weakend Barons but ââw upon what occasion Fabian expresses not he refused the King and gathered to him a strong ãâã in the Marches of Wales To him likewise drew Sir John Eyvile and others of the disinherited ãâã So that after Christmas he comes with a âear Host near unto London When the Mayor and Aldermen of the City were aware of the Earls ââming with so strong a Power and not knowing ãâã he were the Kings Freind they shut the ãâã against his Fore-Riders And for that neither ãâã King nor any of his Councel were then near ãâã City they went unto the Legate at that time ââdged in the Tower and required his Councel âhether they should suffer the Earl to enter into the âay or not whereunto the Legate answered that ãâã thought not the contrary for the knew well that ãâã was the Kings true Subject and Friend Not ãâã after came a Messenger from the Earl to the âayor to have Licence to pass through the City ãâã Southwark where he intended to lodge with ãâã People which was granted and so the Earl ââssed through the City and was lodg'd in Southâark To him came shortly after by Surry-side ãâã John Eyvile with a great Company Then the âayor kept the Gate of the Bridge shut watchââg it dayly with armed Men and every night ãâã the Draw-Bridge to be drawn and the Waterside daily and nightly to be watched with Men in Arms. In short time after the Legate and the Earl agreed in such wise that the Earl by his advice was suffered with certain of his People to be lodged in the City By means whereof he daily drew more and more of his People into it so that finally many things were ordered by him and many of the Commons took his part against the Mayor and Aldermen The Commonalty of the City had had great Power put into their hands by the Statutes made at Oxford as appears before in the Meeting of the Folâmoot at Pauls Cross they had been lately fin'd after the Barons overthrow for their standing in defence of those Parliament-Acts and but the last year had been disturb'd by the Mayor in their Election of a new Mayor by force of Arms and therefore now we may beleive it all remembred What shall we loose so seasonable an opportunity we may suppose they might then think if not to regain our former power yet at least to vindicate our selves against future affronts Here we may note not a little of the Earls policy After he had gathered together his People he comes away to London and getting leave to pass through it ãâã part of his Forces he settles himself as near the City as he might in Southwark and then by degrees gets himself and his Power into the City hoping doubtless to find a Party therein willing to second him which hopes we perceive by the sequel were not ill grounded Is not this a plain instance of the Cities Power Esteem and Influence in these days If any can produce plainer proof hereof let them as soon as they please I think here ãâã Mathematical Demonstration matter of Fact not of Fancy In Easter week we read that the Earl took the Keys of the Bridge and of the Gates from the officers of the City and deliver'd them to such as pleased him and received into the City many of the disinherited Perfons and gave them free liberty to pass the Bridge at all hours of the day and night Of all this the Mayor sent word to the King who then was gathering of this Power in Norfolk and made hasty speed towards London In the mean time the Earl with his Company made Bulwarks and âââbicanes between the Tower and the City casting ãâã and Trenches in some places thereof and forfâited it wonderfully saith my Author Then many of the Citizens fearing a new Insurrection deparred from the City as secretly as they could whose goods the Earl seized to his own use or suffered his men to spoile them at his pleasure
Then the Commons fââgetting their late punishment or rather too much remembring it and intending revenge withouâ fear or dread of their King took certain of the Aldermen and cast them into Prison sequestring their Goods and spoiling much thereof And thereupon ran to Guild-hall and chose for their Mayor ãâã or Ruler of the City take which name you please Sir Richard de Culworth Knight and for Bayliffs Robert de Lynton and Roger Marshal and discharg'd the old Mayor and Sheriffs These the fruits of Civil Broils This being done we read in the next place that all such Prisoners that were in Newgate Ludgate and Criplegate or in any other Prisons within the City because of the Baron's War before passed were delivered and set at liberty Thus each Party when in Power strives to weaken and suppress their opposites and strengthen theââ own side What avails Laws Customes and Ordinances in the midst of Armies How suddainly â how unexpectedly is the wheele turn'd who knoââ how soon the Barons War had been anew reviv'd had not Powerful Mediators interceded to the pââvention of more blood shedding The Oxford Sââtutes stood in deed repeal'd by the Winchester Parliament but who can divine what new devices the wit of men backt with Power might in time haââ found out to retreive their late overthrown cause had not Providence so dispos'd mens minds to peaceable Councels as to bring these new troubles to ãâã quicker end When the Legate beheld all this Discord we are told he repented him of his former Counceâ given to the Mayor which we may easily belieââ without looking for any proofs thereof For thâ Legate might well think himself accus'd in manâ men's thoughts as one of the occasional Causes ãâã much of this disorder though it may be they migââ not be so uncharitable as to believe him any otheââ then an accidental not designed Causer thereof ãâã seems by the History to have endeavour'd somewhââ to vindicate his Reputation when he saw he coulâ not reform the Earl by threatning him with ãâã Censures of the Church and to accurse him as thâ Disinherited were For that was always one oâ the best Weapons the Popish Clergy were most deâtrous at If any grievously displeas'd them no maâter what the cause was good or bad allowable by the Divine Laws or not to Curse him with Bell Book and Candle was their usual accustomed Practise Whosoever believes me not let him go to the Martyrologies see whether he can then beleive his ãâã eyes Yet I do not find let the instance here ãâã that this their Cursing had so general an ãâã upon all men as they would have had it ãâã they got it well backt by the Civil Magistrates ââthority Therefore their common use was as ãâã had opportunity to inch out the Spiritual ãâã with the Temporal What did many value ãâã have their Souls given away to the Devil if they ãâã keep their Bodies out of Prisons from being ââlivered over to the Secular Power by the Clergy ãâã seem thus as it were by craft to call the Maâistrate the Devil A plain case when Men to exalt ââeir own Worldly grandure or out of Animosity to ââvenge a particular private peek or quarrel under âââtence of Religion usurpe a Power over Men's ãâã and Consciences which belongs not at all to ãâã or else turn the Edge of it to a use quite âââtrary to the Primitive Institution it quickly ãâã its Ancient Vigour and Esteem and from a ââerror it becomes a scorn to persons of understanâââg able enough to discern men's wicked prevaââcation from true Religion Were it not for the ãâã De Excommunicato câpiendo in some Cases Men ãâã little value Excommunication or look upon ãâã otherwise than a Scare-Crow to fright Children and Fools what 's hanging were it not for choakââg To proceed after this menace and threat of the ãâã we are told that he commanded Divine Service to be said without Note and the Church doors to be shut in time thereof and that no Bell ââould be rung unto it to the Intent that the disinherited who stood accursed should not enter the Churches to hear it Upon three Weeks after Easter we hear that the King came to Ham a few miles from London whether likewise came the Legat soon after Then the King's host made divers assaults upon the City but it seems with little or no hurâto the Town it was so strongly fortified My Author makes mention of Guns and other Ordinances but I question whether he speakes not rather after the fashion of the Age he liv'd in than after the true use of armes in those more elderly times For the first invention of Gunpowder by Bertholdus Swart the Gârman Monk is plac'd by Chronologers a considerable time after In this time of variance the Legate upon his Party and the King of Romans upon the other party for alliance between him and the Earl of Glocester labour'd so to the King that Peace was spoken of During the Treaty the Soldiers lying in Southwarke made many Robberies in Surry and other places Neither did the King's Palace at Westminister escape for we hear that some of them rowd over thereto and Spoil'd it drunk up the Kings wine brake the glass of the Windows wasting and destroying other Necessaries thereunto belonging and came likewiââ sometimes into London and Robbed there Disorderly unruly Soldiers little regard any one unless they be kept under Strict discipline Sacred or Prophaââ much the sameto many of them Some of these âavenous Spoilers being taken are recorded to have had a severe Punishment inflicted on them through the Earl of Derby's means whose Body or Câgâzance they bare viz. bound hands and leggs put into a Sack and âo cast into Thames About ãâã day was the Peace between the King and the Earl cââcluded After this Conclusion the Earl removed out of the City and was lodg'd again in Southwark The King entred the City the Sunday before Midsââer day according to the Book And forthwith the King's Proclamation were made through it of the peace made between the King and the Earl Afââr was liberty given to the disinherited Persons of Eleven Days respit to shift for themselves either to depart to such Places where they might be in some Surety or else to agree to the former Composition made by the Legate viz. To pay the Fifth part of the Yearly Value of their Lands certain Persons only excepted as is before related As touching the Earl and such other as before were not disinherited together also with the Citizens of London they were clearly to be forgiven and Pardoned Then were restored to their Offices Aleyn Sowch Mayor Thomas Basynge and Robert de Cornhil Sheriffs And the Aldermen before deposed were again likewise restored to their Wards and Offices A happy Reconciliation Next comes the relation of the Legate's interdicâing all the City the Wednesday following which endured from six of the clock in the Morning till three the next
day in the Afternoon and then was discharg'd upon the Oath of two Commons sworn in the name of the City that the City should stand to the Ordinance and Judgment of the Church So Eabian informs us but he likewise telis us of another Chronicle which affirms that this Interdiction should have continued longer had it not been for the sternness of the Londoners who held the Legate so streight that they inforc't him to withdraw that sentence upon the foresaid Condition So that is seems the Legate had not strength enough to ãâã with the Londoners so roughly and harshly yet sâcurely as otherwise he might perchance have doââ with lesser Places and Parties His reverend Legaââship seems not here to have went so cunningly ãâã work as did a Legate much of the same Name iâ not the same Man in the twenty first of this Kinââ Reign with the Oxford Scholars He first got ãâã enough off from them to Wallingford and then accus'd the misdoers that had put him into such a ãâã that for his Safeguard he took the Belfry of Osney ãâã abode there till the Kings Ministers coming froâ Abbington with strength mixt with fair words deââvered him and conveyed him away as is in ãâã before shewn No no the Londoners were too stronâ and stern so to be fool'd and us'd They would ââther we perceive by the story compel him thââ sawningly crouch to him After this the Bulwarks and Barlicarnes made by the Earl in the City were plucked clean up and Ditches fill'd so that no part of them was seeâ Good to destroy all the Monuments of civil Broils and Discord When the Citizens should have had their new Pardon granted an obstacle was madâ for so much as they as yet had not recompenced the King of the Romans for the Subversion of hiâ Manour of Thistleworth Well remembred and as seasonably put in A good convenient opportunity to put in for his share when he knew all the other differences were pretty well quieted in the Lââd and might reasonably conclude the City would rather wisely part with a little Money than begin a new trouble for a small matter and so hazard all For his Reparation was ask'd we find six thousand ãâã But finally with great Labour and Freindship ãâã was made to give him for amends one ãâ¦ã maâks to be paid in two years Thus you ãâã observe some will be sure however to ask ãâã where they know there is good Ability to ãâã though they take at last much less Like the ãâã that requested five hundred Oaks of the King ãâã âuild him an House when as one hundred was enough and it may he too much After these Transactions the King accepted and ãâã to his Grace Sir John Eyvile and several ãâã some of them named before among the ãâã Party Accord was also made between ãâã the Kings Son and the Earl of Glocester Therâ ãâã all Fortresses and other Defences before made ãâã and the places adjoyning pull'd up ãâã my Author and destroyed and the Earl with all other Souldiers departed After things thus set ãâ¦ã and Rest except that some yet kept the ãâã of Ely the King Rides to Shrewsbury and ãâã there a Season to commune of matters between him and Lewellin Prince of Wales While he there ãâã I find that a Writ was directed to Sir Aleyn ãâã Mayor of London eight days before Michaelmââ from the King charging him that the Citizens should not proceed to Election of new Sheriffs till ãâã coming to London but to suffer the old to abide still in Office By this we may guess at the honourable Sheriffs Power even in those days and beleive that the Court thought it convenient for their interestâ in those unsetled times to influence the Election what they might What else means the Kings command to defer the Election till his coming to Town And indeed we may perceive by the History thââ there was medling to the purpose the following year for the King himself instead of permitting ãâã free Election did in effect put in two Sheriffs of ãâã own nomination For the Mayor was commandeâ to present to the King six Persons able to be ãâã it may be it was also privately intimated to hiâ whom they should be and out of them the ãâã chose two to be Sheriffs William de Durham ãâã Walter Henry and caused them to be sworn ãâã they should gather the profits of the City and give a true Account before the Barons of the Exchequeâ But for this the Court seem to have had a ãâã plausible pretence from some disorders lately coâmitted in the City As indeed they appear by thâ History of this Kings Reign very ready either ââ find occasion for pretences or else to make ãâã that they might seize the Cities Charter and âfter restore it again for a good round sums of Money The Disorders in London above mention'd werâ occasion'd through variance falling out between the Fellowships of Goldsmiths and Taylors in November in the fifty third year of this King reckoning with my Author from the usual time of the Mayors eâtring into his Mayoralty This variance was so greaâ that it grew to the making of Parties so that with the Taylors held the Craft of Stainers with the Goldsmiths held another Fellowship or Craft By means whereof much people nightly gathered together in the Streets in Arms. At length as if before appointed there met one night of the said Parties upon the number of five hundred Men on both sides and ran together with such violence that some were slaim and many wounded To this purport I find it related Then upon outcry made the Sheriffs with a strength of other Commons came to them and took certain of them and sent them to the Prisons Upon the Morrow such search was made that most of the cheif causers of that Fray were taken and ãâã into Ward Upon the Friday following Katherines ãâã at the Sessions kept at Newgate by the Mayor ãâã de Broke Justice and others were many of ãâã Persons Arraigned of Felony and and some of them cast and hang'd Among them was likewise ãâã one Godfrey de Beverlay who had helped to ãâã of them Thus the Accessary is not seldom thought aâ guilty as the Theif On the Morrow after St. James's day the King dââcharged as writes my Author Sir Aleyn Souch ââyor and made Stephen Edworth Constable of the Tâwer and Custos of the City of Londrn Fabian after whom I most write hath left us the Names of a Mayor and Sheriffs affixt to every year of this Henry's Reign yet he likewise gives us to understand that of these Rulers of the City after the year that Thomas Fytz Thomas was Mayor there are divers opinions For after some Writers continues he from that year viz. forty eight till the fifty fifth of King Henry's Reign in which year John Adrian Draper was Mayor they were all Guardians and no Mayors and who so was then Constable of the Tower
the same was also Custos of the City So that according to this Account there pass'd about seven years wherein the Londoners had not the full and free use of their Priviledges and Franchises If this be allowed for a Truth we have but little Reason to marvel that we find the Commons so ready to adhere to such as they might hope would vindicate their former Liberty and the Rulers so averse from joyning with such in diminution of that Regal Power to which they seem wholly to have ow'd theirs and not to any Interest and Favour they had among the Commons of the City Who knows if those Writers words be granted but this might be some Reason of the Earl of Glocester's stirring again againââ the Court designs with a little perhaps of Jealouây of the Kings Son Edwards overmuch familiarity with his Wife in a Court hinted to us by Stow but plaid by him an year later In Reg. 53. when ãâã saw the City which had formerly took part with the same side he once was of deprived of their ââberties and Franchises with little hopes of ãâã them much through his means by his late ãâã with Edward the Kings Son to the weakning and overthrow of the Barons Party to which the City had so firmly adher'd In this year by Mediatiââ and means of the fame Edward all such difinneâited Persons as kept the Isle of Ely are said to be reconciled to the King and all Fortresses and Deâenceâ therein by them made plucked away and destroyed In July Octobon the Pope's Legate who had interested himself so much in the late Transactions departed towards Rome but not without a great Treasure Levi'd we hear of the Church My Author intimates That he made many good Rules therein if they were not only Rules but anâ good Rules why should he not be well paid âor them I don't think these kind of Men did very often Ordain such extraordinary good Rules unless you will call those good which tended to the satisfying the Pope's Avaricious Mind and exalting his and the Clergies Temporal Grandeur Other might be their Pretences but Mony doubtless was ãâã of their aim when they sent their Legates ãâã this Land or into other Countries owning the Pope's Jurisdiction and the Event proves it too ãâã Without all Peradventure it was not for nothing that England was called the Pope's Pack-horse Annals Peterpence Tenths Fârst-Fruits and the like were good Pickings that were drawn hence to Rome And that the Popish Clergy know full well and therefore their fingers are Itching to be Trading here again If the Pope's Mule could once more set his Foot safely on English Ground there ãâã doubt but they would make us pay for old ãâã new it should scape them hard else 'T was about Four Years before even in 49 that the Citizens of London compounded with the King ãâã a Fine of Twenty Thousand Marks and yet in this Year 53 there is another mention made of it as it were hinting to us that it was not yet all Raised or at least that all such that were Assessed towards it had not returned in their demanded Assessment but to avoid that and other Charges had rather chosen to depart from the City with their Housholds and Goods and Inhabit in divers other places of the Land Whence we may without doubt well and truly conclude the scarcity of Coin in those Days and greatness of that Imposed Tax or elfe the Paucity of the Inhabitants of London and smalness of the City in comparison with what it is at this present time If then the City was of such Power and Esteem in those Days as the former passages seem strongly to prove how great and considerable an Influence have we reason to beleive it hath at present upon the rest of the Nation now it is grown by far more Populous and ãâã more Splendid in Riches Trading and Buildingâ Though many of the Citizens thus fled the City thinking thereby to be acquitred of the Charge of the aforementioned Imposition yet find not that this availed them ought For the others of the City remaining made we are told Instant labour to the King and had it Granted That all such as for the aforesaid cause had carriâd their Goods out of the City should be Distrainââ by the Sheriff of the Shire where they then dwelled and forced to pay all such Sums as they ââfore were Assessed at Why should not Men ãâã the Bad with the Good If they desire to enjoy the City's Priviledges in the Day of her Prosperity there is but little reason why they should not likâwise partake with her in the common Calamity and Adversity In September The Five Citizens viz. Thomas ãâã Thomas c. spâken of before in the Forty ãâã Year who had hitherto remained Prisoners in Windsor-Tower made an end with Edward the King's Son for great Sums of Mony and were delivered It would have but little availed them to haââ pleaded the Kings safe Conduct before sent theâ under his Seal T was money it seems that must bây their Deliverance Mony they had doubtless and therefore 't is mony they must produce and so they were âain to do or at least agree to pay it before they could get quit out of Edwards Power The 54th year began according to the Chronicle with so hard a frost that the frozen Thames was passable for men and Beasts in diverse places and Merchadize was thereupon brought to London by Land This Forst was not so prejudiaial to their Trading ãâã the rising and flowing of Thames sometime after ãâã as injurious and hurtsul about London to the ââowning of Cellers by the waterside and spoiling ãâã much Merchandize lying in them But these are âââasters we know Commonly happening in this tranâââry World witness the late Inundations through âhe great Rains this Spring and the damage sustaind ââereby in Fleet-ditch Hockly in the Hole and many ââher places In this year about the beginning of ãâã we find that the King gave the Rule of the City ãâã London to his Son Edward with all Revenues and Prâfits thereto belonging Whereupon he made Hugh ãâã son of Othon Constable of the Tower and Custos ãâã the City About the End of April he commanded âhe Citizens to present to him six Persons able to be âââriffs Of whom he admitted to that Office William ãâã Haddystoke and Ankeâyl De Alvern and sware them to be Accountants as their Predecessors were These we read presented in May following at the Gâild-Hall and there charged a new At these days a new Custom or Toll us'd to be paid the King by âhe Citizens which having been let to farme to a Marâhant Stranger by Edward the Kings Son for 20. âarks yearly the Citizens unwilling to be under a âââangers Rule upon great suit made to the same Edâard agreed with him to buy the said Toll free for â000 Marks In this year the King had granted towards his âoyage into the Holy Land which
was the name âhen usually given to Canaan the Land of Promise wherein our blessed Saviour was Crucified to compleat the works of our Redemption the ãâã penny of every mans Substance moveable throuââ out the Land of the lay fee and of the Spiritâââty by the Pops Assent three Dysmes to be ãâã three years A politick pretence vsed in those days get mony An invention somewhat suitable here ãâã to have latter ages found out and sometimes as bâneficial viz. To pretend war with a neighbour Nâtion and then get mony towards the raising an ãâã to carry it on If they could afterwards compass ãâã take mony on both sides to lay it again that ãâã good advantage but to get mony twice to ãâã it was double gain Much about this time t is that ãâã read in Stows Annals of a Quo Waranto set on foot ãâã an Assembly of Nobles met at London by the Kinâ Command where by many to their no small ãâã were called before the Justices to shew by ãâã right they held their Lands But it was thought ãâã afterwards to cease any further prosecution thereââ After that John Warren Earl of Surry being demanâed on that writ what right he had to his Landâ boldly drew out his Sword and said that thereââ he held his Grand-Fathers Lands and by that ãâã keep them Wherein doubtless he would not ãâã failed of many Powerful Abettors and assistants ãâã the Kings Justices too rigorously proceeded in ãâã aââair We find it cost the Lord Cheif Justice of ãâã Allen dela Zânch his life and the Earl only a ãâã of mony notwithstanding that he made that allaââ upon the other before the other Justices of the ãâã He having affirmed by the Oath of 25. Knights at Wiâchester that he committed not that Fact upon any pââtended malice nor in contempt of the King this ãâã the Issue of the Quo Warranto in those days 55 was the year wherein my Author acquaints ãâã that the Citizens so well contented Prince Edâârds mind that he labour'd to the King his Father for them and procur'd their Charter in such ãâã confirm'd that they should after their Ancient âriviledges choose of themselves a Major and two Sheriffs which Sheriffs were to have the Offices thereunto belonging to farm as before had been âccustomed except that instead of 350 l. paid aââretimes for the Fee-farm they should then pay 450 l. But that a quam diu placuerit was then thought of I don't find After this Confirmation thus granted and pass'd by the Kings broad Seal upon July the 14th we find the Citizens assemâled at Guildhal where they chose for their Major John Adryan ãâã and for Sheriff Walter ãâã and John ãâã And upon the 16th Presenâed them to the ãâã at Westminster Edward being âresent ãâã ââey were admitted and Sworn ând Hugh Son of Othon discharg'd of the Rule of âhe City Then the Citizens of their free Will âo writes Fabian gave unto the King an 100 Marks ând to Edward 500 Marks which the King well âccepted And soon after they receiv'd their Charââer of Confirmation bearing date July 21st and â5th of the Kings Reign The Annals of this year my Author ends with ãâ¦ã mischance hapning in London viz. The falââng down of Saint Mary Bow Steeple in Cheapside âo the slaying of Women and Children In the next year 56 he gives us the Relation of ân other unfortunate accident that fell out in Norâich through occasion of a fray between some Serâants of the Monastery there standing and some of âhe Citizens This was carried on to such an height ââ violence and fury that many of the Town were wounded and slain and the Abbey with all it's buildings except a little Chappel burnt down and destroyed But this afterwards cost the place the death of near upon 30 young Men of the Town who were Indicted Judg'd Cast Hang'd and Burnt as Occasioners and Executors of that Deed to the great sorrow of the Citizens and so much the rather for that they thought the Prior of the place was the Occasioner of all that mischief but he was born out it seems and defended by the Bâshop of Norwich Hard medling in those times with any of the Church-men they were grown so powerful and high Crested What destroy goods of the Church hah In days much later what a difference arose between Pope Paul and Fum'd the Common-wealth of Venice upon their Imprisoning an offending Church-man guilty ãâã less an offence than Murder The Thunderbolt oâ Excommunication had been but a small matter had his Popeship but had power to have vented his Rage in an higher manner If the Romish Clergy so domineer over those Countries which have for many ages continued in Popery can we Englishmen rationally hope to be free their utmost revenge if they can but once get such an head over us as they have long desired and hop'd for No No thâ thinking part of the Nation are all pretty weâ satisfied of their purposes Plots and designs Leâ them do their worst gnash upon us with their teeth and think to eat us up as bread Let them begiâ a Massacre if they durst as soon as they pleasâ it 's much but they 'll find to their cost free Englisâ Spirits in English bodies who will not so easiâ be brought to their lure as they may perhaps haâ foolishly perswaded themselves from their converâ with a few debauch'd unthinking men amongst ãâã King Henry dyes in the 57th year of his ãâã while his Son Edward was absent in thâ ãâ¦ã But upon notice hereof he returns for ãâã and in Auguât comes to London where of the Cittizens he is received with all Joy and honoââ and so conveyed to Westminster He had newly got for the Citizens their Priviledges restorâd in his Fathers days let us now see how matters were carried in his Reign between the City and the Court We shall find the City a powerful match still tho she met with many troubles and Enemies yet she weather'd them out in spight oâ all attempts In the second year of this King Edward there was a great contest at Guildhal about the Major Certain attempts we hear of made the year before by some of the Citizens to have made such a Major as they listed but being then disappointed of their Accessaries it was hinder'd for that time but in this years beginning took further effect On Simon and Jude's day when Philip le Taylor before chosen Major should have taken his charge at the Guildhal divers Citizens put him beside the Majors seat and set therein Sir Walter Harvy who the year before had been Major This contention being brought before the King upon hearing the reasons of both parties when he could not bring them to an agreement he took occasion to put both the Candidates aside and chose Henry Forâick for Custos of the City who so continued for a time So ready were some always to deprive the City of the use of her Liberties upon her
