the Barons came in Person with a very strong Party before the Castle many of the Queen Friends who were formerly on the other side joining with him The Lord himself was gone with the rest of the Noblemen to destroy the Lands and Estates of the two Spencers having left his Wife and Children in the Castle and a Captain to command there After some time spent in the Siege the Besieged finding little hope of relief were forced to surrender it to the King at Mercy who hanged five or six of the principal Persons And committed the Lord Badlesmere's Wife and Children to the Tower After which many of the Barons misdoubting their strength deserted their Chief the Earl of Lancaster which now made the Victory the more easily incline to the King The third day after the Battle the King resolving to take his full swing of Vengeance upon the Barons sate in Judgment in Person at Pomfret Castle together with the Earls oâ— Kent Pembroke Surrey and the two Spencers Before whom the Earl of Lancaster and the rest being brought Sentence was pronounced against them to be drawn hanged and quartered as guilty of High Treason by Andrew Harkley a man of small fortune but made Earl of Carlile and Lord Chief Justice for taking the Earl of Lancaster and several other Lords Prisoners after the late Fight The Earl of Lancaster being the King's Uncle was only Beheaded the same day at Pomfret but the other Lords were hanged and quartered in several parts of the Realm As the Lords Lisle Touchet Manduit Bradburn Fitz Williams Cheyney at Pomfret The Lords Clifford Mowbray and Deynvile hang'd in Chains at York The Lord Gifford at Glocester The Lord Teys at London The Lord Aldenham at Windsor and the Lords Badlesmere and Ashburnham at Canterbury And several other Baronets Knights Esquires and Gentlemen were executed in other places Never before did English Earth at one time drink up so much Blood of her Nobility and Gentry shed in so vile a manner which whatsoever was pretended was reckoned by the People to be spilt upon the account and in the quarrel of the two Ravenous Favourites the Spencers nor was it long unrevenged with the destruction of the principal Actors After this the King likewise seized all their Estates as forfeited to the Crown This havock being made of the Nobility to the astonishment of the rest and the terror of the Vulgar the Spencers were elated so intolerably with Pride by this Victory that instead of making good use thereof and reforming those abuses that might occasion the like again and giving the King good Counsel they now proceed to commit greater Rapines and Violences than before making their Will a Law in all things And then presuming that all affairs should for the future be managed according to their pleasure they advise the King to call a Parliament at York in which he created Edward his eldest Son Prince of Wales and Duke of Acquitain He also created Sir Hugh Spencer the Father Earl of Winchester and Sir Hugh the Son Earl of Glocester And exacted the sixth Penny of all Mens Estates and Goods to support his intended Wars against the Scots the levying of which Tax caused much murmuring and discontent among the People who affirmed That they were already totally impoverished and ruined by War Famine and the disordereâ— Government of the King and his Evil Counsellors The King was fully persuaded that his late Successes had rendered him as terrible to the Scots as to his own Subjects and that they were no way capable of resisting so great a Power as he had raised against them resolving now to call them to a strict account for all their Inroads Murthers and Robberies The Scots being secretly inform'd that King Edward was intended to Invade their Country and to revenge those wrongs he had received from Robert Bruce their King endeavoured to divert him by landing a great Army in Ireland but the King having timely notice of their design made such provision that the greatest part of the Assailants were slain and the rest fled to their Ships and returned shamefully to their own Country The King after this marched with a very gallant Army into Scotland and being arrived the Scots Nobility with some thousands of men pretended to give him Battel but intended nothing less For at his approach they retired in good Order into the Woods Forests and Mountains of their Country insomuch that the English were quite tired and dispirited in pursuing them through those difficult and uneasie passages so that in a short time for want of Provisions and Necessaries and by reason of the Rains Hail Snow and Frosts which are incident to that cold Region the King's Forces were so afflicted with Sickness and Mortality that they were obliged to retire without having performed any thing suitable to such mighty preparations Which when the Scots perceived they pursued them with much cruelty and one night assaulted them with so much fury that the King himself very narrowly escaped and finding his Forces broken and his Army scattered he was forced to save his Life by an ignominious flight and to leave behind him his Treasure Ordnance Tents and Furniture a joyful prize to the Victorious Scots This last disaster and danger was occasioned principally by the Treachery of Sir Andrew Harkley the new made Earl of Carlile who under pretence of making Peace with the Scots secretly agreed to Marry the Daughter of King Robert whereupon he was seized and carried to London in Irons and being brought to the Bar before the Judg Sir Anthony Lucy in the Robes of an Earl with his Sword girt Hosed Booted and Spur'd the Judg spake thus to him ' Sir Andrew the King for thy Valour and Good Service hath advanced thee to great Honour and made thee Earl of Carlile notwithstanding which thou as a Traytor to thy Lord and King leddest a Party that should have assisted him at the Battel of Bayland in Scotland away by Copland through Lancashire by which Falseness and Treason of thine our Lord the King was discomfited by the Scots whereas if thou hadst arrived in time he might have gained the Victory And this Treason thou didst wilfully commit for a great sum of Gold and Silver which thou didst receive from James Dowglas a Scot and the King's Enemy For which great Crime our Lord the King hath commanded that thou be deprived of the Order of Knighthood wherewith he hath honoured thee for a terror to all other Knights to avoid the like Treachery Then his Spurs were hewed from his Heels and his Sword with which he was Knighted and Girt when created an Earl was broken over his Head he was then unclothed of all his Robes of Honour and State and his Coat of Arms defaced After which the Judg proceeded thus ' Andrew thou art now no Knight but a Knave and for thy Treason the King hath appointed that thou shalt be hanged thy Head smitten off and placed on London
