de gentil Mortimer Good Son Good Son take pity upon the gentle Mortimer For she suspected the King was there though she did not see him Then were the Keys sent for and all the Castle with the Amunition and Provisions were delivered up to the King so secretly that none without the Castle had any knowledge of it but only the King's Friends This was counted a very daring enterprize in regard that Mortimer had usually 180 Knights besides Esquires and Gentlemen as a constant Guard for the security of his Person The next Morning early Roger Mortimer and his Accomplices were carried with mighty shoutings and rejoycings of the Common People the poor Earl of Lancaster though blind making up the cry toward London and was committed to the Tower And soon after in open Parliament at Westminster was Condemned by his Peers without being brought to Tryal by a Law of Mortimer's own contriving whereby the Earls of Lancaster Winchester Glocester and Kent were formerly out to Death The following Articles of High Treason were laid to his charge 1. That he was consenting to the Murther of the King's Father 2. That he Treacherously occasioned much loss and dishonour to the King at Stanhope Park by procuring the escape of the Scots for which he had received a great Sum of Money 3. That he caused several Ancient Deeds and Charters to be burnt wherein the King of Scots was obliged to do homage to the King of England and had made a dishonourable Contract between the King's Sister and David Bruce King Robert's Son 4. That he had prodigally and lewdly wasted the King's Treasures as well as those of the two Spencers 5. That he had been an Evil Councellor to the King and had been too familiarly conversant with the Queen Mother All which Articles are sum'd up in the following ragged Rymes which might very well have been in Prose but for their Antiqutty and brevity I will here insert them Five heinous crimes against him soon were had 1. That he caused the King to yield the Scot To make a Peace Towns that were from him got And therewithal the Charter called Ragman 2. He by the Scots was brib'd for private gain 3. That by his means King Edward of Carnarvan In Berkley Castle Treacherously was slain 4. That with his Prince's Mother he had lain 5. And finally with polling at his pleasure Had rob'd the K. and Commons of their Treasure For these Treasons he was sentenced to be hanged and afterward ignominiously drawn in a Sledg to Tyburn the common place of Execution then called the Elms and there upon the common gallows was as ignominiously Executed hanging by the King's command two Days and two Nights a publick and pleasing spectacle to the wronged People There died with him Sir Simon Bedford and John Deverel Esq as well for the expiation of the late King Edward's detestable Murther as in complement as it were to so great a Man's fall who seldom or never perish without company they suffered in 1330. The King by the advice of Parliament deprived the Queen of her excessive Dowry allowing her only a Thousand Pound a Year and confining her to a Monastery during Life but giving her the honour of a visit once or twice a Year though otherwise judging her scarce worthy to live in regard of her Debaucheries with Mortimer and her many other heinous practices From the sudden ruin of this great Favourite Mortimer we may Remark what Inchantments Honour Riches and Power are to the minds of Men how suddenly how strangely do they blow them up with contempt of others and forgetfulness of themselves And surely the frailty and uncertainty of Worldly felicity is very visible in this Great Person who when he was drunk as it were with all humane happiness so that he seemed to fear neither God nor Man was suddenly overtaken by Divine Justice and brought to utter confusion when he least dreamt of it But it was very equitable that he who would not take example by the wretched Fate of his Favourite Predecessors should himself be made an Example by the like shameful and Ignominious Death Remarks on the Life of Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham Favourite to King Richard the Third TWO Or three considerable Remarks do naturally result from the following History 1. That Tyrants being but single Persons could never perpetrate the many mischiefs which they are usually guilty of did they not meet with proper Instruments to imploy therein 2. That the pravity of Mankind is so deplorable that the temptations of Honour and Riches too often prevail upon Men and ingage them in the most vile and destructive designs 3. That those who are imployed by Tyrants must never boggle not strain at the greatest Villanies since if they be not as thoroughly wicked as their Master he will account them his implacable Enemies and they are subject to be justly ruined by his unjust and revengeful hand All these Maxims seem to be verified in the Life Actions and Fall of this Great Man Henry Stafford Duke of Buckinham He was Son to Humfry Stafford of Brecknock-shire in Wales who was created Duke of Buckingham and Lord High Constable of England by King Henry VI. Being descended from a Daughter of Thomas of Woodstock youngest Son to King Edward III. His Son succeeded him in his Titles and Honour and was a great Favourite to King Richard III. and very Instrumental in advising him to his Usurped Throne as by the following Relation appears When King Edward IV. died he left behind him two Sons Edward his Successor of thirteen and Richard Duke of York of eleven years of Age. The Young King and his Brother were by their Father's Will committed to the care of the Earl of Rivers the Queens Brother whom he made Protector of the King during his Minority The Court was at this time kept at Ludlow in Wales to retain the Welsh in obedience who began to be unruly and in the mean time the Earl of Rivers disposed of all Offices and Places of Preferment which very much dislatisfied the Duke of Glocester Brother to King Edward IV. and Uncle to the Present King who upon his Brother's Death possed from the North where he then was to London and finding the Queen and her Kindred had the whole Government of affairs about the King he was very much displeased as judging it a main obstacle to his Usurpation and and Advancement to the Throne which it seems he had long before designed for it was reported that the very night wherein King Edward IV. died one Misselbrook came early in the morning to one Potter living in Redcross street near Cripplegate and told him that the King was dead By my Troth man says Potter then will my Master the Duke of Glocester be King For surely if he had not been acquainted with his Master's Intentions he would not have thus spoke But the Duke knowing that a business of such consequence was not to be managed alone he
and negligent in performing those Royal Offices and Duties that God Almighty required at his â—ands for as subjection belonged to the People so â—e King was likewise obliged to afford them Proâ—…ction which yet he had most dishonourably and unâ—…scionably neglected by exposing his Subjects in â—…e North to the Rage and Fury of the Scots and to 〈◊〉 the Extremities of Hunger and Want And lastly â—hat if he would not instantly discharge those two â—aceless and wicked Councellors from bearing any â—…fice or Imployment in the Realm they then must â—…d would do it themselves though it were with the â—…ard of their Lives and whatsoever else was dear 〈◊〉 them in the World The King could not chuse but know that this brisk â—…monstrance of the Barons about their Grievances was nothing but Truth and founded upon Honour Conscience and true Zeal for their Countrey and waâ— as sensible that they were earnestly resolved to reâ—form what was amiss But though his Countenanâ—… proclaimed his inward discontent and declared hâ—… Intentions of surprizing and ruining those Noblemâ—… who discovered their hatred against his beloveâ— Spencers yet he returned the Barons a favourabâ—… Answer assuring them all that was amiss should bâ— redressed by the ensuing Parliament which he woulâ— assemble with all speed The Lords seemed very muâ—… rejoyced at this Answer as well as the commoâ— People but yet they very much suspected that thâ— King intended to seize and surprize them at that Solemn Meeting To prevent which they came to Loâ—… Son attended with so many of their Friends an Tâ—… pants all in the same Livery as composed a gallaâ—… Army sufficient to secure them against any siniste Attempts The King was much disturbed to find himself the prevented in his secret Designs but his greatest griâ— was that he found himself unable any longer to defend and protect his detested Favourites the Spenceâ— for whom he had a more tender affection than foâ— his Queen Children and all his Friends besides whom notwithstanding he was compelled by the Pâ—…liament to relinquish by whom it was Enacted wiâ—… his consent That they should be banished the Kiâ—…dom never to return again during their Lives undâ—penalty of High Treason This being concluded on the Barons longing to 〈◊〉 the Spencers under Sail provided several Ships 〈◊〉 their Transportation Being gone to the great saâ—faction of the People in general the King instead redressing the remaining Grievances wholly applâ—… his thoughts how to be avenged of those Loâ—… that had forced him to comply in decreeing thâ— Exile And to declare his resentment of it whâ— he was informed that the younger Spencer havâ— got a Squadron of Ships together was turned Pirate in the Narrow Seas Robbing and Plundering all Nations that he could meet with but especially the English Merchants to the unspeakable damage of the Realm having taken out of two Ships only at Sandwich goods to the value of 40000 pound Upon which great Complaints were made and many Petitions presented that a Fleet might be set out for taking him and his Associates and bringing them to punishment as Pirates and Robbers according to the Laws of the Land He was so far from being concerned at it or providing any Remedy that he seemed very merry at the News and soon after sent them a general Pardon of all their Crimes and the more to despight and inrage the Nobility he recalled them both from Banishment and honoured them with more Dignities Offices and Authority than ever they had before These strange proceedings of the King together with the notorious Injuries and Abuses which they daily suffered by the return and advancement of the two Spencers who now defied their utmost Power scorning and deriding them with the most pungent Affronts were sufficient Warnings to the Lords to take timely care of their Safeties Wherefore since neither Petitions Submissions nor any other Legal procedure could procure any Remedy of their repeated Wrongs they raised a strong Army and marcht into the Field and the King with the two Spencers and some few of the Nobility did the like Before any Action between them this odd Accident happened procured as was thought by the Contrivance of the King or his Evil Ministers A certain Knight belonging to John Earl Warren stole away the Wife of Thomas Earl of Lancaster one of the Chief of the Lord's Party from his House at Caneford in Dorsetshire and with great Pomp carried her To E. Warren's Castle at Rygate in Surrey in despight of her I and Husband where one Rich. Maurice a wretched lame deformed Dwarf challenged her for his Wife pretending he had been formerly Contracted to her and that he had lain with her The Countess though the noblest and richest Inheritrix of that Age confirmed his Allegations openly declaring to her immortal infamy that what he said was true and thereby acknowledging her self to be an impudent Strumpet Upon which this deformed Elf being incouraged by some great Persons had the confidence to lay claim to the Earldoms of Lincoln and Salisbury in her Right and the Honour of this great Earl was blasted by a debauched Woman This unhappy passage increased the fatal aversion between him and the King and the Earl and Humfry Bohun Earl of Hereford having likewise received some damage from the Spencers these two allured almost all the rest of the Nobility to join with them So that being now gotten into Arms they marched with Banners display'd under the command of the Earl of Lancaster whom they constituted their General and after many sharp skirmishes and encounters the Armies met at Burton upon Trent where both Parties fought with such obstinate desire of revenge that he was reckoned the most valiant man who drencht his Sword deepest in Blood The Nobles now forgot that they fought against their Sovereign Lord and the King would by no means acknowledge that his Tyranny and Misgovernment had compelled them to take Arms. Now neither Kindred Alliance Neighbourhood Religion Country nor any other obligation had the least power over their inraged minds Nothing but death and wounds must determine the controversie between them At length when many of the Lords and thousands of their Adherents were slain they fled and were pursued by the King the Earl of Hereford waâ— slain by a Welshman who thrust a Spear into his Body between the Chinks of a Wooden Bridge The Earl of Lancaster with eighty Lords and Knights were taken Prisoners The occasion of this great defeat of the Barons is attributed in some measure to an unhappy accident a while before For Queen Isabel who upon all occasions used her utmost interest to procure a right understanding between the King and the Peers coming from Canterbury to the Castle of Leeds in Kent where she designed to lodge that Night was denied entrance by Lord Badlesmere one of the Earl of Lancaster's Party wherewith she was so offended that she made great complaint thereof to the King who glad of any opportunity to be revenged of
from the People drag'd to a Gallows set up on purpose fifty foot high where being hanged he was afterward cut down and beheaded and quartered His head set upon London Bridge and his Quarters in four principal Towns of the Kingdom Simon Reading was hanged ten foot lower on the same Gallows and Robert Baldock was committed Prisoner to Newgate where with grief and hard usage he soon after died This happened in 1326. Thus Divine Vengeance pursued these two ambitious and profligate Wretches the Spencers Father and Son and brought those who set at defiance the Nobility Gentry and People of the Realm to such shameful and ignominious deaths as by their vile actions they had justly merited Since by their leud and prosligate Counsels they prevailed upon the King to commit all manner of Enormities by forsaking the Company and Bed of his lawful Wife and living in all manner of debauchery with common Strumpets By destroying and ruining his Nobility and Gentry by all manner of Rapines upon the Common People by suffering their Enemies to Plunder and Beggar them without any redress and by all other misdemeanors which rendred him odious to his Subjects and made him rule rather like a Tyrant than a King And thereby occasioned his Deposition and Death which soon after followed For the Queen having summoned a Parliament it was by General consent of the three Estates concluded That King Edward should reign no longer but his Son the Prince should be advanced to the Throne The Archbishop of Canterbury Preaching a Sermon and taking for his Text this Maxim Vox Populi Vox Dei The Voice of the People is the Voice of God Exhorting all his Auditors to Pray to the King of Kings to bless and prosper the King that they had Elected The Queen seemed very sorrowful and even distracted at her Husband's deposition and the P. lamented for his Mothers grief swearing that he would not accept of the Crown without his Father's consent To content them both Commissioners are sent to the King who persuaded him to make a formal Resignation of the Government and then his Son was Crowned King And not long after the Father being removed to Corf Castle was barbarously murdered by his Keepers who through a horn run a burning hot Spit into his Fundament of which he instantly died I shall add no more having already given a particular account of his Resignation and Death in a Book called Admirable Curiosities and Rarities in every County in England c. Remarks upon the Life Actions and fatal Fall of Roger Mortimer Earl of March Favourite to Queen Isabel Widow to King Edward II. and Mother to King Edward III. SUCH is the Malignity of Humane Nature that though there are daily examples of Divine Vengeance executed upon notorious Offendors yet men continue to perpetrate the same crimes that plunged their Predecessors into misery and ruin Of this Roger Mortimer is an obvious instance who though he were an Eye-witness of the fatal fall of the three unfortunate Favourites Gaveston and the two Spencers with divers of their Associates in the former Reign Yea though he himself was very instrumental in their destruction and very active in pretending to reform