to Barkley-Castle and Spencer is deliver'd over to the Martial and immediately hath the like entertainment only he hath somewhat a longer time and a far more cruel Sentence than his Father All things thus ordered the Queen removes to Hereford and in all the places of her passage is welcomed with joyful Acclamations With a kind of insultant triumphing tyranny far unworthy the Nobility of her Sex and Virtue she makes her poor condemned adversary in a strange disguise attend her Progress He was set upon a poor lean deformed Jade and cloathed in a Tabarce the Robe in those days due to the basest Thieves and Rascals and so was led through all the Market-Towns and Villages with Trumpets sounding before him and all the spightful disgraces and affronts that they could devise to cast upon him Certainly this Man was infinitely tyrannical and vicious deserving more than could be laid upon him yet it had been much more to the Queen's Reputation and Honour if she had given him a fair and legal Tryal by his Peers according to that ancient and laudable Custom of England wherein by his death he might have given both the Law and his Adversaries a full satisfaction It is certainly give it what other title you will an argument of a wondrous base condition to insult or to tyrannize over those poor Ruins which Fortune hath thrown into our power A noble pity is the argument of an honourable and sweet disposition and the life of Man is great enough to expiate all offences To satisfie our passions with the bitterest extremity of our power may justly be stiled rather a salvage and barbarous Cruelty than true and perfect Justice No question it was a pleasing sight to all the wronged Subjects to see such a leprous Monster so monstrously used But when the heat of blood was past and men had recollected their sences it then appeared to be too great a blemish to a Queen a Woman and a Victor But whether she were now weary with imposing or he with suffering Hereford on a lofty Gibbet of an extraordinary height erected on purpose gives him the end of all his Torments Which being performed Order is left behind for the Execution of Arundel four days after which is accordingly performed I could never yet read a fair and just cause why this Earl lost his Life unless it may be counted Treason not to forsake his Lord and Master to whom he had so solemnly swore his Faith and Obedience It certainly was no such capital fault to accompany and seek to defend his Soveraign when he was by all others forsaken that by their Vows and Oaths ought to have been as deeply engaged If being taken with those that were so corrupt and wicked occasion'd it I see yet no reason why he alone was Executed and those that in their knowledge were his only Instruments and Creatures were suffered to live and be promoted But we may not properly expect Reason in Womens Actions whose Passions are their principal guide and mover Now she is come to London and received with all the Honour due to so great a Queen and Conquest the People croud to see her and with applauding shouts extol her that in the least change of Fortune would be the first should cut her Throat or do her any other mischief A Parliament is immediately call'd and assembled in which the Pack was before-hand easily laid for Edward had lost the Hearts and Love of all his People the Errors and Abuses of the Kingdom are there with too great a liberty against a Sacred King yet living laid open and discoursed All men were of one mind a present Reformation must be had which in a true construction was but a meer politic Treason The three Estates presently assent to the deposition of the Elder and raising the Younger Edward to the sole Regiment and guidance of the Kingdom not a Peer Bishop Knight or Burgess speaks a word in defence of him that was their Master but divers are sent from both Houses to the yet King to let him know their Declaration When they were come into his presence Trussel Speaker in the lower House in the Name of the whole Kingdom resign'd up all the Homage due to him and then pronounceth the Sentence of his Deprivation Edward that long before had notice of these Proceedings arms himself to receive it with patience He gives them back no Answer knowing a contestation or denial might hasten on his death and a consent had made him guilty by his own confession Thus did this unfortunate King after he had with perpetual agitation and trouble governed this Kingdom Eighteen Years odd Months and Days lose it by his own Disorder and Improvidence accompanied with the treachery and falshood of his own Subjects And that which is most miraculous an Army of three or four hundred men entred his Dominions and took from him the Rule and Governance without so much as a blow given or the loss of one Man more than such as perished by the hand of Justice In a declining Fortune all things conspire a ruin yet never was it seen that so great a King fell with so little Honour and so great an Infidelity But what could be expected when to satisfie his own unjust Passions he had consented to the Oppressions of his Subjects tyranniz'd over the Nobility abus'd his Wedlock and lost all fatherly care of the Kingdom and that Issue that was to succeed him Certainly it is no less honourable than proper for the Majesty and Greatness of a King to have that same free and full use of his Affection and Favour that each particular Man hath in his oeconomic Government yet as his Calling is the greatest such should be his Care to square them always out by those Sacred Rules of Equity and Justice for if they once transcend or exceed falling into an extremity they are the Predictions of a fatal and inevitable Ruin Let the Favorite tast the King's Bounty and enjoy his Ear but let him not engross it wholly or take upon him the sway and governance of all the Affairs of his Master this begets not more Envy than multiplicity of Error whose effects do for the most part occasion a desperate Convulsion if not the destruction of that State where it hath his allowance and practice As Kings ought to limit their Favours so ought they to be curious in the Election for persons of baser or meaner quality exalted are followed at the heels with a perpetual murmer and hatred Neither is it safe or proper that all the principal Dignities or Strengths of a Kingdom should be committed to the Fidelity of any one particular Subject though never so gracious or able There must be then a kind of Impulsive necessity still to continue his Power and approve his Actions else having the Keys in his hand he may at all times open the Gates to a Foreign Trouble or a Domestic Mischief The Number of Servants as it is the Master's
