£ I ■ 8 mil 1 o ABRIDGMENT HISTORY OF ENGLAND, BY JOHN LINGARD, D.D. with CONTINUATION EROM 1688 TO THE REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA, By JAMES BURKE, Esq., A.B. TO WHICH IS ADDED Ptarjjhral %tii% artir (QnzdmxB, abagieb to % Wist of Htljools, By M. J. KERNE Y, A.M. BALTIMORE: PUBLISHED BY JOHN MURPHY & CO. No. 1T8 MARKET STREET. PITTSBURG....GEORGB QUIGLEY. Sold h>j Booksellers generally. 1S55. S" Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by JOHN MURPHY & CO. in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Maryland. 3CS* THE LIBRARY! or CONGRESS WAS HINQTO W *H|P PREFACE. At no previous period, perhaps, was the study of English history of more importance than at the present ; an abridgment, therefore, of Dr. Lingard's history for the use of schools, cannot prove otherwise than acceptable to those charged with the in- struction of youth. A desire has frequently been expressed that such an abridgment might be given to the public ; and to accom- plish this object, to furnish a text-book of English history, which may be freely placed in the hands of the young, is the design of the following work. To speak of the merits of Dr. Lingard's History of England — a work proverbial for its accuracy and impartiality — is deemed superfluous. For more than a quarter of a century this great work has been before the public : it has passed through the fiery ordeal of hostile criticism, yet not a single statement penned by its learned author has been proven to be erroneous. Its style is pure and classical; but in all the higher qualifications of history, in the fulness of its details, in its clear and methodical arrange- ment, in its deep and patient research, it stands without a rival. The following Abridgment has been carefully prepared from the last edition of the larger work, published under the supervision of its distinguished author; it will be found to contain all the im- portant and most interesting portions of the original. It em- bodies the spirit, and retains the language of the original work, 4 PREFACE. except when the change of a word was found necessary for a proper connection of the different parts. The Continuation has been compiled by an author long and favorably known to literature. It passes over a period fraught with events of the deepest interest, and faithfully and impartially records the most important transactions. The Sketch of the British Constitution, the Abstract of Geo- graphy of England in Saxon times, the List of Eminent Natives, and the Marginal Notes, will add much to the interest of the work, and will be found useful to the student by way of reference. The Questions, which have been added to the work, will greatly facilitate the labor of the pupil, and will be found exceedingly convenient for the teacher. Baltimore, January, 1855. CONTENTS. Sketch of the Constitution of the British Empire page 15 Distinguished Natives of Great Britain and Ireland 19 Geography of England under the Saxons 21 Kings and Queens of England 22 The present Royal Family 23 CHAPTER I.— Roman Britain. Caesar twice invades Britain — The British Tribes — Their Manners — Religion — Government — Gradual Conquest of Britain by the Romans — Its state under the Emperors — Conversion of the Natives to Christianity — The Romans abandon the Island: A. C. 55 to A. D. 449 Page 25-3S. CHAPTER II.— Anglo-Saxons. The Saxons found eight distinct Kingdoms — The Natives retire to the Western Coast — The reigns of the Saxon Bretwaldas, and of other Saxon Kings, down to Alfred — Account of the writers Bede and Alcuin — Founda- tion of the English Monarchy under Egbert. A. D. 449 to 871. ..Page 38-42. CHAPTER III.— Alfred the Great. His Birth — Education — Accession to the Throne — His Contests with the Danes — His Reverses — His Success — His "Victories — His Labors in favor of Literature— His Death. A. D. 849 to 901 Page 43-51. CHAPTER IV.— Anglo-Saxons Continued. Edward — Athelstan — Edmund — Edred — Edwy — Edward the Martyr — Ethel- red— Edmund Ironsides. A. D. 901 to 1016 Page 52-57. CHAPTER V.— The Danes. Canute— Harold Harefoot— Hardicanute. A. D. 1016 to 1042 Page 57, 58. CHAPTER VI.— Saxon Line Restored. Edward the Confessor— Harold the Second. A. D. 1042 to 1066. ..Page 59-66. CHAPTER ViL— Manners and Customs oftiie Anglo-Saxons. ..Page 67-74. 1* 5 6 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII.— William the First. William is crowned — Goes to Normandy — Returns to England — Subjects and oppresses the Natives — Insurrection of the Normans — Rebellion of Robert, his son — His War with France — His Death and Character. A. D. 1066 to 1087 Page 74-80. CHAPTER IX.— The Feudal System. Military Tenant — His Duty — The nature of his Fees — Fees of Inheritance — The grievance of Fees — The restrictions when the heirs were Females — Sources of the King's Revenue Page 80-S5. CHAPTER X.— William the Second. William succeeds— His Wars with his Brother — He invades Scotland — He per- secutes Archbishop Anselm — His Death and Character. A. D. 1087 to 1100 Page 86-90. CHAPTER XL— Henry the First. Accession of Henry — England invaded by Robert — Henry invades Normandy —Takes Robert prisoner. A. D. 1100 to 1135 Page 91-110. CHAPTER XII.— Stephen. Accession of Stephen — Invasion of the Scots — Battle of the Standard — Ma- tilda lands in England — Stephen is taken prisoner, and released — Matilda leaves the kingdom — Henry asserts the claim of his Mother — Death of Ste- phen. A.D. 1135 to 1154 Page 110-118. CHAPTER XIIL— Henry the Second. Accession of Henry II. — The rise of Thomas a Becket — War in Wales- Dispute between Henry and the Primate — The Assassination of the Arch- bishop — Conquest of Ireland — Rebellion of the King's Sons — His Death and Character. A. D. 1154 to 1189 Page 118-145. CHAPTER XIV.— Richard the First. The succession of Richard — Massacre of the Jews — Crusade — Conquest of the Island of Cyprus — His Exploits in Palestine — His Return and Captivity — Troubles in England — The King is ransomed — His Death. A. D. 1189 to 1199 Page 145-152 CHAPTER XV.— John. The Accession of John — Captivity and Death of his Nephew — Dispute with Pope Innocent — Interdict — The King's submission — Magna Charta — Civil War— The offer of the Crown to Louis— The Death of John. A. D. 1199 to 1216 Page 153-165. CHAPTER XVI.— Henry the Third. Coronation of Henry — Departure of Louis — War with France — Controversy between Henry and his Barons — Battle of Lewis — Victory at Evesham — • Death of the King. A.D. 1216 to 1272 Page 166-177, CONTENTS. 7 CHAPTER XVIL— Edward the First. Edward returns from Palestine — Conquers Wales — Hostilities with Scotland — William Wallace — Conquers Scotland — Royal Exactions — Opposition of the Clergy and Barons — Bruce claims the Crown of Scotland — Edward prepares to invade Scotland— His Death. A. D. 1271 to 1307 Page 178-194. CHAPTER XVIIL— Edward the Second. Coronation of Edward — War in Scotland — Battle at Bannockburn — Bruce in- vades Ireland — Truce with Scotland — War with his Barons — The Queen makes war on the King — The King is deposed and murdered. A.D. 1307 to 1327 Page 195-210. CHAPTER XIX.— Edward the Third. Campaign against the Scots — Death of the Earl of Kent — Fall and Execution of Mortimer — Edward claims the Crown of France — Expedition to Flanders — Truce — Renewal of the War ; Victory at Creci — Renewal of the War with France — Victory of Poitiers — Death of the Black Prince — Death of Edward. A. D. 1327 to 1377 Page 211-235. CHAPTER XX.— Richard the Second. Coronation of Richard — Insurrection of the people — Wycliffe — Invasion of Scotland — The King goes to Ireland — The despotism of Richard — He pro- ceeds to Ireland a second time — Henry of Lancaster rebels — The King is made prisoner and deposed. A. D. 1377 to 1399 Page 235-258. CHAPTER XXL— Henry the Fourth. Coronation of the King — The Death of Richard — Henry invades Scotland — Rebellion of the Percies, and that of Glendower — Transactions with France —The Death of Henry. A. D. 1399 to 1413 Page 258-270. CHAPTER XXIL— Henry the Fifth. The Succession of Henry — Invasion of France — Battle of Azincourt — Second Invasion of France — Made Regent of France — His success in France — His Death and Character. A. D. 1413 to 1422 Page 270-281. CHAPTER XXIIL— Henry the Sixth. Government during the minority — Siege of Orleans — Joan d'Arc — Charles is crowned at Rheims and Henry at Paris — The King's Marriage — Loss of the French Provinces — Cade's Insurrections — The Duke of York is declared heir to the throne — He is killed in battle — His son Edward is proclaimed King. A. D. 1422 to 1461 Page 282-295. CHAPTER XXIV.— Edward the Fourth. Misfortunes of the Lancastrians — Henry VI. is made prisoner — Insurrection — Edward is made prisoner — His release — Clarence and Warwick leave the kingdom, and return — Edward is expelled, and Henry restored — Edward re- turns — His victory at Barnet — Death of Henry — War with France — Death of the King. A. D. 1461 to 1483 Page 295-305. 8 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXV.— Edward the Fifth. The conduct of the Duke of Gloucester — The Duke is made Protector- Penance of Jane Shore — He aspires to the Crown — The Crown is offered to him— He accepts it. A. D. 1483 Page 305-308. CHAPTER XXVL— Richard the Third. Coronation of Richard — The death of his two nephews — Conspiracy against him — He raises an army against the Earl of Richmond — Is killed in the battle of Bosworth. A. D. 1483 to 1489 . Page 309-313. CHAPTER XXVII.— Henry the Seventh. The Coronation of Henry — The Settlement of the Crown — Insurrection in favor of the pretended Earl of Warwick — War in Bretagne — Imposture of Perkin Warbeck — Marriage and Death of Prince Arthur — Henry's Death and Character. A. D. 1485 to 1509 Page 313-324. CHAPTER XXVIIL— Henry the Eighth. The Accession and Marriage of Henry — War with France — Defeat of the Scots at Flodden — The Rise and Power of Wolsey — Execution of the Duke of Buckingham — Wolsey aspires to the Papacy — Peace with France — Origin of the Reformation — Henry writes against Luther — Is declared Defender of the Faith — Anne Boleyn — Disgrace of Wolsey — The rise of Cromwell — The King marries Anne Boleyn — Cranmer — The King assumes the title of Head of the Church — Papal Bull against Henry — Dissolution of the Monas- teries — Death of Queen Catherine — Marriage with Anne of Cleves — Fall of Cromwell — Marriage with Catherine Howard — The King's last illness — His Death and Character. A. D. 1509 to 1542 Page 325-370. CHAPTER XXIX.— Edward the Sixth. Hertford made Protector — Progress of the Reformation — The Lord Admiral arrested and beheaded — Troubles with Lady Mary — Foreign Preachers — Somerset arrested and executed — Death of the King. A. D. 1547 to 1553 Page 370-385. CHAPTER XXX.— Mary. Lady Jane Grey proclaimed Queen — Execution of Northumberland — The Queen restores the ancient service — Elizabeth conforms — Insurrection — Elizabeth sent to the Tower — Mary's marriage with Philip — Reconciliation with Rome — Persecution of the Reformers — Departure of Philip — Death of Gardiner — War with France — Victory of St. Quintin's — Loss of Calais — Death and Character of Mary. A. D. 1553 to 1558 Page 386-412. CHAPTER XXXL— Elizabeth. Accession of Elizabeth — Abolition of Catholic worship — War in Scotland — Re- turn of Mary Stuart — Elizabeth's suitors — Penal statutes — Thirty-nine Arti- cles — Queen of Scotland marries Darnley — Assassination of Rizzio: of Darnley — Mary marries Bothwell — The misfortunes of Mary — She seeks an asylum in England — Persecution of the Puritans : the Catholics — Plots for the liberation of Mary Stuart — Proceedings against Mary — Her trial and execution — Philip of Spain determines to invade England — The sailing of the Armada — Transactions in Ireland — Rebellion of Tyrone — Declining health of the Queen— Her Death and character. A. D. 1558 to 1603. Pa & ? and the Saxon second battle was soon fought, in which the chieftains. Battle _,. ,_ _ _ „ , ■ t a mi fought at Ayles- Britons were defeated, and fled to London, lne ford. British power was not yet broken, however, for the natives for many years maintained a severe struggle with the Saxons. Hen- gist lived till the year 488, and then left the peaceable possession of Kent to his son Oisc. The British writers attribute the loss of Kent to an attachment which Vortigern entertained for Bowena, the daughter of Hen- gist. These authors state that Vortigern mar- opinions of Bri- ried Bowena, and bestowed on Hengist the king- tish writers. dom of Kent. Vortimir, however, the son of Vortigern, ex- pelled the Saxons, and Hengist wandered for five years upon the ocean. At the death of Vortimir, his father, who was still alive, recovered the power which he had lost, and Hengist demanded the restoration of the territories of which Vortimer had deprived him. Three hundred deputies were appointed to settle the ques- tion, but during the conference all the British deputies were assassinated except Vortigern. He was detained in captivity, and in order to ransom him, the natives yielded to Hengist the south-eastern portion of Britain. Such is the British narrative, but it is contradicted by strong evidence, and seems to have been invented by the natives, to account for the settlement of the Saxons without admitting conquest. While Hengist and his successors were content with Kent, a new band of adventurers landed, in the year 477, under the com- mand of JElla and his three sons, who, after several severe battles with the natives, succeeded, after thirteen years' warfare, in founding the kingdom of Sussex, or of the South Saxons. Cerdic, with another band of Saxons, landed in the south-west, and by repeated victories extended the Saxon cerdic extends power in that part of the island, and founded the the Saxon powcr ' kingdom of Wessex, or of the West Saxons. A chief named Erkenwin landed on the north bank of the Thames, and founded the kingdom of Essex, or of the East Saxons. 40 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A.D 596. Within one hundred and fifty years from the arrival of Hen- gist, the natives had retired "before their enemies from the coast to the mountains, and had left about half of South Britain in Eight Saxon the possession of the Saxons. Eight new king- kmgdoms formed. r - , _ ® _° a.d.586. doms had been formed: Kent, Sussex, Essex, East Anglia, Bernicia, Deira, Wessex, and Mercia. Sometimes the Saxon kingdoms are only considered seven ; as Bernicia and Deira became united. These were in the north. Mercia com- prised the interior of the island, as far as the mountains of Wales. East Anglia comprehended Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and Ely. We have already explained the situations of the other Saxon kingdoms. The Britons maintained a vigorous re- sistance, led by several distinguished chieftains, of whom Arthur has obtained the foremost place in renown, though of his history scarcely any thing is accurately known. Some of the Britons, to escape from the Saxons, crossed over to Armorica, which still retains the name of Bretagne. Although the Saxon sovereigns were independent of each other, yet it generally happened that one monarch exercised a prepon- The Bretwaida, derating influence, and he was designated by the orBritain-wieider! title of Bretwaida, or " Britain-wielder." Seven Saxon kings had this honour : they were JEUa of Sussex, Ceawlin of Wessex, Ethelbert of Kent, Redwald of East Anglia, Edwin of Northumberland, (comprising Bernicia and Beira,) Oswald of the Bernician portion of Northumberland, and Oswio, the brother of Oswald. The most distinguished of the monarchs entitled Bretwaida was Ethelbert, king of Kent, who reigned for fifty-six years. In Pope Gregory his reign, Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine IT convert 18 the to convert the Saxons to Christianity. Augustine, Saxons. ^-^ f or ^y companions, landed on the Isle of Thanet. Ethelbert (whose queen, a Frenchwoman, was a Chris- tian) received the missionaries under an oak-tree in an open field. Before Augustine were borne a silver cross and a banner representing the Redeemer ; behind him, his companions walked in procession, while the air resounded with the anthems which they sang. Ethelbert received them courteously, permitted them to preach, but was not then converted. He even went so far as 597 A. D.] ANGLO-SAXONS. 41 to promise to support the missionaries at his own expense. They excited the admiration of all who came to visit them : the people approved of a religion which inspired such piety. The king viewed these feelings of his subjects with pleasure, and on the feast of Pentecost, in the year 597, he professed himself a Chris- tian, and received the sacrament of baptism. On the following Christmas, ten thousand of his subjects followed the royal example. The pontiff was highly pleased with the success of Augustine, and wrote to Ethelbert, sending him presents. The king allotted Canterbury and the surrounding district to the missionaries, and Augustine became prelate. At this period also the see of Rochester was founded, and Ethelbert built suitable places of worship, besides converting the pagan temples into Christian churches. Augustine employed much of his time in endeavouring to restore among the British tribes the ancient dis- cipline of the Church. The British Christian bishops met Augus- tine in Worcestershire, and conferred respecting some differences which existed in discipline between them and Rome. The points in dispute had reference to the time of celebrating Easter, and to the mode of administering baptism. The conference did not end satisfactorily. It is pleasing, however, to reflect, that there does not appear to have been even the smallest difference in doctrine between the tenets of the Christian bishops and the religion taught by Augustine. Ethelbert published during his long and useful life many im- portant laws, in order to regulate the administra- Lawa of Ethel . tion of justice. A pecuniary fine was appointed bert - to each crime, and a criminal was compelled to make compensa- tion to the violated justice of the country, as well as to the family of the injured party. The fine called were was the sum at which the life of each person was rated ; that which was denominated mund was intended to protect individuals from insult, by pro- viding for the security of each according to rank. In addition to the history of the monarchs denominated " Bret- walda," the Anglo-Saxon annals are taken up with numerous de- tails respecting those kings who did not obtain that distinctive appellation. The sovereigns of Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex occupy the leading position. There is not much in this portion 42 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A.D. 700. of English history to interest the student, presenting, as it does, little more than one continued scene of perfidy, treason, and murder. Amid this social chaos, it is pleasing to discover two distin- guished scholars, Bede and Alcuin, whose literary superiority was acknowledged by their contemporaries, and to whose writings and exertions Europe was principally indebted for that portion of learning which she possessed from the eighth to the eleventh Bede and Ai- century. Bede was a native of Sunderland, and rary productions, was educated by the monks of Jarrow, on the banks of the Tyne. He studied every science which survived the ruin of the Roman Empire, and has astonished every reader of his works with the depth and variety of his attainments. His principal production was the " Ecclesiastical History of the Na- tion of the Angles." Bede died at Jarrow, in the year 733. Alcuin was a native of York; his literary reputation attracted students to him from G-aul and Germany, and subsequently led to his being invited to the court of Charlemagne, where he passed the principal portion of his life. His works consisted mostly of poems, essays on scientific and theological subjects, and letters to the leading characters of the age. After numerous and protracted struggles, between the Saxon princes, for superiority, Egbert, king of Wessex, triumphed over Egbert unites all opponents, and united the several Anglo-Saxon domsinto^nemS nations into one great and powerful monarchy. fnvaded^by^the This WaS &h ° ut the y ear 828 ' At tllis P^od, Danes. Egbert, having obtained the sovereignty of almost the entire of England, saw himself assailed by a foreign and most dangerous enemy. The Danes who inhabited Jutland and the islands of the Baltic lived by piracy, and had frequently made descents upon the coast of England. They effected a landing on the banks of the river Dart, in the year 834, and plundered the country. In the following year they landed in Cornwall, and obtained the support of the Britons. A battle ensued between the Danes and Egbert, in which the Saxon king was victorious. This was the last exploit of Egbert, who soon afterward died, after a long, glorious, and fortunate reign. Egbert is always mentioned as the first king of England, as he was the first who united the Anglo-Saxon monarchies under one crown. 849 A. D.] ALFRED THE GREAT. 43 CHAPTER III. His Birth ; Education ; Accession to the Throne — His Contests with the Danes — His Reverses — His Success — His Victories — His Labours in favour of Lite- rature— His Death.— A. D. 849 to A.D. 901. "With the name of Alfred, posterity has associated the epithet of " the Great." The kings, his predecessors, are chiefly known to us by their actions in the field of battle : it is the praise of Alfred that he was not only a warrior, but also the patron of the arts and the legislator of his people. Their history has been compressed into a few pages, but his merits will deserve a more detailed narration. Alfred was born at Wantage ; Alfred horn at he was the youngest of the four sons of Ethelwulf Wantage, a.d. 849. and Osburga, the daughter of Oslac. The beauty, vivacity, and playfulness of the boy endeared him to his parents, who affected to foresee that he would one day prove the chief ornament of the race of Gerdic. It was this partiality which induced the king to send him, when only in his fifth year, with a numerous retinue, to Rome, to be crowned by the pontiff, and afterward, when the royal pilgrim himself visited the apostolic city, Alfred was selected to accompany his father. The Anglo-Saxons of this period had degenerated from the lite- rary*reputation of* their ancestors. The thanes, dividing the time between their occupations of war and the pleasures of the chase, despised the tranquil pursuits of knowledge, and directed the at- tention of their children to those exercises which impart habits of strength, agility, and courage : Osburga, however, had the merit of awakening in the mind of Alfred that a passion for o i . i l'Ti 1 loarning awaken- passion tor learning by which he was so honour- ed in nis mind, ably distinguished from his contemporaries. Holding in her hand a Saxon poem, elegantly written and beautifully illuminated, she offered it as a reward to the first of her children whose proficiency should enable him to read it. The emulation of Alfred was ex- cited ; he ran to his master, applied to the task with diligence, 44 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A.D. 871, performed it to the satisfaction of the queen, and received the prize of his industry. But soon, by the death of both parents, the education of the young prince devolved on his elder brothers, to whom the pursuits of literature were probably objects of contempt. His proficiency under their care was limited to the art of reading, from which he His early educar could derive no other immediate advantage than tion limited to the , , _ . a , , ' , « , art of reading. the perusal ot a few oaxon poems and books of de- votion, written in the vernacular idiom. It proved, however, to him an acquisition of considerable importance, for it laid the foundation of his subsequent improvement ; it urged his curiosity to explore those treasures of history and science which were locked up in the obscurity of a learned language, and it enabled him at a later period to apply with success to the study of the Latin tongue j but his health was then impaired by disease, his mind occupied with the cares of government, and in the company of his friends he often lamented that indulgence which had per- mitted him to throw away the years of his youth in pursuits and diversions from which he had reaped nothing but ignorance and regret. When, upon the death of his brother, the unanimous voice of the West Saxons called Alfred to the throne, in 871, he at first declined that honour. His objections having been overruled, the Archbishop of Canterbury placed the crown upon his head. He Alfred is called was soon called upon to contend with the Danes, Javage^of ' "the wno na( ^ keen f° r some tmie organizing their Danes - forces. Alfred induced them to quit the West Saxon territories for a valuable present. The king of Mercia also hoped to purchase the forbearance of the powerful North- men, but when they had received his gifts they treated him with derision, and burnt down the monastery of Repton. The entire of the Anglo-Saxon territories soon became subject to the in- vaders, except the districts north of the Tyne and south of the Thames. Wherever they came their path was marked with the evidence of their cruelty; the abbey of Lindisfarne was re- duced to ashes, while the bishop and monks fled to the mountains ; at Coldingham, the nuns disfigured their faces with wounds in order to avoid the insults of the barbarians, and preserved theii 876 A. D.] ALFRED THE GREAT. 45 chastity though they perished in the flames. In 876 the Danes under G-uthrun invaded Wessex; Alfred opposed them, but ob- serving their strength, thought it wiser to negotiate with the enemy. They broke through the most solemn engagements, and, marching rapidly in the night-time, they took possession of Exeter. Alfred, unable to cope with the Danes on land, resolved to op- pose them on the sea. He therefore speedily equipped a few ships, and manned them with some foreign adventurers. He soon succeeded in capturing a Danish ship of war, which circum- stance elevated his hopes. Alfred obtained some other advan- tages over the enemy, and the Danes retired into Mercia. They soon, however, appeared again in Wessex, and Alfred being taken by surprise, (for G-uthrun had adopted the unusual course of a winter campaign, when Alfred's troops were not under arms,) fled to a secluded retreat in Somersetshire, which was Alfred secludes afterward known as Ethelingey, or Prince's Island. setsMre. It is said that he was entertained one day, at this period of his life, in the cottage of a swineherd, and that his hostess desired him to watch some cakes which she was baking on the hearth : Alfred's mind was deeply occupied with other matters, and the cakes were burnt, for which he was severely reprimanded by the woman. Alfred in his retirement carefully watched for some opportunity to expel the Danes. His hopes were roused by the tidings that a Saxon chief, Odun, had gained a victory over the Danes, and had captured their standard, on which was worked a raven, and to which they attached a superstitious importance. The spirit of the Saxons revived, and Alfred, by means of trusty messengers, invited his countrymen to meet him on a certain day, in Selwood Forest. On the appointed day the summons was cheerfully obeyed, Alfred was hailed as the avenger of his country, the wood echoed with acclamation, and every heart beat with the confidence of victory. Preparations were made without delay for an engage- ment with the Danes, who, under the command of G-uthrun, were at no great distance. It is said by some historians that Alfred, disguised as a harper, visited the Danish camp, where he observed their negligence, and learned their ulterior objects. This story 46 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A.D 880. He defeats the is disbelieved by many writers. The battle was Danes at Ethan- _ ' 1V1 i« * n -i -r> • \ i dime. iought near .Ltnandime, (now called .Brixton,) and both, armies displayed the most signal courage. The Danes were defeated and fled. Guthrun soon afterward surrendered, and, (according to treaty,) with thirty of his officers, embraced Chris- tianity, Alfred being his sponsor. Guthrun retreated to Mercia, and afterward to East Anglia, and though solicited by the Danes to renew the war with Alfred, he remained faithful to his engage- ments with that monarch. The retreat of Guthrun gave to Wossex a long respite from the horrors of war, and fifteen years of comparative tranquillity He attends to the left Alfred at leisure to attend to the improvement JSrtfS ^d civilization of his people. The army claimed people. n j s fi rs t care . the desultory but incessant attacks of the Danes had demonstrated the necessity of organizing a force which should be ready to take the field at the first alarm, and to march to any part of the coast that was menaced with an attack ) but at the same time the scarcity arising from the fre- quent suspensions of agricultural labor, showed the impolicy of collecting together the great mass of the population. Alfred adopted an improved plan, which, while it was calculated to oppose a formidable force to the descents of the Northmen, secured a suf- ficient supply of hands for the cultivation of the soil. The de- fence of the towns and cities was intrusted to the courage and fidelity of the inhabitants, under the direction of the king's Ge- refa, or reeve ; of the rest of the free population, the males were divided into two classes, to each of which was allotted in rotation a regular term of service. They were commanded by the king or the ealdorman of the county; and instead of pay, received from the national stores a proportionate supply of provisions. The utility of fortifications had been sufficiently demonstrated by the example of the Danes, and the successful defence of Kynwith. By the orders of Alfred, a survey was made of the He huiids castles coas ^ an d navigable rivers, and castles were built in and fortifies the places the best fitted to prevent the landing, or to im- coast, to prevent r r . . the landing of the pede the progress of an enemy. Yet in this under- taking, ot which the necessity was so apparent, he had to encounter numerous difficulties, arising from the prejudices 883 A. D.] ALFRED THE GREAT. #J and indolence of his people. In many instances the execution of the royal orders was postponed, in others the buildings were aban- doned as soon as the foundations had been laid. But occasional descents of the Danes came in aid of the king's authority; those who had lost their property by their negligence were eager to re- pair the fault by their industry • and before the close of his reign, Alfred had the satisfaction to see more than fifty castles built ac- cording to his directions. The first attempt which the king made to create a navy has been already mentioned. His success stimulated him to new ex- ertions, and to acquire knowledge and to do honour to the naval profession, he often accompanied his squadrons in their expedi- tions. On one of these occasions he met four sail of Northmen ; two were captured by boarding, and their crews put to the sword; the commanders of the other two, terrified by the fate Hi3 SUCC6SS over of their companions and their own loss, threw down the Danes h ? sea - their arms, and on their knees solicited mercy. On another oc- casion, the Saxon fleet surprised and captured thirteen sail in the river Stour ; every man on board was massacred ; but the same evening, the victors, in their return, were intercepted by a Danish squadron, and completely defeated. As soon as the king became acquainted with the arts of attack and the modes of defence practised by the northern nations, several improvements suggested themselves to his superior sagacity. He ordered ships to be built of larger dimensions than those of the Danes; their decks were higher, and their length double. The He i ncreaseg tho increased elevation gave his mariners an advantage size of his ships - over their enemies, who were compelled to direct their strokes up- ward, and the greater bulk of the vessels added to their stability in the water, while the Danish ships were agitated by the slightest motion. That their celerity might not be retarded by the addi- tional weight, he augmented the number of the rowers, and gave to all his vessels thirty, to several more than thirty oars on a side. This fleet was so judiciously disposed in the different harbours, that the marauding squadrons of the barbarians found it difficult to approach or to abandon the shore with impunity. From measures of defence against a foreign enemy, the king turned his attention to the domestic economy of the country 48 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A.D. 885. During the long period of Danish devastation, the fabric of civil government had been nearly dissolved. The courts of judicature had been closed, injuries were inflicted without provocation and retaliated without mercy; and the Saxon, like the Dane, had im- bibed a spirit of insubordination and a contempt for peace, and Alfred remedies justice, and religion. To remedy these evils, Al- fXwedtKnv^ fred restored, enlarged, and improved the salutary eion of the Danes, institutions of his forefathers, and from the statutes of Ethelbert, Ina, Offa, and other Saxon princes, composed a code of law adapted to the circumstances of the time and the habits of his subjects. But legislative enactments would have been of little avail had not the king insured their execution by an undertaking of no small difficulty, but which, by his vigilance and perseverance, he ultimately accomplished. The Saxon juris- prudence had established an ample gradation of judicature, which diverged in different ramifications, from the king's court into every hamlet in the kingdom ; but of the persons invested with judicial authority very few were qualified for so important an office ; almost all were ignorant, many were despotic ; the power- ful refused to acquiesce in their decisions, and the defenceless complained of their oppression. Both had frequent recourse to the equity of Alfred, who listened as cheerfully to the complaints of the lowest as of the highest among his subjects. Every ap- peal was heard by him with the most patient attention ; in cases of importance he revised the proceeding at his leisure, and the inferior magistrates trembled at the impartiality and severity of their sovereign. If their fault proceeded from ignorance or in- Severity against advertence, they were reprimanded or removed, ac- corrupt judges. cording to the magnitude of the offence; but neither birth, nor friends, nor power could save the corrupt or malicious judge ; he was made to suffer the punishment which he had unjustly inflicted; and, if we may believe an ancient au- thority, forty-four magistrates were, by the king's order, executed in one year for their informal and iniquitous proceedings. This severity was productive of the most beneficial consequences ; the judges were careful to acquire a competent degree of knowledge; their decisions became accordant to the law ; the commission of crime was generally followed by the infliction of punishment, and 885 A. D.] ALFRED THE GREAT. 49 theft and murder were rendered as rare as they had formerly been prevalent. To prove the reformation of his subjects, Alfred is said to have suspended valuable bracelets on the highway, which no one ventured to remove ; and, as a confirmation, we are told that if a traveller lost his purse on the road, he would at the distance of a month find it lying untouched in the same spot. These are probably the fictions of a posterior age, but they serve to show the high estimation in which Alfred's administration of justice was held by our forefathers. The decline of learning in the Saxon states had been rapidly accelerated by the Danish invasions; the churches and monaste- ries, the only academies of the age, had been destroyed ; and at the accession of Alfred, Wessex could hardly boast of a single scholar able to translate a Latin book into the English tongue. The king, who from his early years had been animated with the most ardent passion for knowledge, endeavoured to His efforts to re- . „ • -i • ♦, • , -n i i . i • vive the condition infuse a similar spirit into all who aspired to his of literature, favour. For this purpose, he invited to his court the most dis- tinguished scholars of his own and of foreign countries. Pleg- mund and Werfrith, Ethelstan and Werwulf visited him from Mercia; John, of Old Saxony, left the monastery of Corbie for an establishment at Ethelingey ; Asser, of St. David's, was induced by valuable presents to reside with the king during six months in the year ; and an honourable embassy to Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, returned with Grimbald, the celebrated provost of St. Omer. With their assistance Alfred began, in his thirty-ninth year, to apply to the study of Roman literature, and opened schools in different places for the instruction of his subjects. It was his will that the children of every free man, whose circum- stances would allow it, should acquire the elementary arts of read- ing and writing ; and that those who were designed for civil or ecclesiastical employments should moreover be instructed in the Latin language. It was a misfortune which the king frequently lamented, that Saxon literature contained no books of science : " I have often wondered/' says he, "that the illustrious scholars who once flou- rished among the English, and who had read so many foreign works, never thought of transferring the most useful into their 5 50 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 885 He translates so- °wn language." To supply the deficiency, Alfred Se al slxon 3 lan- himself undertook the task. Of his translations. e ua ee. two were historical and two didactic ; the first were the " Ecclesiastical History of the English/' by Bede, and the " Epitome" of Orosius, the best abridgment of ancient his- tory then extant; both works calculated to excite and gratify the curiosity of his subjects. Of the others, one was meant for ge- neral reading, " The Consolation of Philosophy," by Boetius, a treatise deservedly held in high estimation at that period, and the second was destined for the instruction of the clergy, the " Pastoral of Gregory the Great," a work recommended both by its own excellence and the reputation of its author. Of this he sent a copy to every bishop in his dominions, with a request that it might be preserved in the cathedral for the use of the diocesan clergy. In the arrangement of his time, his finances, and his domestic The arrange- concerns, Alfred was exact and methodical; the Sstoa^anddo- officers of his household were divided into three mestic concerns, bodies, which succeeded each other in rotation, and departed at the end of the month, the allotted period of their service ; of each day he gave one-third to sleep and necessary re- freshments, the remainder was divided between the duties of his station and works of piety and charity. His treasurer was ordered to separate his revenue into two moieties; the first he subdivided into three parts, of which one was destined to reward his servants and ministers, another to supply presents for the strangers who visited his court, and the third to pay the nume- rous bodies of workmen whom he employed. For he erected palaces in different parts of his dominions ; repaired and embel- lished those which had been left by his predecessors, and rebuilt London and several other towns which the Danes had reduced to heaps of ruins. In all these undertakings we are told that he displayed an improved taste, and considerable magnificence. Among his artists were numbers of foreigners, attracted by his offers and the fame of his liberality ; and by frequent conversa- tion with them, he is said to have acquired a theoretical acquaint- ance with their professions which astonished the most experienced workmen. The other moiety of his revenue was parcelled out 901 A. D.] ALFRED THE GREAT. 