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
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
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
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
with to Storm it was forced to retire and in his retreat had a great number of his Souldiers kill'd and drowned returning home with great disuonour Upon the return of the Fleet the Cry of the Nation was so great both for the Disgrace and the Seamen's want of Pay that the King was obliged to call a Parliamene which being met the Duke is declared the Grievance of Grievances and the Cause of all the miseries of the Kingdom But the King Proroguing the Parliament before they could proceed against him in the mean time Dr. Lamb the Duke's Creature is murthered in the City out of hatred to his Master And the Town of Rochel who had declared for the English when they were there being now closely besieged by the French The King had prepared a Fleet under the command of the Duke to relieve it who being advanced as far as Portsmouth to go aboard was slain by one Lieutenant Felton in his own Lodgings by one blow with a Knife under the left Rib and up to the Heart leaving the Knife in his Body and got away undiscovered In his fall to the Ground the Duke was heard to say The Villain has killed me Company coming in and finding him weltring in his Blood began to inquire for the Murtherer when Felton immediately stept out and said ' I am the man that have done the deed let no man suffer that is innocent VVhen he gave the fatal blow Felton cry'd The Lord have mercy upon thy Soul VVhich the Duke had not time to pronounce himself Felton had a Paper sticking to the Lining of his Hat wherein he had written as followeth ' I would have no man commend me for doing it but rather discommend themselves for if God had not taken away their Hearts for their Sins he had not gone so long unpunisht The man is cowardly base in mind opinion and deserves not the name of a Gentleman or Souldier that is unwilling to Sacrifice his Life for the Honour of God his King and Country Subscrib'd John Felton He confest to the Council that the motives to it were his want of pay his being disappointed of a Captains place which the Duke promised him Together with the late Remonstrance of the House of Commons against him A. B. Laud askt him whether the Puritans did not incite him to it which he denied or any body else VVell then said Laud we must make you confess your Accomplices on the Rack If you should said Felton it may be the torment would make me accuse you as soon as another So he was tried for murther and suffered very penitently at Tyburn and his Body was hung in Chains at Portsmouth in 1628. An Ingenious VVriter is much offended with Sir Henry VVotton for making a Parallel between the Earl of Essex aforementioned and the Duke of Buckinghim to be found in his remains which he says is much to the disadvantage of Essex who besides his last action never did any thing so ingrateful as might make him fear the anger or beg the favour of a Parliament much less owe his Life to the Dissolution of one He died like a Christian He was no instrument of Tyranny and Oppression his memory being still valuable among the People VVhereas the Duke's retains a contrary Tincture nor can his bounty to his Friends and Servants expunge his faults because the Money was drained either from the People the Publick Treasury or from the general safety of the Nation Whereas Essex obliged his Confidents out of his own store or by such innocent ways as the Subject had no cause to repine at His natural parts were as great and his Learning and Birth greater than the Dukes Nor can his last inconsiderate action that rather deserves the Title of a Riot than Treason come up to so great an ingratitude and indignity to the Nation as Buckingham's proceedings at Rochel wherein the Duke shewed no less folly in procuring so great a hatred among the People than Essex did in misapplying their love And if his Picture be exact Essex was as hand some as he which was the chief cause of Villers advancement Only in this Essex came short in having a Mistress that would attend to reason whether it came from friendship or malice Whereas the Dukes fortune depended on two Princes that in reference to their own weakness or his strongth remained deaf to all Complaints but what were made by him or his Creatures under pain of his high Displeasure which was usually much heavier than the King 's Concerning their Deaths saith my Author I can attest the Duke 's did occasion no lâ—… joy than the other did sorrow though the death of Queen Elizabeth her self be put into the Scale Nor was the Hangman willing to be hired to cut off Essex whereas Felton seemed to be inspired with some Daemon if not the Genius of our Nation Remarks on the Life Actions and Fatal Fall of Thomas Wentworth Earl of Strafford Favourite to King Charles I. THIS great Favourite was born in Chancery Lane London his Mother coming casually to the City but descended from an antient Family at Wentworth VVoodhouse in Yorkshire He was educated in St. John's College in Oxford whereby he was so accomplisht that his endowments soon advanced him to be a Member of the House of Commons wherein he appeared very zealous for the Liberties of his Country and that often with so much strength of reason that his Sentiments prevail'd for or against the Cause he managed Of which I shall give a few instances In the Parliament 