OF ENGLAND EDWARD the Second born at Carnarvan was immediately after the death of Edward the First his Father crowned King of England If we may credit the Historians of those times this Prince was of an Aspect fair and lovely carrying in his outward appearance many promising predictions of a singular expectation But the judgment not the eye must have preheminence in the censure of Human passages the visible Calender is not the true character of inward perfection evidently proved in the Life Reign and untimely Death of this unfortunate Monarch His Story Eclipseth this glorious Morning making the noontide of his Soveraignty full of Tyrannical oppressions and the Evening more memorable by his Death and Ruine Time the discoverer of truth makes evident his imposture and shews him to the World in Conversation light in Will violent in Condition wayward and in Passion irreconcileable Edward his Father a King no less Wise than Fortunate by his discreet Providence and the Glory of his Arms had laid him the sure Foundation of a happy Monarchy He makes it his last care so to inable and instruct him that he might be powerful enough to keep it so From this Consideration he leads him to the Scotish Wars and brings him home an exact and able Scholar in the Art Military He shews him the benefit of Time and Occasion and makes him understand the right use and advantage He instructs him with the precious Rules of Discipline that he might truly know how to obey before he came to command a Kingdom Lastly he opens the closet of his Heart and presents him with the politic Mysteries of State and teacheth him how to use them by his own Example letting him know that all these helps are little enough to support the weight of a Crown if there were not a correspondent worth in him that wears it These Principles make the way open but the prudent Father had a remaining task of a much harder temper He beheld many sad remonstrations of a deprave and vicious Inclination these must be purified or his other cautions were useless and to little purpose A corruption in Nature that by practice hath won it self the habit of being ill requires a more than ordinary care to give it reformation Tenderness of Fatherly Love abuseth his belief and makes him ascribe the imperfections of the Son to the heat of Youth want of Experience and the wickedness of those that had betray'd his unripe Knowledge and easie Nature with so base impressions He imagins Age and the sad burthen of a Kingdom would in the sence of Honour work him to thoughts more innocent and noble yet he neglects not the best means to prepare and assure it He extends the height of Entreaty and useth the befitting severity of his paternal Power making his Son know he must be fit for a Scepter before he enjoy it He takes from him those tainted humours of his Leprosie and enjoyns him by all the ties of Duty and Obedience no more to admit the Society of so base and unworthy Companions Gaveston the Ganimede of his affections a Man as base in birth as conditions he sentenceth to perpetual Exile The melancholy Apparitions of this loth to depart gives the aged Father an assurance that this Syren had to dear a Room in the wanton Cabinet of his Son's heart He strives to enlighten his mind and to make him quit the memory of that dotage which he foresaw in time would be his destruction But death overtakes him before he could give it perfection the time is come that he must by the Law of Nature resign both his Life and Kingdom He summons his Son and bequeaths him this dying Legacy commanding him as he will in another day answer his disobedience never to repeal his sentence To his Kindred and Peers that with sad Tears and watry Eyes were the companions of his Death-bed he shortly discourseth the base conditions of this Parasite and lets them understand both their own and the Kingdom 's danger if they withstood not his return if it were occasioned They knew his injunctions were just and promise to observe them he is not satisfied till they bind it with an Oath and vow religiously to perform it This sends him out of the World with more confidence than in the true knowledge of his Son 's wilful disposition he had cause to ground on The Father's Funeral Rights performed Edward in the pride of his years undertakes the Crown and guidance of this glorious Kingdom He glories in the advantage knowing himself to be an absolute King and at liberty yet thinks it not enough till the belief of the Kingdom did equally assure it He esteems no Act more proper to confirm it than running in a direct strain of opposition against his Predecessor's will and pleasure The strong motives of his violent affection suggests reasons that the Majesty of a King may not be confined from his dearest pleasure When he was a Son and a Subject he had witnessed his obedience being now a King and a Soveraign he expects a correspondence of the same nature Where there was so ready an inclination in the Will Reason found strength enough to warrant it which made him make Gaveston's return the first Act of his Soveraignty No protestation of his Lords nor persuasion of his Council can work a diversion or win so much as a befitting respect The Barons that were unable to withstand are contented to obey attending the issue of this so dangerous a resolution Where