business within doors and without that the Royal Treasure of the Crown is prosusely wasted and spent without Accompt or Honour The antient Plate and Jewels of the Crown are in the Lombard and their Engagement drowned before it had the warmth of a sure possession The Subject is rack'd with strange Inventions and new unheard of Propositions for Money and many great Loans required beyond all proportion or order Lastly the Royal Demeans are set at Sale and all things that might make Money within the Kingdom To supply these inconveniences which are now grown to a greater height than the Plotter of them intended a new Parliament is called at York where the elder Spencer is advanced to the Earldom of Winchester and Harkely another Chip of the same Block is made Earl of Carlisle Baldocke a mean Man in Birth Worth and Ability is made Lord Chancellor of England In this Parliament which was by Fear and Favour made to his hand he makes known the greatness of his Want and Occasions the justly aggrieved Commons entring into a deep consideration of the times freely give the sixth Penny of all the Temporal Goods throughout the whole Kingdom When this Act came to the general knowledge it utterly estranged the Hearts of the Subjects which plead an Impossibility to perform it in respect of those many former Exactions Yet after some light contestation it is levyed no man daring to make so much as a shew of resistance If we may credit all the Antient Historians who seem to agree in this Relation there were seen at this time many Sights fearful and prodigious Amongst them no one was so remarkable as that which for six hours space shewed the glorious Sun cloathed all in perfect Blood to the great Admiration and Amazement of all those that beheld it Following times that had recorded it in their Memories by the sequel believed it the fatal Prediction of the ensuing Miseries Those that more aptly censure the present view of a Wonder conceited the just Heavens shew'd their incensed Anger for the Noble Blood of the Earl of Lancaster and his Adherents so cruelly shed without Compassion or Mercy The Scots working on the condition of the times so much dejected and amazed seize the advantage They saw by the last Parliamentary Proceedings that the King was so enabled as the hope of any Attempt in England was altogether hopeless Yet they resolve to be doing somewhere within the King's Dominions or at the least his Jurisdiction This draws them to assemble themselves and to Attempt a surprisal of the Northern places of Ireland As the Action was vain so the Success proved as unfortunate they are defeated slain overthrown and return not with the twentieth part of their number The King remembring those many Indignities he had suffered and resenting this their last Attempt with an implacable scorn and anger resolves to let them speedily know that he meant to call them to an after reckoning Upon this he sends out his Summons to call his Men of War together and makes all Provisions be prepared for this so constantly resolved a Journey His former Misfortunes had instructed him to undertake this Design much more strongly and warily And this so grave a Consideration brought him together the remaining Glory and Strength of the greater part of his Kingdom With these he marcheth forward and invadeth the nearer parts of Scotland but whether it were the Infidelity of those about him the will and pleasure of Him that is the Guider and Directer of Human Actions or the unfortunate Destiny of this unhappy King he is enforc'd to return without doing any Act that is truly worthy his Greatness or Memory The wily Scots that durst not set upon the Face of his Army wait upon the Rear and in a watch'd opportunity surprise his Stuff and Treasure This sends him home a third time a discontented Man and whether with a just Guilt or to transfer his own Fault upon others the newly created Earl of Carlile is put to a shameful Execution The Grounds against him were very probable but not certain and it was enough that he is believed like Judas for Money to have sold his Master The principal Motive that may lead us to think he was deeply faulty was the Honour and Gravity of his Tryal which gave him on a full hearing so sincere and sharp a Sentence Scarcely is the King settled after his tedious Journey when comes a stranger News That the French King had made a Hostile Attempt upon the Frontier parts of Guyen which was seconded with a Declaration That he was no longer resolved to entertain the Friendship or Peace with England This Feat had been cunningly before-hand wrought by the secret working of Spencer yet he desired to have it still in Agitation and not in Action He wisht his Master thence might be possest with the fear of War and not feel it The French were of another mind they saw into the great Disorders and Misguidance of England and thought it a fit time either by War or Policy to unite so goodly a Branch of their Kingdom It is true they had matcht a Daughter of France to the Crown of England and had solemnly swore a Peace but these they thought might be with ease dispenst with on so weighty a Cause and so fair an Advantage Edward seeing into the danger and taxing bitterly the Infidelity of the French begins to survey his own Condition whereby he might accordingly sort his resolution either to entertain the War or to seek Peace upon some Honourable or at least reasonable Conditions He in this passage finds himself more hated and feared than beloved he saw his Coffers empty the Scotish War and Surprisal had quite exhausted the Sinews of his last Parliamentary Contribution He feared the Inclination of the Subject would refuse any further Supply or in consenting make it conditional which he was wholly unwilling to undergo or adventure Lastly The Misfortune that waited on him ever since he was absolute he feared had estranged and dejected so the Hearts of his Soldiers that they would hardly be drawn forth or act any thing with their accustomed Valour and Resolution In this Distraction he seeks not by the Advice of a grave Council to qualifie or prevent it this Medicine he conceits worse than the Disease but calls unto him Spencer the Cabinet of his Heart he alone is thought fit to communicate this deep Secret and to give the Resolution His Father Baldock and the rest of that Faction by his persuasion and entreaty are admitted to make the Party greater and the Discourse more serious and likely Before them is laid the Condition of the King the Estate of the Kingdom their own Danger and the Intentions of their Foreign Adversary Many several ways are devised and advised and in conclusion no one is believed more sound and proper than that the Queen should personally mediate the Atonement with her Royal Brother This as it was cunningly laid