3. Charles I. Upon a debate on the Grievances of the Kingdom by quartering Souldiers Loans Benevolence Privy Seals and Imprisoning Gentlemen that refused to lend Money on that account and were refused to be Bailed upon there Habeas Corpus he spake thus ' Surely these illegal ways are punishments and marks of indignation The raising of Loans strengthned by Commissions with unheard of Instructions and Oaths and the Billetting of Souldiers by Deputy Lieutenants have been such as if they could have persuaded Christian Princes that the right of Empires had been to take away mens Properties by strong hands These Projectors have introduced a Privy Council who have ravisht at once the Spheres of allantient Government shprisoning us without either Bail or Bond. They have taken from us what What shall I say indeed What have they left us The remedy I shall propound is To vindicate our antient vital Liberties by reinforcing the Laws made by our Ancestors by giving such a Character of them as no Licentious Spirit shall ever dare enter upon them hereafter Let 〈◊〉 secure our selves and our freedom from imprisonment Les us secure our Goods that no Levies be made but by Parliament no Bilseting of Souldiers If we are not secured in these we cannot give supplies I cannot forget that duty I owe to my Country and unless our Liberties be secured I incline to look upon the state of our Country whether it be
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
kindness and affection for me I will freely unbosom my Thoughts to you After I observed the dissimulation and falshood of King Richard and especially when I heard of the Barbarous Murther of the two Young Princes to which God is my witness I never condescended I so much abhorr'd his presence and company that I left the Court upon a pretended excuse he not in the least perceiving my discontent and so returned to Brecknock to you In my return whether by Inspiration or Melancholy I was possest with many Imaginations and Contrivances how to deprive this Unnatural and Bloody Butcher of his Royal Seat and Dignity First I fancied that if I had a mind to take the Crown now was the time the Tyrant being so generally abhorred and detested of all Men and believing that I had the nearest right to the Succession In this imagination I continued two days at Tewksbury and was ruminating whether I was best to take upon me the Crown as Conqueror but I presently thought that then certainly both the Nobility and Commons would use their utmost Efforts against me But at length I happened on something that I did not doubt would have brought forth fair Flowers yet proved at length nothing but Weeds For I was thinking that Edmund Duke of Somerset my Grandfather was with Henry VI. within two or three degrees of John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and my Mother being Eldest Daughter to Duke Edmund I supposed my self to be next Heir to King Henry VI. of the House of Lancaster This Title was well pleasing to those whom I made of my Council but much more to my aspiring mind but while I was perplext whether it were best instantly to publish this my Right or wait some better opportunity observe what happened As I rid from Worcester to Bridgnorth I met the Lady Margaret Countess of Richmond now Wife to the Lord Stanley and Daughter and Sole Heir to John Duke of Somerset my Grandfather's Elder Brother whom I had as utterly forgot as if I had never known her so that she and her Son Henry Earl of Richmond have a Right before me By this I perceived my mistake and resolved to relinquish all Ambitious Thoughts and to endeavour the Establishment of the Earl of Richmond Right Heir of the House of Lancaster and that he should Marry the Lady Elizabeth Eldest Daughter to King Edward so that the two Roses might be hereby united And now said the Duke I have told you my whole Heart The Bishop was very glad that they had both hit upon the same design and extolling his well laid contrivance replied Since by your Graces incomparable prudence this Noble Conjunction is intended it will be necessary to consider who are fittest to be acquainted with it By my troth quoth the Duke we will begin with the Countess of Richmond the Earl's Mother who will inform us whether he be under Confinement or at Liberty in Brittain And thus was the Foundation of a League laid by these two Great Men which fully Revenged the Death of the two Innocent Princes And it was prosecuted with all Expedition one Reynold Bray being imployed by the Bishop to his Lady the Countess of Richmond Doctor Lewis the Dutchesses Physician was sent to Queen Elizabeth and two other Persons were ordered privately to wait upon the Earl of Richmond then in France and acquaint him with the Design and procure his consent to the intended Marriage Who coming to the Earl and giving him information of the Plot He thereupon discovers it to the Duke of Brittain who though by Hutton King Rich. Ambassador he had by many great offers been solicited to detain the Earl in Prison yet he readily promised and really offered him his utmost assistance Several Knights and Gentlemen were also brought into the Confederacy in England Bishop Morton though against the Earl's consent retires in disguise into the Isle of Ely where having prepared his Friends to espouse the Earl's Interest he went from thence to Brittain to him and continued there till the Earl when King sent for him home and made him Archbishop of Canterbury But though all was