Citizens disâgreement But if such was the effect of the Ciâizens contest what then may we think of those who âurposely create those differences and stir up dangerâus animosities among them upon slight trivial âorn out pretences that from the like cause or occasion the like effect may follow At Candlemas by discreet and wise peaceable means the forenamed Sir Walter Harvy was set in Authority as Major and so remained the whole year after In the third year the King confirmed the Liberties of the City and granted some new Thus you see after a storm comes fair weather In this year we meet with a Relation concerning Walter Harvy how that in the first year of this King after long controversy and strife with the Aldermen he was made Major of London at a Folkmoot or Common-Hall at Pauls-Cross and so continued that year but in this third year occasion was found to remember and as the event seems to intimate revenge it For being accused of divers perjuries and other detestable deeds contrary to his Oath for them and for making Assemblies of the Commons who favour'd him he was depriv'd of his Aldermanship and turn'd out of the City Council for ever and for keeping the Kings peace within the City for the term of his life was bound to the good behaviour upon the suretiship of twelve persons 'T is not unusual for the Commonalty and heads of the City to be at difference each with other Here 's one who seems a promoter of the Commons power over-power'd himself by his Enemies for making assemblies of the Commons and other Crimes objected to him true or feigned I know not however thence was taken a pretence to thrust him out of his former power These Folkmoots or Assemblies of the Commons seem to have been very unpleasing tâ the chief Rulers of the City and their power disgusted as may be guess'd from the fore-pass'd transactions in King Henry's days where we may remember that the Commons were the men whâ had power allotted them by the Parliament at their Folkmoot or Common-hal to grant the King Licence to depart out of the Land for a Season 'T were they who most firmly adher'd to the Barons standing up in defence of those Parliament Statues made at Oxford but few of the chief Rulers of the City comparatively are noted to have appear'd openly in that fam'd contest of the Barons War In the fourth year occasion was taken against Michael Tony upon some demeaours of his in the Welch War to accuse him of Treason of which he was arraign'd judg'd and condemn'd and after drawn hang'd and quartered This man doubtless had been a noted stickler in the Barons War for I find one of that Name among the five persons so long kept in Prison in Windsor Tower after the Barons overthrow till mony bought them out as is before related Princes once highly offended may openly profess to forgive the offending party but they do not however so soon forget him Tho David pardoned Shimei during his life and swore to him not to put him to death with the Sword yet as good a Man as he was he charg'd his Son Solomon to bring down his hoary head to the grave with blood and so accordingly we find an occasion was afterwards taken by Solomon to revenge his former cursing his Father David by commanding Benaiah who went out and fell upon him that he dyed This year was the famous Statute of Mortmain first enacted that no man should give Lands or Rents to the Church without the Kings Special Licence which Statute had afterwards many additions annext to it to make it the stronger For the Lay-fee was in great danger to be devour'd by the Spiritualty such Arts did the Clergy use on mens minds to augment their power and Riches Tho now our Courts of Law are fixt at Westminster yet in these Ancient times it was not so for we read that this King in his sixth year remov'd his Courts of Kings-Bench Chancery Common-Pleas and Exchequer to Shrewsbury and afterwards return'd them back again to the no small damage of the Records thus carried to and fro This King held his Parliament at London in his seventh year for Reformation of his Coyn much clip't and diminish'd This storm fell chiefly upon the Jews by reason of the Inquest charg'd in London to enquire of this matter Whereupon were cast two hundred and ninety seven persons before the Major and other Justices sitting at London and afterwards Executed at sundry times and places My Author hath left upon Record that among these there were but three Englishmen all the rest were Jews or Jews born in England Famous is the 12th year for the Conquering and subââââing of Wales to the English Scepter and divâsion of it bâ King Edward into Shires whereupon were ordain'd Sheriffs and other Officers therein as were then us'd in England David Brother to Lewellyn late Prince of Wales who was condemned to be drawn hang'd and quarter'd as a chief ââirrer and beginner of the Welsh War in time of a Parliament held at Shrewsbury was shortly after Executed and his head sent to London to be sât by his Brothers which had been order'd to be plac'd the âear before on London-Tower In this year was Edward of Carnarvan born the first of our English Kings since William the first that I read of publickly unking'd and depos'd by his own Subjects The great Conduit standing against Saint Thomas of Acres in Cheapside owes his foundation to this year The 13th year may be noted for the Kings seizing the Franchises and Liberties of London into his own hands on the day kept in Memory of Saint Pauls Conversion so that he discharged the Major Gregory Rokisle and admitted for Custos or Guardian of the City Stephen Sandewich who continued till the Monday following the Purification of the Virgin Mary when being discharg'd Sir John Breton sâands upon Record charg'd for the residue of the year My Author writes that the cause of this displeasure the King bore to the City is not shewn of a certainty He mentions an old Pamphlet whereby it appears that the Major took bribes of the Bakers and suffer'd them to sell bread lacking six ounces in a penny Loaf for which the King was sore displeased but to him this seem'd no convenient cause that the Liberties of the City should be seiz'd for one man's offence Wherefore he rather supposeth it was for a more grievous cause However it is observable from History that it was a Common thing in Elder times to seize the Cities Charters on pretences slight enough of any sense till the Citizens grew so wise as at convenient seasons to procure new grants and graces to prevent such seizures for the future And that it is not still so feasable and practicable is the grief I believe and heart-burning of some in the world The 14th year of this King may be accounted famous for the Statutes called Additamenta Gloucestriae made at a
Parliament holden at Westminster But in these present papers I think it may be more noted for what I am going now to relate verbatim out of Fabian In this year a Citizen of London Named Thomas Pywelysdon the which in the time of the Barons War before in the story of King Henry shew'd had been a Captain and a great stirrer of the Commons of the said City for to maintain the Baron's party against the Kings was newly accused that he with others of evil disposition should make Conventicles and Assemblies to the new disturbance of the City whereof Report was made unto the King the which remitted the inquiry thereof unto Sir Ralph Sandewych then Custos or Guardian of the City Then the said Thomas with others was put in sure keeping till the matter was duly enquired of After which Inquisition made and found report was made unto the King Then the King sent down a Writ and commanded it to be proclaimed shortly after within the bounds of the City whereof the Effect was thus that the said Thomas Pywelysdon William de Heywood Richard de Coundris Richard le Cofferre Robert de Derby Albyne de Darby William Mayo Mercer and Ivo Lyng Draper with divers others to the number of fifty Persons should be banished out of the City for ever And if any of the said fifty eight Persons were at that time of the Proclamation voided the City for fear or otherwise that they should so remain and not return unto the City upon pain of Life losing These being thus discarded and exiled the City who it may be would have stood firm to the City's old Liberties and Priviledges the rest of the Chief remaining might perchance hope the eafier to keep the Commons in aw whatsoever new Customs they should introduce for their own lucre and advantage thâ to other men's dammage Here you may perceive âow jealous Governours are of all Meetings and Assemblies but what are of their own constitution and ordering The Caviliers doubtless can relate many Stories of their own experience hereof in Olivers days Neither are many of our Coffee-houses and Clâb meetings I believe very grateful to some persons in the World though their open business there is mostly to drink smoke talk trade and the like By the aforesaid relation we may likewise observe Once counted an Offender and ever thought so Here Thomas Pyweldon or Pywelysdon for his name I find diversly Written though the same man be meant a noted man in the Barons War for which he had suffered deeply after their overthrow by long imprisonment and the charge of redeeming his Liberty for a great Sum of money of this same King Edward then only Prince was nevertheless after about sixteen years respite banished the City for ever on an accusation of attempting a new disturbance That any thing was prov'd against him I have not read besides the mention here of making Assemblies or Meetings Had there been any thing material found against him I scarce believe he should have scap't so well with his Life seeing old Crimes seem to have been remembred though new faults were pretended An Act of Oblivion is a very good Plaister in a publique Universal Offence But whatever Offender of Note thus pardoned out-lives the greatest number of those qually reputed guilty with him and times be so much turned that the ballance of the Nation leans very much on the governing side I think that man's life hangs but by a very slender thread whose safety and security depends only upon Pen Ink and Paper and not upon the Governours natural inclination to justice and honesty in the constant keeping and observing of his word and promise When in the late Wars on this side the World Messina in Sicily was reduc'd under the Spanish government by the French's forsaking it to whom the Messineses had before subjected themselves tho a general pardon was by the Spaniards publickly granted whereupon many return'd to the Cityâ yet if my memory deceive me not there passed no long time before the publick news told us of the accusing and I think condemning of a Principal Man of that City for a new endeavour to stir up another Rebellion and Revolt therein New accusations and new offences pretended how unlikely soever may sometimes serve to blind the unthinking vulgar Herd but a man of thought doubtless will be apt to suspect that the old grudge lies at the bottom How easy and usual it is to suborn false Witnesses against a Man Jezabelâ practice and the endeavour of the Chief Priests Elders and Council of a much later date may inform a Protestant Reader if he hath no experience in the world to instruct him The Citizens were accustom'd before this year to make good advantage to themselves by lodging Merchant strangers and selling their Merchandize for them for which they received so much in the pound But at this time by means of those Merchant strangers it was brought to pass that they hired Houses for themselves and their Wares so that no Citizen should intermeddle with them which was to the damage of many particular private men as well as to the hindrance of the Kings Custom and prejudicial as affirms the Book to the Realm in general by many deceits and frauds used by them Here was a new Custom disadvantagious to many of the Citizens introduc'd but for what reason at first permitted whether to advance Trade by drawing more Forreigners to the City or else to weaken their power and bring down lower the Citizens high stomachs by cutting off some of their gain and parting their Trade with others I pretend not to deliver until I meet with better Information my self than hitherto I have in the point Certain it is from the story that the King much advantag'd himself by searching into their fraudulent and deceitful dealings and punishing them for those offences by a considerable fine The 15th year was chargeable to the Jews who were fain to pay great sums of mony to the King which they were assessed at saith the Chronicle but out of an other Author it is recorded that the Commons of England granted to the King the fifth part of their movables to have the Jews banished out of the Land which to prevent the Jews of their own Wills gave the King great sums of mony Here then was taking mony of both sides A subtle Court way of Trading This year there was such a plenty of Wheat that according to my Authors Computation it was sold at London for Ten Groats the Quarter five pence the Bushel But the next year through distemperature of the weather we find the price raised up to 14 d. the Bushel after to 18 d. and encreasing yearly duâing this Kings Reign and his Sons so that it stands upon Record to be sold at last for 40 s. the Quarâer and above The 18th may be remark'd by âs for the Kings Honourable reception at London ând the punishment of divers offending Justices Sir
Thomas Weyland Adam Stretton and others who being by the Kings order Examined and found guilty of the Trespasses laid to their Charge were âither out-law'd and lost their goods or else long âmprisoned and deeply Fin'd A large Catalogue âf them and their Fines are to be seen in Stows ãâã whence 't is observable how suddainly vengeânce over-takes Oppressors let them be never so Rich High and Mighty in Office Power or Authority as soon as ever the Kings mind is inspir'd from above to inspect their actions and punish their crimes Remarkable is the 19th Year for the Jews Banishment which we find bought of thâ King by the Commons at the price of a Fifteen In the 21st year we hear of a Parliament held at London and of the King of Scot's coming thither with divers of his Lords The punishment inflicted on three men for rescuing a Prisoner from an Officer belonging to the Sheriffs of London by striking off their right hands at the wrist in Cheapside is noted for one of this years actions Hence let us leap to the 24th year and there among thaâ years deeds we find mention made of a new subsidy levied by the King upon Wool going out oâ England Fels and Hides for his War with thâ French King of his Commanding the Mony before granted by the Clergy towards the defence oâ the Holy Land to be brought into his Treasury upon the Report he had from Rome of Pope Boniface the 8ths manners of the grant he got of thâ Clergy of half their Spiritual and Temporal Lands from a Benefice of 20 Marks and upwards to bâ paid in three years And of the Tax he had also granted him by the Lay-fee viz. the Tenth penny of their movables to be paid in two years time If any one be desirous to certifie himself whaâ Relation Scotland stood in towards England foâ many ages before let him read through the Relation of this years actions in Fabian's Chronicle and there he may be satisfied if it will conduce to his satisfaction to find that Scotland even in Elder times in a sort depended on England and waâ so far from giving Laws or an Example and Patern thereto that it's Nobles were fain to submit themselves to the King of England's Judgmenâ and decree and do him Homage and Fealty in effecâ by the submission of their King whom King Edward had appointed and set over them Memoâable is the six and twentieth year for that thereân the Londoners obtain'd of King Edward newây come from beyond Sea into England and so to Winchester a grant of their Liberties and Franchises which had in some part been kept from them by âhe term of twelve years and more so that they âgain chose a Major of themselves whereas in âhe aforesaid time their Custos or Guardian was appointed by the King or by such as the King would assign But we are to understand by the Chronicle that this was not redeem'd without a great Sum of money Some Writers it seems fixing it at three thousand marks As this King had many Wars especially with Scotland which put him to great charges and had much money granted him by his Subjects so he ceased not to devise other ways to raise more and get what was denied him For as much as divers men âichly benefic'd in the Land refus'd to aid him with their Goods as others had and for that end had purchased from the Pope an Inhibition that they and their goods should be free from the King's Taxes he put them this year out of his protection a strain of State policy beyond some other Kings and seis'd their Temporalties permitting them to enjoy their Spiritualties till they agreed with him Though this was a warlike Prince and oft successful in his undertakings yet the Clergy's power so over-top't the Laity's that he chose rather to make use of his Wits than his Arms in dealing with them So have I read in William the Second's days how when his Unkle being both a Bishop and an Earl grew troublesome to him he seis'd upon the Earl and clapt him in hold whereby he caught and revenged himself on the Bishop too without openly pretending to meddle with a Clergy Man An offence esteem'd piacular in those days to such an height of Pride were the Popish Clergy grown An other practice of King Edward was his suddain Condemning certain Coines of Mony call'd Pollards Crocardes and Rosaries in his twenty seventh year and causing them to be brought to a new Coynage to his great advantage as testifies the Historian Among others may be also numbred that Inquisition he caus'd to be made throughout the Land in the twenty eighth year which was after nam'd Trailbaston This we find made upon Officers as Majors Sheriffs Bayliffs Escheators and many others who had misborn themselves in their Offices and had us'd Extortion or treated the people otherwise than was according to the order of their Offices So vigilant appeared this Prince and careful of his people that they might not be abused nor oppressed by their fellow Subjects when got into power under pretence of being his Majesties Officers a thing we know common enough in the world In the twenty eighth year we have mention made of the City of London's Splendor and Magnificence upon the account of their receiving the new Queen Margaret Sister to the French King Thus runs my Authors short Relation hereof The Citizens to the number of six hundred Rode in one Livery of Red and White with the Cognizance of divers Misteries broidered upon their sleeves and received her four Miles without the City and so conveyed her through the City which then was garnished and hanged with Tapestry and Arras and other Cloths of Silk and Riches in most goodly wise unto Westminster This is the year wherein Fabian makes the first mention of Pierce of Gaviston in his Chronicle upon Occasion of the Bishop of Chesters complaining to the King of him his Eldest Son Edward and others for breaking the Bishops Park and riotously destroying the Game therein For this was the aforesaid Edward and his Accomplices Imprisoned So that under this famous King the very next Heir apparent scap'd not the Lash of the Law when he had offended even to an actual Imprisonment so far were men in those days from asserting him to be above the Law and not Lyable to condign punishment because the next Heir Afterwards the King Banished the aforesaid Gaviston out of England for fear lest he should debauch his Son But this Banishment was after his death annulled by his Son Edward when King to the great trouble and vexation of the Land afterwards The twenty ninth may be esteemed not unworthy of remark for the Kings giving to Edward his Son the Principality of Wales whereunto he likewis'd joyn'd the Earldom of Cornwal newly Vacant and return'd to the Crown In the 33d year we read of the taking arraigning drawing hanging and quartering of William Waleys who of an unknown
into Ireland Yet thither we hear of the Kings sending him oftentimes secret Messengers and comsorting him with many rich gifts and the next year we read of his being fetch'd home again to still the grudges springing up between the King and his Nobles and continue amity amongst them which prov'd but so much the more mischievous to the Realm For this exorbitant Favourite's power more and more encreasing he having the keeping of the Kings Treasure and Jewels convey'd many of them some of great value out of the Land and brought the King by means of his wanton Conditions to manifold Vices as Adultery and others whereupon by the Lords Counsel and Resolution taken at Lincoln he was shortly after exil'd into Flanders to the Kings great displeasure In comes Gaveston again though he had before abjur'd the Realm with this condition by the Barons added that if he were found again in any Lands subject to the King's dominions he should be taken as a Common Enemy and Condemned But being recall'd by the King he ventures on his favour and afterwards demeans himself worse and worse In so much that we read that he disdain'd the Lords of England and of them had many spiteful and slanderous words so that there 's the less wonder that the Queen and the whole Court were sorrowful because they saw the King as Stow words it not very sound so great was his Joy and Jollity for his receiving him in safety Whereupon the Lords of one mind saith my Author consented to put him to death which they soon after effected by taking the Castle wherein he was and so having him in their hands smote off his Head For this was the King grievously displeas'd with those Lords and vow'd we hear to revenge his Death so that after this he sought occasion against them to grieve and displease them If the foremention'd disorders with many before express'd by Authentick Writers to have fallen out under this King If Treachery Robberies Rapes Extortions Divisions Civil discords at home slights contempts and losses abroad and much blood-shed in Battels fought and lost both at home and abroad If murrain of Beasts and scarcity of Grain dearness of Victuals sickness and mortality of Men ravages and outrages of cruel insulting Enemies and almost a general desolation in several places of the Land be glories that can eternize a Man's memory to succeeding Generations I know not whether this Kings Name and Reign may ever be forgotten as long as England stands a fixt Island in the midst of the Ocean In the midst of these troubles and crosses you are not to suppose the City of London scap't free from partaking in the Common misery of the Land In the first of this King's Reign I find that he and his new Married Bride were received joyfully by the Citizens and so conveyed to Westminster but the times afterwards grew so cloudy and full of storms that I don't think they had over much reason to rejoyce more than the rest of their poor distressed fellow Subjects Yet Providence in good time delivered the City out of these troubles and with advantage too as may be observed and remark't in the end of this and beginning of the next Kings Reign Twice more particularly in this Kings Reign do we read of a breach made on the Cities Priviledges by constraining the Citizens at their own charges to raise and maintain a certain number of Soldiers and send them whether they were appointed but the last time it seems it was conditionally that it should not be made a President which possibly was to appease them when they refused to go out of the City to fight unless they might according to their liberties as Stow says return home again the same day before Sun-set For 't is plain how great soever their respect was towards their Soveraign that they had no great kindness for some about him And therefore when aid and assistance was requested of them against the Queen who with her Son Edward was newly Landed and pretended Reformation of abuses they made this plea or excuse as favouring rather Reformers than makers of Grievances yet with profession of due obedience and Honour to the King the Queen and their Son who was after his Father the Right and Lawful Heir to the Crown At the Parliament of Whitebands held in the twefth of this King whether the Barons came in Arms the Citizens were the Keepers of the Kings peace in the City a thousand of them well Armed by the Majors order watching by day and as many by night in divers Wards and at several Gates thereof under the inspection of two Aldermen with Officers assigned to Ride about every night to oversee them and the rest of the Citizens were enjoyned to have their Arms in readiness upon a very short warning for more surety And what pray now was the effect of all this but that the peace was kept the City guarded it and no disturbance hapned that I read of notwithstanding there was so great an Army then on foot Ill men were removed several things were ordained for the good of the Realm Transactions were carried on without violence or blood-shed the Parliament was peaceably dissolved and every one returned home in quietness safety and security But on the contrary afterwards in the later end of this Kings Reign when the Courtiers were much disgusted in the City by reason of many violences committed and much harsh dealing used by some towards their fellow Subjects in the time of their power under the wings of Authority and pretence of Law and Justice the Citizens were so far from keeping the King's peace as before that they soon shew'd openly their favour good will and kindness for the Queen who under the glozing pretence of reforming the ill Government was come into the Land with a considerable force of Soldiers and had sent to the Mayor and Commonalty for their aid help and assistance in carrying on this her pretended Reformation A work generally highly acceptable to all such as think themselves oppressed and glorious in the Eyes of the people but such is the misery fate and infelicity the frailty and imperfection incident to all sublunary attempts that it very seldom if ever fully answers the expectation of every one concern'd Neither was the Citizens affection to the Queen and her Party barely shewn in words and expressions but it went much farther and was publickly brought into Act by beheading such as they took to be the Queens enemies not so much as sparing the Bishop of Exeter himself a great man among the spiritualty who had been there left by the King to have the Rule of the City in his absence The occasion is said to have sprung from his stiff and peremptory demanding of the Keys of the City Gates by vertue of his Commission which highly exasperated the Commons against him and so much the more because as was the saying he had rais'd an Army to withstand the Queen a fault
then thought unpardonable by the Londoners who in words and deeds espoused the Queen's Cause seis'd on the Tower of London and kept it for the Queens use and not long afterwards received her into their City with great Joy and Honour A demonstrative evidence in my opinion of the City's strength and power For if London when she pleas'd could maintain the King's peace in the midst of Arms as was shewn above so inviolably as that none dar'd in opposition to break it and afterwards in the very same age and within the compass of half a dozen years did actually assert the Qeens cause and assist her in her proceedings as was pretended for Reformation of the Realm tho the Consequence thereof was in truth the unfortunate Kings resignation what greater instance can there be to shew her great influence upon the whole Nation in those unsetled times London having so visibly appeared in favour of the Queen the Prince and his party and contributed so much towards this notable revolution of affairs we have no reason to think but that out of Common gratitude her Citizens were to be aboundantly rewarded and that they themselves out of self interest and natural Prudence would so well and wisely look to their own affairs as to make hay while the Sun shines to the procuring new grants and Graces and so accordingly we find the event For in the first year of Edward the third Fabian tells us he confirmed the Liberties and Franchizes of the City making the Major Chief Justice in all places of Judgment within the same next the King every Alderman that had been Major Justice of Peace in London and Midlesex and such as had not been Justice in his own Ward Granting them also the Fee-farm of London for three hundred pounds and that they should not be constrained to go out of the City to âo fight or defend the Land for any need A priviledge greater than what was claimed as their liberty in his Fathers days when unwilling to engage against the Queen and Prince they refused not to go out on condition of returning the same day as is related before But the most beneficial of all the grants was that the Franchises of the City should not be seized into the Kings hands but only for Treason or Rebellion done by the whole City It having before been a Common thing to have their Liberties seized on as hath been plainly manifested in the Precedent Relation on almost every petty disgust conceived by the Court against them were it but for the pretended offence of a particular Officer or for mony alledged to be owing by the City to some great ones at Court or some such like small trivial pretence But now at this time they took such care to have their Liberties setled and secured by this Royal Grant that it may be thought almost if not wholly a thing impossible for the City to forfeit her Charter and have it justly according to that grant taken from her The bringing of Southwark under the Rule of the City and the power allowed their Major to appoint such a Bailiff there as liked him best was a very advantagious favour at the same time by this King Edward bestowed on London but not comparable with the former grant which may most deservedly be esteemed Paramount to all others A particular Officer may offend and oftentimes does nay many may but for a City a whole City so great and glorious a City as London Traiterously to Rebel and so forfeit all her Liberties Priviledges and Franchises at one clap seems to me so great a contradiction as to imply little less than an Impossibility in Nature not to go a step or two higher This King being one of the most powerful Princes of his time and in the strength of his age very succesful in his Wars against the French King 't is not for us hastily to imagine there was any occasion given for so wise and good a King to contest with his Subjects much less with his Loyal Citizens We are rather to expect to hear of the City's Triumphs and glory the Joy and rejoyceing wherewith she often received her Victorious King returning Conquerour from France the frequent Justings Tiltings and Tournaments shewn thereat for his Recreation and entertainment the Wealth Riches and Ability of her head Officers whereof one to Londons great glory is said to have sumptuously feasted four Kings at once in the thirty first of this Kings Reign besides the famous Black Prince many Noble Knights and others to whom with the King he gave many Rich Gifts the splendor of the Citizens in general oâ publick occasions and the harmonious concord of all in their own private and particular concerns relating more especially to the Cities good order and Government This King may be supposed too great and too good either to create or to permit differences and discord at home He had wherewithal to exercise his Wisdom and valour abroad in forreign Countries and such success too in his Enterprizes as might make him both feared and beloved by his Subjects at one and the same time Yet notwithstanding such still was Londons power strength and resolution to maintain her Liberties that this Victorious Prince Conquerour over others having sent out Justices into the Shires to make enquiry about his Officers offences and delinquences and the City of London not suffering as Stow tells us any such Officers to sit as Justices in their City as Inquisitors of such matters contrary to their Liberties he thought good rather to appoint those Justices their Sessions in the Tower for Inquisition of the damages of the Londoners and they refusing unless conditionally to answer there and a tumult thereupon arising among the meaner sort claiming their Liberties he esteemed it greater prudence to wave the Justices sitting as to that place and forgive all offences than to enter into a contest with such powerful tho Loyal Subjects as the Londoners were and such undaunted assertors of their own rights priviledges franchises and liberties For as 't is plain the City was very potent so we may as certainly perhaps conclude the Citizens no less suspicious of any thing done under the shadow of this Kings Authority if but looking towards the least breach of their Priviledges as the Commons of England in general seem to have appeared jealous of their Common liberty when upon this Kings laying claim to the Kingdom of France they procured a Law whereby it was enacted that the King should not Rule England as King of France and so Subject them to the insolencies of a fellow-Subjects Deputyship Would you know what esteem and respect the house of Commons in this King's reign had for âhe City Look in Cotton's abridgment of the Records ân the Tower and there you may find the Commons âver and anon petitioning the King that the City âf London may enjoy all her Liberties and the King's ânswers generally to such petitions seem rather to ârant than
