Destiny and by Imprudent Actions pernicious Counsels and an Arbitrary Assertion of his indisputable Prerogative to kindle those Flames of Mutiny and Discontent which never were extinguish'd but at the Expence of his own Blood and the Loss of his Crown Robert Vere Earl of Oxford and Marquiss of Dublin was his Darling and Michael de la Pool was his Favorite The first a Gentleman of commendable good Parts he created Duke of Ireland tho he himself was but Lord of it the other a man of mean extraction he made Earl of Suffolk and Chancellour of England both very obnoxious and not accomplish'd with such Merits as might advance them in Titles or Offices beyond the Ancient Nobility without Envy or Obloquy These Wicked Counsellors set a false Glass before the short sighted King and abused him with erroneous representations of his own sufficiency absolute Authority and uncontrollable Power Insomuch that in a Parliament then call'd the King began sharply to expostulate with the Lords and by an undecent Comparison with the Freedom of their Tenures to Challenge to himself an unquestionable liberty This haughty Carriage of the King exasperated the Parliament and fermented them to such a degree of dissatisfaction that instead of consenting to grant him a Subsidy toward his Wars they fell foul upon the New Chancellour and never gave him over till they obtain'd a severe Judgment against him to the Forfeitures of his Life and the Confiscation of his Estate The adverse Party were highly nettled at these proceedings and being push'd on by Revenge and Malice they combined in a horrid Design to Murther the Duke of Gloucester and such other Lords as cross'd the King in his extravagant Courses which Flagitious Plot was to be perpetrated upon an invitation of them to a Supper in London Sir Nicholas Brember the former Lord Mayor was a prime Instrument in this Enterprise but the King imparting this matter to Richard Exton the present Mayor and endeavouring to make him an Accomplice in the Action he would by no perswasions be induced to consent to so vile an Attempt and thereupon they desisted from the further prosecution of it Notwithstanding this and many other untoward passages a Subsidy was granted to the King under certain Limitations but the Parliament were so disgusted because the King had respited the Execution of the Judgment against the Chancellour that they positively declared unless the Chancellour were removed they would proceed no farther in a Parliamentary Course The King hereupon grew Cholerick and plainly told them he would rather apply himself to the French King for Assistance than submit to his Subjects Yet upon good Reasons offer'd by the Lords a great change was made in the Ministers of State and particularly the Chancellour was removed and so desirous were the Lords and Commons to have the Duke of Ireland excluded from the Kings Presence that they were content he should receive thirty Thousand Marks on condition he would transport himself into Ireland But no sooner was the Parliament dissolved but the King recanted all his condecensions revoked all Orders against the Chancellour the Duke of Ireland and the rest and received then into higher Favour than they were in before And tho' the Earls of Arundel and Nottingham performed a Noble exploit hardly to be parallel'd in History yet their Service was disregarded and their persons slighted because the Duke of Ireland gave them no countenance By whose contrivance a New Plot was laid to destroy the Duke of Gloucester and the easie King surrounded with Parasites and corrupt Judges suffer'd them to pursue their extravagant practices and Two Thousand Persons were at once indicted before Sir Robert Tresilian the Chief Justice He then propounded certain Queries to Robert Belknap Lord Chief Justice and other Judges which they soon resolved in defiance of the Law and the priviledges of Parliament And notwithstanding he stood in such ill Terms with his people yet a way was found to pack Juries in London and Indictments were found of many Crimes against some of the Lords Whom having a design to persecute he summon'd the Judges Justices and Sheriffs of the Kingdom that he might be informed what power of Men they could assure him of to serve him against the Lords And intending shortly to call a Parliament he tamper'd with them to have no Knight or Burgess chosen but such as the King and his Council should Name But finding by the Answer of the Sheriffs that they could not raise any Forces upon such a pretence nor infringe the Ancient Liberty in Elections to Parliament the King and the Duke of Ireland sent into all parts to raise men in this Quarrel against the Lords consulting on some Devices how to intrap them The Duke of Gloucester being advertised of this had a secret Conference with the rest and assembling a numerous Body of Men stood upon their Guard and sent Commissioners to the King requiring such Traytors and Seducers as were about his Person to be delivered up to them The King was advised by the Duke of Ireland the Earl of Suffolk and others about him to offer Calice to the French King to procure his Assistance against the Lords and with all sent to the Mayor of London requiring to make an estimate of how many able men might be rais'd in the City who making Tryal of what could be done on such occasion received this Answer from the People that they would never fight against the Kings Friends and Defenders of the Realm In the mean time the Earl of Northumberland interposed with his advice and perswaded the King to send for the Lords under safe Conduct and friendly to expostulate with them to which the Lords consented upon Oath given by the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chancellour that no Fraud or evil practice should be used against them But being ready to come according to appointment they received intimation of an Ambush laid to intrap them and so desisted If the King was privy to this Plot he was guilty of an Action most unworthy of a Prince But the Conspirators were certainly known yet not call'd to Account for it After this upon a more secure Conduct from the King the Lords presented themselves before him and after some cholerick contest a Reconciliation was made and it was concluded that all matters should be heard and regulated in a Parliament speedily to be call'd Hereupon the favorite-Favorite-Lords were highly dissatisfy'd and plainly told the King they would not hazard their appearance at such a meeting and so the Duke of Ireland and the rest of that Faction withdrew from Court and absconded But the King not able to brook their absence ordered an Army to be rais'd for the safeguard of the Duke of Ireland and to reconduct him to his Presence who being encounter'd on the way by the Earl of Derby he fled and escaped by leaping into a River but after two or three years dy'd miserably in a foreign Country And now the Lords