the News was so pleasing the Journey is as sudden Gaveston loseth not a minute till he felt the embraces of his Royal Lord and Master Edward having thus regained his beloved Damon is so transported with his presence that he forgets the will and ordinary respect due to the greatest Lords and Pillers of his Kingdom and hence proceeds their first discontent and murmur Many ways are invented to dissolve this enchantment but none more fit and worthy then to engage him in the sacred knot of Wedlock The Interest of a Wife was believed the only remedy to engross or divert those â—â—â—ted 〈◊〉 â—â—feâ—tâ—â—ns which they beheld so loosely and unworthily prostituted Isabel the Daughter of the French King the goodliest and 〈…〉 Lâ—dy of her time is moved and the tender o◠〈…〉 plausibly accepted This sends Edward scarce a King of nine Months standing into France and brings him back seas'd of a Jewel which not being rightly valued occasioned his ensuing Ruin The excellency of so sweet and vertuous a companion could not so surprie her Bridegroom but Gaveston still kept possession of the fairest room in his affections He makes it more notorious by creating him Earl of Cornewal and the Gift of the goodly Castle and Lordship of Wallingford Gaveston applies himself wholly to the humour of the King and makes each word that falls from his mouth an Oracle their affections go hand in hand and the apparent injustice of the one never found contradiction in
the other The Subjects Voice was so fortunate that it was always concurrent where the King maintained the party If the discourse were Arms Gaveston extoll'd it as an Heroic Vertue if Peace he maintained it not more useful than necessary unlawful pleasure he stiled a noble Recreation and unjust Actions the proper and becoming Fruits of an absolute Monarchy These Gloses so betray the willing ear that heard them that no Honour is thought good and great enough for the Reporter The greatest Commands and Offices are in the person or disposure of Gaveston The command of War and all Provisions Foreign and Domestic are committed solely to his care and custody All Treaties for Peace or War had their success or ruin by his direction and pleasure The King Signed no Dispatch private or public but by his consent or appointment So that all men believed their Soveraign to be but a meer Royal shadow without a real substance Neither was it enough to advance him beyond his desert or the rules of a modest proportion But his Power must be made more extant in the Commitment to the Tower of the Bishop of Chester whom he quarrels as the occasion of his first banishment These insolencies carried with so great a height and contempt are accompanied with all the remonstrances of a justly grieved Kingdom The ancient Nobility that disdain'd such an Equal justly exclaim against the Iniquity of the time that made him their Superiour The grave Senators that understood their own worths are discontent to see themselves rejected while Upstarts by Money or Favour possess the higher places The Soldier that with his Blood had purchas'd his Experience laments his own dishonour seeing unworthy Striplings advanced while he like the ruins of a goodly Building is left to the wide World without use or reparation The Commons in a more intemperate fashion make known their griefs and sad oppressions Gaveston that both saw and knew the general discontent sought not to redress it but with an ill advised confidence strives to out-dare the worst of his approaching danger Lincoln Warwick and Pembrook whose noble hearts disdained the o'regrown height of this untimely Musherompt let the King know their fidelity and his apparent Error He must free himself and right them or else they will seek it in another Fashion Edward knew their Complaints were just yet was most unwilling to hear or relieve them till seeing their strong resolution and himself wholly unprovided to withstand the danger he makes his affections stoop to the present necessity and consents to a second banishment of his so dearly beloved Favourite Gaveston in the height and pride of his ambition is enforced to leave his Protector and to make Ireland the place of his Abiding With a sad heart he takes his leave departing yet with a more desire of revenge than sorrow for his absence All things thus reconciled the Kingdom began to receive a new life mens hopes were suitable to their desires and all things seem to promise a swift and fair Reformation But the bewitching Charms of this wily Serpent made it soon evident that alone his death must prevent his mischief The personal correspondency taken away the affections of the restless King becomes far more violent In the short interim of his absence many reciprocal and sweet messages interchangeably pass betwixt them Edward receives none but he returns with a Golden Interest He is not more sensible of his loss than the Affront and Injury which persuades him it were too great indignity for him to suffer at the hand of a Subject Though with his own hazard he once more calls him home pacifying the incensed Lords with an assurance of reconciliation and amendment Those strict Admonitions so fully exprest were not powerful enough to reclaim the Fondness of the one and Insolency of the other The King regaining thus his beloved Minion dotes on