Bridg thy Bowels taken out and Burnt thy Body quartered and thy four Quarters set up in four principal Cities of England for an example to such heinous Offenders And this Sentence was accordingly executed upon him Thus ended this unfortunate expedition to the great reproach and loss of the English and the scandal of the King who was grown sufficiently infamous already for making the Kingdom a shambles for the Nobility Yet in the midst of these calamities the two Spencers rid Triumphant in the Chariot of Favour Power Honour and Riches enjoying great part of the Estate of the late unfortunate Earl of Lancaster and in this grandeur they continued for the space of five years notwithstanding the utmost efforts of their potent and numerous adversaries who continually meditated their destruction During which time the Queens Interest extreamly declined who for shewing some relentings for the severity used to the Lords and expressing her dislike of the overgrown authority of the two wicked Favourites by whose persuasions she was sensible the King her Husband abandoned her Company and Bed was extreamly hated by them So that they continued their impious Artifices to allure the King with the Company and Dalliance of Leud and Lascivious Harlots and to avoid any converse with her And it did appear that these evil minded and vile men working upon the King's inclination were the principal Authors and Advisers of that sharp revenge taken upon the Lords for their own ambitious and avaritious ends whereby at length they brought inevitable ruin upon the Crown Dignity and Life of their Soveraign Which the following instance seeâ—… plainly to confirm Among those who were condemned for joining with the Earl of Lancaster the King's Uncle there was one very poor Fellow for whose life because he had long continued at Court many great Courtâ—…rs interceeded very earnestly and pressed the matter so far that the King in a rage replied 'A plague upon you for a company of Cursed Whisperers malicious Backbiters Flatterers and wicked Counsellors who can beg so heartily for saving the life of a notorious wicked Knave and yet could not speak a word in the behalf of the most noble Knight Earl Thomas of Lancaster my near Kinsman whose Life and Counsels would now have been of great use and service to the Kingdom Whereas this wretch the longer he lives the more villanies will he commit having already made himself notorious throughout the Realm for his horrid Crimes and desperate Outrages For which by the Soul of God he shall dye the death he hath justly deserved And he was accordingly executed This may be some evidence that the King was over persuaded to commit those Tragedies upon the Lords 〈…〉 was reckoned to be naturally merciful and 〈◊〉 according to the Religion of those times but 〈◊〉 â—…iâ—led by depraved Counsellors though he 〈…〉 inexcusable since it is usually said That good 〈◊〉 cannot satisfie for publick Errors and Mischiefs The Spencers still continued their Rapines and Profligate courses and aspiring to more absolute Dominion resolved to leave nothing unattempted that might rivet them in the affections of the King and inrich themselves which begot implacable enmity in the People both against them and their Master their insolence rising to such an height that they abridged the Queen of her usual allowance so that she had not wherewith to maintain her self while themselves abounded in all manner of plenty and magnificence Which caused her publickly to complain ' That the Daughter and Sole Heir of the King of France was Married to a miserable Wretch who did not allow her necessaries and that being promised to be a Queen she was now become no better than a waiting Gentlewoman subsisting only upon a Pension from the Spencers And dreading their malice she took her Eldest Son Prince Edward and privately withdrew into France to her Brother King Charles by whom she was kindly received and comforted with solemn Oaths and Promises that he would effectually assist her against all her Enemies and redress the grievances of the Kingdom A while after the Barons by their Letters assured her of their best help and service to her Self and Son declaring that if she would return to England with the aid of only a thousand valiant men at Arms they would raise so great a strength here to join them as should make the Spencers feel the smart of their unsufferable follies The Queen was exceedingly rejoiced with the hopes of her fortunate success But the two Spencers much doubting the event if she should return with Forces and having the Treasure of the Kingdom at command they corrupted King Charles and his Council with such prodigious sums of Gold and Silver and of Rich Jewels that not only all succour was denied her but the French K. reprimanded her very sharply for having so undutifully and imprudently forsaken her Lord and Dear Husband Yea the Pope likewise and many of the Cardinals being ingaged with rich Presents by the Spencers required King Charles under the Penalty of Cursing to send the Queen and Prince to King Edward And doubtless she had been unnaturally betrayed by her own Brother had she not privately and speedily made her escape to the Earl of Heynault in Germany where she was entertained with extraordinary joy by the Earl and the Lord Beumont his Brother who resolved to accompany her to England In the mean time King Edward and his profligate Favourites having intelligence of their Intentions he sent to demand his Wife and Son to be returned home but not succeeding and the Spencers knowing that if an happy Agreement should have been made between the King his Queen and the Barons they must both have been made Sacrifices of Peace-Offering to appease the resentments of the People they therefore resolve to make the Breach irreconcileable by persuading the King to proclaim the Queen and Prince with all their Adherents Traytors and Enemies to the King and Kingdom banishing all that he thought were well-affected to them and keeping a severe Eye over the discoâ—ented Barons and it was reported That a secret Plot was laid to have taken away the Lives both of the Queen and her Son While the Queen continued in Heynault she concluded a Marriage between the Prince then about fourteen years old and the Lady Philippa that Earl's Daughter and with the Money of her Dowry Listed Souldiers in Germany and soon after with three hundred Knights and gallant Warriours and about 1700 Common Souldiers Germans and English commanded by the Earl of Heynault with the Earls of Kent Pembroke the Lord Beumont and many other English-men of Quality she safely arrived at Orwell in Suffolk Upon the first Intelligence of their Landing the Lords and Barons with joyful hearts and numerous Troops of resolute Gallants compleatly Armed repaired to her Assistance with all speed so that her Forces hourly increased Her Arrival being reported to the King He poor Prince was so surprized that he knew not what course to take
justly as a Man may take his Wife who is run away from him thither by the Arm and lead her out of St. Peter's Church without any offence to St. Peter For if none must be taken out of Sanctuary that have a mind to continue there then if a Child will run thither to prevent his going to School his Master must let him alone and as mean as this instance is yet there is less reason in our case than in that for that Child has some fear imaginary or real but this Young Gentleman has none at all To conclude I have often heard of Sanctuary Men but never before of Sanctuary Children Let those Men that desire and need it have the benefit of it but he can be no Sanctuary Man that hath not understanding to desire it nor malice to deserve it whose Life nor Liberty can by no Legal process be in Jeopardy and he that taketh one out of Sanctuary for his own advantage and benefit can never be challenged for a Sanctuary breaker The Duke having ended his long Harangue all the Temporal and most part of Spiritual Lords not having the least suspition of any Treachery were of opinion that if the Young Duke were not delivered he ought to be taken away from his Mother yet to avoid clamour they concluded that the Archbishop of York should be sent to persuade her the Protector and Council resolving to Sit in the Star-Chamber till his return Thereupon the Archbishop with