and Title The King who was never happy in any long intermission of those distemper'd Fits that shook him fell now into a snarp and dangerous Paroxysme The VVelchmen taking Notice of the Kings incessant Troubles and Distractions to gratifie both their Revenge and Avarice enter'd the English Borders and making use of such Advantages as naturally attend a surprize they became Masters of many Towns and strong Holds committing all manner of Outrage and Hostility exercising that Malice which they bore to the King upon the Lives and Estates of his innocent Subjects The King with great industry and care got together a handsom Army with which he marched in Person toward them promising to himself an easie and a cheap Victory But he was disappointed of his purpose and forced to retreat with all speed to London to compose an Army of greater strength and Number In the mean time to increase his perplexity Robert Moubray Earl of Northumberland who had done him such signal Service in repelling the Scots and destroying their King finding himself disregarded and no competent Honour or Reward designed for his singular Merits began to be Male-content and joyn'd in an open Conspiracy against his Lord and Master But the King reinforced with an Army far stronger than ever he had imbodied before took and imprison'd the Earl and enter'd the VVelch Territories where not being able to provoke them to the Decision of a Battle he persued them with Stratagems Erected many Castles and Forts that so by degrees he might become Master of the Country But they retreating to the natural Fortifications of Woods Mountains and inaccessible passages did so baffle him in his Attempts and so harass and tire out his Souldiers that he thought it most advisable to withdraw from the Enterprise and to commit the further prosecution of it to his Lieutenants who in time utterly subdued those Naked and Wild people but not without horrible Instances of Cruelty and Barbarity Thus we have seen a Man advanced to a Throne invested with Regal Authority surrounded with all the external Glories and Felicities of a Diadem yet denied the inward satisfaction and Tranquillity of a quiet and peaceable injoyment of his Acquisitions Hitherto we have observed how Invasions from abroad and distractions at home render'd his Life uneasie Let us now take an Account of his immoral and irregular Actions which made his Person unacceptable and his Reign unfortunate to his Subjects He assumed to himself an immoderate and Licentious Power to supply his necessities by the detriment and spoil of others And because in his Time the Clergy was of all Ranks of Men the most opulent he found them the most proper Objects of his Rapine and Oppression When any Bishoprick or Abby became vacant he presently seized the Revenues into his own Hand He kept the See of Canterbury four years to his own use and would have done it longer but that a desperate Sickness put him into a Fit of Devotion for being at the brink of Death and ready to expire he resolved to commute for his Intrusion by the donation of those Livings which as he thought he could no longer detein and hastily conferred the Arch-Bishoprick of Canterbury upon Anselm and and the Bishoprick of Lincoln upon Robert Bloët But no sooner was Health restor'd but his old Inclinations return'd and no other Tokens of Repentance appear'd but a Remorse and Sorrow for parting with two such rich Morsels for he never desisted from importuning and tormenting the two poor Bishops till he squeesed good Sums of Mony from Anselm and five thousand pounds from Bloet He kept in his Hands at one time three â—â—â—â—opricks Canterbury VVinchester and Salisbury and twelve Abbies all which he set out to Farm and gather'd the Profits of them into his own Coffers Being obliged to pay a great Sum of Mony to the King of France he found this Invention to procure it He pretended a resolution to make War and a sudden irruption into Normandy in order to which he levied twenty thousand Men by Press and other coercive means who being drawn to the Sea side and ready to imbarque he order'd it to be signify'd and made known that because he could more commodiously levy men in Normandy without the Toyl and Charge of transporting whosoever would pay Ten Shillings toward the raising of such Forces should be excused from going on that Expedition which proffer was so grateful and plausible to the Army that there was hardly any man that did not greedily comply with the proposal He added extortion to Usury took up Mony by indirect Courses and imploy'd it to unjust purposes he would not supply his Brother with Mony tho upon a pious undertaking to the Holy Land without a Mortgage of his Dutchy of Normandy and he could not raise it but by exactions and compulsory Loans so that to advance the Sum the Bishops melted their Plate and the Temporal Lords destroyed their Tenants Spiritual Preferments were not given but sold by Auction and he received from Thurstan Five Hundred Pounds for the Abby of Glastenbury and fell out with Anselm because he would not give a Thousand Marks for being made Arch-Bishop of Canterbury He arrogated to himself the Glory of Building Westminster-Hall but His Subjects were at the Expence who believed that he rear'd that Fabrick only for a pretence to lay a heavy Tax upon the People and was a great gainer by the Project If the Preists transgressed by carnal deviations from the strict Rule of their Profession the Pennance was in the Purse and a composition with the King was as effectual as a Sacerdotal Absolution And because he received very great Profit by particular Indulgences given to the Jews he incouraged the Relaps of such as were converted to Christianity accounting it no matter to be Followers of Christ so they were but Benefactors to him Among other Faults laid to his Charge it is worth observing that he is noted for imposing excessive Fines upon diverse of the Nobility for small offences Having by his Avarice and Severities wearied his Subjects and disposed them to seek for Safety and Liberty in other Countries He unexpectedly issued a Proclamation that no man should depart the Realm without his License for the purchase of which he did not care to lose a Subject While Promoters Informers and such sort of State-Caterpillars were his principal Favorites and Partakers of his Grace and Bounty He had a mind to be reputed an exact Observer of his Word and Promise And perhaps he was so in matters of small Importance But when Profit and Advantage came to be weighed Self-interest soon turned the Scale He made a solemn Agreement with his Brother Robert to bequeath the Crown of England to him but it does not appear that he remembred the Ingagement or ever had an intention to be just to his Word When he was pressed by an intestine War and by the Loyalty and Valour of the English rescued from the Rebellion of his