so had it a double use and reflection The Spencers saw the Subject more inclinable to adore the rising Sun in which Act they thought the Queen's Mediation and Presence would be a dangerous Instigator They believed her absence could not work such and so great an assistance as might countervail the domestic danger They knew the French light and inconstant and those which with a kind of natural fear abhorr'd the English Wars out of the limit of their own Kingdom And in the worst construction they conceited Money or a resignation of that part was holden by the King in France would beget a Peace at their own will and pleasure Yet these Considerations were attended with some doubts which delayed and put off the execution The Queen who had long hated the Insolency of the Spencers and pitying the languishing Estate of the Kingdom resolves in her mind all the possible ways to reform them Love and Jealousie two powerful Motives spurr'd her on to undertake it She saw the King a stranger to her Bed and revelling in the embraces of his wanton Minions without so much as a glance or look on her deserving Beauty This contempt had begot in her Impressions of a like though not so wanton and licentious a Nature She wanting a fit Subject for her Affections to work on her Wedlock being thus estranged had fixed her wandring Eye upon the goodly shape and beauty of gallant Mortimer He was not behind hand in the reception and comel entertainment of so rich and desired a Purchase But his last Act had lodg'd him in the Tower which was a Cage too strait to crown their desires with their full perfection yet is there a sweet correspondency continued Letters and many loving Messages bring their Hearts together though their Bodies were divided By these is Mortimer informed of the Resolution for the intended Journey of his Royal Mistress whom he vows to attend or lose his Life in the adventure The Queen understanding the Intentions of her Servant strives to advance her dispatch and hastens it with all her best indeavours But where was so great an Inconstancy there could be no expectation that this Proposition should be more assur'd or permanent New delays and doubts interpose insomuch that the hopes of this Journey were now grown cold and desperate The Queen seeing her self deluded and this opportunity stoln from her by those whom she before so mortally hated sets her own brains a working to invent a speedy remedy She was therein so fortunate as to pretend a Journey of Devotion and Pilgrimage to Saint Thomas of Canterbury which by her Overseers was wholly unsuspected Things thus prepared by a faithful Messenger she gives Mortimer the knowledge of her Design who prepares himself with a more dangerous Stratagem to meet it Her eldest Son her dearest comfort and the chief spring that must set all these wheels a going she leaves not behind but makes him the Companion of her Travels The King's Joy was great that saw by this occasion he should gain a free liberty to enjoy his stoln Pleasures which were before so narrowly attended by the jealous eyes of his Queen that in this kind had been so often wronged The aspiring Spencers were well pleased that to be assured would have given a free consent to her perpetual absence A short time brings her to the end of so short a journey where she makes her stay of the same measure Winchelsey had the honour to have the last farewel of this pair of precious Jewels Thither comes Mortimer having made a fortunate Escape and with the Earl of Cane resolves to venture his Life in the Attendance and Service of so brave a Mistress An Exploit so weighty and dangerous gave no time of stay or ceremony They immediately Embark and make a tryal where they may find another Climate more propitious and fortunate The watry Billows and the peaceful Winds as if they were consenting to their Enterprise entertain them with an aspect clear and quiet sending them with a fresh and pleasing Gale safe to their desired Port of Bulloign The King and Spencers being truly enformed are startled with the matter and manner of their Escape They knew the Birds were too far flown to be catcht or reclaimed and did imagin the Plot was too surely laid that had so prosperous a beginning Now all the former Resolutions are useless new Deliberations are required how this Breach may be handsomly sodered or the threatning danger prevented All other ways are deemed short that one of taking off the King of France was believed most sure and easie They knew the French strain to be giddy light and covetous and applied themselves in the right Key to fit these several humours The King whose presaging soul misgave his welfare grows sad and melancholly calling to mind the Injustice of his own Actions and the fair Cause his Wife had to seek her right and refuge The neglect and breach of Wedlock was so great an Error but so to contemn so sweet and great a Queen was a fault in his own thoughts deserv'd a heavy censure She had not only felt a particular share of her own grief but suffered deeply in the general sorrow of the whole Kingdom Those which had erected their petty Tyrannies over the Subject were in like sort authoris'd by him that ought to have had an equal share of her affliction more and more to abuse her The sad Impressions of these Disorders and the reeking Blood of so many noble and brave Subjects so basely spilt do seem to cry for Vengeance This for a while wrought deeply in his distressed thoughts but a small intermission brings him back to his former temper A customary habit of a depraved Nature dulleth the sense of the Soul and Conscience so that when our better Angels summon us to restitution and repentance the want of a lively true apprehension leads us blindfold into a dangerous despairing hazard The French King having notice of his Sister's arrival with a wondrons plausible and seeming Joy doth entertain it with an honourable Attendance fitting more her Estate Birth and Dignity than her present miserable condition she is waited on to Paris where she is soon Visited by the Royal King her Brother When she beheld the refuge of her hopes she falls upon her Knee and with a sweetly coming modesty she thus begins her Story The King unwilling to suffer such an Idolatry from her that had a Father Brother and Husband so great and Royal takes her up in his Arms and then attends her Motives Great Sir quoth she behold in me your most unfortunate Sister the true Picture of a dejected Greatness and the essential substance of an unhappy Wedlock I have with a suffering beyond the belief of my Sex overcome a world of bitter Tryals Time lessens not but adds to my Afflictions my Burthen is grown too heavy for my long abused Patience Yet 't is not I alone but a whole Kingdom heretofore truly