divers other Lords accompanying him went to the Queen in Sanctuary both out of respect to her and to shew by their number that the Council were unanimous in the Message that was sent her And some were of opinion that the Protector had several of his Creatures among them to whom he had given private Instructions to seize him by force and bring him away if his Mother should persist in her denial and thereby prevent her from conveying him to a place of more security When they came into the Queens presence the Archbishop acquainted her that the Protector and all the Council had upon mature deliberation concluded that the detaining the King's Brother in Sanctuary was a thing that might occasion strange surmises of them among the People and seemed scandalous to them as well as grievous to the King 's Royal Majesty to whom the presence of his Dear Brother must needs be as pleasant and delightful as the keeping them apart was dishonourable to her and her Kindred as though one Brother were in danger of another That the Council had therefore sent him and the rest to require her delivery of him out of that place so that he might at full liberty and freedom visit and continue with the King his Brother and be respected and attended according to his High Birth and Quality the doing whereof would tend to the quiet of the Realm be very pleasing to the Council and advantagious to her self as well as to her Friends that were now in trouble And above all quoth the Archbishop and what I suppose you desire beyond all it will not only be comfortable and honourable to the King but to the Young Duke himself whose singular happiness it will be to be with his Brother and to partake in those Princely Sports and Recreations which are suitable to their Dignity and which they cannot so properly partake of in the company of any other For the Protector esteems it no such slight matter as it may be thought that the minds of the Young Princes should for their Healths be sometimes refresh'd with those diversions which may be both pleasant and proper for their Age and Quality My Lord replied the Queen I will not deny but it may be very convenient that this young Gentleman you require of me were in the Company of the King his Brother and in truth I think it might be as necessary that for a while yet they were both in the Custody and Company of their Mother their tender age considered but especially the younger who besides his Childhood hath been lately visited with a severe sickness and is yet only amended but not recovered so that it is very fit he should be carefully attended and that charge I will commit to no Person upon Earth but resolve to make it my own business considering that the Phisitians tell us a relapse is more dangerous than the first Sickness for nature being before weakned is less able to endure a second Combate and though it may be others might use their best skill and diligence about him yet none knows so well how to order him as my self who have so long been with him nor can any be so tender of him as his own Mother that bore him None can deny quoth the Archbishop but that your Grace is of all Persons the most proper about your Children and the Council would be very glad that you would take care of them if you please to do it in such a place as might be convenient and honourable but if you design to continue here they then think it more proper that the Duke of York should be with the King at liberty and in honour to the comfort of them both than to live here as a Sanctuary man to their high dishonour and disgrace Since it is not always necessary that the Child should be with his Mother but on the contrary that they be separated from each other And of this there is a late instance that when your dearest Son the Prince and now King did for his honour and the security of the Country reside at Ludlow in Wales far distant from your Grace yet you seemed very well contented therewith Not so well contented neither said the Queen but the case is not now the same for that Son was then in health and this is now sick and therefore I much wonder that my Lord Protector should be so desirous to have him in his company since if the Child should happen to miscarry he will be suspected of having a hand in his death and to have used foul play toward him Neither can I but admire that the Council should think it so dishonourable for him to be here when none can doubt but he will be in safety while I am with him and where by the Grace of God I intend to continue and not to bring my self into the danger that my Kindred are in whom I rather wish to be here with me in security Why Madam said one of the Lords do you know that your Kindred are in danger No verily Sir said she nor why they are wrongfully Imprisoned but I shall not marvel if those who have thus illegally confined them without reason should proceed to destroy them without Cause The Archbishop bid him forbear such discourse and told her that he did not doubt but the Lords in Custody would be quickly at liberty if nothing could be proved against them And that her own Person could not be in any peril The Queen replied What reason
kindness and affection for me I will freely unbosom my Thoughts to you After I observed the dissimulation and falshood of King Richard and especially when I heard of the Barbarous Murther of the two Young Princes to which God is my witness I never condescended I so much abhorr'd his presence and company that I left the Court upon a pretended excuse he not in the least perceiving my discontent and so returned to Brecknock to you In my return whether by Inspiration or Melancholy I was possest with many Imaginations and Contrivances how to deprive this Unnatural and Bloody Butcher of his Royal Seat and Dignity First I fancied that if I had a mind to take the Crown now was the time the Tyrant being so generally abhorred and detested of all Men and believing that I had the nearest right to the Succession In this imagination I continued two days at Tewksbury and was ruminating whether I was best to take upon me the Crown as Conqueror but I presently thought that then certainly both the Nobility and Commons would use their utmost Efforts against me But at length I happened on something that I did not doubt would have brought forth fair Flowers yet proved at length nothing but Weeds For I was thinking that Edmund Duke of Somerset my Grandfather was with Henry VI. within two or three degrees of John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and my Mother being Eldest Daughter to Duke Edmund I supposed my self to be next Heir to King Henry VI. of the House of Lancaster This Title was well pleasing to those whom I made of my Council but much more to my aspiring mind but while I was perplext whether it were best instantly to publish this my Right or wait some better opportunity observe what happened As I rid from Worcester to Bridgnorth I met the Lady Margaret Countess of Richmond now Wife to the Lord Stanley and Daughter and Sole Heir to John Duke of Somerset my Grandfather's Elder Brother whom I had as utterly forgot as if I had never known her so that she and her Son Henry Earl of Richmond have a Right before me By this I perceived my mistake and resolved to relinquish all Ambitious Thoughts and to endeavour the Establishment of the Earl of Richmond Right Heir of the House of Lancaster and that he should Marry the Lady Elizabeth Eldest Daughter to King Edward so that the two Roses might be hereby united And now said the Duke I have told you my whole Heart The Bishop was very