now actually King disturbed by no Competitor or Pretender might with all affluence of Honour Wealth and Pleasure have enjoy'd his Kingdom in profound Peace but in despight to Fortune who hitherto had Courted him He created Troubles to himself and was the unlucky Author of his own misery For tho the Rebellious Insurrection of the Welsh in the first Year of his Reign did somewhat discompose his quiet yet the Issue of it did only tend to aggrandise his Name to make him more revered at Home and more awfully consider'd abroad But the Expedition into Scotland was the product of his own injustice Stephen his Father by Adoption had granted Cumberland and Huntington shire to Malcolm King of the Scots and Maud his Mother had given Northumberland to the same Henry disdaining to see his Kingdom Cantonised and grudging that such considerable Parts of it should be dismember'd from the Body and become the Patrimony of his Neighbour demands the Estate by a military Claim and marching thither with a powerful Army repossesseth himself of part of these alienated Lands and voluntarily relinquisheth the rest The same restless Humour prompted him to persecute his Brother Geoffrey For his Father on his Death-Bed bequeath'd the Dukedom of Anjou to him but with this limitation that so soon as He should become King of England he should deliver up Anjou to his Brother Geoffrey And for the further assurance of it he obliged his Lords to Swear not to suffer his Body to be buried till his Son Henry had taken his Oath exactly to perform it Henry solemnly binds himself by Oath to perform his Fathers Will but afterward as wickedly breaks his Vow having obtain'd a Dispensation for so great an Impiety from his Holy Father Pope Adrian and entring into Anjou with an Army took from his Brother who was in no Capacity to resist so puissant an Invader not only the Country of Anjou but some other Cities also which his Father had absolutely given him for his maintenance which unnatural Treatment had so fatal an operation on the poor Duke that within a very short time it broke his heart And now Lewis King of France began to find him a costly and hazardous diversion for having not well digested the affront put upon him by King Henry in marrying of Eleanor his divorced Queen and seeking all occasions to demonstrate his Resentments he became an open Abettor of Raymond Earl of St. Giles with whom King Henry had a Controversie about the Earldom of Tholouse Hereupon the Litigants began mutually to arm and great forces were rais'd on both sides but being just ready to joyn in a bloody Battel a Peace was concluded by the Mediation of Friends And least matters should be wanting to propagate new cares and interruption to the progress of his Felicity by an over fond and unexampled Indulgence he assumed his Son Henry then seventeen years of age into a Partnership in the Throne whose arrogant behaviour and picgant Repaâ—tee at the very time of his Coronation administred just cause to the King to repent his rashness For the King to do honour to his young Colleague at the Coronation feast would needs carry up the first Dish to the Table which the Archbishop who had perform'd the Ceremony observing said merrily to the new King What an honour is this to you to have such a waiter at your Table The other reply'd Why what great matter is it for him that was but the Son of a Duke to do service to me that am the Son of a King and a Queen Neither was it long before the King was sensibly convinced of his weakness For the young King having imbibed some mutinous Notions of discontent from the insinuations of the French King and being animated by his advice and assistance began openly to oppose his Father For an aggravation to the old Kings misfortunes Eleanor his Queen inraged with jealousie and not able to endure the sight of so many Concubines to which her Husband had given up himself she not only incenseth her Son Henry to proceed in his Enterprise but secretly perswadeth Richard and Geoffery two other of her Sons to joyn with him against their Father encouraging them to expect a more liberal maintenance from their Brother than their penurious Father did allow them by these Instigations they repair into Normandy and joyn themselves with their Brother who growing more insolent by their assistance return'd a haughty and imperious answer to a kind and loving message from his Father disdaining to lay down arms unless he would first lay down his authority and resign the Kingdom To shuffle matters into the greater perplexity Lewis King of France began to form a League against King Henry and having call'd together the great Lords of his Kingdom and inveigled William King of the Scots Hugh Earl of Chester Roger Moubray Hugh Bigod and other the Accomplices of his Son they all joyn'd in an Oath to aid and assist the young King with their whole power and thereupon in one day they began their Attacks the French invading Normandy Aquitain and Britain and the King of Scots Northumberland The old King in a short time disincumbred himself from these Exigencies and triumphed over all his Enemies but new troubles like Hydra's Heads sprung up every day to arrest his Tranquillity and he had no sooner made a Truce with his Son Henry but the defection of his Son Richard who had possest himself of a great part of the Province of Poictou obliged him to transport an Army thither and by the influence of it to reduce him to obedience But the splendor of his success was darkned with a sensible misfortune Henry his Darling the copartner of his Empire but the Excrescence of the Throne ended his Competition with his life to the equal content and sorrow of his Father Within a while Richard his Heir apparent revived his former discontent relapsed into the old fit of Rebellion and drew along with him his Brother John with many more of his Fathers Adherents and Followers who all joyn'd with Philip King of France the Inheritor of his Fathers Crown and his animosity against King Henry he presently form'd an Army and least natural affection should prevail above conceived Injuries with all speed and vigour laid Siege to the City of Mentz in which King Henry was then personally present who apprehending himself to be in great danger and unwilling to fall into the hands of such Enemies secretly withdrew out of the Town and escaped But the Town being taken the place of his Nativity and in which he took great delight he became almost distracted with grief and passion and in the extremity of his rage utter'd this blasphemous expression I shall never hereafter love God any more that has suffer'd a City so dear to me to be taken from me Indeed this inconsiderable loss made a mortal Impression on his spirits bereaving him of that vigor and Majestick grace which accompanied him in all