51 into four portions. One was devoted to the support of his school, his favorite project. Another was given to the two monasteries which he had founded, one at Shaftesbury for nuns, at the head of which he placed his daughter, Ethelgiva; another at Ethelin- gey for monks, which he peopled with foreigners, because the Danish devastations had abolished the monastic institute among his own subjects. The third portion he employed in relieving the necessities of the indigent, to whom on all occasions he was a most bountiful benefactor. From the fourth he drew the alms which he annually distributed to different churches. They were not confined to his own dominions, but scattered through Wales, Northumbria, Armorica, and Gaul. Often he sent considerable presents to Rome, sometimes to the nations in the Mediterranean and to Jerusalem : on one occasion to the Indian Christians at Meliapour. Swithelm, the bearer of the royal alms, brought back to the king several oriental pearls and aromatic liquors. Alfred's prosperity was not destined to be unclouded in his latter years. In 893, the long peace which he had enjoyed was interrupted by Hastings, the most renowned of Hastings im-ades i • mi. -j i j j • xr x ui, Kent and is defeat- the sea-kmgs. 1 his invader landed in Kent with ed by Alfred. a large force : Alfred marched against him, and after much la- bour and time succeeded in defeating him. Some of his soldiers settled in East Anglia and Northumbria, and the remainder re- turned to Normandy, where the colonists from the north of Eu- rope had acquired a firm footing. Alfred died on the 28th of October, in the year 901, leaving two sons and three daughters. He divided his Death of Alfred. . . . . ii. i • The division of his lands among his sons, daughters, nephews, cousin, lands, and wife ; and left sums of money to the clergy, to the poor, and to the endowment of the church in which he would be in- terred. He strictly forbade his heirs from depriving of liberty those whom he had made free, directing that they should be per- mitted to serve any master they might choose. 52 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A.D.925. CHAPTER IV. Continued. Edward — Athelstan — Edmund — Edrei — Edwy — Edgar — Edward the Martyr— Ethelred— Edmund Ironside.— A. D. 901 to 1016. Alfred was succeeded by his second son, Edward, but his cousin, Ethelwald, opposed his claim. The witena-gemot, the great national assembly, overruled the pretensions of Ethelwald, and he took up arms ; the northern Danes assisted him, and he marched with a considerable army against Edward. In one of the battles which ensued, Ethelwald was killed, and Edward was left at rest to direct his attention to two objects which he had much at heart. These two objects, the union of Mercia with "VVessex, and the subjugation of the northern Danes, he in the course of some years effected. Entering Mercia at the head of an Edward enters army, he took the reigning sovereign, the princess Mercia and takes _* .^ I . x v ?• j. xxt Eifwina prisoner. Elrwma, prisoner, sent her a captive to Yvessex, abolished in Mercia all traces of separate government, and moulded the whole of the Saxon territories into one kingdom. Pursuing the same policy of conquest, he succeeded in subjugating almost all the Danish tribes to his control, and ultimately reduced the greater portion of England to his sway, while the Scots acknowledged him for their chief, and the princes of Wales paid him tribute. He died in 925, having established many religious foundations, the most important of which was the monastery of Winchester. 925. Athelstan; Edward left his crown by will to his son Athel- called the first mo . i • -n -i i -i • , • ,i c i narch of England, stan, wlio is called by historians the first monarch of England, because he extended his power over the entire of the island. He was crowned at Kingston, by Athelm, archbishop of Canterbury. When Sightric, the Danish king of Northum- berland, died, Athelstan invaded his territories, and the Danish princes fled. One of them, Anlaff, soon afterward having col- lected Scotch and Irish troops, returned and gave battle to Athel- stan at Brunanburgh, in Northumbria, where he was completely 955 A. D.] ANGLO-SAXONS. routed, and Athelstan became monarch of all England. One of his sisters was married to Hugo, father of the founder of the royal line of Capet, in France. Athelstan died in 941, regretted by his subjects, and admired by surrounding nations. He was generous to the poor ; he erected numerous churches ; his chari- ties were extensive, and he labored hard to secure for all his subjects the blessing of an impartial administration of justice. Athelstan was succeeded by his brother, Edmund, who reigned six years, and was assassinated at a feast, by Leoff, an outlaw. The reign of Edmund was marked 941 Edmund . hia by war with the Danes, who had taken arms reign is marked by J i "wars with the on the death of Athelstan, whose vigour had Danes, kept them in check. The war was varied in success, but ulti- mate victory fell to Edmund, and he transferred a large portion of the north of England to Malcolm, king of Scots. The children of Athelstan being too young, his brother, Edred, was chosen king. He reigned ten years. His reign was principally distinguished by the final sub- 946. Edred: he jugation of Northumbria, which province rose fiJSFS^E in arms at this period for the last time, and y ears - was again subdued. Edred divided Northumbria into shires, and gave to one of his generals, Osulf, the title of earl of Northum- berland. Much of the merit which historians attribute to Edred is due to his having followed the advice of his favorite ministers, Chancellor Turketul, and Dunstan, the abbot of Glastonbury. Turketul resigned the office of chancellor, and became abbot of the monastery at Croyland. Edred died after a reign of ten years, his constitution having been much enfeebled for a long time by a painful disease, from which he was scarcely ever free. The elder of Edmund's two sons, Edwy, who had in 945 been passed over, as being too young for the throne, was now chosen king, by the unanimous voice of 955. Edwy; a the national council. Although not more than gate prince, seventeen years of age, Edwy's character was already marked by the violence of his passions. It is related that on the day of his coronation he abruptly left the company of the nobility and clergy, to keep an appointment with his favorite, Ethelgina, and her daughter, both of whom are accused by historians of 5* 54 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 959. having sought to ingratiate themselves dishonorably with the young king. The nobles were indignant that their monarch should leave them for such company, and, at their request, Abbot Dunstan and the bishop of Lichfield persuaded, or, as some say, compelled the king to return to the banquet. Edwy retained a feeling of revenge for the affront thus put upon him, and, at the instigation of Ethelgina, persecuted Dunstan, who fled from his rage to Flanders. Edwy married, but as he did not abandon Ethelgina, the archbishop of Canterbury sent her out of England : she returned soon afterward, and was taken by the Mercians, who had revolted, and she was put to death. Edwy, who fled from the Mercians, took refuge in Wessex ; and his brother, Edgar, being chosen king of Mercia, it was agreed upon that civil war should not be prolonged, but that the two brothers should reign at the same time, the Thames being the boundary of their respective dominions. Edwy died suddenly in 959, and the thanes of Wessex having offered the throne to Edgar, the two kingdoms were again united under the same monarch. One of the first measures of Edgar was to recall Dunstan from exile. The abbot was appointed to the vacant see of 959. Edgar: he Worcester, subsequently to that of London, and recalls Dunstan. finally was made archbishop of Canterbury. Edgar has received the title of " peaceful j" as, during the sixteen years of his reign, he was never compelled to un- sheath the sword against either a foreign or domestic enemy. He frequently, however, displayed his military resources, for the purpose of checking any tendency to war which the Danes might possess. Every year he sailed round the island with a fleet of three hundred and sixty ships ; and this periodical parade had the effect of intimidating the northern chieftains. From the Welsh he exacted an annual tribute of the heads of three hundred wolves, instead of money ; and thus he rapidly caused the entire extirpation of that ferocious race of animals. Kenneth, king of Scots, visited Edgar, for the purpose of asking the province of Lothian for the Scottish crowm, and succeeded in his application. Edgar exhibited, in the internal administration of his kingdom, an example worthy of imitation ; he reformed abuses, dealt out equal justice to rich and poor, and removed any grievances of 175 A. D.] ANGLO-SAXONS: 55 which the people complained. He also devoted much of his attention to ecclesiastical affairs; and, assisted by the prelates, effected many improvements in church discipline. Edgar was not crowned until he had been thirteen years on the throne ; the ceremony was performed at Bath, with great splendor, and he afterward proceeded to Chester, where his barge was rowed down the Dee by eight tributary princes. Edgar died r He died in 975. in 975, two years after his coronation. He was of Elfrida. twice married; and of his second wife, Elfrida, the following story is told by the historian, William of Malmesbury, but by many the narrative is only deemed to be a mere romantic fable. This writer narrates that Elfrida was possessed of unparalleled beauty and accomplishments, and that Edgar commissioned Ethelwold, the son of his foster-father, Athelstan, to visit El- frida' s father, and report his opinion of the daughter. The heart of Ethelwold was captivated; he forgot his duty, wooed and married Elfrida; and, on his return, informed the king that although she might grace the house of a subject, she did not be- come the splendor of a throne. But the secret was quickly betrayed ; it reached the ears of the king, and he announced to his astonished favorite that he intended to visit the bride. Ethelwold now disclosed the whole transaction to his wife, and entreated her to conceal her beauty from the eyes of the king ; but Elfrida had ceased to love; and he appeared to her in the light of an enemy, who had deprived her of a crown. She received the king in her gayest attire, and employed all her art to engage the affections of her royal guest. Edgar was convinced of the perfidy of Ethelwold, and though he disguised his feelings for a time, he soon afterward, when they were hunting together, ran his spear through his body, and married Elfrida. The two sons of Edgar were children at the time of their father's death: Edward, who was the elder of the two, was only thirteen, Ethelred was only seven. A W5. Edward tho strong party, at whose head was Elgiva, the sassinated. 6 1S **" mother of Ethelred, opposed the accession of Edward; but, aided by Dunstan, the latter was chosen king. The young prince did not sway the sceptre for more than about four years. One morning, as he was hunting, he stopped at 56 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1003. Corfe Castle, the residence of his stepmother, Elgiva, and while drinking on liorseback, he was stabbed by an assassin. He put spurs to his horse, but soon fell from the saddle through weak- ness, and, being dragged along by the stirrup, was killed. At the age of ten years, Ethelred, the son of Edgar and Elgiva, succeeded to the throne. His reign was long and 978. Etheired unfortunate. He never possessed the affection succeeds to the „ , . , . , . . . . throne. of his subjects, and the northern pirates, hav- ing discovered that there was no sympathy between the people and the king, soon renewed their depredations. The horrors of invasion were aggravated by several years of scarcity, by a con- tagious disease among the cattle, and by a dysentery most fatal to the human species. For many years the war between the Danes and Saxons raged throughout the land with varying success. To rid himself of his inveterate enemies, Ethelred planned and executed a measure which will cover his name with everlasting infamy. His officers in the several towns and counties received secret orders from him to make arrangements in their respective He orders a mas- localities for a general massacre of the Danes on a sacre of the Danes. cer tain day. The time fixed was the 13th of No- vember, 1003, the festival of St. Brice. On that day a mas- sacre of the Danes took place, aggravated by every insult and barbarity which national hatred could suggest. The Danish chief, Sweyn, on hearing of the massacre, in which one of the victims was his own sister, resolved on vengeance ; and, in the following year, landed in England with a large force. For four years, war waged throughout England. Sweyn, having by numerous acts of fearful retaliation quenched his thirst for vengeance, consented to grant the Saxons peace, on receiving thirty-six thousand pounds of silver. As it was soon felt that the enormous sums given to the Danes had never purchased more than a temporary cessation of hostilities, Ethelred resolved to equip a large fleet for the permanent defence of the coast. Accordingly, a very large armament was collected at Sandwich, and the king in person took the command. Differences, however, soon broke out among the officers, one of whom sepa- rated from the fleet, taking with him twenty ships. A violent tempest destroyed a portion of the fleet, and the armament be- 1016 A. D.] THE DANES. 57 came useless. The Danes immediately reappeared on the coast, and recommenced their old system of plunder and massacre. Flushed with success, the Danes resolved on attempting not merely coasting depredations, but the conquest of the island. Several towns submitted to Sweyn ; and Ethelred, in despair, fled to Normandy, in 1014. Sweyn soon died, and Ethelred returned, and being welcomed by the Saxons, who had regained some of their old spirit, he reascended the throne. Canute, the son and successor of Sweyn, fled from England, but in the following year returned with a very large force. Ethelred was He dies after a then confined to bed, and, as his constitution was in ioie. broken, he sank under this fresh stroke. His protracted and calamitous reign ended in 1016. When Ethelred died, his son Edmund was proclaimed king. He opposed Canute with courage and boldness. A treaty was agreed to. England was divided between Canute ioie. Edmund and Edmund, but both kingdoms were obliged to claimed king, pay the tax known as Dane-geld. Edmund soon died, having reigned only seven months. Canute then became sole monarch of the entire kingdom. CHAPTER Y. %\i gam Canute— Harold Harefoot— Hardicanute.— A. D. 1016 to 1042. The first object of Canute was to strengthen his position on the throne. He feared the competition of Edward's children, and therefore sent them away to his half-brother, Olave, 1016. Canute: he king of Sweden. One of these children, Edmund, ^cSonf of" Ms died in his youth; the other, Edward, married En s lisn subjects. Agatha, daughter of the emperor of Germany. Canute married Emma, the widow of Ethelred: he laboured hard, by paying attention to the administration of the laws and by impartial 58 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1040. conduct, to win the affections of his English subjects. Canute frequently visited Denmark, and in 1026 he made a pilgrimage to Home. He became master of Norway by force of arms. He possessed the good sense to despise the flattery of those courtiers who wished to persuade him that his will could control even the elements. On one occasion, as he was sitting on the shore, near Southampton, he, to show the folly of his flatterers, commanded the sea to respect its sovereign ; the tide soon compelled him to retire, and he took the opportunity to read his flatterers a lecture on the weakness of earthly kings when compared with the power of that Supreme Being who rules the elements. Canute died in 1035, leaving by Emma a son, Hardicanute, and a daughter, Gunihlda ; and by Alfgive two illegitimate sons, Sweyn and Ha- rold. Sweyn became king of Norway, and Harold, surnamed Harefoot, succeeded Canute on the throne of England. Although Harold was illegitimate, and although by marriage settlement Emma's children were to succeed Canute, yet the in- 1035. naroid fluence of a numerous and powerful party raised STSroneS Harold to the thr0Iie - Hardicanute claimed his dies in 1040. right, but civil war was averted by an arrangement which provided for a division of the kingdom. The sons of Emma by her first husband also claimed the throne, and one of them, Alfred, was tempted, by a forged letter of invitation, to come over from Normandy to assert his right; his troops were re- ceived in seeming friendship, but were soon taken prisoners, and almost all of them were put to a cruel death. Alfred was con- demned to lose his eyes, and died from the effect of his suffer- ings. Harold died in 1040, having reigned only four years. Emma had represented Hardicanute in England, as he was in Denmark, but when her son Alfred was killed, she fled to Bruges, and Harold had thus become the sole king in England. On re- 1040. Hardica- ceiving tidings of Harold's death, Hardicanute redsedkmg?re"gns hastened to England, and was acknowledged as only two years. king. In revenge, he ordered Harold's tomb to be opened, and wreaked his vengeance on his lifeless remains. Hardicanute reigned only two years : he fell to the ground while drinking at a marriage festival. By his death the crowns of Den- mark and England were separated. 1042 A. D.] SAXONS RESTORED. 69 CHAPTER VI. Shot fine gistowlr. Edward the Confessor— Harold the Second.— A. D. 1042 to 1066. On the death of Hardicanute, Edward, the son of Ethelred and Emma, succeeded to the throne, being called thereto by the voice of the citizens of London. The rightful heir was the son of Edmund Ironside, but he was in Hungary ; frequently, how- ever, had the English preferred the uncle to the nephew. Ed- ward at the period of his becoming king was about forty years of age, twenty-seven of which he had spent as an 1042. Edward the exile in Normandy ; he had solaced the hours of to "STthroue 1 : he banishment with the pleasures of the chase and ^"j^r of^the the exercises of religion, and he brought with him earl Godwin. to the throne those habits of moderation and tranquillity which he had acquired in a private station. To preserve peace and pro- mote religion — to enforce the ancient laws and to diminish the burdens of his people — were the chief objects of his government; but he possessed not that energy of mind nor that ferocity of dis- position which perhaps would be necessary to command the re- spect and to repress the violence of the lawless nobles by whom he was surrounded. At Ethelred's accession, he found three powerful chieftains near the throne — Godwin, Leofric, and Si- ward. They possessed great power, and when united they were more than a match for the king, whose chief security lay in their mutual jealousies. The Danish families whose fidelity was doubt- ful were driven out of the kingdom. The treasures of the queen- mother were seized on account of her partiality to the Danes, and also because she was considered to have participated in the mur- der of Alfred, the brother of Edward; she, however, was per- mitted to retain her dower, and resided at Winchester, where she died in the year 1052. Edward married in 1044, Editha, the daughter of Earl God- win. It was with reluctance Edward consented to this marriage : 60 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1044 he declared that Editha might enjoy the honors of a queen, but not the rights of a wife — a declaration interpreted by some to mean that he had bound himself to a life of continency, but attri- buted by others to his rooted antipathy to Godwin and his family. The hostile feeling which existed between the Danes and Nor- mans (many of whom were now honoured with Edward's friend- ship) soon broke out in open war. Forces led by Godwin, Sweyn, and Harold, (Editha' s brother,) marched against some Normans in Herefordshire. Blood, however, was not shed, for the insurgent troops abandoned their leaders, and the chiefs fled. The queen was imprisoned, as her family had been foremost in the revolt. William, duke of Normandy, was invited to Eng- land by the Norman families who had settled in the country, but finding on his arrival that his services were not required, he landed simply as a visitor, was kindly received by the king, and was dismissed with magnificent presents. The insurgent earls, Godwin and Harold, requested to be admitted to Edward's friend- ship, and sailed to London from Flanders. They were received into the royal friendship, their titles were restored to them, and Editha was released from captivity. To Sweyn, Edward was in- exorable, as he had committed a deliberate murder ; and the mur- derer repenting, went as a pilgrim to Palestine, and died in ihe province of Lycia. Godwin, however, did not long survive the fall of his enemies. It is related that at table with the king he observed, as a servant stumbled, and then recovered himself with The remarkable o ne foot : " See how one brother helps another f death of Godwin. and t k at Edward exclaimed, "Yes, and if my brother Alfred lived, he would now assist me." Godwin feeling the reproach, declared that he wished, if he were guilty of Al- fred's death, the next morsel he ate might kill him ; he put it into his mouth, and was choked. His earldom was given to his son Harold, the brother-in-law of the king. The only foreign war in which Edward engaged was against Macbeth, the usurper of the throne of Scotland. He assisted Malcolm to obtain the throne, to which he was by hereditary right entitled. Edward was obliged to send an army against the Welsh, who had begun to attack the English who lived on the borders. Harold, who commanded the troops, obtained nu- 1066 A. D.] SAXONS RESTORED. 61 merous victories over the Welsh, and these mountaineers re- mained quiet for a long period. Harold, by the course of events, was become the most powerful subject in England; he aspired to the throne, and thus attracted the jealousy of William of Normandy, who had the same object in view. Harold was on one occasion accidentally thrown, by shipwreck, on the coast of Normandy. William exacted homage from him, as his future lord, and Harold swore that he would aid in promoting the succession of William to the throne of England, on the death of Edward. Harold, on returning to England, found himself obliged to suppress an insurrection among the Northumbrians, who had revolted against his brother, Tostig. The latter was obliged to fly to Bruges, as the insurrection had gained ground ; Harold succeeded in restoring tranquillity in the province, and returned to London. Edward died in a few weeks after Harold's return, having had the satisfaction of witnessing the completion of Westminster Abbey, which had been the great object of his solicitude during his latter years, and in which he was buried with royal pomp, a few days after the building was dedicated. If we estimate the character of a sovereign by the test of popular affection, we must rank Edward among the best princes of his time. The goodness of his heart was The character of adored by his subjects, who lamented his death Edward, with tears of undissembled grief, and bequeathed his memory, as an object of veneration, to their posterity. The blessings of his reign are the constant theme of our ancient writers ; not, indeed, that he displayed any of those brilliant qualities which attract admiration while they inflict misery ; he could not boast of the victories which he had won, or of the conquests which he had achieved, but exhibited the interesting spectacle of a king negli- gent of his private interests, and totally devoted to the welfare of his people; and by his labors to restore the dominion of the laws, his vigilance to ward off foreign aggression, his constant and ultimately successful solicitude to appease the feuds of his nobles — if he did not prevent the interruption, he secured at least a longer duration of public tranquillity than had been enjoyed in England for half a century. He was pious, kind, 6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A.D. 10G6 and compassionate j the father of the poor, and the protector of the weak ; more willing to give than to receive, and better pleased to pardon than to punish. Under the preceding kings, force generally supplied the place of justice, and the people were im- poverished by the rapacity of the sovereign; but Edward en- forced the laws of his Saxon predecessors, and disdained the riches which were wrung from the labors of his subjects. Tem- perate in his diet, unostentatious in his person, pursuing no plea- sures but those which his hawks and hounds afforded, he was con- tent with the patrimonial demesnes of the crown, and was able to assert, even after the abolition of that fruitful source of revenue, the Dane-gelt, that he possessed a greater portion of wealth than any of his predecessors had enjoyed. To him, the principle that the king can do no wrong, was literally applied by the gratitude of his people, who, if they occasionally complained of the mea- sures of the government, (and much reason they had to complain, on account of the appointment to bishoprics of aspiring and rapacious adventurers,) attributed the blame not to the monarch himself, of whose benevolence and piety they entertained no doubt, but to the ministers, who had abused his confidence or deceived his credulity. It was, however, a fortunate circumstance for the memory of Edward, that he occupied the interval between the Danish and Norman conquests; writers were induced to view his character with more partiality from the hatred with which they looked on his successors and predecessors ; they were foreigners-, he was a native ; they held the crown by conquest, he by descent ; they ground to the dust the slaves whom they had made, he became known to his countrymen only by his benefits. Hence he ap- peared to shine with a purer light amid the gloom with which he was surrounded ; and whenever the people under the despotism of the Norman kings had an opportunity of expressing their real wishes, they constantly called for " the laws and customs of the good King Edward." On the death of Edward, the report was circulated that he had ,«,« TT ..a appointed Harold as his successor, and he was 1066. Harold the rtr ^ , Second is proclaim- accordingly proclaimed king. William of Nor- feats his 'br a ther. c mandy claimed from Harold the performance of 1066 A. D.] SAXONS RESTORED. 63 his oath, hut he replied that the oath had been extorted by force, and that he would not resign the crown to which he had been, by the free suffrages of the people, elected. Both then prepared for war. Harold had also to contend against his brother, Tostig, who sought to regain his power. Aided by Harald Hardrada, king of Norway, he invaded the north of England. Harold marched against the allied forces, and defeated them in the battle of Stamford Bridge, one of the most sanguinary engagements recorded in history. While rejoicing at this signal victory, Harold received intelligence that William of Normandy had landed on the coast of Sussex, with a large army. Harold pro- ceeded without delay to the south, and fought with William the memorable battle of Hastings, which terminated, in 1066, the Saxon and Danish power in England, and led to the establish- ment of the Norman dynasty, from which the present royal family is descended. ' The spot which he had selected for this important contest was called Senlac, nine miles from Hastings, an eminence opening to the south, and covered on the back by an extensive wood, [Octo- ber 14.] As his troops arrived, he posted them on the declivity, in one compact and immense mass. In the centre ' * iii/. n • ■*• description of waved the royal standard, the figure of a warrior Harold's army be- in the act of fighting, worked in threads of gold, Hastings. and ornamented with precious stones. By its side stood Harold, and his two brothers, Gurth and Leofwin, and around them the rest of the army, every man on foot. In this arrangement the king seems to have adopted, as far as circumstances would per- mit, the plan which had lately proved so fatal to the Norwegians, and which now, from the same causes, was productive of a similar result. Probably he feared the shock of the numerous cavalry of the Normans. Both men and horses were completely cased in armour, which gave to their charge an irresistible weight, and rendered them almost invulnerable to ordinary weapons. For the purpose of opposing them with more chance of success, Harold had brought with him engines to discharge stones into their ranks, and had recommended his soldiers to confine them- selves, in close fight, to the use of the battle-axe — a heavy and murderous weapon. 64 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1066 On the opposite hill, "William was employed in marshalling his host. In the front he placed the archers and bowmen; the The arrange- second line was composed of heavy infantry, army. clothed in coats of mail; and behind these the duke arranged, in five divisions, the hope and the pride of the Norman force, the knights and men-at-arms. That he would strive, both by words and actions, to infuse into this multitude of warriors, from different nations, an ardor similar to his own, is not improbable; but the two harangues which "William of Poitou and Henry of Huntingdon have put into his mouth, may, with equal probability, be attributed to the ingenuity of the writers. This only we know from himself, that in the hearing of his barons, he made a solemn vow to God, that, if he gained the victory, he would found a church for the common benefit of all his followers. About nine in the morning the army began to move, crossed the interval between the two hills, and slowly ascended the eminence on which the English were posted. The papal banner, as an omen of victory, was carried in the front by Toustain the Fair — a dangerous honor, which two of the Nor- man barons had successively declined. At the moment when the armies were ready to engage, the Normans raised the national shout of " God is our help," which was as loudly answered by the adverse cry of " Christ's rood, the holy rood." The archers, after the discharge of their arrows, retired to the infantry, whose weak and extended line was unable The battle of *° ma ke any impression on their more numerous Hastings. opponents. William ordered the cavalry to charge. The shock was terrible, but the English, in every point, opposed a solid and impenetrable mass. Neither buckler nor corslet could withstand the stroke of the battle-axe, wielded by a powerful arm and with unerring aim ; and the confidence of the Normans melted away at the view of their own loss, and the bold countenance of their enemies. After a short pause, the horse and foot of the left wing betook themselves to flight ; their opponents eagerly pursued, and a report was spread that William himself had fallen. The whole army began to waver; when the duke, with his helmet in his hand, rode along the line, exclaim- ing, "I am still alive, and, with the help of God, I still shall 1066 A. D.] SAXONS RESTORED- 65 conquer." The presence and confidence of their commander revived the hopes of the Normans ; and the speedy destruction of the English who had pursued the fugitives, was fondly mag- nified into an assurance of victory. These brave but incautious men had, on their return, been intercepted by a numerous body of cavalry, and on foot and in confusion, they quickly disap- peared beneath the swords, or rather the horses, of the enemy. Not a man survived the carnage. William led his troops again to the attack ', but the English column, dense and immovable as a rock amid the waves, re- sisted every assault. Disappointed and perplexed, the Norman had recourse to a stratagem, suggested by his success in the earlier part of the day. He ordered a division of horse to flee j they were pursued, and the temerity of the pursuers was punished with instant destruction. The same feint was tried with equal success in another part of the field. These losses might diminish the numbers of the English, but the main body obstinately maintained its position, and bade defiance to every effort of the Normans. During the engagement, William had given the most signal proofs of personal bravery. Three horses had been killed under him ) and he had been compelled to grapple on foot The bravery of with his adversaries. Harold also had animated roid. his followers, both by word and example, and displayed a courage worthy of the crown for which he was fighting. His brothers, Gurth and Leofwin, had perished already ; but as long as lie sur- vived, no man entertained the apprehension of defeat, or admitted the idea of flight. A little before sunset, an arrow, shot at ran- dom, entered his eye. He instantly fell; and the The death of Ha- knowledge of his fall relaxed the efforts of the feat of the English. English. Twenty Normans undertook to seize the royal banner, and effected their purpose, but with a loss of half their number. One of them, who maimed with his sword the dead body of the king, was afterward disgraced by William for his brutality. At dusk the English broke up, and dispersed through the wood. The Normans followed their track by the light of the moon, when ignorance of the country led them to a spot intersected with ditches, into which they were precipitated, in the ardor of pur- G* 06 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1066, suit. The fugitives, recalled by the accident, inflicted a severe vengeance on their adversaries. As William, attracted by the cries of the combatants, was hastening to the place, he met Eustace of Boulogne and fifty knights, fleeing with all their speed : he called on them to stop ; but the earl, while he was in the act of whispering into the ear of the duke, received a stroke on the back, which forced the blood out of his mouth and nos- trils. He was carried, in a state of insensibility, to his tent. William's intrepidity hurried him forward to the scene of danger. His presence encouraged his men; succours arrived; and the English, after an obstinate resistance, were repulsed. Thus ended this memorable and fatal battle. On the side of the victors almost sixty thousand men had been engaged, and more than one-fourth were left on the field. The number of the vanquished and the amount of their loss are unknown. By the vanity of the Norman historians, the English army has been The number of exaggerated beyond the limits of credibility; by Sfmanity (rfwS- tnat °^ tne nat ^ e writers it has been reduced to a liam - handful of resolute warriors ; but both agree, that with Harold and his brothers perished all the nobility of the south of England — a loss which could not be repaired. The king's mother begged, as a boon, the dead body of her son, and offered, as a ransom, its weight in gold ; but the resentment of William had rendered him callous to pityj and insensible to all interested considerations. He ordered the corpse of the fallen monarch to be buried on the beach, adding, with a sneer : " He guarded the coast while he was alive ; let him continue to guard it after death." By stealth, however, or by purchase, the royal remains were removed from this unhallowed site, and deposited in the church of Waltham, which Harold had founded before ha ascended the throne. 