glad that they had both hit upon the same design and extolling his well laid contrivance replied Since by your Graces incomparable prudence this Noble Conjunction is intended it will be necessary to consider who are fittest to be acquainted with it By my troth quoth the Duke we will begin with the Countess of Richmond the Earl's Mother who will inform us whether he be under Confinement or at Liberty in Brittain And thus was the Foundation of a League laid by these two Great Men which fully Revenged the Death of the two Innocent Princes And it was prosecuted with all Expedition one Reynold Bray being imployed by the Bishop to his Lady the Countess of Richmond Doctor Lewis the Dutchesses Physician was sent to Queen Elizabeth and two other Persons were ordered privately to wait upon the Earl of Richmond then in France and acquaint him with the Design and procure his consent to the intended Marriage Who coming to the Earl and giving him information of the Plot He thereupon discovers it to the Duke of Brittain who though by Hutton King Rich. Ambassador he had by many great offers been solicited to detain the Earl in Prison yet he readily promised and really offered him his utmost assistance Several Knights and Gentlemen were also brought into the Confederacy in England Bishop Morton though against the Earl's consent retires in disguise into the Isle of Ely where having prepared his Friends to espouse the Earl's Interest he went from thence to Brittain to him and continued there till the Earl when King sent for him home and made him Archbishop of Canterbury But though all was managed with the utmost Privacy and under Oaths of Secresie yet King Richard had made a discovery thereof but pretending Ignorance he sends for the Duke of Buckingham to come to him Which the Duke endeavouring to avoid by pretended excuses He at last peremptorily commands him to appear upon his Allegiance upon which the Duke returned this resolute Answer ' That ne owed no Allegiance to such a perjured inhumane Butcher of his own Flesh and Blood And so from that time preparations of War are made on each side The Duke had Assembled a good number of Welshman and the Marquess of Dorset having got out of Sanctuary was labouring to raise Forces in Yorkshire The two Courtneys were doing the same in Devonshire and Cornwall and the Lords Guilford and Rame in Kent King Richard sets forward with his Forces The Duke of Buckingham Marches to incounter him intending at Glocester to have past the Severn and joined the two Courtneys but the great Rains had so swelled the River that overflowing its Banks there was no Fording over This Inundation was so great that Men were drowned in their Beds Houses overturned Children carried about the Fields Swiming in Cradles and Beasts were drowned on Hills which rage of Water continued Ten days and is to this time in the Countreys adjacent called The Great Water or the Duke of Buckingham's Water The Welshmen were so affrighted with this accident that judging it an ill Omen they all secretly deserted him so that the Duke being alone without either Page or Footman retired to the House of one Humfrey Banister near Shrewsbury who having been advanced by him and his Father he thought himself safe under his roof But Banister upon King Richard's Proclamation of a reward of 1000. Pound to him that should discover the Duke Treacherously and perfidiously discovered him to John Mitton High Sheriff of Shropshire who took him in a Thread-bare Black Cloak walking in an Orchard behind the House and carried him to Shrewsbury where King Richard quartered and there without Arraignment or Legal Proceeding he was in the Market place Beheaded in 1484. Whether Banister received the proclaimed reward from King Richard's hand is uncertain but it is certain he received a reward of a Villain from the hand of Divine Justice for himself was after hanged for Manshughter his Eldest Daughter was Ravished by one of his Plowmen or as some say struck with a loathsome Leprosie his Eldest Son in a desperate Lunacy Murdered himself and his Younger Son was drowned in a small puddle of Water This was the fatal end of the Great Duke of Buckingham who went too far for a good Man in being accessary to the depriving the Innocent Princes of their Birth-right and declaring them Bastards But it seems he went not far enough for so bad a Man as King Richard because he would not
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assured of their intent he appears to them in the Gallery to prevent any sinister practice against him The Duke of Buckingham with great reverence tells him That he hoped his Highness would pardon him in what he was going to declare in the behalf of the Lord Mayor and Nobility there present and after many circumstances proceeds to discover the cause of their coming That in regard of the urgent necessities of the Common-wealth they all humbly intreated him to take upon him the Government of the Kingdom in his own Right to whom they all tendered their Alleglance At which word the Protector started back as if extreamly surprized and passionately replied ' I little thought good Cousin that you of all Men would have moved me in a matter which of all things in the World I must decline Far be it from me to accept of that which without apparent wrong to the Children of my dear deceased Brother and my own upright Conscience I cannot well approve of And pretending to proceed in this dissembling Harangue the Duke seemed abruptly upon his Knees to stop him ' Since your Grace says he has been pleased to give free liberty to offer to you in the Name of this Great Assembly the free tender of their Obedience to you I must further add That it is unanimously concluded that your late Brother King Edward's Children as being generally known to be Illegitimate shall never be admitted to the Crown of England and therefore if your Grace shall neither regard your self nor us so far as to accept of the same we are fully determined to confer it upon some other of the House of Lancaster that will be more sensible of his own and our good â—hese words seemed to have such powerful effect upon the Protector 's mind that with a pretended change of countenance and feigned perturbation He replied ' Since I perceive the whole Kingdom are resolved by no means to admit my dear Nephews being but Children to Reign over them and since the Right of Succession justly belongs to me as the undoubted Heir of Richard Plantaginet Duke of York my Renowned Father We are contented to condescend to your Importunities and to accept the Regal Government of the Kingdom and will to the utmost of my power endeavour to procure and maintain the quiet and welfare thereof After this he came down from his Gallery and very formally Saluted them all which so pleased the giddy and inconstant Mobile that they presently shouted out Long live King Richard our Dread Soveraign Lord and so every Man departed Having thus Usurped the Soveraignty He was soon after Crowned Creating his Son Edward a Child of Ten years old Prince of Wales advancing several of the Nobility to higher Honours and Dignifying others And to shew his Clemency and good Nature several whom he suspected would have hindered his proceedings and had been therefore Imprisoned were now released but Morton Bishop of Ely who would never consent to the disinheriting King Edward's Children was committed to the custody of the Duke of Buckingham who secured him in his Castle of Brecknock in Wales And now King Richard with his Queen the Lady Ann Youngest Daughter of