Pope a daily instigation to pity and reform so great and gross an Error On which an Admonition is presently sent out to the French King that he cause immediately the Queen of England to depart forth of his Dominions Whilst this device was in action the English discontented Barons send privily to the Queen informing her that they were almost crush'd to pieces with their suffering They solicit her to hasten her return and promise really to engage themselves and their Estates in her Quarrel With a joyful heart as it deserves she entertains this loving proffer And the more to advance her declining Affairs she instantly acquaints her Brother with the tender He had then newly received his Summons from the Pope which taking out of his Pocket he delivers her back wishing her to peruse and read it The amazed Queen when she beheld so sad a Sentence falls humbly on her Knees and desires That his Majesty would grant her but so much favour that she might more truly inform his Holiness and justifie her self by a fairer and noble trial With Tears she instanceth the malice of her Adversaries that had taken so strange a course both to abuse and wrong her Her Brother glad of such a Protection to shadow his dishonourable and unnatural falshood lets her know the necessity of his Obedience and that he must not for her sake adventure the Censure and Interdiction of himself and a whole Kingdom He wisheth her to arm her self with patience and to return and make a peace with her Husband in which Act himself would use both the persuasion and strength of his best Power and Interest letting her withal know that she had but a short time to deliberate for she must instantly leave his Kingdom Scarcely had he ended these his last unwelcom words when away he flings with a seeming discontented shew of sorrow rejoyceing inwardly that he had freed himself of the Expence of her Entertainment and found so fair a colour to avoid the Justice of her daily Importunity The drooping Queen thus abandoned with an amazed grief relates this unkind sad passage to her faithful Servants Cane and Mortimer Their valiant hearts make good the loss of their hopes they accuse the injustice of time and exclaim against the French unnatural baseness Mortimer whose inflamed Passion flew a higher pitch breaks out and with a bold freedom would have fallen to a bitter Expostulation The Queen that knew the danger and was loth to hazard that little miserable freedom she had left with sweet and mild persuasions reclaims him to a milder temper She had a second doubt lest in such a contestation she might be sent back against her will to her Husband This makes her temporize and cunningly seem to provide for a voluntary return which might prevent that danger She failing in the Master yet tasts a-new his Servants and leaves no means unattempted to bring about and alter so hard and strickt a Censure They that were the first betrayers of her hopes do now with a more confidence and constancy express it and with one voice sing the same Tune with their Master declining Misery the touchstone of Friendship finds it self shunn'd like some infectious Feaver The sunshine of Fortune hath as many Professors as Beams but if her Glory be once eclipsed they all with a coward baseness seek some other succour This Lesson that is so frequent and familiar should guide our election more by judgment than affection They are not to be chosen or valued that in the pretence of Love though it be for our proper good or service will act any thing that is base and unworthy the same in the least change will not be squeamish for a poor advantage to confirm their former practice though it be to our loss or destruction Where Virtue guides our choice it begins with truth and honour ending with a like resplendent glory No worldly cross nor height of affliction lessens the worth and value of such a Friend who like a goodly Rock in fury of the greatest Storms makes good his proper station Mutual correspondency in affections ought to be pure and innocent if private respects taint the sincerity of the intentions it makes this traffick rather a commerce than friendship Opinion of faith is a powerful Motive yet not weighty enough unless it become as well with real ability as appearance the subject of our Election But to proceed The Queen being in this distressed Agony finds an unexpected refuge The gracious God of Heaven who never forsakes those which are his sends her a comfort when her dying hopes were almost sunk and desperate Robert of Artois a Man as truly Valiant as Noble was one of the first that in the French Court had tendered the Queen his Service He was a wise grave and steddy well resolved Gentleman his first Devotion was not led by matter of Form or Complement but was truly grounded on a true Compassion and Honour This brave Friend beholding with a noble eye the Vanity of his fellow Friends and Courtiers and looking into the Misery of the Queens forsaken Condition sets up his rest to appear like himself a Friend in all her Fortune firm and constant In this resolution he waits a fitting opportunity to let her see and know it The time was favourable he finds her in her melancholy Chamber confused in her restless thoughts with many sad distractions She fancying the occasion of the coming of so great a person was great and weighty with a silent and attentive Ear expects his Message Madam quoth he It is the most excellent part of Wisdom with an equal Virtue to entertain the different kinds of Fortune This World is but a meer composition of Troubles which seems greater or less as is the quality of the Heart that entertains them I confess the Justice of your Grief and truly share it but Tears and Sorrow are not means to relieve or right you The just Heavens assist those that with an active and lively hope invoke their Succour The tenderness of your Sex and former free Condition is yet a stranger to these Trials Time will let you know they are the familiar attendants of our frail structure of flesh and blood when you will confess it too great a weakness to sink under the burthen of our Afflictions For your own goodness Noble Queen erect and elevate your thus dejected Spirits behold in me the Character of an unworthy but true Friend that am resolv'd my Life and State shall attend and run with you the self-same Fortune You may no longer make this unthankful Climate the place of your Birth the stage of your abiding the way is pav'd with Gold to your destruction Wherefore if my Advice may sway let speed prevent your danger The confines of the sacred Empire are near adjoining where are many brave Princes who may happily afford you Succour at the worst you may there enjoy a more assured peace and safety Neither do I presume to
