be suitable to his Nature and their Ambitious Designs The three chief Favourites and Ministers were Robert Vere Earl of Oxford afterwards Marquiss of Dublin and Duke of Ireland Michael Delapool Earl of Suffolk and Robert Tresilian Lord Chief Justice The Duke of Ireland seem'd the best as hardly he cou'd do otherwise being set with two such Foils but he wanted Vertue and Courage without the excess of Vices of the other two Michael Delapoole was a model of complicated Vices in Peace the most odiously Insolent in War the most dejectedly Contemptible He despised all methods of Quietness and yet was frighted with the least Disturbance Tresilian the Chief Justice was one that never shew'd his Place or Title by any practice but ready to prostrate all Law to Occasion and Justice to Designs His Knowledg was Lewdness and his Vertue Violence what others design'd he was ready to execute and being kept up in this Darkness he grew fierce on all things that were cast to him This King was called Richard of Burdeaux because born there the only Son of the Black Prince By his Grandfather Edward the Third he was in his Life time declared his Successor And after his Death was Crowned at Westminster in the year 1377 by Simon Sudbury Archbishop of Canterbury with great Solemnity The King being then eleven years old The Duke of Lancaster and Edmund Earl of Cambridge the King's Uncles with other Lords and Bishops were joyned in Commission to manage the State. The Minority of the King gave foreign Princes an Opinion that it was a proper time to attempt upon England the French first laid hold on the Occasion and landed Forces and did some mischief and burnt some places near the Sea As about Rye Portsmouth Dartmouth and Plimouth as also Hastings and Winchelsea The Scots also assaulted the Castle of Berwick and won it but it was taken again by the Earls of Northumberland and Nottingham and all put to the Sword but Ramsey who took it by a bold and desperate attempt with a few Men. These troubles occasion'd a Parliament to be called at Westminster where Alice Pearce the Concubine to the late King Edward the Third was banish'd and all her Goods confiscated A Tax was then given of two Tenths of the Clergy and two Fifteenths of the Temporalty Others write the Tax was a Poll of four Pence upon every Head but which way soever it was either the Levying it or the Tax it self caused a sudden and strange Insurrection begun by the infusion of one Wiat a Factious Priest using these Common Notions against great Men who had power to oppress others and ruine the meaner sort to support their Greatness and Luxuries This spread to the City who gave intelligence that they were ready to join with the Rabble that appeared gather'd from many adjacent Countries This confused Body chose one Wat Tyler for their Captain whose Assistants or Privy-Councellers were John Ball Jack Straw and Jack Shepherd Blackheath as they marched to London was their Rendezvous where they appeared to be above Threescore Thousand From thence they marched to London declaring themselves for the King and People When they came to London they were received either for Fear or Love with all freedom and treated as if they strove who shou'd express themselves best to the flatter'd Rebels who like such a Mass of Giddiness got together committed nothing but Murther and Violence They burnt the Savoy the Duke of Lancaster's House they rifled the Temple and destroyed the Law-Books expressing a Spleen against any thing of that Nature Nor were Churches or Religious Houses spared the good they punished the ill they cherished setting all Prisoners at Liberty their Chief Leader Tyler remembring some Punishment that his old Master Richard Lyon had inflicted on him for some Crime he had committed without any more Tryal or Judgment than what his Revenge allowed caused his Head to be stricken off and carried before him on a Spear Their Numbers were now so great that the King durst not resist their Entrance into the Tower where they abused his Mother and took the Archbishop of Canterbury the Chancellor and Lord Treasurer and dragging them to Tower-Hill there beheaded them In the midst of all these Outrages the King proclaim'd a Pardon to all that wouâ—d go quietly home which the Essex men and some others accepted but the Kentish and others stayed with their Captain Tyler So that it seem'd as if part of this Rabble were not in the secret intention to subvert the Government and throw down all above themselves from Oppression About 20000. continued with their Captain The King looking upon this as a good beginning presented himself in Person before the Rebels and spoke to them with all sweetness promising them Pardon and Favour but had so rude a return from Tyler that instead of Submission he demanded the King's Sword at which the Mayor of London drew his and struck him to the ground where he was presently killed The Rabble seem'd to threaten Revenge But the City hearing this and thinking it high time to free their King and themselves from Ruine and Destruction came to his Relief with a body of men at which sight the affrighted Rebels