1066 A. D.] ANGLO-SAXONS— MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 67 CHAPTER VII. Every account of the civil polity of the Anglo-Saxons must necessarily be imperfect, as we can only view the subject through the intervening gloom of eight centuries. The Saxons introduced into England the institutions to which they had been habituated in their original settlements, and modified as circumstances sug- gested. We shall here present the most prominent points, re- ferring the advanced historical student to the chapter on Anglo- Saxon customs in Dr. Lingard's work. Of Saxon institutions, the most important, and that which formed the groundwork of the rest, may be discovered among the Germans in the age of Tacitus. From him we s a xon institn- learn that every chieftain was surrounded by a tl0as * number of retainers, who did him honour in time of peace, and accompanied him to the field in time of war. To fight by his side they deemed an indispensable duty ; to survive his fall, an indelible disgrace. It was this artificial connection — this prin- ciple which reciprocally bound the lord to his vassal, and the vassal to his lord — that held together the northern hordes when they issued forth in quest of adventure. They retained it in their new homes, and its consequences were gradually developed, as each tribe made successive advances in power and civilization. Hence, in process of time, and by gradual improvements, grew up the feudal system, with its long train of obligations, of homage, suit, service, purveyance, reliefs, wardships, and scutage. That it was introduced into England by the Norman conqueror, is the opinion of respectable writers ; and the assertion may be true, if they speak of it only in its mature and most oppressive form ; but all the primary germs of the feudal services may Feudal system: . , ., ,iot .1 f its introduction in- be descried among the feaxons, even in the earlier to England, periods of their government ; and many of them flourished in full luxuriance long before the extinction of the dynasty. The feudal doctrine was, that of all the tics which nature has 68 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1066. formed or society invented, the most sacred was that which bound together the lord and the vassal. By Alfred the breach of this solemn engagement was punished as a crime of the most disgraceful and unpardonable character — the offender suffering forfeiture and death. The obligations were reciprocal : the vassal served the lord, and the lord protected the vassal. The contract was cemented by oath, and was for the benefit of each. The distinction of ranks among the Anglo-Saxons was (with a few shades of accidental difference) the same as in other nations of Gothic origin. The free population was divided into the eorl, Distinction f or no ^ e > an d tne ceorl, or ignoble. The cyning, rank among the or king, occupied the first place : he was lord of the eori, cemi, and cy- principal chieftains, and, through them, of their mng ' vassals. The great tenants of the crown were sum- moned at Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas, to pay homage to the king. They appeared before him as dependants, while he was seated on his throne, with the crown on his head, and the sceptre in his hand. During eight days they feasted at his expense, and received presents on their dismissal. He exercised authority over the national forces by sea and land. He was supreme judge, and revised appeals from every court of judicature. After the royal family, ranked the ealdormen or earls. They governed districts called, then and still, their shires. Sometimes one powerful earl governed several shires. The earl led the men of the shire to battle, presided with the bishop in the courts of the shire, and enforced the administration of the laws. The thanes were a numerous and distinguished order of men, Thanes and reeves. , , , . „ i i t «• • «i who possessed dinerent rank and dmerent privileges. There were thanes of the king, called greater thanes, and thanes of the ealdormen, called lesser thanes. The reeves, shire-reeve, (or sheriff,) port-reeve, and borough-reeve, were men appointed by the king to carry out the details of the administration of the law. Among a people but lately emerged from barbarism, the ad- ministration of justice is always rude and simple ; and though the absence of legal forms and pleading may casually insure a prompt and equitable decision, it is difficult without their aid to oppose the arts of intrigue and falsehood, or the influence of passion or prejudice. The proceedings before the Anglo-Saxon tribunals would not have suited a more advanced state of civilization : they 1066 A. D.] ANGLO-SAXONS— MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 69 were ill calculated to elicit truth, or to produce con- Proceedings be- . . . . -I'll i *° re Anglo Saxon viction ) and m many instances winch have been tribunals, recorded by contemporary writers, our more correct or more arti- ficial notions will be shocked at the credulity or precipitancy of the judges. The subject, however, is curious and interesting. These ancient courts still exist under different names, and the in- telligent observer may discover in their proceedings the origin of several institutions which now mark the administration of justice in the English tribunals. In all the Anglo-Saxon tribunals the judges were the free tenants, owing suit to the court, and afterward called its peers. But the real authority seems to have resided in the president, and the principal of his assessors, whose opinion was generally echoed and applauded by the rest of the members. Their proceedings were simplified and facilitated by a custom which has already been mentioned. In all cases in which property, whether real or per- sonal, was concerned ; if a man claimed by gift or purchase ; if stolen goods were found in his possession, or he had forcibly en- tered on the lands of others, he was bound to produce the testi- mony of the court and witnesses before whom the transaction, on which he grounded his own right, must, if it had been lawful, have taken place. On this testimony in civil actions, the judges frequently decided; but if either party advanced assertions of such a nature that they could not be proved by evidence, he was put on his oath, and was ordered to bring forward certain free- holders, his neighbours, acquainted with his character and con- cerns, who should swear that in their consciences they believed his assertion to be true. The number of these was in many cases fixed by the law, in others, left to the discretion of the court. If the matter still remained doubtful, it became usual to select a jury of free tenants, who left the court, deliberated among them- selves, and returned a verdict, which decided the question. In criminal prosecutions, the proceedings, though grounded on the same principles, were in many respects different. It was ordered by law, that as soon as the hundred-mote was assembled, (the same probably held with respect to other simi- i n criminal pro lar tribunals,) the reeve, with the twelve oldest 6ecution - thanes, should go out to inquire into all offences committed with in the jurisdiction of the court, and should be sworn "not to 70 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1066 foresay (present) any one who was innocent, not to conceal any one who was guilty." On their presentment, or on the accusation of the prosecutor and his witnesses, the prisoner was frequently condemned ; if any doubt existed, his plea of not guilty was ad- mitted, and after his lord had been called on to speak to his cha- racter on oath, he was at liberty to prove his innocence by the purgation of lada, or swearing, or the ordeal, or judgment of God. In the purgation by oath, he began by calling on Grod to witness Purgation by that he was innocent both in word and work of the oatb - crime laid to his charge. He then produced his compurgators, who swore that " they believed his oath to be up- right and clean.' ' It was required that these compurgators or jurors should be his neighbours, or resident within the jurisdic- tion of the court, freeholders who had never been arraigned for theft, nor ever convicted of perjury, and who were acknowledged for " true men" by all present. Their number differed according to the custom of the district, and was always increased if the testimony of the lord were wanting, or had proved unfavourable. They were sometimes appointed by the judges, sometimes drawn by lot, often brought into the court by the party himself — an in- dulgence which enabled him to rest his fate on the decision of his friends and dependants, whom he might already have prejudiced in his favour. In Wessex, he was permitted to chose thirty jurors, of whom fifteen were rejected by the judges; in East Anglia and Northumbria, he produced forty-eight, out of whom twenty-four were appointed by ballot. If they corroborated his oath by their own, in the form established by law, his innocence Purgation by or- was acknowledged. If, on the contrary, recourse deaL was had to the ordeal, pledges were given for the trial, and the time was fixed by the court. As the decision was now left to the Almighty, three days were spent by the accused in fasting and prayer. On the third day, he was adjured by the priest not to go to the ordeal, if he were conscious of guilt ; he was then communicated with these words : "May this body and blood of Christ be to thee a proof of innocence this day •" after which he again swore that he was guiltless of the crime of which Ordeals by water ne na( * ^ een accused. The ordeals which were and by fire. most in use were those by hot water and fire. For the former a fire was kindled under a cauldron, in a remote part 1066 A. D.] ANGLO-SAXONS— MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 71 of the church. At a certain depth below the surface, which was augmented in the absence of a favourable character from the lord, was placed a stone or piece of iron, of a certain weight. Strangers were excluded ; the accuser and the accused, each attended by twelve friends, proceeded to the spot; and the two parties were arranged in two lines opposite each other. After the litanies had been recited, a person was deputed from each line to examine the cauldron, and if they agreed that the water boiled, and the stone was placed at the proper depth, the accused advanced, plunged in his arm, and took out the weight. The priest imme- diately wrapped a clean linen cloth around the part which was scalded, fixed on it the seal of the Church, and opened it again on the third day. If the arm was perfectly healed, the accused was pronounced innocent ; if not, he suffered the punishment of his offence. In the ordeal by fire, the same precautions were em- ployed in respect of the number and position of the attendants. Near the fire a space was measured, equal to nine of the prisoner's feet, and divided by lines into three equal parts. By the first stood a small stone pillar. At the beginning of the mass, a bar of iron of the weight of one or three pounds, was laid on the fire ; at the last collect it was taken off, and placed on the pillar. The prisoner immediately grasped it in his hand, made three steps on the lines previously traced on the floor, and threw it down. The treatment of the burn, and the indication of guilt or inno- cence, were the same as those in the ordeal by hot water. The crimes to which the Anglo-Saxons were principally addicted were homicide and theft. The right to inflict punishment de- volved upon the family of the slain. The state The crimes of ho- „ , . . ,. micide and theft: afhxed a certain were or pecuniary compensation their punishment. for murder, according to the rank of the deceased. When the murderer was taken, (and to his arrest many difficulties were op- posed, on account of the existence of places of sanctuary,) he could not be put to death for thirty days. If he by that time failed to pay or give good security for the were, he might be put to death by the relatives of the murdered man. If he gave se- curity, the parties who guaranteed payment handed over the amount, in several instalments, to the relatives, and also paid to the immediate lord of the deceased, and to the king. Robbery 72 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1066. was a very general crime, although very severe laws were made to check it, and were rigidly enforced. The sale and purchase of slaves publicly prevailed during the whole of the Anglo-Saxon period. These unhappy men were Slavery among so ^ ^e cattle in the market, and there is reason the Anglo-Saxons. ^ Relieve that a slave was usually estimated at four times the price of an ox. To the importation of foreign slaves no impediment had ever been opposed ; the export of na- tive slaves was forbidden under severe penalties. But habit and the pursuit of gain had taught the Northumbrians to bid defiance to all the efforts of the legislature. Like the savages of Africa, they are said to have carried off not only their own countrymen, but even their friends and relatives, and to have sold them as slaves in the ports of the continent. The men of Bristol were the last to abandon this nefarious traffic. Their obstinancy yielded, however, not to the severity of the magistrates, but the zeal of Wulstan, bishop of Worcester. That prelate visited Bristol several years successively; resided for months together in the neighbourhood ; and preached on every Sunday against the barbarity and irreligion of the dealers in slaves. At last the merchants were convinced by his reasons, and in their guild solemnly bound themselves to renounce the trade. One of the members was soon afterward tempted to violate his engagement : his perfidy was punished with the loss of his eyes. From the population of the country, we may pass to the inha- bitants of the cities and boroughs, of which a few perhaps might The population be of recent origin, having sprung up under the of the cities and fo ' ° £ . fe . ^ . , , boroughs. protection of some powerful chieftain or celebrated monastery; but the greater part had existed from the time of the Romans, and successively passed into the hands of the Bri- tons, Saxons, and Northmen. Of these, the more early history is lost in the gloom of ages : it is only toward the close of the Anglo-Saxon dynasty that we are able to discover some, and those but imperfect traces of their municipal polity, which seems to have been founded on the same principles as that which prevailed in the surrounding country. In both we discover the lord and the tenant ; the lord with his reeve, his court, his right of tallage, and his receipt of rents, and fines, and forfeitures; and on the other hand, the tenant holding of the lord by every variety of 1066 A. D.] ANGLO-SAXONS— MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 73 service, from that which was deemed honourable, to the lowest and most debasing. In the towns, however, this principle was variously modified, to meet the wants and conveniences of large masses of men congregated on one spot ; and hence it happened that their inhabitants gradually acquired advantages denied to their equals in the country. They possessed the benefit of a market for the sale of their wares and merchandise ; they were protected by their union and numbers from the depredations of robbers and banditti ; and (which subsequently proved to them a source of incalculable benefit) they formed one body politic, with common rights and common interests. They had their hall or hanse-house, in which they met and deliberated; they exercised the power of enacting by (or borough) laws for the government and improvement of 'the borough j and they possessed by lease or purchase, houses, pasture, and forest lands, for the common use and benefit of the whole body. This gradually led to the eman- cipation of the inhabitants, for the lords chiefly valued their own rights on account of the income derived from them; and, there- fore, they felt no objection to transfer the exercise of such rights to the burgesses themselves, in return for a large sum of money, or for a yearly rent during a certain term. Of such bargains, there are many instances in Domesday. The larger towns were divided into districts, called in some places " wards," in some, " shires," and in others, " ferlings," or " quarters." Among the inhabitants, we meet The divigion of with men of considerable wealth and influence, the larger towns, holding over their own property in the borough, and transmitting with it to their heirs the enviable jurisdiction of sac and soc. They had also their guilds or companies, consisting in some, and probably in all instances, of men of the same trade or profession, and possessing common property, and a common hall, for the purposes both of consultation and entertainment. The principal magistrate was the provost, called the wic-reeve, to distinguish him from the shire-reeve, or reeve of the county. Whether he owed his situation to the nomination The shire-reeve. of the lord, or to the choice of the burgesses, is duty, perhaps a doubtful question. The wic-reeve of the more popu- lous towns is always mentioned as an officer of great importance, and sometimes numbered among the noblest in the land. It was 7 74 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1066. his duty to collect the revenue of the king or lord, to watch over his interests, and to exercise within the limits of the borough the same authority which the sheriff exercised within the shire. From the manner in which London, Winchester, York, Exeter, and some other places are casually mentioned by the most ancient chroniclers, it is plain that the inhabitants formed distinct bodies of men, not only possessing forms of municipal government, but also exercising considerable influence in matters of state. Popes. Alexander III. Gregory VII. Victor III. CHAPTER VIII. WMm t\t first, CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS Scotland. Malcolm III. Germany. Henry IV. France. Philip I. Spain, Sancho II. Alphonso VI. William is crowned — Goes to Normandy — Returns to England — Subjects and oppresses the Natives — Insurrection of the Normans — Rebellion of Robert, his son — His War with France — His Death and Character. — From A. D. 1066 to 1087. William the First, known in history as " the Conqueror," was the illegitimate son of Robert II., duke of Normandy, and wniiam the First Herleva, daughter of an officer of the duke's a. d. 1066. ' household. Although not born in wedlock, he was acknowledged duke by the Norman barons, on the death of his father, and afterward maintained his position by the sword. He married Matilda, the daughter of Baldwin of Flanders. After the battle of Hastings, William, having secured Dover and some other important places, marched on London. The city had been fortified against him, and the Londoners had placed Edgar, surnamed u the etheling," (meaning that he was of royal descent,) on the throne. William did not storm the walls, being either afraid of failure or unwilling to exasperate the citizens. 1069 A. D.] WILLIAM THE FIRST. 75 He laid waste the adjacent counties ; and the Londoners, fearing his power, sent a deputation to him, with an offer of the crown, which he, after some appearance of hesitation, accepted. On the day of his coronation, when the representatives of Dreadful mas- the Normans and of the Saxons in Westminster ^thf day 6 S°hls Abbey were asked if they would have William for conation, king, the response was so loud that the Norman guards outside thought, or pretended to think, that strife had commenced within, and immediately began to plunder the neighboring houses and massacre the people. William refused to allow the ceremony to be interrupted, although he was left alone with the clergy; for the laity of both nations rushed from the abbey on hearing of the events outside. William expressed much regret at the con- duct of his troops, and issued stringent orders, having for their object the protection of the people from the soldiery. He also gave directions to all whom he appointed to public duties to act toward the English in a spirit of conciliation. He received several Saxon chiefs at his court, and paid particular attention to Edgar, on whom he bestowed an extensive property, as some com- pensation for the loss of his crown. According to feudal customs, soldiers only served for a limited period, and several Normans were anxious to return to their own country. William feared that to permit this would lessen his power in England, and he accordingly made grants of estates to the Norman chieftains, who promised to remain with their fol- lowers. He himself crossed over to Normandy, to wuiiam goes to receive the congratulations of the Normans on his Normandy, winning a crown. In his absence from England he intrusted the government to Fitzosborn, a Norman leader, and to Archbishop Odo, who was William's half-brother. Their severe mode of go- vernment drove the English into revolt. The The English re _ king returned, and with much trouble crushed the volt - insurrection. The siege of Exeter alone cost him eighteen days, and even then the inhabitants obtained lenient terms. The king about this time sent for his wife, Matilda, and she was crowned queen-consort of England. William had to contend with very formidable risings in the north. A Danish fleet, under Canute, the son of Sveno, sailed up the Humber in 1069, and succeeded in taking York and defeating the Normans. The ancient 76 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1075. cathedral of York was accidentally burned shortly before the engagement. When William heard of the defeat of his troops at York, he swore that he would have vengeance, and he marched with a large army to the north. He took York, and then proceeded to execute a system of revenge which has covered his name with deep disgrace. He dispersed his followers through the country, with orders to spare neither man nor beast, and also to destroy houses, corn, implements of husbandry, and what- He suppresses \ ' r * ' the revolt and in- ever might be useful for the support of human life, geance on the in- His terrible orders were obeyed with fearful accu- racy. It is said that one hundred thousand of the inhabitants fell victims to William's barbarous commands, and that the north of England for a long period presented the appearance of desolation and ruin. The English chieftains no longer opposed the power of William ; risings, which had been general, ceased ; but the king no longer wore the appearance of friendship to any of the natives. He carefully excluded them from all places of honour, emolument, or trust, and gave their lands to his fol- lowers. He soon afterward entered Scotland, in order to punish Malcolm, who had assisted his enemies ; he overthrew the Scot- tish king, who threw himself on the mercy of the conqueror, and was permitted to retain his crown as vassal of the king of Eng- land. Edgar the etheling, whose sister was married to Malcolm, was at this time in Scotland. In endeavoring to cross over to France, he was wrecked on the coast of England. He sought a renewal of friendship with William, (from whom he had been estranged when the Normans became severe to the natives,) and William received him in a spirit of reconciliation, granting him a residence and a handsome pension. In 1086 this prince went to the Holy Land with two hundred knights. William crossed over to Normandy in 1075, and during his absence some Norman barons in England, who had received smaller rewards than they considered themselves entitled to, rose Rebellion in En*- in rebellion. William returned, and soon put IiTsencfln 5 Nor- down the insurrection. A Saxon noble, Waltheof, mandy. was p U t to death for not having divulged the con- spiracy, of which he was cognizant, though he took no part in the 1085 A. D.] WILLIAM THE FIRST. 77 rebellion. William next led an army into Wales, and completely confirmed his power in that country. In 1085, Canute, the son of Sveno, determined to claim the crown of England, as successor of his namesake, and being as- sisted by several northern powers, he collected a large fleet, in order to carry into execution his ambitious designs. Circum- stances delayed the completion of his preparations, and a mutiny broke out in his fleet, the consequence of which was that the in- tended expedition was abandoned. The last years of William's life were imbittered by dissensions among his sons. Robert (the eldest) was, when a boy, invested with the nominal government of Normandy, under Matilda, his mother ; and when he grew up and claimed the duchy as a right, William gave him a peremptory refusal. Robert's hot temper received additional excitement from his brothers, William and Henry, who one day emptied a pitcher of water on his head from a balcony. Robert, in anger, rushed up stairs to attack his brothers, sword in hand ; the king came to the spot, and sepa- rated his sons. Robert withdrew, and commenced Ro bert rebels to levy war upon his father, whom he considered a s ailist nis father - as partial to the younger princes. Having been defeated, he wandered throughout France for five years, and at last settled in the castle of Gerberoi, which he had received from the king of France. William besieged the castle, and it is related that during the siege the father and son were, on one occasion, engaged in single combat, without knowing each other. Robert wounded his father. William soon withdrew, not being able to take the castle, and through the mediation of Matilda, the father and son became reconciled. Excessive corpulence rendered it necessary for William to sub- mit to a course of medicine, and he was confined to his bed for part of the last year of his life. When he recovered he carried war into the territories of the king of France, who wuiiam declares had spoken deridingly of William's illness. He king of France, took the tower of Mantes, and set it on fire. William's horse trod on some hot ashes, and making an effort to extricate himself, he threw the king violently on the pommel of the saddle. Wil- liam received a wound, which in a few weeks proved fatal. During his last illness he assembled his prelates and barons, and 7* 78 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1087. bequeathed Normandy to Robert, as that territory was William's by descent. To England he said he had no title but that which the sword gave him, and he would leave the decision as to who should rule that country to God ; but he hoped that his second son, William, would obtain it. To Henry, his youngest son, he left five thousand crowns ; and when he complained of the com- parative smallness of his portion, the king told him (and it proved to be a prophetic statement) to remain quiet, and that he would in time possess the portions of both his brothers. The king was advised to order the liberation of the prisoners whom he wmiam dies, ne ^ m custody, and with some reluctance he con- 1087 - sented. On the 9th September, 1087, in the city of Rouen, William the Conqueror, whose memorable life caused so important an alteration in the affairs of Europe, breathed his last. He died saying, " I commend my soul to my Lady, the Mother of God, that by her prayers she may reconcile me to her Son, my Lord Jesus Christ." The king was of ordinary stature, but inclined to corpulency. His countenance wore an air of ferocity, which, when he was agitated by passion, struck terror into every beholder. The story told of his strength at one period of life almost exceeds belief. It is said, that sitting or* horse- back, he could draw the string of a bow which no other man could bend even on foot. Hunting formed his favorite amuse- ment. The reader has seen the censure passed upon him for his deer-friths and game-laws ; nor will he think it undeserved, if he attend to the following instance. Though the king possessed sixty-eight forests, besides parks and chases, in different parts of England, he was not satisfied, but for the occasional accommoda- tion of his court, afforested an extensive tract of country lying between the Avon and the bay of Southampton. The inhabitants were expelled ; the cottages and the churches were burnt ; more than thirty square miles of arable land were withdrawn from cul- tivation, and the whole district was converted into a wilderness, to afford sufficient range for the deer, and ample space for the royal diversion. The memory of this act of despotism has been perpetuated in the name of the New Forest, which it retains at the present day, after the lapse of seven hundred and fifty years. William's education had left on his mind religious impressions 1087 A. D.] WILLIAM THE FIRST. 79 which were never effaced. When, indeed, his power or interest was concerned, he listened to no suggestions hut those of ambi- tion or of avarice, but on other occasions he displayed a strong sense of religion, and a profound respect for its institutions. He daily heard the mass of his private chaplain, and was regular in his attendance at the public worship. In the com- H i S reS pect for pany of men celebrated for holiness of life, he laid ggXjgg; aside that haughty demeanor with which he was mcn - accustomed to awe the most powerful of his barons. He will- ingly concurred in the deposition of his uncle, Malger, arch- bishop of Rouen, who disgraced his dignity by the immorality of his conduct ; and showed that he knew how to value and recom- pense virtue, by endeavoring to place in the same church the monk Guitmond, from whom he had formerly received so severe a reprimand. On the decease of a prelate, he appointed officers to protect the property of the vacant archbishopric or abbey, and named a successor with the advice of the principal clergy. Lan- franc, in his numerous struggles against the rapacity of the Nor- mans, was constantly patronized by the king, who appointed him, with certain other commissioners, to compel the sheriffs of the several counties to restore to the church whatever had been un- justly taken from it since the invasion. There were, however, three points, according to Eadmer, in which the king unjustly invaded the ecclesiastical rights. 1. During his reign, the Christian world was afflicted and scan- dalized by the rupture between Gregory VII. and Three things in the emperor Henry VI., who, in opposition to his j^^JfiSH adversary, created an antipope, Guibert, bishop of ri s nts - Ravenna. The conflicting claims of these prelates, and the tem- poral pretensions of Gregory, afforded a pretext to William to in- troduce a new regulation. He would not permit the authority of any particular pontiff to be acknowledged in his dominions, without his previous approbation ; and he directed that all letters issued from the court of Rome should, on their arrival, be sub- mitted to the royal inspection. 2. Though he zealously concurred with Archbishop Lanfranc, in his endeavors to reform the man- ners of both the clergy and the laity, yet so jealous was he of any encroachment on his authority, that without the royal license, ho would not permit the decisions of national or provincial synods 80 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1087. to be carried into effect. 3. After the separation of the eccle- siastical courts from those of the hundred, he enacted such laws as were necessary to support the jurisdiction of the former; but at the same time forbade them either to implead or to excommu- nicate any individual holding in chief of the crown, till the nature of the offence had been certified to himself. CHAPTER IX. Military Tenant — His duty — The nature of Fees — Fees of Inheritance — The grievances of Fees — The restrictions when the heirs were Females — Sources of the King's Revenue. Although, as above stated, the Saxons brought the germ of the feudal system into England, it was by the Normans that that wonderful social machinery was in its maturity introduced. It is impossible for us, consistently with our space, to enter into a minute account of the changes which William the Conqueror effected. We can, therefore, only present a summary of the lucid view which Dr. Lingard presents, referring the advanced reader to that great historian's work for particulars. Military service was" the leading obligation imposed upon the vassal by the feudal system. Several other duties, however, de- volved upon him, which it is necessary here to explain. 1. Fealty was incident to every species of tenure, even the lowest. Besides fealty, the military tenant was obliged to do homage, that Military tenant: he might obtain the investiture of his fee. Un- his oath and du- _ , , . ,, . . -i • i i • ties. armed and bareheaded, on his knees, and with his hands placed between those of his lord, he repeated these words : " Hear, my lord ; I become your liege-man of life and limb, and earthly worship ; and faith and truth I will bear to you, to live and die. So help me God." The ceremony was concluded with a kiss ; and the man was thenceforth bound to respect and obey his lord ; the lord to protect his man, and to warrant to him the possession of his fee. Hitherto, in other countries, the royal authority could 1087 A. D.] THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. 81 only reach the sub-vassals through their lord, who alone had sworn fealty to the sovereign : nor did they deem themselves de- serving of punishment, if they assisted him in his wars, or in his rebellion against the crown. Such the law remained for a long period on the continent, but William, who had experienced its inconvenience, devised a remedy in England ; and compelled all the free tenants of his immediate vassals to swear fealty to him- self. The consequence was an alteration in the words of the oath : the king's own tenants swore to be true to him against all manner of men; sub-tenants swore to be true to their lords against all men but the king and his heirs. Hence, if they fol- lowed their lord in his rebellion, they were adjudged to have vio- lated their allegiance, and became subject to the same penalties as their leader. 2. In addition to service in the time of war, the military te- nants of the crown were expected to attend the king's court at the three great festivals; and, unless they could ms duty in time show a reasonable cause of absence, were bound to of war - appear on other occasions, whenever they were summoned. But if this, in some respects, was a burden, in others it was an ho- nor and advantage. In these assemblies they consulted together on all matters concerning the welfare or safety of the state, con- curred with the sovereign in making or amending the laws, and formed the highest judicial tribunal in the kingdom. Hence they acquired the appellation of the king's barons; the collective body was called the baronage of England ; and the lands which they held of the crown were termed their respective baronies. By de- grees, however, many of the smaller baronies became divided and subdivided by marriages and descents ; and the p'overty of the possessors induced them to exclude themselves from the assem- blies of their colleagues. In the reign of John the distinction was established between the lesser and the greater barons ; and as the latter only continued to exercise the privileges, they alone, after some time, were known by the title of barons. 3. According to a specious, but perhaps erroneous theory, fees are beneficiary grants of land, which originally depended for their duration on the pleasure of the lord, but The nature of were gradually improved into estates for life, and pSuai by William! at last converted into estates of inheritance. But whatever 82 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1087. might have been the practice in former ages, the fees created by William and his followers were all granted in perpetuity, to the feoffees and their legitimate descendants. There were, however, two cases in which they might escheat, or fall to the lord : when, by failure of heirs, the race of the first tenant had become ex- tinct, or, by felony or treason, the actual tenant incurred the penalty of forfeiture. On this account, an officer was appointed by the crown, in every county, to watch over its rights, and to take immediate possession of all escheated estates. 4. When the heir, being of full age, entered into the posses- sion of the fee, he was required to pay a certain sum to the lord, *t . . . . under the name of heriot among the Saxons, or lne heir required . ° « -, -, to pay the heriot, relief among the Normans. By modern feudal- meant ' by these ists we are told that this was meant as an ac- knowledgment that the fee was held from the bounty of the lord j but it may be fairly doubted whether their doctrine have any foundation in fact. Originally, the heriot was demanded as due not from the new, but from the last tenant, and was discharged out of his personal estate; he generally made provisions for the payment in his will ; and it often appears in the form of a legacy, by which the vassal sought to testify his respect for the person and his gratitude for the protection of his lord. By Canute, the amount of the heriot was regulated by the rank of each tenant ; by William, that amount was considerably diminished. When he confirmed the law of Canute, he entirely omitted the demand of money, and contented himself with a por- tion of the horses and arms, the hounds and hawks of the de- ceased. But the new regulation was soon violated ; avarice again introduced pecuniary reliefs ; and the enormous sums which were exacted by succeeding kings, became the frequent subject of use- less complaint and ineffectual reform. 5. The conqueror had solemnly pledged his word that he would never require more from his vassals than their stipulated services. But the ingenuity of the feudal lawyers discovered that there Four occasions were four occasions on which the lord had a right in which the lord . „ . . . . . . 1 ° had a right to levy, to levy, ot his own authority, a pecuniary aid on his tenants : when he paid the relief of his fee, when he made his eldest son a knight, when he gave his eldest daughter in mar- riage, and when he had the misfortune to be a captive in the 1087 A. D.] THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. 83 hands of his enemies. Of these cases, the first could not apply to the tenants of the crown, because the sovereign, holding of no one, was not subject to a relief: but this advantage was counter- balanced by the frequent appeals which he made to their gene- rosity, and which, under a powerful prince, it was dangerous to resist. They claimed, however, and generally exercised the right of fixing the amount of such aids, and of raising them as they thought proper ; either by the impost of a certain sum on every knight's fee, or the grant of a certain portion from the movables of each individual, varying, according to circumstances, from a fortieth to a fifth of their estimated value. 6. Fees of inheritance necessarily required limitations as to alienation and descent. The law would not permit the actual tenant to defeat the will of his lord, or the rights what the fees of his issue. Whatever he had acquired by pur- quired, chase, or industry, or favor, remained at his own disposal; but the fee which he had received to transmit to his descendants, he could neither devise by will nor alienate by gift or sale. After his death, it went, whether he would or not, to the nearest heir, who inherited the whole, and was bound to perform the services originally stipulated. It was, however, long before the right of representation in descents could be fully established. That the eldest son of the first tenant was the legitimate heir, was uni- versally admitted; but considerable doubts were entertained whether, at the death of the second, the fee should descend to his son or his brother; for, if the former were the nearest in blood to the late possessor, the latter was the nearest to the original feoffee. This uncertainty is the more deserving of the reader's attention, as, in the descent of the crown, it explains the occasional interruptions which he has beheld in the line of repre- sentation, and the part which the thanes or barons took in the election of the sovereign. If the son of the last king were a minor, the claim of the young prince was often opposed by that of his uncle, whose appeal to the great council was generally sanctioned by the national approbation. 7. The descent of fees brought with it two heavy grievances — wardships and marriages, which were unknown in most feudal constitutions, and in England experienced long Two grievances and obstinate opposition. That attempts had scent o°f fees. e 84 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1087. been made to introduce them, at an early period, is not impro- bable ; from the charter of Henry I. it is certain that both had been established under the reign of his brother, William Rufus ; perhaps even of his father, the Conqueror. After a long struggle, it was finally decided that, when the heir was a minor, he should not hold the fee, because his age rendered him in- capable of performing military service. The lord immediately entered into possession, and appropriated the profits to himself, or gave them to a favorite, or let them out to farm. Nor was this all. He separated the heir from his mother and relations, and took him under his own custody, on the ground that it was his interest to see that the young man was educated in a manner which might hereafter fit him for the performance of military ser- vice. He was, however, obliged to defray all the expenses of his ward, and to grant to him, when he had completed his twenty-first year, the livery of his estate, without the payment of the relief. 8. But frequently the heirs were females; and, as they could not perform military service, every precaution was taken to guard The restrictions against the prejudice which might be suffered from when the heirs ° . r . J . & were females. their succession, lheir lather was forbidden to give them in marriage without the consent of the lord, which, however, he could not refuse, without showing a reasonable cause. When the tenant died, the fee descended to the daughter, or, if there were more than one, to all the daughters in common. The lord had the wardship : as each completed her fourteenth year, he compelled her to marry the man of his choice; or, if he allowed her to remain single, continued to act as her guardian, and could prevent her from marrying without his advice and con- sent. After marriage, the husband exercised all the rights of his wife, did homage in her place, and performed the accustomed services. The pretext for these harassing regulations was a necessary attention to the interests of the lord, whose fee might otherwise come into the possession of a man unable or unwilling to comply with the obligations ; but avarice converted them into a constant source of emolument to the lord, by inducing* him to sell the marriages of heiresses to the highest bidder. The king's revenue was derived : 1. From the rents of the crown-lands, generally paid in kind, and allotted to the support of the royal household. The particulars respecting all the 1087 A. D.] THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. 85 lands in England were recorded, by public of- The sources of ficers, in a book called the Domesday Book, com- ^ e e k £ s Do r me£ piled by royal commissioners, and still preserved. da y Book - 2. From his military tenants he received considerable sums, under the different heads of reliefs, aids, wardships, and mar- riages of heiresses; for unless the female ward purchased at a considerable price the permission to wed the man of her own choice, he always disposed of her in marriage by private sale, and obtained a greater or smaller sum, in proportion to the value >of her fee. 3. Escheats and forfeitures continually occurred; and, whether the king retained the lands himself, or gave them after some time to his favorites, they always brought money into the exchequer. 4. The fines paid by litigants for permission to have their quarrels terminated in the king's courts, the mulcts or pecuniary penalties imposed by the laws, and the amerciaments, which were sometimes customary, generally arbitrary, according to the caprice or discretion of the judges, amounted in the course of each year to enormous sums. 5. He levied tolls at bridges, fairs, and markets, exacted certain customs on the export and import of goods, and received fees and rents, and tallages, from the inhabitants of the burghs and ports. Lastly, William revived the odious tax called the Dane-gelt, which had been abolished by Edward the Confessor. It was frequently levied for his use, at the rate of six shillings on every hide of land under the plough. From all these sources, money constantly flowed into the ex- chequer, till the king was reputed to be the most opulent prince in Christendom. His daily income, even with the exception of fines, gifts, and amerciaments, amounted, if we may believe an ancient historian, who seems to write from authentic documents, to £1061 10s. 10ld. : a prodigious and incredible sum, if we re- flect that the pound of that period was equal in weight to three nominal pounds of the present day, and that the value of silver was perhaps ten times as great as in modern times. 