managed with the utmost Privacy and under Oaths of Secresie yet King Richard had made a discovery thereof but pretending Ignorance he sends for the Duke of Buckingham to come to him Which the Duke endeavouring to avoid by pretended excuses He at last peremptorily commands him to appear upon his Allegiance upon which the Duke returned this resolute Answer ' That ne owed no Allegiance to such a perjured inhumane Butcher of his own Flesh and Blood And so from that time preparations of War are made on each side The Duke had Assembled a good number of Welshman and the Marquess of Dorset having got out of Sanctuary was labouring to raise Forces in Yorkshire The two Courtneys were doing the same in Devonshire and Cornwall and the Lords Guilford and Rame in Kent King Richard sets forward with his Forces The Duke of Buckingham Marches to incounter him intending at Glocester to have past the Severn and joined the two Courtneys but the great Rains had so swelled the River that overflowing its Banks there was no Fording over This Inundation was so great that Men were drowned in their Beds Houses overturned Children carried about the Fields Swiming in Cradles and Beasts were drowned on Hills which rage of Water continued Ten days and is to this time in the Countreys adjacent called The Great Water or the Duke of Buckingham's Water The Welshmen were so affrighted with this accident that judging it an ill Omen they all secretly deserted him so that the Duke being alone without either Page or Footman retired to the House of one Humfrey Banister near Shrewsbury who having been advanced by him and his Father he thought himself safe under his roof But Banister upon King Richard's Proclamation of a reward of 1000. Pound to him that should discover the Duke Treacherously and perfidiously discovered him to John Mitton High Sheriff of Shropshire who took him in a Thread-bare Black Cloak walking in an Orchard behind the House and carried him to Shrewsbury where King Richard quartered and there without Arraignment or Legal Proceeding he was in the Market place Beheaded in 1484. Whether Banister received the proclaimed reward from King Richard's hand is uncertain but it is certain he received a reward of a Villain from the hand of Divine Justice for himself was after hanged for Manshughter his Eldest Daughter was Ravished by one of his Plowmen or as some say struck with a loathsome Leprosie his Eldest Son in a desperate Lunacy Murdered himself and his Younger Son was drowned in a small puddle of Water This was the fatal end of the Great Duke of Buckingham who went too far for a good Man in being accessary to the depriving the Innocent Princes of their Birth-right and declaring them Bastards But it seems he went not far enough for so bad a Man as King Richard because he would not
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
should the most celebrate the same and of which I have given a particular relation in a Book called Vnparallell'd Varieties or the Transcendent effects of Gratitude c. of the like value with this His Charity was very apparent in that foreseeing himself declining in the King's favour he like a kind and loving Master provided beforehand for almost all his Servants and gave twelve Children of his Musick twenty pound apiece And likewise in delivering many out of danger for having broken Popish Laws and Constitutions His Humility was very eminent in several instances particularly that He and Archbishop Cranmer riding once in state through Cheapside Cromwell seeing a poor Woman to whom he had formerly owed Money called her to him and bid her go to his House where he not only discharged the Debt but setled a Pension of four pound a year upon her during Life At another time observing a poor man at the Court of Sherin imployed in Sweeping the Cloysters and Ringing the Chappel Bell He in the Company of several Lords called him by his name and said This poor mans Father was a great friend to me having given me many a meals meat in my necessity and therefore I am resolved to provide for him as long as I live which he did accordingly His Wisdom and Policy in state affairs was very obvious in the management of all Treaties Negotiations and Transactions both at home and abroad with the utmost prudence dextegity and success Lastly and Principally his fervent zeal for the true Religion was sufficiently discovered by the Injunctions Proclamations and Articles published by his advice for promoting and advancing the same In a word many Ages before and since have not been blest with two such excellent Persons as the Lord Cromwell and Archbishop Cranmer who both flourisht together at this time Remarks upon the Life Actions and Fatal Fall of Robert Devereux Earl of Essex Favourite to Queen Elizabeth BY the fall of this Great Man we may observe that the Love of a People may be of no less dangerous consequence to a Subject to trust to than their hatred proves satal to such Princes as are so unwary to procuse it Nor is the affection of a Prince to a Favourite to be much relied on since their love is oftentimes inconstant and their anger deadly Of both which we can scarce find a more pregnant instance than in the Life and Death of this Eminent Favourite Robert Devereux was born in 1566. and was not above ten years of Age when his Father Walter Earl of Essex and Earl Marshal of Ireland deceased at Dublin Premonishing his Son never to forget the thirty sixth year of his Age as the utmost term of Life