yielded and some fled and deliver'd up their Ringleader a Sacrifice that seldom fails to be made by such Tumults Jack Straw at his Execution confessed their Design of destroying all that were above them in Name or Fortune The King 's chief Favourites now appeared to be Michael Delapoole made Chancellor of England and after Earl and Duke of Suffolk Robert de Vere Marquess of Dublin and after Earl of Ireland Alexander Archbishop of York and Tresilian the Chief Justice The first Testimony that these shewed of their Animosities against the Methods of a just Minister was the displacing Sir Richard Scroope Lord Chancellor who in all things used an impartial uprightness which was an Offence to their loose and partial Designs But they did not only sharpen the King's Nature against men in point of Offices and Employments but against their Lives The first appearance of this was by the Duke of Lancaster whose Offences were likewise from his Vertues and his Ruine therefore contrived by them and resolv'd by Tresilian to be done by Form of Law the worst sort of destroying when violated but when truly observ'd the best defence against destruction There are seldom any extream Proceedings in a Government but there are depraved persons enough in all Conditions ready to swim with the stream and take the benefit of any Tide of Fortune For when Mischief is to be practised Corruption is the Consequence and there are always those ready whom no Consideration ballances in their Natures with Honour and Benefit Tresilian was one of those thus prepared and cou'd hardly want as well-condition'd Informers and Juries Occasions preserved from men is the surest Cause of their Vertue but offered from those that should depress it is the Cause and Temptation of Villany
were Erroneous and Revocable and accordingly deliver'd these bald Opinions under their Hands and Seals It seem'd as if they durst judge no Crime less than Treason that offended the Ministers though by their bold Opinions the Parliament it self became the Traytors and a Statute Law the Treason This I suppose was highly applauded by the Ministers and the King flatter'd to believe what excellent Servants he had of such Judges by whose briskness not only the Law but the troublesome Constitution it self of the Nation might be rendred as useless as Arbitrary Power cou'd desire For if such Laws that seem'd to limit a King shou'd in themselves become void for that very Cause there could no Law be valid but such as pleas'd the Soveraign who was the Judge of his own Infringment and then all past Laws and Laws to be made would become but prostituted Writings to the Will of Princes Perhaps at that time these Judges had the Character of being the most Loyal for appearing most desperate giving that great Testimony of their Devotion that their Zeal for the Favourites was far warmer than for their Countrey and involved themselves in their Fortunes by Principles as leud as their Designs The King looked upon the Opinion of these Judges as Authentick and of validity enough to throw legally into his power the Estates and Fortunes of those Lords that appeared most Eminent against his Ministers and accordingly he began to dispose of their Estates among those that he favoured presuming them without farther Tryal Convicted Persons and to maintain this absurdity by a worse rais'd Soldiers privately and sent to surprize the Earl of Arundel The Duke of Glocester having Intelligence of all these proceedings got the Bishop of London to perswade the King from such Violences and to assure him that he had never had an undutiful thought against him and intimated how much more safe and Honourable it wou'd be for the King not to be led by false suggestions to such a fatal difference and severity with his best and greatest Subjects The Bishop performed this with his best Skill and Zeal and wrought so upon the King that he seem'd inclin'd to a more happy Temper but the Duke of Suffolk that had all Peace and Justice by which he knew he was to have little Benfit nor cou'd be probably safe longer than while he kept his King in danger quickly nipt the King's budding Gentleness and like an untimely Frost blasted the springing Hopes of Peace falling upon the Bishop with harsh and insolent Reproofs But the Bishop not daunted with his Power and Greatness boldly told him That it was not the Service of his Prince that guided him but his own violent Ambition and that rather than the Lords shou'd not be destroy'd he would involve the Nations in Ruine Adding That it was easie for such abject Spirits as his to raise Tumults which must be ended by the Ruine of the Bravest nor was he fit to give Advice that was the chief Incendiary and made a Party by his Condemnation The King was so angry to see his Favourite so roughly and boldly attacked that he commanded the Bishop out of his sight In this particular as in most of the King 's unhappy Actions he appeared against Himself and his own Reason being guided by the Duke of Suffolk who was of a contrary Interest turn'd from his own Nature and Reason by one that wanted Sense and Bowels and by this Unsteddiness