deny such their important Requests âo glorious and gracious did the City appear in the ââght of the good people of the Land or rather ââch was the influence she had upon the Nations reâresentatives As to the Common's Desires that ãâã the Counties might conform themselves to the âeights and Measures made in London and the ââder there made against Usury might be observed ââoughout the Realm as if they would have this so famous a City more particularly give Law as well as example to all England I pass them over without pretending from thence to draw an Argument of the City's Grandeur and likewise Wave the priviledg by this King granted the Citizens that the Officers of the Mayor and Sheriffs should from that day forward use Maces of Silver parcel gilt as not intending to insist thereon as a more especial mark of honour design'd the City above the rest of the Nation in those days And choose rather to pass on to the last part of this King's reign wherein I must needs acknowledge there was a strong though short contest between the King and the Court But when was that and how hapned it 'T was when the King was grown old near to dotage after his good Queen Philippa was dead and he himself amidst the Infirmities of sickness and old age indulg'd his own lustful pleasures in the lascivious Embraces of a wanton Miss leaving the guidance of his Realm and all things about him to so ambitious a spirit as under the Wings of his Authority durst aspire so high as to the hopes of the Crown against the good Will of the people and the Title of a person much more affected and beloved at London The contest was short and sharp as may be seen in Stows Annals where it is plac'd in the fifty first i. e. the last year of the Kings Reign So short as not taking up the whole space of time between Christmas and the latter part of June wherein the King died and yet so sharp that the Cities Priviledges were in great danger menaces there were of deposing the Major which was at length actually done and of Creating a Captain in his Room with many other things threatned against their Liberties And all by the arts devices and contrivances of the aspiring Uncle who would fain have mounted up into the Throne of the Kingdom over his young Nephews head but that the Londoners opposed him in his designs both honourably and succesfully too So far were they from being Hector'd or trapan'd into a base Compliance with this Ambitious pretender and his flattering favourites desires who thought to have carried all before 'em because they esteem'd themselves sure of the Kings Authority and so lookt upon the principals of the opposite party if not under a Cloud at least under a great disadvantage comparatively such were their fond hopes and pretensions In the good Parliament as it was commonly called held in the fiftieth of this Kings Reign several Reformations had been made and divers at the Commons suit remov'd from about the King as evil Counsellors by the Mediation of the Black-Prince but the Parliament being ended and he dying the old King contrary to his promise soon recalled the former persons before removed and Committed the Government of the Realm again to his third Son John of Gaunt that aspiring Duke of Lancaster whereby the Tide being turn'd at Court the storm fell heavy upon some Patriots of the late Parliament who had been the greatest promoters and occasioners of âhe before mentioned change so lately made of the Ministers of State Now was the time to remember ând revenge all things about the King being mannaged by the Dukes order who making use of the Kings Authority turn'd out ând put in at his pleasure the more easily to bring âbout his designs by his own Creatures now ârought in again into the Government and manâgement of the affairs of State which tended to no less than the putting his Nephew the young Prince Richard an Orphan by the Fathers side though not the Mothers from the Crown and setling himself in the Throne upon the old weak Kings decease This it seems had been intended by the Duke for some time but now carried on more vigorously with all the art imaginable A Parliament is summoned to meet at Westminster after Christmas honour is openly shewn to the young Prince and his name made use of by his crafty Uncle to further and promote his own privy intentions and intreagues The name and power of the French as that they had raised great Armies and made new Confederacies to bloâ out the English Tongue and Nation is likewise made use of for a stale to induce the Commons the more readily to part with a good round sum of Mony to put the King into a good posture of defence to speak and act as a King And the old Knights who in the last Parliament had stood up so couragiously in behalf of the Commonalty are by the Dukes meanes for the most part remov'd and Creatures of his own are made the chiefest managers of Parliament-business so that now he seemâ ready to carry almost all things before him Buâ only there lies a rub or two in the way that mighâ spoil his bowling if they were not timely removed London was not nor would be at the Dukeâ beck and therefore 't was thought daâgerous to attempt publickly what was privately and principally intended as long as the Laws and Customs oâ the City were in force Moreover the Church oâ England it seems in those days was look't upoâ by the Duke as none of his best friends thougââ I don't find but he might have been before anâ was a Church-Man good enough afterwards as to outward appearance whatever he was in his heart and therefore if Stow may be Credited who writes after Walsinghams Pen he attempted to overthrow it for that end favouring Wickliff and his Disciples who went then under the name of Lâllards among the Commons and were as much hated in those days for pretended Heresies laid to their charge for at that time you must know the Nations Religion was Popish as the Papists are now adays for repeated Plots and Conspiracies proved upon them Whether or no it was to pull down the English Bishops the better to facilitate his own intents and purposes that he was a favourer of the fam'd John Wickliff as Walsingham a great Papist and also a Monk affirms Providence out of the Dukes sinful Ambition raising Protection for the Maintainers of the true Religion or else that being convinced of the Conformity of Wickliffs Doctrine to Truth and Godliness He like Herod heard John gladly and did many things at his instance I shall not now pretend to determine But most certain it is from the story that 't was London not the English Clergy that put the greatest stop to the Dukes aspiring designs and dash'd all his Ambitious Intreagues in pieces to his and his Favourites no small Disappointment
For the Londoners being enraged at the Dukes threats and their fury increased against him for that in the Parliament the Duke being President a motion had been made in the Kings name over whom at that time 't is well known how great an ascendant the Duke had that there should be no more Major of London according to the Ancient Custom but a Captain appointed over it and the Marshal of England might therein arrest Offenders as in other places so that 't was in the Military Officers that the Duke seems to have plac'd most of his Trust and Confidence as doubtless his Creatures and Favourites in esse aut posse with many other things manifestly contrary to the City's Liberties at the encouragement of the Lord Fitzwalter who claim'd to be their Standard Bearer by inheritance they put themselves in Arms and acted with such an excess of rage and violence that had it not been for their own Bishop who pacified them for the time the Duke and his great favourite Piercy had that day saith the book lost their lives But they having timely notice fled from the people and applied themselves for safety to the young Prince and his Mother who undertook the business and sent to the Londoners to make peace with the Duke so kind and gracious was the good Princess as to mediate in his behalf who desir'd in his heart to dispossess her own Son of his right To her Messenger Answer was return'd by the Citizens that for her honour they would perform her Commands but as to what concern'd the Duke injunctions were laid on them to will him that he should suffer the Bishop of Winchester to come to his answer and to be try'd by his Peers and also permit Peter de la More Speaker of the last Parliament then by the Duke's means imprison'd to answer for himself after the Custom of the Law and as for the third they said they would account a Traitor wheresoever he should be found So run the words in Stow which being to the Duke reported he became not a little troubled and not without reason in my opinion at the Citizen's Answer and their indignation conceiv'd against him since that he interpreted what they had spoken of a Traytor to be meant by them of himself though as to that particular he denied himself to be one He had been mad I should have thought or foolish if he had presently confess'd and own'd the imputation However from the Citizens message and the Dukes interpretation thereof 't is easie to conclude how little they lov'd him and he soon found it to his trouble and vexation Jealousies and suspicions generally go a great way among the common people and are almost as prevalent as proofs especially when there is a great man in the Case whom they dare not openly accuse and impeach and cannot try for lack of safety and a good opportunity and he himself is not very willing to put himself upon a fair trial and thereby wipe-off all aspersions in the common legal way of his Country All his Tergiversations do foment rather than diminish the Heats of the people who have but the more opportunity and occasion to think and will commonly too think scurvily the less they have to act The rough Message the Londoners sent the Duke we have heard but that was not all They would away to the King too and acquaint him with the late proceedings And so accordingly upon a Councel held thereabouts they sent some of their chief Citizens either to justifie saith the Annalist or excuse what had hapned Long were these a suing to come to the Kings prescnce the Duke keeps them back For they might be apt to âo tell Tales or at least remove the prepossessions wherewith the Duke and his party doubt-less had fill'd the credulous King's Head The Duke would fain have stopt their entrance and put them off but they would not be so serv'd The Duke tells them that the King was very ill at ease and his sickness might be encreast if he were mov'd to anger by their Speech A fine excuse but 't would not pass The Londoners were resolved on 't They were not come to encrease but mitigate his grief and their Commission from their fellow Citizens they sayd was not to be Communicated to any but to their Liege Lord the King himself They were for no Proxies Advocates nor Attorney-Generals of the Dukes providing They would be their own Spokesmen Well then at last after much ado they gain access and shew the King what had been published in Parliament as his Will against their Liberties and priviledges They excus'd likewise themselves of some of the Commonalties behaviour in the late Commotion as being the effect of some ill men among the rabble whereto they were neither privy nor consenting whereupon the King a little cheer'd up with their coming answer'd that he would not the diminishing of their Liberties No he was rather ready if need were to augment them neither did any such Resolutions ever come out of his Mouth and therefore willed them not to fear but to return and appease the Citizens and to keep them in Peace The Dukes faction would have made use of the Kings Name and Authority to deprive the City of her Charter of Liberties and endeavour'd to perswade the Parliament Men that it was the Kings good Will and pleasure to have it so but upon the Citizens application to the King they hear an other tale the King own'd no such thing never any such thing came out of his Mouth he tells them expresly Set a mark here Observe likewise the conseqâence of the Citizens coming to the King he was alittle cheer'd somewhat better in mind possibly when he heard the truth of the matter Before perhaps he had heard strange tales of seditious meetings Insurrections Riots Tumults and the like as if none were for keeping the Kings Peace but the good Dukes good party such stories had they buz'd iâ the ears of this weak old infirm sickly King and he as ready to believe all till disproved by the different Relations of as Credible witnesses To hear one side only and stop ones ears to the others defence is not only a manifest sign of extream partiality but also the ready way to be impos'd âpon by the deceit of lying Tongues and to be kept always from the knowledge of the truth where those near us think it their interest to have ât so About the time of the late uproar it 's said that âhe Duke's arms were hang'd up revers'd in sign âf Treason in the principal streets of the City ââch was the hatred the Londoners had conceived âgainst him but 't was in those days as unknown âho did it as 't is at this time uncertain who cut âe Picture of his Royal Highness the Duke of ãâã the other day at Guild-hal Whether there âere any Proclamations with promises of reâard emitted to find out the Author and Actor âf that deed I
know not of a certainty as not ââding it mention'd in the History Possibly there âere none or at least they prov'd very ineffectual âhich I the rather conclude because that when ãâã had made malitious Rhymes upon the Duke ãâã fastned them up in divers parts of the City ââother remedy was found out against them but haply as inefficacious viz. a Sentence of Excommunication at the Dukes request to the Bishops pronounced against them publickly by the Bishop of Bangor the Aldermen of the City assisting him To be Excommunicated did carry somewhat of terror with it in England in those Popish times among the vulgar and might probably again should Providence for our offences ever suffer Popery to be brought back into the Land but among Protestants and knowing understanding men Excommunication upon every slight account and trifling pretext is of little value esteem or regard and no more dreaded perhaps by some than 't was by Rablais when he beg'd it as a great boon of the Pope because the poor Country Woman thought her Faggot Excommunicated when she could not make it burn Besides these Indignities put upon the Duke at London in at and after the aforesaid Tumult of the Common people we are told also that all such as wore the Dukes Sign or Colours were fain to hide them conveying them into their bosoms so great a feaâ and dread had seiz'd upon their Spirits Whether these Colours were Parsons Black True Blew Flourishing Green Orange Tawny or Blood Red the Historian hath not so far gratified us aâ punctually to set down in his Relation of theââ transactions But if I might have leave to pasâ my Verdict herein I should be apt to conjecturâ them to have been at least for the most part ãâã by the Red-letter'd people What sad Prognosticks may we think our Almanack-makers aâ star-gazers then gave of the times when the saw England so likely to fall into such Feuds Factionâ and disorders as those of the Guelphs and Gibelineâ But one good turn 't is that Astrogolers Prognostications use commonly to be like the Popish Oracles old Almanacks soon out of date The City could much sooner influence the Nation than they could make the Stars influence the City in favour of the Dukes cause How the Citizens of London oppos'd the Duke we have seen but he is resolved it seems to shew his bitter resentments upon the next opportunity and accordingly after the Duke had obtain'd his desires of the two Houses of Parliament viz. A Poll-Bill or Tax of all the heads in the whole Realm he caused the King to send for the Major Aldermen and Sheriffs of London who soon came before him then very ill at ease as they were ordered into his Chamber of Presence where after the usual Ceremonies over past a certain Knight of the Court endeavoured by his Ciceronian Rhetorick and the Eloquence of his Oration to perswade the Citizens to confess their great and hainous offences against the King ând Duke and to submit themselves to their Mercy See here the Kings Name must be brought ân right or wrong or else the Dukes cause and âretensions would signify little But the Londoners were not so to be caught For they answered they had not Conspired against the Duke neiâher had there been any shameful thing spoken or done against him that they did know of or conâent unto which they were ready to prove before their Soveraign Lord the King and the Duke âimself The folly of the Common people they âffirm'd they could not stay and therefore requestâd of the King that he would not punish those âhat were innocent and ignorant of the Fact but withal promised the Duke for Reverence of the King observe this that they would endeavour to bring in the Common people and compel them by Law to make due satisfaction and more said they we are not able to do for the Duke that may be to his Honour Not able to do more why What would his faction have had them to have done Was his favour to have been purchas'd at no less a price than an intire Resignation of all they had Bodies and Souls Lives Liberties and Estates at Discretion Must they have deny'd their senses and their reason too in charging themselves with what they neither sayd nor did felt heard nor understood to avoid Scandala Magnatum's and the Arbitrary Finââ of byass'd Juries Leave we such Terms of accommodation to the insulting power and Pride oâ Prelatical Consciences to impose upon their underling Curates Such is the continued cause of difference between the Molinists and Jansenists in France while one side fairly offers to disallow certain displeasing Propositions either by themselves or as Jansenius's if shewn to them in hiâ works and the other party as pertinaciously insists upon their rejecting them as his becausâ the Pope hath so condemned them Glad we may easily suppose the Londoners were when dismiss'd upon their aforesaid Answerâ But it seems the Court was not yet satisfied ãâã afterwards we read of the Kings sending them ãâã Command secretly to call all the Citizens together and having made a Wax Candle with thâ Dukes Arms in it to carry it solemnly in Procession to Saint Pauls there to burn continually ãâã the Cities charges which was accordingly performed by the chiefest and richest of the Citizens the meaner commonalty disdaining to be present at such a procession and therefore with indignation departing home when they heard the business and knew the occasion of their being call'd together But neither did this condescention of the greatest give the Duke content he threatned them look't upon it as a reproach and took it in great scorn that they had offer'd thus his Arms in a Wax Taper while he was alive and in good health notwithstanding they affirm'd they had expresly done that which his Father the King had Commanded them and would have done any thing that might have pleased him i. e. in reason For peace and quietness sake possibly and out of respect to the Kings Majesty they would not have refus'd the trouble of putting forth a few honorary Proclamations nor denied him the Complement of a volley or two of Holla's and Huzza's if that would have pleas'd But this did not answer the Dukes Expectations nor satisfie his Ambitious desires they knew he sayd his mind and were not ignorant how to make satisfaction Ay there 't was He would have us sayd the troubled Citizens amongst themselves Proclaim him King but this shall never be done and so they parted worse friends than they were before So much ado was there with one proud haughty Duke most injuriously aspiring to the Crown to the prejudice of his better belov'd Nephew whose claim title and right had been sometime before if I mistake not in my reckoning settled expresly by the Parliament or at least he had been declar'd by his Grand-Father his Heir and Lawful Successor Yet this the Ambitious Uncle thought probably easily to have evaded and
of any of the Kings Officers but only at the Kings Sute Sealed with the Great or Privy Seal except the Kings Justices according to their Charter That they shall by themselves enquire of Customs and impositions hapning or arising within the City That the Major and Chamberlain for the time being shall have the keeping of the City Orphans Lands and Goods No small advantage in those times when the Court of Wards was in being and greatly beneficial still by reason of the Deceits many poor Orphans meet with from Cheating or Insolvent Guardians and Trustees whereas the City's security is unquestionable and her Credit not in the least to be doubted of That the Interpretation of any word or Sentence touching their said Liberties which may severally be taken may be taken according to the intent and Claim of the said Citizens That the City may enjoy all such Liberties as any other Town in the Realm if they have any other than the Citizens have That no protection Royal be allowed in Debt Account or Trespass wherein a Freeman of London is ten pounds with several others By the Answers whereunto we find the Kings Will was that the Citizens of London should in no wise be restrained of any of their Liberties or ancient customs approv'd Such as were most useful and advantagious at the present time were by his Majesty granted and if any appear to have been denyed the denyal seems rather conditional than plain and direct in down right terms So cautious was the King in his Answers so careful not to displease this powerful Coporation and so well advis'd as not to shew himself Ungrateful at his first coming to the Crown to those who had so Cordially erewhile espous'd his interest and so stoutly defended his cause but a little before In the sixth of this King at the request of the Commons the Abridgment tells us it was enacted that the City of London should enjoy all such Liberties as they had in the time of King Edward the third or as were to them confirm'd by the King now and that Victuallers particularly should be âunder the Mayors Rule and have no particular liberties by themselves In the seventh we find it among the Commons Petitions enacted that the Citizens of London shall enjoy all their whole Liberties whatsoever with this Clause licet usi non fuerunt vel âbusi fuerunt notwithstanding any Statute to the Contrary Whether then 't is possible for any Corporate body endowed with so transcendent Priviledges by the publick Act and Deed of the known Legislators of the Land to forfeit and lose them all of a sudden Judge ye At the same time we read of a grant made by the same Authority that the Mayor and Aldermen should take no other Oath in the Exchequer than they did in the time of King Edward the third How careful were the Commons do we see in this Age to prevent the Citizens from being enslav'd in either their Bodies or their Souls They sha'nt be impos'd upon by their good Wills in so much as an Oath much less have Creeds Articles and Oaths by the dozens thrust upon them to Swear and subscribe to In the same year we have the Commons petitioning the King again in the Cities behalf so Sollicitous were they for her good and welfare That free choice may be made of the most able men for Aldermen as well of such as were the year before as of others yearly See we here the House of Commons pleading for a free choice an Election without disturbance threats or menaces and that particular Citizens should not be impos'd upon nor overaw'd And if they had formerly chosen good Men and found them so by experience that they should not be oblig'd next year to pass them by and choose others such as possibly might prove friends to them the backward way and over the left shoulders The Electors might pick and choose as they please which is the benefit of a free Election And as the Commons pray so the King grants as long as there is good Government in the City thereby What could be desir'd more As long as the Aldermen were lyable to be pass'd by every year as well as the Common-Council-Men 't is very unlikely that they should displease the City much less thwart and contradict the Common voice oâ her Citizens for a few sprinklings of Court Holy Water Observe this was at the Parliament helâ at Salisbury some scores of Miles from London yet 't was not the distance of place that could breed distance of affection Remove the national assembly to the other end of the Land to the utmost Coasts of Great Brittian yet Londons Name reaches thither 'T is not the place that makes our Westminster Conventions so mindful of her but her Merit her Power her Influence the respect and esteem they have for her Glory Honour and Renown to see her ever continue the fixt unmovable Defendress of the Protestant Religion under the Defender of the Faith In the Ninth the Commons require at the petition of the Mayor and Commonalty of London that the Patent lately made to the Constable of the Tower may be Revok'd The reason is plain 't was prejudicial to the City to have the Victuals brought to her upon her dearest and best beloved Thames made to pay Toll and Custom to another How Glorious and Gracious must we needs think that City to be in the peoples Eyes when we find their Representatives not once nor twice but so constantly almost at every ãâã pleading her Cause vindicating her Liberties and asserting her Rights And these we know are part of the Legislative power A general act of Oblivion is a Royal Grant not every day bestow'd upon the Subject and a grace not often obtain'd without much importunity and intercession We have reason therefore to believe the Londoners look't upon it as no small favour that at the Common's request the King granted a Pardon to the Citizens of London in the Eleventh of his Reign of all Treasons Felonies and other offences of loss of life For so Pardons run whether the parties were guilty of such crimes and delinquences or not and 't is a salvo that Wise men disdain not sometimes to make use of and why should they not unless a Pardon must of necessity imply a Crime We have heard how careful the House of Commons were under this King to secure the Cities Liberties ascertain her Rights defend her Priviledges and keep off encroachments that she might not be abus'd nor impos'd on Let me next have leave before I pass forwards to give a hint or two to intimate how ready the Commons were to free the City from Annoyances in order both to the Citizens health and the Cities Ornament that nothing offensive either to the Eyes or the Nostrils might be found therein 'T is to be seen Enacted among the Commons Petitions in the sixteenth of this King that all the filth upon Thames side in a certain place
there mentioned be utterly remov'd against a short time particularliz'd That the Butchers of London build convenient Houses to hold whatsoever they had noisome in their Calling thence in due time to be carried in Boats into the middle of the Thames at high-water there to be cast at it's beginning to Ebb so to be born away with the Tide And that no Rubbish or the like be cast into Thames between Westminster and the Tower on a considerable forfeiture Small slight trivial matters some may haply think these to be and not worth perhaps a remark Yet to me it seems a manifest sign of the Citizens care and esteem the House of Commons respect for them and the influence the City had upon their debates that they shew'd themselves so willing and ready at all times to take into more especial consideration the slightest and minutest things so it came recommended to them from the City of London or appeared in their Eyes advantagious to her Inhabitants And that these had an equal share in making Laws with the Lords or even with the King himself is as evident as the shining of the Sun in a hot Summers-day From the Commons let us pass to the King and Lords joyntly consider'd For the esteem the Lords had for the City when lookt upon as single in themselves and not expresly united with the King may best be shewn either when we come to touch upon the Civil distractions of these times whereof the whole Nation were partakers or the more immediate afflictions of the City in particular as some we may be sure they had in a General Delâge of miseries my Subject being as yet principally of Proceedings and Transactions carried on in a Parliamentary way that is or ought to be in meekness and calmness What I have chiefly to observe here is in plain words out of the Abridgment of the Records Relating to the Parliament of the seventeenth of this King where we read it enacted that it is not the Kings meaning or intent nor meaning of the Statute made in the twenty eighth of Edward the third touching Errors and misprisions in the City of London that the Mayors Sheriffs and Aldermen of London that now are heretofore have been or hereafter shall be should incur or bear the pain contained in the said Statute for any erroneous Judgment given or to be given in the said City This is one of the three Acts there noted to be enacted by the King by the assent of the Lords only And therefore makes good my assertion of the respect shewn the City by the King and Lords as may be made to appear more obvious by giving the Reader the substance of the forecited Statute still to be seen among the Printed Statutes in the twenty eighth of Edward the third Chapter tenth where we find it ordain'd and established that the Mayor Sheriffs and Aldermen which have the Governance of the City of London shall cause to be redressed and corrected the defaults errors and misprisions above named and the same duly punish from time to time upon a certain Pain That is to say at the first default a thousand Marks to the King and at the second default two thousand Marks and at the third default that the Franchise and Liberty of the City be taken into the Kings hand And it is likewise enacted that enquiries shall be made of these defaults by Enquests of people of these Forreign Counties Kent Essex Sussex Hertford Buckingham and Berks And the receiving and execution of the Writs as well Originals as Judicials is committed to the Constable of the Tower or his Lieutenant in place of the Sheriffs of London so runs the Statute Whence occasion might seem likely enough to be taken one time or other by the Cities designing adversaries to Hector the Mayor Sheriffs and Aldermen into compliance by threatning to sue that Act upon them or opportunity given to treacherous friends foster'd within her Walls bred up under the shadow of her wings rais'd and enrich'd through the benefit of her Franchises and Priviledges and crept into Authority by the overflowings of her favour for a lick or two at the publick hony-pot wilfully to incur the forfeitures that her Liberties might be seiz'd and her good old Charter as far as in them lies wholly lost But such an Honourable respect had both the King and his Nobles at that season for this most deserving City and so glorious appear'd she in their Eyes that they seem in a manner resolv'd as well as highly desirous according to their power to prevent the very possibility of such ill consequences by this favourable interpretation that after-ages might not rue for the oversights of former times if they could help it For this rather looks like an explanation of the Statute than a Repeal an Act Declaratory of their good Will and intentions more than a result of the whole Legislative power of the Nation here being only the King and his Lords assent mention'd and not a word of the Commons And yet possibly this Declaration may amount to little less than a vertual tho not a formal repeal if it be joyntly consider'd with what hath been before related in the seventh of this Kings Reign concerning the Clause licet usi non fuerunt vel abusi fuerunt notwithstanding any Statute to the contrary to be found enacted among the Commons Petitions of that year in favour of the Cities Liberties So that upon this account we find Authority in every part of it concurring in the point And that it was in favour of the City in General as well as in behalf of particular persons is plain from the sense and substance of the original Statute and the consequential adjuncts thereto belonging But if any one shall think this conclusion will not clearly follow from the premises I don't think but I am able to prove it undeniably as to the part at least of several of the Lords from Statute Law As strong an assurance as we English-men can expect as being the boundary of our Lives and Liberties and giving us the security of all we enjoy or can properly call our own The Statute is to be found in the first of Henry the fourth Chapter 15th where after a recital of the before-mention'd Statute of 28 Edward 3. though through a mistake or misprint it is said there to to be made in the seven and twentieth year we find as follows Our Lord the King considering the good and lawful behaviour of the Mayor Sheriffs and Aldermen and all the Commonalty of the City of London towards him and therefore willing to ease and mitigate the Penalty aforesaid by the Assent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and of the Commons aforesaid hath ordained and established that the penalty aforesaid as well of the thousand Marks and of the two thousand Marks and of the Seisure of the Franchises comprised in the same Statute shall not be limited in a certainty but that the Penalty