who unanimously press the King to apply a Remedy to their Greivances in the Rere of which they urge the Banishment of Gaveston The King seing no safety in expostulation consents to their Demands and the several Articles like those of the Council of Trent are injoyn'd under an Anathema and pain of Excommunication Hereupon Gaveston was sent into Ireland but as the Chief Goovernour not as an Exile where after he â—ad stay'd a while and acted things much conducing to his Reputation King Edward not able to endure his absence or indeed to live without him remanded him home and married him to the Sister of the Earl of Glocester but Gaveston was incorrigible his Power exceeded all Limits and his expences all possibility of supply the Kings Revenue was wasted the Queens maintenance retrenched and all diverted to the accommodating the Luxury of the Favorite The Lords began to ferment in a new Discontentment and repairing to the King positively told him if he did not immediately remove Gaveston out of the Court and Kingdom they would rise in Arms against him as a perjur'd King. But he after he had strugled a while between Love and Fear condescended to his pertual Banishment making his return a capital Offence and so to be proceeded against if ever found in the Kingdom Gaveston once more is dispatcht out of England and goes to France where finding no safe Abode he past into Flanders and there meeting with no secure shelter he secretly returns to England relying on the immovable Favor of the King and the interest of the Duke of Gloucester The bewitched King received him with transports of joy and slipping out of the sight of the Lords and all other Observers betook himself to York carrying his beloved Minion with him The Lords hearing of it make after him and choosing the great and potent Earl of Lancaster for their General sent a Message to the King to deliver Gaveston into their Hands or at least to send him peremptorily out of the Kingdom But being abused by evil Counsel and disregarding the Message from the Lords he marcht from place to place seeking a sure refuge for his dear Favourite refusing to stay with the Queen who with tears beg'd his company and lodg'd him in Scarborough-Castle which being furiously assaulted by the Confederate Lords Gaveston thought it best to render himself desiring only the favour to be allow'd once to see the King's face and the King reciprocally ask'd the same Gaveston was sent under a Convoy toward Wallingford but being intercepted by the way and forced from his Guard by the Earl of Warwick after long deliberation his Head was struck off at a place call'd Blacklow In the mean time the King of Scots taking notice in how unready a posture Affaires were in England how the King remitted all case of the Government to Gaveston and that he gave himself up to Luxury and Licentiousness in a short time and with little or no opposition reduced almost all Scotland to his obedience and encouraged by that success He entred England burnt and took several Towns and being encounter'd with a splendid Army raised by King Edward more resembling a Court than a Camp and consisting of a hundred thousand men he with an Army hardly amounting to thirty thousand utterly overthrew and defeated them This misfortune was follow'd by the loss of almost all Ireland and the treacherous Rendition of Berwick which yet King Edward was in a fair way to recover had not the Earl of Lancaster discover'd his immoderate kindness to Hugh Spencer the younger whom he had substituted and embraced in the room of Gaveston and thereupon withdrew his forces from his assistance These Crosses were accompanied with the loss of Northumberland whereof all the Towns were taken or burnt by the Scots and an incredible number of Prisoners and Cattel carried into Scotland King Edward in vain attempting to seek a Reprizal and at last forced to pass over all hopes of satisfaction by the conclusion of a Truce The unhappy King postponing the affections of his Subjects to the fond love of a Darling advanced Hugh Spencer to the highest pitch of Honour and Favour committed all Affairs to his sole Administration he in perfect imitation of his Predecessor servilely complying with the Kings Humours and arrogantly insulting over the Lords They to remove this insupportable Nusance continue in Arms confederate together and send a peremptory Message to the King requiring the confirmation and execution of the Articles formerly granted otherwise threatning to constrain him by force of Arms and accordingly assembled a mighty body about Dunstable where the King then lay but by the interposition of the Prelates an Accommodation was made and all things agreed to their mutual satisfaction Soon after a Parliament was call'd wherein the King complain'd that the Lords had taken up Arms had murthered Pierce Gaveston and done him many other Affronts they on the other side justifie their Proceedings as not undertaken against but for the Preservation of his Person and the punishment of the publick Enemies of the Kingdom but the Queen with the Prelates and the Duke of Gloucester found an Expedient to qualifie these heats the Lords became humble Suitors to the King for his Grace and Pardon and he receives them kindly as dutiful and loyal Subjects But this Reconcilement not being founded in sincerity was but of a short duration The two Spencers Father and Son became intolerable in their Covetousness Oppression and Arbitrary disposal of all Affairs wherefore the Earl of Lancaster with divers other Lords entred into a new Confederacy binding themselves by Oath to live and die together in the maintenance of the Rights of the Kingdom and to procure the expulsion of the two Spencers In pursuance hereof they gather a great Army march to London and insist stoutly on their former demands to which once more the King is induced to condescend by the mediation of the Queen and the Prelates and by publick Proclamation the Spencers are banished but in a short time after the Edict was revoked they recall'd and restored to their former place and authority The wind â—â—gan now to change and by a strange caprichio of fortune the King got the Ascendent over the mutinous Lords conquered them in Battel slew many of them in the Field and put many to death by the Sword of Justice but so soon as the heat of Revenge was a little qualify'd repented of his proceeding Hitherto the miserable King received only slight wounds in the extreme parts of his Body now he received a stab at the Heart The Queen enraged to see her Husbands love diverted upon upstart Favorites and disdaining to be a Pensioner to their pleasure found a plausible Excuse to repair into France where to be revenged on her Husband for his neglect of her she continued in too scandalous a familiarity with the Lord Mortimer The King being advertised of it commanded her to return and she delaying to come he