him in a far greater measure and he to make the Music perfect is of a far more violent temper He affronts and condemns his Adversaries the ancient Nobility surreptitiously wasting and imbezelling the Revenues of the Crown He enflames the King's heart so apt to receive it with all the motives of revenge unquietness and disorder The Jewels of the Crown and that rich Table and Tressels of Gold are purloin'd and pawn'd to supply this wanton Riot He had so true a knowledge of his Master's weakness that he made him solely his His Creatures were alone prefer'd his Agents were the guides and no man hath the King's ear hand or purse but such as were by Gaveston prefer'd or recommended Edward in his voluptuous sensuality supplies the place but he had the sole execution of that Royal Prerogative that was alone proper to the Crown The Nobility whose Lyon-hearts strugled betwixt the sence of their just grief and allegiance at length resolve the King as to himself must be so to them and the Kingdom or they may no more endure it With grave and weighty Reasons they make the King know both the error and the vanity of his Affections letting him truly understand that they had a dear Interest both in him and the Kingdom which they would no longer suffer to be so abused and misguided Edward being himself thus hardly prest and that no entreaty or dissimulation could prevail he must now set right the disorders of the Kingdom or have his work done to his hand with less honour and more danger Once more he subscribes to their will which he sees he cannot withstand or alter Gaveston is again banish'd and makes Flanders the next Neighbour the place of his reception Infinite was the joy of the Kingdom who now expected a secure Freedom from that dangerous Convulsion that threatned so apparent an intestine ruin This their imaginary Happiness was made more real and perfect in the knowledge that Windsor had blest them with an Heir Apparent The Royal Father is pleased with the News but had not wheher his divining Spirit or Gaveston's absence were the cause those true expressions of joy that in justice became so great a Blessing The absence of his Minion could not lighten his heavy Soul but all other comforts seemed vain and counterfeit his distracted brains take new and desperate resolutions he revokes the sentence of his grief and vows to justifie it against the utmost strength of Contradiction He that dares do those things that are dishonest and unjust is not asham'd to justifie and maintain them This Error gave this unfortunate King more Enemies than he had Friends to defend them Kings that once falsifie their Faiths more by their proper Will than a necessary Impulsion grow infamous to foreign Nations and fearful or suspected to their own peculiar Subjects He that is guilty of doing ill and justifies the action makes it evident he hath won unto himself a habit of doing so and a daring impudence to maintain it by the protection of which he believes all things in a politic wisdom lawful This
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
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
position may for a time flatter the Professor but it perpetually ends with Infamy which stands with Reason and Justice for as vertue is the Road-way to perfection so is the corruption of a false heart the true path to a certain and an unpittied ruin The enraged Barons are not more sensible of their own disparagement than the inconstancy and injustice of their Soveraign They think this affront done to them and the whole Kingdom of too high a nature to be dispens'd with yet with a temperate resolution they a while attend the issue The Actions of injustice seldom lessen they believe progression to be in all things an excellent Moral vertue He that hath a will to do ill and doth it seldom looks back until he be at the top of the Stairs This makes the ill affected return of this our Favourite more infamous and hated With an imperious storm he lets the Lords know he meditates nothing but revenge and waits a fit advantage to entertain it They believe time ill lost in so weighty a cause and therefore draw themselves and their Forces together before the King could prevent or his abuser shun it The Clouds presaging so great a storm he studies the best means he could to avoid it The general distast of the Kingdom takes from him the hope of an able party Scarborough Castle his last refuge he makes his Sanctuary but it was too weak against the number of his Enemies and the justice of their quarrel He falls at length into the power of those from whom he had no cause to expect protection or mercy The Butterflies of the time that were the Friends of his Fortunes not him seeing the Season chang'd betake themselves to the warmer Climate His Greatness had won him many Servants but they were but Retainers that like Rats forsook the House when they beheld it falling The Spring was laden with many glorious and goodly Blossoms but the Winter of his Age leaves him naked without a Leaf to trust to In this uncomfortable case remains this glorious Cedar in the hands of those whom in his greater height he had too much condemn'd and abused They resolve to make short and sure work unwilling to receive a command to the contrary which they must not obey though it should come from him