the Great Earl of Warwick and the Widow of Prince Edward Son to King Henry VI. whom he had newly Married made a progress to Glocester upon pretence of visiting the place of his former Honour But in truth to be absent while he had a special villany to be acted For though he had satisfied his Ambition by depriving his Nephews of their Livelyhood yet he could not remove his fears without taking away their Lives To perpetrate this villany he durst not use the assistance of his old Friend and Favourite the Duke of Buckingham as being sensible of his abhorrence thereof However it was too easie to find wicked Instruments for Money and upon inquiry he heard of two Brothers in his Court Sir Thomas and Sir James Tyrril the first of an honest sober temper but the other of a proud ambitious humour and ready to commit any wickedness for preferment Being told of this Man as he was at the Close-Stool he instantly rose and went to him whom he found more free to undertake the work than he was to imploy him so the bargain was soon made and nothing remained but an opportunity to effect it King Richard had before sent John Green one of his Privadoes to Sir Robert Brackenbury Lieutenant of the Tower to require him to do the deed he being raised by him but the Lieutenant declaring an absolute aversion thereto Good Lord says the King Whom can a Man trust So that finding he must be removed or else it was impossible to effect it he sends him an absolute Order by Sir James Tyrril immediately to deliver up the Keys of the Tower to him Tyrril being now Lieutenant for the time hires two Rascals like himself Giles Forest and James Leighton his Hostler a stout lusty fellow to join with him in the Murder of these Innocent Children who coming into their Chamber in the Night accompanied only with one Black Will or William Slaughter another bloody Villain they suddenly wrapt them up in the Bed-cloaths and keeping down the Pillow and Bed-cloaths with all their strength upon their Mouths they so stifled them that their breath failing they surrendred up their Innocent Souls to Heaven The Murtherers perceiving First by their strugling with the pangs of Death and then by their long lying still that they were thoroughly Dead they laid their Bodies out upon the Bed and then called Sir James to see them who presently caused their Bodies to be buried under the Stairs under a heap of Stones from whence they were afterward removed to a place of Christian Burial by a Priest of Sir Robert Brackenbury who dying soon after it was never known where they were laid which gave occasion to the Imposture in K. Henry VII Reign of Perkin Warbeck who pretended to be Richard Duke of York the Younger Brother that by the compassion of the Murtherers was saved and sent to seek his Fortune Others write that King Richard caused their Bodies to be taken up and being closed in Lead to be put into a Coffin full of holes hooked at the ends with Iron and so thrown into a place called the Black Deep at the Thames mouth to secure them from being ever seen or rising again But Divine Vengeance soon reached the Murtherers Miles Forrest rotting away alive peice meal at St. Martins Le Grand Leighton dyed at Callice detested of all Men and in great misery Sir James Tyrril was afterward Beheaded for Treason at Tower-Hill and King Richard himself after this execrable Fact never was quiet in mind being tormented with fearful Dreams starting out of his Bed and running about the Chamber with great horror as if all the Fiends in Hell had been about him to torture his vexed Soul And here we may observe That Confederacies in Evil seldom continue long but usually
end in reciprocal ruin And thus it happened with King Richard and the Duke of Buckingham his intimate Favourite who had been Confederates in the Death of many which now dissolves in the destruction of them both What the cause of the first breach was could not be known Whether the Duke did not think he was sufficiently rewarded for his Services Or that King Richard did not judg himself safe whilest he that set him on the Throne remained so Great Or that the Duke being Ambitious and Aspiring grew envious at his own ast in advancing him The last of which conjectures he seemed to confirm by pretending sickness to avoid being present at the Coronation Which King Richard was jealous of and therefore obliged him to come by sending word That if he did not he would ferch him Whereupon the Duke came with so ill a will that ever after there was no good understanding between them retiring presently after to his Castle at Brecknock And here the inscrutable depth of Divine Providence is very remarkable which the greatest Polititians cannot Fathom For the King had committed the Bishop of Ely to the Duke's custody as one that would secure him from doing any hurt and therefore designed it for the Bishop's punishment Whereas this very thing occasioned the Bishop's liberty and advancement and was a means of King Richard's destruction For the Duke retiring home seemed to be much disturbed and discontented in his mind and wanting rest would be sometimes talking with the Bishop who being a Man of great Wit and Judgment the Duke became at length extreamly pleased with his company and opened himself more freely to him whereby the Bishop perceived that the chief cause of his trouble was his envy to King Richard and thereupon he took an opportunity to discourse him to this purpose My Lord ' You know that formerly I took part with King Henry VI. and could have wished his Son had enjoyed the Crown but after God had ordained King Edward IV. to Reign I was never so mad to contend for a dead Prince against a living one and so I was a faithful Chaplain to King Edward and would have been glad his Child had succeeded him but since by the secret judgment of God it hath happened otherwise I will not strive to set up that which God hath pluck'd down And as for the Lord Protector and now King Here the Bishop made a sudden pause saying He had already medled too much in the World and would for the future be concerned with nothing but his Books and his Beads Because he ended with King the Duke was impatient to have him proceed saithfully promising no hurt should come from it but it may be much good assuring him that the reason why he desired the King to put him under his custody was that he might secretly ask his councel and advise My Lord Said the Bishop I humbly thank your Grace but I confess I do not much care to talk of Princes since it may often prove dangerous though nothing be ill meant But a Man's words may be interpreted not as he intended them but as the Prince pleases to construe them which puts me in mind of one of Aesop's Fables The Lyon had published a Proclamation That upon pain of death no Horned Beast should continue in an adjoining Wood now a certain Beast that had a bunch in his forehead flying away in great haste was met by a Fox who ask'd him whither he ran so fast Fast quoth he I think it is time to run if I intend to save my life Why Brother Reynard han't you heard of the Proclamation against Horned Beasts What then you Fool quoth the Fox That does not concern you for I am sure you have no Horns on your Head Ay marry quoth the Beast that I know well enough but what if the Lyon should call my bunch a horn where were I then Brother Reynard The Duke laughed at the story and said My Lord I warrant you neither the Lyon nor the Boar shall pick any matter out of any thing that has been spoken for it shall never come near their Ears In good faith Sir says the Bishop What we