kindled new Mistrusts the fruitful Nourishers of Civil Mischiefs At this the Duke of Glocester the Earls of Arundel Warwick and Derby take Arms the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and Bishop of Ely then Lord Chancellour were sent to the Lords who composed Matters so well that the Lords agreed to appear before the King at Westminster under the Promise of Protection But retaining their usual Jealousies they receiv'd the Bishop of Ely's Assurance That if there were any Danger design'd them he would give them notice Accordingly he kept his Word and a little before the Lords were to come he gave them Intelligence of an Ambush laid for them at the Mews to seize them as they came in Upon this the Lords fail'd of their coming which the King wondring at ask'd the Bishop of Ely What might be the Reason who boldly told him That the Lords durst not trust him and had discover'd the Trap laid for them Of which the King seem'd to be wholly ignorant and commanded the Sheriffs to search the Mews and to kill and carry to Prison all they found conceal'd But the Thing was true though the Place mistaken for the armed Men were secretly assembled at Westminster by Sir Richard Bramber and Sir Thomas Trivett who perceiving or being inform'd of the Discovery secretly convey'd away their Men. It seem'd as if the King were really ignorant of this that was acted by the desperate Ministers who shew'd a full Confidence in the Power they had with the King And tho' perhaps they apprehended the Action too vile to trust the King with it yet they did not doubt to bring him to approve it tho' never so base if successful enough Nor hath this been an unusual Method of Powerful Ministers and Favourites to contrive Mischiefs for their Prince to approve knowing that it is easier from the necessity of a Thing done to gain an Approbation than a Consent to the Attempt of it For a Prince that is wholly led by them and wrapt up in their desperate Counsels and Interests may scruple at a thing to be done that he cannot when 't is effected One is but a difference in Opinion the other is a deserâ—ion of his Party he may be free in the first but too much involved to be at liberty in the latter A Prince in this Condition has not only his own Errours but the weight of theirs to struggle under and 't is impossible he shou'd make any Calculation of his own Fortune unless he were free to examine the mischievous Effects of those ill Planets that he Himself had rais'd to such powerful Influences At last upon new Faith and Security the Lords came to the King at Westminster but so strongly guarded that they did not appear like Men that came to Submit or Petition Accordingly they challenged for Traytors the Duke of Ireland the Duke of Suffolk the Archbishop of York the Chief Justice Tresilian and others The King at that time when Favourites could not speak spoke like himself a King and with equal Temper and Reason shew'd the Lords That if all were true they alledged they had not taken the proper way too seek for Justice by a shew of Rebellion and give that opportunity to the licentious Multitude which perhaps might be difficult to take again from them And after having gently laid before them the more proper way for what they desired he raised them from their knees and retired with them All this while the adverse Party kept out of the way apprehending as justly they might the
Crimes were prepared for the Duke he never committed a Jury of Lords were fix'd and it was not only design'd he shou'd be arrested but his Condemnation was as confidently resolved and concluded These things were not so secretly contriv'd but the Duke of Lancaster had notice of them and privately retir'd or rather fled to Pomfret-Castle where he prepar'd to defend himself and already Discontents grew so high that he wanted not assistance for it and grew so considerable that the Queen-Mother thought it worthy her pains in all respects to endeavour a Composure which she effected assisted by the apprehension of her Son and the Duty which the Duke of Lancaster seem'd yet to retain so that for this time every thing was compos'd unless their Minds which once shaken by indirectness and mistrust are seldom so purely clear'd but that some Seeds of Jealousie lie ready to spring upon the heat of any Difference Without Trust the Traffick amongst Dealers in petty things can never be carried on and much less the Commerce between Prince and Subjects without Credit The King now enter'd upon the assuming the Government into his own Hands and from this time grew liable to his own Errors appearing wholly regardless of all his great Relations and Nobility and only seem'd kind to a fondness of his Chancellor the Duke of Suffolk and the Duke of Ireland and their two subservient Friends the Archbishop of York and Tresilian the Chief Justice they that had now gain'd the possession of the King's Power and Inclination shew'd a great Testimony of their ill use of it by disposing the King against his brave Vncle the Duke of Gloucester and the Earls of Warwick and Arundel The King was now wholly possest by these Favourites and in a