the Grievances of the Kingdom Yet no sooner was King Edward by his means deposed and a young Prince advanced to the Throne under the Government and Management of his Mother but he by managing the Queen occasioned many mischiefs not much inferior to those of the former abhorred Minions yea exceeding their wickedness in one point namely in being criminally concerned with the Queen Dowager that being one of the Articles the Parliament charged him with But as he wilfully disregarded these warnings and impudently committed the like faults so the Justice of Heaven visited him with the same deserved punishment He was descended from Roger called the Great Lord Mortimer of Wigmore in the Marches of Wales who was his Grandfather and revived and erected again the Round Table at Kennelworth after the Antient Order of King Arthur's Table with the Retinue of an hundred Knights and 100 Ladies in his house for the entertaining of such Adventurers as came thither from all parts of Christendom This young Roger inherited his Estate and Grandeur And Queen Isabel Wife to King Edward II. and Daughter to Philip the Fair King of France being in the glory of her youth forsaken by the King her Husband who delighted only in the company of Peirce Gaveston his Minion and Favourite she fell passionately in love with this Lord Wigmore though before she was accounted the most virtuous chast and excellent Lady of that Age. After the ignominious but deserved death of Gaveston the King instead of being reformed was presently infatuated with the love of two others the Spencers Father and Son who were as bad if not worse than he for all manner of leudness and debauchery Whereupon the Earls of Lancaster Hereford Warwick Lincoln and others rise in Arms against them they having taken an Oath to King Edward I. on his death bed to oppose and withstand his Son Edward if he ever recalled Gaveston from Exile and finding that his death had not much bettered the state of the Kingdom they thought themselves obliged by the same Oath to endeavour the ruin of them also and thereby the redressing the many oppressions and violencies under which the Nation groaned This Roger Lord Wigmore a man of an invincible Spirit and his Uncle Roger Mortimer the Elder resolved to join with the Lords in this attempt and being very busie in raising Forces were taken before they could muster them and by the King committed to the Tower of London But the Queen by means of Torlton Bishop of Hereford Beck Bishop of Durham and Patriarch of Jerusalem then both Mighty Men in the State prevailed so far with the King that upon the submission of the Mortimers the King was somewhat pacified But afterward when He had gained a great Victory against the Barons the young Lord Wigmore and his Uncle were condemned to be Drawn and Hang'd at Westminster and the day of Execution was appointed Whereupon the Younger Spencer some time before pretended to make a great Feast in honour of his Birthday inviting thereunto Sir Stephen Seagrave Constable of the Tower with the rest of the Officers belonging to the same and after he had made them very merry he gave to each a large Cup of a sleepy Drink prepared by Queen Isabel by which means he made his escape breaking through the Wall of his Chamber and coming into the Kitchen near the King's Lodgings and getting into the top thereof came into a Ward of the Tower and so with a strong Ladder of Ropes provided by a Friend he got over the Wall leaving the Ropes fastened thereunto which the next day the Spectators beheld with much astonishment considering the desperate danger which he ventured in the attempt He then swam over the Thames into Kent and avoiding the Highaways came at length
The Unfortunate Court-Favourites OF ENGLAND Exemplified In some Remarks upon the Lives Actions and Fatal Fall of divers Great Men who have been Favourites to several English Kings and Queens Namely I. Peirce Gaveston Earl of Cornwall II. Hugh Spencer Earl of Winchester â—II Hugh Spencer the Son E. of Glorester â—V Roger Mortimer Earl of March V. Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham VI. Thomas Woolsey Cardinal of York VII Thomas Cromwell Earl of Essex VIII Robert Devereux Earl of Essex IX George Villiers Duke of Buckingham X. Thomas Wentworth Earl of Stafford By R. B. LONDON Printed for Nath. Crouch at the Bell in the Poultrey 〈◊〉 Cheapside 1695. The Kings and Queens of England to whom the following Unfortunate Great Men were Favourites I. PEirce Gaveston Earl of Cornwal Favourite to King Edward II. II III. Hugh Spencer the Father and Hugh Spencer the Son both Favourites to King Edward II. IV. Roger Mortimer Earl of March Favourite to Queen Isabel Widow to King Edward II. and Mother to King Edward III. V. Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham Favourite to King Richard III. VI. Thomas Woolsey Cardinal of York Favourite to King Henry VIII VII Thomas Cromwel Earl of Essex Favourite to King Henry VIII VIII Robert Devereux Earl of Essex Favourite to Queen Elizabeth IX George Villiers Duke of Buckingham Favourite to King Charles I. and King James I X. Thomas Wentworth Earl of Stafford Favourite to King Charles I. To the Reader NOthing is more obvious than that Ambition Envy and Emulation are the usual Attendants on the Courts of Princes and that the effects of them have been often very fatal to many Great Men who had the fortune to have a larger share in their Masters affections than others It is likewise as notorious That there are certain Crises of Government wherein Princes have been obliged to Sacrifice their darling Ministers either to their own safety or to the importunity of their People Lastly it is as evident That some Court-Favourites have justly merited the unhappy Fate they met with for their many Rapines Insolencies and Enormities as that others have been ruined meerly from the Caprichio or inconstant Temper of the Prince whom they served Of all these in my opinion the ensuing Favourites are pregnant Instances But I shall leave the Reader to particularise them according to his own Judgment and will only add That they are not all to be condemned as Criminal meerly because they all happened to be unfortunate R. B. Remarks on the Life Actions and Fatal Fall of Peirce Gavestone Earl of Cornwall and Favourite to King Edward the Second THAT Unhappy Prince Edward the 2d was certainly the most Unfortunate in his Favourites of any King of England either before or fince his Reign The first and Fatal Favourite he had was in his Youth before he came to the Crown whose name was Peirce Gaveston born in Gascoigne a Province of France and for the good Service performed by his Father in the Wars in that Kingdom his Son was taken into such Favour at Court that by K. Edward the First 's own appointment he was Educated and made a Companion to the young Prince And indeed his outward Accomplishments seemed to render him worthy of such great Honour being a Person of a sharp Wir an excellent Shape and of a valiant Temper of which he gave notable proof in a Battel against the Scots and for which they afterward bore him a mortal Hatred But all these worthy Qualities were utterly defac'd and clouded by his vicious Incliâ—ations so that as to his Christian and Moral Vertues which are only really commendable in Men Authors are very silent in mentioning them though all give large accounts of his Faults and Immoraâ—ities And King Edward was so sensible that his Son the Prince had been debauched by the corrupt Conversation of Gavestone that some time before his Death he was banished the Kingdom And upon his Death-bed commanding the Prince his Son to repair to him with all speed to Carlisle in Cumberland where he was with a great Army ready to invade Scotland He gave him many worthy Admonitions and much good Advice particularly That he should be merciful just and kind faithful in word and deed an incourager of those that were good and ready to relieve those that were in distress That he should be loving to his two Brothers Thomas and Edmund but especially to honour and respect his Mother Queen Margaret That upon pain of his Malediction and Curse he should not presume without common consent to recall Peirce Gavestone from Exile who for abusing his tender Years with wicked practices by common Decree of the Nobility was banished He also added a strange Injunction for a dying man namely That after his Death the Prince should not presume to take the Crown of England till he had honourably revenged the Injuries his Father had received from the Scots and finisht the present Expedition against them and that he should carry his Father's Bones about with him in a Coffin till he had marched through all Scotland and subdued all his Enemies assuring him that while they were with him he should be always victorious Lastly Whereas by the continual Attempts of Bruce King of Scotland he was prevented from performing his Vow of going in Person for the recovery of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Infidels that he should send his Heart thither accompanied with 140 Knights and their Retinue for whose support he had provided Thirty two thousand pounds of Silver That after his Heart was conveyed thither he hoped in God all things would prosper with them Adjuring the Prince upon pain of Eternal Damnation that he should not expend the Money upon any other use After these Admonitions and having taken an Oath of this vain Young Prince to perform his Will he gave up the Ghost After his Father's Death the Son soon made it appear how little regard he had to perform his dying Requests and to shew what his future Behaviour was like to be he in the first place revenged himself upon Walter Langton Bishop of Chester Lord Treasurer of England and Principal Executor of his Father's Last Will whom he imprisoned in Wallingford Castle seizing upon all his Estate no man daring to intercede on his behalf because of the extream hatred which the King shewed against him the Bishop's Crime being only in using a modest freedom in K. Edward's days in gravely reproving 〈…〉 for his 〈◊〉 meanours and not suffering him to have what 〈…〉 he required to waste prodigally upon his 〈…〉 Gavestone against whom he likewise made such great and just Complaints as occasioned the imprisonment of the Prince the banishment of his leud Favourite Soon after the young King married Isabel Daughter to Philip the Fair of France the March being concluded before his Father's death and was now performed with extraordinary Magnificence at Bullen At which Solemnity there were five Kings namely Philip the French King the
the death of Peirce Gaveston the Nobility recommended Hugh Spencer the younger to the King to succeed in his place because he had been formerly of their Party and they did not doubt but he would be a very faithful Counsellor But as the Proverb says Honours change Manners for though the King before hated him yet he soon insinuated himself so far into his weak Mind that he became as intimate a Favourite and succeeded in all the Graces Familiarity and Power of his Predecessor as well as in the Hatred and Envy of the Nobility and People occasioned by his Insolence Ambition and Lewdness wherein he seemed to equal if not exceed the Wicked Gaveston and thereby rendred himself so acceptable to the vitiated Soul of King Edward Hugh Spencer his Father an antient Knight was yet living and accounted a Person of great vertue a wise Counsellor and a Man of Valour but seeming very forward in promoting his Son's Interest and Grandeur he was likewise introduced into Court and in great favour with the King so that he was made partaker of the guilt and calamity of his Son rather out of Natural and Paternal Love and Tenderness than from the wilfulness or depravity of his Mind But young Spencer was nâ—… of a more lovely shape and comely Personage than he was of a profligate and flagitious temper The Spirit of Pride Rapine Oppression and all the most intolerable vices seeming to have wholly possest him So that in comparison of him the People were ready almost to wish for Gaveston again By his leud advice the K. pursued his former course of Debauchery spending his Time and Treasure among lascivious Harlots and Concubines and utterly renouncing the sweet Conversation of his excellent Consort which made him a scorn to Foreign Princes and hateful in the sight of all Civil Men. He was the cause of the ruin of divers Widows and Fatherless of the destruction of many Noblemen and Gentlemen and at length of the utter overthrow and confusion of Himself his Father and the King also This evil management of Affairs caused new dscords between the King and his Nobility whereby many mischiefs happened in the Kingdom and their Enemies had a fair opportunity to put in practice their designs against them Among others the Scots having joyfully Crowned the valiant Robert Bruce for their King resolved to use their utmost efforts for recovering their Country and Liberties which had been Ravished from them by the valiant King Edward I. who had made an entire Conquest of their Kingdom and appointed John Cummin Earl of Buquan a Scot to be Governour thereof for the English Him King Robert had vanquisht in Battel and was now grown so powerful while King Edward was buried in soft and unmanly luxury and delight that he sent his Brother Edward to Besiege the Castle of Sterling which bold attempt began to awaken the King of England out of his destructive Slumbers So that with all speed raising a very potent Army he with all diligence marched toward the relief thereof Hector Boetius the Scots Historian gives a very surprizing account of the number of Soldiers that King Edward carried with him to this Siege which he reckons to be one hundred and fifty thousand Horsâ—â—en and as many Foot and because this may seem incredible he adds That besides the English he had likewise the assistance of the Hollanders Zealanders Flemings Picards Boulonis Gascoigns Normans and many more from other Provinces in France and other Countries Besides which three hundred thousand Men of War he relates that there were a vast multitude of Women Children Servants yea whole Families with their House-hold-stuff which followed the Camp wherein this Author may be thought to have designed the magnifying the Valour of his Countrey-men who with far more inconsiderable Forces defeated this mighty Host His Darling Spencer accompanied the King in this Expedition but the Earls of Lancaster Warren Warwick and Arundel the greatest Peers of that Age positively refused to attend him since He and his Evil Ministers continued their Invasions and Depredations upon the Liberties and Estates of the People notwithstanding the provisions they had so often made and he had so often consented to for securing the same And as this must needs diminish his strength so it likewise deprived him of their Counsel and Conduct which was so absolutely necessary in Military Affairs However his number of Men was sufficient if Multitude without Discipline Piety or Courage could always obtain Victory But K. Edward and his Army seemed rather to be going to a Wedding or a Triumph than to engage a rough and hardy Enemy for their Targets Bucklers and other Habiliments of War were so glorious with Gold and Silver and their bright Armour gave such a dazling lustre against the Sun-beams as raised wonder in the admiring Spectators and seemed very much to correspond with the wanton Humour of the Prince And herein it is very apparent what great Advantages true and sober Courage usually obtains against vain Gallantry and ungrounded Confidence King Robert with his Forces which were much inferiour to the English being incampt near King Edward's he published a strict Order the Evening before That his Souldiers should prepare themselves for Battel the next day and that they should make humble Confession of their sins and offences in order to the receiving of the Blessed Sacrament and then no doubt the Lord of Hosts would give them Victory since they designed only to free themselves from the many woful Calamities which they had suffered from the English and to recover the Liberty and Freedom of their Countrey Far otherwise was it in the Camp of K. Edward for the Scots having the day before surprized and cut off several English Horse-men he was so far from being discouraged at such a slight presage of ill Fortune that he resolved the very next day to take a terrible Revenge upon them of which he had such a confident assurance that he triumpht before the Victory his Souldiers drinking carousing and threatning their Enemies with the utmost Cruelties that could be executed upon them But the Scots to obviate their strengâ—h by Policy had digged before the Front of their Battalions several Trenches three foot in depth and as many broad wherein they placed sharp Stakes with their points upwards and covered them over so exactly with Hurdles that Foot men might pass lightly over but Horse would certainly sink in and this Strategem nâ—xt to the Anger of Heaven against the English for their Vain-glory and Effeminacy was the principal cause of the Defeat of King Edward for he reposing much Confidence in his Cavalry the fury of their first Charge was intercepted and stopt by these Pit-falls into which the Horses plunging in great numbers the Riders were miserably destroyed with much ease by the Scots whom King Robert marching on foot in the head of led on with the utmost Courage and Gallantry The King of England had marshall'd his Army