his actions so that he tamely condescended to seek a Peace at their hands to whom before he scorn'd to vouchsafe the favour of any conditions but when he came to understand that his beloved Son John was in the Conspiracy against him he fell into a fit of fainting and dy'd within four days King Henry was the Author and instrument of his own misfortunes He came to the Crown in peace and quiet but never injoy'd it in content or satisfaction He was an ungrateful Son an indiscreet Father an unnatural Brother an unjust Husband a niggardly Master a fickle Friend a severe Enemy a valiant King but too penurious His Actions were great and renowned but smutted with the tincture of notorious Vices He dealt unjustly with the King of the Scots and to his cruelty extended to his Brother was added a manifest Perjury He made his Son a Rival in his Throne and took many strange Women to be Rivals in his Bed. As his Wife was divorced from her other Husband so was his conjugal love estranged from her His Partiality to his Sons is too manifest while he fondly gave to Henry a share of his Crown and substracted from his other Sons a competent maintenance But these contrary causes produced the same effect his Indulgence to one and his Niggardliness to the rest provoked them all to be Rebels against him His Incontinency is so evident that it supersedes all the misprisions of Jealousie His close Amours with the fair Rosamond were palpably detected by the industrious curiosity of his Queen but his incestuous dalliance with the Spouse of his Son has left an indelible blot upon his memory His carriage toward Thomas Becket while alive speaks him brave and magnanimous but his mean submission to a sordid Penance at the Tomb of that sawcy Prelate discovers plainly that Superstition was predominant in him beyond a sense of true Religion Parsimony which is commendable in men of lower ranks was a vice in him by it he lost the love of his Children and disobliged his Subjects while by Taxes Confiscations Seisure on Bishopricks and Abbies and other avaritious practises he lived poorly only that he might die rich THE LIFE and REIGN OF EDWARD the Second EDWARD of Carnarven was the Eldest Son of Edward the First and succeeded his Father in the Kingdom of England He was in his Person handsome in his Conversation acceptable in his Inclinations not extrémely Vicious continent beyond any of his Predecessors not given to grind his Subjects by hard Taxations or to enrich himself by their Impoverishment He ascended the Throne with the Universal Joy and Acclamations both of the Nobility and the People the way to it was plain and the Seat easy He had the Advantages of an extraordinary Education the example of an Illustrious Father and a Victorious King an early initiation in the Business of State a happy opportunity to understand the Art of Reigning by commanding the Realm and presiding in Parliament during his Fathers absence When he took the Reins of Government into his hands he was neither in his Nonage nor Dotage the Kingdom stood in no need of a Protector because of His Minority nor an Administrator because he was super-annuated He was just ripe for Rule and all circumstances concurr'd to make the Conclusion of his Reign as prosperous as the beginning Notwithstanding all these happy Prcludiums never was there a Prince more unfortunate never was there a Life perplexed with more Disasters or a Death attended with sharper Instances of Misery and Horror being persecuted by his Subjects deserted by his Qeen deposed by the People and inhumanly Murdered by wretched Miscreants He began his Reign with a rude and irreligious contempt of his renowned Fathers Will and dying Commands which as it gave just cause to the Subjects to suspect his Veracity and Constancy so it appear'd an ominous presage of his future Calamities and Desertion by Heaven For whereas his Father had expresly charged him never to recall Pierce Gaveston from Banishment who had been the Pandar to the young Prince's Lusts and the Debaucher of his Youth he immediately sent for him home heaped Honours and Riches upon him and grew scandalously fond of him His Father setled his Quarrel with Scotland upon him by Entayl requiring him to carry his Bones about with him through that Kingdom till he had subdued it but so little Veneration had he for those Glorious Reliques that he neither took them with him in a Military Procession nor regarded their quiet Sepulture but rather to affront them he entred into a Treaty for his own Nuptials before he had solemnized the Funerals of his Father The Old King had obliged him to send his heart to the Holy Land with Sevenscore Knights to prosecute the Holy War and two and thirty Thousand Pounds a mighty Sum in those Days which he had gathered for that Pious use But he not only neglected his Fathers Directions but in plain scorn and despight to his Commands he prodigally squander'd it on that same Gaveston from whose very sight he was precluded by his dying Father I shall not need to divide the History of his Life into several Acts I may recite it as it was in one Scene of Trouble and misfortune The revocation of Peirce Gaveston from perpetual Exile was very displeasing to the People His admission to the highest Honours and Favours about the Court did smartly aggravate their just Resentments but his Pride and Ostentation at the Marriage of the King in France where the Four Kings and Four Queens were seen in all their Pomp besides the King and his Bride yet he was observed to excel them all in Bravery had so sensible an Operation on the Lords of England that when Edward and Isabel expected to be Crown'd in the presence of many Princes and Noble Persons they boldly went to him and briskly told him how haynously he had transgressed his Fathers Will in recalling Gaveston to which since they were Cautioners they would see it performed and unless he would remove Gaveston from Court and Kingdom they would not suffer his Coronotion to proceed King Edward confounded with this stinging Declaration gave them satisfaction and solmnly Swore to do what they desired in the next Parliment and so the Coronation proceeded In the solmnizing whereof the King again provoked the Lords to Discontent adding the honour of carrying St. Edwards Crown before him to the other Titles he had conferred on Gaveston which urged them to enter into Consultation how to contrive some plausible way to restrain the Violence of the Kings Affection which in a short time took affect For Gaveston not content to engross the Kings Favor and dictate his arbitrary Orders through the Kingdom encroached on the honour of the Nobility and placed opprobious Nick-Names upon divers of them who therefore did not only envy him for his undeserved Advancement but mortally hated him for his un-sufferable Insolency It was not long before a Parliment met