have said if taken as we meant it could only deserve thanks but being wrested as some would do might be of ill consequence to us both The Duke intreated him to go on in his former discourse My Lord said the Bishop As for the late Protector since he is now King in possession I shall not dispute his Title but for the good of the Kingdom I could wish he had in him those excellent Virtues wherewith God Almighty has qualified your Grace Here he stopt again My Lord said the Duke I much wonder at these sudden pauses which so interrupt your discourse that I can neither comprehend your thoughts of the King nor your affection to my self I therefore beg of you not to conceal your thoughts any longer but freely to discover your sentiments and upon my Honour I will be as secret as the Deaf and Dumb person is to the Singer or the Tree to the Hunter The Bishop upon the assurance of the Dukes thus followed his discourse My Lord ' I plainly perceive that this Realm is in great danger of being brought to confusion and desolation under the present Government but I have still some hope remaining by the dayly observation of your Noble Personage your Justice your ardent love to your Countrey and likewise the great love the People have toward you and should think the Kingdom fortunate which had a Prince so fit and apt to be their Governour as your self whose Person and actions contain in them all that is truly great just and honourable He then reproached the King for his many Murders Cruelties and Oppressions adding ' And now my Lord If you love God your posterity or your Native Country you must your self take upon you the Imperial Crown and Diadem of this Realm But if you refuse the same I then adjure you by the Faith you owe to God and the regard you ought to have for your Native Land in your Princely Wisdom to contrive some means whereby the Kingdom may be setled in Peace Liberty and safety under a Legal Government and if you think fit to advance again the House of Lancaster or to Marry the Eldest Daughter of King Edward IV. to some powerful Prince the new Crowned King may be quickly removed from his Usurp'd Throne and thereby Peace and Plenty and Tranquility will again be restored to the Nation The Bishop having ended his Speech the Duke remained silent for some time only breathing forth many deep sighs which much startled the Bishop and made his colour change The Duke perceiving it Be not afraid my Lord said he All promises shall be kept and so for that time they parted Next day the Duke sent for the Bishop and having repeated their former discourse he proceeded ' My Lord of Ely Because I discern you have a real
proved abortive and the Prince and Duke returning home again the K. declaring that unless the Emperor would restore the Palatinate taken from his Sâ—n in Law the Prince Palatine he would proceed no farther Which the K. of Spain declining to be concerned in the Treaty was totally dissolved to the great joy of all good Protestants The Duke gave the Parliament an account of the whole Transaction wherein he severely reflected upon the unfair and delusory practices of the Spanish Court which so incensed the Spanish Ambassadour that he sent to the K. to inform him that the Duke had some desperate design against his Life and that the least he could do against him would be to confine him to some of his Country Houses during Life the Prince being now fully ripe for Government This raised some jealousie in the old King so that the next time he saw Buckingham he cried ' Ah Stenny Stenny which was the Familiar name he always called him ' wilt thou kil me At which the Duke was at first amazed but finding afterward that a Spanish Jesuit was the Informer he told the King It was only their malice against him for breaking the match protesting his Innocency The K. was satisfied the Ambassador was his Enemy and that such an attempt could never be performed without the consent of the Prince whom the Ambassador reflected upon though he did not directly accuse him and He thought it so horrid and unnatural a design that he passed it by without any further notice But only in sending to the K. of Spain to defire justice of him against his Ambassadors false Accusation which he said wounded his Sons honour through Buck ingham's sides Soon after the Ambassador was recalled and for Forms sake had a little check given him but was in as much favour as ever Thus was this Information waved and the Duke so far re-established in favour that he doubted not but to crush all that opposed him and charged Cranfield Earl of Middlesex in Parliament with several mismanagements of the Revenue the Prince who was Buckingham's right hand joining with him in it The King being at New-Market to free himself from the noise of business hearing of it writ to the Prince ' That he should not take part with any Faction in Parliament against the Earl of Middlesex but be so indifferent that both parties might seek to him for if he bandied to remove old Servants the time would come that others would do as much by him This wise advice declared â—…eking ham to be a little declining in the King's favour or the King in his For if the King knew Buckingham to be the chief Prosecutor it looktill for the King to plead for him and if not there was not that intimacy between them as formerly However Cranfield's Actions were proved to be so dishonourable that he was sined severely and made uncapable of ever fitting in the House of Peers for the future Soon after the King died at Theobald's of a Tertian Ague as was then said and King Charles who in his Fathers Life time was linkt to the Duke now continued to receive him into an admired intimacy and dearness making him Partaker of all his Counsels and Cares and chief Conductor of his Affairs an example rare in this Nation to be the Favourite of two succeeding Princes But was not so fortunate as to Parliaments for though the last in King James's time had approved of his Conduct in breaking the Spanish Match yet the first Parliament of this King drawing up a Remonstrance of their Grievances inveighed against him in their Speeches as the chief occasion of all miscarriages in Government As the loss of the Royalty of the Narrow Seas by his mismanagement of the Office of Lord High Admiral His inriching himself and kindred to the impoverishing of the King and Crown His ill bestowing of Offices of Trust and Profit The increase of Popery occasioned by the Dukes Mother and Father in Law both Papists The scandalous sale of all Honours Offices and Imployments Ecclesiastical Military and Civil And his staying at home though Admiral when he should have commanded the Fleet which miscarried by his being absent In the same Parliament likewise the Earl of Bristol accused the Duke of High Treason and the Duke charged him with the same One of the Articles against Buckingham was ' That the Pope being informed of his inclination to the Catholick Religion sent the Duke a Bull in Parchment to perseade and incourage him to pervert the Prince of Wales After this the Parliament proceeded to Impeach the Duke upon 13 Articles of High Treason and other high Crimes and Misdemeanors one of which was his giving Porions and applying Plaisters to the late King James in his sickness without the advice and contrary to the directions of his sworn Physicians from whence proceeded drowths raving fainting and an intermitting Pulse which â—he King was so senfible of that being told by his Physâ—…ians that his Distemper increased by cold he replied ' No no it proceeds from that which I have from