Bridg thy Bowels taken out and Burnt thy Body quartered and thy four Quarters set up in four principal Cities of England for an example to such heinous Offenders And this Sentence was accordingly executed upon him Thus ended this unfortunate expedition to the great reproach and loss of the English and the scandal of the King who was grown sufficiently infamous already for making the Kingdom a shambles for the Nobility Yet in the midst of these calamities the two Spencers rid Triumphant in the Chariot of Favour Power Honour and Riches enjoying great part of the Estate of the late unfortunate Earl of Lancaster and in this grandeur they continued for the space of five years notwithstanding the utmost efforts of their potent and numerous adversaries who continually meditated their destruction During which time the Queens Interest extreamly declined who for shewing some relentings for the severity used to the Lords and expressing her dislike of the overgrown authority of the two wicked Favourites by whose persuasions she was sensible the King her Husband abandoned her Company and Bed was extreamly hated by them So that they continued their impious Artifices to allure the King with the Company and Dalliance of Leud and Lascivious Harlots and to avoid any converse with her And it did appear that these evil minded and vile men working upon the King's inclination were the principal Authors and Advisers of that sharp revenge taken upon the Lords for their own ambitious and avaritious ends whereby at length they brought inevitable ruin upon the Crown Dignity and Life of their Soveraign Which the following instance seeâ—… plainly to confirm Among those who were condemned for joining with the Earl of Lancaster the King's Uncle there was one very poor Fellow for whose life because he had long continued at Court many great Courtâ—…rs interceeded very earnestly and pressed the matter so far that the King in a rage replied 'A plague upon you for a company of Cursed Whisperers malicious Backbiters Flatterers and wicked Counsellors who can beg so heartily for saving the life of a notorious wicked Knave and yet could not speak a word in the behalf of the most noble Knight Earl Thomas of Lancaster my near Kinsman whose Life and Counsels would now have been of great use and service to the Kingdom Whereas this wretch the longer he lives the more villanies will he commit having already made himself notorious throughout the Realm for his horrid Crimes and desperate Outrages For which by the Soul of God he shall dye the death he hath justly deserved And he was accordingly executed This may be some evidence that the King was over persuaded to commit those Tragedies upon the Lords 〈…〉 was reckoned to be naturally merciful and 〈◊〉 according to the Religion of those times but 〈◊〉 â—…iâ—led by depraved Counsellors though he 〈…〉 inexcusable since it is usually said That good 〈◊〉 cannot satisfie for publick Errors and Mischiefs The Spencers still continued their Rapines and Profligate courses and aspiring to more absolute Dominion resolved to leave nothing unattempted that might rivet them in the affections of the King and inrich themselves which begot implacable enmity in the People both against them and their Master their insolence rising to such an height that they abridged the Queen of her usual allowance so that she had not wherewith to maintain her self while themselves abounded in all manner of plenty and magnificence Which caused her publickly to complain ' That the Daughter and Sole Heir of the King of France was Married to a miserable Wretch who did not allow her necessaries and that being promised to be a Queen she was now become no better than a waiting Gentlewoman subsisting only upon a Pension from the Spencers And dreading their malice she took her Eldest Son Prince Edward and privately withdrew into France to her Brother King Charles by whom she was kindly received and comforted with solemn Oaths and Promises that he would effectually assist her against all her Enemies and redress the grievances of the Kingdom A while after the Barons by their Letters assured her of their best help and service to her Self and Son declaring that if she would return to England with the aid of only a thousand valiant men at Arms they would raise so great a strength here to join them as should make the Spencers feel the smart of their unsufferable follies The Queen was exceedingly rejoiced with the hopes of her fortunate success But the two Spencers much doubting the event if she should return with Forces and having the Treasure of the Kingdom at command they corrupted King Charles and his Council with such prodigious sums of Gold and Silver and of Rich Jewels that not only all succour was denied her but the French K. reprimanded her very sharply for having so undutifully and imprudently forsaken her Lord and Dear Husband Yea the Pope likewise and many of the Cardinals being ingaged with rich Presents by the Spencers required King Charles under the Penalty of Cursing to send the Queen and Prince to King Edward And doubtless she had been unnaturally betrayed by her own Brother had she not privately and speedily made her escape to the Earl of Heynault in Germany where she was entertained with extraordinary joy by the Earl and the Lord Beumont his Brother who resolved to accompany her to England In the mean time King Edward and his profligate Favourites having intelligence of their Intentions he sent to demand his Wife and Son to be returned home but not succeeding and the Spencers knowing that if an happy Agreement should have been made between the King his Queen and the Barons they must both have been made Sacrifices of Peace-Offering to appease the resentments of the People they therefore resolve to make the Breach irreconcileable by persuading the King to proclaim the Queen and Prince with all their Adherents Traytors and Enemies to the King and Kingdom banishing all that he thought were well-affected to them and keeping a severe Eye over the discoâ—ented Barons and it was reported That a secret Plot was laid to have taken away the Lives both of the Queen and her Son While the Queen continued in Heynault she concluded a Marriage between the Prince then about fourteen years old and the Lady Philippa that Earl's Daughter and with the Money of her Dowry Listed Souldiers in Germany and soon after with three hundred Knights and gallant Warriours and about 1700 Common Souldiers Germans and English commanded by the Earl of Heynault with the Earls of Kent Pembroke the Lord Beumont and many other English-men of Quality she safely arrived at Orwell in Suffolk Upon the first Intelligence of their Landing the Lords and Barons with joyful hearts and numerous Troops of resolute Gallants compleatly Armed repaired to her Assistance with all speed so that her Forces hourly increased Her Arrival being reported to the King He poor Prince was so surprized that he knew not what course to take
to the Seaside near Portsmouth where happily meeting with a Ship bound for France he passed over thither and lived in the French Court several years His Uncle Roger was detained in a loathsome Prison five years after and at length died and was Buried at Bristol King Edward was so inraged at his escape that he turned Sir Stephen Seagrave out of his place of Constable of the Tower and several Citizens were seized and accused of being accessary to his getting away and of corresponding with and maintaining him beyond Sea but there note being sufficient proof against them they were all acquitted Mortimer continued in France till Queen Isabel and the Prince arrived there to avoid the insults of the two insolent Spencers He after attended the Queen into Germany and came over with her and the rest of the English Lords accompanied with the Earl of Heynault and several German and English Forces And upon King Edward's Flight and afterward his Seizing and Imprisonment Mortimer presumed to manage all affairs according to his own pleasure and therefore the death of the Spencers Reading and some others not satisfying his revenge being high in the Queens favour who could not deny him the Heads of a few of his Enemies he procured that the Earl of Arundel and two Gentlemen more named John Daniel and Thomas Mochelden against whom he had a particular aversion should be Beheaded at Hereford After this the Queen her Son and the beloved Mortimer went to Wallingford Castle where they kept their Christmass with all manner of jollity From thence they proceeded to London where the Queen and Prince were received with much Joy and many rich Presents and a Parliament being called it was concluded that King Edward should be Deposed and his Son advanced to the Throne In the management whereof Mortimer discovered very much zeal activity and diligence as hoping thereby to become Chief Minister of State as well as principal Favourite of the Queen King Edward was Deposed accordingly and confined to Kennelworth Castle the Queen Roger Mortimer and Torlton Bishop of Hereford having concluded to allow him an hundred Marks a month for his necessary Expences And now it was hoped that the Kingdom having suffered so many Concussions and Miseries for several years would have been settled and restored to its former peace and tranquility But it soon appeared that though the Nation had changed its Master yet other evil Instruments succeeded to trouble and disquiet the already harassed People So that one Historian writes thus The beginning of the Reign of King Edward III. was very troublesome for he by reason of his tender Age being but fifteen years old when he came to the Crown was drawn aside by evil Counsel and committed many foul errors of State and Government The chief occasion of which were the Queen her Darling Roger Mortimer and some others For first they procured so great a part of the Revenue of the Nation to be settled for maintaining the Queen and her Family that the young King had scarce a third part of it for himself and his necessary Attendants and Officers So that she and her Favourite Mortimer lived in the greatest State and Grandeur imaginable and the People began to exclaim against him and say publickly That the great zeal and hatred he had shewed against the Rapines of the Spencers was not because they had been oppressive to the Subject but that he was desirous no Body should abuse them but himself Secondly The Queen and he having intelligence that several Great Persons and the whole Order of Friers Preachers taking pity of the late King's Captivity seemed to Consult for his deliverance and knowing that his Restoration would be their confusion they wickedly plotted and contrived to add Murther to their former Impieties and therefore Roger Mortimer was sent with that ambiguous Order to his Keepers devised by Torlton Bishop of Hereford Edwardum occidere nolite tinere bonum est To shed King Edward's Blood Refuse to fear I count it good Where by leaving out the stops they sufficiently incouraged the Murtherers and yet afterward produced the Writing under Queen Isabels Seal for their own Justification when the horrid Fact was committed Though this was very far from clearing them from the guilt of it in the opinion of the Vulgar whose Tongues spare none and who had before heard that though the Queen in her outward deportment pretended much grief and sorrow for the Imprisonment of the King her Husband yet instead of visiting him in his distress which he often desired as still retaining a very great love for her She only sent him fine Clothes and kind Letters but contrary to the Laws of God and Man refrained from rendring him any Nuptial Duties which they plainly reported she bestowed freely enough upon her bloody Adulterer Mortimer Pretending in the mean time that Reasons of State would not allow her to converse with him And soon after this desolate Prince was by an express order from the Young King wholly procured by them removed from Kennelworth to Corf Castle and there miserably deprived of his life Thirdly In the second year of the young King's Reign Robert Bruce King of Scotland denounced War against him and his Kingdom which occasioned the raising of a strong Army consisting of above fifty thousand men with which the King accompanied by the Queen Mother Roger Mortimer the Lord of Heynault John Lord Beumont and many others of the Nobility and Gentry marched toward the Scots who had Invaded England And had so happily incompast them in the Wood of Wiridale and Stanhope Park that the English seemed fully assured of Victory Yet by the Treachery of Roger Mortimer they were not only suffered to make a total escape without any loss but Sir James Dowglass in the dead of the Night with 200 Light-Horse assaulted the King 's own Pavilion and had certainly killed him had not one of his Chaplains a Valiant Man sacrificed his own life in defence of his Soveraign's Dowglass after this bold attempt escaped back without damage but not without honour for his daring Courage this misfortune was afterward charged upon Mortlmer as designing by the death of the King to Usurp the Crown The Scots left their Camp entire behind them wherein the English found 500 Oxen and Cows ready killed a Thousand Spits full of Roast-Meat 500 Caldrons made of Cow-hides new with the Hair on full of Flesh Boyling over Fires And Ten thousand pair of Shoes made of raw Hides with the Hair outward All which became a welcome booty to the hungry English Souldiers Fourthly After this dishonourable retreat of the King who was extreamly grieved to return so ingloriously notwithstanding the expence of a vast Treasure and the imminent danger of his own Person and just before the death of King Robert who died of the Leprosie being accounted one of the most Valiant Warriors of that Age as having redeemed his Country from Slavery and by whose loss it appeared of