86 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1087. CHAPTER X. IHiUmm % jtaitir, CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. Popes. Scotla7id. Germany. Malcolm III. Henry IV. Urban II. Donald Bano I. France. Paschal II. Duncan. Philip I. Donald Bane II. Spain. Edgar. Alphonso VI. William succeeds — His Wars with his Brother — He invades Scotland — He per- secutes Archbishop Anselm — His Death and Character. — From A. D. 1087 to 1100. William the Conqueror left three sons. Robert, the eldest son, was acknowledged duke of Normandy without opposition; -««.. ,„.„• TT an d, satisfied with the ducal coronet, he let slip 1087. William II. ' . * . . , 7. the golden opportunity of assuming the crown of England. He afterward lost even Normandy, and terminated his life in a dungeon, the prisoner of his youngest brother. "William, surnamed Rufus, or " the Red," was the next in age, and was his father's favorite son. From the bedside of the dying wiiHam hastens monarch, he hastened to England, with a letter to declared king. Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, who, however, refused to declare in his favor till the prince promised that he would govern according to law and justice. He was soon, al- though not the eldest son, declared king, by means of the co- operation of numerous powerful friends. Henry, the third son of the Conqueror, had five thousand pounds for his portion, with which he was by no means content, but thought it the most prudent course to remain silently watch- ing the course of events, prepared to avail himself of the first opportunity of aggrandizement which fortune might throw in his way. The Conqueror had, on his death-bed, consented to the libera- tion of his prisoners. The Normans were restored to their pos- sessions both in England and Normandy; but when the other 1087 A. D.] WILLIAM THE SECOND. 87 prisoners arrived in England, they were arrested, and imprisoned in the castle of Winchester. Odo, the brother of the Conqueror, (to whom William became an object of aversion, on account of his listening to the councils of Lanfranc,) soon qao forms a par- commenced to form a party in favor of Robert, bert. and succeeded in spreading discontent among the barons. Plans of insurrection were matured, and a powerful organization was entered into against William. The haste of the barons, however, and the tardiness of Robert, who was expected from Normandy, combined to defeat the insurgents. Without waiting the arrival of Robert, the barons commenced a series of predatory attacks on the king's lands. The native English took the side of the crown, for they were eager to revenge the wrongs they had suffered from the Norman chiefs. Odo was soon driven out of England, after having, by force and by artifice, endeavored to secure Rochester Castle for Robert. The hopes of the barons were soon at an end. Robert procrastinated his voyage till the oppor- tunity of striking an effective blow at William's power was past, and even? the scanty succors which he sent were intercepted. The principal insurgents escaped to Normandy, and their estates were divided among the friends of the king. Normandy presented at this period a wide scene of anarchy and confusion ; and to William, who sought to be revenged on Robert for fomenting rebellion in England, this state, of things presented an alluring prospect. He lost.no time in availing him- self of Norman discontent ; and, by means of bribery, he soon obtained possession of numerous fortresses in Normandy. Ro- bert, unable alone to cope with his brother, so- . Robert solicits licited the aid of the king of France, who marched of Prance. with a considerable army to the frontiers of Normandy. He soon, however, retreated, on receiving a bribe from the king of England. A treaty was concluded in the following year between William and Robert, and they joined their forces against Henry, whom they compelled to retire to Bretagne. William refused to carry out his portion of the treaty. Robert proclaimed the English king a perjurer, and he, to defend his honor, submitted the case to twenty-four barons ; they decided for Robert, but William appealed to the sword. The king of France again 88 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1090. approached to the assistance of Robert, but William again bought him off, and returned to England. We now arrive at one of the most interesting chapters in the history of the human race. At this period the crusades com- The crusades; men ced. For many centuries, Palestine was sub- their history. j ec t to the Moslem power, but Christians were allowed the free exercise of their religion, and pilgrims were per- mitted to visit the scene of the passion of our Lord. This tole- ration ceased about the year 936, when the Turks obtained possession of Jerusalem; tolls were exacted, and pilgrims were insulted. In 1094, Peter the Hermit visited the Holy Sepulchre, and witnessed the persecution of the Christians. Returning to Europe, he took counsel with Pope Urban II., and, under his sanction, he preached in favor of a crusade. The pope called upon all Christian princes to lay aside their dissensions, and to join against the common foe of Christendom. All Europe flew to arms. Robert of Normandy burnt with ardor to share in the enterprise; and, not having money, he mortgaged his territories to William for five years, and departed to the Holy Land. Many years of William's reign were occupied in resisting the hostilities of Malcolm, king of Scotland, and in protecting the William's wars west of England from the incursions of the Welsh Scotland? ' ' chiefs. The English barons also frequently rose against the crown ; but William, having completely overcome the earl of Northumberland, and other disaffected nobles, restored comparative peace to his dominions. His expensive habits, how- ever, which caused him to oppress his subjects with heavy taxa- tion, rendered him very unpopular. The king fell into ill health in the year 1095, and, trembling at the expected approach of death, he sent for the celebrated Anselm, who was a native of Aoust, in Piedmont, and was abbot of Bee, in Normandy. The bishops advised William to make Anselm made Anselm archbishop of Canterbury, of which see SuJy b : i°pSS-" William held the temporalities, since Lanfranc's cuted by William, death. The king consented j but Anselm, know- ing that should the king recover he would probably relapse into despotism, was reluctant to assume an exalted position. He, however, accepted the primacy, and his predictions proved true The king recovered, and insulted the primate at every opportunity. 1100A.D.] WILLIAM THE SECOND. 89 There were at this period two competitors for the papacy, Cle- ment and Urban. "William, in order to enjoy the English eccle- siastical revenues the more securely, refused to acknowledge either. Anselm acknowledged Urban; and William, in his rage, ordered him to be tried for treason. The undaunted An- selm, standing in the presence of the nobles of England, ex- claimed : " If any man pretend that I violate the faith which I have sworn to the king, because I will not reject the authority of the bishop of Rome, let him come forward, and he will find me ready to answer him as I ought." The king ordered the bishops to depose the primate; they refused, as not having it in their power, but some consented to abjure his authority. The king sent to Rome for the pallium, (the emblem of the primacy,) and acknowledged Urban. He endeavored to sell the pallium, but, failing in the attempt, he felt obliged to give it to Anselm. His persecution of the primate, however, continued, and at last An- selm retired from England to Rome, where he was received with every mark of honor. The king lived in extravagance and profligacy until the 2d of August, 1100, on which day, hunting in the new forest in Hampshire, he was accidentally (some think de- William is killed signedly) shot, by one of his knights, with an by an arrow, in •vr , . . . . n i the new forest. arrow. JNo religious rites were performed over his grave, as his life had been so sinful. It is generally said that Walter Tyrrell was the knight who shot the king. His sudden departure for France gave color to the statement ; but, in after years, when it would not have injured him to admit the accident, he solemnly denied it on oath. The absence of any investigation at the time, proves that William's successor, if not a party to his brother's death, was, at all events, not much incensed by an event which raised him to the throne. Of the violent character of William, his rapacity, despotism, and debauchery, the reader will have formed a sufficient notion from the preceding pages. In person he was cbar& short and corpulent, with flaxen hair, and a ruddy complexion ; from which last circumstance he derived the name of Rufus, or, the red. In ordinary conversation, his utterance was slow and embarrassed ; in the hurry of passion, precipitate and unintelligible. He assumed in public a haughty port, roll- s' 8* 90 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1100 ing his eyes with fierceness on the spectators, and endeavoring, by the tone of his voice and the tenor of his answers, to intimi- date those who addressed him. But in private he descended to an equality with his companions, amusing them with his wit, which was chiefly pointed against himself, and seeking to lessen the, odium of his excesses by making them the subject of laughter. He built, at the expense of the neighboring counties, a wall round the Tower, a bridge over the Thames, and the great hall at Westminster. The latter was finished the year before his death ; and when he first visited it, after his return from Normandy, he replied to his flatterers that there was nothing in its dimensions to excite their wonder ; it was only the vestibule to the palace which he intended to raise ; but in this respect he seems to have followed, not to have created, the taste of the age. During his reign, structures of unusual magnificence arose in every part of the kingdom ; and the most opulent proprietors sought to dis- tinguish themselves by the castles which they built, and the monasteries which they founded. 1100 A. D.] HENRY THE FIRST. 91 CHAPTER XI. Popes. Paschal II. Gelasius II. Calixtus II. Honorius II. Innocent II. iwg % first CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. Scotland. France. Edgar. Philip I. Alexander I. Louis VI. David I. Germany. Spain. Henry IV. Alphonso VI. Henry V. Alphonso VII. Lothaire II. Alphonso VIII. Accession of Henry — England invaded by Robert — Henry invades Normandy —Takes Robert prisoner.— From A. D. 1100 to 1135. Four years had now elapsed since Robert of Normandy had abandoned his dominions in Europe, to earn a barren wreath of glory in the fields of Palestine. By priority of noo Hgn j birth and the stipulation of treaties, the crown of sumamed Beau- England belonged to him. He had already ar- iar. rived in Italy, on his way home ; but, ignorant of the prize that was at stake, he loitered in Apulia, to woo Sibylla, the fair sister of William of Conversana. Henry, the younger brother, was on the spot ; he had followed Rufus into the forest ) and, the mo- ment that he heard the king was fallen, spurring his horse, he rode to Winchester, to secure the royal treasures. William de Breteuil, to whose custody they had been intrusted, arrived at the same time, and avowed his intention to preserve them for Ro- bert, the rightful heir. The prince immediately drew his sword, and blood would have been shed, had not their common friends interposed, and prevailed on Breteuil to withdraw his opposition. As soon as Henry had obtained possessioD of the treasures and castle, he was proclaimed king; and, riding to Westminster, was crowned on the Sunday, the Henry, third day after the death of his brother. To strengthen the weakness of his claim, by connecting it with the interests of the people, Henry published a charter of liberties. In this instru- 92 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1100. ment, he restored to the church its ancient immunities. He granted to all his barons and immediate vassals (and required that they should make the same concession to their tenants) that they might dispose by will of their personal property ; that they might give their daughters and female relatives in marriage, without fee or impediment, provided the intended husband were not his enemy; together with several other privileges. To the nation at large, he promised to put in force the laws of Edward the Confessor, as they had been amended and published by his father. Henry, however, retained both the royal forests and the forest laws ; but, as a kind of apology, he declared that in this reservation he was guided by the advice, and had obtained the consent of his barons. He added, at the same time, a very beneficial charter in favor of the citizens of London. Hitherto, the moral conduct of Henry had been as questionable as that of his late brother j policy now taught him to assume the zeal and severity of a reformer. He amended his own mode of life, and sent to hasten the return of Archbishop Anselm, with expressions of the highest regard and veneration for his character. At the solicitation of the prelates, he consented to marry; and Henry marries the object of his choice was Matilda, the daughter of Malcolm. of Malcolm, king of Scots, by Margaret, the sister of Edgar the Etheling ; a princess whose descent from the Anglo- Saxon monarchs was expected to add stability to his throne, and to secure the succession to his posterity. The marriage was cele- brated, and the queen crowned with the usual solemnity by An- selm, who had returned to England and resumed the administra- tion of his diocese. To satisfy the clamor of the people, Henry had committed to the Tower, Flambard, bishop of Durham, the unpopular minister of the late king. Flambard, with the aid of a rope, descended from the window, was conducted by his friends to the sea-shore, and thence escaped into Normandy. In Normandy he found Duke Robert, who had married Sibylla,) and returned to his duchy within a month after the death of his brother. By his former subjects he had been received with welcome; but his claim to the English crown, though he meant to enforce it, was postponed to a subsequent period. But the arrival and sugges- tions of Flambard turned his thoughts from pleasure to war. 1101 A. D.] HENRY THE FIRST. 93 His vassals professed their eagerness to fight under a prince who had gained laurels in the Holy Land ; tenders of assistance were received from England: and a powerful force of ,° in, it Robert prepares men-at-arms, archers, and iootmen, was ordered to invade England, to assemble in the neighborhood of Tresport. Henry beheld with disquietude the preparations of his brother, and collected an army at Pevensey, on the coast of Sussex. Ro- bert, conducted by the mariners whom Flambard had debauched from their allegiance, reached the harbor of Portsmouth. To se- cure the city of Winchester, became to each prince an object of the first importance. Though Robert was nearer, he was delayed by the debarkation of his troops, and Henry overtook him on his march. After several fruitless and irritating messages, tt i it o .ii-i? Henry and Ro- Henry demanded a conference with his brother, bert meet in con- mi . . . , -i , ference: a treaty ±ne two princes met m a vacant space between of peace concluded the armies, conversed for a few minutes, and em- between them - braced as friends. / The terms of reconciliation were immediately adjusted. Robert renounced all claims to the crown of England, and obtained in return a yearly pension of three thousand marks, the cession of all the castles which Henry possessed in Normandy, with the exception of Damfront, and the revocation of the judg- ment of forfeiture which William had pronounced against his ad- herents. It was moreover stipulated, that both princes should unite to punish their respective enemies, and that if either died without legitimate issue, the survivor should be his heir. Twelve barons on each side swore to enforce the observance of these articles. Henry was soon afterward engaged in a contest with several disaffected noblemen, the principal of whom was Belesme, earl of Shrewsbury, who was defeated and banished. Robert re- ligiously observed the conditions of peace. He had, even on the first notice of Belesme's rebellion, ravaged the Norman estates of that nobleman. Sensible, however, that the real crime of the outlaws was their former attachment to his interest, he unex- pectedly came to England, at the solicitation of Robert goes to the earl of Surrey, and incautiously trusted him- mad^r'isonlr by self to the generosity of an unfeeling brother. ni3brother - He was received, indeed, with a smile of affection, but soon found that he was in reality a captive ; instead of interceding in 94 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1103, favor of others, he was reduced to treat for his own liberty ; and, as the price of his ransom, gladly resigned his annuity of three thousand marks, which, to save the honor of the two princes, was received as a present by the queen Matilda. After such treat- ment, Robert could not doubt of the hostility of his brother; and, in his own defence, he sought the friendship and accepted the services of the outlaw, Belesme, who still possessed thirty- four castles in Normandy. Henry received the intelligence with pleasure, pronounced the alliance between himself and Robert at an end, accepted (perhaps procured) invitations from the enemies of the duke, and resolved to transfer the Norman coronet to his Henry invades own head. The first campaign passed without any bSS£;Si£ im P ortant re ^t: in the second, the fate of Nor- ken prisoner. mandy was decided before the walls of Tenchebrai, where Robert was defeated. He was soon sent to England, and kept in confinement till death. Henry summoned the Norman barons to meet him, and was acknowledged duke without oppo- sition. While the king had thus been employed in chastising his enemies, and stripping an unfortunate brother of his dominions, he was engaged in a less successful quarrel with Anselm and the Dispute concern- court of Rome, concerning the right of investi- vestiture. ture. To understand the subject of the contro- versy, the reader should know that, according to ancient practice, the election of bishops had generally depended on the testimony of the clergy and people, and the suffrage of the provincial pre- lates. But the lapse of years, and the conversion of the bar- barous nations, had introduced important innovations into this branch of ecclesiastical polity. The tenure of clerical, was assimilated to that of lay property; the sovereign assumed the right of approving of the prelate elect ; and the new bishop or abbot, like the baron or knight, was compelled to swear fealty, and to do homage to his superior lord. The pretensions of the crown were gradually extended. As it was the interest of the prince that the spiritual fiefs should not fall into the hands of his enemies, he reserved to himself the right of nomination; and, in virtue of that right, invested the individual whom he had no- minated with the ring and crosier, the acknowledged emblems of episcopal and abbatial jurisdiction. The church had observed 1108 A. D.] HENRY THE FIRST. 95 with jealousy these successive encroachments on her privileges; in the general councils of Nice, in 787, and of Constantinople, in 869, the nomination of bishops by lay authority had been condemned ; in 1067 the former prohibitions were renewed by Gregory VII. ; and, ten years afterward, Victor III., in a synod at Beneventum, added the sentence of excommunication both against the prince who should presume to exercise the right of investiture and the prelate who should condescend to receive his temporalities on such conditions. But it was in fain that the thunders of the church were directed against a practice enforced by sovereigns, who refused to surrender a privilege enjoyed by their predecessors, and defended by prelates who were indebted to it for their wealth and importance. The contest between the two powers continued during half a century ; nor was it without mutual concessions that claims so contradictory could be amicably adjusted. It would exhaust the patience of the reader to descend into the particulars of this dispute ; to notice all the messages that were sent to Rome, and the answers returned to England ; the artifices that were employed to deceive, and the expedients suggested to mollifv Anselm. At last, bv the king's request, Anseim goes to , \ . , , . ' J . G . Italy . the dispute he undertook, aged and infirm as he was, a journey finally settled. to Italy, to lay the whole controversy before the pontiff; on his return, he received an order to remain in banishment till he should be willing to submit to the royal pleasure. The exile re- tired to his friend the archbishop of Lyons, under whose hos- pitable roof he spent the three following years. In the interval, Henry was harassed by the entreaties of his barons and the mur- murs of the people : his sister, Adela, countess of Blois, and his queen, Matilda, importuned him to be reconciled to the primate ; and Paschal II., who had already excommunicated his advisers, admonished him that in a few weeks the same sentence would be pronounced against himself. The king, not prepared to push the dispute to this extremity, discovered a willingness to relent. An- selm met him at the abbey of Bee ; and both, in the true spirit of conciliation, consented to abandon a part of their pretensions. As fealty and homage were civil duties, it was agreed that they should be exacted from every clergyman before he received his temporalities. As the ring and crosier were considered to denote 96 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1116. spiritual jurisdiction, to which the king acknowledged that he had no claim, the collation of these emblems was suppressed. The possession of Normandy soon involved the king in hos- tilities with the neighboring princes. William, the only son of wniiam, the son the captive duke, was but five years old at the ses^hlpes'of time of the battle of Tenchebrai. As he advanced his partisans. j n a g e? th e hopes of his partisans increased. Baldwin, earl of Flanders, with whom he found an honorable retreat during several years, engaged to assist him with all his power ; Louis, king of France, was induced to draw the sword in the same cause : even Fulk of Anjou agreed to join the con- federates. All these princes had individually reasons to complain of Henry; they were willing to sanctify their resentments by espousing the interests of an injured orphan. Thus the embers of war were kindled, and the flame stretched from one extremity of Normandy to the other. During more than three years, for- tune seemed to play with the efforts of the combatants. At first, Louis was compelled to solicit the forbearance of the king of England ; then success upon success waited on his arms ; after- ward, Baldwin died of a slight wound received at the siege of Eu; next, Fulk of Anjou, induced by a considerable bribe and the marriage of his daughter to Henry's son, withdrew from the allies ] and, at last, the decisive though almost bloodless victory An end at length of Brenville gave the superioritv to the king of put to the hostili- ^ . b J x J ° ties. Lngland. An end was put to hostilities by the paternal industry of the pontiff, Calixtus II., and a treaty of peace was concluded under his auspices. Henry retained what he principally sought, the possession of Normandy ; and the king of France, as sovereign lord, received the homage of William, Henry's son, in lieu of that of the father. The ambition of the king was now gratified. His foreign foes had been compelled to solicit peace — his Norman enemies had been crushed by the weight of his arms J and, if further security were wanting, it had been obtained by the investiture of the duchy which had been granted to his son William. After an ab- sence of four years, he resolved to return in triumph to England. At Barfleur, he was met by a Norman mariner, called Fitz- Stephen, who offered him a mark of gold, and solicited the honor of conveying him in his vessel, " the White Ship." It was, he i 120 A. D.] HENRY THE FIRST. 97 observed, new, and manned with fifty most able seamen His father had carried the king's father, when he sailed to the con- quest of England ; and the service by which he held his fee was that of providing for the passage of his sovereign. Henry re plied .that he had already chosen a vessel for himself, but that he would confide his son and his treasures to the care of Fitz- Stephen. With the young prince (he was in his eighteenth year) embarked his brother Richard and his sister Adela, both natural children of Henry, the earl of Chester and his countess, the king's niece, sixteen other noble ladies, and one hundred and forty knights. They spent some hours on deck in feasting and dancing, and distributed three barrels of wine among the crew; but the riot and intoxication which prevailed about sunset, in- duced the more prudent to quit the vessel, and return to the shore. Henry had set sail as soon as the tide would Henry sets Ba n permit. William, after a long delay, ordered England. Fitz-Stephen to follow his father. Immediately every sail was unfurled, every oar was plied ; but, amid the music and revelling, the care of the helm was neglected, and the The shipwreck "White Ship," carried away by the current, children, suddenly struck against a rock. The rapid influx of the water admonished the gay and heedless company of their alarming situation. By Fitz-Stephen, the prince was immediately lowered into a boat, and told to row back to the land; but the shrieks of his sister recalled him to the wreck, and the boat sank under the multitude that poured into it. In a short time the vessel itself went down, and three hundred persons were buried in the waves. A young nobleman, Geoffrey de L'Aigle, and Berold, a butcher of Rouen, alone saved themselves, by clinging to the top of the mast. After a few minutes, the unfortunate Fitz-Stephen swam toward them, inquired for the prince, and being told that he had perished, plunged under the water. Geoffrey, benumbed by the cold of a November night, was soon washed away, and, as he sank, uttered a prayer for the safety of his companion. Berold retained his hold, was rescued in the morning by a fishing-boat, and related the particulars of this doleful catastrophe. Henry had arrived at Southampton, and frequently expressed his sur- prise at the tardiness of his son. The first intelligence was con- veyed to Theobald of Blois, who communicated it to his friends, 98 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1120. The news of the but dared not inform the king. The next morning d?en h c° f hiS ed h to * ne ^ ata ^ secret was revealed by a young page, Henry. who threw himself in tears at his feet. At the shock, Henry sank to the ground, but, recovering himself, affected a display of fortitude which he did not feel. He talked of submission to the dispensations of Providence ; but the wound had penetrated deep into his heart. His grief gradually sub- sided into a settled melancholy ; and it is said that from that day he was never observed to smile. Matilda, by the death of her husband, became a widow at the age of twelve, within six months after her marriage. By Henry she was treated with the affection of a parent; but at the demand of her father returned to Anjou, and ten years afterward put on the vail at the convent of Fonte- vraud. But Henry, deprived of his only legitimate son, had new plans to form, new precautions to take, against the pretensions and attempts of his nephew. On that prince every eye was fixed; his virtues and misfortunes were the theme of general conversa- tion ; and few men doubted that he would ultimately succeed to the throne. Fulk of Anjou, whom the king had offended, by re- fusing to return the dower of Matilda, affianced to him his younger daughter, Sibylla, and gave him the earldom of Mans; while the most powerful barons of Normandy, Amauri of Mont- fort, and Walleran, the young earl of Mellent, undertook to assist him, on the first opportunity, with all their forces and influence. Henry, by his spies, was informed of the most secret motions of his enemies. In the court of Anjou, he employed The marriage he- threats and promises, and bribes, to prevent the tween wiiiiam and intended marriage: he even undertook to prove Sibylla is opposed ° / * by Henry. that the two parties, William and Sibylla, were relations within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity. In Normandy, he suddenly landed with a numerous body of English forces, and overthrew the friends of his nephew. The life of William, the son of Robert, was an alternating series of elevation and depression. If- the sudden fate of his cousin had awakened his hopes, they were soon defeated by the sagacity and promptitude of his uncle ; but he was amply repaid for the disappointment by the bounty of Louis, who, in lieu of Sibylla, whose father now refused her to him, bestowed on him 1123 A. D.] HENRY THE FIRST. 99 the hand of his sister-in-law, and gave for her portion Chaniont, Pontoise, and the Vexin, on the borders of Normandy; whence, by his proximity, he was enabled to encourage his partisans, and to keep alive the spirit of opposition to Henry. Soon afterward, Charles the Good, earl of Flanders, and the sue- The earl of Fian- . ' . ders assassinated cessor of .Baldwin, was assassinated. He was at in church, his devotions in a church at Bruges, when Burchard de I/Isle suddenly assailed him with a body of armed men, and murdered him at the foot of the altar. On the first intelligence of this event, William of Ipres surrounded the walls with his retainers ; the king of France followed with a formidable force ; and, after a siege of five weeks, the gates were burst open, and the assassins were precipitated over the battlements of the castle. William had accompanied his benefactor, and received from him the in- vestiture of the earldom, which he could justly claim as the representative of Matilda, his grandmother, the daughter of Baldwin V. Thus, again, by the caprice of fortune, was he raised to a high degree of power, and placed in a situation the most favorable for the conquest of Normandy. Henry began to tremble for the safety of his continental possessions. It is now time to notice the measures by which that monarch had sought to perpetuate the succession in his own family. Ma- tilda had brought him two children ; a son, William, whose pre- mature fate the reader has already witnessed, and a daughter, Alice, who afterward assumed the name of her mother. For the last twelve years of her life, the queen resided at Westminster, deprived of the society of her husband. By her death, in 1118, the king found himself at liberty to contract another marriage, and he offered his hand to Adelais, the daughter Henry marries of Geoffrey, duke of Louvain, and niece to Pope of Geoffrey!" 8 Calixtus — a princess whose chief recommendation was her youth and beauty. Their union proved without issue; and, after a delay of three years, he formed the resolution of settling the crown on his daughter Maud, who had married Henry V. of Germany, and, by the death of her husband, was lately become a widow. A general assembly was summoned of the prelates and chief tenants of the crown ; before them, . Henry lamented the premature death of his son, and proposed his daughter Maud as presumptive heiress to the succession. She united, he ob* 100 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1127. served, in her veins, the blood of the Anglo-Saxon with that of the Norman princes. The empress was unanimously pronounced the next heir, in the event of her father dying without male issue ; and first the clergy, then the laity, swore to maintain her succession. Among the laity, the precedence was given to her uncle David, on account of his regal character. The second place was disputed between Stephen, earl of Boulogne, and Ro- bert, earl of Gloucester. The former was the king's nephew, by his sister Adela, and had been born in lawful wedlock ; the latter was Henry's son, but of spurious birth. The question was de- termined in favor of Stephen. But these noblemen had in view a secret and important object. Notwithstanding the precautions of Henry, the succession of Maud was considered very uncertain : both Stephen and Robert looked forward to the crown ; and, on that account, each was anxious to be declared the first prince of the blood. The reader has noticed the constant solicitude of Henry to se- cure the friendship of Fulk, count of Anjou. That nobleman had lately resigned his European states to his eldest son, and had accepted the more brilliant but precarious dignity of king of Matilda is mar- Jerusalem. Henry offered with eagerness the ried to Geoffrey, . 1 '/• ■**• j-»i i j /-*• «■ i • • i count of Anjou. hand oi Matilda to (jreonrey, the reigning earl. The marriage was negotiated in secret: its publication excited the loud complaints of the English and Norman barons. They claimed a right to be consulted in the disposal of their future sovereign ; and many declared that they looked on themselves as released from the obligation of their oath, by the duplicity of the king. It was impossible for Henry to contemplate without dis- quietude the increasing fame, and power of his nephew, the earl of Flanders. William had justly, but perhaps imprudently, punished the murderers of his predecessor. Their friends sought to be revenged on the new earl : at their suggestion, Thierry, landgrave of Alsace, advanced a claim to the succession; and Henry engaged to support him with all the power of England and Normandy. Lisle, Grhent, and several other places, were perfidiously surrendered to Thierry; but William displayed his wonted activity and courage, and completely defeated his antago- nist under the walls of Alost. Unfortunately, after the battle, 1134 A. D.] HENRY THE FIRST. 101 and at the very gate of the town, he received a tie of thrust in the hand from the pike of a foot-soldier, and the death of The wound was slight, and therefore neglected : a Flanders, mortification ensued ; and the prince soon died. Family broils detained the king in Normandy, and occupied his attention during the last years of his reign. But though he resided so frequently on the continent, and was so anxious to secure his transmarine possessions, he did not neglect the govern- ment of his kingdom of England, by far the most valuable por- tion of his dominions. The administration of justice, and the preservation of the public tranquillity, were objects which he had constantly at heart, and which he earnestly recommended to the vigilance of his officers. Robert, the unfortunate duke of Normandy, had now spent eight-and-twenty years in captivity. According to some his- torians, he bore his confinement with impatience ; and, by an un- successful attempt to escape, provoked his brother to deprive him of sight. For the honor of human nature, we may hope that the latter part of the account is false ; the more so as it is not supported by contemporary authority. If Henry may be believed, the reader has already heard him boast of the splendor and comfort enjoyed by his captive ; and Malmesbury (but Malmesbury wrote to the son of Henry, and therefore was dis- posed to panegyrize the father,) seems to confirm this statement, when he assures us that the duke was allowed every indulgence compatible with his condition as a prisoner. Ro- bert died at the age of eighty, in the castle of duke of Normandy! Cardiif, in Wales. Henry did not survive his brother more than a year. He had been hunting near St. Denis le Froment, in Normandy, and at his return was seized with an acute fever. On the third day, despairing of his recovery, he sent for the archbishop of Rouen, from whom he received the sacraments of the eucharist and ex- treme unction. The earls of Gloucester, Surrey, and Leicester, and the rest of the nobility assembled round his bed, and in their pre- sence he pronounced his last will. I bequeath, he said, all my lands, on both sides of the sea, to my daughter Matilda and her heirs for ever ; and I desire that, when my debts have been discharged, and the liveries and wages of my retainers have been paid, tho 102 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1135. remainder of my effects may be distributed to the poor. On the Death of Henry, seventh day of his illness he expired. His bowels 1135 - were deposited in the church of St. Mary, at Rouen, which had been founded by his mother ; his body was conveyed to England, and interred in the abbey of Reading. A contemporary writer has left us the character of Henry as it was differently drawn, by his friends and enemies, after his death. By the former he was ranked among the wisest, richest, and bravest of our monarchs ; the latter loaded his memory with the reproach of cruelty, avarice, and in- continence. To an indifferent observer, at the present day, his reign will offer little worthy of praise, unless it be the severity with which he punished offences. This was a real benefit to his people; as it not only contributed to extirpate the robbers by profession, but also checked the rapacity and violence of the barons. Still, his merit will be very equivocal. As long as each conviction brought with it a fine or forfeiture to the royal ex- chequer, princes were stimulated to the execution of the laws by a sense of personal interest. Henry, at the same time that he visited the injustice of others, scrupled not to commit injustice himself. Probably, in both cases he had in view the same object — his own emolument. The great aim of his ambition was to aggrandize his family, by augmenting his possessions on the continent. His success in this favorite project obtained for him the reputation of political wisdom ; but it was purchased at the expense of enormous sums, wrung from a suffering and impoverished people. If, however, the English thus paid for acquisitions in which they had little interest, they derived from them one advantage — the king's attention to foreign politics rendered him anxious to preserve peace with his more immediate neighbors. He lived on the most friendly terms with Alexander and David, successively kings of Scotland. The former had married his natural daughter, Sibylla ; both were the brothers of his wife Matilda. It was more difficult Henry's efforts to to re P re ss the active and predatory disposition of euMue the Welsh, the Welsh ; but as often as he prepared to chastise their presumption, they pacified his resentment by submission and presents. As a check to this restless people, he planted among them a powerful colony of foreigners. Many natives of 1 135 A. D.] HENRY THE FIRST. 