in this Case be by the advice and discretion of the Justices thereto assigned To mitigate it doubtless not inhance it at pleasure to ruin particular persons and annihilate the City's Liberties by pretending the loss of her Charter How respectful King Lords and Commons in Parliament assembl'd shew'd themselves to this honourable City hath been sufficiently declar'd prov'd and made manifest I presume already in the foregoing Relation Let us now call off our Meditations from this particular point and fix our thoughts upon an other Argument highly demonstrative of the City's power drawn from no less uncouth a Topick than tumults and disorders insurrections and Outrages of unruly people There having pass'd an Act of Parliament in the fourth of this King to impower him to Collect and Gather Poll money throughout the Land and many exactions thereupon and incivilities being committed by the new Collectors and other Officers some of the Courtiers having procur'd the Kings Commissions for a review and a more exact Collection under the notion of the Kings being cheated and defrauded through the unfaithfulness of his former Tax gatherers the Commons thought themselves so abus'd and oppress'd that in many places they took Counsel together to make resistance and in several Counties assembled themselves in great numbers to the no small disturbance of the Land Amongst these the Commons of Kent and Essex are reckon'd the greatest bodies gathered together under such heads as Wat Tyler Jack Straw and the like obscure Fellows These we find quickly coming to London where they soon obtain entrance notwithstanding the Mayors intended opposition and then quickly carry all before them behead whom they thought good do what they would burn great mens Palaces at their Pleasure the Gates of the Tower are set open to them the King rides to 'm in fear unarm'd and ill guarded at their sending for and grants them as large Charters as they desired none of his Courtiers daring to oppose or resist their Insolencies so that they seem to have had all things for a small season under their sole Power Direction and Command as remaining Masters of the Field without a stroak stricken by any opposite Party such a terrour did their numbers and boldness strike into mens minds at the first and so effectual was their success in getting within the Walls of London either through the joynt assistance of many Commons there inhabiting or else rather under the repute of having the whole City at their beck But when the first brunt was over and it was visible that the greatest best and most of the Citizens joyn'd not with the Country Commons to approve or abet them in their furious outrages and violences the tide was soon turn'd and deliverance brought both to the King and Court by the courage of this Loyal City The Mayor himself as their Head made the first open beginning was seconded by his Brethren the Aldermen and quickly followed by the worthy Citizens He being a man of great boldness by the Kings permission first arrested and afterwards grievously wounded one of the chiefest of the Rebells Jack Straw saith Fabian Wat Tyler saith Stow to the great encouragement of those about the King among whom this Arch Rebel receiv'd his death and daunting of the Rebellious Commons to which valiant Deed the City is indebted for Walworths Dagger some say inserted upon this Account in her Coat of Arms. After this Act away rides the Mayor with one Servant only the Annalist tell us into the City and crying out to the Citizens to come speedily to the Kings assistance raises a considerable strength who well arm'd under the leading of Sir Robert Knowles came in good time into the Field where the King was among the tumultuous Commons not so well attended but that the unexpected coming of the Mayor and the armed Citizens is expresly said to have caus'd rejoycing in the minds of the King and those few Knights and Esquires then about him and the Issue acquaints us with the great consequence hereof when we read of the Commons throwing down their weapons immediately falling also themselves upon the ground and beseeching pardon who but a little before gloried that they had the Kings life in their own power and so possibly might have continued boasting had not the Citizens thus rous'd up themselves to the Kings relief and timely dispers't these seditious Rioters in the midst of their insulting Pride That this was a piece of Loyalty as well as valour most timely and seasonably shewn is evident from the great influence what was but barely done at London though without London's consent had upon the Countrey For from the Annalist we are given to understand that there were the like Insurrections in Suffolk and Norfolk and in express words told that these overthrew House and Mannors of great Men and of Lawyers slew the Students of the Law c. according to the manner of them at London having for their Captain an ungracious Priest nam'd John Wraw who had been at London just before had seen what was done there and came thence with Instructions from Wat Tyler So that what 's done in the City is very likely to be imitated in the Countrey A disorderly Rout of people were got together round about and within the City and committed many unsufferable Outrages and several parts of the Country were resolv'd to follow the Fashion and do the like The Citizens courage quel'd these Tumultuous Commons in London and then they were quickly suppress'd we hear in other Places Then had the King reason to reward the Mayor and several Aldermen with the honour of Knighthood and other recompences and time to assemble an Army of his Loyal Friends and Subjects at London to guard him till the Principals of these dispersed Rebels were brought to condign Punishment by Law which was quickly done thanks to the worthy Londoners who had thus vigorously asserted the Kings Right defended his Royalty rescued his Person and regained him the exercise of his Kingly Power well near lost before through the Rebellion of his meaner Commons and cowardly Faintheartedness of his Courtiers Men it seems that could speak big at the Council-board and talk high upon the Bench under the shelter of the Kings Authority but when they were to come into the Field of War to fight for their Prince they prov'd meer Courtiers all words and no deeds The Citizens were the Men of valour They lay still the King was like to be undone and the Court ruin'd They appear'd to oppose the vaunting Enemies they fled before them and the King regain'd his own This one famous City the terror of her Enemies the joy of her Friends cooperates in the grand turns and changes of affairs in the Brittish world or else such attempts for the most part at least if not always prove vain fruitless and insignificant And where 's the wonder of this The whole City as a compact Body with Strength and Beauty fitly united may well be
esteemed most amiable and counted highly powerful since she is to be admired for the goodness and greatness under which comprehend the large Riches Power and Spirit of particular Citizens incorporated into Her For the first let me instance in the commendable diligence of her Mayor Adam Baume who upon a very great scarcity of Corn in the fifteenth of this King providently took care to have Corn brought to Lââdon from forreign Parts to the relief of the whole Realm and add hereunto the Charity of the Aldermen who for the furtherance of so good a Work laid out each of them a sum of mony in those days very considerable to the same purpose and bestow'd the Corn thus procur'd in convenient places where the Poor might buy at an appointed price and such as had no ready mony upon Surety to pay the year following besides the common Act of the Mayor and Citizens in taking two thousand Marks out of the Orphans Chest in Guildhall for the same intent In Proof of the later viz. The Greatness Riches Power and Spirit of particular Citizens I challenge all the Cities in the world besides to shew me such another Example as that of John Philpot Citizen of London the Citizens Orator to this King in the beginning of his Reign who in the second year observing the young Kings inability the Nobles neglect and the oppressions of the poor Commons voluntarily hir'd Souldiers with his own mony rig'd out a Fleet at his own charge and hazarded his own Person to defend the Realm from Pirates Robbers and incursions of Enemies and therewith successfully took in a little time Mercer the Scot with all his Ships which he had before violently taken from Scarborow and fifteen Spanish Ships besides laden with much Riches which came to his Aid Can Rome her self shew me a like Parallel As for the Fabij they were a whole Family among the Patricians and Crassus himself a great Magistrate in the heigth of that Common-wealths Grandeur amidst Equals and Inferiors whereas this publick-spirited Person liv'd still a Subject under a limited Monarchy none of the greatest nor the strongest then in the World This noble Act some would have thought should have deserved great praise and commendation and so it had among the Common People but among the great Lords and Earls it met with Reproach and Detraction as being a manifest reproof of their carelesness and negligence and he himself was endanger'd thereby they speaking openly against it as done unlawfully without the Councel of the King and his Realm though his design could not be denyed to have been very honest in the general Had he suffered for that unpresidented Act because it was deficient in some formalities required by Law the Statesmen of the times therein instrumental without all peradventure had appeared as odious in the Eyes of the Commons as some of the chief Episcopal Clergy-men in a Protestant Country within the Memory of Man would have made themselves obnoxious to the Peoples Censure should they have publickly burnt Vindiciae Pietatis i. e. a Vindication of Godliness from the imputation of folly and fancy which I have heard intimated as if thought of because it wanted such an Imprimatur as the Law demanded and was writ possibly by an Author not altogether Episcopal in his declared Judgment But to pass on If such were the superemient and supererogating Acts of particular Citizens so many Ages ago to what an height of Wealth Greatness and splendor must we needs think the City to have arriv'd at this day some Centuries of years since that time If ten thousand Pounds was a Mayors Estate heretofore we may give a shrew'd guess at the Cities advancement and encrease in Riches since now that the same is made the limited sum for the Citizens to swear themselves not worth who desire to avoid the chargeable Honour and Honourable charge of the Shrievalry Nay to go a step or two further now adays we find her Sheriffs Revenue commonly reputed at double the value and others of her Citizens thought able to number their thousands by scores What if I had also added that some are esteem'd so wealthy as not to know an end of their Riches Certainly such if any must needs come under the denomination of men vastly rich in worldly goods So that this glorious and Triumphant City seems in many things able to vy with if not out-vy the Quondam Mistress of the World Rome her self She exceeds her in Antiquity as being founded in Fabian's Compute above four hundred years before her and hath this advantage of her now that whereas Rome is confest and acknowledged to be in the wane of her power and Greatness both as to her Civil and Ecclesiastical Authority London still continues on the rising hand Rome 't is visible hath suffer'd a considerable diminution as to her former extent and Jurisdiction in both capacities whether she be lookt upon as once head of the world or now pretended head of the Church but London plainly appears to be dayly getting ground both in Fame and Reputation as well as building And whereto she may come in time belongs to a Prophet not an Historian to declare She is already become the Fam'd Metropolis of this our little World and Rome was but Empress in a greater Neither was she anear so influential over the greatest part of that how much soever thereof she had under her Dominion as London is known to be at present over all ours Having thus shewn the influence this Honourable City had upon the Commons of this Land in Peace and amidst tumultuous disorders and the great respect both King and Nobles in Conjunction had for her I should now proceed to disengage my self of an obligation I presume lying on me from part of a promise before made to declare the esteem the Lords when singly consider'd had of her strength and power But before I pass on more immediately thereto I crave leave to observe the great variety and difference in Parliamentary transactions and proceedings under this King within the compass of whose Reign we find but two years on Record viz the nineteenth and twenty second wherein there was not a Parliament called and assembled in one place or other by his Authority sometimes oftner and so those Acts of Edward the third were exactly kept for eighteen years running wherein it is ordained and established that a Parliament shall be holden once every year and more often if need be which being omitted but one year in twenty one and not observed in the twenty second we may easily think it prov'd fatal to the unfortunate King that in the next Parliament he should be depos'd by his own Subjects and the Crown set upon anothers head And is it any wonder to see things so injurious and unjust sometimes done in National Assemblies when in a vein of contradiction they make Ordinances so diametrically opposite each to other as was done in this Kings time For we find parties
in choosing their representatives Then were the Judges consulted Men as my Author writes learned chiefly in one point that is without considâring Truth or Falshood to please those in high places who gave several extrajudicial opinions in favour of the Prerogative upon some Queries propounded to them by one of which viz. Whether the King might not at his pleasure dissolve the Parliament and command the Lords and Commons to depart we may guess what Exceptions and Resentments were taken against the Commons Request in the Second of this King before mentioned that the Parliament should not be dismist before a reasonable Answer was given to all their Petitions After this was my Lord Mayor of London required to give an account how many able men he could raise in the City who answered that he thought they could make fifty thousand men at an hours warning But when he went about it in good earnest the Citizens cried out they would never fight against the Kings Friends and the Defenders of the Realm Then were there endeavours privily to apprehend the opposing Lords singly by themselves but this design was disappointed and the Lords were quickly up in Arms to defend themselves When these devices would not hold water by the interposition of Mediators it was ordered that the Lords should come to Westminster to the King upon a day appointed them some Persons of Quality and Credit taking Oaths on the Kings part that no fraud or deceit should be used whereupon the Lords prepared themselves to come up according to agreement but soon stopt their Journy upon notice given them of an Ambusment laid for them in the Mews which made the King ready almost to tax them of breach of Covenant till he was told the reason viz. the Ambusment laid for them and then to clear himself as Stow relates it sware he knew of no such thing He might possibly be as innocent as the Child unborn as to any particular knowledge of this matter but certainly his Courtiers were much to blame and very bold thus to act in direct opposition to the former Agreement for that there was such a treacherous piece oâ Service intended the Annalist assures us but that any of the prime Engineers and designing Actors were punished for acting thus without the Kings more especial Warrant Knowledge or Commission I do not find When these tricks would not do then fair words and promises were come in fashion again to sooth up the angry Lords who at last were come to Westminster with a sufficient Guard of Attendants and in the upshot the speedy calling of a Parliament was concluded on where the Accusers and Accused might meet face to face But the favourite Lords durst not attend the consequence of such a Meeting and therefore the Duke of Ireland and the rest of the Faction left the Court to be out of the way and an Army was after raised to conduct the Duke up to Court with which he hasted as fast as he could towards London but was miserably overthrown at Radcoat Bridge in Oxfordshire by the contesting Lords and so eâded all his glory and a few years after his life Upon this defeat the Lords thought they had matter enough to justifie their Arms with forty thousand men up come they to London and were there received the King then keeping his Christmas in the Tower to whom they shew the Letter he had sent to the aforesaid Duke to raise an Army for their destruction and the Letters the French King had written to him to come into France there to do acts to his own dishonour and the Kingdoms These things we may well conclude bred a great deal of ill blood between the King and his Lords and that their Pulses beat extraordinary high is plain from the peremptory message they sent the King when they understood his mind was alter'd as to keeping his promise before made to them That if he came not according to his word they would chuse another King who should hearken to the faithful Counsel of his Lords This 't is easie to be thought toucht the King to the quick but being not then strong enough to oppose he esteem'd it his safest and securest course to condescend to the Lords desires and order the calling of a Parliament A Parliament comes and then it wrought wonders In Stow we meet with a Story coincident with these times concerning the Londoners how that they understanding that the French King had got together a great Navy assembled an Army and set his purpose firmly to come into England trembling like Leverets fearful as Mice they sought starting holes to hide themselves in even as if the City had been ready to be taken and they that in times past brag'd they would blow all the French men out of England hearing a vain Rumour of the Enemies coming ran to the Walls brake down the houses adjoyning destroyed and laid them flat and did all things in great fear not one Frenchman having then set foot on Shipboard But there 's not one word of the Author whence this was extracted which we commonly find in the Margin in other Relations What ground now there was for this pannick fear I cannot devise or rather reason for the relating of such a heedless story looking more like a conjectural report than an historical relation as if the Writer himself had been frenchified or imposed upon by some French Translator who was desirous to render his Country mân terrible to the English by the Pen of an English Historian since they have been so ill able to do it by their own Swords For that the English neither overmuch lov'd nor fear'd the French Nation is evident from the Histories of ancient times and thâ occurrences of later days and from the Commons Address to the Purbâck Alarum How then the Londoners should come to be affraid of them so all of a sudden is a Riddle to me 'T is certain enough of late years that when they were burnt out of house and home and had little more perhaps to lose besides their lives upon an Alarum of the French coming and Papists rising they were like inraged Bears robb'd of their young Ones much more ready to fall on than the others to set upon them so far were they from standing in fear of the whole power of France though it should have been united with all their Popish Friends Favourers and Pensioners in England And that they had little or no grounds for such fear in those elderly times the long train of Victories gain'd heretofore in France puts us out of doubt Besides methinks the Instances in this Story which the Writer sets down as Arguments of fear are rather proofs of a provident care and foresight For what else can the running to the Walls and breaking down the Houses adjoyning import but a design and resolution to stand upon their own Guard which is the property of Courage not of Cowardise That there were intentions suitable to men of valour
of standing up vigorously in their own defence against the forreign Enemy may be prov'd out of the sâme Author from the great numbers of armed men by the Nobles brought to the Parliament then at London and the Lord Chancellors calling men of Arms out of almost every part of the Realm to the Marches about London to beat back the Frenchmen with their King had they come Let this therefore serve to disprove the Annalists suggestions out of his own mouth and shew the Nobles care for the Cities safeguard in drawing such forces thitherward and their hopes of considerable assistance from the City to help them in the Common cause of self-preservation But suppose without granting it that there were some sparks of fear amongst them 't is questionable whether they did not spring from the mistrust of their principal Magistrates not out of any diffidence and distrust of their own strength or dread of a Foreign Enemies power and puissance For to me 't is an Argument that the Major of London this year look't Courtward since that we read of an endeavour to ingage him in such an horrid design as hath been before spoken of to destroy the principals of the opposite party at a private Supper in London Certainly the King would not have utter'd a syllable of an intreague of this importance to so powerful a Magistrate as my Author affirms he did had there not been hopes of prevailing on him in Reverence at least to the Kings word and desire But upon the Tryal it seems he prov'd himself an honester man in that point whatever his principles and inclinations otherwise were than his Predecessor whom we read of as deeply concern'd in that Plot. Much about this time 't is likewise that a Modern writer tells us that the Londoners incur'd much obloquy for that having before been Pardoned by the King of some Crimes laid to their charge but what nor when committed I find not by him mentioned they were ready to comply with his dâsires and a Jury of them being Impannell'd indited some Lords of many Crimes objected against them But this also is to be imputed to the Magistrates influence and power in calling out men fit for the purpose and not to the whole body of the Citizens For we read just after that when the Mayor thought to have rais'd them against the contesting Lords they resolutely refus'd and absolutely rejected the Motion as is before related So that 't was not having the Mayor at their Beck nor the Power they thought they had among the high Sheriffs of the Counties to procure such men return'd up to serve in Parliament as were nominated by the King and his Council that could shelter the guilty favourites at Cour from the censure of that August Assembly well known afterwards by the name of the Parliament that wrought wonders For on the very first day thereof all the Judges but one were Arrested as they sat in their places question'd for their extrajudicial opinions and Arbitrary actings and severely punish'd by Banishment and Confiscation of their Estates The Lord Chief Justice Tresilian lost his Life at Tyburn and the rest my Author says had all dyed had it not been for the Queens intercession As the Judges were thus brought under the Lash of those Laws which before they had so much abus'd to humour Arbitrary mens designs the better thereby to secure to themselves their own Stations and Offices of Judicature so the Patrons themselves and reputed promoters of these Arbitrary and illegal Actings were reduc't into the same Predicament Several of the chief were impeach'd of no less than High Treason in open Parliament the absent for ever banish'd and many of them in hold either Hang'd or Beheaded upon Tower-hil or at Tyburn notwithstanding they had been ere while Men of Name Power and Authority and in great favour at Court but just before So uncertain is the State of Mortality and so slippery is walking in high places But amongst all those who fell under the stroak of an angry Deity and so shamefully lost their lives by the hands of Justice most memorable is the fate that befel Sir Nicholas Brember Grocer late Lord Mayor of London who for many oppressions and seditions by him caus'd in the City was Beheaded as Stow informs us the Morrow after the Execution of the Lord Chief Justice Tresilian and which is more remarkable with the same Ax he had before prepared for others of his fellow Citizens So just is Providence to suffer the wicked to be insnared by the devices of their own hearts and to fall headlong into the Pit they had dig'd for others Stow tells us the King had oft-times made him Mayor of London against the mind of the Citizens But in Fabian who methinks being once Sheriff of this Honourable City should know best what had been formerly Transacted in that City of whose good order Policy and Government he hath expresly Treated in his Chronicle I don't find but that he was Elected and Chosen Possibly there might be an order made at Court Present the King and sent into the City to further and promote his Election which by the one might be esteem'd an imposing him on the City while the other only took notice of the meeting of the Citizens in order to an Election without relating how the matter was carried or whether he came in fairly by a Majority or else by a strong hand through the working of Court Favourites who influencing the Judges might make that pass for Law which was contrary thereto let the difference of voices be never so great on the other side So have I heard of a place where it was carried by thirteen against twenty one and when the business came to be scan'd over anew it was adjudg'd by vote against the Majority But this was rather the effect of Greatness and Power overruling than the result of Equity and Justice dividing to every one his right That this Man when Mayor met with great opposition from the most eminent of the Citizens I presume concludable from his Resentments and what is in plain words delivered of him by the Annalist how that whilst he was in the full Authority of his Mayoralty he caus'd a Common pair of Stocks in every Ward and a Common Ax to be made to behead all such as should be against him and had Indited eight thousand and more of the best and greatest of the City so resolv'd was he to carry on the design right or wrong to please his Masters and Abettors What kind of principled Man he was we may easily guess as from the aforementioned passages so from the Historians Relations before hinted of him as being deeply concern'd in the Plot before intimated to assassinate the contesting Lords and also afterwards one of the Chief Men that had a hand in laying the Ambuscade spoken of above unwilling the King as he swore to intrap them who upon promise of safe conduct confirm'd by the Oaths of