will for it would turn highly to the dishonour of God and to the displeasure of the People if the priviledge of that Holy place should be now broken which had so many Years been inviolably preserved which so many good Kings and Princes had granted and confirmed and which Holy Ground was 500 Years ago by St. Peter in his own Person accompanied with great numbers of Angels by Night so miraculously hallowed and Dedicated to God And for proof whereof they have St. Peter's Copy yet in Westminster Abbey to show and from that time to this there was never any King so indevout and prophane that durst violate that Sacred place nor any Bishop so Holy that durst as to presume to Consecrate it and therefore quoth the Archbishop God forbid that any Man for any Earthly thing should presume to break the Priviledges and Liberties of that Holy Sanctuary and I hope in God I shall not need to fear it for my utmost endeavours shall not be wanting The other Bishops and Clergy in the Council were of the same opinion that no violence ought by any means to be used toward the Queen or that Sacred Place The Archbishop added But my Honourable Lords If the Mothers fears or Womanish dread render my message ineffectual I hope I shall receive no prejudice in your judgments thereby Womanish fear nay Womanish frowardness replied the Duke of Buckingham for I dare take it upon my Soul she very well knows there is no just cause for her to fear any danger can accrue thereby either to her Son or her self for surely no Man will make War with Women I would to God that some Men of her Family were Women too and then we should all be quickly quiet Yet are none of them the less respected because they are her Relations but by reason of their ill actions but if we had no kindness for her or her Kindred yet no Man can believe that we have any hatred or evil design against the King's Noble Brother who is a Kin to us all for whose Honour and welfare if his Mother had so much regard as we of the Nobility have She would not suffer him any longer to be without his Brother's society nor give occasion to Men to think that we have any surreptitious intentions toward him For though she be a Wise Princess yet I hope she does not so presume upon her own Wit as to prefer it before the Wisdom of this Illustrious Assembly nor suspect any unfair dealing from us whom she knows to be devoted to the Service both of the K. and his Brother Her refusal must therefore be the effect of her pevishness and preversness and not of her real fears unless she dreads her own shadow Besides if upon pretended doubts she is not willing to part with him we have the greater reason to take him out of her hands lest to prevent us she should convey him out of the Kingdom and it would much reflect upon the discretion of this Honourable Council to suffer the King's Brother to be carried out of the Realm before our Faces I am therefore clearly for taking him from her not that I would have Sanctuary violated but as I would not break the Priviledges they have so long enjoyed so if they were now to be given I would not be one that should consent to confirm them I will not deny but it may be necessary that those Men whom unfortunate accidents and not their own ill Husbandry have reduced to Poverty should have a place of security from their cruel Creditors Likewise If their be a Contention about the Rights of Princes to the Crown whereby sometimes one Party and soon after another are declared Traytors as it has lately happened I judge it convenient that there be some places of refuge for both But for Thieves and especially wilful Murtherers whom God Almighty commands should be taken from the Altar and put to Death I know no reason that they should have any protection For if either necessity self defence or misfortune brings a Man into danger he is either acquitted by the Law or the King out of his Clemency has power to grant him a Pardon Now let us consider how few Sanctuary men are necessitated to go thither and how great a number their own flagitious crimes drive into them What a rabble of Thieves Murtherers Traytors and other heinous Offenders shelter themselves from Justice in two Sanctuarys only The one in the Elbow of the City as I may call it I mean this at Westminster the other in the very bowels of it St. Martins Le Grand and I dare avow that if we compare the mischiefs that are occasioned by them with the benefits received from them we must conclude that we were better without both This I affirm though they were not abused as they are and having so long continued bad there is now little hope of redress since no Man dares presume to talk of reforming them and Men thereby seeming to make God and St. Peter the Patrons of Profligate and Vitious People For how many live prodigally and run in debt upon the incouragement of securing themselves in these places How many Rich Villains carry in thither Poor Mens Goods and leave them and their Families to Starve for want of their just dues How many Women run away from their Husbands with their Plate and Money and are there protected to spend it upon their Gallants How many Robbers bring Stolen Goods thither and live bravely upon them there they contrive new Robberies going out at Night to commit them and having Stolen Plundred and Murdered they return thither again with their prey as if such places gave them not only security to perpetrate these Villanies but a Licence to continue them But much of this mischief might be prevented if good Men would in earnest put their hands to it which might tend much to the honour of God and yet be no breach of Priviledge For since former Popes and Princes who were more Politick than Pious have granted them these long immunities We and others since out of fear have confirmed them we must be content to suffer them and in God's name let them stand in force as far as reason will permit but not in such force as to hinder us from taking this Young Prince out of Prison and restoring him to his Liberty Honour and Estate A Sanctuary is to preserve those Men or Women that are in danger of the Law abroad but not to wrong nor cheat any body by going in thither Now this Prince is in peril by no Law his Youth and Innocence free him from all suspicion of danger as well as his near Alliance to the King therefore he neither needs nor can have any benefit by Sanctuary and I dare say is very angry with those that keep him there But suppose the Duke is willing so long to continue there yet it is my opinion that he may be taken from thence against his will as
have I to believe that since my Kindred are as Innocent as my self and all the malice against us is because we are so near a kin to the King As for the Gentleman my Son I intend he shall be where I am till I see farther for I assure you the more earnest I see some men to have him away without any real ground the more I dread to part with him And truly Madam quoth the Archbishop the more loth you are to part with him the more afraid are other men that you should convey him away and therefore since he can have no privilege that does not ask it nor for any fault can want it they will think it no breach of privilege to take him from you by force Ah Sâ—r quoth the Queen hath the Protecter so much love and tenderness for him that he only fears he should escape him Alas whither should I send him if he be not safe in this Sanctuary the privilege whereof there was never any Tyrant so wicked or devilish to break But it seems my Son deserves no Sanctuary and therefore cannot have it What is this place of security for a Thief and not for an Infant But he is in no danger say they I would to God he were not I wish the Protector may prove a Protector to him but the matter is plain he hath one Son already in his Hands and could he get the other and destroy them both he would then Usurp the Crown I shall give no other account why I have such a fear but only what the Law gives which as Learned men tell me forbids any man to have the custody of one by whose Death he may inherit far less than a Kingdom I shall say no more but that whosoever breaketh this holy Sanctuary I pray God he may soon have need of one but not enjoy it The Queen then proceeded in severe reflections upon the Protector 's designs which the Archbishop did not then believe and was therefore loth to heaâ— but told her in short That if she would deliver her Son to him and the rest he durst pawn his Soul and Body for his safety but if not he much doubted she would be obliged to do it against her will and that he would never move her any more in that matter These words made the Queen stand silent and considering she had no time or place to secure him from them the Sanctuary being strongly guarded and that she did believe the Archbishop and some of the rest of the Lords were good men and would not see her Child wronged and finally that if the Protector was resolved to have him he would scruple at nothing to compass his ends she concluded to deliver him her self to their fidelity and taking the young Duke by the Hand she said My Lords I neither mistrust your prudence nor am jealous of your faithfulness of which I now give you a convincing proof and wherein if I should be mistaken it would be a very great affliction to me and would bring much mischief to the Realm and eternal reproach upon your selves For behold here is the Gentleman you require whom I doubt not but I could have kept safe in this place whatever is alledged to the contrary Though I do not question but I have some such deadly Enemies to my Family and Blood abroad that if they thought they had a drop of it in their own Bodies they would let it out For we have had many examples that the ambition of Soveraignty makes void all tyes of Kindred and Alliance for this cause Brothers have been the ruin of Brothers and may the Nephews find better usage from their Uncle While these Children are apart the life of one is a defence to the other and their safety consists in each others welfare Keep one safe and that will secure the other but nothing is more dangerous than that they should be in one place for no wise Merchant will venture all his Estate in one Ship But however here I deliver him and his Brother in him into your hands of whom I shall require them both in the sight of God and the World I know very well that you are both Just and Wise and that you want neither Will nor Power to preserve them if you think otherwise pray leave him with me But one thing I earnestly recommend to you to be very cautious lest while you count me too fearful you your selves be not too fearless and secure Then turning to the Child Come my own sweet Son said she let me Kiss you before you go for God knows whether ever we shall kiss one another again to whose holy protection I commit you Having Kissed and Blessed him she turned aside and wept and then went away leaving the Child weeping as fast as she The Lords having received the Duke brought him into the Star Chamber where the Protector and Council were sitting As soon as he was entred the room the Protector rises up and takes him in his Arms Kissing and Imbracing him saying Dear Nephew you are welcome with all my heart for next to my Soveraign Lord your Brother nothing gives me so much contentment as your presence And herein it was thought he did not dissemble having now got the prize which he so much desired Soon after upon pretence of removing the two Princes into a place of more security till the Peoples minds were settled the Protector caused them to be carried in great Pomp and State through London to the Tower there to continue till the King's Coronation from whence they never after came abroad The Protector now began more openly to prosecute his designs but the work being great he must make use of Great men in it and at that time none was more potent than that Duke of Buckingham Some have writ that the Duke was privy to all the contrivances of the Duke from the death of King Edward IV. Others thought the Protector never durst adventure to discover a matter of such great consequence to him and that he now imployed some cunning people to insinuate into the Duke that the young King had a secret hatred to him for being accessary to the Imprisonment of his Kindred and that if he were ever in a capacity he would revenge it upon him for if they should be again at liberty to be sure they would incite him to it and if they should be put to death this would the more inrage the King against him That there was no way for the Duke to retreat or make his Peace with the King since the King himself with his Brother and Kindred were now in such safe custody that the Protector with a word of his Mouth could destroy them all and him also if he found him fall off from his Interest Though the Duke might be troubled at what he had done yet being sensible of the Protector 's cruelty and his own danger he resolved to join with him in all his trayterous enterprizes and
Thou canst not forget that the last time I met thee here it was with a heavy Heart Yes my Lord said the Purfivant I remember it very well but thanks be to God your Enemies gained nothing nor had your Lordship any damage thereby and now the danger is over Thou wouldest say so indeed said the Lord if thou knewest as much as I do for the World is well changed now and my Enemies are in greater danger as thou mayst happen to hear in a few days the Enemies he meant were the Lord Rivers and others of the Queens Kindre◠who were that very day secretly ordered to be Beheaded at Pomfret-Castle of which he had knowledge and I was never merrier nor in more safety since I was Born By this we may learn that there is no greater sign of ill fortune than to be too secure and that Men are blind as to their own Fate and though the Ax hangs over their Heads yet are not sensible of it but are oft most in danger when they think themselves safe and most safe when they judg themselves in danger For this Lord notwithstanding his great confidence lost his Head two hours after he spoke these words The same Morning as the Lord Hastings was going to the Council in tht Tower a Knight who pretended kindness to him but was thought to be privy to the Protector 's designs and sent to meet and hasten him thither offered to accompany him The Lord Hastings staid by the way in Tower-street to discourse with a Priest whom he met the Knight jokingly interrupted their talk saying Pray my Lord make haste for you have no need of a Priest yet seeming to be in jest but it was thought meant in earnest that he would in a short time have occasion for one The news of the Death of the Lord Hastings soon flew into the City and much surprized the People but the Protector to prevent any Commotion sent for several of the Principal Citizens to come to him with all speed At their appearance himself with the Duke of Buckingham received them in Old Rusty Armour to make a shew as if the present danger had obliged them to take what they could first come by and then the Protector declared to them That the Lord Hastings and other Conspirators had contrived to have slain him and the Duke of Buckingham in Council and then to have taken upon them to Govern the King and Kingdom at their pleasure Of which Treason they had made discovery but few hours before it should have been acted so that their sudden fear had caused them to put on such Armour as they first met with but that God had so far prevented their Traiterous purposes as some had already received their deserts This he required them to report to the People The Citizens seemed as if they had believed what he said though they all knew nothing was more false Presently after a Proclamation was published throughout the City reciting the aforenamed particulars and adding several reflections upon the Lord Hastings as that he was an Evil Councellour to King Edward IV. Advising him to do many things to his great Dishonour and the damage of the Kingdom by his ill Example and Conversation particularly in the lewdness of his Life which he still continued with Shore's Wife who was one of the principal Conspirators with whom he had converst the very last night and that it was no wonder if such a wicked course of Life had brought him to such an untimely Death which he was condemned to suffer by the special command of the King and his Honourable Privy Council before whom he was clearly Convicted to have contrived this horrid Treason and whose sudden Execution according to his demerits they hoped would prevent the other Conspirators from proceeding in their Traiterous purposes and secure the Peace of the Nation Now this Proclamation was published within two hours after the Lord Hastings was Beheaded and was so exactly perceived and fairly Written in Parchment and withal so long that all the World perceived it had been prepared long before which occasioned the School Master of St. Pauls at the Proclaiming it to say Here is a gay goodly cast foul cast away for haste To whom a Merchant Answered That it was written by Prophesie or Revelation After this the Protector like an Innocent continent Prince sent the Sheriffs of London to Jane Shore's House who lived from her Husband with an order to seize all her Goods which they did to the value of two or 3000 Marks and committed her to Prison He charging her with bewitching him and with conspiring with the Lord Hastings to destroy him but having no proof of any thing be then gravely accused her of what all the Kingdom knew before and she her self could not deny that she was Unchaste of her Body which made Men smile that it should be now told as new Hereupon he caused the Bishop of London to put her to open Pennance for Incontinency and the next Sunday she was brought out of Ludgate going before a Cross in Procession with a Wax Taper in her hand and though she was then in mean Apparel having only her Girdle on yet she appeared so fair and lovely the crowd of Spectators raising a comely blush in her Cheeks and withal so modest and sober that she was much commended by them who had more love for her Body than for her Soul yea those that hated her vitious life and were glad to see Sin punished yet pitied her misery and hard usage from him who inflicted it for wicked and politick ends and not out of love to Virtue or Chastity This Woman was a notable instance of the mutability of Fortune she was born in London of a good Family and very well Married to one Shore a sober worthy Citizen and Goldsmith but it was thought a little too Young so that she never shewed much affection to her Husband whom she was 〈◊〉 a capable of loving which might incline her the 〈…〉 imbrace King Edward's Kindness Which being attended with Honour Riches Fine Cloaths Ease Pleasure and all other humane delights was hardly to be resisted by such a tender heart as she had When the King had taken her for his Mistriss her Husband wholly abandoned her Bed After his Death the Lord Hastings who had an extream passion for her during the King's Life but either out of respect or faithfulness forbore Courting her now took her home to his House and maintained her in great splendor She was very fair and proper and nothing amiss in her whole Body but that some thought her not tall enough as some report who knew her in her Youth saith Sir Thomas More but now she is Old saith he who saw her she is lean withered and her Skin so extreamly shrivelled that it is scarce to be imagined so much beauty and comeliness ever resided in that wretched Carcass Yet she was not more admired for her handsomeness then for