direct this course but lay it humbly before you offering my faithful Service to attend you to what part soever of the Vniversal World your resolution shall fix on desiring you to be assured my Life before my Faith shall perish for I have vow'd my self and will continue your everlasting Servant Infinitely was the Queen rejoyced in this so grave and sincere an Expression she doubles a world of Promises and Thanks for this so free an offer and with a secret and wary Carriage she speedily provides to begin her thus resolved Journey Though here she saw a far less appearance of hope when her dearest Brother and her Native Kingdom had forsaken her yet she resolves the trial rather than to return without a more assurance She knew she had too far waded and incens'd her malicious Adversaries to expect a reconciliation and feared to be mewed up from all hope of future advantage These Considerations made her with a sad heart and weeping Eyes forsake the fruitful limits of ingrateful France and betake her self to her last but most uncertain Refuge The Condition that is truly miserable finds few real Friends but never wants Infidelity to increase its sorrow Stapleton Bishop of Exeter who had fled to the Queen and made himself a sharer in this weighty Action forsakes her Party He seeing the French hopes vanished and these remaining so poorly grounded thought to work his Peace by losing his Faith and in this conceit in hast returns for England His Intelligence reconciles and wins him favour but it was purchas'd at too dear a rate that stain'd the Honour of so high a Calling and made him most unworthy of so divine and grave a Profession By this Treachery the King and Spencers understand both the Queen's Resolution and Weakness They fear not the German Motions that were a dull sad Nation that seldom use to sight for nothing Time hath at last brought our Royal English Pilgrims to the shrine of their devotion The Earl of Heynault a Man truly noble and virtuous understanding her arrival within the Precincts of his Jurisdiction gives her a free and loving welcom This bountiful honest Earl esteems it his glory to entertain so Princely Guests like themselves and to become the Patron of their so weak condition He had a Brother that made his Arms the honour of his Profession who thinks the Estate of this forsaken Queen in justice deserv'd a true relief and pity He tenders her his Service and believes the occasion happily offer'd that might leave to ensuing Times the Memory of his Virtue Worth and Valor So fair a Morning puts the Queen in hope the Evening would prove as fortunate By all those winning graces of a distressed Beauty she strives to confirm and more engage this first and fair affection The Earl having knowledge of his Brother's resolution thought the Attempt too full of hazard and with a grave and mild temper commending the nobility and greatness of his Spirit adviseth him to quit the Action he lays before him the weakness of the Foundation the Queen was in want of Men and Money and had not such a Correspondency in England as might warrant her against her incensed Husband who was waited on by so warlike and valiant a Nation He in like sort acquaints him how impossible a thing it was for him to raise such an Army as might credit the Cause and countenance the beginning True Valor consisting not in daring Impossibilities but exposing it self where Reason Judgment and Discretion were the leaders Sir John with a quiet patience hears his Brother's Admonitions which he knew sprung from the freedom of an honest and a loving heart but he imagined Age had robb'd his Breast and Head of all their Noble Vigor Sir quoth he If You and all the World forsake this Noble Lady my single Arm shall maintain her Quarrel since I had rather lose my Life than my Faith so full and freely engaged After Ages shall not blot the Glory of our House so great and noble with so inglorious a stain of baseness and infidelity such Precedents are seldom seen and ought to be more tenderly regarded A Queen and the Heir apparent of so great a Crown pleading so just a pity nor may nor shall be forsaken If in the Reason of State you list not to be an Actor reserve your self and make not the King of England your Enemy Know I have both Arms and Friends I will pawn them all rather than in the least degree falsifie my Word and Promise These words spoken with such a resolution and fearless bravery stopt all reply and contradiction The Queen that had already both a French and an Italian Trick had no less reason here to doubt it She knew no means would be left unattempted from her Domestic Spies to make her once more forsaken This enforceth her with a more Importunity to hasten and advance her Enterprise All the good Offices that might spur on the enflamed heart of her brave Protector she makes the Handmaids of her Female Wisdom But alas they needed not her careful Agent they had quickly gotten together a voluntary Troop of Three Hundred well resolved Gallants that vow themselves to follow him even into the mouth of the Canon He stays not to encrease his number with a multitude but believes if there were an answering Correspondency in the English with these to overrun the Kingdom Arms Shipping and all Provisions necessary attend their coming They with the glory of their hopes lead the revived Queen a Shipboard Now do they expose themselves to the first tryal of their Fortune aiming at Donge Port to take their hop'd possession The Heavens that favoured their Design out of their present fear preserves them beyond belief or expectation Her Adversaries had a forerunning knowledge of their intended place of landing and had there provided to give them a hot and bitter welcom The raging Billows and the blustring Winds or rather the Divine Providence after the second day's extremity brings them aland safe at Orwel near Harwich They were ignorant being driven to and fro by the violence of the Weather what part of the Kingdom they had light on and were as much distressed with the Unshipping of their Men and Baggage as with the want of Harbour and Victual Three whole days in disorder and confusion they make the bleak and yielding Sands their habitation perceiving the vanity of their rash and desperate Attempt which in the least opposition or encounter must have wrought their confusion It was in vain to attend longer here where they saw so small sign of better Entertainment this makes them march on with this little weather-beaten Troop to win and Conquer a Kingdom St. Hammonds an Abby of black Monks was honoured with the welcom of their long lost Mistress here she and her Princely Son had their first Reception and Entertainment The bruit of this Novelty like a Welch Hubbub had quickly overtaken the willing Ears of the displeased Commons