particular manner by the Chancellor Delapoole whose mean Birth was suitable to his Qualities His Vices so many that he was himself a Grievance and it seem'd a fatal unhappiness that the King's Conscience should be intrusted unto so bad a Keeper but the King was as violent in his Affections as others could be in their Displeasures He seldom regarded what others thought till necessity forced the Consideration These men that both fear'd and hated any men of Honour and Quality that might have Interest to cross their Designs laid hold of an Occassion to be rid of one of the greatest the Duke of Lancaster by assisting him with Forces to conquer Spain which he claim'd in right of his Wife Constance Daughter and Co-heir of Peter who was surnamed the Cruel King of Castile and Leon With very considerable Forces he sail'd for Spain He landed at the Troyne and at Compostella met with the King of Portugal where a Marriage was concluded with his Daughter and after some Incursions made into the Countrey of Castile a Peace and Marriage was also effected between the King of Spain's Eldest Son and Katharine of Lancaster and so resign'd the Title to Spain for a Composition by a sum of Money and a Pension This look't like the feeble Policy of violent and self-interested Counsellors which was applied to Men and not to Things as if the removal of Two or Three that oppos'd their Designs took all the Danger away that attended them As long as there were injured men they must have Enemies and their safety was no way probable but by better Principles and Practices Besides there were other Lords left behind made Popular by the same Errors But they design'd to ruine if they cou'd all that were in their way and after grew very busie in designing to murder the Duke of Glocester every day contriving some ill and by their heavy wickedness loading their King. A little after the Rebellion the King married with Anne the Daughter of the Emperour Charles the Fourth whom he loved passionately for whose sake he refus'd the Daughter of the Duke of Milan who was offer'd him and with her a Dowry much more considerable She liv'd with him Twelve Years but without Issue and died at Sheen by Richmond which great loss made the place ever hated after by the King who in all things shew'd he was a Man of great Affections which are unfortunate Vertues when wrong placed About this time the King declared Roger Mortimer his Heir and Successor who was the Son of Lionel Duke of Clarence Third Son of King Edward the Third who was afterwards killed in Ireland He also created his Uncles Edmund of Langley Duke of York and Thomas of Woodstock Duke of Glocester and his Cousin Henry of Bullingbrooke Son and Heir to his Fourth Uncle John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster Earl of Derby His Cousin Edward Plantagenet Son and Heir to his Uncle Edmund of Langley he created Earl of Rutland Sir John Holland Earl of Huntington and Thomas Mowbray Earl of Nottingham In the Parliament in which these Creations were made was exhibited a Charge of many Particulars and of very great Natures against Chancellor Delapoole in which one particular was the abusing and cozening the King. But this had only an Audience and no Examination which gave so much offence that an Aid demanded was denied and Reasons given that it was to no purpose to give money when the ill use of it was countenanced This seem'd a wrong Method to ask and be denied and at the same time neither to have Power enough to enforce nor Obligations to obtain but 't was not proper for his Favourites to tell him they doubted success with his Parliament since that were to own such apprehensions sprung from their ambitious Errors But Princes are rightly said to be us'd like froward Children flatter'd and condemn'd never to hear the Truth But the Parliament still pressed the Examination of the Charge and the Necessity of the King's Affairs concurring with their importunity procured what they so warmly desired The Cause was put to selected Noblemen to examine and a Subsidy seem'd the purchase of it which was afterwards granted The Cause then being heard by his Peers the Duke of Glocester and Earl of Arundel being Two of the Judges he was convicted deprived of his Office and Chattels and condemn'd to be executed But all this seem'd rather Arguments of Merit than Causes of Punishment For the King presently after restored him into the former Favour as if he had suffer'd for his sake Thus as Edward the Second received Gaveston from Banishment and his Subjects hate to his Arms and Love so this unfortunate and resembling King received this Earl of Suffolk from Execution and the Prosecution of his Parliament to increas'd Affection and Trust as if Crimes found out and prosecuted by a Parliament had been the Testimonies of Merit and Arguments for a Prince's Fnvour These unsteddy Councils increas'd mistrust in the Subjects who now began to see they were too light to make a Poisure with his Favourites And to confirm their worst apprehensions the Duke of Ireland who had been driven away by the Displeasure that was contracted against him now return'd with