to whom they had sworn Obedience Forsaken unpittied scorn'd and hated he falls under the the hands of Justice Gaverseed is the place which gives the Epilogue to this fatal Tragedy whence his Adversaries return more satisfied than assured Thus fell that glorious Minion of Edward the Second who for a time appeared liked a blazing Comet and sway'd the jurisdiction of the state of England and her Confederates He did not remember in the smiles and embraces of his lovely Mistris that she was blind nor made himself such a refuge as might secure him when she prov'd unconstant Such a Providence had made his end as glorious as his beginning fortunate leaving neither to the just censure of Time or Envy The King's vexations in the Knowledge are as infinite as hopeless his Passions transport him beyond the height of Sorrow He vows a bitter revenge which in his weakness he strives to execute with more speed than advisement The graver Senators that had most Interest in his favour mildly discourse his loss to the best advantage They lay before him his contempt and abusive carriage his insolence Honour beyond his Birth and Wealth above his Merit which must to all Ages give a just cause to approve their Actions and his Fortune The least touch of his memory adds more to the King's affliction who is fixt not to forget oâ— forgive so hold and heinous a Trespass The operations in the King were yet so powerful but the jealousies of the Actors are as cautelous so fair a warning-piece bids them in time make good their own security Lincoln the principal Pillar of this Faction follows his Adversary to the Grave but with a much fairer Fortune This Man was a goodly piece of true Nobility being in Speech and conversation sweet and affable in resolution grave and weighty his aged temper active above belief and his wisdom far more excellent in a solid inward knowledge than in outward appearance When the harbinger of Death pluck'd him by the Sleeve and he saw and knew he must leave the World he calls unto him Thomas Earl of Lancaster that had married his Daughter giving him a strict Imposition on his Death-bed that he should carefully maintain the welfare of the Kingdom and make good his place among the Barons This reverend old Statesman saw the King's ways and knew him to be a most implacable Enemy and with a kind of speculative prediction would often seem to lament the Misery of the time where either the King Kingdom or both must suffer The Son whose noble Heart was before seasoned with the same impressions assures it which he in time as really performs though it cost him the loss of his Estate Life and Honour Things are too far past to admit a reconciliation the King's Meditations are solely fix'd upon revenge and the Lords how they may prevent or withstand it The Kingdom hangs in a doubtful suspence and all Mens minds are variously carried with the expectation of what would be the issue Meditation and intercession brings it at length to Parliamentary discussion which being assembled at London enacts many excellent Laws and binds both the King and Lords by a solemn Oath to observe them Thus the violence of this Fire is a while suppressed and raked up in the Embers that it may in opportunity and advantage beget a great danger A new occasion presents it self that makes each part temporize for a while and smothers the thoughts of the ensuing Rumour Robert le Bruce re-enters Scotland whence he had been by Edward the First expuls'd inverting all the English Institutions that had so lately setled the Peace and subjection of the Kingdom Edward tender of his Honour and careful to preserve that purchase that had proved so dear a bargain adjourns his private spleen and provides to suppress this unlook'd for Rebellion He knew the justice of his quarrel and wakens from the Dream that had given him so large a cause of sorrow He gives his intentions a small intermission and a less respite with all speed he levies an Army and leads it with his own Person Whether it were the justice of Heaven or his own misfortune or improvidence the Scots attend and encounter him making Eastrivelyn the fatal witness of his disaster His Army lost and defeated he returns home laden with his own shame and sorrow His return is welcomed with a strange Impostor that pretends himself the Heir of Edward the First and the King the Son of a Baker A Tale so weak in truth and probability wins neither belief or credit Voidras this imaginary King is apprehended and makes Northampton Gallows the first Stair of his Preferment His Execution is