end in reciprocal ruin And thus it happened with King Richard and the Duke of Buckingham his intimate Favourite who had been Confederates in the Death of many which now dissolves in the destruction of them both What the cause of the first breach was could not be known Whether the Duke did not think he was sufficiently rewarded for his Services Or that King Richard did not judg himself safe whilest he that set him on the Throne remained so Great Or that the Duke being Ambitious and Aspiring grew envious at his own ast in advancing him The last of which conjectures he seemed to confirm by pretending sickness to avoid being present at the Coronation Which King Richard was jealous of and therefore obliged him to come by sending word That if he did not he would ferch him Whereupon the Duke came with so ill a will that ever after there was no good understanding between them retiring presently after to his Castle at Brecknock And here the inscrutable depth of Divine Providence is very remarkable which the greatest Polititians cannot Fathom For the King had committed the Bishop of Ely to the Duke's custody as one that would secure him from doing any hurt and therefore designed it for the Bishop's punishment Whereas this very thing occasioned the Bishop's liberty and advancement and was a means of King Richard's destruction For the Duke retiring home seemed to be much disturbed and discontented in his mind and wanting rest would be sometimes talking with the Bishop who being a Man of great Wit and Judgment the Duke became at length extreamly pleased with his company and opened himself more freely to him whereby the Bishop perceived that the chief cause of his trouble was his envy to King Richard and thereupon he took an opportunity to discourse him to this purpose My Lord ' You know that formerly I took part with King Henry VI. and could have wished his Son had enjoyed the Crown but after God had ordained King Edward IV. to Reign I was never so mad to contend for a dead Prince against a living one and so I was a faithful Chaplain to King Edward and would have been glad his Child had succeeded him but since by the secret judgment of God it hath happened otherwise I will not strive to set up that which God hath pluck'd down And as for the Lord Protector and now King Here the Bishop made a sudden pause saying He had already medled too much in the World and would for the future be concerned with nothing but his Books and his Beads Because he ended with King the Duke was impatient to have him proceed saithfully promising no hurt should come from it but it may be much good assuring him that the reason why he desired the King to put him under his custody was that he might secretly ask his councel and advise My Lord Said the Bishop I humbly thank your Grace but I confess I do not much care to talk of Princes since it may often prove dangerous though nothing be ill meant But a Man's words may be interpreted not as he intended them but as the Prince pleases to construe them which puts me in mind of one of Aesop's Fables The Lyon had published a Proclamation That upon pain of death no Horned Beast should continue in an adjoining Wood now a certain Beast that had a bunch in his forehead flying away in great haste was met by a Fox who ask'd him whither he ran so fast Fast quoth he I think it is time to run if I intend to save my life Why Brother Reynard han't you heard of the Proclamation against Horned Beasts What then you Fool quoth the Fox That does not concern you for I am sure you have no Horns on your Head Ay marry quoth the Beast that I know well enough but what if the Lyon should call my bunch a horn where were I then Brother Reynard The Duke laughed at the story and said My Lord I warrant you neither the Lyon nor the Boar shall pick any matter out of any thing that has been spoken for it shall never come near their Ears In good faith Sir says the Bishop What we have said if taken as we meant it could only deserve thanks but being wrested as some would do might be of ill consequence to us both The Duke intreated him to go on in his former discourse My Lord said the Bishop As for the late Protector since he is now King in possession I shall not dispute his Title but for the good of the Kingdom I could wish he had in him those excellent Virtues wherewith God Almighty has qualified your Grace Here he stopt again My Lord said the Duke I much wonder at these sudden pauses which so interrupt your discourse that I can neither comprehend your thoughts of the King nor your affection to my self I therefore beg of you not to conceal your thoughts any longer but freely to discover your sentiments and upon my Honour I will be as secret as the Deaf and Dumb person is to the Singer or the Tree to the Hunter The Bishop upon the assurance of the Dukes thus followed his discourse My Lord ' I plainly perceive that this Realm is in great danger of being brought to confusion and desolation under the present Government but I have still some hope remaining by the dayly observation of your Noble Personage your Justice your ardent love to your Countrey and likewise the great love the People have toward you and should think the Kingdom fortunate which had a Prince so fit and apt to be their Governour as your self whose Person and actions contain in them all that is truly great just and honourable He then reproached the King for his many Murders Cruelties and Oppressions adding ' And now my Lord If you love God your posterity or your Native Country you must your self take upon you the Imperial Crown and Diadem of this Realm But if you refuse the same I then adjure you by the Faith you owe to God and the regard you ought to have for your Native Land in your Princely Wisdom to contrive some means whereby the Kingdom may be setled in Peace Liberty and safety under a Legal Government and if you think fit to advance again the House of Lancaster or to Marry the Eldest Daughter of King Edward IV. to some powerful Prince the new Crowned King may be quickly removed from his Usurp'd Throne and thereby Peace and Plenty and Tranquility will again be restored to the Nation The Bishop having ended his Speech the Duke remained silent for some time only breathing forth many deep sighs which much startled the Bishop and made his colour change The Duke perceiving it Be not afraid my Lord said he All promises shall be kept and so for that time they parted Next day the Duke sent for the Bishop and having repeated their former discourse he proceeded ' My Lord of Ely Because I discern you have a real
in the Morning they fell to rifling the Houses of several Foreigners but four or five hundred of them being seized by the Lord Mayor were committed to Prison and two hundred seventy eight were afterward indicted for High Treason but John Lincoln only was executed the King by the intercession of three Queens Katherine Queen of England and the French Queen and Queen of Scots his Sisters and by the persuasion of Cardinal VVoolsey without whose advice he would do nothing pardoning all the rest who being in number four hundred men and eleven women were brought by the Lord Mayor with Ropes about their Necks into VVestminster Hall where the Cardinal severely reprimanded the Lord Mayor and Aldermen for their negligence in not securing the peace of the City and then aggravated the high crime of the Prisoners who had justly deserved death Upon which they all cried to the King for mercy who thereupon told them That he would pardon them all which he had no sooner pronounced but the Prisoners gave a loud shout all at once throwing up their Halters toward the top of the Hall and so were dismissed and the Gibbets that had been set up in several parts of the City for their Execution were taken down and afterwards this was named The evil May Day About this time Maximilian the Emperor died and Charles V. his Son succeeded him in the Empire of Germany the Kingdom of Spain and the Low Countrys Upon which Cardinal VVoolsey was sent over to Bruges in Flanders to condole with and Congratulate the young Emperor who was then Resident there being furnisht for his Journey in all respects like a Great Prince his Attendants being clothed some in Crimson Velvet and Chains of Gold about their Necks Others in fine Scarlet edged with black Velvet and was received by the Emperor with as much honour as if he had been the King himself having the Great Seal of England with him which was always carried before him being served upon the knee by several English Noblemen and Gentlemen to the admiration of the Germans for his strange Pride and Insolence After which he returned into England in great Triumph being more in favâ—… with the King than before The French King Lewes being weary of the VVar with England and having a great Kindness for the Lady Mary King Henry's Sister sent Ambassadors to Treat of Peace and of a Marriage with her Both which were soon concluded and the Lady was sent to France and Crowned Queen at Paris the French declaring That they thought themselves the happiest People in the VVorld who had so good a King and fair a Queen to reign over them But King Lewes after twelve weeks converse with his most beautiful Lady died and his Brother Francis I. succeeded him who renewed the former amity between the two Kingdoms and for further confirmation of the same desired an enterview between them which the Cardinal persuaded the King to gratifie him in VVhereupon King Henry and his Queen attended by VVoolsey and a great number of Noblemen and Gentlemen sailed over to Callice and in a plain near Guisness a large Palace of Timber was framed where both the Kings met and imbraced each other with much seeming affection and where nothing was wanting as to Justs Turnaments and the other Princely Military Exercises of that age which were proper for such a Royal Assembly Soon after Charles the Emperor coming out of Spain to Sail into the Low Countrys landed at Dover where he was received and entertained by the Cardinal and King Henry went to Canterbury to meet with him and having sumptuously treated him for a few days the Emperor pursued his Voyage to Flanders in forty four men of VVar. A while after some differences happened between the French King and the Emperor to compose which Cardinal VVoolsey with some other Noblemen were sent but they not prevailing King Henry fell from the French King alledging that he had stirred up the Scots to make VVar with him but King Francis laid all the blame on the Cardinal's dissimulation and base treacherous practices However the VVar proceeded becteixt the two Kingdoms between the French King and the Duke of Bourbon insomuch that the Duke fled out of France to the Emperor to save his life the Cardinal having notice of it he contrived that he should be King Henry's General against the French King VVho thereupon raised a great Army against Burbon and drove him into the Town of Pavia in Italy where he was so closely besieged that he could get no Provisions the Cardinal being secretly corrupted by the French King to withhold his pay so that his Souldiers were ready to mutiny against their new General Hereupon finding his case desperate he resolved to attempt an escape and in the dead of the Night he sent part of his Forces to attack that part of the French Camp which was weakest himself marching out on the other side the City The Guards being weak and the Souldiers asleep it caused a very great disturbance among the French who turned their Cannon toward the Assaulters when Burbon falling unexpectedly upon the backs of them drove them from their Cannon which they turned upon themselves slew their Souldiers cut down their Tents and took Francis the French King Prisoner This great success so much incouraged these brave Germans that with their Imperial Ensigns displayed they marched to Florence and thence to Rome and gave three Assaults to the Walls thereof in one day in the last of which the Duke of Burbon was slain however his Army being commanded by the Prince of Orange and some other brave Generals the Popes Palace and the Castle of St. Angelo were taken and the Pope was made Prisoner with twenty four Cardinals that fled thither for security The City of Rome also was plundred where the Souldiers gained a very rich booty so that they were overloaden with valuable Jewels Plate and Money During the Siege the Souldiers would often Cloath a Man like the Pope and set him on Horseback with a Whore behind him who sometimes blest and sometimes curst as he rid along and whom the Souldiers called Antichrist The Cardinal hearing of the misfortune of his Father the Pope endeavoured by all means to induce K. Henry to declare War against the Emperour and to shew himself the Defender of the Church but the King replied ' My Lord I am more disturbed at this unhappy chance than my Tongue can express but whereas you say that I as Defender of the Faith ought to be concerned therein I do assure you my opinion is That this War between the Pope and the Emperor is not a War of Religion or for the Faith but for Temporal Possessions and Dominions and now Pope Clement is in the hands of Souldiers What can I do I can neither assist him with my Person nor my People cannot rescue him but if my Treasure will help him take what you think convenient Whereupon Woolsey took two hundred and
forty thousand pound out of the Exchequer which he carried over to Callice and from thence in 80 Waggons and a Guard of 1200 Horse 60 Mules and Sumpter Horses and attended with a great number of Lords and Gentlemen he conveyed this great Sum to the French Court at Amiens Having before his going hence sent out Commissions to all the Bishops of England to Sing the Litany after this manner Holy Mary pray for our Holy Pope Clement Holy Holy Peter pray for Pope Clement c. And thus was the Cardinal disappointed in advising the King to declare the Duke of Bourbon his General who proceeded farther then he could ever have imagined The Cardinals ambition being unlimited he during the Imprisonment of the Pope sent to the Emperour to use his interest to advance him to the Papacy but receiving a disobliging answer he grew thereupon so furious that he sent the Emperor word That if he would not endeavour his advancement he would make such a rustling among the Christian Princes as there had not been the like for an hundred years before though it should cost him the whole Kingdom of England The Emperour answering this insolent Letter in Print bid the Cardinal have a care of undertaking what might both ruin himself and the Kingdom Hereupon the Cardinal sent private Letters to Clarentius King at Arms to join with the French Herald and proclaim defiance to the Emperour Who suspecting that it was done without the King's knowledge ordered his Ambassadour at London to complain thereof The King much wondered to hear of it and the Cardinal confidently affirmed that he knew nothing of the matter but that it was the fault of Clarenâ—ius who had done it at the request of the French Herald for which he swore he should lose his Head when he came to Callice Clarentius having intelligence hereof instantly Imbark'd at Bullen and coming to Greenwich was introduced by some of his Friends into the King's Presence before the Cardinal knew of it and produced the Cardinals Letters Commission and Instructions for what he had done At which the King was so surprized that he stood some time silent and then said ' O Lord Jesus He that I trusted most hath deceived me and given a false account of my Affairs Well Clarentius for the future I shall take care whom I believe for I now find I have been informed of a great many things as true which I now find to be utterly false And from that time the King withdrew his favour and confidence from him Some time before this the Cardinal sent Letters to Doctor Stephen Gardiner the King's Orator at Rome and afterward Bishop of Winchester urging him to use all manner of means for advancing him to the Papal Dignity which he said nothing could induce him to aspire to but the vehement desire he had to restore and advance the Authority of the Church wherein no Man should be more Zealous and indefatigable than himself He likewise ingaged the French King and King Henry to write to the Cardinals on his behalf that he might succeed after the Death of Pope Clement and vast Sums of Money were wasted in this business but all the Cardinals ambitious thoughts proved abortive and as he already began to stagger in the King's favour so in a short time he fell into his high displeasure For these extravagant expences