Buckingham The King was so angry at these ploceedings having cautioned them from medling with the Duke that he committed Sir Dudly Diggs who made the Prologue and Sir John Eliot the Epilogue of his Impeachment both Prisoners to the Tower After which the Duke gave in an answer to all the Articles charged against him as well of misimploying the Ship of Rochel as about the death of K. James wherein he acknowledges he did give the Potion to the King but it was by his own Order in presence of the King's Physitians who did not seem to diflike it some of them having tasted it And the Duke acquainting the King that some had reported that this Drink had made him worse and that he had given it him without advice the K. answered They are worse than Devils that say it However the Parliament proceeded with an Address to the K. for removing the D. from his Council and Presence and the House of Lords sent four Peers to intreat him to give audience to their whole House upon this Subject But the K. replied That his resolution was to hear no motion for that purpose but that he would Dissolve the Parliament which he did instantly by Commission which gave occasion to the People to utter their minds freely upon this Transaction After this the King declares VVar against France and 〈◊〉 Fleet being provided and an Army raised Buckingham is made both Admiral and General and lands his Army at the Isle of Rhee notwithstanding the opposition of the French both Horse and Foot whom the English defeated From whence they marched to St. Martin's and blockt up the Citadel But notwithstanding our Army at Land and 100 Sail of Ships at Sea yet the French got into the Harbour with relief of Provisions and afterward carried so great a supply into the Citadel that the Duke who had lain idle for many VVeeks being at length prevailed
Privy Council That the Parliament of England had forsaken the King and that in denying to supply him they had given him the advantage to supply himself by such ways as he should think fit and that he was not to suffer himself to be mastred by the frowardness of the People That he was very rigorous in levying the illegal Imposition of Shipmoney and Imprisoned divers Persons for not levying the same And a Great Loan of an hundred thousand pound being demanded of the City and some refusing to lend the Lord Mayoâ— and Aldermen were required to return their names which they with humility refusing to do the Earl said That they deserved to be put to fine and ransom and to be made examples and laid by the heels and that it would never be well till some of the Aldermen were hanged up That by wicked Counsel he had brought on the King excessive charges and then advised him to approve of two dangerous Projects To seize the Money in the Mint and to imbase his own Coin with a mixture of Brass That he had declared that Ireland was a conquered Nation and that the King might do with them what he pleased and speaking of the Charters of former Kings of England he said They were nothing worth and that he would neither have Law nor Lawyers question or dispute any of his Orders and that he would make all Ireland know that so long as he had the Government there any Act of State there made should be as binding to the Subject as an Act of Parliament That he did not only Tyrannize over the Bodies but over the Consciences of Men by forming and imposing a new and unusual Oath which because some Scots refused to take he fined and banished great numbers and called all that Nation Rebels and Traytors and said if ever he returned home from England he would root them out both stock and branch These and a multitude of other crimes he was charged to have committed both in Ireland and England Many of which he confest to be true but not with their aggravations Some he denied and others he extenuated and pleaded that though the whole were proved against him yet it did not amount to Treason Some of the Lords and Commons were of the same opinion Others urged That though he were not guilty of any of the Offences declared to be Treason by the 25 of Edward III. yet so great were his crimes that according to that Statute which impowers the Parliament to declare what is Treason they ought to be declared Treason At length it was concluded to proceed against him by way of Attainder which was much opposed likewise it being alleaged That no man could be convict of Treason but by the Letter of the Statute and the Lord Digby a Member of the House of Commons and an earnest Prosecutor of the Earl spake thus of it ' Mr. Speaker I am still of the same opinion and affections to the Earl Strafford I confidently believe him the most dangerous Minister and the most insupportable to free Subjects that can be found I believe his pâ—actices as high and as Tyrannical as any Subject ever ventured on and the malignity of them highly aggravated by those rare abilities of his whereof God hath given him the use but the Devil the application I believe him still the grand Apostate to the Common Wealth who must not expect to be pardoned in this World till he be dispatcht to the other I do not say but his Crimes may represent him a man as worthy to dye and perhaps worthier than many a Traytor and may justly direct us to enact that they shall be Treason for the future but God keep me from giving Judgment of Death on any man and to ruin his Posterity upon a Law made after the Crime is committed And by any Law yet made I do not believe he is guilty of Treason However the Bill of Attainder passed in the House of Commons and Mr. Sir John's endeavoured to satisfie the Lords in the reasonableness thereof to induce them to Pass it For said he though the proofs at the Trial were insufficient and nothing but Legal Evidence can prevail in Judicature yet by this way both Lords and Commons might proceed by the light of their own Consciences although no evidence were given at all And after many Aggravations of the Earl's Offences in subverting our Laws as he affirmed he concluded thus ' He that would not have had others have any Law should have none himself It is true we give Law to Hares and d ee because they be Beasts of Chase It was never accounted cruelty or foul play to knock Foxes or Wolves on the Head as they can be found because these be Beast of Prey The Warrenner sets Traps for Powl-cats and other Vermine for preservation of the Warren The Lords after this Speech shewing a greater propensity toward the Earl's condemnation than before the King having an account of it came next day to the House of Peers and sending for the House of Commons told them ' That Judgment being ready to pass on the Earl of Strafford he thought it necessary to declare his Conscience therein they being sensible that he had been present at the hearing this great Cause from one end to the other and yet that in his Conscience he could not condemn him of High Treason assuring them That he never intended to bring an Irish Army into England nor was ever advised by any body so to do That there was never any debate before him of the disloyalty of his English Subjects nor had he ever any suspicion of them That he was never Counselled by any to after all or any of the Laws of England since if any durst have been so impudent he should have made them examples to Posterity That he would be rightly understood for though in Conscience he could not condemn him of High Treason yet he could not clear him of such Misdemeanors as he did not think him fit to serve him or the Commonwealth hereafter in any Place or Trust no not so much as a Constable and therefore he hoped they would find out a way to satisfie Justice and their own fears and not oppress his Conscience since neither fear nor any other respect whatsoever should ever make him act against it This Speech relisht so ill with the two Houses that few of them attended next day being Sunday May 2. on the solemnity of the King 's Eldest Daughter Mary being Married to the Prince of Orange On Monday five or six thousand Apprentices and other tumultuous Citizens came down to Westminster to demand justice against the Earl of Strafford and Petitions subscribed with thousands of hands were presented to both Houses about redressing Grievances Soon after the Lords passed the Bill of Artainder but the King seemed very averse to Pass it and consulted both with Lawyers and Divines of the Lawfulness thereof The Bishop of Lincoln urged That the opinion