103 Flanders had found settlements in England, under the protection of his mother, Matilda ; and the number was now doubled by a crowd of emigrants, who had been driven from their homes by an inundation of the Rhine. Henry placed them at first on the right bank of the Tweed ; but afterward, collecting the old and new comers into one body, allotted to them for their residence the town of Haverfordwest, with the district of Ross, in Pembroke- shire. They were a martial and industrious people ; by attention to the cultivation of the soil, and the manufacture of cloth, they grew in numbers and opulence ; and, under the protection of the English kings, to whom they always remained faithful, defeated every attempt of the Welsh princes to root them out of the country. Henry was naturally suspicious, and this disposition had been greatly encouraged by his knowledge of the clandestine attempts of his enemies. On one occasion, the keeper of his treasures was convicted of a design on his life ; on another, while he was marching in the midst of his army toward Wales, an arrow from an unknown hand struck him on the breast, but was repelled by the temper of his cuirass. Alarmed by these incidents, he always kept on his guard, frequently changed his apartments, and, when he retired to rest, ordered sentinels to be stationed at the door, and his sword and shield to be placed near his pillow. The suspicious are generally dissembling and revengeful. Henry seldom forgot an injury, though he would disguise his enmity under the mask of friendship. Fraud, and treachery, and violence were employed to ensnare those who had greatly ofiFended him ; and their usual portion was death, or blindness, or perpetual imprisonment. After his decease, it was discovered that his cousin, the earl of Moretoil, whom he had long kept in confinement, had also been deprived of sight. _ 7 -r o Henry's cruelty Luke de Barre, a poet, who had fought against toward Lnk« de , . , . .., , ° c .., ° , , Barre, the poet, and him, was made prisoner at the close of the last others. war, and sentenced by the king to lose his e^s. Charles the Good, earl of Flanders, was present, and remonstrated against so direful a punishment. It was not, he observed, the custom of civilized nations to inflict bodily punishment on knights who had drawn the sword in the service of their lord. " It is not," re- plied Henry, " the first time that he has been in arms against 104 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1135 me. But, what is worse, lie has made me the subject of satire, and in his poems has held me up to the derision of my enemies. From his example, let other versifiers learn what they may ex- pect if they offend the king of England." The cruel mandate was executed; and the troubadour, in a paroxysm of agony, bursting from the hands of the officers, dashed out his brains against the wall. His dissimulation was so well known, that he was mistrusted even by his favorites. When Bloet, bishop of Lincoln, who had Henry's great f° r man y years been one of his principal jus- dissimuiation. ticiaries, was told that the king had spoken of him in terms of the highest commendation — " Then," he replied, " I am undone ; for I never knew him praise a man whom he did not intend to ruin." The event justified his apprehensions. In an unguarded moment the prelate had boasted that the monastery which he was building at Eynesham, should equal that which Henry had founded at Reading. The words were carried to the king, and the fall of the favorite was consummated. He was immediately deprived of the office of justiciary; vexatious prose- cutions were commenced against him ; by fines and extortions all his wealth was drawn to the royal exchequer; and the bishop would probably have been compelled to resign his dignity, had he not died, by a sudden stroke of apoplexy, as he was speaking to Henry. Malmesbury has allotted to the king the praise of temperance and continency. Perhaps his claim to these rests on no other ground than the partiality of his. panegyrist. Many writers affirm that his death was occasioned by the excess with which he ate of a dish of lampreys. Robert of Caen, earl of Gloucester, his illegitimate son, was much distinguished by his father. He will claim the attention of the reader in the following reign. The king's principal ministers were Roger, bishop of Salisbury, and Robert, earl of Mellent. Roger had constantly adhered to Henry's minis- ^ nr y m ft U the vicissitudes of fortune which that ters - prince experienced before his accession; it was natural that he should rise to eminence when his patron became a rich and powerful monarch. By the chapter of Salisbury he was chosen bishop of that see; by the king, he was appointed grand justiciary of the kingdom. On the -.plea that the two 1135 A. D.] HENRY THE FIRST. 105 offices were incompatible with each other, he declined the latter, till his scruples were removed by the joint authority of the pontiff and the metropolitan. To his episcopal duties he devoted the more early part of the day; the remainder was given to the affairs of state — and it is no weak argument of his merit, that though he was many years the minister of a rapacious monarch, he never incurred the hatred of the people. Whenever Henry left the kingdom, the bishop of Sarum was appointed regent; and in that capacity discharged the duties of government for years together, to the satisfaction of his sovereign. While the internal administration was confided to this prelate, the department of foreign politics exercised the abilities of the earl of Mellent. He attended the king in all his expeditions into Normandy, and acquired the reputation of be- The eari of sid- ing the first statesman in Europe. Princes and and influence, pontiffs courted his friendship; Henry himself, though he per- ceived it not, was supposed to be governed by him ; and his pos- sessions in England, Normandy, and France received daily aug- mentations from his violence and rapacity. Nor was his authority confined to the concerns of government ; he had usurped the em- pire of taste ; and every fashionable courtier imitated the dress and manners of the earl of Mellent. His last illness was induced or irritated by vexation of mind. He had resolved to augment his wealth by marriage with an opulent heiress ; but his expecta- tions were defeated by the superior address of a rival. On his death-bed he sent for the archbishop of Canterbury ; and when that prelate exhorted him to prepare for a future life, by repair- ing the injustices which he had committed in this, he hastily replied, " I will leave to my children whatever I have acquired. Let them do justice to those whom I have injured." It is su- perfluous to add, that justice was never done. These two ministers, as well as every other officer trusted by the king, were foreigners. He felt no gratitude for the services, and held in no estimation the abilities of his na- The king's dis- -,. Tf'iii f i i trust of his native tive subjects. It, m the hour ot danger, he ap- subjects, pealed to their fidelity, during the time of prosperity he treated them with the most marked contempt. They were carefully ex- cluded from every office of power or emolument, whether in church or state. The most slender recommendation was sufficient 106 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1135. to qualify a stranger, were he Italian, French, or Norman j nc services, no talents, could expiate in an Englishman the original sin of his nativity. Henry, if we consider the value of money at that period, was immensely rich. On occasions of ceremony, when he wore his crown, he imitated the parade of the eastern monarchs; and before him, on a table, were displayed the most precious of his treasures, particularly two golden vases of extraordinary dimen- Henrys wealth, sions, and elegantly enchased with jewels. After and works of art. jj} s d ea th ? his successor found in the exchequer, besides the plate and gems collected by Henry and his two pre- decessors, one hundred thousand pounds of pennies, all of just weight, and of pure silver. So much wealth had enabled him to indulge his taste for architecture j and while the castles which he raised on the borders of Wales contributed to the protection of the country, by repairing or rebuilding most of the royal palaces, he provided for the comfort and splendor of himself and his suc- cessors. At Woodstock, he enclosed a spacious park for deer, and added a menagerie for wild beasts, among which Malmesbury mentions lions, leopards, lynxes, camels, and, what appears to have chiefly attracted the notice of the historian, a porcupine. But his religious foundations principally displayed his magnifi- cence ) these were, three monasteries ', two for regular canons, at Chichester and Dunstable, and one for monks of the order of Cluni, situated at Heading, near the conflux of the Thames and the Kennet, where the great roads of the kingdom intersected each other. The wealth with which Henry endowed this esta- blishment did not seduce the monks from the rigid observance of their rule. It was their custom to offer hospitality to all who passed by their convent ; and it was believed that, in the enter- tainment of strangers, they annually expended a much larger sum than was devoted to their own maintenance. Before I close the history of this prince, and proceed to the turbulent reign of Stephen, it will be proper to notice the rapid Literature. Lan- improvement of the nation in literary pursuits, franc and Anselm. under the C onqueror an d his SOnS. LanfraUC and Anselm, the two archbishops of Canterbury, had proved them- selves worthy of their exalted station. The superior knowledge of the former was universally admitted : the attainments of his 1135 A. D.] HENRY THE FIRST. ' 107 successor were of a still higher class. Both, in their more early years, had exercised the profession of teachers; and their pre- cepts and example had awakened the curiosity of the clergy, and kindled an ardor for learning which can hardly be paralleled in the present age. Nor did this enthusiasm perish with its authors — it was kept alive by the honors which were so prodigally lavished on all who could boast of literary acquirements. The sciences, which formed the usual course of education, were divided into two classes, which still retained the appellations of a more barbarous age; the trivium, comprising grammar, logic, and rhetoric, and the quadrivium, or music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. It was from the works of the Latin writers, which had survived the wreck of the empire, that students sought to acquire the principal portion of their knowledge ; but in the science of medicine, and the more abstruse investigations of the mathematics, the ancients were believed inferior to the Moham- medan teachers ; and many an Englishman, during the reign of Henry, wandered as far as the banks of the Ebro, in Spain, that he might listen to the instructions, or translate the works of the Arabian philosophers. . To the praise of the popes, it must be said that, even in the Middle Ages, they were generally attentive to the interests of learning. The first schools had been established The first schools. in monasteries and cathedrals, by the zeal of their ^?l w se p X respective prelates; that they were perpetuated sors - and improved, was owing to the regulations issued by different pontiffs. But now the ancient seminaries began to be neglected for others, opened by men who sought for wealth and distinction by the public display of their abilities ; and who established their schools wherever there was a prospect of attracting disciples. The new professors were soon animated with a spirit of competi- tion, which, while it sharpened their faculties, perverted the use- fulness of their labors. There was no subject on which they would condescend to acknowledge their ignorance. Like their Arabian masters, they discussed with equal warmth matters above their comprehension, or beneath their notice. As their schools were open to every hearer, they had to support their peculiar opinions against all the subtlety and eloquence of their rivals; and on many occasions were compelled to argue in despite of 108 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A.D.I 135 common sense, rather than allow themselves to be vanquished. Hence, the art of reasoning came to be valued as the first of in- tellectual acquirements. The student applied assiduously to the logic of Aristotle, and the subtleties of his Arabian commenta- tors; words were substituted in the place of ideas; multiplied and unmeaning distinctions bewildered the understanding ; and a system of scholastic disputation was introduced, which the cele- brated abbot of Clairvaux sarcastically defined to be u the art of always seeking, without ever finding, the truth." As the principal ecclesiastics in England were foreigners, they imported the foreign course of studies. Thus, Joffrid, abbot of Croyland, procured teachers from Orleans, where he had been Joffrid establish- educated, and established them at Cotenham, a es a school at Cam- , ' . , . . TT . . . , bridge. nranor belonging to his convent. His object was to open, with their assistance, a school in the neighboring town of Cambridge. At first, a large barn sufficed for their accommo- dation ; in the second year, their disciples were so numerous that separate apartments were allotted to each master. Early in the morning the labors of the day were opened by brother Odo, who taught the children the rules of grammar, according to Priscian; at six, Terric read lectures on the logic of Aristotle ; nine was the hour allotted to brother William, the expounder of the rhe- torical works of Cicero and Quintilian ; and, before twelve, mas- ter Gilbert explained to the theological students the different passages of the Holy Scriptures. This account, if it be genuine, discloses the real origin of the university of Cambridge. There were few among the scholars of Henry's reign who did not occasionally practise the art of composing in Latin verse. A The study of La- ^ ew °f them may certainly claim the praise of tin verse. taste and elegance ; but the majority seem to have aspired to no other excellence than that of adulterating the legi- timate metre by the admixture of middle and final rhymes. Latin productions, however, were confined to the perusal and admiration of Latin scholars. The rich and the powerful, those who alone were able to reward the labors of the poet, were acquainted with no other language than their own, the Gallo-Norman, which since the Conquest had been introduced into the court of the prince and the hall of the baron, and was learned and spoken by every candidate for office and power. To amuse and delight these men, 1135 A. D.] HENRY THE FIRST. 109 arose a new race of versifiers, who neglected Latin composition for vernacular poetry In their origin they were fostered by the patronage of the two queens of Henry, Matilda and Alice. Malmesbury assures us that every poet hastened to the court of Matilda, at Westminster, to read his verses to that princess, and to partake of her bounty ; and the name of Alice is frequently mentioned with honor by the contemporary versifiers, Gaimar, Beneoit, and Philippe de Thaun. The works of these writers are still extant in manuscript, and show that their authors knew little of the inspiration of poetry. The turgid metaphors, the abrupt transitions, and the rapid movements, so characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon muse, though conceived in bad taste, showed at least indications of native genius; but the narratives of the Gallo- Norman poets are tame, prosaic, and interminable — and their authors seem to have known no beauty but the jingle of rhyme, and to have aimed at no excellence but that of spinning out their story to the greatest possible length. These poems, however, such as they were, delighted those for whom they were written, and, what was still better, brought wealth and popularity to their authors. During the reign of Henry, Geoffrey of Monmouth published his History of Britain; which he embellished with numerous tales respecting Arthur and his knights, and Merlin and his pro- phecies, borrowed from the songs and traditions The orio . in of of the ancient Britons. This extraordinary work Romance. was accompanied by another of a similar description, the History of Charlemagne and his twelve peers; supposed to be compiled by Archbishop Turpin, from the songs of the French trouveres : and, about the same time, the adventures of Alexander the Great, by the pretended Dares Phrygius and Dictys Cretensis, were brought by some of the crusaders into Europe. These three works supplied an inexhaustible store of matter for writers in verse and prose ; the deeds of Alexander, and Arthur, and Char- lemagne were repeated and embellished in a thousand forms; spells and enchantments, giants, hippogriphs, and dragons, ladies confined in durance by the power of necromancy, and delivered from confinement by the courage of their knights, captivated the imagination of our ancestors ; and a new species of writing was introduced, which retained its sway for centuries, and was known 10 110 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1135. by the appellation of Romance, because it was originally written in the Gallic idiom, an idiom corrupted from the ancient language of Rome. CHAPTER XII. CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. Popes. Innocent II. Celestin II. Lucius II. Eugenius III. Anastasius IV. Scotland. David I. Malcolm IV. Germany. Lothaire II. Conrad III. Frederic I. Francd Louis VI. Louis VII. Spain. Alphonso VIII. Accession of Stephen — Invasion of the Scots — Battle of the Standard — Matilda lands in England — Stephen is taken prisoner, and released — Matilda leaves the kingdom — Henry asserts the claim of his Mother — Death of Stephen.— From A. D. 1135 to 1154. Henry had cheered his last moments with the hope that by his care the crown had been secured to Matilda : it was seized by a. d. 1135. ste- his nephew Stephen, whom he had cherished with crown. the affection of a father, and had destined to be the future support of her throne. Stephen was the third of the four sons that Adela, Henry's sister, had borne to her husband, the earl of Blois. He had attached himself to the fortunes of his uncle. From him he had received with the honor of knighthood several valuable estates in England ; had earned by his valor in the field of Tenchebrai the Norman earldom of Moretoil; and afterward, by his marriage with Matilda, the daughter of the earl of Boulogne, had succeeded to the territories of his father-in- law. At each step his ambition had expanded; and on the death of Henry it urged him to become a candidate for the throne. With these views and expectations Stephen sailed from Whitsand, and landed on the coast of Kent. He was excluded from Dover and Canterbury by the inhabitants, who knew or suspected the 1136 A. D.] STEPHEN. HI real objects of his journey; but he was received Stephen lands in with welcome by the citizens of London, who im- Sf^King, S mediately proclaimed him king, and by those of finall y crowned. Winchester, whom his brother had secured to his interest. At Winchester he was joined by the archbishop of Canterbury, by Roger, the powerful bishop of Sarum, and by William de Pont de TArche, who placed in his hands the keys of the castle, with those of the royal treasures. Though neither prelates nor barons had yet arrived or signified their acquiescence, the ceremony of his coronation was performed I and the new king promised upon oath not to retain the vacant prelacies for his own profit, not to molest laymen or clerks in the possession of their woods and forests, nor to levy the danegelt, though it had been repeatedly exacted by his late uncle. Stephen had long been the most popular nobleman in England ; and men were inclined to favour the pretensions of one whom they loved. The royal treasures, which he distributed with pro- fusion, while they confirmed the fidelity of his adherents, brought to his standard crowds of adventurers, who intimidated his enemies. In the month of January, 1136, the corpse of the late monarch arrived at the abbey of Reading. Stephen, to demonstrate his respect for his uncle, proceeded to meet it with Respect shown all his attendants, and placed his shoulders under remSoTwsnn 6 - the bier. When the ceremony of the interment cle - was concluded, he rode to Oxford, and in a numerous assembly of prelates and barons, renewed the promises which he had made at his coronation. In a subsequent assembly, he produced a letter from the pope, Innocent II., confirming his succession to the crown, and granted additional liberties to the church. The prelates in return renewed their oath of allegiance, but with a conditional clause which had previously been adopted by some of the lay barons — that they would be faithful to him as long as he faithfully observed his engagements. It is now time to direct the reader's attention to the daughter of Henry. Unsuspicious of the designs of her cousin, she entered Normandy, and was admitted into several towns. Her husband followed with a numerous body of Angevins; but their excesses revived the animosity that had formerly divided the two nations; 112 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1138, and before the end of the month he was driven back with disgrace into his own territories. In Britain, the first who drew the sword in the cause of Matilda was David, king of Scotland. He had sworn to support The king of Scot- her succession; and at the commencement of the land. ' year he crossed the borders, reduced Carlisle, Nor- ham, Alnwick, and Newcastle, and compelled the inhabitants to take an oath of fealty to the daughter of Henry. He had reached the walls of Durham, when he was opposed by Stephen at the head of a numerous army. The risk of an engagement induced him to pause ; if he was the uncle of the empress, so was he like- wise of the consort of her antagonist: a peace was speedily concluded; and to cement the friendship of the two kings, Henry, prince of Scotland, did homage to Stephen, and received from him the towns of Carlisle, Doncaster, and Huntingdon. While the king was detained in the north, "Wales had risen in arms. It probably was indifferent to the Welsh chieftains The condition of whether the sceptre were swayed by Matilda or Wales. Stephen; but they eagerly seized the opportunity to punish their ancient foes, and after they had satiated themselves with plunder and carnage, retired to their mountains; where they were suffered to remain unmolested, while the king's atten- tion was engaged by more formidable enemies. Normandy for many years presented a most lamentable spectacle, torn by intestine divisions, and alternately ravaged by opposite parties. The great barons, having retired within their castles, maintained an air of independence ; and by occasionally waging war on one another, and supporting, as interest, or caprice, or resentment induced them, sometimes the cause of Stephen, some- times that of Matilda, contributed to prolong the miseries of their suffering country. The king of Scots resumed hostilities in 1138, urged, it is said, either by letters from Matilda, who reminded him of his former The king of scots engagements in her favor, or by resentment at the S conduct of Stephen, who had promised and then refused him the earldom of Northumberland. The Scots con- ducted the war with great ferocity. In the common despair, Thurstan, the old archbishop of York, displayed Thurstan"* 27 in a decrcpid frame the energy of a youthful 1138 A. D.] STEPHEN. 113 warrior. He assembled the northern barons, exhorted them to fight for their families, their country, and their G-od; assured them of victory, and promised heaven to those who might fall in so sacred a cause. At the appointed time they repaired to York with their vassals, and were met by the parochial clergy, with the bravest of their parishioners ; three days were spent in fasting and devotion; on the fourth, Thurstan made them swear never to desert each other, and dismissed them with his blessing. Two miles beyond Northallerton they received advice of the approach of the Scots ; and the standard, which gave name to the battle, was hastily erected, the mast of a vessel strongly fastened into the framework of a carriage. In the centre of the cross which rose on its summit was fixed a box of silver, containing the sacra- ment ; and below waved the banners of three patron saints, Peter, Wilfrid, and John of Beverly. From its foot Walter Espec, an experienced warrior, harangued his associates ; and at the conclu- sion of his speech, giving his hand to William of Albemarle, exclaimed in a loud voice, " I pledge thee my troth, either to conquer or to die." His words kindled a similar enthusiasm among his hearers, and the oath was repeated by every chieftain with confidence of success. But the Scots now approached ; the signal was given, the English knelt on the ground, The battle of tho and the bishop of the Orkneys, the representative " standard." of Thurstan, read the prayer of absolution from the carriage. With a loud shout they answered, "Amen," and rose to receive the shock of the enemy. The Scots, raising three shouts, after the manner of their nation, rushed on the English. The first ranks, unable to bear the pressure, retired slowly toward the standard; and the two flanks were surrounded and disordered by the multitude of the enemy; but the centre formed an impenetrable phalanx, which no shock could dissolve. It was in vain that the assailants sought with their swords to break through this forest of spears. Their courage only exposed them to the deadly aim of the archers ; and at the end of two hours, disheartened by their loss, they wavered, broke and fled. The king alone, surrounded by his guards, opposed, as he retired, the pursuit of his foes; the rest dispersed themselves in every direction. Of seven-and-twenty thousand men, nearly 10* 114 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1139. one-half had perished in the battle and flight. This engagement is known in history as the " Battle of the Standard." David was still able to continue the war, and sent a body of forces to besiege the castle of Wark, in Northumberland. At David finally con- Carlisle he was visited by the cardinal Alberic, who eludes a peace. j^ landed in England as papal legate. This virtuous monk had passed through the track which had been the theatre of Scottish depredation, and was so affected with the horrors which he had witnessed, that on his knees he conjured the king to consent to a peace. David was at first inexorable, but peace was concluded in the beginning of the following year. In September, 1139, while Stephen was engaged in a fierce contest with many barons and prelates, Matilda landed on the Matilda lands on coast of Suffolk. With the small force of one folk. hundred and forty knights, she undertook to con- quer the throne of her father ; but the temerity of the attempt was justified by the promises of her partisans, and the dispute between Stephen and the clergy. Her brother Robert, the soul of the enterprise, with twelve companions, left her to join his friends in the west, and by unfrequented roads eluded the pursuit and vigilance of his enemies; Matilda herself, at the invitation of- the queen dowager Alice, retired within the strong castle of Arundel. Stephen soon appeared at the foot of the walls ; the princesses were alarmed ; the queen pleaded, in excuse, the duty of hospi- tality; the empress solicited the permission to follow her brother; and such was the weakness or infatuation of the king, that, to the astonishment of both friends and foes, he accepted the apology of the one, and granted the request of the other. England was soon exposed to all the horrors of civil war. The garrisons of the royal fortresses supported the cause of Stephen ; standard of Ma- the standard of Matilda was unfurled at Glouces- pSrtSen " pri- ter > Bristol, Canterbury, and Dover. Stephen be- soner - sieged the castle of Lincoln, which had been sur- prised by Ranulf, earl of Chester, a nobleman who had offered his services to both the king and the empress, and who had been equally mistrusted by both. Confiding his wife and family to the faith of the garrison, Ranulf escaped through the besieging army, and flew to implore the assistance of the earl of Gloucester. With ten thousand men, Robert hastened to surprise the king; 1141 A. D.] STEPHEN. 115 but, when lie had swum across the Trent, found the royal army drawn up to receive him. At the first shock, the cavalry fled ; the mass of infantry, animated by the presence of the king, firmly withstood the efforts of the multitude by which it was surrounded. Stephen fought with the energy of despair ; but was taken pri- soner, loaded with chains, and confined in the castle of Bristol. The clergy having declared in her favor, Matilda flattered her- self that she had secured the object of her ambition : her hopes were defeated by the impolicy of her own conduct. The imprudent She had been admitted into London, and had duct of Matilda, issued orders for her coronation ; but, in the interval, the affec- tions of her friends were alienated by her arrogance, and the aversion of her enemies was inflamed by fines and prosecutions. To the solicitations of Stephen's queen for the release of her hus- band, she replied in terms of personal insult; and when the legate requested that, on the solemn resignation of the crown by his brother, the earldoms of Boulogne and Moretoil should be conferred on his nephew Eustace, he received a most contemptu- ous refusal. Neither did she attempt to conciliate the wavering minds of the Londoners. She imposed on them a heavy tax, as a punishment for their former attachment to Stephen, and scorn- fully refused their petition for the restoration of the privileges which they had enjoyed under Edward the Confessor. The queen of the captive monarch resolved to avail herself of the impru- dence of her rival. A body of horse, under her banner, appeared on the south side of the city : instantly the bells sounded the alarm ; the populace ran to arms ; and the empress would have been a prisoner had she not sprung from table, mounted her horse, and saved herself by a precipitate flight. Her most faith- ful friends accompanied her to Oxford; the rest dispersed to their respective castles. War continued, and Robert of Gloucester was taken prisoner by the friends of Stephen ; but, after some negotiation, it was agreed that he should be exchanged for the king. A long and dangerous sickness, however, confined Stephen to his chamber; and Robert embraced the opportunity to sail to the continent, and solicit the aid and presence of Geoffrey, the husband of Matilda. By that prince the invitation was declined, as he had undertaken the reduction of Normandy ; but he was willing to intrust to the 116 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1147. care of the earl his eldest son Henry, the legitimate heir of Ma- tilda. Stephen marched to Oxford, and besieged the empress. Stephen lays At the end of ten weeks, the provisions of the Th? flight ^oS- garrison were consumed, and Matilda was a third md& - time reduced to flight. It was a severe frost, and the ground was covered with snow. Attended by three knights, clothed in white, she issued at a very early hour from a portal : the nearest sentinel, who had been previously bribed, conducted her in silence between the posts of the enemy ; the ice bore her across the Thames; she reached Abingdon on foot, and thence rode with expedition to Wallingford. The power of the two parties still remained fairly balanced. "With the exception of the three northern counties, which obeyed the king of Scots, Stephen was acknowledged as sovereign in the eastern, Matilda in the western half of the kingdom. After some years, Matilda withdrew to Normandy, to draws to Norman- watch the course of events, and to take advantage fuses to Sown the of the first favorable occurrence. Yet Stephen son of Stephen. derived no benefit from her departure. He had earned the enmity of the barons as well as of the clergy. He assembled all the prelates, and required them to crown his son Eustace. Archbishop Theobald refused : he had consulted, he said, the pope, and had been forbidden to comply; because, as Stephen had acquired the crown not by way of inheritance, but by open force, and in violation of his oath, he could have no right to transfer it to his posterity. In a paroxysm of rage, the king ordered his guards to imprison the prelates in the hall, and sent messengers to seize their temporalities : on cooler reflection, he resolved to confine his resentment to Theobald, whom he drove a second time into exile. The pontiff, however, took the arch- bishop under his protection, and either published in his favor a new, or confirmed the former sentence of excommunication and in- terdict against the king. Stephen viewed with anxiety the growing prosperity of Henry, the son of Matilda. At the age of sixteen, that young prince had visited his uncle, King David, at Carlisle, and had received from him the honor of knighthood. On his return, he obtained from his father, Geoffrey, the cession of the duchy of Normandy : at the death of that prince he succeeded to the earldom of Anjou ; 1154 A. D.] STEPHEN. 117 and by his marriage with Eleanor of Poitou, within six weeks after her divorce from the king of France, he had acquired the extensive duchy of Aquitine. - Henry landed in Henry5 the son England in 1152, to assert the claim of his mo- ^nas^^E*'! Jd ther, and his standard was immediately joined by a. d. 1152. the ancient friends of his family. Eustace, the eldest of the king's sons, was, in the heat of the contest, removed by a sudden death; and the archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop of Winchester improved the opportunity to reconcile the jarring in- terests of the two parties. Stephen adopted Henry Stephen appoints „,. . , , n . t • t Henry his succes- for his son, appointed him his successor, and gave sor. the kingdom of England, after his own death, to him and his heirs for ever. In return, the young prince did homage, and swore fealty to him. Henry received the homage of William, the surviving son of the king, and in return granted to him all the lands and honors possessed by Stephen before his accession to the throne, and added other possessions. The nobles on both sides swore that if either of the two princes broke his engagements they would desert him, and support the cause of his rival. The bishops and abbots, by Stephen's command, took the oath of fealty to Henry, and engaged to enforce the due execution of the treaty by ecclesiastical censures. After this pacification, the two princes, to display the harmony in which they lived, visited together the cities of Winchester, London, and Oxford, and were received at each place in solemn procession, and with the most joyful acclamations. At Easter, they separated with demonstrations of the most cordial friendship. Henry revisited Normandy; and Stephen, a few months after- ward, died at Canterbury. He t had reigned nine- Stephen dies at teen years, and was buried near the remains of his Canterbur y- wife and son, at Faversham, a convent which he had founded. Never did England, since the invasion of the Danes, present such a scene of misery as under the government of Stephen. Both parties plundered ; and conflagration was , „ . i -i-ii ., __ T & The scene of mi- irequently added to pillage. Winchester, Wor- sery under the go- cester, and Nottingham, rich and populous cities, phen mcn were consumed, and most of the inhabitants perished in the flames. Such was the desolation of the land, say two contempo- rary historians, that villages and towns were left destitute of in- 118 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1154. habitants; and in many parts a man might ride a whole day without discovering on his route one human being. The character of Stephen has been drawn by his adversaries as well as his partisans ; and, if there be some difference in the co- stephen'scharao- lorin g> the outlines of the two pictures are per- ter - fectly similar. It is admitted that he was prompt in decision and bold in action; that his friends applauded his generosity, and his enemies admired his forbearance ; that he won the high by courtesy, the low by condescension, all by his affa- bility and benevolence. CHAPTER XIII. iMB t\t jtofo. CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. Popes. Anastasius IV. Adrian IV. Alexander III. Lucius III. Urban III. Gregory VIII. Clement III. Scotland. Malcolm IV. William. Germany. Frederic I. France. Louis VII. Philip Augustus. Spain. Alphonso VIII. Sancho III. Alphonso IX. Accession of Henry II. — The rise of Thomas a Becket — War in Wales — Dispute between Henry and the Primate — The Assassination of the Archbishop — Conquest of Ireland — Rebellion of the King's Sons — His Death and Charac- ter.— From A. D. 1154 to 1189. It were difficult to imagine a more glorious prospect than that which opened itself to the youth of Henry. By the death of The extensive his father, he inherited Touraine and Aniou; in possessions of Hen- . _ • - _ . . . * ' ry. right or his mother, he possessed Maine and JNor- mandy ; and with the hand of Eleanor he had received her ample portion, the seven provinces of Poitou, Saintogne, Auvergne, Perigord, Limousin, Angoumois, and Guienne. A third part of France, almost the whole western coast from the borders of Pi- 1154 A. D.] HENRY THE SECOND. 119 cardy to the mountains of Navarre, acknowledged his authority ; and the vassal who did homage to the sovereign for his dominions was in reality a more powerful prince than the king who received it. In his twenty-first year, the death of Stephen added to these extensive territories the kingdom of England. He was impatient to take possession of the crown, which had been secured to him by the late treaty, but time was requisite to collect an escort becoming the dignity and sufficient for the pro- tection of the new king; and a long continuance of stormy weather confined him a prisoner in the haven of Barfleur. After a vexatious delay of more than six weeks, he Henry lands in landed in England. The enmity of the adhe- ee- had offered his hand to Berengaria, the daughter Philip. of Sancho, king of Navarre ; and his mother Eleanor had arrived with the princess at Naples. Philip immediately brought forward the claim of his sister Adelais, who had for so many years been espoused to the king of England ; but Richard declared that he would never marry her; and at length it was agreed that he should be released, on certain conditions, from his contract with the French princess. The king of France soon sailed for Acre. Richard accompanied him a few miles ; then turning to Reggio, took on board Eleanor and Berengaria, and conducted them to Messina. At length the king bade adieu to Sicily, with a fleet of fifty- three galleys, and one hundred and fifty other ships. Eleanor had returned to England ; the queen of Sicily and the princess of Arragon accompanied the expedition. Nine months had already elapsed since Richard commenced his journey, and yet, though he was but a few days' sail from the Holy Land, the im- petuosity of his character led him to squander away two more months in an enterprise against the king of Cyprus, for injuries done to some crusaders who had been wrecked. The siege of Acre had now lasted the greater part of two years ; and both the attack and defence had been conducted with the most obstinate bravery. The entrance of the port was watched by the galleys of Pisa; while the ^egefAcre. land army encamped round the town, in a semicircle, from sea to sea. But the besiegers were themselves besieged ; and from the neighboring mountains Saladin, with an immense army, watched all their motions. The arrival of Philip, soon after his departure from Sicily, had diffused new vigor through the army. Military engines had been erected; the walls were battered and under- mined ; breaches were made ; and nothing was wanting for the assault but the presence of Richard, with whom the king of France had engaged to share the danger and glory of the attempt. Richard having overcome the king of Cyprus, joined the cru- 148 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1191. saders, and was received by them with enthusiastic expressions of joy. He immediately distributed presents with his accustomed Richard joins the prodigality:' took into his service all who offered crusjidcrs * Acre is surrendered. themselves, and ordered his battering engines to be erected against the walls. Though he was soon reduced to an extreme degree of weakness by an intermittent fever, his impa- tience led him to superintend the operations of the army. At length it was agreed that Acre should be surrendered to the Christians, and that the Turks, as a ransom for their lives, should restore the holy cross, and set at liberty one thousand five hundred captives. For the performance of these conditions, a term of forty days was assigned, and some thousands of hostages were detained in the fortress. The crusaders immediately took possession of the place, and Saladin removed his camp to a distance. This conquest was fondly received by the nations of Christen- dom as a prelude to the delivery of Jerusalem ; but the public The return of J°y was S00D damped by the news that the king the king of France. f France intended to withdraw from the army. It was in vain that Richard, his own officers, and all the confede- rate chiefs urged him to change his resolution. He was equally unmoved by their entreaties or their reproofs ; and, having sworn not to invade the territories of the king of England, he departed from Acre amid the groans and imprecations of the spectators. The term fixed by the capitulation of Acre had nearly expired, and frequent messages were exchanged between Saladin and Iiichard. The sultan refused, under different pretexts, to exe- cute the treaty, and the king declared that the hostages should pay the forfeit of his perfidy with their lives. The hostages were Massacre of the ^ to * ne summit of a hill, in sight of the Saracen hostages. camp j the crusaders assembled in crowds to wit- ness so glorious a spectacle ; and at a signal given, two thousand seven hundred infidels fell under the swords of their butchers. At the same hour, and for the same cause, an almost equal num- ber, the portion which had fallen to the lot of the king of France, were massacred on the walls of Acre by the troops under the duke of Burgundy. After this bloody deed, which, inhuman as it was, seems not to have been contemplated with horror by either the Christians or Mohammedans of the age, Iiichard conducted his army, reduced 1191 A. D.] RICHARD THE FIRST. 