which neither himself nor his Father before him survived and which his Son never attained to After his Father's death he was under the Tuition of the Pious and Learned Dr. Whitgift and at sixteen years performed his publick Acts as Master of Arts. His first advancement at Court was procured by the Earl of Leicester his Father in Law and was thought to be designed not so much out of love to him as envy against Sr. Walter Rawleigh His Descent was very honourable his Title being derived from Evereux a City in Normandy His Title of Lord came by Marriage with Cicily the Daughter of William Bourchier whose Grandmother was Sister to Edward IV. King of England whose great Grandmother was Daughter to Thomas of Woodstock Son of King Edward III. born of one of the Daughters of Humfry Bohun Earl of Hartford and Essex whereupon the Title of Viscount Hartford was bestowed upon his great Grandfather Walter by King Edward VI. and that of Earl of Essex upon his Father by Q Elizabeth So that this high Birth might fill him with some ambitious thoughts He was with much ado at first made Master of the Horse the Queen being displeased with his Mother but afterward when by his observance and duty he had procured her full favour she forgave a great debt that his Father owed her made him a Knight of the Garter and a Privy Counsellor when he was scarce twenty three years old His first appearance in action was at Tilbury Camp in 1588. being made by the Queen General of the Horse to whom in the fight of the Souldiery and People she discovered a more than ordinary kindness And now Queen Elizabeth to follow the blow that she had given the Spanish Armada the next year sends Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Norris with a Fleet and some Forces to the aid of Don Antonio who pretended a Right to the Crown of Portugal but Philip II. of Spain being both ambitious and powerful sent the Duke of Alva with an Army thither who drove this new King out of his Country and after many skirmishes wholly possessed himself of that Kingdom for his Master The English Forces landed near the Groin in Gallicia and took the lower Town During this Voyage the Earl of Essex unwilling to be idle when honour was to be gotten went privately to Sea without the Queen's knowledge or consent and joined the Fleet At which she was much disturbed saying This young Fellow is so ventrous that he will certainly be knockt on the Head one time or other The English likewise took Peniche another Town in Portugal and approached Lisbon took the Castle of Cascays burnt the Town of Vigo and finding that the Portuguese did not declare for Don Antonio as he expected sickness likewise increasing among the Souldiers the Fleet returned home After this the Popish Princes of France entring into a League that they would have no Protestant reign over them raised an Army against the King of Navar their rightful Soveraign who thereupon craved aid of the Q. who readily assisted him with money and then with men under the Earl of Essex who gave sufficient proof of his Valour upon all occasions his Brother Walter being slain before the Walls of Roan Upon which the Earl challenged Villars the Governor of the City to a single Combat which he durst not accept of The Earl a while after returned to England being informed by his friends that many envious Courtiers were contriving to throw him out of the Queen's favour In 1595. Arch-Duke Albert Governor of the Spanish Netherlands for the King of Spain suddenly Besieged Callice and took it the news whereof so surprized the Queen because of the near Neighbourhood of this Potent Enemy that to divert the Tempest from England She and the States of Holland instantly set out a Navy of 140 Ships whereon were imbarqued about seven thousand Souldiers and as many Seamen commanded in chief by the Earl of Essex and Charles Howard joint Admirals with several other Inferior Commanders of great Courage and Conduct who Sailing to Cadiz in a short time took both the Town and Castle no man of Note being lost in this Expedition but Captain Wingfield and after having Ransackt the Town and Island whereon it is built
Insurrection And the Lord Grey Lord Cobham and Sir Walter Rawleigh professed Enemies to Essex and no mean instruments in his destruction fell into a Treason of a like depth with his in the Reign of K. James I. Gray and Cobham dying miserably in Prison and Rawleigh being beheaded at Tower-hill Remarks on the Life Actions and Fatal Fall of George Villers Duke of Buckingham Favourite to King James I. and King Charles I. THIS Favourite rose upon the Fall of the E. of Somerset upon whom K. James had heaped many honours advancing him from a Knight to Viscount Rochester Privy Counsellor E. of Somerset and L. Chamberlain But his Glory was soon overclouded for having married the Countess of Essex who had been divorâ—ed from her Husband the Son of the preceding Favourite that unfortunate Knight Sir Tho. Overbury for speaking against the Match was by their procurement poysoned in the Tower 〈◊〉 which the Earl and Countess were both Condemned but Pardoned and banisht the Court. K. James who could not live without a bosom Favourite cast his Eye upon George Villers a young Gentleman of a fine shape second Son to Sir George Villers of Brooksby in Leicestershire with whom the K. was so taken finding him a man of quick understanding and fit to make a Courtier that he advanced him by degrees in honour next to himself making him first