Who ever desirous of Innovation like Bees in swarms do run to her assistance The Barons so depress'd and unjustly grieved with itching Ears attend the News of this advantage When the tydings of their arrival came to their knowledge with so liberal a relation which made her Army ten times greater than it was they lose no time for fear of some prevention Henry of Lancaster was the first who was seconded by many others of the braver Peers of the Kingdom By this means the Queen and her adherent strangers lose the depth of that Agitation that till now had kept them doubtful The King that till this time had slumber'd out the Prologue of this ensuing Danger secure in the belief of the Spencers Strength and Providence in so general a Revolt awakens from his licentious Pleasure and beholds nothing but a grim and fearful face of Sorrow The Council of his Cabinet accompanied with their own guilt are affrighted in the sad apparitions of their approaching ruin The time of prevention is lost their abused confidence had only labour'd to shut the Gate but not assur'd the Family The present necessity admits no long deliberation this flame was too violent to be quenched and such a course is to be taken as may rather assure them time to temporize than with a strong hand to strive to repel it The City's Guard is recommended to Stapleton that had so unhappily and with so little credit changed his Master The King and the Spencers forsaken but yet strongly attended with the guilt of so many and so foul Errors fly to Bristol a Town strong enough and well provided Arundel and the elder Spencer undertake the defence of the City while the King and the others make the Castle their hope and refuge The Queen being informed that the King had forsaken his Royal Chamber and had stoll'n a flight to Bristol she soon apprehends and lays hold of the advantage addressing a fair but mandatory Letter to the Mayor to keep the City to the use of her and her Son that was so like to be his Soveraign The inconstant Citizens that ever cleave to the stronger Party are easily persuaded and entreated Stapleton that foresaw and fear'd the danger summons the Mayor to surrender him the Keys of the Gates for his assurance Chickwell that was then Lord Mayor incens'd with the Imperiousness and Injustice of this Demand apprehends this inconsiderate Bishop and without all respect to his Place or Dignity makes his Head the Sacrifice to appease the angry Commons This act had too far engag'd him to recoil he must now wholly adhere to the Queen's Faction Four of the gravest and most substantial Burghers are sent to let her truly understand their Devotion They are graciously and lovingly received the Mayor hath thanks for his late bloody Act which was stiled an excellent piece of Justice This Gap thus stopp'd with her Army she marcheth to the Cage that kept those Birds whose Wings she would be clipping She knew if she struck not while the Iron was hot the heat of a popular Faction would quickly sink and lessen All the way of her Journey she finds according to heart's desire a free and noble welcom Her Troops like Snow-balls in her motion more and more increasing When she came before this great and goodly City she saw it was a strength by Art and Nature and did believe it furnish'd to out-wear a Siege of long continuance which made both her and her adherents more jealous and suspect the issue Where the Person of an anointed King was at stake there could be no assurance But smiling Fortune that had turn'd her wheel resolves this doubt and makes the Action easie The Citizens that knew not the Laws of War or Honour will not expose their Lives and Goods to the mercy of the Strangers and the hazard of an unruly Conquest They had too much tasted the afflictions of the Kingdom to think the Quarrel just or to adventure their Protection at so dear a hazard for those that had been the cause and instrument of so much Blood and Trouble From this Consideration they send an humble Message to the Queen and desire as well to capitulate for their Commanders as their own Interest All other Conditions are despised and disdained if they will have Grace they must purchase it with the resignation and delivering up their Captains This doom was esteemed heavy they would have been glad that she had had her will but were themselves unwilling to be the Actors But the time no more Imparleance admitted neither could they have a delay or remedy The Queen that had won so far upon their yielding hearts knew their Condition well enough and would not give them respit but calls upon their present Answer This round and smart Summons brings with one and the same art Arundel Spencer and the City into her possession This part of the Prey thus gotten no time is lost to call them to a reckoning Sir Thomas Wadge the Marshal of the Army recites a short Calendar of their large Offences when by a general consent they are approved guilty and without Judge or other Jury they are sentenc'd to be drawn and hanged and their Bodies to remain upon the Gibbet The rigour of this doom Spencer the Father feels that was Ninety years old and could not long have liv'd by the course of Nature The Castle-walls and the eyes of the King and his unhappy Son were witnesses of this sad Spectacle and his disaster This praeludium gives them the sense of their ensuing story which with a world of melancholy thoughts they study to prevent or alter A despairing resolution at length wins them to a desperate hazard While the Queen was labouring to surprise their Fortress which was like too long to hold good if some stratagem were not found to get it there were no Citizens to betray them it needed not themselves were soon the Actors They steal into a small Bark that rode within the Harbour hoping by this means to make an escape undiscover'd they find the merciless waves and winds a like cruel Twice had they gain'd St. Vincent's Rock but from that Reach were hurried back with suddain Gusts and Tempests The often going off and return of this unguided Pinnace begets a shrewd suspicion At length she is surpriz'd and in her Bulk is found that Treasure that ends the War and gave the work perfection The King is comforted with the smooth Language of those which had the honour to take him and believes the Title of a King Father and Husband would preserve his Life if not his Soveraignty The Queen having now made the Victory perfect no Enemy or other work remaining resolves with her self to use it to her best advantage Yet she gives her incensed passion preheminence revenge must precede her desire and strong ambition No sooner had Sir Henry Beamond brought the imprison'd King and his dejected Favorite to the Army but she dispatcheth away her Husband