proclaimed her and the Prince who was at that time also in France Enemies to the Kingdom banish'd them and their Adherents and strongly guarded the Seas with three Fleets to intercept their passage The Queen by the help of Foreign Friends got together a considerable Army and landed near Harwich and was presently reinforced by the conjunction of the Earl Marshal the Earl of Lancaster the Earl of Leicester and many other Lords and Bishops The King was astonish'd at the News being utterly irresolute what course to take He had no Counsellors about him but the Spencers London was not to be trusted his Army was wavering the people from all Counties flocking in to the Queen In this perplexity he secretly withdraws from the Court attended by the two Spencers and a very few others and being disappointed of his Retreat to the Isle of Lundy He hides himself in the Abby of Nethe where within a short time he was taken his Followers all apprehended and the two Spencers publickly and ignominiously executed and himself committed to the custody of the Earl of Leicester After Christmas a Parliament was call'd wherein it was agreed to Depose the King and set up his Son who refusing to take the Crown unless his Father would freely resign it the poor King as tamely surrender'd the Scepter as he had before unworthily weilded it and having formally renounced and abdicated the Government and the Speaker of the Parliament renounced all Allegiance to him in the Name of the whole Kingdom he was taken from the Earl of Leicester from whom his Enemies thought he had too kind usage and being hurried from place to place and wearied with all manner of severity and indignity wasted by starving tormented by noisome stinks and attempted by Poyson he was at last barbarously and inhumanely stifled to death between two Pillows The Murder being disavow'd by the Queen the Executioners of it fled and died miserably THE LIFE and REIGN OF RICHARD the Second IF Magnanimity Valour Piety Gentleness Liberty and other Heroick and Princely Qualities were communicable by Generation if vertue could be intayl'd If the gifts of the mind descended by Inheritance or were demisable hy Will or inseparably annex'd to the Body no man could ever have a juster Pretension to Glory and Fame than Richard the Second the only Son of that incomparable Hero Edward the black Prince and grand Son of that most illustrious and victorious Edward the Third But Children do not always resemble the Features of the Father to the great shame and scandal of the Mother Wit and Vigor are seated in the Brain and Children are not begotten by the Head. Richard was a Child at the death of his Father and never acted like a man during his own Life A Crown was too heavy a Load for his tender Brows and the Reflection of its Brightness daizled his Eyes The Transactions of State during his Minority are not to be the Subject of my Recital since the Event of all Affairs that were prosperous is to be imputed to the Conduct of his Guardians and where any Accidents interrupted his Prosperity it ought not to be attributed to his misfortune I shall therefore pass over such Occurrences as are recounted by Historians during his pupillage and begin my Remarks at that Period when he assumed the Regal Government And first he deposed the Lord Scroop from his Chancellor-Ship because he refused to seal some extravagant grants made by the King and receiving the Seal from his Hands he kept it for a certain Time and with it seal'd such Grants and Writings as he thought fit at his own absolute will and pleasure His Army sent against France commanded by the Bishop of Norwich was not very prosperous but laying Seige to Ypres as they past through Flanders were forced by the Power of a French Army coming to their Relief to raise the Seige and retreat And tho the Bishop advised the King to lay hold on that Opportunity to try the Fortune of a Battle with the French and he pretended over Night to be in a mighty hast and Eagerness to ingage in that enterprise yet in the Morning the Humor was off and consulting his own ease and safety he appointed the Duke of Lancaster to go on that Inployment who spinning out the Time with dilatory Preparations till the Bishop was return'd the Project was disappointed the undertaking came to Nothing and the Dispute was ended in a short lived Truce Neither did the Expedition into Scotland tend to the Honour of the King or Advantage of the Kingdom for the Scots having made Incursions into England taken and burnt divers Towns upon the Borders and enriched themselves by a general depredation of the Country The Duke of Lancaster with the Earl of Buckingham was dispatcht with a mighty Army to repress them but having entred Scotland and not being able by any Art or Stratagem to provoke the Scots to Battel they returned without obtaining any further Satisfaction then a suitable Revenge in burning and destroying many Towns there And tho a truce was made with the Scots yet without any Regard to the Stipulation they again entred the Borders and took Berwick But now the unfortunate King began to form Plots against his own honour and Quiet for being incensed against the Duke of Lancaster whether upon real or upon imaginary Provocations a design was laid to have that great man Arrested and arraign'd of Treason before Sir Robert Tresilian chief Justice tho by the Law of the Land his Tryal ought to have been by his Peers and it is easie to imagin what would have been the Issue of such irregular Proceedings but the Duke having timely intimation of the mischief and contrivance against him withdrew himself opportunely to his Castle of Pomfret where he stood upon his guard till by the laborious travel and powerful intercession of the Kings Mother tho by reason of her Corpulency she was most un-fit for such an Imployment the King was pacified and reconciled to the Duke The Scots still meditating Revenge and the French King still ready to foment the quarrel prepared for a fresh Invasion of England and receiving auxiliary Ayds of great Number and strength from the French once more entred the English Borders King Richard receiving Advertisement of it with great Speed rais'd a mighty Army and marching in Person at the Head of them entered Scotland burnt Edingburgh proceeding without Control but could by no means draw the Scots to Battle they in the mean Time to divert the Kings progress made a descent into Cumberland and Besieged Carlisle to the relief of which the King approaching with so formidable an Army obliged the Scots to retreat into their own Country and upon their Recess the King returned into England bringing with him neither Honour nor Advantage by so fruitless an Expedition After these things and some other passages not so directly appertaining to the History of his Life King Richard began to hasten his own