accompanied with as strange a story which suggests the instigation of a Spirit that in likeness of a Cat had for two years space advised it The King with a true seeling grief lamenting his dishonourable Return from Scotland where his noble Father had so oft display'd his victorious Arms doth vow with a speedy rescue to revenge it He communicates his resolution with the whole body of his Council who are in their advice equally concurrent in the Action The former loss exacts a more care and a better provision York as the fittest place is made the Senate of this grave Assembly Thither resort all the Sages of the Kingdom and make it their first deliberation to secure Berwick that is one of the Keys of the Kingdom and exposed to the greatest hazard This Charge is given to Sir Peter Spalden who was believed able enough both in fidelity and valour A short time discovers him truly possest of neither A small Sum of Money with an expectant Preferment promised betrays the trust reposed and gives the Scots the full possession of the Charge to him committed The Pope wisely foreseeing into the misery of this dissention out of his Christian and pious care sends over two Cardinals to mediate a Peace and Agreement They being arrived in England find the King well disposed so the Conditions might be reasonable and such as might become his Interest and Honour They pass from hence into Scotland and are by the way with a barbarous Example surprized and robb'd The King is infinitely discontented with so inhuman an Act that threw a taint upon the whole Nation Great enquiry is presently made which finds out the Actors and sends Sir Peter Middleton and Sir Walter Selby to a shameful and untimely execution Immediately at the heels of this follows another Example no less infamous and full of danger Sir Gilbert Denvil and others pretending themselves to be Outlaws with a jolly Army to the number of Two hundred ramble up and down the Country acting divers notorious Insolencies and Robberies The Fame of an attempt so new and unexpected without a speedy prevention seemed to intimate a greater danger A Commission is immediately sent out which apprehends the heads of this encreasing mischief and delivers them over to the hand of Justice They which confest themselves out of the protection of the Law and glory in their being so fall under his rigour Those that duly examined the truth of this action believed the pretence to be but a Mask that hid a more perilous intention The King by his untemperate and undiscreet actions had lost the hearts of his People and there was a general face of discontent throughout the whole Kingdom The Ulcers festered daily more and more which seemed to presage and threaten without some speedy prevention a dangerous issue All Men discover their ill affections expecting but a Patron that durst declare himself and adventure to hang the Bell about the Cat 's Neck If this disorderly attempt which was but to tast the Peoples Inclinations had succeded the King as it was to be feared had much sooner felt the general loss and revolt of his whole Kingdom But this work was reserved to future time and the operation of those who had the time to effect it with more power and pretence of Justice The crying Maladies of this Climat were such that the Divine Power sent down at one and the self-same instant his three fatal Executioners Plague Dearth and Famine to call upon us for a repentant Reformation No part of the Kingdom is free but was grievously afflicted by the unmerciful Prosecution of one or all these fatal angry Sisters So great a Misery was too much but it is seconded with a sudden Invasion of the hungry Scots who apprehending the advantage of the present Visitation and ill Estate of their Neighbours like a Land-Flood over-run the naked and unprovided Borders The Arch-Bishop of York a grave and wise Prelate in his Element but as far from the Nature as Name of a Soldier resolves to oppose this over-daring and insolent Eruption He levies in hast an Army in number hopeful but it was compos'd of Men fitter to pray for the success of a Battel than to fight it With these and an undaunted hoping Spirit he affronts the Scots and gives them Battel making Mitton upon Swale that honoured his Enemies with the Glory of a second Triumph the place of his Disaster Many Religious Church-men with the purchase of their Lives begin their first Apprentiship in Arms whose loss christ'ned this overthrow The White Battel The intent of this grave Prelate was questionless worthy of a great and singular Commendation but the Act was wholly inconsiderate weak and unadvised It was not proper for his Calling to undertake a Military Function in which he had no experience neither did it agree with his Wisdom or Piety to be an Actor in Blood though the occasion were so great and weighty Too much care and confidence improperly exprest doth many times overthrow and ruin the Cause it seeks to strengthen and advantage There ought to be in all considerations of this nature a mature Deliberation before we come to Action else we lose the Glory of our Aims and commit all to the uncertain hazard of Time and Fortune The Cardinals are now returned out of Scotland by whom the King truly understands that the hopes of Peace are desperate Their leave taken and losses fairly repaired they return to Rome acquainting his Holiness with the success of their Employment The Pope being truly informed that the Scots were neither conformable to his Will or the general Good excommunicates both that usurping King and Kingdom The King nearly touch'd with the loss of Berwick enflamed with the Insolency of his barbarous Enemies and grieved with so great a loss of his People resolves no more to suffer but to transport the War into the very Bowels of Scotland To this effect with speed he hastens out his Directions and gives present Order for the levying of Men Arms and Money to begin the War and continue it The Royal Command and desire of Revenge gives Wings to this Resolution An Army is ready and attends the King's Pleasure before he conceits his Will truly understood or bruited Nothing is wanting but his own Person or a fit Commander to lead them he oseth no time but appears in the Head of his Army before his Enemies had the least knowledge of this Assembly With a hopeful expectation he leads them on and makes Berwick the Rendezvous that should make his Number compleat and perfect Before this Strength that had the warranty of Art and Nature he makes the first Experiment of this Expedition The Town begirt was not more confident of their own strength than assured of a speedy supply or rescue This gave the King a longer delay than he believed and his Enemies leasure to raise and enable their Provisions They saw it a work too full of Danger and Hazard to