some persons of Quality were coming up to Westminster to the King which he and Sir Thomas Trivet privately sent away to London upon the discovery thereof That he was a sutable Tool to carry on great mens intreagues or at least thought fit enough to be made a Property to work upon why may we not conclude in that we find him elected at the latter part of the last Kings Reign and admitted at the Tower of London into the Mayoralty when the proud haughty Duke of Lancaster had got the other Mayor put out of his Office as not quick enough it seems to run along with that aspiring Dukes designs who aimed at that time to have put by his Nephew from the Throne and have intruded thereunto himself contrary to right reason and justice and the publick interest of the Nation Who knows likewise by whose influence and for what intents he was kept in the Office of Mayor for three years together in the seventh eighth and nineth of this King What a vast difference was there as to Principles and Practices between this man and the fam'd John Philpot his fellow Sheriff in the forty sixth of the precedent King The one prov'd as great a Patriot to his Country before in and after his Mayoralty as the other shew'd himself an ambitious Courtier under a Gold Chain in the City But what great wonder is this to see men once joyn Partners in an Office vastly differing each from other in their Judgments and Actions when raised to places of higher Dignity and Prâferment I don't think but 't is easie enough to find an instance at present if there were any great occasion or necessity thereof 'T is said of this Sir Nicholas Brembar that if he had liv'd he had been created Duke of Troy or of London by the name of Troy What a pity 't was that he had not had a Patent ready sign'd and seal'd lying by him to have shrowded himself and all his old crimes under this new Dignity upon Occasion But this I Fancy would never have past upon that Parliament either Lords or Commons to have sheltred him from the Law of the Land though he had become really in act as well as desire and design a Peer of the Realm However this intention of his if truly related sufficiently shews us his Ambition to become a Titulado unless we shall venture upon a conjecture that some of the Courtiers sham'd upon him with the empty promise of this titulary honour when they wheadled him out of the directions they had before sent him for the better management of their designs which they were unwilling to let remain in his hands after they had made as much use of his Place and Power as opportunity would permit that they might not be produc'd as Evidences against them in a day of Tryal which they probably fear'd might one time or other come upon them and did it seems in this Parliament with a Vengeance For I will take the boldness to conclude that it was some other more skilful hand hid behind the Curtain that order'd the Scenes and manag'd the Machines though he was made the publick stalking horse to deceive the vulgar Herd the Skreen to shelter other mens heads from the violence of popular fury the open Actor in the face of the world the common Engine to set the Wheels of more politick mens contrivances a going though against Water Wind and Tide It being very unbecoming the Apes subtilty to put her own foot into the fire when she may make use of the Cats But if the Worshipful Sir Nicholas suffer'd himself thus impolitickly to be trapann'd whom had he to blame but himself if he were made at laââ to pay so dear for his own folly and imprudence And that such is the ominous fate of less wary men who venture upon Actions not warranted by Law to serve a present turn and humour their own ambitious desires or other mens greatness is evidently demonstrable as in general from History and Experience so more particularly from an instance in Spain under one of the Philips of a certain Officer of that Kings who having by the Kings Order done an Act for which he was afterwards questioned and thrown into Prison and upon fair words and promises parted with the Kings Letter which he could have produc'd for his Warrant was soon after left in the lurch and suffer'd to fall a Sacrifice to his own imprudent Credulity and the Law of the Land Whether I have been exact as to all circumstances of the story I shall not positively affirm as not being fully sure but my Memory may deceive me in twelve or thirteen years space and being uncertain in what Book to look for it now or where I read it at first unless in some of the famous Fullers works perhaps in his holy or prophane State but as to the substance and truth hereof I dare aver it from Historical Relation and leave the Application to more Philosophical Logicians that I may press further forwards towards the mark the end intention and scope of this my present undertaking viz. To shew the respect and esteem several of the Nobles in particular had for this honourable City and their solicitous care for her welfare under this King Richard How that before the Parliament that wrought wonders was ended particular care was taken expresly to have the Citizens of London included in â general Pardon to prevent doubtless new exactions upon old pretences hath been before related amongst the Commons requests as a sign of their good will and therefore now to be wav'd though it would not be impertinent in this Point to shew the Lords affection if that be a truth which is delivered by a modern Writer that in our Ancestors time most of the Members of the house of Commons thought it an honour to retain to some great Lord and to wear his blew Coat to make up his train and wait upon him from his own house to the Lords and make a Lane for him to enter thereto which argues how much the Lords did or might over-rule them in their frequent Petitions on the City's behalf But I shall pass over the consequence of this Conclusion as an Argument depending on the Readers Will and Choice which he may grant or deny at pleasure and produce an instance or two less dubitable and not left so much at discretion How hard a matter it hath generally prov'd to bring Offenders if great in Power Place and Authority to Justice is plain from History and Experience As evident likewise is it that the Offences to such imputed have been Exactions Extortions oppressions corrupt Abuses of the Law Illegal Principles Arbitrary Designs Unjust Actions and the like National Grievances ordinarily comprehended under the name ãâã ill Government dayly heapt up under weaâ or negligent Princes by the exorbitant Power oâ headstrong Favourites who through the excess of their Soveraign's kindness the easinesâ of his Nature the mildness
so far as to acquaint us that even the Duke of Lancaster John of Gaunt appeared likewise in their favour an Intercessor unto the King Whether out of respect to them or secret dislike of his Nephews proceedings forgetfulness of Londons past opposition or his desire at last to become Popular and to ingratiate himself with the Citizens whose power he had before try'd to his loss I dare not venture to resolve upon such unsure grounds as my own bare surmizes But this I presume may easily be granted me that he was then grown ancient and the burning fires of his Ambition were much âabated if not altogether quenched through forââer disappointments length of time and the visible increase of years old age growing fast upon him So that the first heats being over he might probably be inclin'd to try his fortune in foreign Countries and content himself with the titulary âonour of a King abroad now that he had long ãâã the smart of a frustrated expectation at âome London having then such powerful Friends of âame and note in the time of her adversity parâicularly exprest in History how many more may ãâã presume she had not expresly mention'd of ãâã same or somewhat inferior rank and quality âho either out of their own affection and particular respect or through the prevalency of these great Examples ingag'd themselves in the Cities interest and became Reconcilers and Repairers of her late Breaches But if the Readers candour will not yield me this not irrational supposition these doubtless in themselves are enough to make out the truth of my assertion and free me from the undesirable imputation of a vain pretender when I offer'd to shew the esteem the Lords singly consider'd in themselves had for this great and honourable City The aforementioned passages shew their good will yet all this notwithstanding somewhat else was expected at Court which the Cities Enemies mainly drove at and seem resolv'd by one means or other to compass and bring about The City was Rich in Priviledges Rich in Glory Rich in Coyn besides the Spirit and Courage of her Citizens all which conjoyn'd made her powerful at home and abroad fam'd in Foreign Countries for Trade and Commerce and highly honour'd within the Circle of the Brittish-Isle through which she was known I lanet-like to dart her over-ruling influences Among Arbitrary Designers these have been generally look't upon as Malign and therefore no wonder if at Court ill-affected Their Liberties and Priviledges are thought too great let 's then have 'em lesâened now time serves And so they were For the Londoners being Commanded to come to Windsor there to shew them and product then Charters both old and new some of them arââatified some condemn'd some restor'd others detain'd Their Glory likewise is to be made to suffer if possible a diminution in the eyes of the world and therefore almost all the Lords are gather'd together at Windsor against their coming thither and also a great Army that the people might think them terrified thereby and frighted into submission and so have the less esteem for them hereafter as such as may easily be accus'd of offences and as easily be made to undergo grievous penalties for them whoever was originally in fault These Preparations must needs occasion considerable charges but the Londoners must pay the shot if they are Covetous of peace and quietness And so they did at last to their no small expences 'T was not the Honourable Cavalcade of principal Citizens sent out in one Livery to meet and Conduct the King and Court through the City 'T was not the Triumphant Reception of him in his passage through a lane of Livery-men lowdly ecchoing forth his Name the running of Cheapside Conduit with more than one sort of Wine the adorning the Windows and Walls of the Streets with Tapistry Cloth of Gold Silver and Silk nor other gawdy shows to entertain him 'T was not the Rich and Chargeable Presents made to him and his Queen as they pass'd along or afterwards the next day the Costly Crowns and Tables of Gold Horses with their Noble Trappings Plate of Gold and Silver Cloth of Gold Silk Velvets Buttons and Ewers of Gold Gold in Coyn Precious Stones and Jewels so Rich excellent and Beautiful that the value and price was inestimable that could fully appease the Angry King or rather satisfie the ravenous Courtiers Covetuousness until they had laid down also Ten thousand pounds in ready mony And this did the feat for that time And but for that time as far as I can find For new Lords new Laws New Favourites produce new Changes and old ones being cast out of Doors they are for finding out new Crimes Pretences and Devices to empty other mens Purses and enrich themselves under the common notion of levying Fines and Amercements for the King King Richard had received Royal Gifts and Noble Presents of his truly Royal Chamber of London in the sixteenth year of his Reign Yet within less than half a dozen years space this was forgotten and quite out of memory or else so well remembred as to make some heartily desirous of more such Boons as hoping that some of Daâae's showers might descend also into their own laps These being the true Chymical Drops to restore enliven and invigorate the tir'd spirits of such hunger-starv'd Expectants And where throughout the whole British World are they to be had in greater plenty than at London And by the sequell of the story we may believe this was an approved Recipe in those days For some Informations had been given in against the Londoners which incens'd the King to such a degree that the Commonalty Fabian tells us was indicted with other Sheriffs and therefore consequently their own likewise which might have brought great damage afresh to them but that Providence then rais'd them up two Potent Friends and Favourers among the Spiritual Lords by whose advice they made an humble supplication to the King and so by their aid and assiââance with help of other Lovers of the City the Kings anger was much appeased But yet nevertheless Blank Charters were brought into the City and many of the most substantial meâ thereof forc't to seal them highly to their disadvantage which was likewise soon after put in practice in many other Counties So fatal was the Citizens Example to the rest of the Land and so little gain'd they themselves in these Conjunctures by their Submissions Resignations and other like compliances to the Court besides expence charge and much trouble and the continual fears of greater molestations for the future But when was this and how was it brought about If we trace the Serids of times and affairs a little backwards by the unerring Clue of Authentick History we shall find these transactions to bear date some years after the end of the Parliament that wrought wonders when possibly 't was almost forgot and it's Statutes by some Mens Artifices slighted through disuse and inexecution
wind and turn it about to their interests and bend it to their own irregular Desires and Designs since that they lik'd not to have them confin'd within the limits and bounds thereof This manner of acting however by the by appears to me the most beaten Path to Destruction and the high way to the Actors unavoidable Ruin and I think I have reason History and Experience all on my side This the City seems well to have understood and therefore with Prudence chose rather to yield to the times for a season than presently to strive against the running stream and immediately to fall a rowing against high wind and Tide but as soon as ever the flowing waters began to Ebb and the tide was a turning the City Barge struck in with the returning waves and assisted to steer the Ship of the Common-wealth to a quite different Haven from that whither the Court was furiously driving her before And then for the most favourable of the Citizens to shew themselves but faint Regardless friends was far less beneficial to the desolate forsaken King than for others of them to appear earnest Enemies in so critical a Juncture was disadvantagious to this unfortunate Prince as he may well be term'd either for having none but ill Councellors and faithless Trencher-friends about him and hearkning so much to their pernitious and destructive advice or else for the defect of his Judgment in not discerning between their private self ends and his own special and particular interest viz. Impartiality in doing Justice to all States and Persons from the highest to the lowest squaring all his own actions by the known Rules of the Law of the Land to the pleasing of his people not by the compass of other mens unstable fancies and anomalous Plat-forms to the loss of his Subjects love and affection and the unhappy fate that attended him upon this his ill conduct when he was violently thrown out of the Chair of State into a profound Abyss of miseries and infelicities and irrecoverably cast out of a Regal Throne into an unavoidable Prison between which and his grave he had but few steps to make For we are to know that as in the tuming of fortunes wheel the spoke that is got upermost presently begins to decline and so runs downwards till it comes to be the under-most of all or like as Sysiphus stone forc'd up e'en almost to the very top of the Hill presently tumbles down again to the bottom with a swiftness and violence not to be stop't by the strength of art or nature so this Prince arriv'd in a manner to the heigth of his desires by the Caprice of fortune or rather by the over-ruling power of a superior Being was suddenly and unexpectedly beyond Recovery hurl'd down from the Grandeur of a Potent King into the lowest Station among Men the Confinement of a Prison and that too occasion'd by the very same way and means whereby he thought to have secur'd to himself amore fixt and setled enjoyment of his greatness as comes now of course to be shewn in manner following After the suppression of the opposite Party under the shadow of Law and Justice diffention happening between the two Dukes of Norfolk and Hereford both then great at Court to the mutual accusation of each other the King greedily lays hold on the opportunity and instead of permitting them according to the Custom of those times where clear proofs were wanting to make good their accusations by the Sword in a single Combat as had been also before appointed unadvisedly banishes them both the Land the first for ever and the latter for a term of years with this hard measure into the bargain that they should not sue for a release of their Judgments on pain of Treason whereby he made both his Enemies and the latter so much the more dangerous the nearer he stood Related to the Crown and the more inveterate in that the King had procur'd the Letters Pattents before granted him to sue by Attorney for Lands descended to him to be revok'd by Assent of Parliament and declar'd to be against Law and had afterwards upon his Father John of Gaunts death violently seis'd on all his Estate whereto Hereford was Heir Then amidst the murmurs of the People for misgovernment and ill guidance of the Realm away goes the King for Ireland with a puissant Army when he thought he had left all things secure in England by the advantage he had made of the last Parliament by engrossing whatever he pleased into his own hands by the tricks found out to raise Money of the Subject by Blanks c. and the Subsidy he had gain'd in Parliament during his Life upon the continuance whereof without molestation he openly declar'd his general Pardon should stand and no otherwise and managed his Arms therewith success enough but ill news out of England that the Duke of Hereford by his Fathers death Duke of Lancaster was landed in England under colour of claiming his Inheritance and rais'd people as he went alarm'd him and bad advice afterwards which detain'd him longer than his promise in Ireland so loath were his Counsellors to spare his company under the shelter of whose Person and presence lay their greatest hopes of protection quite ruin'd him For coming over and finding the Army gone away which the Earl of Salisbâry had rais'd against his coming and had newly voluntarily disbanded it self upon the Kings tarrying too long behind the Earl in Ireland his courage fail'd him and he trusting more to flight than fighting the treachery of his Principal Officers deceiv'd him and he himself also by soothing words and faiâ promises was decoy'd into the Duke of Lancaster's hands who soon secur'd him fast enough withoââ any intent to let him loose again in haste Now the King is in hold let us see how the Citizens behav'd themselves in this great Turn and Change of the Times They had in this Kings Nonage in his Grandfathers dayes appear'd the undaunted Assertors of his Right and Title and in the beginning of his Reign contributed much to his Security and Settlement on the THRONE But a new Generation being sprang up in Twenty Years space and their old Services at last so ill requited by new attempts on their Liberties by Inditements and blank-Charters instead of standing up with their Lives and Fortunes in the Kings Defence and Vindication they openly devoted themselves to anothers Service and became the known Favourers of that Party which assisted to Depose this unhappy Prince and set up in His Room the Duke of Lancaster under the Name and Title of Henry the Fourth As is provable both from Statute-Law viz. the Act made in the First of this New King to be seen in the Statute-Book Cap. 15. An. 1. H. 4. Where we find express mention of the good and lawful behaviour of the Mayor Sheriffs and Aldermen and all the Commonalty of the same City of London towards him and Stow's general Chronicle
of England wherein we read at the latter end of the Life and Reign of King Richard the Second That after the Duke was come from Coventry to St. Albans about five or six Miles before his coming to London the Mayor and the Companies in the Liveries with great Noise of Trumpets met the Duke doing more Reverence to him than to the King Rejoycing that GOD had sent them such a Prince that had Conquer'd the Realm i. e. the Court-party within one Months space Whereupon when the Duke was come within two Miles of the City he stopt his Army as if out of Reverence and Acknowledgment and in Submission thereto and ask't Advice of the Commons thereof what they would do with the King who Answered they would He should be led to Westminster upon which to them He was delivered and they led him accordingly to Westminster and from thence by Water to the Tower Nay some of the Londoners publickly shew'd themselves so much His Enemies as to Assemble together with an intent to have met Him without the City and there to have Slain him for his former Severities But the Mayor and Rulers and best of the Commonalty upon Information hereof with some difficulty reclaim'd them therefrom After the Citizens had thus receiv'd the King into their Custody and in effect thereby made a publick Declaration of their Minds and Opinions as to the great Change succeeding the Duke we are told entred London by the chief Gate and Rode through Cheapside to St. Pauls and there Lodg'd for some time so secure was he of the Citys good Will and Affection to him and afterward in October held a Parliament in Westmimster-Hall where the old King's Deposition and the new King's Election were compleated I shall not stay to make a long Paraphrase upon the Cityes proceedings in this Affair it being Matter of Fact and undeniable that the City consented hereto from the aforesaid passages which may be likewise thought very much to have influenc'd the Nation in their Elections to that Parliament if from the Annalists Computation we may safely and truly aver that the Parliament-Men were chosen after these Transactions at London because Forty dayes at least interven'd between this time and the first Wednesday in October whereon he sayes the Parliament began If any be desirous of another Observation I leave them to their own Liberty to infer from History and the Premises that it much conduc't to facilitate the King's Deposition that he had no known and generally acknowledg'd Heir of his own Body lawfully begotten boldly to stand up for Him and strongly plead his Cause in Armour for his own particular Interest as well as out of a due sence of his Duty Neither indeed do I well see how he could have any since that he had none by his first Wife that I read of his second Queen was too young another Heir was publickly pointed out to the Nation and he himself was also loosely addicted as seems plain beyond dispute His Lascivious living being hinted to us in Burton's Historical Remarks of London among the Articles drawn up against him and we have great reason to think it was an imputation too true when we read of several Ladyes expell'd the Court in the Eleventh of his Reign by the Procurement of the contesting Lords and a little before the sitting of the Wonder-Working-Parliament and take Notice out of Cotton's Abridgment of the House of Commons Request in the Twentieth Year for the avoiding the outragious Expences of the King's house and namely of Bishops and Ladyes and the King's Answer thereto made That he would be free therein and that the Commons thereby had offended against him his Dignity and Liberty Such was his Indignation against them for desiring to controul him in this Point and so highly incens'd was he thereat that to Appease him the Exhibiter of the Bill was adjudg'd to dye as a Traytor though upon some great Ones importunity his Life was for that time spared and he himself at length restor'd in Blood and to the recovery of his Goods Livings Lands and Tennements at the next King 's comming to the Crown But how I trow come the Bishops to be complain'd of by the Commons among the Misses Were they such Courters of Ladyes as instead of rebuking to follow or rather give bad Examples to the King and Country Yet now I think on 't these were Popish not Protestant Bishops Though I scarce believe every one of them that to the view of the World gives himself a Protestant Title is able well and truly to plead not Guilty If Noli-fet-ole-chery be a Motto rightly father'd upon one of our Western Diocesans How all things in a manner concur'd to further King Richard's Deposition and that he was actually depos'd hath already been spoken of which nevertheless barely did not content the Party but they would needs have it done in a formal and solemn way First the King must make a publick Renunciation of all Right Title and Claim to the Crown then Commissioners are by the States appointed in their Names to pronounce the Stentence of his Deposition from the Throne and make to him a Resignation of their homage and fealty for their Loyalty seems plainly enough to have been gone before Neither did they think this enough but were resolv'd over and above to leave Articles against him upon Record wherein are expressed the ill things done by others in his Reign and as they say by his Authority whereby they designed to justifie what they had done towards the unhappy Kings Deposition which visibly pav'd the way to his Grave So pernicious is it for Princes to suffer their Authority to be abus'd to shelter other mens Crimes or their Names to be made use of without a Present Resentment to carry on Designs hateful to the People though they never consent thereto themselves as their own Act and Deed. For I hope we may charitably Conclude what the worshipful Knights Sir Mayor and Sir Haughty the other-ill belov'd wight did in laying a trap to catch the Contesting Lords in the 11th year of this King was without the Kings privity because he swore it as in page ãâã though possibly they shrouded themselves under the shelter of his Authority and pretended his Warrant and Command for what they design'd and endeavoured And perhaps they had as Sir Richard Bakâr words it a warrant Dormant to prosecute the Kings Ends without the Kings Knowledge The Articles and Objections laid against the King are to be found in Cotton's Abridgment 1. H. 4. whence I trust I may securely transcribe them without hazarding the Courteous Readers Displeasure to shew him the grievances of the age as they are there exprest in this form of words Besides the Kings Oath made at his Coronation First for wasting and bestowing of the Lands of the Crown upon unworthy Persons and over-charging the Commons with Exactions For that the King by undue means procur'd divers Justices to speak against the
view the differences between York and Lancaster in the lump considering them under the Notion of one particular Contest though of a long and large durance and throughout with all plainness and perspicuity I can lay claim to shew what powerful Rays of Influence from London were shed abroad upon the Face of the Land For I intend not to Write an Abridgement of Englands general History as having only undertaken a particular Argument relating to this Honourable Cities Fame Renown and Glory abroad Strength Riches and Power at home within her self and the various Influences she cast all over England in the more special turns and changes of Affairs For the rest the Curious may peruse the laborious Works of our English Historians Therefore choosing my own Method I shall make a division of what I have to produce in this place into two Parts or general Heads under which I hope to comprehend the most material Passages I meet with sutable to the design and purport of this Attempt The first containing Instances of Lonâons affection to the Red Rose and the other shewing the sollicitous care and regard she had for the preservation growth and advancement of the White First then and foremost to begin with the Citizens respect to the House of Lancaster who bore the Red Rose for their Badg of their continued Favour and Affection thereto in the prime of its flourishing condition while the many and great Victories gain'd in France were yet fresh in their Memories and Henry the Sixth enjoy'd the Fruits of his Fathers Labours and retain'd the English Conquests therein there is no doubt to be made But I presume I have a much stronger proof to produce from no less convincing an Argument than Statute Law as authentick an Evidence in the Case as the Subject is capable of to be found Anno octavo Henrici sexti cap. 11. where we have express mention made of the entire affections and great kindnesses done and shewed to the said King in all his Affairs by the Citizens of the City of London which to reward and for the future the more to encourage the King was induc'd by Authority of Parliament to give them leave to put and take in Apprentices according to their ancient manner form or custom of which they had some time before been abridg'd by a former Statute to the great hindrance and damage likely thereby to redound to them If any shall require further Instances hereof let them but have recourse to the Annals of this Kings Reign and there I doubt not but they 'l have their Expectations answer'd and their Curiosity highly satisfied when they shall have carefully and thorowly boserv'd the Noble Equipage of the Mayor Aldermen and Citizens in the Tenth Year when they rode forth to meet the King upon his return out of France the Pomp and Gallantry wherewith they receiv'd him at London and entertain'd him in his passage through it and the costly Present they made him afterwards at Westminster And take Notice of their splendid appearance in Scarlet blew Gowns broider'd Sleeves and red Hoods to convey his Princely Bride Queen Margaret through the City in the Twenty-Third of his Reign But when this Daysy Flower of France being thus linkt to the Red Rose of England the Queen and her Creatures rul'd all about the King at home and things went every day worse and worse abroad through Envy and Emulation among the Nobles and negligence of the Kings Councel ill conduct and management of State Affâârs by the new Favourites at Court and the good Duke of Glocester greatly belov'd and ador'd among the Commons was privily taken out of the way in a clandestine manner to the great and bitter resentments of the People the Citizens soon began to alter in their affections and inclinations and look with favourable Eyes upon the opposite Party then springing up under Richard Duke of York the chief and principal Head thereof whose Sails upon the aforesaid Dukes death being full blown with fresh Gales of Ambition He became a secret pretender to the Crown and privately among his Familiars whisper'd a more plausible Right and Title thereto than the King Regnant himself had though in actual Possession Yet they did not so soon forget their old Love as presently to side with the Yorkists against the Lancastrians but seem for a while to have continued as it were in a state of indifferency sometimes favouring the one sometimes the other as if uncertain with whom to side till the Number of publick Grievances being greatly encreast or else more eagerly and plainly remonstrated to them by the other Party they more openly at length shifted all their Sails and with fix't Resolutions espous'd the Yorkist Interest and so that Family got Possession of the Throne thereby Then which what greater Evidence can there be of the Cities Power and Influence in those Times And yet in this interval and space of time which I venture and I hope with truth enough to term the State of her indifferency or neutrality several other Instances of her Power are produceable for the further illustration of the Point in hand to demonstrate beyond dispute that the variation alteration and change of the Citizens Minds over-rul'd the Affairs of the State in each turn and change of Things though as mutable for a season as the ebbing and flowing of the Sea yet likewise as succesful as the turning or returning of the Tyde in bearing all before them The first Instance that comes to my hand shall be that of Jack Cade Captain Mendal who calling himself Mortimer Couzen to the Duke of Yorke upon the specious promises of reforming grievances and freeing the Commons from immoderate Taxes and Impositions the fame of keeping good Orders among his people and his successfull overthrow of the Staffords with other Hotspurs of the Court at Seven-Oke-Wood had so strengthned himself the City of London being at that time saith Stow full favourable to him that upon the King and Queens remove from the City to Killingworth Castle distrusting their own Servants and Soldiers he came to Southwarke and marched over the Bridg in good Order into the City with such Confidence and assurance that passing along by London-Stone he struck it with his Sword and said Now is Mortimer Lord of London and so possibly might have continued he had so won the Hearts of the Commons by his orderly behaviour and got such an encrease of Power as to give the Mayor Orders how he would have his People dispos'd of they coming and going freely as they pleas'd had he but followed the Mayors Advice who bad him take âeed he attempted nothing against the Quiet of the City and made good his own Reply Let the Worâââake notice of our honest Intention by our Actions But when he once grew so inconsiderately Insolent as to fall a robbing the Citizens themselves he presently lost their Favour and good Will the honest and wealthy Commons disliking such extravagant Proceedings and