149 to thirty thousand men, from Acre to Jaffa. On his march he was harassed by Saladin, who, however, was soon afterward defeated with great loss, and ceased for a time to attack the Christian army. To recover from the infidels the sacred spot in which the body of Christ had been buried, was the professed object of the cru- saders; and to keep it fresh in their memory, these The object of the words, " The holy sepulchre," were proclaimed thrice encoders, every evening by the voice of a herald throughout the camp. Richard concealed his sentiments from his associates ; but he had now learned to doubt of the success of the enterprise, and in his letters to Europe most earnestly solicited supplies of both men and money. Still, with these impressions on his mind, he did not hesitate to lead the army toward the city. He even reached Ramla and Bethania, places within a short distance of Jerusalem ; but the weather became rainy and tempestuous, a dearth of pro- visions was felt, sickness spread itself through the ranks, and many in despair abandoned the expedition. It was evident that he must either return to Jaffa, or instantly make the hopeless at- tempt of carrying by storm a place strongly fortified, and defended by an army more numerous than his own. The king for once listened to the suggestions of prudence, and bent his march back to the coast. The war had continued for some time longer with varying success, and at length an armistice was concluded for three years. Saladin insisted on the destruction of Ascalon, and in return granted to the pilgrims free access to the holy sepulchre. Thus terminated this crusade. If Jerusalem could have been won by personal strength and bravery, it might have been won by Richard. His exploits, so superior to those of The termination his fellows, threw a splendor around him which of the crusade, endeared him to the Christians, and extorted the admiration of the infidels. He left Palestine disguised as a pilgrim, for he had fears of assassination. On his journey home he was discovered, seized, and imprisoned by the duke of Austria, whom he had in- sulted at Acre. It is now time to return to England, which during the absence of the monarch had been impoverished by the rapacity of his minister, William de Longchamp, and harassed by the ambition 13* 150 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A.D. 1193, of his brother John. John had calculated on the event of the The condition of king's death, and had determined to seize the fhe gla absen?e rin of sceptre. There was indeed a child who had a Richard. better right to the succession, Arthur, the son of his elder brother, Geoffrey j but as the claim of the nearest heir had been overlooked on other occasions, the claim of Arthur might be overlooked at the death of Richard. Richard, however, favored the interests of his nephew : and in his treaty with Tancred, king of Sicily, and his letters to the pope, declared the young prince the apparent heir to the throne. When, in 1193, the news arrived of Richard's departure from Acre, the people, by whom, with all his vices, he was beloved on account of his valor, were eager to behold the champion of the cross ; but week after week the public expectation was alternately roused and disappointed. Rumors the most sinister and impro- bable had begun to prevail, when the secret of his detention was revealed by the copy of a letter to the king of France from Henry Richard falls in- the Sixth, the emperor of Germany. Richard had emperor^of Ge? been shipwrecked on the coast of Istria, and taken many - prisoner by Leopold, duke of Austria, from whom Henry purchased the royal captive for the sum of sixty thousand pounds. John, the king's brother, repaired in haste to Paris, surrendered to Philip some portions of Normandy, did him ho- mage for the rest of Richard's continental possessions, and return- ing to England, assembled an army to contend for the crown, but was unsuccessful. Longchamp, the chancellor, who was exiled by John, was the first to discover the prison of Richard, and after some time suc- ceeded in getting the emperor to enter into terms respecting the release of the English monarch. The prospect of liberty revived the spirits of Richard, who despatched Longchamp to England, with a letter to the council of regency. By their orders, a tax of twenty shillings was imposed on every knight's fee ; the plate of the churches was sold or redeemed ; one-fourth of every man's income was extorted from the clergy and laity j and all were re- quired to make the king such presents as might deserve his gra- The king is ran- titude. Part of the stipulated ransom was paid, eomed, and returns x r ' to England. security given tor the remainder, and the English king returned to his dominions. 1199 A. D.J RICHARD THE FIRST. 151 Though Richard now breathed the air of liberty, his heart could not be at ease till he had chastised the perfidy of the French monarch, for his having favored John. Two short months were all that he could spare to his English subjects, and these were employed, not in repairing the evils Richard's first ,. 1.1. i,. ,.. , measures on hi3 caused by his absence, but in devising means to return, extort more money from those who had been already impoverished by the amount of his ransom. He next took steps to cause John to be outlawed. That prince, whose pusillanimity was equal to his ambition, implored on his knees, on Richard's arrival in Nor- mandy, the forgiveness of a sovereign whom he had so cruelly offended. But he had secured a powerful intercessor in the queen- mother, at whose request Richard received him into favor, though he sternly refused to restore to him either his lands or his castles. War raged for some time between Richard and Philip, without any important results, the people of England being very much discontented at the taxation required for the contest. It was Richard's fate to perish in an ignoble quarrel with one of his barons. A treasure had been discovered on the estate of Vidomar, viscount of Limoges, and though a part had been offered to satisfy the king, he demanded the whole. On the refusal of Vidomar, Richard besieged his castle of Chaluz, and contemptuously rejected the conditional offer of surrender made by the garrison. It chanced, as he rode round the Richard wounded -,,. ... !'■»«- i i „.. at the castle of walls in company with Marchadee, one of his chaiuz. generals, that an arrow wounded him in the left shoulder. The signal for assault was immediately given ; the castle was taken by storm ; and, with the exception of Glourdon, the archer who had wounded the king, the captives were ordered to be hanged as robbers who had detained the property of their sovereign. An unskilful surgeon now extracted the head of the arrow, and symp- toms of mortification soon warned the king of his approaching dissolution. He sent for his confessor, received the sacraments with sentiments of compunction, and, ordering Gourdon into his presence, gave him his liberty, with one hundred shillings, to take him home. But Marchadee secretly detained the unhappy youth, and ordered him to be flayed alive. Ri- The death of chard expired in the year 1199, in the forty- Richard, second year of his age. His body was buried at Fontevraud, at 152 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1190. the feet of his father ; his lion-heart (the epithet had formerly flattered him) he bequeathed to the citizens of Rouen, in grati- tude for their loyalty and attachment. To a degree of muscular strength which falls to the lot of few, Richard added a mind incapable of fear. Hence, in the ancient annalists, he towers as a warrior above all his contemporaries. Nor was this pre-eminence conceded to him by the Christians alone. Even a century after his death, his name was employed The character of by * ne Saracen cavalier to chide his horse, and mchard. ^j ^he garacen mother to terrify her children. But when we have given him the praise of valor, his panegyric is finished. His laurels were steeped in blood, and his victories purchased with the impoverishment of his people. Of the mean- ness to which he could stoop to procure money, and the injustices into which he was hurried by the impetuosity of his passions, the reader has found numerous instances in the preceding pages. The only benefits which the nation received, in return for the im- mense sums which it had furnished to the king, in his expedition to Palestine, for his ransom from captivity, and in support of his wars in France, were two legislative charters. By one of these, he established uniformity of weights and measures throughout the realm; by the other, he mitigated the severity of the law of wrecks. Formerly it had been held that, in cases of shipwreck, unless the vessel were repaired by the survivors within a given time, it became, with the cargo, the property of the crown, or of the lord of the manor, having right of wreck. The injustice of this custom was mitigated by Henry I., who exempted from for- feiture every ship from which a single mariner or passenger had escaped alive ; but after his death, under the pretence that the consent of the baronage had not been obtained, the ancient claim was revived and exercised, till Henry II. enacted, that if even a beast escaped by which the owner could be ascertained, he should be allowed three months to claim his property ; and by Richard it was added, that if the owner perished, his sons and daughters, and in their default, his brothers and sisters, should have a claim in preference to the crown. 1199 A. D.] JOHN. 153 CHAPTER XV. S?lfc Surnamed Sansterre, or Lackland. CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. Popes. Innocent III. Honorius III. Scotland. William. Alexander II. Germany. Philip. Otho IV. France. Philip Augustus. Spain. Alphonso IX. Henry I. The Accession of John — Captivity and Death of his Nephew — Dispute with Pope Innocent — Interdict — The King's submission — Magna Charta — Civil War — The offer of the Crown to Louis — The Death of John. — From A. D. 1199 to 1216. Richard had left no legitimate issue. In the strict order of hereditary succession, the crown at his death should have de- volved to his nephew Arthur, the son of Geoffrey, and duke of Bretagne, a boy in the twelfth year of his age. When Richard lay on his death-bed, John was present; the claim of Arthur, though formerly admitted by the king, was forgotten ; and the expiring monarch is said to have declared his The accession of brother successor to his throne, and heir to one- John> third of his property. John immediately received the homage of the knights present, hastened to take possession of Chinon, where Richard had deposited his treasures, and proceeded thence into Touraine, Maine, and Anjou, the ancient patrimony of the Plantagenets. To his disappointment, the natives declared in fa- vor of his nephew Arthur, and were supported in that declaration by the promise of aid from the king of France. In Normandy, however, his friends had secured every voice in his favor ; and at Rouen he received the ducal coronet and sword from the hands of the archbishop. In Poitou and Aquitaine, he was equally fortunate. Respecting the throne of England, a national council was held at Northampton, where John's claim was admitted, on 154 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1199. hearing which he repaired to England, and was crowned, with the usual solemnity, at Westminster. The French kings had long cast a wishful eye toward the pro- vinces possessed by the English monarchs in France. If the am- bition of Philip shrunk before the superior prowess of Richard, it expanded again at the accession of his weak and pusillanimous brother. With Arthur in his possession, he determined to fight his own battles, while he pretended to support the cause of an injured orphan ; and, having conferred the sword of knighthood Hostilities be- on the young prince, he traversed Normandy, tween France and . -S ° * - , - . . , "' - England. burnt Evreux, and placed garrisons in the for- tresses of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine. An uninteresting war en- sued ; hostilities, at the solicitation of the cardinal Peter of Capua, were suspended by armistice, and the armistice terminated in a peace, which did little honor to either of the two monarchs. Philip sacrificed the interests of Arthur, acknowledged John for the rightful heir to his late brother, and compelled the young prince to do homage to his uncle for the duchy of Bretagne. John had been married about twelve years before this period, but, wishing to contract a high alliance, he obtained a divorce. He immediately sent ambassadors to Lisbon, to demand the princess of Portugal ; but, before he could receive an answer, he saw by accident Isabella, daughter to Aymar, count of Angou- leme, a young lady who in her early years had been publicly pro- mised and privately espoused to Hugh, count of La Marche. The king was captivated by her beauty ; the glare of a crown seduced John marries tne ^ tn °f * ne f atner an d his daughter ; and the Isabella. unexpected marriage of Isabella and John de- prived the princess of Portugal of a husband, the count de La Marche of a wife. The complaints of the one and the threats of the other were equally disregarded. John conducted his bride in triumph to England, and was crowned with her at Westminster by the primate. The next year the same ceremony was repeated at Canterbury, on the festival of Easter. De la Marche appealed to the justice of Philip, nor was that prince sorry that the tergiversation of John afforded him a pre- Hostiiities be- text for humbling so powerful a vassal. The John. provisions of the late treaty were instantly for- gotten. Philip received the homage of Arthur, for Bretagne, 1205 A. D.] JOHN. 155 Anjou, Maine, and Touraine; the discontented barons hastened to join his banner ; fortress after fortress surrendered to the con- federates ; and the heart of John sank in despondency, when an unexpected event arrested the progress of his enemies, and gave him a temporary superiority. Eleanor, the queen-mother, was lodged in the castle of Mirabeau, in Poitou, and was besieged by Arthur. John flew to her relief, and routed the enemy, who came out to oppose him. Among the captives was the young duke of Bretagne, whom he placed under a strong guard in the castle of Falaise. Arthur soon was transferred to the castle of Rouen, and confined in a dungeon of the new tower. Within a few months he disappeared. Report ascribed his Arthur taken fate to the dagger of his uncle; but the king of JJ^ «*J; England could surely have hired an assassin, with- beea assassinated. out actually dipping his hands in the blood of a nephew. The Bretons immediately assembled, and swore to be revenged. The bishop of Rennes then hastened to Paris, to accuse the English king of the murder ; and Philip gladly summoned him to prove his innocence in the presence of the French peers. John, how- ever, refused ; and the court pronounced judgment that he should forfeit all the lands which he held by homage. John, on the disappearance of his nephew, had come over to England, was crowned a second time by Archbishop Hubert, at Canterbury, and immediately returned to Normandy. The arms of Philip succeeded. The Normans submitted to The SUCC ess of that monarch; Anjou, Maine, and Touraine fol- thearmsofPhUip. lowed the example of Normandy; and thus, in 1204, by the guilt, or indolence, or bad fortune of John, were these extensive and opulent provinces reannexed to the French crown, after a separation of two hundred and ninety-two years. John soon afterward made an attempt to recover his continental dominions, but a negotiation took place, which resulted in an armistice for two years. John was shortly afterward involved in a dispute with the pope, respecting the nomination of bishops. On the death, in 1205, of Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, the junior John , g d5spute part of the monks assembled clandestinely, in the with the P°P e - night, and placed Reginald, their sub-prior, on the archiepiscopal throne. To this election they were aware that a strong opposi* 156 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 120a tion would be made. They had not asked the royal license j and had proceeded without the concurrence of the episcopal body. Their only hope of success depended on the approbation of the apostolic see. Reginald was accordingly sent to Rome. He was quickly followed by a deputation from the bishops of the province of Canterbury, with a protest against his election. In England, it was the determination of the king to place the bishop of Nor- wich on the archiepiscopal throne. He was chosen, and messen- gers were despatched to Rome, with the necessary documents in support of his right. The pope annulled both elections, and caused Cardinal Lang- ton, an Englishman, resident at Rome, to be elected. John was incensed at this, and avowed his determination that Langton should never set his foot in England, in the character of primate. The die was now cast, and the quarrel became a trial of strength between the power of the king and that of the pontiff. The kingdom The latter resolved to proceed step by step, and placed under an, t -i • ,i i •% t • i » ■ ■ interdict. began by laying the whole kingdom under an in- terdict. The churches were closed ; no bell was tolled ; no ser- vice was solemnly performed; the administration of the sacra- ments, except to infants and the dying, was suspended ; and the bodies of the dead were interred silently, and in unconsecrated ground. This sudden extinction of the forms and aids of re- ligion struck the people with horror. John, amid the general gloom, wore an air of serenity, and even of cheerfulness. For some time he affected to despise the consequences of the inter- dict and the menaces of the pontiff; and his cause derived a temporary lustre from some successes over the Scottish king, and some victories in Ireland and Wales. When the interdict had lasted a year, the pope fulminated against John a bull of excommunication; but the king main- tained so rigorous a watch at the ports, that the sentence could not be officially published in England ; and his theologians main- tained that, till it were published, it could have no effect. To John is said to fortify himself against the pope, he is said to have ^ySohammed solicited the aid of Mohammed al Nassir, who had aiNassir. assumed the usual appellation of the Emir al Moumenim, and by his conquests in Spain had threatened to ex- tirpate Christianity from the south of Europe. John is said to 1213 A. D.] JOHN. 157 have made an offer of the English crown to the emir, and a pro- mise to embrace the Mohammedan faith; but he received no assistance from Mohammed. Four years at length elapsed, and the king's obstinacy was still unsubdued. Innocent had recourse to the last effort of his authority. He absolved the vassals of John from The cour8e pur . their oaths of fealty, and exhorted all Christian sued by innocent. princes and barons to unite in dethroning the king. John, how- ever, might have laughed at the impotent resentment of Innocent, had no monarch been found willing to undertake the execution of the sentence. The pope applied to the king of France. Philip lent a ready ear to proposals so flattering to his ambition, and a numerous army was summoned to meet at the mouth of the Seine. John crossed to France, and having inflicted much injury on Philip's army, returned to England. He soon, however, entered into an arrangement with the pope, and he sub- ° r r 7 John enters into scribed an instrument similar to one which he had arrangements with formerly rejected. By this it was stipulated, renders the king- among other matters, that Langton should be ad- omm ° 1S ands - mitted to the archbishopric of Canterbury, and that on the fulfil- ment of the conditions, the sentences of interdict and excommu- nication should be revoked, and the exiled bishops should swear, at the king's pleasure, to be true and faithful subjects. This happened on the thirteenth of May, 1213. The next day was spent by John, his council, and the papal minister in secret and anxious consultation. On the following morning, in the church of the Templars, the king, surrounded by the prelates, barons, and knights, put into the hands of Pandulph, the legate, a charter subscribed by himself, one archbishop, one bishop, nine earls, and three barons. This instrument testified that John, as an atonement for his offences, granted to G-od, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, to Pope Innocent, and Innocent's rightful successors, the kingdom of England and the kingdom of Ireland, to be holden by himself and the heirs of his body of the bishop of Rome in fee, by the annual rent of one thousand marks. He then took the oath of fealty in the usual manner. From this moment, the barons began to demand the grant of their liberties. On John's refusal, they appealed by their agents to 14 158 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1213. the pontiff. Innocent, however, supported the cause of his vas- sal ; and the barons transferred their allegiance to Louis, the son of Philip. At the news of John's reconciliation with Rome, Philip's hopes of acquiring the English crown, the dream of his ambition, melted away, and his discontent exhausted itself in invectives against the pontiff. To his council he proposed to continue the enterprise, but was interrupted by Ferrand, earl of Flanders, a secret ally of The French king the English monarch. The French king invaded invades Flanders. Flanders • Ferrand received aid from England, and, after a short campaign, Philip returned to France. John now determined to carry the war into France, and summoned his re- tainers to meet him at Portsmouth. But the principal barons refused to accompany him. He was still under excommunication. He had not fulfilled the conditions of his treaty with the pope, which they had sworn that he should fulfil. John was compelled to submit. He invited the exiles to return, promised them his favor and protection, and sent to them a sum of money for their present necessities. Langton, the bishops of London, Ely, Here- ford, Lincoln, and Bath, the prior and monks of Christ-church, and their companions, gladly accepted the invitation. They met the king at Winchester ; John and the cardinal embraced, and the sentence of excommunication was publicly .revoked at the en- trance of the cathedral. The king now hastened again to Portsmouth, ordered the troops to embark, and with a favorable wind set sail for the French coast. He reached the island of Jersey with a few ships, but found that none of the barons had followed him. They held meetings at St. Albans and in London, at one of which Arch- The oath of the bishop Langton, taking advantage of their enthu- barons. siasm, administered to them an oath, by which they bound themselves to each other to conquer or die in the defence of their liberties. In the mean time, John had landed, breathing revenge against the traitors who had abandoned their sovereign. He determined to punish their disobedience by military execution, but was dis- suaded by the primate. Soon afterward, John sailed to the coast of Poitou, and penetrated to the city of Angers. There he was found by the messengers from Rome ; who, having received his 1214 A. D.] JOHN. 159 oath that he would observe the papal award respecting the losses sustained by the bishops, hastened to England, and revoked the interdict, after it had lasted more than six years. The interdict re _ John immediately marched toward Bretagne, but voked - his progress was arrested by the arrival of Louis, the son of Phi- lip, and from that moment both armies, as it were by mutual con- sent, suffered the war to linger, and waited the issue of Philip's campaign in the north. One hundred thousand men poured in at the north of France. To this torrent Philip could not oppose half the number of combatants ; but the deficiency was supplied by the spirit and gallantry of his followers, the flower of the chivalry of France. The armies met at Bouvines, an obscure village on the river Marque, between Lisle and Tournay, where Philip gained the victory, and took the earl of Flanders prisoner. The defeat at Bouvines broke all the measures of John, who solicited and obtained from Philip a truce for five years, and re- turned from an inglorious campaign in France to a still more inglorious contest in England. The barons now held numerous meetings. The different liber- ties for which they were to contend were accurately defined ; and it was determined to demand them in a body when The meetings of the king should hold his court at the festival of 1214. Christmas. At one of these meetings, before they separated, they advanced singly to the high altar, and took a solemn oath to with- draw their allegiance, if John should reject their claims ; and to levy war upon him till he should grant them. On the feast of the Epiphany they presented their demands. The king at first assumed an air of superiority, and insisted that they should recede from such claims. Almost all obstinately refused. He had then recourse to delay, and offered to give them a satisfactory answer at the following Easter. This proposal, after much hesitation, was accepted. The interval was spent by the king in endeavors to fortify him- self against this formidable combination. Both parties had despatched messengers to Rome, to solicit the protection of their feudal superior. But it was in vain that the barons appealed to the gratitude of Innocent ; he deemed it his interest and duty to support the cause of his vassal. 160 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. P. 1215. In Easter-week, the barons assembled at Stamford, and with two thousand knights, their esquires and followers, proceeded to The barons as- Brackley. The king lay at Oxford, and commis- ford. sioned the archbishop of Canterbury and the earls of Pembroke and Warenne to go and ascertain their demands. They brought him back a paper of the same import with that which had been presented to him before ; and, as soon as he had heard it read, he exclaimed, " They might as well have demanded my crown. Do they think I will grant them liberties which will make me a slave V After some ineffectual attempts by John at a settlement of the questions in dispute, the barons proclaimed themselves the army of God and his holy Church, and elected Robert Fitz-Walter for their commander. They took several im- portant places, and entered London without opposition. John, fearing for his crown, agreed to a conference. Runnymede, situ- The meeting at ated between Staines and Windsor, was the scene na n cna?te e obS- °f ^ s important negotiation. On the one side ed; June is, 1215. sto0(i Fitz-Walter, and the majority of the barons and nobility of England ; on the other, sat the king, accompanied by eight bishops, Pandulph, the papal envoy, and fifteen gentle- men. On this occasion Magna Charta was agreed to. This charter is celebrated in history as the supposed basis on which are founded the liberties of Englishmen. It is not, however, to be considered as forming a new code of law, or even as an attempt to inculcate the great principles of legislation. Its framers meant not to disturb or improve the national jurisprudence; their only object was to correct the abuses which had grown out of the feu- dal customs under the despotism of the first William and his successors. The first article of the charter regarded the Church of England, to which John granted that it should possess all its liberties whole The articles of an( * inviolate. Other articles corrected several this charter. abuses which had crept into the feudal system. The principal clause was one which guaranteed to the subject freedom from the injustice of any unfair practices in legal tribu- nals. The full account of Magna Charta, in Dr. Lingard's work, should be read by those who wish to understand the minute details of this great historical document. The barons had left Runnymede in triumph, but their joy was 1216 A. D.] JOHN. 161 soon clouded with suspicion of the insincerity of John. The con- test was renewed on the arrival of foreign soldiers, whom John, contrary to treaty, had invited. The barons obtained possession of Rochester Castle, which the king besieged and took. While the king was employed in the siege of Rochester, he received the pleasing intelligence that, according to a request which he had made, the charter had been annulled by the pontiff, The charter an- on the ground of having been obtained by force, tiff. The pope wrote to the barons, exhorting them to submit, request- ing them to lay their claims before him, in the council to be held at Rome, and promising that he would induce the king to consent to whatever might be deemed just or reasonable, and would take care that all grievances should be abolished, that the crown should be content with its just rights, and the clergy and people should enjoy their ancient liberties. Finding that his exhorta- tions and his promises were equally fruitless, he ordered Langton to excommunicate the disobedient ; but that prelate refused ; in punishment, he was suspended from the exercise of the archi- episcopal functions. "War now recommenced with vigor, and the king of Scots entered England, to assist the barons. John proceeded to the north, and never, we are told, since the extermi- war between nating expedition of the first William, had this rons. district been exposed to such horrors as it now experienced from the vengeance of the king of England. He himself gave the example, and with his own hands set fire in the morning to the house in which he had rested the last night. The castles, towns, and villages were given to the flames. Wherever the royal forces could penetrate, the inhabitants fled to the forests and mountains ; the labors of agriculture were suspended ; and the only markets were held in the churchyards, which, as they possessed the right of sanctuary, were generally, but not always, respected by the marauders. The barons now determined to offer the crown to Louis, the eldest son of the king of France. He was allied to the family of Plantagenet by his marriage with the niece of The barons offer John. A fleet, carrying a numerous band of {^d^L^S French knights, soon ascended the Thames, and a France - letter from Louis assured the confederates, that he would visit 14* 1G2 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1216 them at Easter with a powerful army. The pope directed Louis to desist, but that prince refused, and was excommunicated. Soon afterward, he commanded the archbishop of Sens to fulmi- nate a similar sentence against Philip, the father of Louis ; but. the French bishops, in a synod at Melun, resolved to disregard the papal mandate, on the ground that the pope had not been truly informed. That Innocent would have launched his ana- themas against their disobedience cannot be doubted ; but in a few weeks that active and fearless pontiff expired : his death suspended all ecclesiastical proceedings at Rome ; and John saw himself de- prived of his most powerful friend, at a moment when he stood in the greatest need of his protection. At the appointed time, Louis departed from Calais with a fleet of six hundred and eighty sail. The weather was stormy, and Louis departs dispersed the ships ; many were taken by the ma- rSes^fhis 70 ^ riners of tne c in The Scotch re- tne pope sent legates to proclaim a truce. Bruce eume hostilities. 202 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1316. refused to obey, as he was not styled king, and besieged Berwick. The town was taken by surprise, and after a few days the castle surrendered. The fall of Berwick was followed by the reduction of "Wark, Harbottle, and Mitford ; Northallerton, Boroughbridge, Scarborough, and Skipton were burnt; and Ripon would have experienced the same fate, had it not been redeemed by the pay- ment of a thousand marks. It was evident that Bruce owed the success which had so long attended his arms, not to any superior prowess or skill, but to the dissension which continued to rage between Edward and his barons. The loss of Berwick opened the eyes both of Edward and of his opponents to the disastrous consequences of their quarrel. The chancellor, by order of the king, repeatedly visited the earl of Lancaster; by mutual consent commissioners were appointed; and at last, in a meeting at Leek, a plan of reconciliation was a truce conciu- adopted. Soon afterward, a truce for two years ward and Bruce, was concluded between Edward and Bruce. This suspension of hostilities was employed by the king of Scotland in causing a letter, signed by eight earls and thirty-one The king's letter barons, in the name of the commonalty of Scot- to the pope. land, to be sent to the pope. This instrument requested the pontiff to employ his influence with the king of England, and advise him to be content with his own dominions, and to leave to the Scots their own barren soil, the most remote of habitable lands, but which was dear to them because it was their own, and which it was their only object to possess in peace. To the king of England the pope wrote a letter of advice, and earnestly exhorted him to improve the present opportunity, and conclude a useful and lasting peace. Edward assented; com- missioners from the pope and king of France were appointed to attend the congress ; and hopes were confidently entertained of a favorable result. But the conferences, if any were held, proceeded slowly ; the king of England was too much occupied with the re- bellion of his barons to attend to other concerns ; and Bruce ex- pected to obtain better terms by aiding the rebels than by treaty with the sovereign. Edward now had another favorite, a young man whose name was Hugh Spenser, and who, by his talents and The Spensers. assiduity, had acquired the esteem of his sovereign. 1318 A. D.] EDWARD THE SECOND. 203 His growing opulence awakened the jealousy of the nobles. A movement took place against Spenser and his father. The elder Spenser, whose fate was thus connected with that of his son, was one of the most powerful barons, far advanced in age, whose only crime seems to have been his near relationship to the favorite, and his influence in the king's council. Lancaster led the con- federates toward the capital, allowing them to live at free quar- ters on their march, and to plunder the estates belonging to the elder Spenser. From St. Alban's he sent a message to Edward, requiring the banishment of the father and son, and an act of in- demnity for the confederate barons. The king replied, with spirit, that the elder Spenser was beyond the sea, employed in his service — the younger with his fleet, guarding the cinque ports ; that he would never punish the accused before they had an oppor- tunity of answering their accusers ; and that it was contrary to the obligation of his coronation oath to pardon men who disturbed the tranquillity of his kingdom. The parliament was now sitting at Westminster ) and Lancas- ter, advancing to London, cantoned his followers in the neighbor- hood of Holborn and Clerken well. The confederates The spensers ac spent a fortnight in consultations. At length, ed. they proceeded to Westminster, filled the hall with armed men, and, without informing the king of their intentions, ordered a paper to be read. It was an act of accusation against the Spen- sers, consisting of eleven counts, charging them with usurping the royal power, and sentencing them to exile. Against this sen- tence the prelates protested in writing, but the king and the barons of his party, intimidated by the armed men in attendance, gave their assent ; the banishment of the two Spensers was duly entered on the rolls ; and a general pardon was granted to Lan- caster and his associates. The king felt the indignity which had been offered to his au- thority, and two months did not elapse before he had the oppor- tunity of revenging it. The queen, on her way to The kin(? reven . Canterbury, proposed to lodge during the night in e es the "dignity, one of the royal castles. The custody of* the castle had been intrusted by Edward to the Lord Badlesmere. He was absent, but the Lady Badlesmere refused admission to the queen, and during the altercation several of the royal attendants were killed. 204 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1322 Isabella complained loudly of this insult ; the chivalrous feelings of the nation were aroused; and the king found himself in a con^ dition to demand and enforce redress. Edward took the castle, hanged Colepepper, the governor, and eleven of his knights, sent the others to different prisons, and confined in the Tower the Lady Badlesmere and her female attendants. This act of vigor infused new life into the king's friends Many came forward with the offer of their services, the two Spensers successively returned to England, and the king gladly took the favorite and his father under the royal protection, till a parliament should assemble to repeal the sentence enacted against them. The popularity of the earl of Lancaster had been for some time on the decline. He joined Bruce in 1322, when the truce expired, Lancaster put to an( * was ta k en prisoner in a battle in the north of death. England. The captors conducted him by water to York, and thence ttf the castle of Pontefract. He was brought before the king, six earls, and the royal barons; of his guilt there could be no doubt ; he was told that it was useless to speak in his defence, and was condemned to death, and was beheaded. From Pontefract, Edward had repaired in triumph to York, where the parliament had assembled. All the members were, or pretended to be, royalists; and every measure proposed by the crown was carried without opposition. The petitions of the Spensers were heard and granted, and the award against them was ordered to be reversed. The victory which Edward had gained over his domestic ene- mies inspired him with the hope of wiping away the disgrace of Edward again in- Bannock-burn, and of re-establishing his superior- vades Scotland. j ty 0Yer t h e kingdom of Scotland. With this view, he assembled the most numerous army that England had seen for many years. But, after advancing as far as the Forth, he was compelled to return, without performing one splendid action or achieving a single conquest. At length, the destructive war, which with a few pauses had continued three and*twenty years, and had repeatedly involved Peace concluded one-half of Scotland, and the northern counties of and Scotland. England, in bloodshed and misery, began to draw to a close. Bruce was sensible that his kingdom required a long 1325 A. D.] EDWARD THE SECOND. 