not more dangerous than dishonourable But their Reasons were just and weighty the Earl of Lancaster had sent Sir Robert Holland to raise his Tenants and Friends which he hoped would in time reinforce his Army Valence Earl of Pembrook that commands his Master's Forces seeing the disorder of their going off lays hold of the advantage and chargeth them so hotly that they break and betake themselves to their heels with great losses and confusion Holland entrusted by the Earl of Lancaster having accordingly performed the work he was employed in marching up to the Rescue is advertized of the State of their Affairs which makes him seek his own Peace and resign this supply wholly up to be disposed of at the King's Will and Pleasure The Supply so unexpected is graciously received and there is a set resolution to employ it to the best advantage The despairing Lords with their Adherents with much ado recover Pomfret there a second Deliberation is taken which held it the safest course to pass on and to possess the Castle of Donstanborough which was deemed a strength tenable enough until they could reinforce their Party or work their own Conditions This Resolution is presently attempted with more hast than fortune Sir Andrew Harkely meets and encounters them at Burrowbrig where Hertford Clifford and others died honourably in maintaining a brave defence while Lancaster Mowbray and many of their Adherents were taken and with their Heads paid the ransom of their Errors The Spencers like two furious Tigers that had seized their Prey give not their incensed Master leave to deliberate on the weight of so sad a Work the Lives of many brave Subjects are taken away in an instant and each part of the Kingdom is stained with loss of that noble Blood that had been much more gloriously spent in a Foreign War than in these Domestic and Civil Tumults Edward that was apparently guilty of too many other Vices drowns their memory in this so cruel and bloody a Tyranny The wreaking Blood of so many brave Gentlemen so unfortunately and untimely lost doth cry for vengeance and hurry on the destruction of the chief and principal Actors Mercy should precede the severity of Justice if not to all yet to some since they were not alike guilty If Lancaster had been of so unnoble a Disposition the Spencers had neither had time nor cause to rejoyce in his Ruin How often had they by a full advantage had Power of these their Enemies yet made it evident their aims were not Blood but Reformation And assuredly in this their last Act their Intents towards the Crown were innocent in all other respects than the desire of supporting it with more Honour As things fell afterwards out it had been to the King a Happiness if their Arms had prevailed for this Victory was the principal and fundamental Cause of his ensuing Ruin Fear and the expectation of danger kept both him and his Favourites in a better temper so long as there was so strong a Bridle Certainly in the Regiment of a Kingdom it is a wise and discreet Consideration to maintain and uphold a divided Faction and to countenance them so that the one may be still a counterpoise to the other by this means the King shall be more truly served and informed The Subject that is too far exalted and hath no one to contradict or question him considers not the Justice but the Means to preserve him by which the Judgment of the King is taxed and he is robb'd of the Hearts of his People The greater the height the stronger is the working to maintain it which seldom goes alone but is accompanied for the most part with those State-Actions of Impiety and Injustice which draws with it so perpetual an envy and hatred that it leads him headlong to a fatal and dishonourable Conclusion Though the Fury of this enraged King had so fully acted this bloody Tragedy yet Mortimer is spared rather out of Forgetfulness than Pity whose Life had been more available than all these that with so great a speed had felt his Rigour But he is reserved for a second course to teach the Spencers that same legem talionis and Edward the plain Song of his Error The Kingdom seems now in better Peace and setled the principal Pillars of the Common-wealth are taken away and those which remained are utterly disheartned in the danger of so fresh an Example This gains such a liberty to these triumphing Sycophants that they make the whole Kingdom as it were the just Fruits of an absolute Conquest The King approves and maintains their Actions giving them the Regal Power for their Warranty All kind of insolent and unjust Oppressions are now confidently practised