then the Mayor and Aldermen with their Assistance took Councel together to drive him and his Adherents out of the City and oppose his further entrance thereunto The effect whereof in the Issue was that After a sharp bickering and contest upon the Bridge the Mayor and the Citizens got the better the Kentish-Men were worsted a truce for a few hours was concluded on whereof the Lord Chancellor took the Advantages by a general pardon to disperse the malecontent and Cade himself was within a little time after Slain in a Garden in Sussex So fatal was it to him by this his Robberies thus to have displeas'd the Citizens For Fabian tells us expresly that had it not been for that he might have gone far and brought his purpose to good effect if he had intended well And so Prejudicial might it have been to the Court had he not by these extravagancies forfeited that favour and respect which had before been shewn him at London to such a degree that the Commons were very highly incens'd against Alderman Horne for opposing the admission of him and his company thereinto at a Common-Councel held by the Mayor aâ Guild-Hall and speaking vehemently against such as were for his entrance and ceas'd not saith thâ Annalist till they had him committed to New-gate But now the tide is turn'd again and the King himself is joyfully received by the Citizens of that very same place from whence ere-while he thoughâ it his best security to depart As the Citizens Favour ebb'd and flow'd such was the posture of his affairs in the wane or the full so stooâ his fortune either increasing or decreasing where of here is a demonstration that no body can deny thaâ has but an Historial Faith unless he woulâ have us believe that the many Historians thââ writ hereof could joyn altogether in an unusual confederacy at several times and from several placeâ to impose a manifest falshood upon posterity An Opinion almost as absur'd pardon the compariâon though not to that degree as theirs who âs foolishly as prophanely fancy the original Penâen of the Scriptures made a mutual agreement though in several ages and from different parts of âhe Universe to obtrude those writings âpon the World for the Word of the Eternal God ãâã of I know not what design of State-Policy to keep ãâã Common People in greater aw and subjection to ââeir Governours How fair a Cast the Yorkists lately had for the âame through the City's Favour till their own ãâã management lost it we have seen But that as not all It left such a rub in their way that may be suppos'd to have spoyl'd their bowling upââ the next open adventure For in the thirtieth ãâã the Duke of York in Person having rais'd an ââmy upon disgusts and pretences and the King ââing in the Head of another to oppose Him He ãâã out of the way and eschews the Kings ãâã and hastens as fast as he could up to London ââping doubtless for assistance or recruits thence ãâã being deceived in his expectations upon notice ââen him that the Londoners would not admit his ârance to refresh himself or his People he ââightwayspasses away from London over the Thames ãâã Kent and what pray now was the event ãâã Not according to his wishes successful we may ãâ¦ã For from the History we may easily ãâã he thought it his greatest interest to come ãâã terms of accommodation with the King had ãâã such been his apprehensions doubtless he would ãâã have yielded thereto dismisses his Army and ãâã in Person into his Majesties Presence where ãâã with the Duke of Somerset he ãâã was accused of conspiring the Kings Death and usurpation of the Crown and sent before the King as a Prisoner to London where he was kept a while till upon a Report of his Sons coming with another Army towards London the Queen and Her Councel thought it convenient to set him at Liberty upon taking openly his Oath of Submission and Allegiance at the High-Altar in St. Pauls-Church before the King and great part of His Nobility To what a plunge was the Duke and his party here driven and with how many difficultyes did the King and his side likewise contest while neither of them were absolutely sure and certain of the City that she would cordially assist the one against the other York was disappointed in his Hopes and Confidence of the Citys favour and thereupon had run himself into great danger for which he knew at that Instant no better remedy than to swear over again his Allegiance to him whom he had intended and designed for a long time to depose The Kings Party heard of an Army marching up towards London against them and rather then venture to throw themselves upon the hazard of a battail withouâ better assurance of the Citys Love and affection they consented to set at Liberty the Head of the oppositâ Party then in their Hands a Prisoner and permiâ him to go whither he pleas'd notwithstanding they had so much reason to fear and dread his Designs And possibly they esteem'd it greater wisdom to Temporise for a Season till they had made their Party visibly stronger in London and more able to copâ with that secret reserve of favourers which they might fear the Duke of York had still in the City as concluding him and his party a litle better advised than to break out into open Arms againsâ the present established Government without somâ probability of help and assistance thence or at leasâ some suggestions thereof before they put on theiâ Armour This seeming not an irrational supposal appears to me to carry the face of another argument of the Citys Power For t is undeniably plain that the Yorkists carryed the day when she afterwards within a few years declared her self openly for them as I shall come by and by to shew when I have produc'd two or three passages more as further evincing proofs of this Honourable Citys Strength and Influence One is noted in Fabian in the Thirtyfifth year upon occasion of dissention and unkindness hapning between the young Duke of Somerset and the Earl of Salisbury's Son both at that time lodg'd within the City For the Mayor having notice hereof is expresly said to have ordain'd such Watches and Provisions in the City that if either had stir'd he was able to have subdued both Partyes and kept them in duress till he had known the Kings further Pleasure And the Event was answerable to his Intent For the Friends on both sides being well aware of the strict Watch and Ward and the Consequents thereof labour'd so effectually for an Accommodation that they concluded an Agreement between them for that time without any further disturbance for the present that we read of So well able were the Citizens to keep and preserve the Kings peace whether they would or no. They durst not provoke each other to open Hostilityes in that City whose Power and Armes they had most
temper and inclination he lays Claim to the Crown in open Parliament and had it at last Entail'd upon himself and his Heirs King Henry to retain the Name and Honour of King during Life if he did not voluntarily Resign and the Duke of York to be Declared Heir Apparent to the Crown and Protector of the King's Person Lands and Dominions with some other Conditions Exceptions and Reservations This we may suppose was as much as they then âound the Citizens willing to agree and consent to âor the present For we have it from Stow on the âne hand that the Duke of York when he Challeng'd âhe Kingdom as right Heir which Cotton's Abridgeâent fixes upon the 16th of October purposed to have âeen Crowned on Allhollan-day next following and ân the other side that the King was very much faâoured and highly honoured by the common People for his Holiness of life and abundant Clemency Whether the Citizens would have yielded to more or not I cannot be positive but this I am sure of that they so far gave way that now the York Party had got much the better end of the Staff by an Act of Parliament as well as by Arms Title and the Cities Affections and made use of it accordingly to the Old Kings actual Deposition and the setting up of a New one at London before the next Spring was over by the concurrent consent of many substantial Citizens thereof This the Yorkist Faction had reason enough notwithstanding their prosperous success in the Country to acknowledge as a great favour of the Commonalty of London and impute the following success to their Corstancy in adhereing to their Party after a double overthrow given the Yorkists by the Lancastrians when the Magistracy seemed in part at least to have altered Opinions and Resolutions if not their Affections For would but the Commons have sate still and continued Neutral in the Contest the other side was in a fair way to have made their Party good against the Yorkists but the Commons opposition to their Mayors Proceedings stem'd the Current to the others benefis and the manifest disadvantage of the Queen and the Court. Whereby we may observe where lies the orength of the City and who are likeliest in the end to carry the day the Mayor or the Commons when they vary in their Sentiments and as different Parties pull two contrrry ways The whole Story the Occasion and the Consesequences are to be seen in our English Historians who among the diversity of their Relations in many things and wonted variety in expressing the Transactions of the Times concur nevertheless in the Issue and Event of the Actions then iâ hand For let any of them write never so partially out of Favour and Affection the Truth will out at last and shall prevail against all opposition The Queen with her Northern Army had overthrown and slain Richard Duke of York and routed his Party at Wakefield and afterwards discomfitted the Earl of Warwick and his Power at Saint Albons upon Bernard Heath and so delivered King Henry out of their hands who pretended to be his Life Guard but were in reality his Keepers Observes Overseers and Governours or in an yet harsher term though as true a sence his Jaylors upon which important Successes the Queen sent to the Mayor of London willing and commanding him in the King's Name speedily to send her Victuals without delay for her Army which Command the Mayor strove presently with great diligence to put in Execution by preparing several Cart-Loads of Lenten Provision and sending them to Cripple-Gate towards the Lancastrians Camp at Saint Albans But there the Commons unanimously withstood their further passage and by strong hand kept the Carts from going out of London saying It did not behoove them to feed their Enemies who intended to Rob the City and having repulsed the Northern Horsemen robbing in the Subberbs upon their attempt to enter that way into the City and slain three of them continued so firm and fixt in their Resolutions that let the Mayor do what he could by Exhortation and Arguments to shew them the danger that might ensue by stopping the Carts he could neither reclaim nor alter their minds nor by any means prevail upon them but in the end was fain to send the Recorder and some of the Aldermen to the Kings Council to request the Northern Mens Dismission besides two Female Mediators to interceed for him to the Queen and excuse his not using force in those dangerous and doubtful times against the Commons opposition least their fury being once stir'd it might not so easily have been allaid again Whereupon the Queen was sending some of the Lords with 400 Soldiers to the City to take a view of the peoples demeanour but having her hands full upon certain notice that the Earl of March Yorks Eldest Son and the Earl of Warwick with joint Forces were coming up in all haste to London she departed with the King her Husband and Son into the North her only refuge having little trust in Essex less in them of Kent but least of all saith Stow in the Londoners so little avail'd it to have the Mayor and some of the chief Commoners on her side as Fabian intimates when the Commonalty i. e. the vast majority held with the Duke of York and his party wherefore upon the Courts departure from St. Albans the Earl of March with his Yorkists entered the City in Lent with a great Attendance and was joyfully received the people resorting to him in great numbers out of Kent Essex and other parts to see aid and assist this lusty Prince as the Annalist words it in whom the hope of all their joy consisted as soon as his coming thither was known where he was quickly Proclaimed and acknowledged King by consent in the beginning of March and after eight or ten Battels actually Crowned in June with great Royalty and a splendid appearance of Lords and Commons Mayor Aldermen and Citizens In so high a degree did the Cities actions sway the Country and such an advantage was it to the Yorkists to have gained her over to their Party I need not here remark the prevalency of the Commonalty over the Temporising Mayor and his time-serving Interest the event plainly she wing in these particulars Vox Populi to have been Vox Coeli because I have touched upon this string already But this however I am warranted from History to observe that the Londoners after they had once throughly placed their hearts upon the House of York they continued so fixt and firm to their Interest that no shocks of Fortune nor the Troubles and Commotions about the middle of King Edwards Reign could shake the firmness of their adherence to him so fast was he Rivetted in their Affections nor yet the Popularity of the great Earl of Warwick himself so much greater than a King as that which makes is greater than that it makes whose Hospitality may be supposed to have
Money and the good will of the Citizens by lying with their wives as looking at first appearance too Comical and Jocular to be sound when sifted to the bottom Why else did this Experiment never succeed before nor since I don't think but there have been other Princes besides this Amorous Yorkist sitting upon the English Throne whose Consciences would never have boggled at borrowing Money and then Cornuting their Creditors if this Recipe could have shewn its Probatum est But whatever Reasons History or Phancy suggests this is most undeniably certain as being matter of fact that the City was visibly ingag'd in the Yorkists Interest before ever that Family could attain to the height of their desires From whence I doubt not to conclude that had the Citizens been otherwise inclin'd and continued firm and fixt to the House of Lancaster the Duke of York might indeed have laid his Claim and pleaded Title with many other fair-spun pretences as the Prerogative of Birth Priviledge of Law the impossibility of altering a Native Right by previous Contracts Vows Oaths or Prescription and the Injustice of breaking the Thread of an Orderly Succession but all this notwithstanding he might still have remained for ought we can be sure of far enough off from compassing his Ambitious Desires or from the possibility of coming within view of his Journeys End the City standing between him and the wished for Haven The Observation is obvious from several passages aforegoing The City in it self is too great to be over-aw'd and her influence over the Country consequently too powerful to have it long quietly over-rul'd by any Party whatsoever with whom she refuses to concur Another Observation give me leave to make en passant and that shall be upon the time and season not of the Citizens manifesting their Affections but of their actual appearance in behalf of the Duke and his Party This I observe to have been not presently and immediately in the fore-front and the very first beginning but upon the coming up of the Yorkists to London with Swords by their sides and resolution in their minds So that they seem first to have been approvers and then Seconds to the Dukes Party in their designs upon their open Declaration Before that the Commonalty so openly and resolutely refused to let Provisions pass to the Lancastrians Camp at St. Albans the Duke of York had declared himself in the midst of his Friends and Adherents at London ready to assist him and though he was then dead having been slain in Battle and the Lancastrians so near the City at that very same time yet his Eldest Son being in the Head of an Army in the Country was soon come to London received Elected approved and set up for King by their approbation consent and good liking This likewise may be observed to have been the common custom and usage of the City as an ordinary English Reader may easily find in several places of this Relation upon a review or careful recollection of what hath been before set down or else to satisfie his Curiosity without trusting to this Transcription he may search after the passages himself in such Authentick Authors as Fabian Stow Speed Baker or the like Chronicles of the English Affairs which being easier met with than the Original Writers of these times he will be put to the less trouble upon any doubt occurring in any things here delivered for matter of Fact in that I have chose to draw up this Treatise for the most part out of these laborious Collectors Where it is observable that the Cities inclinations being by some one or other overt act as manifestly declared or else plainly perceived or shrewdly guessed at by the industry and vigilence of the discrning Spirits of the Age the discontented Nobles were quickly encouraged thereupon and inclined to withdraw into the Marches of Wales or the Borders of Scotland and there gathering together their Party and Raising as great Forces as time and opportunity would permit away they come in all hast as fast as they can up to London where being joyfully and gladly received with great applause and approbation the Courtiers were often compelled to fly for their safety and the Governing Party desperse elsewhere to try it out by dint of Sword at which they were commonly worsted or else quietly yield to such conditions as would be approved in the City and were acceptable to the Party the result whereof generally was the calling of a Parliament as the desire of the Subject though the dread and fear of the Court But for the better illustration of this remark I shall produce modern experience and instance in what hath hapned within the memory of thousands yet living That under the late Usurpation the City was very desirous of a Free-Parliament is not to be doubted of And yet we find she sate still quiet and pretty well contented to outward appearance amidst the various changes from an Old Protector to a New one from that to the Rump and thence to the Committee of Safety as if over ridden or like a wearied Beast silently couching down under her heavy burthens almost wholly insensible and as one unconcerned But as soon as General Monk out of Scotland had openly declared his dislike of the Armies extravagancies and was come up from Coldstream amidst the Visits of the Gentry and Acclamations of the people so near the City as Harbrow we hear presently of Commissioners come thither to him from the City and their proposing a re-admission of the Secluded Members that the Parliament might be made full and free This was the first Publick Address I meet with looking that way but after this we read of many from various parts of the Land and almost all Counties of the same Nature with that from the Capital City of the Nation as if all had been animated by the influential Rays of her Inclinations and her Results were the superior faculties of the Soul ove-ruling the inferior Members of the Body But the City staid not here for as she addressed so she was resolved for a full house before she would pay any publick Taxes And tho' Monk upon stricter declar'd Resolutions put her into a great Consternation for a time by pretending to over-aw her with his Soldiers which was not in any wise expected at his hands yet upon his application to her Common-Council when he return'd the next day with his Army to regain their almost lost favour and what then might not they have done of themselves when their amazement sprung from the suddenness of the unexpected surprise was abated they approv'd of his Intentions to have the House of Commons fill'd up demonstrated it with Bells and Bonfires persuaded and procured his continuance amongst them whereby his own Security was consulted and those Designs most successfully carried on which laid the way open to his present Majesties Peaceable Restauration For this Concurrence of the City with General Monk's Resolutions brought about the Restitution
of the Secluded Members that procured a free and fuller meeting of the Lords and Commons and soon after the King was recall'd from his forced Exile to the open Exercise of his Royal Power and Authority over these his Three Nations and made his Publick Entrance in the greatest Calm of Peace and Tranquility imaginable Thanks to the Honourable City for concurring so unanimously to the Revival of the remaining part of the Old Parliament which brought forth so Miraculous Effects as to have an Injur'd and Exil'd Prince fully restor'd to his Throne and yet the Glory of the Action not tinctur'd with Blood Such was the Influence of Londons concurrence of Londons Power of Londons Prayers If then the many instances hitherto related being conjoyn'd rise not up to a demonstration as much Mathematical as the subject can bear I know not what will As for the truth of them I defie any one to disprove me who hath but the least grain of sence and reason in him and as much Historical knowledge as may amount to the sixtieth part of a scruple The particular reasons of the Cities Potency have been shewn and the general ground thereof is as plainly evident For how can it otherwise be but that a City endowed with such Royal Grants fortified with so many and so great Priviledges and exalted to the heighth of Grandeur by the vastness of her Trade multitude of her Merchants Wealth and Riches of her Inhabitants Spirit and Courage of her Citizens Stateliness of her Buildings Preheminances of her Antiquity Conveniency of her Scituation and Regular Order of her Government so Ennobled with the highest Courts of Judicature for the Law adorned with numerous Churches for the Gospel and frequented by Strangers from all parts of the habitable World the Receptacle of all Arts and Sciences the Haunt of the Commonalty the Delight of the Gentry the Habitation of the Nobility the Residence of the King and Glory of the whole Nation so pleasant to Admiration and so populous to a Wonder where many Scores if not Hundreds of Thousands can be Raised and Armed in a few Hours Warning How I say can it otherwise be but that such a City must needs highly influence over-rule and over-awe the Counsels of the Nation and turn the Inclinations of the People whithersoever she please For Nature generally uses the common ordinary means and methods and I do not see that the All-powerful God of Nature often diverts her Course or works Wonders and Miracles in every Age and Season Now that London is such a City I appeal to History and Experience for my Witnesses These are the Observations I had to make concerning the Glories of the City of London and the Influences she had upon the grand Concerns of the Nation in that great and famous Contest between the two Houses of Lancaster and York through the most considerable part whereof I have hitherto traced her Actions wherein finding her most triumphant amidst the great variety of the publick Transactions of these times I think it not much material to give so distinct a Relation of her private Affairs though among them I might likewise find many things most worthy of Remak as hastening apace towards the Conclusion of this Treatise that it may not swell into too great a bulk to the Reader 's Discouragement and the wearying out of his Patience I fear already almost tired Wherefore as to what concerns the private Troubles of the City the Tumults Riots and Insurrections sprung up out of her own Bowels in these perilous Times and happily supprest by the Power of her Majestrates and the accidental Casualties happening within her Liberties or else the many Benefits accruing to her by the Care and Vigilance of her chief Officers the good Rule and Order of her Government the strict Observation of her particular Ordinances and putting in Execution her Injunctions Or as to what relates to the external Augmentation of her Honour her Splendor and Renown by the Reparation of her Walls Renovation of her publick Structures founding and erecting of new Fabricks I pass them all over without a more particular mention sending the curious and inquisitive to the Chronicles Baker's especially who hath treated purposely of such remarkables in distinct Sections at the end of the Kings Lives as not so pertinent to my present design tho' in other Kings Reigns I may have here and there touch'd upon some such Remarks And shall direct the Reader with an Instance of the Courage of some bold spirited women of the City having hitherto entertain'd him with the Heroick and Illustrious Acts only of the other Sex The Relation I have out of Stow who places it in the Seventh of King Henry the Sixth Anno 1428. where after mention made of a Parliament Asiembled at Westminster that Year he gives it us in these words In this Parliament there was one Mrs. Stokes with divers other stout Women of London of good reckoning well Apparell'd came openly to the upper-house of Parliament and deliver'd Letters to the Duke of Gloucester and to the Arch-Bishops and to the other Lords there present containing matter of Rebuke and sharp reprehension of the Duke of Gloucester because he would not deliver his Wife Jaqueline out of her grievous Imprisonment being then held Prisoner by the Duke of Burgundy suffering her there to remain so unkindly and for his publick keeping by him another Adultress contrary to the Law of God and the honourable Estate of Matrimony Bold words and bold women For this Duke was then Lord Protector of the Realm and so confequently of great Power Place and Dignity therein But these were Londoners that durst be so couragious as to say to Princes Ye are Wicked and then the wonder is not altogether so great on one hand that they dar'd to reprehend the great ones of the Age and on the other that we still find such Heroical Spirits in the City since they spring from such a Race both by the Fathers side and the Mothers The Roman Historians celebrates the Memory of that Noble Matron who came into open Court and with so undaunted a spirit of boldness pleaded her own Cause to the great amazement of the Senate for the present that they made an Order to forbid the like for the future What Viragoes then were these English Matrons of London that in open Parliament durst reprove the Nobles to their faces and were not afraid to attempt to teach our Senators wisdome wherein they may seem to have out-did that fam'd Roman Matron in that what she did may be thought to have proceeded from self-love and self-defence whereas these with a greater Courage espous'd another Cause an excess of Charity and Humanity and instead of staying for an opportunity of defending their own Interest upon occasion or necessity durst voluntarily make an onset on the more powerful with sharp rebukes for neglecting the distressed and refusing to assist the poor weak and disconsolate So that the Royal
City of London appears emulous of the Old Imperial City of Rome both in the Courage of the Women and valour of her men as if resolved not to yield to her Fame on any account in Glory and Merit nor come behind her in the Heroick Acts of either of the Sexes while one continues as potent in the Brittish World by the Spirit of the Citizens and influence of her Actions as the other once was famous for her Arms all over Europe Asia and Africa And who knows whitherto she may come in time as how far the Fates or rather Providence have decreed to advance her Was she so powerful so many Ages since what is she now since that she 's very much encreased in the Strength and Number of her Inhabitants and her private Buildings are reform'd from Wood and Earth into Brick and publick into Stone low humble Cottages into stately Edifices and who dares be so positive to aver that they may not in time be chang'd into Marble Hitherto have I treated the Reader with variety of Proofs and Evidences sufficiently I hope demonstrative of the Repute Fame Honour Glory and Renown Magnificence Grandeur Strength Power and Influence of this so Triumphant a City whose Approbation and Assistance hath setled Kings upon their Thrones and the dissatisfaction of whose Inhabitants hath sometimes left the way open to the ruine of Princes In the Examples and Instances whereof the Concurrence of her Citizens was for the most part general and universal at least so far as concern'd the Majority But now I shall produce an Instance and not easie perhaps to be parallell'd from either Divine or prophane Writings to shew how influential the bare shadow of her Name hath been in State-Affairs and how contributary to the transforming of a Subject into a King without any apparent assent of the Main Body of this ancient Corporation which I am so far from thinking a diminution of her Glory that I rather look upon it as here circumstantiated to be an Argument of the City's great Power Reputation and Esteem under this Consideration That if that aspiring Protector the bloody Duke of Gloucester better known by the Name of Crook-back'd Richard the Third could do so much by the shadow what might he not have done could he have but enjoyed the substance As in Divinity Circumstances make many an Action good or bad so in History the Design and Event not seldom ennobles or debases an Enterprize 'T is not so much the bare Act or thing done in this particular that is to make good my Assertion as the Deduction from the Consequences thereof whether real or designed which come now to be related in this manner following When that ambitious Crook-back'd Duke upon his Brother's Death had got his eldest Son and Heir and the rightful King into his hands and by treacherous Plots devis'd Crimes and false Calumniations taken away the Lives of those true and trusty Friends of the old King that were most likely to continue faithful to his young Son and Heir in his Minority and loyally stand by him with their Lives and Fortunes against the open Attempts or secret Designs of his Treacherous Uncle and thereby remov'd many of the Rubs out of the way to his aspir'd greatness His next Care was to get the Peoples Consent to the turning of his Ducal Corronet into a Regal Crown and their Concurrence to acknowledge him for their King whereas before he was but Protector But how should this be done A Pretence must be found to cajole them seeing that he had so little Equity and Justice on his side to confirm them to him The City of London was known to be powerful and populous and their Example was thought to do much with the rest of the Nation to make them if not approve at least connive at his Nephew's Deposition and his own Exaltation therefore the Citizens were to be Caress'd and their Approbation to be sought Whereupon he seeks for and procures Instruments fit for his turn that to honour his ambitious Desires stuck not openly to turn Renegado's to Truth Honesty and Loyalty so that they mighâ get Worldly Honour and Preferment thereby Among whom none of the less noted nor least useful are reckon'd the present Lord Mayor of London a Man of a proud Heart and highly desirous of Advancement how little soever he deserv'd it and two brazen-fac'd Sons of the Church both great Preachers of more Learning than Virtue of more Fame than Learning So useful hath the Pulpit in the Church been always thought to carry on Intreagues in the State The Contrivance was first to prepare the People and break the Matter at Paul's-Cross and then Motion it to the Citizens at Guild-hall to accomplish which and bring his purpose to perfection the Duke cared not so his dead Father were thought or call'd a Cuckold his Mother a Whore his Brethren Bastards and his Nephew illegitimate to the shame of the whole House of York such Fires of Ambition rul'd and rag'd in his Heart The flattering Clergy-men readily did their Parts in the Pulpit as far as they were able but with so ill success to the Duke's Cause and their own Reputation that he was wholly disappointed of the desir'd Acclamations and they lost their Credit and Estimation among the People ever after One lost his Life after his Sermon the other his Voice in the midst of his Preaching and so was forc'd to leave off and come down From Paul's Cross away go we the Tuesday following the Doctor 's Sermon to Guild-hall and there we find the Mayor upon the Hustings and all the Aldermen assembled about him and the Commons of the City gather'd before them To whom the Duke of Buckingham newly come thither attended with divers Lords and Knights from the Court makes a long and large Oration about the Grievances under the late King his many unnecessary Taxations great Severities and the looseness of his Life to cast dirt thus upon the late King's Government was thought then it seems an effectual Means to make way for this Popish Successor ãâã them of the Doctor 's Sermon and desires them to joyn with him and others in a Petition to the Duke to take upon him the Name and Office of a King hoping by his many Arguments and Perswasions with the volubility of his Tongue to obtain the Citizens Concurrence in a full Cry of of King Richard King Richard But they were it seems by the story very deaf of hearing on that Ear to his no little wonder and amazement Wherefore upon further consultation with the Mayor and others privy to the Design Buckingham resumes his Discourse and rehearses the same over again with a louder Voice as if the Citizens had not all heard or not well understood the meaning of his former Speech But neither did this move their Affections nor produce a Word in favour of the Motion from the Auditors Then Mr. Recorder by the Mayor's Advice was pitch'd upon to second