drained the King's Treasury so low that the Cardinal was compell'd to contrive new ways for filling them again To which end he without the King's knowledge and by his own Authority Issued out Commissions under the Great Seal to every County in England for taking an account of every Man's Estate and he that was worth Fifty Pound was charged to pay Four Shillings in the Pound All that were worth above Twenty and under Fifty Pound Two Shillings in the Pound and those not worth Twenty Pound to pay Twelve pence to be paid either in Money or Plate making himself chief Commissioner for raising the same in and about London The Clergy were likewise charged at four Shillings in the Pound for their Livings These unjust Proceedings were grievous both to the Clergy and People who generally refused to comply alledging That these Commissions were contrary to Law and against the Liberty of the Subject and that it was not possible for those who were worth more yet to raise the half of what they were charged with either in Plate or ready Money and therefore they Petitioned the Cardinal to intercede with the King for remitting it To whom he haughtily replied That he would rather have his Tongue pluck'd out of his Mouth with Pincers then move any such thing and that he was resolved to make them pay the utmost Farthing and the Lord Viscount Lisle one of the Commissioners in Hampshire sending a Letter to the Cardinal that he doubted the raising this Money would occasion an Insurrection he swore deeply that his not following the Instructions given him should cost him his Head But however the discontents of the People were so general that the Cardinal doubting the Event thought fit to recal those Commissions and to issue others whereby he demanded a sixth part of every Mans Estate according to the aforesaid Rates which he did not doubt but they would have complied with but on the contrary they renewed their complaints and cursed the Tyrannical Cardinal for his Arbitrary Proceedings which at length reach'd the King's Ear. who being told that all Places were filled with Clamours Discontents and Mutinies he openly protested that these Commissions were issued out without his Knowledge or Consent and to prevent farther Mischief he by Proclamation vacated them declaring that though his necessities were never so urgent yet he would never force his Subjects to pay any Tax without their own consent in Parliament but that his wants being extream at this time if they would of their own accord by way of Benevolence supply his present exigencies he should accept it as an infallible Proof of their Love and Duty toward their Soveraign The Cardinal perceiving himself obliquely struck at by this Proclamation as the principal Author of these heavy Pressures and publick Grievances he Politickly sent for the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Common Council of London before him to whom he declared That perceiving the former Demands to be grievous to the People he had upon his Knees for the Love and Kindness he bore toward them perswaded the King to annul those Commissions and wholly to relie upon the free Gift of his People and though the King might have justly demanded the former Summs as a due Debt yet he freely released them of the same not doubting but they would equal if not exceed the Rates formerly required of them the Lord Mayor and Aldermen assembled their respective Wards and acquainted them with the King's desire but the Citizens absolutely refused to give any thing alledging that they had pay'd enough already and were able to do no more adding many opprobrious
commonly subject to when they fall into adversity as having neither good Consciences nor manly Courage to support their drooping Spirits From hence he was carried to the Earl of Shrewsbury's to Sheffeild where he continued till the King sent Sir William Kingston Captain of the Guard and Constable of the Tower to bring him to London the sight of whom so daunted him that he redoubled his lamentations and would receive no comfort and much doubting he should lose his Head he took so strong a Purge or poysonous Potion for fear of being brought to open punishment for his many enormities as in a few days put an end to his Life at Leicester Abbey in his Journey toward London Being near his end he called Sir William Kingston to him and said 'Pray present my Duty to his Majesty who is a Noble and Gallant Prince and of a resolved Mind for he will venture the loss of his Kingdom rather than be contradicted in his desires I do assure you I have sometimes kneeled three hours together to dissande him from his resolutions but could never prevail therefore you had need take care what you put into his Head for you can never get it out again And now Mr. Kingston had I but served God as diligently as I have served the King he would never have forsaken me in my Gray Hairs but this is the just reward that I receive for all my pains and labour who neglected the Service of God and studied only to please and humour my Prince He then proceeded to vilifie the Protestants whom he named Hellish Lutherans and that the King should take care to suppress and extirpate them as being the occasion of Rebellions and Insurrections in Bohemia and England in King Richard II's time and other places and that these Seditions and Heresies would ruin Holy Church and bring destruction upon the Realm About eight a Clock at Night he gave up the Ghost as himself had predicted the day before A Person in whose Arm he died affirmed that his Body when dead was as black as pitch and so heavy that six men could hardly carry it and stank so horribly that they were forced to bury him that very night before it was day At which time so great a Tempest of Wind and such a lothsome stench arose that all the Torches were blown out and the Corps being hastily thrown into the Grave was there left without Tomb Monument or Remembrance Of which the Poet thus writes And though from his own Store Woolsey might have A Palace or a College for his Grave Yet here he lies interr'd as if that all Of him to be remembred were his Fall Nothing but Earth to Earth no pompous weight Upon him but a Pebble or a Quait One Historian thus concludes his Story Thus Lived and thus Died this great Cardinal who was Proud and Ambiâ—ious VVanton and Letcherous Rich and Covetous a Liar and a Flatterer a Tyrant and Merciless forgetful of his beginning disdainful in his Prosperity dispirited and base in adversity and wretched in his end VVhose Death made the King joyful the Nobles jocund and the People glad This happened in 1530. Thus died this mighty Prelate who though guilty of so many horrid crimes yet to the last hour pretended much zeal for the Church breathing forth Death and murder against the Protestants and charging them with those Rebellions and Disturbances which the Clergy only were the cause of by their violent Counsels and their bloody cruel illegal and arbitrary decrees and practices Insomuch that Sir Richard Baker in his Chronicle of England writing the Character of King Henry VIII says thus But it will be injurious to charge all the Blood spilt in his Reign to his account They were the bloody Bishops that made those bloody Laws and the bloody Clergy that put them in execution the King oft-times scarce knowing what was done and when he heard of some of them he extreamly condemned their barbarous cruelty Remarks upon the Life Actions and Fatal Fall of Thomas Cromwell Earl of Essex Favourite to King Henry the Eighth 〈◊〉 the Life of this Great Person we may remark That those Noble Virtues which sometimes adâ—… Men to Honour and Dignity are not always priâ—…es intailed and appropriated to high Birth and â—…rable Descent But that those that proceed from mean and abject Families are oftentimes indued with such singular VVisdom Dexterity and Industry that they rise to high preferment and authority VVe may likewise observe That though his Predecessor VVoolsey could not bear the great Fortune to which he arrived with any moderation but by his Pride and Insolence became distastful to all men yet our great Cromwell on the contrary carried an even Sail in all conditions being neither elated with Prosperity nor deprest when fallen from it Lastly We may hence conclude with the Wise man that all things happen alike to all in this life Woolsey the greatest slave to Vice and Cromwell a Person of the most sublime Virtue being both Favourites to the same King both falling into disgrace with him and both expiring by a fatal Fall Thomas Cromwell was the Son of a Blacksmith at Putney in Surrey to whom may be applied what Juvenal said of Demosthenes the famous Orator who had the same Original Whom his poor Father blear-ey'd with the Soot Of Sparks which from the burning Iron did shoot From Coals Tongs Anvil and such Blacksmiths Tools And dirty Forge sent to the Grammar Schools His Father educated him according to his mean ability and though his low condition was at first a great hindrance to his promotion yet such was his pregnancy of wit his solid judgment his ready elocution his indefatigable diligence his couragious Heart and his active Hand that so many excellencies could not lye long concealed insomuch that though he were without Friends or Money yet nothing being too difficult for his Wit and Industry to compass nor for his Capacity and Memory to retain he soon got into Imployment For having passed over his Youth with the common diversions of that state when he grew toward man he had a great inclination to travel abroad and learn experience in the World and gain those Languages which might be serviceable to him in the future course of his Life Whereupon going over to Antwerp he was there retained by the English Merchants for their Secretary It happened about this time that the People of Boston in Lincolnshire thought fit to send to Rome to renew the Great and Little Pardon which formerly belonged to a Church in their Town by which they found much advantage from those who came to have the benefit of the remission of their Sins by them which were no small number of superstitious Zealots And being very sensible that all things at Rome were to be purchased only by Money they sent one Jeffery Chambers with a round sum upon this notable errand who in his Journey coming to Antwerp and much doubting his ability for managing
his Apostles being now discovered to them they thought it very fit that they should be governed by the King their Supream Head and therefore resigned their Abbies to him So that in the whole one hundred fifty nine Resignations were made to the King before the Meeting of the next Parliament who made an Act for the Total Dissolution of all the Abbies in England the Rents of which were then valued at being one hundred thirty two thousand six hundred and seven pound six shillings four pence but they were worth above ten times as much in true value These Proceedings against the Pope and Holy Church caused the Rude Ignorant and wilful People in Lincolnshire to assemble in Arms to the number of twenty thousand The King levied a strong Army and went in Person to suppress them and approaching them they sent him an humble Petition that if he would reestablish the Monasteries and the Popes Authority they would freely lay down their Arms and return to their Duty hut the King disdaining these Rusticks should dictate Politicks to him rejected their Petition sending them Word that if they did not instantly deliver up a hundred of the principal Rebels into his hands he would immediately fall upon them with the utmost Fury and Sacrifice them all to his resentment This daring Resolution so daunted the Hearts of this undisciplined Multitude that their Leaders expecting each would deliver the other up to the King they secretly deserted them and returned home but Captain Cobler their Chief Commander otherwise Dr. Makarel and some other being taken were executed according to their merits and the Common People being left without Officers made haste home and were pardoned by the King This was succeeded by another Insurrection in the North where 40000 got together upon the same pretences calling themselves ' The Holy Pilgrims who intended nothing but the establishing of the true Religion and restoring the Rights of Holy Church The Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk were ordered to suppress these brainsick Zealots who seemed very joyful they were to fight not doubting of success in this Religious War but the Night before the intended day of Battel a little Brook which ran between the Armies and might have been passed over dry foot grew so broad by the next Morning by a violent Rain which fell that they could not approach each other which being reckoned by both Parties a great Miracle the Rebels upon promise of free pardon quietly departed home In these commotions those men whose profession was only their Books and their Beeds mistaking the Command of Christ To sell their Coats and buy a Sword came armed into the Field and being taken several Abbots Monks and Priests were executed The Kingdom being again setled in peace Cromwell proceeded in the Work of Reformation and because the People seemed discontented that the abuse of these Monasteries should be turn'd to the utter ruin of them from whence they used to have relief and alms Therefore Cromwell thought fit to make them sensible of the Cheats and Tricks which the Priests had imposed upon them And many Impostures about Relicks and Wonderful Images or Roods were now discovered to which Pilgrimages had been formerly made As at Reading where they shewed the Wing of the Angel that brought over thither the point of the Spear which pierced our Saviour's side And so many pieces of the Cross were found in several Abbies as joined together would have made a large Cross The Rood of Grace at Boxley in Kent which had drawn so many Pilgrims to it was brought to St. Paul's Cross which by many springs used to bow down and lift up it self to rowl the Eyes shake the Head Hands and Feet move the Lips seem pleased or angry by bending the Brows which the credulous multitude imputed to a Divine Power but was now made appear to be a Cheat and the Springs openly shewed that governed its several motions Likewise the Images of our Lady of Walsingham and Ipswich adorned with rich Jewels and divers others both in England and Wales were removed out of the Churches and being brought to London were openly burnt in the presence of the Lord Cromwell at Chelsey The blood of Christ was shewed in a Glass Vial at Hales in Glocestershire and the Priests said it was not visible to any that were in Mortal Sin So that after the People had well paid it became visible to them and the deluded Souls went away well satisfied that they were now free from any damnable transgression But this was proved to be the Blood of a Duck renewed every Week and put into a Glass thick on one side and thin on the other so that till the Pilgrim had offered what the Priest thought fit the dark side was turned to him and afterward the light side Several such Impostures were discovered which tended much to undeceive the People But the richest Shrine in England was that of St. Thomas of Becket that great Rebel to King Henry II. and for whose death he severely whipt himself a great way to the Cathedral of Canterbury where he was killed by four of King Henry's officious Servants and he thereupon Canonized a Saint to whose Altar greater Oblations were made than to that of our Saviour or the Virgin Mary Every fiftieth year there was a Jubilee and an Indulgence granted to all that came and visited his Tomb who were sometimes thought to be an hundred thousand on that occasion he prints of their kneeling and devotion remaining in the Stones to this day So that it was immensly Rich with Gold Jewels Plate and Money the Gold only being so heavy that it filled two Chests which required eight men a piece to carry them out of the Church The Timber work of this Shrine was covered with Plates of Gold Damasked and Imbossed with VVires of Gold garnished with Images Angels great Orient Pearls and Precious Stones the chief whereof was a rich Jewel offered by Lewes seventh of France who came over in Pilgrimage to visit this Tomb and to obtain that for the future no Passenger should be drowned betwixt Dover and Callice It was valued to be the richest Jewel in Europe St. Thomas's Skull which had been so much VVorshipped was proved an Imposture for the true Skull was with the rest of his Bones in the Coffin and were now so mixt with other Bones that it had been a Miracle indeed to have distinguisht them afterwards Then the Axes and Hammers went to work in pulling down the Nests of Superstition and Idolatry whose number as Camden reckons them were six hundred forty five Monasteries ninty Colleges an hundred and ten Hospitals and two thousand three hundred seventy four Chauntries and free Chappels and their Lands and Revenues being by Act of Parliament settled on the Crown the King by the advice of the Lord Cromwell politickly exchanged them for others with his Nobility and Gentry allowing them good Bargains for their Incouragement many of whose Estates do now consist