without contradiction or question No Exaction or unlawful Action is left unattempted while the grieved Kingdom languisheth under the burden yet durst not stir to redress it The great Ones suffer basely beyond their Birth or Honour yet look faintly one upon another not daring to revenge their Quarrel The Commons murmuring complain yet find not a Man that will give them heart or leading The watchful Spencers that saw and knew the general hatred and infamy of their own conditions lessen not their height or fear the Sequel With a politic care they use their best means to prevent it The King's Humour naturally vicious they feed with all the proper objects that might please or more betray his senses They strive to make him alike hateful to his Subjects that in the change of Fortune they might together run one and the self-same hazard There is yet another piece of State to this great work as proper Edward is but a Man and a Creature in nothing more constant than his Affections yet these with age and time may alter this gap must be so stop'd that they may be more assured Hugh the younger of the Spencers who had a searching Brain wise and active believes this work had two several dependences the one to keep him in continual Fear the other in a perpetual Want These being marshalled with Discretion he knew would knit fast his Master's Love and add to the opinion of his Wisdom and Fidelity imposing a kind of necessary Impulsion still to continue him In his Breast alone was lock'd all the passages and mysteries of State whereby he was most able to provide for the future inconveniences From this ground with a kind of loose scorn he continues the French Correspondence and secretly contriveth a continuance of the Scotish Rebellion He omits no Act of Contempt against the antient Nobility that they might in the sence of their disgrace be or at least dayly threaten some new Combustion The confluence of so many threatning dangers work the wished effect and keep the king in perpetual fear and agitation The ill success of his Armies and Expeditions in their Memory help strongly to encrease it Yet is not his faithful Servant neglective in the second and remaining part He so orders his
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
and neglects the advantage if he fall is justly unworthy pity or compassion Have you exposed your self to all the bitter Tryals of Fortune suffering so meanly so many Miseries and having overcome them according to your desire are you willing to return to your own condition and former sorrow If it be so Mortimer is wretched in sacrificing his Devotion and Heart to such a Female weakness In cases of extremity a tenderness of Conscience begets a certain danger nor is it disproportionable so to continue a Crown that by blood was gotten and surprised had Edward known I should have liv'd to see his Ruin my Head had paid my ransom The impressions of Fear make his subject less in sence than apparition think not me of so poor a Brain but I as well know how to work as move it such Actions are not to be done but such a way as may prevent proof if not suspicion But why do I seek thus to charm your Ears if you be willing he shall live let him let the inclining People set him free to call you to an account for his oppression let him parallel his Spencer's death in your Affliction perhaps he 'l spare you for your Brother's sake who he knows so dearly loves you and did so bravely witness it in your Affliction perhaps he 'l suffer you still to guide the Crown and your fair Son to wear it If you be pleas'd you may abide the Trial. Mortimer's resolv'd since you neglect his Judgment you will as soon forget his Service which he will in time prevent before it be debarred With this he flings away as if he meant to give his words a real Execution The amazed Queen pursues and overtakes him Stay gentle Mortimer quoth she forgive my Error I am a Woman fitter to take advice than give it Think not I prize thy Love so little as to lose thee If Edward must dye I will not seek to divert it only I thus much beg I may not be partaker or privy to the time means or manner Madam leave that to me who will alone both undertake the Act and Danger all I require from you is but to seal a Warrant to change his former Keepers Sir Morris Barkley had been tamper'd withall and was so far from consent that he plainly declared he did abhor the Action This Answer suddenly dischargeth him and commits his Masters Guard to Sir Thomas Gourney and his former Partner Mattrevers They having received both their Warrant and Prisoner convey him to Cork-Castle the place in all the World he most hated Some say he was foretold by certain Magic Spels that this place was to him both fatal and ominous But whatsoe're the cause was he was at his first arrival deeply sad and passionate His Keepers to repel this humour and make him less suspicious feed him with pleasant Discourse and better Entertainment while his misgiving Spirit was heavy sad and melancholy The Night before his Death he supp'd heartily and went to Bed betimes scarcely were his heavy Eyes lock'd up in silent slumber when his forsworn traiterous Murderers enter his Chamber and finding him asleep inhumanly and barbarously stifled him before he could avoid or resist it The writers differ mainly in the