the Duke upon hopes that it might be better accepted from him as the publick Mouth of the City Full loth we may well think was he an honest Man and newly come to his Honour and Preferment having never spoken to the Citizens before from that place to begin upon so harsh and unpleasing a Subject But however the Mayor's Commands must be obey'd He therefore makes a Rehearsal of the Duke's Words but so far from being transpos'd alter'd or augmented that he plainly shew'd whaâ he did was in Obedience to the Lord Mayor's Commands not out of affection or good will to thâ Cause or the Duke What then could it avail thâ Mayor and his Party that Mr. Recorder was compell'd to be their Mouth when 't is plain from hiâ Speech that he spoke others Sentiments not hiâ own And this was easily perceiv'd on all handâ For the Citizens stood still as mute as Fishes or deaâ as Adders that would not hearken to the Voicâ of the Charmer nor tune their Pipes to the Sonâ of a base flattering Courtier Well then conseââ they could get none Hitherto not a word of approbation what must be done next Why when we despair of Citizens Words and Wishes we 'll e'en pretend to reject them as useless and unnecessary seeing they will not be model'd to our minds And therefore at last the Citizens are plainly told that all the Nobles of the Realm are resolv'd already upon the Point a thing as true as the Mayor was Honest or the Duke Loyal and their ultimate Answer was demanded Upon which follow'd secret Whisperings and a confused Bur among the People till at last some of the Duke's Servants and others of their procuring Prentices and other Lads thrust into the Hall among the Press set up their Notes at the lower end threw up their Caps in token of Joy and loudly cry out upon King Richard This the Duke and Mayor seeing they could have not better take advantage of and would have it forsooth pass for an unanimous Consent and the universal Approbation of the City though the whole multitude of Citizens answer'd them not a word only cast back their heads and marvelled what those meant behind them with their whoopings and hollowings A goodly Cry quoth the Duke and thanks them and so departs The next News we hear is of a Petition immediately made the Morrow after to the Protector at Baynard's Castle to take upon him the Rule and Government of the Realm as rightful King to which with much ado and intreaty poor Man he at last yielded as if altogether compell'd through meer necessity and others importunity the Duke of Buckingham coming in the Name of himself the Lord Mayor and his Brethren as indeed we find them there amongst others to see this notorious piece of dissimulation acted over So slips this dissembling Yorkist into the Throne over his young Nephew's head whom afterwards he cruelly caus'd to be murder'd is Crowned and Reigns as King for a time the Holla's and Huzza's of a few Courtiers and Prentices being impos'd upon the Nation for the Universal Consent of the City of London though the Duke's Party could not obtain so much as that Complement from the Citizens themselves Seeing therefore they could not embrace the Substance they were resolv'd I would say to grasp at the Shadow were I sure the Criticks would not Censure the Expression For being not able to prevail upon the Masters they endeavour'd to try Experiments on the Apprentices and failing of the Majority of the Men are content to be playing with the Boys And if this now may be call'd the Concurrence of the City 't is easie doubtless to be had at any time with Feasting and Fudling Let the distrustful or evil thinking person consult Mr. Stow about the Life and Reign of King Edward the Fifth and then he may see Authority enough for the precedent Relation Thus we see the Duke is mounted at last up into the Saddle and from a Protector that might have been legal he becomes a King most unlawfully by very unjust Means and indirect Methods by defrauding his poor innocent Nephew of his Birth-right and afterwards depriving him of his Life aspersing his own Mother with Adultery imputing Bastardy to his Brethren and bringing a dishonourable Reflection upon his Father But can we think such an ill-gotten Crown could ever prosper with him No sure 'T was improbable and impossible The Furies are stirr'd up to torment him for Providence sleeps not nor could Vengeance lag long behind The City never gave her full consent notwithstanding all the endeavours of that false Knave her Mayor therefore she had reason and occasion enough for the deepest Resentments to see her Name without her Authority basely abus'd by Treachery and Deceit to promote other Mens corrupt Designs and the Duke so lately transpos'd into a King sufficient Grounds for continual Fears Jealousies and Suspicious about the fickleness and unsetledness of his own State and Condition being so insecure and uncertain of the City's hearty good will and affections as knowing the Cheat he had newly put upon the Nation and the Affront he had offered to the whole Body of the Citizens in making use of their Names without their Consent and Concurrence to settle himself in his intended Usurpation Bosworth-field also is drawing nigh a pace where he shall be forc'd to pay Nature her last Debt Justice shall have her due and a full period shall be put to all his villanous Acts and Enterprizes after a short Reign or Usurpation of two Years two Months and a Day or two the shortest Term by far of any Kings Reign since the first William unless we admit Edward the Fifth for Method and Customes sake into the Number of our Kings who for Ten Weeks space bore the Name though it may be more properly call'd the Tyranny of the Duke than the Reign of the King Enter next the Earl of Richmond a Lancastrian a Family directly opposite to the House of York till now in Combination against Crook-back Richard that did endeavour to destroy them all and on a design of a union of both Interests in the persons of the Heirs on both sides with a few Friends and foreign Mercinaries at Milford-Haven in Wales and the hopes of a considerable Number of Auxiliaries ready to joyn and assist him in his March up directly towards the City of London For this seems to have been his main aim and intended purpose from his Letters sent to his Friends to come in with all speed to his Assistance as in whose Affections doubtless he put much trust and confidence neither was he deceiv'd therein in that after his successful Victory over his Enemies at Bosworth where we date the first beginning of his Reign under the Name of Henry the Seventh upon his remove towards London and his near approach to the City we find the City so far from the least shadow of opposition that on the contrary they prepar'd to
receive him with Demonstrations of great Joy and Gladness for his safe and happy arrival there The Habit of the Mayor Aldermen and Citizens were either Scarlet or Violet and his Reception was in great State and Pomp they meeting him in orderly Array without the City and so conveying him through it to St. Pauls Neither may we think him insensible of their Favours if Baker records the truth as indeed I am not able on any good grounds to contradict him when he says that the City of London was this King's Paradice nor provably consute the Reasons he gives for his Assertion viz. That what good Fortune soever befel him he thought he enjoy'd it not till he acquainted them with it And can we fancy he had not good Grounds and Inducements for this honourable Acknowledgment of their Kindness and Goodness shewn him by them besides the first Expressions thereof in the beginning of his Reign when he was so far from being well warm'd in his Seat that he was not yet enter'd upon the Throne by the Solemnity of a Coronation nor had taken possession of the Government with the usual Ceremonies and Customary Formalities Certain it is that I read in Fabian Shâriff of London in his days that he had considerable Sums of Money of the City more than once twice or thrice an Assistance as requisite often times as Men in Arms and not seldom more difficult for Princes to obtain There being idle men enough generally at all times ready to come in at the Sound of Trumpet or Drum if there be but an Assurance or Probability of good Pay which to compass is commonly a difficulty not so easily surmounted even by great Kings and Princes so scarce a Commodity is Gold and Silver Coin Neither do I find the City at any time complaining or opposing or joyning with his Enemies For notwithstanding his settlement on the Throne and his uniting the two Families into one by marrying Edward the Fourth's eldest Daughter he had a Lambert and a Perkin to disturb his Quiet and Repose about Title A Favour therefore doubtless this was not inconsiderable in those days For the City of London is known to have been able to do much had she been so inclined Whereof we may well believe the King was very sensible and so were the opposers of his peaceable tranquility were it only from this consideration that when in the Second of his Reign it was bleer'd about by his Enemies that the Earl of Warwick George Duke of Clarences Son was escap'd out of the Tower and a counterfeited Earl was provided to act the part of the true one to draw People to their Assistance which might have created no little trouble to the King and greatly endanger'd his Person and Dignity to disappoint and frustrate their Designs and fully lay open the Cheat of all Parties and Places of his Kingdom he chose London to shew therein the right Earl of Warwick to the People though the principal Scene of those Affairs were then laid in Ireland And the other side appear'd so fearful of the Effect thereof upon the Londoners and their Influence doubtless upon the rest of the Nation even Ireland it self though so far distant that to buoy up the Spirits of their own Party they thought it most effectual to report about the Island that that was a Counterfeit purposely train'd and taught by King Henry and shew'd by him in London to blind the Eyes of the Simple and Ignorant So sollicitous were both to encrease the number of their Adherents and draw the People of the Land to a belief of the honesty and sincerity of their Intentions and Equity of their Actions among whom the City of London is certainly the greatest Body fitly joyn'd together by good Laws and Constitutions greatly confirm'd by an orderly succession of her Magistrates and much strengthned by a long and large train of continual Successes But the City continued fix to the King's Interest and therefore the others Devices and Pretences work'd little or nothing upon the Citizens They were rather ready to rejoyce on all occasions for his victorious Success than pronâ to take part with his Enemies against him whereof they gave him sufficient Testimonies at several times and seasons when they had opportunity to express their Affections in a more free and open way at such glorious Solemnities as Coronations Installations publick Receptions and Royal and Princely Marriages 'T is confess'd that towards the latter end of this King's Reign some of her principal Officers her Mayors and Sheriffs were sore troubled and vext in the King's Courts and large Sums of Money demanded of them for things pretended to be done by them illegally in their Offices and such of them imprison'd as refus'd to pay those Arbitrary Fines as may be seen in Stow's Annals but these were Troubles only of particular Men and common also to many others of the King's Subjects when Empson and Dudley were got into Authority and to humour the old King 's covetous itch after Riches a Vice incident mostly to Old Age reviv'd old forgotten Laws and rais'd large Sums of Money upon Offences against Penal Statutes wherein they acted so exorbitantly and took such arbitrary illegal and unjust Ways many whereof Baker reckons up in his Chronicle to compass their Ends that they themselves at length were become the principal Grievances of the Nation and suffered accordingly in the beginning of the next King's Reign both of them by the hands of Justice being made to pay their Heads for satisfaction to the People and their Promoters most shamefully Pillory'd and Imprison'd So little did it avail them to pretend they put the Laws in Execution or to call themselves the King's Promoters or Informers King Henry the Eighth as soon as he came to the Crown more regarding the Commons Crys and the Complaints of his People than he valued the pretended Loyalty of such profligate Villains as had no other way to pick up a Livelihood than by raking it out of other Mens Miseries and Troubles This Prince in his youth was so much addicted to Pleasures and Pastimes fine Sights and Shews Masks Justs and Tournaments and in his elder years to Cruelty and Tyrannical Oppression that one might be apt to expect and perhaps with some colour of reason that little was to be found in London in the beginning of this King's Reign but Jollity Joy and Rejoycing gaudy Shews and pleasing Objects delightful to the Eye and grateful to Sense a King's Example commonly drawing along with it his Subjects Imitation and that in the latter end scarce any durst presume to make opposition to a Man of so domineering a Spirit as by his own death-bed Confession never spar'd Woman in his Lust nor Man in his Anger And yet notwithstanding we meet with under this Prince Instances of the City's Power Boldness and undaunted Resolution and of the King's Favour to the Citizens The last may haply be concluded even from the Effects of
evil May-day when we read of the King 's pardoning the many hundreds Indicted for that day's Riot and Insurrection at the three Queens intercession upon Cardinal Woolsey's Advice and perchance in Complaisance to the City Not to mention that eminent Instance of the King's Charity Love and Affection to the City when in so great a scarcity of Bread therein that many died for meer want he freely and frankly sent thither out of his own Provisions 600 Quarters of Corn which serv'd for a very seasonable Supply till more could be brought from other Parts But as to the former I dare aver it from the consequence of the Contest between the City and the Cardinal in the 17th year of this King out of Stow and thence prove beyond denial how like her self the City always continued in opposing the Arbitrary Power and Exorbitances of over grown Favourites Commissions were sent forth by Order of the Council into every Shire to Levy the Sixth Part of every Man's Substance towards the King's passage into France but this was so vehemently oppos'd by the People as contrary to ancient Laws and Customs and not granted by the Paliament that the King thought good to deny that he ever knew of that Demand and by soothing Letters sent to London and elsewhere he requested only his Subjects Benevolence This was a Term more plausible than a set Demand and a fix'd Contribution and the Cardinal forsooth would needs undertake personally to induce the City's consent thereto and therefore sent for the Mayor the Almen and the most substantial Common-Councel-Men to Westminster thinking by fair Speeches good Words and large Promises to have overperswaded them To him indeed they lent their Ears but we don't find them over hasty to part with their Purses However they sent Deputies to him Four Aldermen and Twelve Commoners to return him their thanks and every Alderman assembles his Ward and makes a Motion for a Benevolence which was openly deny'd them by the Commonalty Then the Cardinal sends again for the Mayor and his Brethren who informs him what they had done Whereupon he would have examined them apart and demands a benevolence of them in the King's Name But for Answer was told by a City Councellor that the Motion was against an Act of Parliament which could not be disprov'd though it was in part gain-said Thereupon the Mayor resolutely denies to grant any thing so that upon his coming home to London all publick endeavours were laid by and it was declar'd that every man should come to the Cardinal and grant privily what he would This was so little grateful to the Citizens and upon the Mayor's endeavours to qualifie them by promising they should be gently treated and exhorting them to go when sent for they were so highly offended thereat that in their fury they would have had several expell'd the Common-Councel and so without further answer angrily departed home Whereby we may be well assur'd of the truth of Hall's Observation that though the Mayor and Aldermen had granted the Demand the Common-Councel would never have assented For we must know this was done at the Common-Councel call'd the next day after my Lord Mayor came from Court The Result therefore of all was in the Issue that the King openly protests in a great Council call'd at York-place now White-hall that his mind was never to ask any thing of his Commons that might sound to the breach of the Laws and so this Project was rejected and laid aside by order of the Kings Letter sent into all Counties For seeing that the City refused how was it possible to perswade the Country who look upon London as their principal Guide and Directress and so generally square their Actions by the Citizens Rule Doth not then this seem a clear Example of the Londoners constant fixedness to their old Principles of Liberty And if the Reader likewise please it may pass for an Instance of the Citizens disclaiming their Mayor's Resolves and the prevalency of the Commonalty over the Magistracy when resolute in their just opposition As an Overplus I shall cast in a Passage out of Baker's Chronicles where we find it upon Record under the Title of King Henry's Taxations how that when in the Fourteenth Year a Tenth Part of all Mens Substance was required by the Cardinal towards the Charges of the King's Wars and he would havâ had every Man sworn to tell what he was worth The Londoners thinking this very hard they were thereupon excus'd for taking the Oath and allowed to bring in their Bills upon their Honesties from whence may be argued either the Strength Greatness and Power of this honourable City whom the Court nor the Cardinal durst not displease or the great respect then shewn her in regard of those many glorious Rays of Influence she sheds all over all the Land when the Word of a Citizen went as far and was as well accepted as another Man's Oath If such then was the Honour and Respect of the City heretofore what may we think it to be now that London hath since receiv'd so considerable an Addition and Augmentation in several respects by the happy concurrence of many more Circumstances to render it eternally famous Was this City able to hold a Contest with so grand a Favourite and potent a Courtier as Cardinal Woolsey and at last to come off with flying Colours to the vindicating her own Rights and the Liberties of all the Nation besides and the forcing King Henry in the strength of his Age as stout as he was to so great a Compliance as hath been hinted before 'T is plain then she was strong and her Citizens not destitute of Spirit Did the King as cruel as he was to others of his Subjects shew himself favourable to London 'T is evident he had great cause and reason so to do unless he was desirous to be tax'd with ungratitude so un-Prince-like a Crime For we may observe the Citizens were ready enough to please him in any thing wherein their All was not concerned and in that I never yet found them ever prone to humour the Follies of any King living Witness their readiness on all Occasions for the Honour of the King to appear in the most splendid Equipage on publick Solemnities Among which the most remarkable in my Opinion were the Coronation of Queen Ann Mother of the never to be forgotten Queen Elizabeth of blessed Memory with the Preparatives thereto the Celebrity of her Attendance by Water from Greenwich to the Tower and her honourable Conveyance from thence through the City amidst the great variety of pleasing Shews and delightful Objects to Westminster particulariz'd in Stow and the glorious appearance of the Citizens at the great Muster in St. Iames's-Park May the 8th Anno 31. to the Number of Fifteen Thousand in bright shining Armour with Coats of white Silk or Cloth and Chains of Gold where the Citizens strove in such sort to exceed each other in bravery of
Arms and forwardness of Service as if the City had been a Camp and they not Men of the Gown but all profess'd Soldiers which they perform'd to their great Cost but greater Commendation saith Sir Richard Baker But the greatest Inducement may be supposed to have been that they never appear'd prone to join with the King's Enemies of which he had good store abroad besides Domestick Troubles and private Insurrections at home especially towards the latter end of his Reign when he had taken away the Pope's Supremacy excluded his Authority and suppressed the Abbies and Monasteries the chief Fortresses and Pillars thereof either by force of an Act of Parliament or by vertue of the Resignations of their Governours either over-aw'd by fear or brib'd with Pensions Not long after which there were several Commotions in the Land which might have much shaken the Throne had the Citizens openly shew'd any inclination to joyn with these disturbers of the Kings rest and repose but they continuing quiet thâse troubles were quickly compos'd and so the foundation undesignedly doubtless was laid for a publick Reformation which was more vigorously carried on in the next Kings Reign though I hardly think it hath yet arriv'd to such perfection as to render it so compleat as might be piously desired Short was the Reign of this pious Prince Edward the sixth yet not so short but that it gave such an Addition of strength to the Protestant Religion by removing out of the way many of the Relicks of Popery and openly encouraging the Preaching of the Gospel that hitherto it could never be rooted out of the Land notwithstanding the damage it sustained under the next Successor a most violent and rigid Papist and the many secret Plots and practices of Popish Emissaries to undermine it and introduce Popery again into England prov'd upon them Thus was the outward face of Religion visibly chang'd in the City under this Religious King but yet her power we find not in the least diminished nor the esteem our great men had thereof of which we meet with an evident instance in History on account of the difference arisen between the potent Earl of Warwick and some of the Privy Council on the one hand and the Lord Protector Seymour the Kings Mâternal Uncle on the other The Privy Counsellors having designs upon the Protector and withdrawing themselves from Court got to London with their attendance and taking possession of the Tower made it their business to secure the City to their side by sending for the Lord Mayor and Aldermen to Ely house in Holborn where they were assembled and entertaining them with a long Oration about the ill government of the Protector and the many mischiefs that came thereby as they affirm'd upon the Kingdom attended with a request of their joynt assistance to help them to remove him wherein they were so successful that upon the arrival of two Letters almost at the same instant to the Common Council held at Guildhall one from the King and Lord Protector for a thousand of the City to be arm'd in defence of the Kings Person and the other from the Lords to have two thousand men to aid them with the same Plea for defence of the Kings Person and that the City should be well kept with Watches day and night the Citizens shew'd themselves so inclinable to the Lords that they arm'd an hundred horse men and four hundred foot men in defence of the City suitable to the motion of the Lords and sent no Assistance to the Protector though it had been desir'd in the Kings Name but rather suffered a Proclamation containing diverse Articles against him to be made in several Parts of the City and the Lords were entertain'd with a Dinner at one of the Sheriffs the eighth of October after they had been themselves in Person at Guildhall and on the tenth they din'd at the other Sheriffs after that by a Common Council the same day in Stows Computation five hundred men of the City had been granted to be ready on the next morning Evident marks signs and tokens doubtless which way the City bended and the event is a sufficient confirmation thereof For the next News we hear is the removal of the Protector from about the King and the sending him to the Tower within two or three days after where an humble Confession and Submission was his best security for that time by which he got his Liberty some time after and was sworn again a Privy Counsellor but no more a Protector Had the City sent him the Aid requâsted he would possibly have had little reason to have stood infear of the combined Lords or had but her Magistrates continued Neuters in the Case and not been so openly favourable to his Enemies he might perhaps have been able enough to have cop't with them with little or no bazard for he had raised much People about Hampton Court in the Kings Name and conveyed him to Windsor with a great number of Horsemen and Footmen But the Strength and Authority of the City was not to be contradicted much less opposed Thus the Protector lost his Place and well it might have been haply for the King and Nation if that had been all For his Enemies having remov'd him from his Protectorship and thereby gain'd the greater access of Power to themselves and the Principal of them the politick Earl of Warwick lately created Duke of Northumberland advanced in Title and Honour equal with and in Authority and Power above the highest whereby his aspiring thoughts were grown ripe to be put in execution they were resolv'd to have the other touch with him for his Life wherein they made use of the Cities Power to secure them for his Tryal by ordering every Housholder in London to take care of his own Family keep his house and have one ready in arms upon call for the day time and that by Night a sufficient Watch of substantial Housholders should be kept in every Ward So litte durst they attempt without ingaging the City therein and so frail and transitory had been their projecting designs had she refused But with her concurrence what could they not do So then at last tryed the late Protector was acquitted of Treason and condemned for Felony and afterwards beheaded on Tower-Hill much against the Kings Will the Constables of every Ward in London by vertue of a Precept directed from the Council to the Lord Mayor strictly charging the Citizens not to stir out of their houses before a prefixt hour for fear perhaps of a Rescue for 't was known he was well belov'd generally by the People and plainly evidenced when upon a mistake thinking him acquitted they gave so great a shout for joy that it was heard Stow tells us from Westminster-Hall to Long-Arce to the Lords astonishment So fell Sommerset by the malice of his Enemies and weakness of his Friends and we may easily believe 't was not design'd the King should be long liv'd