wholly of Possessions of this nature or else were greatly inlarged by them and the restoration of them to their former uses was thereby rendred so impracticable that all the flaming zeal of Queen Mary for Popery was never able to effect any thing of that kind And this may be thought to have been one strong Barrier and Security of this Nation against Popish Slavery to this very day notwithstanding the many attempts that have since been made to reduce us back to that House of bondage The Churches being thus cleansed from rubbish the magnanimous Lord Cromwell resolved to place better Ornaments in them and therefore he sent out Injunctions requiring the Clergy to set up English Bibles in their Churches and to incourage all to read them Exhorting the People not to dispute about the sense of difficult places but to leave that to better Judgments Ministers were likewise commanded to instruct the People and to teach them the Creed the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments in English and that once every Quarter there should be a Sermon to declare the true Gospel of Christ and to exhort the People to works of Charity and not to trust to other mens Works to Pilgrimages or Relicks or telling their Beads which was only Superstition Also the folly of offering Candles to Images and that to make any use of Images in Divine Worship was Idolatry and the praying to Saints unnecessary These struck at some of the main Points of the former Superstition but the free use of the Scriptures gave the deadliest blow of all Yet all the Clergy submitted to them without murmuring The Death of Queen Ann Bullen who was beheaded some time before for several pretended Crimes which she utterly denied at the Scaffold and of which a great number of worthy men thought her Innocent gave fresh hopes to the Popish Clergy that a stop would have been put to any further Reformation of which she was reckoned a great promoter and inconrager And the Succession of the Crown being likewise altered by Parliament By whom Queen Mary was declared Illegitimate as born of Queen Katherine in unlawful Marriage and a new Oath imposed upon all the People to acknowledge the Children of the Queen Ann to be rightful Heirs to the Crown and she leaving one Daughter who was afterward the renowned Queen Elizabeth that Party had likewise expectations that she being dead the Lady Mary would succeed to the Crown to which end she was persuaded to submit her self to the King and own him as Supream Head of the Church of England which she had hitherto refused But within twenty days after this Tragedy was over the King Married the Lady Jane Seymour Daughter of Sr. John Seymour by whom he had the most excellent Prince Edward who succeeded him though within few days after the good Queen died The birth of a Son blasted the Papists expectations and therefore Gardiner Bonner and the rest of that Clergy seemed now very zealous in promoting the Injunctions that Cromwell had lately published Yet Gardiner still retaining a secret hatred against the Reformation he by his Artifices and Flatteries prevailed much with the King persuading him that his zeal against Heresie was the greatest advantage that his Cause in renouncing the Pope could have over all Europe Which meeting with the King 's own persuasion of the Corporal presence of Christ in the Sacrament caused him to sit in Person upon the Trial of one John Lambert a learned man who because he would not recant his opinion about Transubstantion was cruelly burnt in Smithfield and in the next Parliament an Act was made for making it death not to consent to the six Articles following which were after called the six bloody Articles I. That after the words of Consecration the Real and Natural Body and Blood of Christ was in the Sacrament II. That Communion in both kinds was not necessary to Salvation III. That Priests by the Laws of God ought not to Marry IV. That Vows of Chastity are to be observed V. That private Massies were agreeable to the Word of God VI. That Auricular Confession was necessary to be retained Against most of these Cranmer argued several days and Cromwell promoted Bonner to the Bishoprick of Hereford to be a faithful second to Cranmer in his Pious designs though he afterward proved a violent Persecutor and indeed Cranmer wanted support against the other Bishops who made great complaints of the rashness of the Protestant Preachers who were very furious against some things not yet abolished Upon which Letters were writ to the Bishops to take care that as the People should be rightly instructed so they should not be offended with too many Novelties Thus was Cranmer's interest so low that he had none but Cromwell to depend on There was not a Queen now in the King's Bosom to support them and the refusal of owning these Articles caused the death of many Protestants as the denying the King's Supremacy cut off several Papist so that at the same time Protestants were burnt on one side Smithfield and Papists hanged on the other which made Forreigners admire as not understanding what Religion King Henry was of Hereupon Cromwell contrived how the King should be ingaged in a nearer Alliance with the Protestant Princes of Germany with whom he had already setled a League and who was acknowledged its Patron he sending over an hundred thousand Crowns a year for the support of it all ingaging That they would join against the Pope as the Common Enemy and set up the true Religion according to the Gospel Now that the King might be prevailed upon both by Affection and Interest to carry on what he had thus begun Cromwell resolved to bring about a Match between the King and the Lady Ann Sister to William Duke of Cleve whose other Sister Frederick Duke of Saxony a very zealous Protestant had espoused And the King unwilling to live any longer a Widower both the Emperor and the King of France proposed Matches to him but Reasons of State inclined him powerfully to that with the Lady Ann. Her Father had before Treated with the Prince of Lorrain about Marrying her but it went no farther than a Contract between the two Fathers And the famous Painter Hans Holbin much favoured her in the Picture which was sent to the King who never liked the Original so well as he did that The Duke of Saxe dissuaded the Match because the King was going backward in the Reformation as appear'd by his enacting the six bloody Articles but Cromwell carried it on with the greatest vigor Some write that the Lady was handsome enough but could speak only Dutch which the King understood not neither had she learned Musick and was also so stiff in her Carriage as no way suited the King's temper However the Marriage was concluded and arriving at Rochester the King was so impatient to see her that he went thither incognito but was much dampt at first sight for he thought
about him Before this he writ a Letter to the King which none durst undertake to deliver him but Mr. Sadler his old friend willing to do him a kindness first went to understand the King's pleasure whether he would permit him to do it which the King granting he presented the Letter to him who commanded him to read it to him thrice over seeming much affected with it And some write that after his death the King being in a great exigency and not knowing whom to trust or with whom to advise he much lamented his Death saying O that I had my Cromwell again But the Act of Parliament being passed he could not conveniently dispense with it and his Enemies being so many and mighty was obliged to take him off So that July 28. 1541. the worthy and noble Lord Cromwell was brought to the Scaffold on Tower-Hill where he spake thus to the multitude that surrounded him ' I am come hither to dye and not to clear my self as some peradventure may think that I will I am condemned by the Law to dye and thank my Lord God that hath appointed me this death for mine offences For since the time that I came to years of discretion I have lived a Sinner and have offended my Lord God for which I ask him heartily forgiveness It is not unknown to many of you that I have been a great Traveller in this World and being of mean degree was called to an high estate and since I came thereto I have offended my Prince for which I ask him heartily forgiveness and beseech you all to pray to God with me that he will forgive me And now I pray you all to bear me record that I die in the Catholick Faith not doubting in any Article of my Faith no nor doubting in any Sacrament of the Church Many have slandered me and reported that I have been an Hearer of such as have maintained evil opinions which is untrue But I confess that as God by his Holy Spirit doth instruct us in the Truth so the Devil is ready to seduce us and I have been seduced but bear me witness that I die in the Catholick Faith of the Holy Church and I heartily defire you to pray for the King's Grace that he may long live with you in health and prosperity and that after him his Son Prince Edward that goodly Branch may long reign over you And once again I desire you to pray for me that so long as life remaineth in this flesh I may never waver in my Faith Then kneeling down on the Scaffold he prayed thus ' O Lord Jesus who art the only health of all men living and the everlasting life of them which dye in thee I wretched sinner submit my self wholly unto thy most Blessed Will And being sure that the thing cannot perish which is committed to thy mercy I now willingly leave this frail and wicked Flesh in sure hope that thou wilt in better wise restore it to me again at the last Day in the Resurrection of the Just I beseech thee most merciful Lord Jesus Christ that thou wilt by thy Grace strengthen my Soul against all Temptations and defend me with the Buckler of thy Mercy against all the assaults of the Devil I see and acknowledge that there is in my self no hope of Salvation but all my confidence hope and trust is in thy most merciful goodness I have no merits nor good works that I may alledge before thee Of sins and evil works alas I see a great heap But yet through thy mercy I trust to be in the number of them to whom thou wilt not impute their Sins but will take and accept me for Righteous and Just and to be an Inheritor of Everlasting Life Thou merciful Lord wert born for my sake Thou didst suffer both hunger and thirst for my sake Thon didst teach pray and fast for my sake All thy holy acts and works thou wroughtest for my sake Finally Thou gavest thy most precious Body and Blood to suffer on the Cross for my sake Now most merciful Saviour let all these things profit me who hast given thy self for me Let thy Blood cleanse and wash away the spots and foulness of my Sins Let thy Righteousness hide and cover my Unrighteousness Let the merits of thy Passion and Blood make satisfaction for my Sins Give me O Lord thy Grace that the Faith of my Salvation in thy Blood waver not in me but may be ever firm and constant That the hope of thy mercy and everlasting life in me may never decay nor thy love wax cold in me Finally That the weakness of my flesh be not overcome with the fear of Death Grant O merciful Saviour that when Death hath shut up the Eyes of my Body yet the Eyes of my Soul may still behold and look upon thee and when Death hath taken away the use of my Tongue yet my Heart may cry and say unto thee Lord into thy hands I commend my Soul Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Amen After this he quietly laid down his Head on the Block which was cut off at three or four strokes by the hand of an unskilful and butcherly Executioner Thus fell this Magnanimous Worthy who rose meerly by the strength of his natural Parts for his education was suitable to his mean extraction He carried his greatness with extraordinary moderation and his zeal for the Reformation created him many potent adversaries who continually sought for matter against him till in the end by lies falshood and flattery they had thrown him out of the King's favour He mixed none of the Superstitions of the Church of Rome in his Devotions at his Death and used the word Catholick Faith to express the antient Apostolick Doctrine of Christ in opposition to Popish Novelties With him fell the Office of Vicegerent and none since ever had that Character The miseries that befell the new Queen Katherine and the Duke of Norfolk and his Family were thought to be the Judgments of Heaven upon them for their cruel prosecuting this Unfortunate Favourite The Queen being in a few months beheaded for her former lewd Life together with the Lady Rochford her Bawd as the Act of Parliament called her who had been very instrumental in the ruin of Queen Ann Bullen and of her own Husband the Lord Rochford who being now discovered to be so vile a Woman it tended much to raise both their reputations again The Duke of Norfolk and his Son the Earl of Surrey were both condemned for High Treason a few years after and the Son was beheaded the Father happily escaping by the death of King Henry To conclude The Lord Cromwell had several eminent Virtues so conspicuous in him that they ought not to be concealed His gratitude eminently appeared toward one Frescobald an Italian Merchant who had relieved him in his necessities in that Country which he rewarded afterward with so excessive a generosity as several eminent Pens have strove who
the Council going into the House with Essex The People cried Shut 'em up close keep 'em fast Whereupon the Earl bolted them into the room saying ' Be patient but a little my Lords I must needs go to the City to take order with my Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs and I will return instantly The Lords being thus made Prisoners the Earl issued forth with about 200 Followers without Order among whom were the Earl of Bedford the Lord Cromwell and some other of the Nobility and coming into London Essex cries out continually ' For the Queen for the Queen there is wait laid for my Life Exhorting the Citizens to take Arms and join with him but notwithstanding their pretended kindness not a man appeared for him And soon after he was proclaimed Traytor and the Earl of Nottingham marched with all speed against him which so discouraged him that casting away all hopes of success he thought of returning home and making his Peace with the Lords which he had in Custody But found his way Chained up at the West end of St. Pauls Whereupon he drew his Sword to have forced his passage but had three of his associates slain besides two Citizens and his own Hat shot through So that making haste to Queen Hith he there got a Boat wherein he returned to his own House where he was soon Besieged both by Water and Land and was advised by the Lord Sands to issue out upon his Enemies telling him ' The most valiant Counsels were the most safe and that it was far more honourable to dye fighting with Noblemen than by the hand of an Hangman But Essex his Mind being as inconstant as his Fortune he at length yields to the Admiral And soon after he is brought to a Trial for High Treason with the Earl of Southampton where they made the best defence they could but at length were both condemned the Lord Chief Justice Cork concluding his Sentence with this bitter Sarcasm against Essex ' That it wâ—…e to be wisht that this Robert should be last of the name of Earl of Essex who affected to be Robert the First of that name King of England ' Feb. 25. 