manner of his Death but all conclude him murder'd yet so that the way on search and view could not be known or discover'd A small passage of time gave the most part of all these Actors of his Death an end fit for their deserts and this so bloody an Action Their several Relations and Confessions occasion so many various Reports and different kinds of Writing the truth whereof is not much material since all agree he came to an unnatural and untimely Death Thus fell that unhappy King Edward the Second who was Son and Father to two of the most glorious Kings that ever held the Monarchy of the English Nation Main Reasons are given probable enough to instance the necessity of his fall which questionless were the secondary means to work it But his Doom was registred by that inscrutable Providence of Heaven who with the self-same Sentence punish'd both him and Richard the Second his great Grandchild who were guilty of the same Offences The Example of these two so unfortunate Kings may be justly a leading precedent to all Posterity Certainly we have had other Kings as faulty and vicious that have o're-liv'd their Errors and died not by a violent hand but by the ordinary and easie course of Nature The condition and quality of these was not in themselves more perilous and exorbitant than hurtful and dangerous to the Estate Peace and Tranquillity of the whole Kingdom If by height of Youth height of Fortune or a corrupt natural Inclination the Royal Afflictions loosely fly at random yet if it extend no farther than the satisfaction of the proper Appetite it may obscure the Glory but not supplant the strength and welfare of a Monarchy But when it is in it self not only vicious and ill affected but doth patrocine and maintain it in others not blushing in such a justification it is a forerunning and presaging evidence that betokens a fatal and unpitied Ruin It is too much in a King that hath so great a Charge delivered to his care and custody to be dissolute or wantonly given but when it falls into a second Error which makes more Kings than one in the self-same Kingdom he opens the way to his own destruction The Subjects hearts as they are obliged so are they continued by the Majesty and Goodness of a King if either of these prove prostitute it unties the Links of Duty and Allegiance and hunts after Change and Innovation It is of so singular and great a consequence that Kings ought to be well advised and sparingly to accumulate their Honours and Favours wherein both the Time Person and Occasion ought to be both worthy and weighty for the Eye of the Subject waits curiously on his Actions which finding them degenerating from his own Greatness and inclinable to their Oppression vary their Integrity to a murmuring discontent which is the Harbinger to a revolt and mischief Nor is it proper if the Soveraign's Affections must dote that the Object of their weakness should sway the Government of the Kingdom Such an Intermixtion begets confusion and Error and is attended by a perpetual envy and hatred Is it possible but there must be perpetual Error and Injustice where all things are carried more by Favour and Affection than Law and Reason Or can the lesser Fountains be clear when that main Spring that feeds them is tainted and polluted Alas common and familiar Experience tells that the Actions and principal Use of a Favourite is to make good by his strength and favour those Designs that are in themselves unjust perverse and insupportable A good Cause in the Integrity of Time needs no protection but its own Innocence but where the sacred Rules of Justice are inverted the sincerity of the Law abused the conscience of the Judge corrupted or enforced and all things made Mercenary or carried by indirect Favour what expectation can there be but that Kingdom which is the Theater of so infamous a practice should fall speedily into a fearful and desperate Convulsion Though the Histories of these times are plentifully stor'd and few Common-wealths are free from the Examples of this nature yet I shall not need any other instance than the story of this unfortunate Prince whose time presents a perfect Mirror wherein ensuing Kings may see how full of danger and hazard it is for one Man's love to sell the Affections and Peace of the whole Kingdom Had Edward 〈◊〉 own particular been far worse than he was he â—ight have still subsisted but when for his inglorious Minions Gaveston and Spencer who successively engross him he fell to those injurious and dissolute Actions that made all Men and the Kingdom pray to their insolent and imperious Humours he quickly found both Heaven and Earth resolved to work his Ruin Not only his own but theirs and those of their ignoble Agents were made his proper Errors which took so wholly from him the Love and Hearts of his Subjects that he found neither Arms nor Tongue to defend him A more remarkable Misery I think no time of ours produceth that brings this King to destruction without so much as any one Kinsman Friend or Subject that declared himself in his Quarrel But he found the Climacteric year of his Reign before he did expect it And made that unhappy Castle which he ever hated the witness of his cruel Murder where I must leave him 'till he find a more honourable place 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