a Knight then Gentleman of his Bedchamber Viscount Master of the Horse Lord Admiral Earl Marquess and lastly D. of Buekingham And now lying in the King's Bosom every man paid Tribute to his Smiles and he managed all affairs putting men in or out of Office according to his pleasure Yet his Mother who was a Papist having a great hand in all business and a great power over her Son directed him in all matters of Profit and Concernment and was addressed to first in order to procure any favour from him Which caused Gondemar the Spanish Ambassador to write merrily to his Master ' That there was never more hope of England's Conversion to Rome than now for there were more Prayers and Oblations offered here to the Mother than to the Son He Married the Earl of Rutlands Daughter the greatest Match in the Kingdom who pretended to be a zealous Protestant but his Mother and the Jesuits reduced her to the Popish Religion so that between a Mother and a Wife Buckingham himself grew very indifferent being neither Papist nor Protestant K. James affected the name of a Peace-maker and designing the general quiet of Europe and the reconciling all parties he professed that if the Papists would renounce their K. killing Doctrine and some other gross errors he was willing to meet them half way And being zealous also to maintain the height of Regal Majesty after the death of Prince Henry he resolved to match his Son Prince Charles with some Princess of most high Descent though of a different Religion And there having been a Treaty of Marriage between P. Henry and a Daughter of Spain wherein the Spaniards deluded him with their accustomed gravity and formality he now set his thoughts upon a Match with France which the Spanish King doubting would be to his disadvantage he made new Overtures for a Marriage with his Daughter to Sir John Digby the King's Ambassador there though with as little sincerity as before And at length Articles were agreed on and signed by K. James whereby the Children of this Marriage were not to be constrained to be Protestants nor to lose their right of succession if they were Catholicks The Pope's Dispensation was to be procured the new Queen was to have Popish Chaplains Priests Confessors and all other Privileges The K. was mightily pleased with this Alliance but the People as much displeased who had not forgot the intended cruelty of 1588. and dreaded the consequence of this Popish Contract But the K. not thinking that the business went on with that speed he desired sends the Prince and Buckingham to Spain to consummate the Marriage where he is received with all manner of magnificence by that King and universal joy of that People in hope the Prince would turn Catholick they generally discoursing That he came thither on purpose to become a Christian Neither were any endeavours wanting to seduce him Pope Gregory writing a smooth Letter to him Yea condescended to write another to Buckingham his Guide and Familiar to incline him to the Romish Religion The Prince returned an answer to the Pope's Letter and among other expressions says ' Your Holines's conjecture of our desire to contract an Alliance and Marriage with a Catholick Family and Princess is agreeable both to your Wisdâ—m and Charity for we would never desire so vehemently to be joined in a strict and indissoluble Bond with any Mortal whatsoever whose Religion we hated For it is very certain I shall never be so extreamly affectionate to any thing in the World as to endeavour Alliance with a Prince that hath the same apprehension of the True Religion with my self Therefore I intreat your Holiness to believe that I have been always far from incouraging Novelties or to be a Partizan of any Faction against the Catholick Apostolick Roman Religion 〈…〉 on the contrary I have sought all occasions to take away â—…picion that might rest upon me And I will imploy my self for the time to come to have but One Religion and one Faith seeing that we all believe in one Jesus Christ Having resolved in my self to spare nothing that I have in this World and to suffer all manner of discommodities even to the hazard of my Estate and Life for a thing so pleasing to God I pray God to give your Holiness a blessed Health here and his Glory after so much Travel which yor Holiness takes within his Church After a while the Match was concluded in England and the Articles sworn to by K. James and some private ones much in favour of the Papists And the King was so transported with the assâ—rance of it that he was heard to say ' Now all the Devils in Hell cannot hinder it But a stander by said to one of his Attendants ' That there was never a Devil now left in Hell for they were all gone into Spain to make up the Match And indeed the Spirit of the Nation was so averse to this Union that they boldly vented their Sentiments both with their Tongues and â—ens And among others Abbot Archbishop of Canterbury writ a very warm Letter to the K. against a Toleration of Popery which was one of the Articles agreed to The Treaty was likewise Signed and Sealed by the K. of Spain and the Prince Who also obliged himself That as often as the Infanta pleased he would hearken to such Catholick Divines as she should appoint to debate matters of Religion with him but would never dissuade her from her own Religion and would take care to abrogate all the Laws made against Catholicks in three years But after all this Match
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