having got matter enough against the King at least to justifie their taking up Armes march'd directly to London with forty thousand men and some of them going to the King in the Tower they shew'd him the very Letter which he had writ to the Duke of Ireland to levy an Army for their destruction as also the Letters writ to him by the French King importing a safe Conduct for him to come into France there to do Acts tending to his own dishonour and the prejudice of the Kingdom which being done they civilly retreated upon the Kings promise to come next day to Westminster to concert all matters but the fickle King alter'd his mind before he went to Bed and discover'd his purpose to avoid the meeting next day The Lords being advertis'd of this sent a peremptory message to him That if he did not come according to his promise they would choose another King that should hearken to the faithful Counsel of his Lords The King sensibly touch'd with this sharp message gave them a meeting and they positively insisting that the Traytors so often complain'd of should be removed from the Court he at last with much reluctancy consented to their Desires and so the whole Nest of Vipers was dissipated some expell'd the Court some bound by good Sureties to appear and answer and some committed to Prison When the Parliament met they proceeded roundly the corrupt Judges were arrested in their Seats of Judicature and carried to the Tower for acting contrary to the Agreement made in the preceding Parliament the Duke of Ireland and the rest of that Crew cited to appear and answer to certain Articles of High Treason and for non-appearance banish'd and their Lands and Goods seized to the Kings use Sir Robert Tresilian was hang'd Sir Nicholas Brember beheaded several others executed and the Judges condemned to die and the King obliged by Oath to stand to such order as the Lords should set down Some years after upon a Riot committed in London the King seised on their Liberties and took away their Charter which could not be restored till they paid a Fine of ten thousand pounds I intend a compendious Abstract and not a compleat History therefore I studiously omit the recital of many Transactions and Occurrences coincident with this relation as not having a direct and principal concernment in the Estate and Life of King Richard. Unstable Fortune had the Ascendent over all the Affairs of the poor King and the course of his Reign was imbroiled with a strange Vicissitude of prosperous and adverse Accidents The Duke of Gloucester and other Lords entring into a combination to seise upon the King the Plot was detected and their lives taken away for the assurance of his safety A Parliament was call'd wholly conformable to the Kings will they that opposed him were banish'd confiscated and executed and the whole power of it devolved on a certain select number of Commissioners to the great prejudice of the State and a dangerous example to future Times a Pardon was granted to all the Subjects except fifty whose Names not being expressed he kept the Nobility under an awe that if any of them offended him they might come under the notion of exempted persons and thus the King seem'd secure against all mischances But an unforeseen Accident grounded on a very slight occasion produced an extraordinà ry Revolution by which the whole frame of Government was unhinged and that Cloud which at first appear'd but of the bigness of a hand soon overspread the sky and dissolved in a tempestuous shower of Blood. The Duke of Hereford was banish'd the Kingdom for six years and several Persons of Note and Quality either by voluntary withdrawing or a compulsory Exile went beyond the Seas The Duke within a short time was advertis'd that his Father was dead and thereby he became Duke of Lancaster and that King Richard had seised into his hands all the Estate descended to him by his Fathers death And meeting often with the Archbishop of Canterbury then in Exile and mutually lamenting the deplorable condition of England the enormous actions of the King and the Impossibllity of ever reclaiming him they began to enter into Consulation by what means best to get him removed and in the very Nick Solicitations came from several Parts of England to urge the Duke to hasten over and to take the Government upon him promising all ready Assistance to that work The Duke presently grasp'd the Opportunity and without further Deliberation prepared for his Return and with a very few Lords and Gentlemen and about threescore Persons presently put to Sea and landed in York-shire which was no sooner known but several Lords and great Numbers of the Gentry and Common sort flockt into him And tho he was invited to come and take the Government upon him yet he pretended no other cause but to take Possession of the Inheritance descended from his Father and most unjustly seized and detain'd by King Richard. His Forces increased dayly and a mighty Army was got together and all the Kings Castles forthwith surrendred to him many of the Kings Friends were Arrested and some put to death All this while King Richard was in Ireland and for six weeks by reason of contrary Winds had no Notice of the Dukes Landing After which time wasting many daies in a dilatory Preparation he landed in Wales but hearing that all the Castles from the Borders of Scotland and Bristol were delivered up to the Duke of Lancaster that the greatest Part of the Nobility and Commons were joynd with him and his principal Counsellors taken and executed he fell into absolute Despair dismissed his Army bidding every one to shift for himself and the next Night stole away and got to the Castle of Couwey The Duke proceeded on his March and every day some Lords and Gentlemen of account came in to him and having proferred Conditions to the King with which he seem'd to be content he agreed to meet the Duke but upon his Journy was seis'd by an Ambush laid for him and carried to Flint-Castle Thither the Duke came and carri'd the King with him by easie Journeys to London and the next Day lodged him in the Tower. Presently a Parliament was called by the Duke but in the Name of King Richard aad many heynous Crimes laid to his Charge ingrost and sum'd up in three and thirty Articles for which the Parliament adjudg'd him to be deposed from all Kingly Honour and Princely Government thereupon the King by a formal Instrument made a Solemn Resignation of his Crown and Authority making it his Request that the Duke of Lancaster might be his Successor and in token thereof taking the signet from his Finger and puting it upon that of the Dukes Which being reported to the Parliament they approved of it and appointed the Sentence of his Deposition to be publickly proclamed We have followed this most unfortunate Prince to the last Scene of his Life but the manner