Honour so is the knowledge of their Ability his Glory Where by a discreet distribution they find variety of Imployment and are indifferently heard both in Advice and Action they more secure their Masters safety and greatness Kings in their Deliberations should be swayed by the whole body of a Council and in my opinion should take it ill to have any Servant esteemed much wiser than his Master Their Royal Glory should be pure and transparent suffering not the least eclipse or shadow Be the advice of a single Wit never so grave and weighty let the Act and Honour be solely the Kings which adds more and more to the belief of his ability and greatness If once the Royal Heart be so given over to Sensuality that the befitting and necessary Cares of a Kingdom seem a burthen and by Letter of Attorney assigned over to the Fidelity of another he is then by his own Indiscretion no more an absolute King but at second hand and by direction It is the Practic and not the Theoric Act of State that aws and assures the heart of the Subject this being once doubtful or suspect estrangeth the will of our Obedience and gives a belief of liberty to the Actions of Disorder and Injustice Neither is the Error and Imbecillity of a Crown more prejudicial to it self than dangerous in the Example Majestic Vanities and Vices find a ready imitation and practice so that it may be concluded an ill King may endanger the Virtue and Goodness of a whole Kingdom Our Nature is prone to the worser part which we more readily are inclined to practice with the condition of time and so powerful and eminent a Precedent Kings that are subject to a natural weakness or grown to the practice of any other particular Error by corruption should act their deeds of darkness with such a reserved secrecy and caution that there be not a suspicion to taint him for if it once win an open knowledge besides the particular aspersion it brings with it an ensuing supposed liberty of Practice both in Court and State by his Example As these are most proper to the Affections so are there some as necessary Instructions for Kingly Passions which of the two are more violent and dangerous Though it a while delay the concluding part of this History yet my Pen must not leave them untouched I must confess if Man could master and govern these rebellious Monsters he might justly merit rather the name of an Angel than a mortal Creature But this in a true perfection is most impossible It is yet in Divinity and all Moral Construction the most absolute Master-piece of this our Pilgrimage to dispose them so that they wait on the operations of the Soul rather as obedient Servants than loose and uncontrouled Vagabonds A King that is in these deficient having so unlimited a Power and making his Will his Law in short time loseth the Honour of his Calling and makes himself a Tyrant Intemperate and heady Actions beget but disorder and confusion and if they end in blood without a warranty of apparent Justice or inevitable Necessity they cry to Heaven for a deserved vengeance The Law hath Advantages and Punishments enough for those that lie at his mercy Let not incensed hast betray the Royality of a Crown to make it self both Judge and Executioner Kings are Gods on Earth and ought in all their Actions to direct the imitation after a Divine Nature which inclines to Mercy more than Justice Mens Lives once lost cannot be redeemed there ought therefore to be a tender consideration before they be taken lest the injustice of the actor in time be brought to suffer in the same measure As is the quality of the Fact so is the condition of his Agent to be maturely deliberated wherein there may be such dependencies that it is for the Crown more profitable safe and honourable to save or delay the Execution of the Law than to advance or hasten it Howsoever it is the more innocent and excellent way to offend in the better part and rather to let the Law than once own Virtue and Goodness to be visibly deficient and disesteemed The Actions of Repentance are numbred with the Register of our Misdemeanours where none appear more fearful than those which an inconsiderate Fury or the violence of Passion hath acted with too much hast and cruelty Let then the height of so great and excellent a Calling be suited with as sweet a temper neither too precipitate or slow but with a steddy and well-advised Motion As these Considerations are in the one part necessary so ought there to be a correspondent Worth and Care in him that hath the happiness to enjoy in so great a measure his Royal Master's Ear and Favour If the Actions of the King be never so clear and innocent yet he must favour or protect the Error of so great a Servant which makes him an Accessary if not an Actor in the unjust Oppression of his Kingdom It is not discretion neither hath it any Society with the well grounded Rules of Wisdom for the Subject to exalt or amplifie the height of his own Glory it is in the Eye of all too great a presuming Insolence and Kings themselves will rather alter their Affections than to be outshined or dazled in their own Sphere and Element He that hath made his Master's Love and hath ascended the Stairs of his Preferment should make the same Vertue the stay of his Advantage framing his carriage to his Equals and Inferiors with a like sweet and winning Temper If he swerve from this sacred Rule and arrive to win Fear or a vain Adoration let him know the first is the Companion of Trust and Safety the other of a jealous Diffidence that must betray his Life and Honour But to return to our History which now removes Edward the Father to Killingworth where he remains under the keeping of the Earl of Lancaster while his unripe Son is crowned King and the Queen with Mortimer take into their hands the whole Sway and Administration of the Kingdom Their first Act sends Baldock the Lord Chancellour to Newgate a fit Cage for such a Haggard though far unworthy the Eminency of his height and dignity Now do the recollected Spirits of the Kingdom begin to survey and examin the injustice of that Act that had disrobed and put down a King their unquestionable Soveraign that had been so solemnly Anointed and so long enjoyed the Regiment of the Kingdom They find the condition of their Estate but little altered and according to the vanity of their Hearts are as ready to attempt a new Innovation Many Suits are made to the King and the Protectors to release him out of his Imprisonment but all prove vain and fruitless The Black Fryers were in this request more earnest who in their denial sought to bring it to pass by force or surprisal They make Donhead one of their number their Captain but he knew better