1601. was the day appointed for his death on a Scaffold upon the Green within the Tower where sate several Lords and Aldermen of London The Earl mounting the Scoffold uncovered his Head and lifting his Eyes to Heaven confest the many and grievous sins of his youth and especially the last which he said was a bloody crying and contagious sin for which he asked God and the Queen forgiveness protesting he never had any ill design against her Person wishing her long life and a happy reign He thanked God that he was neither Atheist nor Papist but put all his trust and hopes in the Merits of Christ Beseeching God to strengthen him against the fears of death Then he forgave the Executioner and fitted his Neck to the Block Intreating the Spectators to join in a short but fervent prayer and â—aculation to God He then repeated the Creed and the five first verses of the 51. Psalm adding Lord I submit humbly and obediently to my deserved punishment Thou O Lord have mercy upon thy Servant that is cast down Into thy hand O Lord I commit my Spirit ' So laying down his Head it was stricken off at the third â—…w but the first took away all sense and motion Sir Walter Râ—wâ—eigh his great Enemy was present which many thought very unbecoming him King Henry IV. of France and Marshal Byron his Prime Favourite hearing the Christian manner of his death scoft at him saying He died more like a Parson than a Souldier ' But this very Byron was soon after beheaded by this very King for Treason raving at his Death against his Master and dying more like a madman than a Christian And King Henry having renounced the Protestant Religion was stab'd to Death in his Coach by a bloody Villain without having hardly time to say Lord have mercy upon him Thus was this noble E. snatcht out of the Arms of his Mistriâ—s and torn from the Hearts of the People that doted on him and by the subtilty of his Enemies brought to an untimely end in the sight of them both who were quiet Spectators of his ruin in the 34 year of his Age. The tears of her Subjects for his loss and the little kindness they discovered afterward for her for signing the Warrant for his Death together with her own passion for him cast the Q into a deep melancholy which was much augmented by the following Passage When Essex was in greatest favour with her which was on his return from Cales he importuned her to give him some token of her affection that might renew her favour to him if at any time his Enemies should mis-represent him Whereupon in much familiarity she gave him a Ring which she vowed and swore should free him from all danger upon his sâ—nding it to her even in the greatest distress After his Commitment to the Tower he sent this worthy Token to her Majesty by the Countess of Nottingham but Sir Robert Cecil would not suffer her to deliver it This made the Q think her self scorned and that what his Enemies had reported he should say was true That she grew old and doted and that her mind was now as crooked as her body Which she thoughâ— to be high Blasphemy against such a divine beauty as he◠〈…〉 persuaded her she was But the Lady Nottingham comâ—ing to her death-bed and finding by the daily sorrow the Q. exprest for the loss of Essex that she was the principal Agent in his destruction could not be at rest till she had sent for her and discovered all imploring mercy from God and Forgiveness from her Earthly Soveraign The relation of which so inraged the Q. that shaking her as she lay in her Bed she said she would never forgive her and sent her with most fearful Curses to the Judgment Seat of God Not long after the Queen's sickness appeared Mortal For having thus unfortunately cut off her endeared Favourite she took comfort in nothing besides But upon all occasions of signing Pardons would say to her Courtiers You can beg Pardons for these wretches but could never speak a word for the gallant Essex whose less to my self and the Nation can never be recovered Some thought Essex would have discovered some secret commerce between the Q. and himself at his Death but others were of opinion that nothing Criminal ever passed between them only a generous kindness that she had for a man noble lovely and every way accomplisht To conclude her happiness and her power both seemed to be buried in the Tomb of Essex whose absence with continued fighs and tears she bemoaned for some few months and then was likewise laid in her Grave The E. of Southampton was pardoned but Sir Christ Blount Sir Charles Danvers Sir Gill. Merick and Henry Cuffe were condemned and executed for this
proved abortive and the Prince and Duke returning home again the K. declaring that unless the Emperor would restore the Palatinate taken from his Sâ—n in Law the Prince Palatine he would proceed no farther Which the K. of Spain declining to be concerned in the Treaty was totally dissolved to the great joy of all good Protestants The Duke gave the Parliament an account of the whole Transaction wherein he severely reflected upon the unfair and delusory practices of the Spanish Court which so incensed the Spanish Ambassadour that he sent to the K. to inform him that the Duke had some desperate design against his Life and that the least he could do against him would be to confine him to some of his Country Houses during Life the Prince being now fully ripe for Government This raised some jealousie in the old King so that the next time he saw Buckingham he cried ' Ah Stenny Stenny which was the Familiar name he always called him ' wilt thou kil me At which the Duke was at first amazed but finding afterward that a Spanish Jesuit was the Informer he told the King It was only their malice against him for breaking the match protesting his Innocency The K. was satisfied the Ambassador was his Enemy and that such an attempt could never be performed without the consent of the Prince whom the Ambassador reflected upon though he did not directly accuse him and He thought it so horrid and unnatural a design that he passed it by without any further notice But only in sending to the K. of Spain to defire justice of him against his Ambassadors false Accusation which he said wounded his Sons honour through Buck ingham's sides Soon after the Ambassador was recalled and for Forms sake had a little check given him but was in as much favour as ever Thus was this Information waved and the Duke so far re-established in favour that he doubted not but to crush all that opposed him and charged Cranfield Earl of Middlesex in Parliament with several mismanagements of the Revenue the Prince who was Buckingham's right hand joining with him in it The King being at New-Market to free himself from the noise of business hearing of it writ to the Prince ' That he should not take part with any Faction in Parliament against the Earl of Middlesex but be so indifferent that both parties might seek to him for if he bandied to remove old Servants the time would come that others would do as much by him This wise advice declared â—…eking ham to be a little declining in the King's favour or the King in his For if the King knew Buckingham to be the chief Prosecutor it looktill for the King to plead for him and if not there was not that intimacy between them as formerly However Cranfield's Actions were proved to be so dishonourable that he was sined severely and made uncapable of ever fitting in the House of Peers for the future Soon after the King died at Theobald's of a Tertian Ague as was then said and King Charles who in his Fathers Life time was linkt to the Duke now continued to receive him into an admired intimacy and dearness making him Partaker of all his Counsels and Cares and chief Conductor of his Affairs an example rare in this Nation to be the Favourite of two succeeding Princes But was not so fortunate as to Parliaments for though the last in King James's time had approved of his Conduct in breaking the Spanish Match yet the first Parliament of this King drawing up a Remonstrance of their Grievances inveighed against him in their Speeches as the chief occasion of all miscarriages in Government As the loss of the Royalty of the Narrow Seas by his mismanagement of the Office of Lord High Admiral His inriching himself and kindred to the impoverishing of the King and Crown His ill bestowing of Offices of Trust and Profit The increase of Popery occasioned by the Dukes Mother and Father in Law both Papists The scandalous sale of all Honours Offices and Imployments Ecclesiastical Military and Civil And his staying at home though Admiral when he should have commanded the Fleet which miscarried by his being absent In the same Parliament likewise the Earl of Bristol accused the Duke of High Treason and the Duke charged him with the same One of the Articles against Buckingham was ' That the Pope being informed of his inclination to the Catholick Religion sent the Duke a Bull in Parchment to perseade and incourage him to pervert the Prince of Wales After this the Parliament proceeded to Impeach the Duke upon 13 Articles of High Treason and other high Crimes and Misdemeanors one of which was his giving Porions and applying Plaisters to the late King James in his sickness without the advice and contrary to the directions of his sworn Physicians from whence proceeded drowths raving fainting and an intermitting Pulse which â—he King was so senfible of that being told by his Physâ—…ians that his Distemper increased by cold he replied ' No no it proceeds from that which I have from Buckingham The King was so angry at these ploceedings having cautioned them from medling with the Duke that he committed Sir Dudly Diggs who made the Prologue and Sir John Eliot the Epilogue of his Impeachment both Prisoners to the Tower After which the Duke gave in an answer to all the Articles charged against him as well of misimploying the Ship of Rochel as about the death of K. James wherein he acknowledges he did give the Potion to the King but it was by his own Order in presence of the King's Physitians who did not seem to diflike it some of them having tasted it And the Duke acquainting the King that some had reported that this Drink had made him worse and that he had given it him without advice the K. answered They are worse than Devils that say it However the Parliament proceeded with an Address to the K. for removing the D. from his Council and Presence and the House of Lords sent four Peers to intreat him to give audience to their whole House upon this Subject But the K. replied That his resolution was to hear no motion for that purpose but that he would Dissolve the Parliament which he did instantly by Commission which gave occasion to the People to utter their minds freely upon this Transaction After this the King declares VVar against France and 〈◊〉 Fleet being provided and an Army raised Buckingham is made both Admiral and General and lands his Army at the Isle of Rhee notwithstanding the opposition of the French both Horse and Foot whom the English defeated From whence they marched to St. Martin's and blockt up the Citadel But notwithstanding our Army at Land and 100 Sail of Ships at Sea yet the French got into the Harbour with relief of Provisions and afterward carried so great a supply into the Citadel that the Duke who had lain idle for many VVeeks being at length prevailed
of the Judges and the Judgment of the Parliament thereupon ought much to sway with him considering the terrible consequences of an inraged multitude and that no other expedient could be found out to appease the People But the main satisfaction of the King's Conscience it is said proceeded from a Letter sent to him by the Earl to this purpose ' Sir to set your Majesties Conscience at Liberty I do most humbly beseech you for preventing of such mischiefâ— as may happen by your refusal to pass the Bill by this means to remove I cannot say this accursed but I confess this unfortunate thing out of the way toward that blessed agreement which I trust God shall forever establish betwixt you and your Subjects Sir my consent herein shall more acquit you to God than all the World can do besides c. The next day the King Signed a Commission to several Lords to pass the Bill which was done accordingly But being unwilling to part with his indeared Favourite he sent a Letter by the Prince of Wales to the House of Lords that mercy might be extended to him as to Life but that he might fulfil the natural course of his Days in close Imprisonment But the Lords sent twelve of their number to the King to satisfie him that it could noâ— be done with safety neither to himself nor his Queen If it cannot says he then Fiat Justitia Let Justice be done May 12. 1641. The Earl was conveyed from the Tower to the Scaffold erected on the Hill with a sufficient Guard and Archbishop Usher to assist him where it is said he designed to have made a Speech already prepared to this effect ' People of my Native Country I wish my own or your Charity had made me fit to call you Friends It should appear by your concourse and gazing Aspects that I am now the only prodigious Meteor toward which you direct your wandring Eyes I would to God my Blood would cure your sad hearts of all your Grievances Though every drop thereof were a Soul on which a Life depended I could tender it with as much alacrity as some nay most of you are come to triumph in my final expiration In regard I have been by you my Native Country whose wisdom and justice in respect of the generality of it is no way questionable voted to this untimely end I have not one syllable to say in justification of my self or those actions for which I suffer Only in excuse of both give me leave to say my too much zeal to do my Master service made me abuse his Royal authority and howsoever I have been most unfortunate yet at all times a Favourite in the prosecution of my Places and Offices as I shall answer at the dreadful Tribunal whereunto your just anger hath before nature doomed me my intents were fairer than my actions but God knows the overgreatness of my Spirits severity in my Government the Witchcraft of Authority and Flattery of many to sharpen it are but ill Interpreters of my intentions which I have no argument to induce you to believe but that it proceeds from a dying man It would too much hinder your longing expectation of my shameful death to give an account of my Arraignment and Attainder for I have been and whilst I breath am the Pestilence which rages through your Minds your Estates and Trades and you will read the Bills of your losses though the disease that brought the destruct on be removed c. He then declared That he forgave all the World and acquitted them of his death And beseeched the God of Heaven heartily to forgive them That he was never against Parliaments as judging them the most happy constitution and the best means to make the King and People happy That it was a great comfort to him that the King did not think he merited so heavy a punishment as this So wishing all prosperity to the Kingdom he addrest himself to his Prayers and then laying down his Head on the Block it was cut off at one blow Instead of a Character of him I shall conclude with his Epitaph written by Mr. John Cleaveland Here lies Wise and Valiant Dast Hudled up 'twixt Fit and Just Strafford who was hurried hence 'Twixt Treason and Convenience He spent his Life here in a Mist A Papist yet a Calvinist His Princes nearest joy and grief He had yet wanted all relief The prop and ruin of the State The Peoples violent love and hate One in extreams lov'd and abhorr'd Riddles lies here And in a word Here lies blood and let it lye Speechless still and never cry FINIS A Catalogue of Books Printed for Nath. Crouch at the Bell in the Poultrey near Cheapside History 1. ENgland's Monarchs Or A Compendious Relation of the most remarkable Transactions from Julius Caesar to this present adorned with Poems and the Picture of every Monarch from K. Will. the Conqueror to the sixth year of K. Will. and Q. Mary With a List of the Nobility and the number of the Lords and Commons in both Houses of Parliament and many other useful particulars Price one shilling 2. THE History of the House of Orange Or a Brief Relation of the Glorious and Magnanimous Atchievements of his Majestie 's Renowned Predecessors and likewise of His own Heroick Actions till the Late Wonderful Revolution Together with the History of K. William and Q. Mary c. Being an Impartial Account of the most Remarkable Passages from their Majesties Happy Accession to the Throne to this time By R. B. Price one shilling 3. THE History of the two late Kings Charles the II. and James the II. being an Impartial account of the most remarkable Transactions during their Reigns and the secret French and Popish Intrigues in those Times With a Relation of the happy Revolution Pr. 1s 4. THE History of Oliver Cromwel being an Impartial Account of all the Battles Sieges and other Military Atchievements wherein he was ingaged in England Scotland and Ireland and likewise of his Civil Administrations while he had the Supreaâ— Government till his Death Relating only mothers of Fact without Reflection or Observation By R.B. pr. 1 s. 5. THE Wars in England Scotland and Ireland containing an Account of all the Bettels Sieges and other remarkable Transactions which happened from the beginning of the Reign of K. Charles I. His Tryal at large with his last Speech Pr. 1s 6. HIstorical Remarks and Observations of the Antient and Present State of London and Westminster shewing the Foundations Walls Gates Towers Bridges Churches Rivers Wards Halls Companies Government Courts Hospitals Schools Inns of Courts Charters Franchises and Privileges thereof with the most remarkable Accidents as to Wars Fires Plagues and other occurrences for above 903 years past Pr. 1 s. 7. ADmirable Curiosities Rarities and Wonders in England Scotland and Ireland or an account of many remarkable persons and places and likewise of the Battles Sieges prodigious Earthquakes Tempests Inundations Thunders