205 interval of tranquillity to repair the havoc of so many campaigns; and experience had taught Edward to doubt the ultimate success of any attempt to enforce his claim of superiority. The proposal was made by the Scots ; Bruce consented to waive the title of king in the treaty ; and a suspension of arms was concluded for thirteen years between the two nations, to remain in force till the end of that term, even in the event of the death of one or of both of the contracting parties. At peace with foreign nations, and with his own subjects, Ed- ward might now expect to enjoy that tranquillity to which he had so long been a stranger. But the Lancastrian party was not ex- tinct, nor without the hope of rising from its ashes. There was one man especially, Roger, Lord Mortimer of Wigmore, whose activity and resentment Edward feared. He had twice been con- victed of treason, and twice owed his life to the clemency of the king. Having been taken a prisoner in battle, he was sent to the Tower, but escaped to France. Charles le Bel had now succeeded his brother Philip le Long on the throne of France. Of the real object of this prince in his quarrel with Edward, it is impossible to form a Charles of France correct notion ; this only is evident, that he sought ward, pretexts for hostilities, and rejected the most equitable offers. He complained that Edward had not attended at his coronation, nor done him homage for Guienne. The king replied that he had never been summoned to do homage ; at the same time he offered to do homage at an appointed day, if the French army were to be recalled from Guienne. But Charles was inexorable, and it was only by the surrender of the last fortress in that province, that Edmund, earl of Kent, and brother to Edward, could purchase a truce for a few months. During this interval, the pontiff employed all his influence to restore peace, and it was artfully suggested to the papal envoys, that if the queen of England would visit the French The queen visits court, the king might grant to the solicitations of a SteueVwiuTMo* sister what he would withhold from an indifferent timer - negotiator. Edward fell into the snare : Isabella proceeded to France with a splendid retinue ; and a treaty was concluded on terms most injurious to the interests of Edward. He now began his journey to France, to do homage at Beauvais, but was detained 18 206 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1326. at Dover by sickness, and sent a messenger to Charles to account for his delay. An answer was returned, that if Edward would transfer the possession of Guienne and Ponthieu to his son, Charles, at the prayer of Isabella, would receive the homage of the young prince on the same terms on which he had consented to receive that of the father. The offer, though it bore a suspi- cious aspect, was accepted ; the necessary resignations were made ; and the young Edward, a boy of twelve years of age, after pro- mising his father to hasten his return, and not to marry during his absence, sailed with a splendid retinue to the French coast. But to the general astonishment, though the ceremony was speedily performed, week after week passed away, and neither mother nor son appeared inclined to revisit England. Mortimer had joined Isabella at Paris; he was made the chief officer of her household ; and it was soon publicly reported that the daughter of Prance and queen of England had abandoned her husband for a rebel and an exile. Edward repeatedly ordered Isabella to re- turn, and was repeatedly disobeyed. Her designs soon began to unfold themselves, for levies of troops were made in her name. At the same time, the king of France, to distract the attention or multiply the perplexities of the English government, sent bodies of troops to make inroads into Guienne. Edward was now fully aware of his danger ; he wrote in strong terms to his son and to the king of France ; and at last declared war against the latter for the invasion of Guienne, and the detention of his wife and of the presumptive heir of his crown. Charles was induced, by a letter of severe but merited reproach from the pope, to dismiss Isabella from Paris ; but he had secretly prepared an asylum for her in the court of his vassal, William, count of Hainault. Here all her plans were matured under the direction of Mortimer. She signed a contract of marriage between her son Edward and Phi- lippa, the second daughter of the count ; a body of more than two thousand men at arms, under John de Hainault, was placed at her disposal ; all the exiles of the Lancastrian faction crowded round her person ; and on the twenty-fourth of September she landed, with her followers, at Orwell in Suffolk. Edward's friends deserted him, and the unfortunate monarch knew not whom to trust. Afraid to summon the military tenants of the crown, he commanded the men of the neighboring counties 1327 A. D.] EDWARD THE SECOND. 207 to come to his aid, and offered a free pardon, with a reward of a thousand pounds, for the head of Mortimer. Isabella, at her landing, was generally hailed as the deliverer of the country. The Lancastrian lords hastened to meet her; the primate supplied her with a sum of money to pay i sabe n a f anda# her followers ; and the king's brothers were among Edward retires, her adherents. At her approach toward the capital, Edward, as a last resource, threw himself on the loyalty and pity of the citizens. Their answer was cold, and Edward immediately departed, with the two Spensers, to the marches of Wales, where lay the estates of his favorite. But the Welshmen were indifferent to the distress of their lord and of their sovereign ; and Edward, with his favor- ite, took shipping for Lundy, a small isle in the mouth of the Bristol Channel, which had been previously fortified and plenti- fully stored with provisions: The queen was not slow to pursue her fugitive consort. She hastened to Bristol ; and the earl of Winchester surrendered the town and castle to her, but was executed by her Edward's son ap- followers. At Bristol, it was ascertained that of the kingdom!*" 1 Edward had put to sea, and the prelates and barons in the queen's interest, assuming the powers of parliament, resolved that by the king's absence the realm had been left without a ruler; and therefore they appointed his son guardian of the kingdom, in the name and by the right of his father. Edward's evil fortune pursued him by sea as well as land. He was unable to reach the isle of Lundy ; and after contending for some days with a strong westerly wind, he landed Edward t^^ at Swansea, retired to Neath, and sought to elude P ris o Q er. the search of his enemies. At length, Henry, earl of Leicester, got possession of Spenser, and Edward, it is said, immediately came forward, and voluntarily surrendered to his cousin, by whom he was sent to the strong fortress of Kenilworth. Spenser was arraigned at Hereford, and, as was to be expected, immediately put to death. Isabella, with Mortimer and her son, soon proceeded by slow journeys to meet the parliament at Westminster. The hall was filled with the citizens of London. Not a voice . The proceedings was raised in the king's favor. His greatest of parliament, friends thought it a proof of courage to remain silent. The young 208 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. [A. D. 1327. Edward was declared king by acclamation, and presented in that capacity to the approbation of the populace. But though the prince was declared king, his father had neither resigned nor been deposed. To remedy the defect, a bill of six articles was exhibited against Edward, charging him with the violation of his coronation oath, oppression of the church, and cruelty to the barons, and it was resolved that the reign of Edward of Carnarvon had ceased, and that the sceptre should be intrusted to the hands of his son, Edward of Windsor. The queen pretended to lament the misfortune of her husband, declared that the parliament had exceeded its legitimate powers, Coronation of Ed- anc * exhorted her son to refuse a crown which be- wardin. longed to his father. To silence her pretended scruples, a deputation was instructed to proceed to Kenilworth, to give notice to Edward of the election of his son, and endeavor to procure from him a voluntary resignation of the crown. His answer has been differently reported by his friends and opponents. According to the former, he replied that no act of his could be deemed free, as long as he remained a prisoner. By the latter, we are told that he expressed his sorrow for having given such provoca- tion to his people. The barons declared that they renounced their allegiance, and Sir Thomas Blount, the steward of the household, as was always done at the king's death, broke his staff of office and declared that all persons engaged in the royal service were discharged. In three days, the deputation returned from Kenil- worth, and the young prince was soon crowned as Edward III. Edward of Carnarvon was destined to add another to the long catalogue of princes to whom the loss of a crown has been but Edward is mur- the prelude to the loss of life. The attention of S d e. in septal, tne earl of Lancaster to alleviate the sufferings of 1327 - his captive did not accord with the views of the queen and Mortimer. He was given to the custody of Sir John de Maltravers, who, to conceal the place of Edward's residence, successively transferred him from Kenilworth to Corfe, Bristol, and Berkeley, and, by the indignities which were offered to him and the severities which were inflicted, labored to deprive him of his reason or to shorten his life. It was in vain that the de- posed monarch solicited an interview with his wife, or to be indulged with the company of his children. Thomas, Lord 1327 A. D.] EDWARD THE SECOND. 209 Berkeley, the owner of Berkeley castle, was soon afterward joined with Sir John Maltravers in the commission of guarding the captive monarch. It chanced that the former was detained at his manor of Bradley by a dangerous malady, during which the duty of watching the king devolved on two of his officers, Thomas G-ournay and William Ogle. One night, while he was under their charge, the inmates of the castle were alarmed by the shrieks which issued from his apartment : the next morning the neigh- bouring gentry, with the citizens of Bristol, were invited to behold his dead body. Externally, it exhibited no marks of violence ; but the distortion of the features betrayed the horrible agonies in which he had expired ; and it was confidently whispered that his death had been procured by the forcible introduction of a red-hot iron into his body. No investigation was made ; and the corpse was privately interred in the abbey church of St. Peter, in Gloucester. The first Edward had been in disposition a tyrant. As often as he dared, he had trampled on the liberties or invaded the property of his subjects ; and yet he died in his Reflections on bed, respected by his barons and admired by his tion. contemporaries. His son, the second Edward, was of a less im- perious character; no acts of injustice or oppression were imputed to him by his greatest enemies ; yet he was deposed from the throne, and murdered in a prison. Of this difference between the lot of the father and the son, the solution must be sought in the manners and character of the age. They both reigned over proud and factious nobles, jealous of their own liberties, but regardless of the liberties of others; and who, though they respected the arbitrary sway of a monarch as haughty and violent as themselves, despised the milder and more equitable administra- tion of his successor. That successor, naturally easy and indo- lent, fond of the pleasures of the table and the amusements of the chase, willingly devolved on others the cares and labors of government. But in an age unacquainted with the more modern expedient of a responsible minister, the barons considered the elevation of the favorite as their own depression, his power as the infringement of their rights. The result was, as we have seen, a series of associations, having for their primary object the re- moval of evil counsellors, as they were called, from the person of 18* 210 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1327. the prince, but gradually invading the legitimate rights of the crown, and terminating in the dethronement and assassination of the sovereign. For the part which Isabella acted in this tragedy no apology can be framed. In a few years, her crime was pu- nished with the general execration of mankind. She saw Morti- mer expire on a gibbet, and spent the remainder of her life in disgrace and obscurity. In Edward's reign, the abolition of the Knights Templars took place. That celebrated order was established in 1118, by the The order of the patriarch of Jerusalem, and originally consisted of Knights Templars. nme p 00r knights, who lived, in community, near the isle of the ancient temple, and took on themselves the volun- tary obligation of watching the roads in the neighborhood of the city, and of protecting the pilgrims from the insults of robbers and infidels. By degrees, their number was surprisingly aug- mented ; they were the foremost in every action of danger \ their military services excited the gratitude of Christendom ; and in every nation legacies were annually left, and lands successively bestowed on the Templars. But wealth and power generated a spirit of arrogance and independence, which exasperated both the civil and ecclesiastical authorities; and after a long investigation into some charges against the order, Pope Clement V. published a bull suppressing the institute, not by way of a judicial sentence establishing its guilt, but by the plenitude of his power, and as a measure of expediency rather than of justice. The possessions of the Templars had reverted as escheats to the lords of the fees, and an act of parliament was passed, assigning them to the hos- pitallers, for the same purposes for which they had been originally bestowed on the templars. 1327 A. D.] EDWARD THE THIRD. CHAPTER XIX. 211 CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. Popes. Scotland. France. Robert I. Charles IV. John XXII. David II. Philip VI. Benedict XII. Robert II. John. Clement VI. Charles V. Innocent VI. Germany. Spain. Urban V. Louis IV. Alphonso XL Gregory XL Charles IV. Pedro. Henry II. Campaign against the Scots — Death of the Earl of Kent — Fall and Execution of Mortimer — Edward claims the Crown of France — Expedition to Flanders — Truce — Renewal of the War — Victory at Creci — Renewal of the War with France — Victory of Poitiers — Death of the Black Prince — Death of Edward. —From A. D. 1327 to 1377. For some years, Isabella and Mortimer enjoyed the reward of their guilt. Of the forfeited estates of the Spensers and their partisans, the larger portion, with the title of the earl of March, fell to the lot of Mortimer, and a council of regency was appointed, to consist of four bishops, four earls, and six barons. The first measures of the new government were disconcerted by an unexpected occurrence. Of the truce with Scotland, only a few years had expired ; but the state of affairs in The truce with England offered to the Scottish king a temptation Scotland broken, which he had not the virtue to resist. He determined, in viola- tion of his engagements, to wrest, if possible, from the young king a solemn renunciation of that superiority which had been claimed by his father and grandfather. Aware of the intentions of Bruce, the English government had recourse to every expe- dient to avert hostilities, and it was at last agreed that ambassa- dors should meet on the borders, and treat of a final peace. The negotiators met: the Scots insisted on their own terms; and when the English demurred, an army of twenty-four thousand men under Randolph and Douglas crossed the borders, and ra- vaged the county of Cumberland. 212 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1327. Edward consumed six weeks at York, waiting for the arrival of his forces. At length the English, amounting to more than Edward prepares ^ ori J thousand men, marched to Durham, but were for war. unable to obtain any certain intelligence of the enemy, and the armies did not meet for some weeks. They en- camped near each other on 1st August, 1327, in the neigh- borhood of Stanhope; but the Scotch retreated to their own dominions without waiting for an engagement. The English army marched back to Durham, and thence to York, where it was disbanded. This was followed by a peace. It was agreed that there should be final and perpetual concord between the kingdoms of England and Scotland, and that David, the Scottish prince, should be married to the sister of Edward. A parliament was immediately summoned to meet at York ; and in it Edward was persuaded to execute a deed of renunciation, for himself and his successors, of all claims of superiority over the crown of Scotland. When the council of regency was appointed, it had been directed that out of the number, one bishop, one earl, and two Hostilities be- barons should daily attend the king, and give him and^the^ari^of tne ^ r a( lvice on all matters of importance. But as Lancaster. Mortimer superseded them all, his conduct natu- rally excited the jealousy of the great barons, and associations were formed to remove him from court. Mortimer, in October, 1328, with a numerous army, entered into Salisbury, where a parliament had been summoned, and Henry, earl of Lancaster, the nominal guardian of the king's person and president of the council, commanded an inferior force near Winchester. The favorite, taking with him the king and queen, advanced toward Winchester. From Winchester he led his followers to Leicester, and plundered the domain of the earl of Lancaster. That noble- man had hitherto retired before Mortimer; he was now joined by the king's uncles, but he was soon deserted by them ; and, de- spairing of success, submitted to ask pardon before the two armies, and entered into recognizances not to oppose the king or his council. When the parliament assembled at Winchester, the earl of Kent, the king's uncle, the archbishop of York, the bishop of 1330 A. D.J EDWARD THE THIRD. 213 London, with several knights and gentlemen, were Death of the earl unexpectedly arrested on the charge of having con- of Kent - spired to depose the king, and to replace his father, whose death they disbelieved, on the throne. Kent was adjudged to suffer the penalty of treason, but it was believed that his birth would save him from punishment. Isabella, however, was inexorable ; the son of the great Edward, was led by the order of his nephew to the place of execution, and after a painful suspense of four hours, a felon from the Marshalsea (no other could be found to perform the office) was induced by a promise of pardon to strike off his head. Edward was now eighteen, an age when his predecessors had been deemed capable of governing the realm ; and Philippa of Hainault, whom he married in 1328, had borne him a son, the same who is so celebrated in history under the name of the Black Prince. He felt the state of dependence in which he was kept, and viewed with concern the conduct of his mother. He confided his thoughts to the discretion of the Lord Montacute, who ex- horted him to assume the exercise of the royal authority. The king lent a willing ear to the proposal ; a design was formed to seize the person of Mortimer, and it was fixed to make the attempt during the session of the parliament at Nottingham. When the time came, Isabella, with her son and her favorite, took up her residence in the castle ; the prelates and barons were lodged in the town and the neighborhood. Morti- Edward assumes mer had taken every precaution for his security; vernment. but his enemies entered the castle one night, and they were joined by Edward on the staircase leading to the principal tower. They mounted in silence, till they heard the sound of voices in a room adjoining to Isabella's apartment, where Mortimer was engaged in consultation with the bishop of Lincoln and his principal advisers. The door was instantly forced, and two knights, who endeavored to defend the entrance, were slain. The queen had retired to rest in the adjoining apartment. Alarmed at the noise, she burst into the room. But in defiance of her tears and exclamations, Morti- mer was secured; and the next morning the king announced by proclamation that he had taken the reins of government into his own hands, and summoned a new parliament to meet in a few weeks at Westminster. 214 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1330. By this parliament, Mortimer was condemned, and executed at Tyburn, 29th November, 1330. Isabella, at the solicitation of Execution of Mor- the P°P e > was s P ared the ignominy of a public timer - trial; but Edward reduced her income to three thousand pounds, and confined her to the manor of Risings, where she passed in obscurity the remaining twenty-seven years of her life. The king annually paid her a visit of ceremony; he even added a thousand pounds to her yearly income; but he never more allowed her to assume any share of political power. After these executions he asked the advice of John XXII. for the regulation of his subsequent conduct ; and was exhorted by that pontiff to shun the danger of favoritism; and, instead of follow- ing the interested counsels of a few individuals, to govern by the united advice of his barons, prelates, and commons assembled in parliament. Robert Bruce, king of Scotland, had lived to see the independ- ence of his crown acknowledged by the king of England. At Edward Baiioi: n ^ s death he left to Randolf, earl of Moray, the his success. guardianship of his son David, who was only in his seventh year. Disputes took place respecting the restoration of certain estates belonging to English barons, landholders in Scotland, which had been seized during the last war. These barons were joined by Edward Baliol, the son and heir of John Baliol, whom the king's grandfather had compelled to resign his crown. After some consultation, they resolved to appeal to the sword ; a resolve which placed Edward in a very delicate situa- tion. On the one side he had sworn to observe the peace ; on the other, the minority of David offered the most favorable opportu- nity of recovering that superiority, which he would not have surrendered had not Bruce taken the advantage of similar cir- cumstances to invade England, in violation of his oath. His counsellors, however, determined not to tolerate any open infrac- tion of the treaty; and the sheriffs of the five northern counties were enjoined to forbid the perpetration of any act which could be deemed a violation of the peace. Baliol sailed with about three thousand men from Ravenspur, a port in the mouth of the Humber, to Kinghorn in Fife, ordered his fleet to the mouth of the Tay, and hastened to meet an enemy whose force was twenty times greater than his own. At first he succeeded, and was 1333 A. D.] EDWARD THE THIRD. 215 crowned at Scone by the bishop of Dunkeld. Astonished at the rapidity of his success, his enemies solicited a suspension of hos- tilities, and proposed a convention of the states to settle the king- dom. Baliol consented ; was surprised at Annan by the earl of Moray during the armistice ; and with difficulty escaped to the English marches, a solitary and helpless fugitive. Edward had secretly concluded two treaties with Baliol. By the first the new king acknowledged that the crown of Scotland was a fief belonging to the crown of England j trans- Edward - g tre atie 3 ferred to Edward the town and castle of Berwick ; with Balio1 - offered to marry the Princess Jane, if her marriage with David Bruce did not proceed; and engaged to grant to that young prince such an establishment as the king of England should think proper. By the second, each monarch bound himself to assist the other with all his power against every domestic enemy. The expulsion of Baliol suspended the effect of these treaties. But the real wishes of the English king were soon gratified by the impetuosity of the Scots, and the war was renewed. The campaign was opened by Baliol with the siege of The battle of Ha- Berwick, which was gallantly defended by the earl lidon Hm - of March. Two months elapsed before the king of England arrived ; but the operations of the siege were immediately pushed with new vigor ; and in a general assault the town was set on fire. The Scottish army advanced in four bodies to attack the besiegers. Edward drew up his army on Halidon Hill, from which the archers annoyed the enemy, as they struggled through the marshy ground at the foot, and climbed up the declivity of the mountain. The Scots were fatigued and disordered before they could reach their opponents ; the obstinacy with which they fought served only to increase their loss ; and the slaughter is said to have exceeded that of any former defeat. The town and castle were immediately surrendered : and the young king, with his wife, the sister of Edward, was conveyed, for greater security, from Dunbarton into France, where he resided for several years. Baliol was now again seated on the throne of Scotland, and Edward required him to fulfil his former engagements. A parlia- ment was called at Edinburgh ; and all the coun- Baliol restored try to the east of a line drawn from Dumfries to Scotland. Linlithgow was, by general consent, separated from the crown of 216 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1334. Scotland, and annexed to that of England. This enraged the Scots ; while the dissensions among the English barons, who had been restored to their estates, encouraged the friends of David. A new guardian or regent was appointed ; the cause of independ- ence again triumphed, and Baliol was compelled to take refuge in the lands which he had ceded to Edward. For several years he contrived to struggle against the obstinacy of his opponents and the perfidy of his followers. As long as he was supported by the king of England, he rose victorious from every disaster ; but from the moment that Edward determined to claim the crown of France, the war was suffered to languish ; fortress after fortress surrendered to the adherents of David; that prince at length ventured to revisit his kingdom ; and Baliol, instead of wielding the sceptre of Scotland, was employed in protecting from insult the northern counties of England. Edward was engaged during the remainder of his reign in his memorable contest with France. He was advised by his parlia- Edward's designs ment > sitting at Northampton, to claim the French on France. crown, as being, of all the male descendants of Philip the Third, the nearest in blood to the last monarch. The claim was rejected. Philip of Yalois was crowned with the full consent of the states, and summoned his English competitor to come and do homage for the duchy of Guienne to him as his liege lord. Philip kept possession of several fortresses in Guienne, claimed by the kiDg of England 5 and Edward, when he consented to do homage, did it in general terms, omitting the liege promise of faith and loyalty. In 1331 a partial adjustment of their differ- ences took place ; but the opposite interest which each felt in the affairs of Scotland awakened their former jealousy, and hurried them into hostilities. "When David was driven from his throne, Philip took him under his protection and aided his partisans. Edward beheld Philip befriends tn * s conduct with displeasure, and turned his arms I)aTi(i - from Scotland against France. To carry into exe- cution the mighty designs which he had formed, Edward con- cluded alliances with the emperor of Germany and other princes. Neither did Philip neglect the storm which he saw gathering around him; and soon more than half of the sovereigns of Europe 1341 A. D.] EDWARD THE THIRD. 217 were arrayed against each other, and the eyes of all Christendom were directed to the issue of the contest. Edward, to defray the expenses of his intended expedition, had recourse to forced loans, and he even pawned his jewels and crown. In the summer of 1338 he sailed with a numerous Edward invades fleet to Antwerp ; but, to his disappointment, he France - soon learned that every attempt to draw the Flemings into the field was fruitless. In the spring of 1339, he summoned his allies to assemble at the appointed time ; and about the middle of September he was able to lead an army of fifteen thousand men-at-arms to the walls of Cambray. No important result fol- lowed from this campaign, and Edward soon disbanded his army. The pope soon afterward wrote a long and expostulatory letter to Edward, advising peace, but the king was immovably fixed in his purpose, and immediately afterward publicly assumed the title of king of France. To raise money for the payment of his debts and the expenses of another campaign, he determined to revisit Eng- land, and left his queen at Grhent as an hostage for his speedy return. From his parliament he obtained supplies; and was preparing to fulfil his engagement, when advice was brought that Philip, to intercept him on his passage, had assembled, with the aid of the Genoese and Normans, a powerful fleet in the harbor of Sluys. The king immediately collected every vessel in the southern ports, and the next evening discovered the French fleet, over which he gained an important victory. Crowned with laurels, Edward landed, and marched at the head of two hundred thousand men to undertake, at the same time, the two sieges of Tournay and St. Omer. Yet these His operations in . , , .. /,. o , , , . France: a truce mighty preparations, aiter a lew weeks, ended m concluded, nothing. Edward asked money from England, but the exche- quer was unable to satisfy his wants. Some of the courtiers im- proved the opportunity to instil into his mind suspicions of the fidelity of his ministers ; and suddenly he sailed, in stormy wea- ther, from a pOrt in Zealand, stole unperceived up the Thames, landed about midnight at the Tower, and the next morning dis- placed the chancellor, treasurer, and master of the rolls, confined three of the judges, and ordered the arrest of most of the officers employed in the collection of the revenue. He returned to France in a few months with twelve thousand men; but, by o 19 218 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1346. attempting too much, effected nothing. He divided his forces into three divisions, with which, at the same time, he pretended to invest Rennes, Nantes, and Yannes, which had lately been re- taken by Charles j but the arrival of the duke of Normandy, the eldest son of Philip, compelled him to concentrate and intrench his forces. The French did the same ; and the two armies re- mained for several weeks during the depth of winter in the vicinity of each other. At this juncture, to the equal satisfac- tion of both parties, two cardinals arrived, and a truce was con- cluded for three years and eight months. Preparations for the renewal of war were, however, made on both sides. The English parliament recommended the renewal of hostilities, and an army proceeded to Guienne under the command of the king's cousin, the earl of Derby. Edward, having collected a numerous force, sailed from Southampton, with the intention, as he gave out, of invading the southern provinces of France, suddenly altered his course, and anchored in the road of La Hogue, on the coast of Normandy. The province was defenceless, and Edward obtained some important advantages. Philip advanced against him with a very large force, and Edward retreated before him for a time, but at length resolved to give him battle. The spot on which he determined to receive the enemy was the high ground beyond Creci, lying between the river Maye on the right, and Wadicourt The eve of the *° tne ^ e ^- ^ n * ne evening he invited his barons battle of Creci. to supper, entertained them with cheerfulness, and dismissed them with a promise of victory. When they were gone, he entered his oratory, threw himself on his knees before the altar, and prayed that God would preserve his honor. It was midnight when he retired to his bed ; he slept little, and at dawn on the morning of the 26th August, 1346, assisted at mass, and received the communion with his son, the young prince of Wales, who had just reached his fifteenth year. As soon as the troops had breakfasted, the marshals issued their orders, and each lord, under his own banner and pennon, marched Edward prepares to tne ground which had been allotted to him on for the battle. the preceding day. All were dismounted, to take away the temptation of pursuit or flight. The first division, under the nominal command of the prince, the real command of the earls of Warwick and Oxford, consisted of eight hundred men-at- 1346 A. D.] EDWARD THE THIRD. 219 arms, a thousand Welsh infantry, and two thousand archers. At some distance behind them, but rather on their flank, was placed the second division of eight hundred men-at-arms, and twelve hundred archers. The third, under the command of the king, comprised seven hundred men-at-arms, and two thou- sand archers, and was stationed as a reserve on the summit of the hill. The archers of each division formed in its front in the shape of a portcullis j and orders were issued that no man should encumber himself with the charge of a prisoner or quit his post to pursue a fugitive. Edward, on a small palfrey, with a marshal on each side, rode from company to company, speaking to all, ex- horting them to defend his honor, and expressing his confidence of victory. About ten o'clock he ordered them to take refreshment. They sat in ranks on the ground, with their bows and helmets be- fore them. The king of France had marched from Abbeville about sunrise ; but the multitude of his followers advanced in so disorderly a man- ner, that the knights who had reconnoitred the The army of the English army advised him to postpone the battle French kin s- till the morrow, and employ the interval in marshalling his army. Two officers were immediately despatched, one to the van, the other to the rear, crying out, " Halt, banners, in the name of God and St. Denis." But these orders increased the confusion. By some they were obeyed, by many misunderstood, and by the greater part disregarded. Philip suffered himself to be carried forward by the stream ; and, as soon as he saw the English, he lost his temper, and ordered the Genoese to form, and begin the battle. The Genoese were a body of six, or according to some writers, fifteen, thousand Italians, who fought with cross-bows under two celebrated leaders, Antonio Doria and Carlo Grimaldi. They were supported by the king's brother, the count d'Alencon with a nu- merous cavalry superbly accoutred. The king himself followed with the rest of the army in four divisions; the amount of the combatants has been estimated by different writers, at every inter- mediate number between sixty and one hundred and twenty thou- sand men. Never, perhaps, were preparations for battle made under cir- cumstances so truly awful. On that very dav the rr 1 £ i ■ M 1 •-,.,-, , Tho battle of sun suffered a partial eclipse ; birds in clouds, the Creci. 220 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1346 precursors of a storm, flew screaming over the two armies; and the rain fell in torrents, accompanied with incessant thunder and light- ning. About five in the afternoon the weather cleared up, the sun in full splendor darted his rays in the eyes of the enemy. The Genoese, setting up three shouts, discharged their arrows. But they were no match for the English archers, who received the volley in silence, and returned their arrows in such numbers and with such force, that the cross-bowmen began to waver. The count d'Alencon, calling them cowards, ordered his men to cut down the runaways ; but he only added to the disorder. Many of his knights were unhorsed by the archers, and, as they lay on the ground, were despatched by the Welshmen, who had armed them- selves with long knives for the purpose. At length the passage was cleared ; the count on one side, and his colleague the earl of Flanders on the other, skirted the Eng- lish archers, while a numerous body of French, Germans, and Savoyards, forced their way to the men-at-arms under the com- mand of the prince. The second division immediately closed for his support; but the conflict grew fierce and doubtful, and Sir Thomas Norwich was sent to request a reinforcement. Edward, who from a windmill watched the chances of the battle, and the movements of the armies, inquired if his son were killed or wounded. The messenger replied, " No." " Then," said he, " tell Warwick that he shall have no assistance. Let the boy win his spurs. He and those who have him in charge shall earn the whole glory of the day." This answer was hailed as a prediction of victory, and infused new courage into the combatants. D'Alen§on, unable to make any impression on the English in his front, attempted to turn their position by penetrating through The heroic con- a narr ow pass on one side of the hill ; but he found duct of Philip. thg ou tlet barricaded with carts and wagons from the camp, and was repulsed with great slaughter by a body of archers posted behind them. In the mean time, Philip, who had hitherto been only a spectator to the action, grew impatient; he has- tened with his force to the aid of his brother ; and fought as if it had been his object to refute the taunt of cowardice so often ap- plied to him by Edward. He was wounded in two places ; his horse was killed under him ; he retired till the blood was stanched, and then mounting another charger, rushed into the midst of the 1346 A. D.] EDWARD THE THIRD. 