in England and under the auspicious influence of her Reign the City flourish'd to such an height of Grandeur whether we respect the concourse of Forreign Merchants from abroad or the stateliness of her publick buildings at home the freedom and security of Traffick and the flowing in of Riches and Wealth thereby the famous exploits perform'd by her Citizens in other Countries and Climates and the foundation in those times laid for much greater atchievements by the necessary preparatives of skill and knowledge in Military affairs gain'd by the more frequent Musters and Warlike exârcises of her Inhabitants than in former times or learn't at that Grand Nursery of Souldiers the Artillery Garden that 't is easie to conjecture how secure her Majesty was in the Ctiizens love and loyalty and how happy they thought themselves in the favour and protection of so good great and gracious a Princess 'T is not therefore to be expected that such turns and changes should occur in her days wherein the City might have occasion to interpose her Authority to settle and secure the Nation against the furious attempts of arbitrary Pretenders or lye under any unavoidable necessity of shewing her Power and Influence over it in contradiction to other mens aspiring and ambitious Designs However I am not destitute of an Instance to demonstrate the consequence of her Example and how much all England was influenced thereby to the manifestation of their zeal love and duty to their Soveraign In 88. a year so famous for the Spanish Invasion the Queens Counsel had demanded what the City would do for her Majesty and their Country and the Lord Mayor and Aldermen had referr'd it to their Honours to make their Proposals whereupon fifteen Ships and five thousand Men being required and two days respite at the Cities desire granted for Answer they returned in convenient time and season and entreated their Lordships in sign of their perfect love and loyalty to their Prince and Country they are Stows words kindly to accept ten thousand Men and thirty Ships amply furnished double the number of what was asked and even as London saith my Author gave President the whole Nation kept ranck and equipage so ready were the other Cities Counties Towns and Villages to follow where London went before A plain instance of her powerful influence deny it who can As to what concerns the frequency of the visits the Queen made to London and the great splendor wherewith they commonly welcom'd her home at the end of her Country progresses I pass them all over though undeniable demonstrations of the present content and satisfaction they took in Queen Elizabeths good Government Neither shall I take notice of the many Companies of Soldiers she several times rais'd at her own charges for her Soveraigns Assistance it having been commonly done before under Princes in whom she took delight because I would hasten to King James the first Monarch of great Britain in whose Person England and Scotland were first united though his present Majesty King James's Grand-son was the first born Heir of that happy Union that was Crowned King of both Realms and the first English King by Birth of the Scottish race that ever sate upon the English Throne that we read of To tell how this City flourish'd under this Prince in wealth and riches in a general encrease of trade by forreign Merchandizes and home-made Manufactures The great ornament she received from her publick and private buildings the strength that accrued to her by the numerousness of her Inhabitants and the enlarging her borders the conveniences procur'd her for water by Midleton's River for Recreations by Morefields and pleasantness by paâ'd Streets and the various expressions she made of her glory in the many noble Entertainments of King James and other great personages Forreigners and Natives and the rich presents she frequently gave besides the renown she got abroad by sending greater Numbers of her Ships than formerly into all trading Parts of the World and planting Colonies of her own people in Ireland and Virginia would be tiresome perhaps to the Reader and needless for the Writer since that in Stows Chronicle continued by How these particulars have been so largely treated of whether the curious and inquisitive may apply themselves for further satisfaction Neither shall I trouble my self with making large remarks upon the great honour and dignity for the City's sake belonging to the Lord Mayor thereof of which we seem to have an Instance in the beginning of this Kings reign when Sir Robert Lee then Lord Mayor of London subscrib'd in the first place to the invitation sent the King to come into England before all the great Officers of the Crown and all the Nobility This great Magistrate upon the Kings death being said to be the prime person of England than which what greater honour can there be appertaining to a Subject I have indeed read in Cotton that upon a Poll Bill the Lord Mayor paid four pound as an Earl many years ago in King Richard the second days when but few of the Nobility if any besides the blood Royal bore any higher title And find since at our Kings Coronations that he hath had a principal place and part assigned him particularly at his present Majesties April 23d 61. and in the honourable Cavalcade made from the Tower to Westminster the day before in order thereunto where the Suppliment to Baker's Chronicle out of Elias Ashmole the Windsor Heralds Copy hath placed him between the principal Officers of the Crown and the Duke of York a place doubtless designed him as most suitable to his Dignity and the high Office he bore and yet I count none of these Honours comparable to that before mentioned which seems paramount to all others To be the highest by place in the Kingdom of course for a season sounds greater than to be a Second a Third or a Fourth and is more doubtless to the Honour Credit and Reputation of the City that conferrs this place as she pleases But the chiefest point I intend here to insist on with all convenient brevity and perspicuity is the Declaration of the Cities love and affection to King James and the requital made her by him in return The first I know not how it could be better expressed than by the wonderful readiness and hearty gladness as the Annalist words it of the great City of London where the Magistrates and all other inferior Citizens shewed all possible signs of perfect joy and contentment amidst the general applause of the whole English Nation when he was first proclaimed King of the Realm and we have further demonstrations thereof from the Kings honourable Reception when he came near to London by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen in Scarlet Robes and five hundred grave Citizens in Velvet Coats and Chains of Gold all very well mounted like the Sheriffs and their train one of which had threescore men attending him in fair livery Cloaks Another instance
held up their heads above ground is evident from the many supplies they had from London of Men Mony and Arms the frequent applications they made to her on all extremities and the constant endeavours they us'd to cultivate her friendship and preserve her affections But over these Transactions I shall choose rather to cast a vail of silence than industriously endeavour to lay open the bleeding wounds of the Nation in those days as being fully assur'd of the impossibility of guiding my pen so dextrously in delivering the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth as not to subject my self to censure nor incur the anger displeasure and indignation of any one Suffice it then to say that in the long Vacation of Parliaments under King Charles the first such seeds of discontent were sown in City as well as Country that upon the first opportunity they sprung up into bitter herbs and sour fruit and who tasted most thereof I think all the European world knows sufficiently by this time of day But if any in this age is so ignorant as to wonder how it was possible for the two Houses in forty one to bear up against the King without being dismis'd from Westminster by vertue of the Kings Prerogative the usual method of ancient times and the known practice of later days he is to know and understand that his late Majesty had formally pass'd away his grand Power of Prorogations Adjournments and Dissolutions by an Act of Parliament and so put the staff out of his own hands that he could never recover as long as he lived by force nor intreaty An act of Grace this was that is hardly to be parallel'd and yet perhaps it may be likâned to the Statute made in the second of Richard the second of which I have made mention before against abrupt and untimely dismissions only that this is plainer worded and seems enlarged to a further extent Otherwise considering the use that might have been possibly made of the former it might have look't like the same book with additions new Printed in Octavo which before was bound up in decimo sexto Neither of these are to be found in our New Printed Statute books they pretending not to set down all the Antiquated Repeal'd or expir'd Statutes that ever were in being Therefore if any one desires to humour his curiosity he must apply himself to Cottons Abridgment of the Tower Records for the one and search after the other in some of those books that treat of the affairs of the late times Now the Observator in such a case tells us of Scobel and Husbands Collections Upon which so Authentick an Authority as some esteem it if we have recourse to Scobels Collections of the best Edition 't is ten thousand to one but we shall there find the Statute in this manner following Whereas great summs of mony must of necessity he speâdily advanced and provided for the relief of His Majesties Armâ and People in the Northern parts of this Realm and for preventing the imminent danger tââs Kingdom is in and for supply of other His Majesties present and urgent occasions which cannot be so timely effected as is requisite without Credit for raising the said monies which credit cannot be obtained until such obstacles be first removed as are occasioned by fears jealoâsies and apprehensions of divers his Majesties Loyal Subjects that this present Parliament may be Adjourned Prorogued or Dissolved before Justice shall be duly executed upon Delinquents publick grievances redressed a firm Peace between the two Nations of England and Scotland concluded and before sufficient provision be made for the repayment of the said monies so to be raised All which the Commons in this present Parliament assembled having duly considered do therefore humbly beseech your most excellent Mâjâsty that it may be declared and Enacted And be it declared and enacted by the King our Sovereign Lord with the assent of the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament Assembled and by the Authority of the same That this present Parliament now Assembled shall not be dissolved unless it be by Act of Parliament to be passed for that purpose nor shall be at any time or times during the continuance thereof Prârâgued or Adjourned unless it be by Act of Parliament to be likewise passed for that purpose And that the House of Peers shall not at any time or times during this present Parliament be Adjourned unless it be by themselves or by their own Order And in like manner that the House of Commons shall not any time or times during this present Parliament be Adjourned unless it be by themselves or by their own order And that all and every thing and things whatsoever done or to be done for the Adjournment Proroguing oâ Dissolving of this present Parliament contââry to this Act shall be utterly void and of none effect This Act in Gâneral prov'd the destruction of that branch of the Royal Prârogative which related to calling or dissolving Parliaments and that particular clause in the end that all and every thing and things whatsoever done or to be done for the Adjournment Proroguing or dissolving of this present Parliament contrary to this Act shall be utterly void and of none effect was we may believe from subsequent passages a Plea the wits of the age durst have ventur'd to have stood by against any attempts to discontinue disappoint or frustrate the meeting of the two Houses of Parliament if they had Spiâit and Courage enough to have own'd any thing of the Law So that upon a ground work so firm and a foundation so sure the Parliamentarians valued not all the subtile Arts and devices of their Enemies nor stood in âear of those Mercuâial Engines Pen Ink and Papâr so they could bât defend themselves against those Martial Arguments the bright-shining Sword and the thundring Cannon By vertue of this Clause we may conclude that after the House of Commons was violently depriv'd of many Members thereof the House of Lords wholly put down and that small remainder of a Parliament forc'd out of Doors by Oâiver and the Soldiers after two Protectors and several Assemblies that took on them the venerable Name of Parliaments and some of them too chosen by the People part of the Commons House nevertheless again got into power and being once more thrust out by the Army afterwards Recover'd possession and the whole House was in a fair likelyhood to have been fill'd up by the Re-admission of the secluded Members till they to make way for a greater turn did all that lay in the power of a single House to dissolve the Parliament which with us consists of the King and his two Houses Treating now of the late times and having drawn a vail over the Transactions in the last Wars wherein the City was more particularly concern'd though 't is well known that her power and Influence was very considerable in the many turns and changes through which the State
dearly belov'd Liberties when they might with greater ease and as effectually gently walk them down as a certain Person is said to have express'd it on a much later Occasion The City petition'd and address'd and she was follow'd by the Country She waited a while with patience and the secluded Members that were chosen in forty and from forty eight kept out of the house till fifty nine for almost twelve years space were restor'd in peace and quietness though under some few Obligations And so there was again the face of a House of Commons Being restor'd they dissolv'd themselves in a short time after to make way for another assâmbly call'd a Parliament though some thought in thâse times that the Parliament of Forty had been dissolv'd long before by his late Majesties death and so might haply think this a needless Ceremony It being most certain that that Parliament ow'd its beginning to the Kings Writ although its continuance was thought to depend on the continuing Act as long as the King liv'd Yet notwithstanding the House of Commons had actually dissolv'd themselves and it was become the receiv'd opinion that the Parliament of Forty was in Law dissolv'd before upon the old Kings death the next Assembly Stylo Communi Parliament would not barely stick to either of these ways but thought good likewise themselves by vertue of their Authority to declare that Parliament of Forty dissolv'd Whether or no they thought that the bare Act of a single house of Commons without King and Lords could not in Law be took for a formal Repeal of the former continuing Act made by King Lords and Commons joyntly and so rejected it as really insignificant in its self though made use of for the time and out of a Cautious foresight dreaded some ill consequences attending the receiv'd opinion of the long Parliaments being dissolv'd by the Kings death whether or no the continuing Act were formally repeal'd by as good Authority as made it lest thence in time no body knows when occasion might be taken to argue that if a Kings death repeals one unlimited Act it may likewise on the same ground vacate all by him made and so by affirming the same of all other Princes since the first William a foundation might be laid for the Introduction of Arbitrary Power when evil minded Pretenders are absolute enough to attempt it with hopes of Impunity I pretend not to determine For I remember my self to be a Relater of matters of Fact not a Reader of Law Cases Therefore I proceed to acquaint the Reader that that Assembly though call'd without the Kings Writ yet by his Majesty afterwards most Graciously own'd and acknowledg'd for a Parliament thought it fitting and convenient to declare and enact that the Parliament begun and holden at Westminster the third day of November in the sixteenth year of the Reign of the Late King Charles of blessed Memory is fully dissolved and determined They are the words of the Act to be seen in the Statute-book Cap. 1. 12 Car. 2. This was the Assembly that blessed us with his Majesties actual Restauration towards which there had been made so many steps a little before by the Loyal Nobility Gentry and Commonalty of the Land and the Worthy Citizens of this Honourable City Whose publick Reception and Triumphant Cavalcade through the City of London to White hill was very remarkable for the splendid appearance of the Citizens to conduct him the Gallantry shewn by them on so acceptable a Solemnity and the many demonstrations of joy and gladness they gave him worthy themselves and that glorious day which they had so long expected and contributed so much of their assistance to hasten For which I have a passage or two more to produce besides what hath been already brought For the first out of the supplement to Baker I quote his Majesties most Gracious Letter To his Trusty and well belov'd the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Common Council of the City of London wherein he Honourably acknowledges the publick and frequent Manifestations of their affections to him and the Encouragement and good Example âhey gave the Nation to assert the Ancient Government and thereupon concludes with large Promises of Extraordinary kindness to this his Native City to the Renewal of their Charter Confirmation of all priviledges granted by his Predecessors and the adding of new favours to advance the Trade Wealth and Honour thereof The next is a Commemoration of the Cities Joyful Resentment of this Letter and the Kings Declaration enclos'd in it as it was was express'd by the Grateful Duty of the Common-Council who immediately upon the reading of them ordered a Present of Ten thousand Pounds to be made to His Majesty and a thousand pounds to each of his Brothers And likewise deputed several of the Aldermen and worthy Citizens to attend upon His Majesty from the City with a Presentment of their most Dutiful acknowledgments for his Clemency and Goodness towards them So desirous were they to give him the greatest demonstrations of their affection and Loyalty before his Return and Judiciously Wise as well as Loyal to set all parts of the Nation a good Example to imitate in a ready manifestation of their Duty and Allegiance to him after his Return Neither in this would they be behind hand with any of them all For the City of London as being the first the richest and most Honourable and the Seat of Kings for many ages might Judge it self oblig'd as the Supplementer insinuates in point of duty and Reputation to exceed all the rest in the Glory of their performances towards their Soveraign But whatever the Citizens did think of the Obligation on either side certain enough it is that the reiterated expressions of their Loyalty to the King were Honourable and Meritorious to the highest degree For to the splendor of their former Preparations at his first Reception and Triumphal Entrance they added the cost of a most magnificent Entertainment at Guild-hal for that very purpose richly beautified and adorned whither the King his two Brothers the Lords of the Privy Council the two Houses of Parliament and the chief Officers of State were conducted July the fifth 1660. in great Pomp by the Lord Mayor and the Grandees of the City and treated in a Royal manner with the choicest of Delicacies with excellent Musick and whatever else could be thought on or delightful for so Illustrious an Assembly As if the Citizens thought it not enough to entertain the King but for his sake were resolv'd to put themselves to the charge of gratifying others for their Loyalty Where 's now the Man can bring me a parallel hereto General Monk appear'd and London concur'd and then the House of Commons of the Parliament of forty is immediately reviv'd a face of the Ancient Government restor'd a new Parliamentary Assembly call'd the King sent for home to enjoy his Fathers Throne and most peaceably settled therein without the noise of War or
the cries of the wounded in our streets A Miraculous effect of the Cities influence For what parts of the Land are so inconsiderate to oppose when London is engag'd and resolv'd Former Examples may teach them future wisdom These having been the necessary preparatives in sixty one on Saint Georges day April the 23. comes the Kings Coronation the fairest day except the Preceding in which he made his Cavalcade through London the Nation enjoy'd both before and after if the supplementers Observation be well grounded notwithstanding it began to Thunder and Lighten very smartly towards the end of Dinner time and soon after that another meeting of King Lords and Commons at Westminster whither the Kings Writs had Summoned them to make a New Parliament the former Assembly having been dissolv'd the December before by his Majesties Order and Command How acceptable the Actions of that Assembly were to City and Country hath been hinted before and the concurrence of the King when restor'd was not wanting to Authorize their proceedings yet this new Assembly notwithstanding thinking the manner of it's Assembling not to be drawn into Example and that therewas some defect as to the necessary point of Legality in the Statutes then made or at least desirous to remove all doubts fears and scruples about them would not let several of those Acts pass without being formally ratified and confirm'd anew by it's own Authority And therefore consequently not trusting to the receiv'd opinion of the dissolution of the Parliament of forty by the late Kings Death nor relying on the House of Commons Act to dissolve themselves in fifty nine nor the dissolution of the Lords and Commons in sixty another Declaration was made in the point in these word To the end that no Man bereafter may be misled into any seditious or unquiet demeanor out of an opinion that the Parliament begun and held at Westminster upon the third day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and forty is yet in being which is undoubtedly dissolved and determined and so is hereby Declared and Adjudged to be fully Dissolved and Determined And it was further Enacted by the same Authority That if any Person or Persons at any time after the four and twentieth day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred sixty and one shall Malitiously and Advisedly by Writing Printing Preaching or other Speaking Express Publish Vtter Declare or affirm that the Parliament begun at Westminster upon the third day of November in the year of our Lârd one thousand six hundred and forty is not yet dissolved or is not yet determined or that it ought to be in being or hath yet any continuance or Existence that then every such Person and Persons so as aforesaid offending shall incur the danger and penalty of a Premunire mentioned in a Statute made in the sixteenth year of the Reign of King Richard the second Thus then were all disputes upon this point effectually stil'd and suppress'd by this Authority and Command of King Lords and Commons and the greatness of the penalty incur'd by the person offending which amounts to no less than to be put out of the Kings Protection and have his Lands and Tenements Goods and Chattels forfeited to the King and his Body Attach'd if to be found and brought before the King and his Council there to Answer the premises or that process be made against him by Praemunire facias and if return'd non est inventus than to be Outlaw'd Next I proceed to observe that 't was Petitioning and addressing that prepar'd the way for His Majesties Restauration and therefore doubtless the remembrance thereof should be always grateful and acceptable to the Loyal Such preparatories to great turns and changes being alwaies preferrable to the other rougher methods of drawn Swords and loaded Pistols which are the general effects of Civil Broils and Commotions while these are the rational results of Wisdom and Prudence With the King was that part of the English Clergy likewise restor'd which appropriates to it self the name of the Church of England A Term much gloried in by many as if none but themselves were the constitutive parts thereof and which some now adays pretend freer from Ambiguity than the more general Name of Protestants What we understand by that Term we know very well and are not asham'd thereof Yet by the way I don't think but 't is as lyable to exceptions where Cavils take place as the other title of Protestants so much of late turn'd into ridicule by some few pretenders to wit and sense above the vulgar For if by Church we understand barely an Assembly of Men met together in one place then doubtless without any incongruity it may be applied to many a civil meeting of Men together about their own private concerns If by Church we mean a society of Men conjoyn'd in Spiritual duties or the Ordinances of Divine Worship then I hope it will be no Solecism in common Speech to affirm many of the Dissenters meetings may reasonably lay claim to the Name And if a due Celebration of the Sacraments will make a Church why then may not the Denomination as well belong to some private Conventicles as to the publick Oratories If it should denote only the Association of many distinct Assemblies under the same Ecclesiastical Government what should hinder the Presbiterians from enjoying the Title in those places where they are allowed to exercise their power in Classical Provincial or National Synods Which Power they once exercis'd in England publickly within the Memory of Man But if the Law of the Land makes the difference and the established Government of the Country in Ecclesiastical affairs as with us in England then I am apt to beleive this Expression the Church of England is not without it's Ambiguities and may be a denomination comprehensive of Men of as many different modes and forms as some would fain have us think the word Protestant admits of Heretofore at the first planting of the Gospel in this Isle among the Britains we may call it the British Church When Austin the Monk came in bringing with him the Customs and Ceremonies of the Church of Rome and introduc'd them among the converted Saxons then we may term it the Romish Church When the Monks and Fryers like the Frogs in Egypt had over-spread the whole face of the Land then we may give it the Epithite of Monkish In succeeding Generations when Popery was arriv'd to its height we may name it the Popish Church In King Edward the sixth days it may properly be called Reformed Under the Marian Persecution 't was certainly Popish Queen Elizabeth brought back the Reformed Religion under an Episcopal Government and therefore I venture to give it the Name of the Reformed Episcopal Church A little before the late Wars when the Hierarchy was arriv'd at its highest pitch of Pomp and Grandeur by the Laudean principles and practises It was certainly
then Prelatical In the late times 't was once the Presbyterian then the Independent Church and other Sectaries were puting in a pace for a share and then had they succeeded it might have been without much impropriety entitled to the Epithite of Fanatical King Charles brought back the Bishops and so now 't is again Episcopal Should Popery come in it would be Popish Were there any likelihood of so great an Impossibility as the prevalency of Judaism then it would be the Jewish Church If Mahomets Religion which hath been publickly profess'd in the Pulpit preferable to Presbiteriansm why might it not be allow'd the Title of Mahometan And if we should revert to the Ancient Barbarity where would the impropriety be should we term it the Heathenish Church For the Heathens heretofore had the thing though not the Name Temples instead of Churches and bloody Sacrifices to make up the greatest part of their Devotion What a fine Company then of different Epithites of different signifâcations would these be for an impertinent Caviller to prefix before that so much applaud'd expression the Church of England in reply to his impertinence that would perswade simple ignorant people that they know not what they say when they call themselves Protestants British Romish Monkish Popiâh Reformed Episcopal Prelatical Presbyterian Independent Fanatical Jewish Mahometan Heathenish and what not To such a fine pass would people once be brought when they fall to wrangling about words and terms at the same time that they know one anothers meaning well enough yet will pretend not to understand each other We may have haply reason enough to approve of and glory in the Name of Church of England men though not perhaps in such a restrained sense as some do yet our grounds without all peradventure are as good to apply to our selves the glorious Title of Protestants and we can as properly distinguish our selves thereby from Papists as if we term'd our selves only Sons of the Church of England under this consideration that Protestants at first were such Baker tells us as made a Protestation in defence of their Doctrine and now we are such as protest against Popery and Slavery But to return how contributory this Honourable City was to his Majesties Restauration and how Loyally affectionate her Citizens shew'd themselves to him before and after hath been already instanced Let us then in the next place take a short transient view of her actions and the accidents hapning to her under King Charles the second and see whither she hath not continued still the same as of old a City of high Renown Fame and Power and of great sway and influence all over the Kingdom First then let us consider her misfortunes that we may the better contemplate her glories In sixty two her Parishes lost many of their beloved Pastors in that great ejection of publick Ministers among whom were some that had declar'd in Print against the pretended high Court of Justice in the time of his Late Majesties Tryal In sixty five the great Plague swept away her Citizens by thousands tens of thousands and scores of thousands In sixty six the fire burn'd almost all the Remainder out of House and home and laid in a manner the whole City in Ashes So that if ever she feem'd then near to a very dismal Catastrophe And yet we see now Providence hath delivered her out of these her Calamities and she is become more glorious than ever in the Eyes of the Nation The number of her Citizens is so encreas'd and her streets fill'd with such multitudes of people passing to and fro that those who dyed in the sickness are neither miss'd nor wanted The fire hath made such a Reformation within her Walls and the new buildings publick and private have been rais'd up to the admiration of all in so small a space of time and in so pompous and stately a form that she may be thought like the old Phaenix burning in her nest of odoriferous Spices only to have shaken off her old decay'd feathers by the fire and out of her own Ashes Phaenix like to have risen up with more Splendor and Gallantry than ever Come we now to the late Discovery of the Grand Popish Plot and the times succeeding and therein also we meet with instances of Londons influence and Authority with the rest of the Nation She guarded her self with her own Arms and how soon was she follow'd in other places After the dissolution of some of the National Assemblies which we English men call Parliaments and firmly beleive the greatest liberty of the subject to consist therein upon a new choice when her Citizens made a publick promise to their chosen Representatives that they would stand by them with their lives and fortunes Such a Copy was set the Nation that most places strove to imitate it and the Example was as influential as when before upon the Cities Petitioning for the sitting of one of those before mention'd Parliaments Petitions of the same nature came thronging in amain from several parts of the Land in imitation Look we now upon the City and see how intent the eyes of the Nation are fixt upon her actions and the great contest about the Sheriffs How all the Land seems concern'd on one side or the other and think their own well-fare wrapt up in her security Such sollicitousness of a whole Nation for one particular City must certainly denote some what extraordinary therein And what is it can more interest the Nation in her concerns than the great Influence 't is known she has upon all their grand affairs be they more or less publick Even the very business of the Quo Warranto now depending will administer an instance of her Power and Greatness How do all now stand ready waiting the Event depending upon her success or ready to follow her fate When the Writ was brought against her Charter how great was the Expectation of the people and their longings to know what would be the Issue Some Resign'd but when London appear'd to Stand up in her own Vindication what a stop was there put to Resignations and how rare have been surrenders since Most seem now ready to defend themselves by Law Nay Oxford hath pitch'd upon the same way and method with London Whereas had this Honourable City but surrender'd calmly and quietly 't is a question whither any would have stood out or whether rather all Towns and Corporations would not have strove to have out run each other to the Throne of Majesty there to have made an intire Resignation of all their Charters Liberties Priviledges and Franchises notwithstanding the hazard they might have run by dissolving their Ancient Corporations to have lost back all the Estates given to them as Corporate bodies to the Donors Heirs sutable to the Reply said to be made to the Burgesses of a Certain Corporation when they ask'd advice in the Case Such having been the influences of the City of London all along