glorious that are thus unjustly wronged My blushing Cheek may give you knowledge I too much Honour the Cause of mine Affliction to let my Tongue discover it Yet this in Duty and Modesty I may ingenuously confess My Royal Husband is too far seduced his Ear is too open his Will too violent and his Heart too free to those bewitching Syrens that make his Errors their Profit and Glory All hope of his return is lost so long as they shall live and remain his Leaders How many of his noblest and bravest Subjects have attempted his freedom and by an unjust and inglorious Death miscarried Alass all expectations are vain and desperate if I had not known the impossibility to disinchant him I had not in so mean and miserable a case stoln to you for Succour You have a fair way to make known to the World the truth of your own Glory and Goodness Fortune leads you by the hand to an Action not more Just than Honourable if you would dispute it Can there be a more precious Motive to invite you than the view of these unhappy Ruins See here two Royal Branches of the Flower-de-luce withering sullied and depressed Would you truly consider how great and noble a Work it is to support those that are unworthily oppressed Heaven and Earth must witness the true value of your Worth and my Petition Let it not breed a Jealousie or Discouragement that I appear before you and seek your help with so poor a Train and mean Attendance Besides the Justice of my Cause I bring with me the Griefs and Hearts of a Kingdom that have both Sworn and Vow'd to defend it Nor may you with reason doubt their Integrity while you have my wretched self and the Heir apparent to be your Pawn and Warrant For God's sake Sir by your own Virtue and Goodness I desire it and in the challenge of that Royal Blood whereof by the Laws of God Men and Nature I have so large a Share and Interest Let not after Ages taint your Memory with such an Aspersion That you are the first of all the Kings of France that denied to relieve a Sister so deeply wronged and distressed She would have spoken more but here the big swoln Fountains of her watry Eyes discharge their heavy burthen Her Tears like Orient Pearls bedew her lovely Cheeks while she with a silent Rhetoric invites a noble pity Her sad Complaint won a general remorse and her liquid Tears a deep and strong compassion Her Brother vows Revenge and promiseth to make England and the World know she was his Sister The Lords and Peers of France tender their ready help and assistance the Service is so hotly pursu'd that the poor Queen with an abused confidence believes she shall be speedily and strongly righted 'T was not alone her Error it is a general Disease We easily credit that News we most desire and hope for The Spencers whose watchful eyes were soon informed of these Passages too late condemn their own Improvidence and Folly that gave the wronged Queen so fit and fair an advantage They fear not all the Power of France but suspect Intestine danger where they knew the Hearts of all were alien'd and estranged They well enough understood the vanity of Female Passion but suspect that the rising Son would be follow'd and admir'd whilst their declining Master would be left forsaken and dejected These Conceits work so deeply that they conclude they must fall if they could not stop the Foreign Danger The English were Cow'd there was in them no fear unless the strangers strength gave them new Life and Spirit In so weighty a Cause there was no time left for delay or dalliance They dispatch presently away their Agents to the French Court laden with the Treasure of the Kingdom and many glorious Promises They instruct them how to apply themselves to the Time and present Necessity and teach them the way to work and undermine the Queen's Proceedings These Messengers arriving at Paris find the French heat well qualified and cooled This gave them more time and hope to bring their Master's Will and their own Imployment to a speedy perfection They set upon the Pillars of State such as in their Master's Ear or in his Council had most sway and preheminence they give freely and promise more till they have won a firm and fair assurance No one had an Interest and was known to be a favourer of the adverse Party but his Tongue is tied with a golden Chain to a perpetual silence When thus this Practice was ripe the King is persuaded of the danger and peril of so great and weighty an Action His Sister's Reputation and intemperate Carriage though tenderly is often touched A Woman's Passion is believed too weak a Reason to engage two so Warlike Nations in a War wherein themselves had formerly so often suffered The King for all his first great and high Expression had much rather have to do with the English in their own Kingdom than in France yet was well enough content not to try their Arms in either Yet still he feeds his sorrowing Sister with good words pretending many vain Excuses which made her suspect and doubt his meaning She arms her self with a noble patience hopeful at least that she and her son might there remain in peace and safety By the intercourse of Messages that had so often pass'd and repass'd the Spencers are assured that their Affairs in France went fairly on by which they were well onward in their Journey There could be yet no certain or assured confidence until they had again gotten the Queen and her Son into Possession No Promise or Persuasion is left to win her to return but her Ears were stopt she too well knew the sweet Enticements of such alluring Serpents This Project falling short a solemn Letter is fram'd from King Edward to the Pope and a Messenger after their own hearts appointed to carry it The Contents were full of Humility and Bitterness complaining to his Holiness That his Wife had without just Cause forsaken both Him and his Kingdom carrying away his Son the stay of his Age without his leave or license a Traytor to Him and his Crown that had publickly acted a Rebellion and was taken and Imprison'd for it had made an escape and was now her sole Companion and though he was not hasty to report or credit ye he had just cause to fear he was the abuser of his Wedlock The King of France with whom he had sworn so solemn and firm a League being Summon'd had denied to restore her These goodly Glosses and Pretexts find a ready passage and an easie belief where there was none to contradict or justifie If these Aspersions had been as they were pretended just and true the Fact had been odious and justly deserved a fair and speedy reformation The greater Cardinals that were at that time most great and eminent had tasted deeply of the King's bounty which gave the