of God and Nature imploring to be excused from being made Instruments to countenance and publish the monstrous Assertion of an absolute and dispensing Power they were committed to the Tower Indicted of Misdemeanor compell'd to plead try'd by a Jury and fairly acquitted upon their Trial to the shame and confusion of their Prosecutors and to the unexpressible joy and satisfaction of the whole Nation The King hoping to establish that by a Law which he could not bring to pass by his will and power propos'd the calling of a Parliament whom that he might form to the Standard set out by the Popish Cabal he condescended to such mean shifts and such indirect practices by forestalling Mens Judgments and preingaging them against the Liberty and indifferency of their Votes and turning Men out of their Imployments who would not abjure the natural Freedom of their Reason that in mere Decency and Respect I forbear to inlarge upon it Neither will I any more than make mention of the Intrigue about the Birth of the Prince of Wales Great pains have been taken to offer convincing proofs to the World of the Legitimacy of that Child whereas there is nothing so hard to be proved as a Business of that Nature And the suspition of an Imposture has made such an Impression on common belief that an Act of Parliament in Favour of the Birth would hardly reconcile the people to a Submission The bloody Executions in the West of England upon the unhappy Abettors of the Duke of Monmouth exasperated Multitudes of People into Discontent and Mutiny but when it was reported that the King had given the Lives of so many wretched men by whole sale to his Servitors to be retail'd by them for Lucre and Profit the whole Nation was affected with that unexampled Barbarity and became seasoned with a secret Aversion to his Government The furious Drivers of the Jesuitical Plots began too late to be sensible of their mistaken Policy they had stretached the Prerogative so high that is began to crack they had by their damnable Counsel hurried the unfortunate King to the Brink of Ruin The Skie began to thicken with Clouds and Thunder was heard a far off Wherefore they began with all hast to tack about to unravel that work which with so many hands and such indefatigable industry they had been knitting Suddenly and unexpectedly a Proclamation issued to summon a Parliament with Exclusion of the Roman Catholicks soon after the Charter of London and all other Corporations was restored The Suspension of the Bishop of London taken off The Vice-Chancellor and others of Cambridg and the President and Fellows of Magdalen-Colledge in Oxford reinstated in their Places The monstrous Commission for Ecclesiastical Affairs dissolved a Proclamation set out carrying the Face of a general pardon but Squinting at and Indemnity to Papists All men were fill'd with wonder at such a hudled and surprising Alteration that the great Ministers of State should so poorly truckle to the Satisfaction of the People that the King should send for the Bishops and court them from whom a little before he would not endure the Address of an humble Petition But the Riddle was soon unfolded and the wonder was turned into an Exultation of Joy at the miraculous Revolution of Affairs The Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Prime Gentry of England sadly resenting the Invasion on their Religion Liberties and Properties observing the arbitary and despotical proceedings in Scotland beholding Ireland wholly given up to Popery and Slavery and their own Ancient Laws and establish'd Religion subverted by him who had so often and so solemnly promised the maintenance and Protection of them they began to consult of some proper and effectual means to divert the impending mischiefs and to assure the restitution of their ravish'd Freedom To this end they made application to the most illustrious Prince of Orange the Champion and Protector of the Protestant Religion imploring his Aid to rescue them from Oppression and Slavery and to save their Liberties now expiring and at the last Gap. He with a Bravery and Generosity not to be matched in any History descended to their Relief and postponing all his own Interests and Advantages with the hazard of his person and the consumption of a vast Treasure landed in England not with a mighty Army least it should look like an Invasion neither with too small a Party least he should seem pusht on by a Necessity or ingaged in a desperate undertaking The King had a great Army on Foot which was quickly increased by a considerable Addition And with appearance of great Resolution and confidence of Success he marcht from London But he soon found by a fatal Experience that the Hands of his Subjects were directed by their hearts in which having forfeited his possession he was to expect no Service or Assistance from them On the contrary the Lords and Gentlemen from all parts of the Kingdom flock'd in with their Arms and Horses to joyn their Deliverer and many Trops and Regiments of the Kings Army deserted him not enduring to be mingled among Papists or be obliged to fight against Protestants The King in this Perplexity was wholly irresolute what course to take at last he posted to London where missing his Popish Favorites whom Fear of Punishment and the Terror of an evil Conscience had utterly dissipated he did not think it fit to trust his best and truest Subjects but secretly withdrew himself in a Disguise and being by a strange Accident discoverd he was reconducted to London from whence at his own desire he was attended to Rochester but not being able to live without the Ministration of Priests and Jesuits he slipt away to the Sea side and saild for France voluntarily and without constraint abdicating the Government leaving the Throne vacant and the Body of his People without a head Here ended the Reign of James the Second too violent to last long A Prince who when he was a Subject had the Reputation of being a valiant Leader afirm Friend and an immovable Observer of his word and Promise But the Assumption of a Crown the Flatteries of a bigoted Queen the desperate Counsels of a Popish and Atheistical Cabal with a blind Perswasion of meriting Heaven by the Adventure of all he had upon Earth hath exposed him to Censure and represented him under a contrary Character Perhaps he is absolved from the guilt of his personal vices by his Confessor and he shall be acquitted of the Remembrance of them by me I have so great a Reverence for those of his nearest Blood that I shall not by the Blots of my Pen imprint a Stain on his Memory or diffuse the Tincture on his Posterity The Conclusion Thus you have a breif Epitome of the unfortunate Reigns of Six of the English Monarchs Of Which the First Broke his Neck The next Broke his Heart And every one of them Broke his Vows to God and his Promises to his Subjects The