of the Judges and the Judgment of the Parliament thereupon ought much to sway with him considering the terrible consequences of an inraged multitude and that no other expedient could be found out to appease the People But the main satisfaction of the King's Conscience it is said proceeded from a Letter sent to him by the Earl to this purpose ' Sir to set your Majesties Conscience at Liberty I do most humbly beseech you for preventing of such mischiefâ— as may happen by your refusal to pass the Bill by this means to remove I cannot say this accursed but I confess this unfortunate thing out of the way toward that blessed agreement which I trust God shall forever establish betwixt you and your Subjects Sir my consent herein shall more acquit you to God than all the World can do besides c. The next day the King Signed a Commission to several Lords to pass the Bill which was done accordingly But being unwilling to part with his indeared Favourite he sent a Letter by the Prince of Wales to the House of Lords that mercy might be extended to him as to Life but that he might fulfil the natural course of his Days in close Imprisonment But the Lords sent twelve of their number to the King to satisfie him that it could noâ— be done with safety neither to himself nor his Queen If it cannot says he then Fiat Justitia Let Justice be done May 12. 1641. The Earl was conveyed from the Tower to the Scaffold erected on the Hill with a sufficient Guard and Archbishop Usher to assist him where it is said he designed to have made a Speech already prepared to this effect ' People of my Native Country I wish my own or your Charity had made me fit to call you Friends It should appear by your concourse and gazing Aspects that I am now the only prodigious Meteor toward which you direct your wandring Eyes I would to God my Blood would cure your sad hearts of all your Grievances Though every drop thereof were a Soul on which a Life depended I could tender it with as much alacrity as some nay most of you are come to triumph in my final expiration In regard I have been by you my Native Country whose wisdom and justice in respect of the generality of it is no way questionable voted to this untimely end I have not one syllable to say in justification of my self or those actions for which I suffer Only in excuse of both give me leave to say my too much zeal to do my Master service made me abuse his Royal authority and howsoever I have been most unfortunate yet at all times a Favourite in the prosecution of my Places and Offices as I shall answer at the dreadful Tribunal whereunto your just anger hath before nature doomed me my intents were fairer than my actions but God knows the overgreatness of my Spirits severity in my Government the Witchcraft of Authority and Flattery of many to sharpen it are but ill Interpreters of my intentions which I have no argument to induce you to believe but that it proceeds from a dying man It would too much hinder your longing expectation of my shameful death to give an account of my Arraignment and Attainder for I have been and whilst I breath am the Pestilence which rages through your Minds your Estates and Trades and you will read the Bills of your losses though the disease that brought the destruct on be removed c. He then declared That he forgave all the World and acquitted them of his death And beseeched the God of Heaven heartily to forgive them That he was never against Parliaments as judging them the most happy constitution and the best means to make the King and People happy That it was a great comfort to him that the King did not think he merited so heavy a punishment as this So wishing all prosperity to the Kingdom he addrest himself to his Prayers and then laying down his Head on the Block it was cut off at one blow Instead of a Character of him I shall conclude with his Epitaph written by Mr. John Cleaveland Here lies Wise and Valiant Dast Hudled up 'twixt Fit and Just Strafford who was hurried hence 'Twixt Treason and Convenience He spent his Life here in a Mist A Papist yet a Calvinist His Princes nearest joy and grief He had yet wanted all relief The prop and ruin of the State The Peoples violent love and hate One in extreams lov'd and abhorr'd Riddles lies here And in a word Here lies blood and let it lye Speechless still and never cry FINIS A Catalogue of Books Printed for Nath. Crouch at the Bell in the Poultrey near Cheapside History 1. ENgland's Monarchs Or A Compendious Relation of the most remarkable Transactions from Julius Caesar to this present adorned with Poems and the Picture of every Monarch from K. Will. the Conqueror to the sixth year of K. Will. and Q. Mary With a List of the Nobility and the number of the Lords and Commons in both Houses of Parliament and many other useful particulars Price one shilling 2. THE History of the House of Orange Or a Brief Relation of the Glorious and Magnanimous Atchievements of his Majestie 's Renowned Predecessors and likewise of His own Heroick Actions till the Late Wonderful Revolution Together with the History of K. William and Q. Mary c. Being an Impartial Account of the most Remarkable Passages from their Majesties Happy Accession to the Throne to this time By R. B. Price one shilling 3. THE History of the two late Kings Charles the II. and James the II. being an Impartial account of the most remarkable Transactions during their Reigns and the secret French and Popish Intrigues in those Times With a Relation of the happy Revolution Pr. 1s 4. THE History of Oliver Cromwel being an Impartial Account of all the Battles Sieges and other Military Atchievements wherein he was ingaged in England Scotland and Ireland and likewise of his Civil Administrations while he had the Supreaâ— Government till his Death Relating only mothers of Fact without Reflection or Observation By R.B. pr. 1 s. 5. THE Wars in England Scotland and Ireland containing an Account of all the Bettels Sieges and other remarkable Transactions which happened from the beginning of the Reign of K. Charles I. His Tryal at large with his last Speech Pr. 1s 6. HIstorical Remarks and Observations of the Antient and Present State of London and Westminster shewing the Foundations Walls Gates Towers Bridges Churches Rivers Wards Halls Companies Government Courts Hospitals Schools Inns of Courts Charters Franchises and Privileges thereof with the most remarkable Accidents as to Wars Fires Plagues and other occurrences for above 903 years past Pr. 1 s. 7. ADmirable Curiosities Rarities and Wonders in England Scotland and Ireland or an account of many remarkable persons and places and likewise of the Battles Sieges prodigious Earthquakes Tempests Inundations Thunders