221 combatants. But the day was already lost ; his brother, with the flower of the French chivalry, had fallen ; and John of Hainault, seizing the king's bridle, and bidding him reserve himself for vic- tory on some future occasion, led him by force out of the field. With a slender escort of five barons and sixty knights he escaped to the city of Amiens. The flight of Philip did not terminate the contest. Many of the French continued in detached bodies to charge their adversa- ries ; but, as their efforts were made without concert, Edward meets they generally ended in the destruction of the as- battle, sailants. As the darkness increased, the fighting gradually ceased ; the voices of men seeking their banners from which they had wandered were no longer heard; and the English congratulated themselves on the repulse of the enemy. The king, ignorant of the extent of his victory, ordered fires to be kindled, and forbade his men to quit their posts. Eager to testify his approbation of the prince, he sprang to meet him, and clasping him in his arms, exclaimed, " Fair son, continue your career. You have behaved nobly. You have shown yourself worthy of me and the crown I" The young Edward sank on his knees, and modestly attributed all the merit to his father. Eleven princes and twelve hundred knights were slain in this battle. Report made the total number of those killed amount to thirty thousand. A truce of three days was proclaimed for the burial of the dead ; and the king himself attended in mourning at the funeral service. Among the slain, the most distinguished was John, king of Bohemia. His motto, " Ich dien," (I serve,) was adopted by the prince of Wales, and has been always borne by his successors. At this time, David, king of Scotland, invaded England, but was defeated at Nevil's Cross, in Cumberland, taken prisoner, and conveyed to London. In Guienne, the earl of Der- The • e of Ca _ by obtained several most important advantages over lais - a.d.1346. the French. Edward was engaged in the siege of Calais, a siege which formed a new era in the military history of the age. Con- trary to all precedent, not an assault was given, not a single en- gine was erected against the place. Instead of force, the king relied on the slower but less fallible operation of famine. A nu- merous fleet blockaded the harbor; and communication with the 19* 222 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1346. interior was intercepted by the besiegers. The governor turned out of the town every individual who did not possess a sufficient supply of provisions for several months. Men, women, and chil- dren, to the number of seventeen hundred persons, advanced in mournful procession to the English camp. Edward ordered them to be received, gave them a plentiful repast, and at their depar- ture distributed to each two pieces of silver. Five hundred more of the inhabitants were driven without the gates. The English lines were, however, shut against them, and the unfortunate suffer- ers, without covering or provisions, perished miserably. The king of France approached near Calais to relieve the be- sieged, but retired without rendering them any aid. It was in vain that the governor solicited terms of capitulation. Edward The surrender of insisted that he should surrender at discretion; and the city: the noble the inhabitants, who knew that the king had ex- conduct of St. 7 . & . Pierre. pressed a resolution to punish their habits of pi- racy, and that his former enmity had been imbittered by the ob- stinacy of their resistance, received the answer with feelings of despair. They met in the market-place to consult ; and the com- mon gloom was dispelled by the generous devotedness of Eustace de St. Pierre, who offered to stake his life for the safety of his fellow-townsmen. Five others imitated his example, and the pro- cession walked from the gate to the English camp. It was headed by the governor, riding on a palfrey, on account of his wounds ; fifteen knights followed with their heads bare and their swords pointed to the ground ) and then came the six townsmen, barefoot and bareheaded, with halters in their hands. By Edward they were received with an air of severity. The governor presented to him his sword, and the keys of the town ; and joining his com- panions in misfortune, implored on his knees the mercy of the conqueror. The king affected to be inexorable, rejected the inter- cession of his barons, sent for the executioner, and if he at last yielded, it was with apparent reluctance, to the tears and entreaties of his queen Philippa. The prisoners were left to the disposal of their fair advocate, who clothed them, invited them to a plentiful repast, and at their departure made to each of them a present of six nobles. Thus was Calais severed from the French crown after a siege of twelve months. To secure his conquest, Edward ex- pelled the natives who refused to swear fealty to the king of Eng- 1347 A. D.] EDWARD THE THIRD. 223 land, and repeopled the town with a colony of his own subjects. It rapidly became a place of considerable opulence ; it was ap- pointed the general mart for the sale of merchandise exported from England ; and it continued to flourish for more than two centuries under the protection of its conqueror and his successors. Writers have not always sufficiently appreciated the benefits which mankind derived from the pacific influence of the Roman pontiffs. In an age which valued no merit but that Influence of t h© of arms, Europe would have been plunged in per- R° man pontiffs. petual war, had not pope after pope labored incessantly for the pre- servation or restoration of peace. They rebuked the passions and checked the extravagant pretensions of sovereigns ; their charac- ter, as the common fathers of Christians, gave to their representa- tions a weight which no other mediator could claim ; and their legates spared neither journey nor fatigue to reconcile the jarring interests of courts, and interpose the olive of peace between the swords of contending armies. As soon as the war recommenced between Edward and Philip, Clement had resumed his pacific en- deavors ; for two years he ceased not to entreat, to admonish, to reprehend ; the violence and obstinacy of his belligerent children did not exhaust his patience; and as soon as the French army had reached Whitsand, the cardinals of Naples and Clermont offered their services, to prevent the effusion of blood. But Philip refused to deliver up a town which had so long set at defiance the power of his adversary, and Edward would not forego the expected re- ward of his perseverance in so tedious a siege. When Calais had fallen, the legates renewed their offer ; each king was now willing to admit of a temporary respite j and an armistice, which was con- cluded for a few months, was, at the repeated instances of the holy see, gradually prolonged for six years. It was a breathing time necessary to the king of France, that he might restore his finances and the spirit of his people ; it was welcome to the king of Eng- land, who could now repose with satisfaction under the laurels which he had gained. The victories of Creci and Nevil's Cross had stamped the reputation of the English, and raised their sove- reign to the first rank among the princes of Europe ; and two of the chief of his opponents, David king of Scots, and Charles de Blois, duke of Bretagne, were tis prisoners. In the first week of August, 1318, a plague made its appear- 224. HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1355, ance in England. Of its victims, many expired in the course a plague in Eng- °f s * x hours, and few lingered more than two or land - three days. From man, the exterminating malady spread itself to the brute creation. The labors of husbandry were neglected; no courts of justice were opened; the parliament was repeatedly prorogued by proclamation ; and men, intent only on their own safety, fled from the care of the infected, and slighted every call of honor, duty, and humanity. When historians tell us that one-half or one-third of the population perished, we may suspect them of exaggeration ; but it is easy to form some idea of the mortality, from the fact that all the cemeteries of London were soon filled. Edward had now awaked from the dream of his ambition. Convinced by experience that the French crown lay beyond his Renewal of the reach, he offered to renounce his pretensions in ex- war with France, change for the sovereignty of the provinces which he held as a vassal in his own right, and in the right of his queen. By Philip, the proposal was rejected with scorn; John, his son and successor, discovered, perhaps feigned, a willingness to accept it. But this prospect, so consoling to the friends of humanity, was closed by the pride of the French people. Edward again took up arms ; and a plan of combined operations was con- certed between him and his eldest son, now called, from the color of his armor, the Black Prince. The latter, during the year 1355, opened the campaign with an army of sixty thousand men. In the short space of seven weeks he had laid in ashes more than five hundred cities, towns, and villages, in a populous dis- trict, which for a century had not been visited with the horrors of war. During this expedition, the king of England marched from Calais at the head of a gallant army ; but all his plans were dis- The Scots invade concerted by the superior policy of John, who cau- Engiand. tiously shunned an engagement, but was careful, as he retired before his adversary, to lay waste the country around him. The English had not reached Amiens when the want of provisions compelled them to return. A scanty supply was procured in the Boulonnois ; and they entered Calais on the tenth day after their departure •from it. Here the French monarch sought to amuse Edward with proposals for a general 1356 A. D.] EDWARD THE THIRD. 225 battle ; while his allies the Scots surprised Berwick, poured over the borders, and spread devastation through the northern coun- ties. But at the first intelligence the king hastened to England, met his parliament at Westminster, obtained a liberal aid for six years, and ordered his forces to assemble in Northumberland. Berwick was recovered by the sole terror of his approach ; and at Roxburgh he purchased from Baliol his patrimonial property in Galloway, together with his rights to the Scottish throne. The next year was signalized by the ever-memorable victory of Poitiers. The honor and plunder of the late campaign stimu- lated the prince of Wales to a similar attempt in The ravages of a different direction. With a small army of twelve the English army. thousand men he left Bordeaux, ascended the G-aronne as far as Agen, and, turning to the left, overran the fertile provinces of Querci, Limousin, Auvergne, and Berri. Conquest was not his object, but to inflict on the natives the injuries of war and to en- rich his followers at the expense of the enemies. The harvest was trodden under foot ; the cattle were slaughtered \ the wines and provisions which the army could not consume were destroyed ; the farm-houses, villages, and towns were reduced to ashes ; and every captive able to pay his ransom was conducted to Bordeaux. He turned from Issodun and Bourges, which threatened a vigor- ous resistance ', but took Vierzon by storm, and Romorantin by setting it on fire. In this desolating expedition, it does not seem to have occurred to the young prince that it was dangerous to penetrate so far into a powerful kingdom, or that his retreat might probably be intercepted by a more numerous force. The king of France had ordered his vassals to join him at Chartres, and crossing the Loire at Blois, pushed forward to the city of Poitiers. Edward, when it was too late, had commenced his march for the same city; but it was his misfortune to know nothing of his enemy but from vague and suspicious reports, while his own motions were accurately observed and daily notified to the French monarch. One day, after a fatiguing The armies meet march, the English had reached in the afternoon near 1 ' oitiers - the village of Maupertuis, about five miles from Poitiers, when their van unexpectedly fell in with the rear of the enemy. The danger of his situation immediately flashed on the mind of the 226 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1356, prince. " God help us !" he exclaimed ; " it only remains for us to fight bravely." In stating the amount of the hostile armies, historians are greatly at variance; but of their relative numbers, a probable rhe number and estimate may be formed from the testimony of Sir armies. Thomas Gray, that John had eight thousand, Edward, one thousand nine hundred coats-of-arms under his com- mand. This superiority was partially balanced by the advantage of a position most unfavorable to the operations of the cavalry, which formed the real, the only strength of the French army. It was a rising ground, covered with vineyards, and intersected with hedges, accessible only in one point through a long and narrow lane, which in no part would admit of more than four horsemen abreast. In the morning, the prince ordered his men- at-arms to form on foot in front of the road; one half of his archers he posted before them in the favorite figure of a port- cullis or harrow ; the other half he ordered to line all the hedges between the main body and the moor on which the enemy was encamped. John arrayed his army in three divisions on foot, under the separate command of his cousin, the duke of Orleans, of his three eldest sons, and of himself and his fourth son, a youth in his sixteenth year. He retained on horseback only three small bodies, one of which, consisting of three hundred knights and esquires, selected from the whole army, was destined for the hazardous attempt of dispersing the archers in front of the English line. These arrangements were hardly completed Cardinal Peri- when the cardinal Talleyrand Perigord arrived on &SSS£ th * field, and with uplifted hands besought John dation - to spare the blood of so many noble knights ; nor stake on the uncertain issue of a battle the advantages which he would certainly obtain by negotiation. His repeated entreaties wrung from the king a reluctant consent; and riding to the prince, he represented to him the danger of his situation. " Save my honor/' said the young Edward, " and the honor of my army, and I will readily listen to reasonable conditions." " Fair son," replied the cardinal, " you have answered wisely : such conditions it shall be my task to procure." The legate was indefatigable in his endeavors. He rode from army to army ; he labored to sub« due the reluctance of the prince, and to lower the confidence of 1356 A. D.] EDWARD THE THIRD. 227 the king. Edward offered to restore his conquests, his spoil, and his captives, and not to bear arms against France for seven years. John, at the persuasion of the bishop of Chalons, and Eustace de Ribeaument, demanded as his ultimatum, that the prince and a hundred of his knights should surrender themselves prisoners of war. The proposal was indignantly rejected ; the prospect of a pacification vanished ; and the night was spent in preparations for battle. To judge from the opposite numbers, no doubt could be entertained of its issue ; but the recollection of the battle of Creci cheered the English with a gleam of hope, and occasionally staggered the confidence of their enemies. With the dawn of light, the trumpets summoned the two nations to their respective posts. The English had improved the interval to throw up trenches, and form a barricade The battle of of wagons, where their position seemed the least P° itiel "s- difficult of access. The French had made no other alteration than to place a body of reserve under the duke of Orleans in the rear, and to give the command of the first division to the two marshals, Arnold d'Andreghen' and John de Clermont. The cardinal Talleyrand was again in the field; but his entreaties were fruitless, and he was told that so much importunity dis- pleased the king, and might be attended with disagreeable conse- quences to himself. He then rode to convey the tidings to the prince, who coolly replied, " G-od defend the right !" and the de- parture of the legate was made the signal for the commencement of the battle. The French marshals, at the head of their cavalry, fearlessly entered the lane, and were suffered to advance without molestation. At last the order was given ; the archers behind the hedges poured in destructive volleys of arrows; the passage was choked with men and horses in the agonies of death ; and the confusion became irremediable, from the increasing pressure of the rest of the column. A few knights forced their way through every obstacle ; others broke down the hedges, and in small bodies reached different points in front of the English ; but not one could penetrate as far as the main body. The arrows were directed with too sure an aim to be eluded by address, and flew with a rapidity not to be resisted by ordinary armor. D'An- dreghen was unhorsed and taken ; Clermont was killed ; the sur- vivors, dismayed by their fate, paused, then retired slowly, and 228 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1356 at last fled with precipitation to the second division, which re- ceived them within its ranks. But that division now began to waver. The archers, the terror of the men-at-arms at a distance, advanced in front, and a body of six hundred English was unexpectedly seen to cross a neigh- boring hill, and fall on the left flank. The knights in the rear hastily left their banners to secure their horses, and the lords who had the charge of the three princes, alarmed for their safety, sent them to Chauvigni under a guard of eight hundred lances. The departure of so large a body was mistaken for a flight, and the whole division in a few minutes dispersed. The men-at-arms under Edward had hitherto been spectators of the combat. "Sir," said Sir John Chandos to the prince, The valor of the " tne ne ^ * S WOn - -^ et US mou nt, an( l charge the French king. French king. I know him for an intrepid knight, who will never flee from an enemy. It may be a bloody attempt ; but, please God and St. George, he shall be our prisoner." The advice was approved, and the army advanced from the enclosures to the moor, which had become the theatre of battle. The duke of Athens, constable of France, was the first to throw himself in their way; his shout of "Mountjoy and St. Denis I" was answered by the national cry of "St. George for Guienne !" and in a few minutes the duke, with the greater part of his followers, was slain. The German cavalry next charged the English, but were easily dispersed, with the loss of the three earls, their com- manders. Lastly, John himself, animated by despair, (for his reserve had fled already,) led up his division on foot, and fought for honor, when it was evidently too late to fight for victory. "When kings have fallen, or have been taken in battle, it has always been the fashion to describe them as performing prodigies John is taken of valor; but John does not owe his reputation to prisoner. flattery or pity : it had been previously established in several engagements, and was equally acknowledged by friends and foes. For a while he maintained the unequal contest. He had received two wounds in the face ; was beaten to the ground ; and was surrounded by a host of adversaries, each of whom was anxious to secure so noble a prize. A young knight, bursting through the crowd, bent his knee, and requested him to surren- der, or he would lose his life. He asked for his cousin, the 1356 A. D.] EDWARD THE THIRD. 229 prince of Wales. "He is not here/' returned the knight; "but surrender to me, and I will conduct you to him." " But who are you V inquired the king. " Denis de Morbecque," he re- plied, " a knight of Artois, but compelled to serve the king of England, because I have been banished from France." John surrendered to him ; and his son Philip was made prisoner at the same time. Thus ended the battle of Poitiers, in which the whole chivalry of France was defeated by a handful of Englishmen, and the king became the captive of the prince whom he The admirable persuaded himself he had enclosed in his toils. If queror. on such an occasion the youthful mind of the conqueror had be- trayed symptoms of vanity, it would have been pardonable ; but Edward's moderation in victory added to the admiration which he had inspired by his conduct in battle. There were in his army many knights who could have disputed with him the palm of personal bravery ; there was not, perhaps, one his equal in the more amiable accomplishments of modesty and courtesy. He be- haved to his royal captive with the respect due to a sovereign, waited on him at table, soothed his afflictions by reminding him of his valor, and assured him, that in the estimation of all who had witnessed his conduct, he had that day fairly won " the prize and garland" of chivalry. The next morning he continued his march with his prisoners to Bordeaux, and having concluded a truce for two years with the dauphin, the regent of France, re- turned to England in the spring. He landed with John at Sand- wich, and proceeded by easy journeys to London. His father had given the necessary directions for his entry into the capital, under the pretence of doing honor to the king of His triumphal France; an unwelcome honor, which served to re- entry into London. mind that monarch of his captivity, and to make him the prin- cipal ornament in the triumph of his conqueror. Arches were thrown across the streets, tapestry, plate, and arms were sus- pended from the windows, and the road was lined with crowds of spectators. The lord mayor, at the head of more than a thousand citizens, divided into companies distinguished by their respective devices and colors, proceeded to meet the prince and his attendants in Southwark. The king of France was mounted on a cream- colored charger with magnificent trappings ; the young Edward 20 230 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1359. rode on a small pony, without any thing to distinguish him ; but he did not elude the eager eyes of the spectators, who hailed with loud acclamations the conqueror of Poitiers. Some hours elapsed before the cavalcade could reach Westminster Hall, where the king was seated on his throne, surrounded by his prelates and barons. When John entered he rose, descended to embrace him, and led him to partake of a splendid banquet. The palace of the Savoy, and afterward the castle of Windsor, was allotted to him and his son for their residence. Negotiations for the ransom of David of Scotland occupied much attention for a long time. At length a treaty was agreed Death of David u P on f° r a stipulated sum. David died before all king of Scotland. was arranged; but the grcu,t truce (so it was called) was carefully observed, and the money was faithfully paid by Robert, his successor, the first of the house of Stuart who sat on the Scottish throne. But to adjust the rival claims of the kings of England and France was a matter of infinitely greater difficulty. Edward re- quired an enormous ransom for the king and the other prisoners, and demanded, in return for his renunciation of all claim to the crown of France, the restoration of the provinces which had formerly belonged to his ancestors, to be holden by him in full sovereignty, without any dependence on the French monarch. John, though he delayed, at length acceded to Edward's demands; but a peremptory refusal was unanimously returned by the French when asked to ratify the treaty. Edward complained that he was deceived by his adversaries, and bade them prepare for war. In autumn, 1359, the king sailed from Sandwich with eleven hundred transports, conveying the most numerous and best ap- Edward ap-ain pointed army which had been raised in England invades Trance. f or more than a century. He marched from Calais through Picardy, Artois, and Cambresis, as far as Rheims, which he besieged, but without success. . Edward soon planted his banner before the gates of Paris. After wreaking his vengeance on the suburbs by setting them on Peace finally nre > ne decamped, with a threat that he would concluded. s00n p av the capital a second and more formidable visit. Peace was, however, concluded shortly afterward. The king of England renounced his pretensions to the crown of France, A.D.] EDWARD THE THIRD. 03} and his claim to the ancient patrimonial possessions of his family, Normandy, Anjou, Touraine, and Maine; he restored all his con- quests, with the exception of Calais and Guisnes; and reserved to himself Poitou and Guienne with their dependencies, and the county of Ponthieu, the inheritance of his mother. The dauphin, on the part of his father, consented that Edward and his heirs should possess for ever the full sovereignty of the countries secured to him by the treaty ; that a ransom of three million crowns of gold should be paid for John within the course of six years ; and that Edward should receive and detain as hostages twenty-five French barons, sixteen of the prisoners made in the battle of Poitiers, and forty-two burghers from the most opulent cities in France. John departed to his own dominions, but having returned to England on public business in 1364, he died in London. The king of England, soon after the peace with France, had united all his dominions between the Loire and the Pyrenees into on« principality, and had bestowed it on his eldest Charles recover3 son, the Black Prince, with the title of prince of his possessions. Acfuitaine. A dispute broke out between young Edward and Charles of France in 1369 ; and all the English possessions in France were annexed by a judicial sentence to the French crown. Conquest followed conquest j and at the end of six years Charles had not only recovered the districts lost by his father, but had also made himself master of the far greater part of Guienne. The English king convoked his parliament, inveighed with bitterness against the perfidy of Charles, reassumed the title of king of France, and offered to every adventurer . Thedca thofthe the possession of such fiefs as he might conquer in Black Prince - that kingdom. Reinforcements were sent to the Black Prince, who lay in the castle of Angouleme, a prey to disease and vexa- tion, till he was roused from inactivity by the intelligence that the dukes of Anjou and Berri were advancing from different points to besiege him with their united forces. He declared that his enemies should find him in the field ; his standard was un- furled at Cognac ; and there was still such a magic in his name, that the French princes disbanded their armies, and garrisoned their conquests. But the military career of the prince was now terminated. The effort had exhausted his enfeebled constitution ; 232 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1377. and by the advice of his physicians he returned to England, where, at a distance from the court and from political concerns, he lin- gered for six years, (till 1376,) cheering the gloom which hung over him with the hope that his second son Richard (the eldest was dead) would succeed to the crown, and uphold the renown of his family. In the year 1374, England retained of her transmarine pos- sessions only Calais, Bourdeaux, Bayonne, and a few places on the Dordogne. Edward, weary of this succession of disasters, ob- tained a truce, which at short intervals was repeatedly prolonged till his death. The pope continually exhorted the kings to con- vert the truce into a peace ; but their resentments were too vio- lent, their pretensions too high, to allow any adjustment. Edward, in his latter years, lived in obscurity at Eltham. On the morning of his death his domestics separated to plunder the The death of Ed- P a l ace y but a priest, who chanced to be present, ward - hastening to the bed of the dying monarch, ad- monished him of his situation, and bade him prepare himself to appear before his Creator. Edward, who had just strength suffi- cient to thank him, took a crucifix into his hands, kissed it, wept, and expired on the 21st June, 1377. The king had been once married to Philippa of Hainault, who died in 1369, and was buried at Westminster. She bore him a numerous family, seven sons and five daughters ; of whom three sons and one daughter survived him. His death happened in the sixty -fifth year of his life, and the fifty-first of his reign. In personal accomplishments Edward is said to have been superior, in mental powers to have been equal, to any of his pre- iiis accomplish- decessors. More than usual care had been be- ments and charac- n i • -i , • t i -i ^ i ter. stowed on his education; and he could not only speak the English and French, but also understood the German and Latin languages. His elocution was graceful, his conversa- tion entertaining, his behaviour dignified, but also attractive. To the fashionable amusements of hunting and hawking he was much addicted ; but to these he preferred the more warlike exercise of the tournament; and his subjects, at the conclusion of the exhibi- tion, often burst into transports of applause when they found that the unknown knight, whose prowess they admired, proved to be their own sovereign. Of his courage as a combatant, and his 1377 A. D.] EDWARD THE THIRD. 233 abilities as a general, the reader will have formed a competent opinion from the preceding pages. The astonishing victories, which cast so much glory on one period of his reign, appear to have dazzled the eyes both of his subjects and of foreigners, who placed him in the first rank of conquerors; but the disasters which clouded the evening of his life, have furnished a proof that his ambition was greater than his judgment. He was at last con- vinced that the crowns of France and Scotland were beyond his reach ; but not till he had exhausted the strength of the nation by a series of gigantic but fruitless efforts. Before his death all his conquests, with the exception of Calais, had slipped from his grasp ; the greater part of his hereditary dominions on the conti- nent had been torn from him by a rival, whom he formerly de- spised; and a succession of short and .precarious truces was sought and accepted as a boon by the monarch who, in his more fortunate days, had dictated the peace of Bretigni. Still the military expeditions of Edward, attended as they were with a great expenditure of money and effusion of His military ex- ., . , . ■• ,. ,~. , ,. /.i peditions and their blood, became in the result productive ot ad- consequences, vantages, which had neither been intended nor foreseen by their author. By plunging the king into debt, they rendered him more dependent on the people, who, while they bitterly com- plained of the increasing load of taxation, secured, by the tem- porary sacrifice of their money, permanent benefits both for them- selves and posterity. There was scarcely a grievance, introduced by the ingenuity of feudal lawyers or the arrogance of feudal superiority, for which they did not procure a legal, and often an effectual remedy. It was not indeed a time when even par- liamentary statutes were faithfully observed. But during a reign of fifty years, the commons annually preferred the same complaints; the king annually made the same grants; and at length, by the mere dint of repeated complaint and repeated con- cession, -the grievances were in most cases considerably mitigated — in some, entirely removed.* * Dr. Lingard, in this portion of his work, enters at very great length into an investigation of the condition of England in the eventful half-century during which Edward I. reigned. In this dissertation the historian explains, with his usual clearness, the state of the kingdom with regard to taxation, the adminis- tration of justice, the additions made to the statute-book, (especially the "Statute P 20* 284 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1377. It is in the history of Edward's reign that the name of Wycliffe is first mentioned. He was, about 1360, engaged in a contro- versy with the different orders of friars. They had Wycliffe. . . been established in England for more than a century; and by their zeal, piety, and learning, had deservedly earned the esteem of the public. Some taught with applause in the uni- versities ) many lent their aid to the parochial clergy in the dis- charge of their ministry ', several had been raised to the episcopal dignity ; and others had been employed in difficult and important negotiations by their sovereigns. This controversy had no im- mediate result ; but it was the origin of that violent hostility to the friars which Wycliffe displayed in every subsequent stage of his life. By degrees he diverted his invectives from the friars to the whole body of the clergy. The pope, the bishops, the rectors, and curates, smarted successively under the lash. The coarseness of Wycliffe's invectives soon became the subject of astonishment and complaint. In the last year of Edward, Wycliffe at St. wn ^ e the parliament was sitting, he was summoned Maui's. to answer in St. Paul's before the primate and the bishop of London. He obeyed ; but made his appearance between the two most powerful subjects in England, the duke of Lancaster, and Percy, the lord marshal. Their object was to intimidate his opponents ; and the attempt was begun by Lancaster, who ordered a chair to be given to Wycliffe. Courtenay, the bishop of Lon- don, replied that it was not customary for the accused to sit in the presence, and without the permission, of his judges. A vehement altercation ensued, and the language of Lancaster grew so abusive, that the populace rose in defence of their bishop, and had it not been for his interference, would have offered violence to his reviler. Though the duke escaped with his life, his palace of the Savoy was pillaged. Wycliffe found it necessary to make the best apology in his of Treasons,") the forms of procedure in parliament, the mode of raising the army and navy, and the constitution of the church in England. This part of Dr. Lingard's work should be carefully studied by those who wish to trace the progress of the institutions of the country and the growth of the English con- stitution ; its length prevents our placing it in this abridgment, and it could not well be curtailed. We shall, however, at the close of this work, present the reader with a sketch of the British constitution in its present form. 1377 A. D.] RICHARD THE SECOND. 235 power, and was permitted to depart with a severe reprimand, and an order to be silent for the future on those subjects which had given so much cause for complaint. The sequel of WyclinVs history will be related in the narrative of the reign of the next monarch. CHAPTER XX. %\t\i%}t \\t Sbuntiis. CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. Popea. Gregory XL Urban VI. Boniface IX. Scotland. Robert II. Robert III. Germany. Charles IV. Winceslaus. France. Charles V. Charles VI. Spain. Henry II. John I. Henry III. Coronation of Richard — Insurrection of the people — Wycliffe — Invasion of Scotland — The king goes to Ireland — The despotism of Richard — He pro- ceeds to Ireland a second time — Henry of Lancaster rebels — The king is made prisoner and deposed. — From A. D. 1377 to 1399. While Edward yet lay on his death-bed, a deputation of the citizens of London waited on Richard of Bourdeaux, the son and heir of the Black Prince, and offered him the Ri char d is throne. The same day his grandfather died ; the crowned. next afternoon Richard made his entry into the capital as king, and was crowned on the 16th July, 1377. The following day the prelates and barons held a great council to arrange the form of the new government during the minority of the king, and they chose, " in aid of the chancellor and treasurer," twelve councillors, two bishops, two earls, two barons, two bannerets, and four knights. The truce between England and France had expired before the death of Edward ; and Charles had taken the opportunity to re- 236 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1377 The truce -with new hostilities, an( ^ a ^d to his former conquests. France. His fleets insulted the English coasts; and ho obtained the co-operation of the Spaniards. The king summoned parliament after parliament to demand the aid of his people ; and these assemblies, imitating those of the last reign, accompanied every grant with petitions, which procured the confirmation of the statutes already enacted, and led to the acquisition of new and valuable privileges, still enjoyed by the house of commons at the present day. The duke of Lancaster conducted an army to Bretagne, be- sieged the town of St. Malo, lay during several weeks before the Hostilities he- walls, and then returned to England without fight- tween England /. . . . ° . . ° and France. mg the enemy, or achieving a single conquest. The Scots at the same time violated the truce, burned Roxburgh, and surprised Berwick, which was soon recovered by the earl of Northumberland. Several petty engagements were fought at sea by private adventurers. The French had successively obtained possession of every fortress in Bretagne, with the exception of Brest. Charles, flattering himself that he was secure of his con- quest, by a definitive judgment annexed the duchy to the French crown; a precipitate and injudicious measure, which instantly awakened all the national prejudices of the Bretons. They com- bined to assert their independence, recalled their duke, expelled the French, and earnestly solicited assistance from England. The first expedition under Sir John Arundel was dispersed by a storm, in which the general and the greater part of the men-at-arms perished. A second army was raised, and placed under the com- mand of the earl of Buckingham, the king's uncle. He crossed from Dover to Calais, and directed his march through the heart of France. Charles soon died, the Bretons transferred their jealousy from the French to their allies; and peace was made with the regency which governed France during the minority of Charles VI. At this period a secret ferment seems to have pervaded the mass of the people in many nations of Europe. Men were no Discontent among longer willing to submit to the impositions of their the mass of the , ° . . . \ people. rulers, or to wear the chains which had been thrown round the necks of their fathers by a warlike and haughty aris- tocracy. In England a spirit of discontent agitated the whole 1381 A. D.] RICHARD THE SECOND. 237 body of the villeins or bondsmen, who remained in almost the same situation in which we left them at the Norman conquest. They now rose, and by their union and perseverance contrived to intimidate their lords, and set at defiance the severity of the law. The revolt began in Essex, and in a few days all that county was in a state of insurrection, under the command of an ill-con- ducted priest, who had assumed the name of Jack Straw. The men of Kent were not long behind their neighbors in Essex. At Dartford one of the collectors had demanded the tax for a young girl, the daughter of a tyler. Her The affa i r at mother maintained that she was under the age re- Dartford - quired by the statute ; and the officer was proceeding to indecent conduct, when her father, who had just returned from work, killed him with a stroke from his hammer. His courage was ap- plauded by his neighbors. They swore that they would protect him from punishment, and by threats and promises secured the co-operation of all the villages in the western division of Kent. At Maidstone, they appointed Wat, the tyler of that town, leader of the commons of Kent. The mayor and aldermen of Canterbury were compelled to swear fidelity to the good cause ; several of the citizens were slain ; and five hundred The insurrect ion joined them in their intended march toward Lon- of Wat T y ler - don. When they reached Blackheath, their numbers are said to have amounted to one hundred thousand men. To this lawless and tumultuous multitude one John Ball was appointed preacher, and assumed for the text of his first sermon the following lines : When Adam delved, and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman ? The king, with his cousin Henry, earl of Derby, Simon, arch- bishop of Canterbury and chancellor, and about one hundred Ser- jeants and knights, had left the castle of Windsor, and repaired for greater security to the Tower of London. The next morning, in his barge, he descended the river to receive the petitions of the insurgents. To the number of ten thousand, with two banners of St. Gi-eorge, and sixty pennons, they waited his arrival at Kother- hithe ; but their horrid yells and uncouth appearance so intimi- dated his attendants, that instead of permitting him to land, they took advantage of the tide, and returned with precipitation. Tyler 238 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1381 and Straw, irritated by this disappointment, led their men into London, where they demolished Newgate, and liberated the pri- soners, plundered and destroyed the magnificent palace of the Savoy, belonging to the duke of Lancaster, and burned the Temple with the books and records. To prove, however, that they had no views of private emolument, a proclamation was issued, forbidding any one to secrete part of the plunder ; and so severely was the prohibition enforced, that the plate was hammered and cut into small pieces, the precious stones were beaten to powder, and one of the rioters, who had concealed a silver cup in his bosom, was immediately thrown with his prize into the river. To every man whom they met they put the question, "With whom holdest thou?" and unless he gave the proper answer, "With King Richard and the commons," he was instantly beheaded. The princess of Wales held a council with the ministers in the Tower ; and a resolution was taken to try the influence of promises The king meets and concessions. In the morning, the Tower-hill the insurgents at -i-.i • -i,-,t * Mile-end. was seen covered with an immense multitude. A herald ordered them, by proclamation, to retire to Mile-end, where the king would assent to all their demands. Immediately the gates were thrown open; Richard with a few unarmed attendants rode forward ; the best-intentioned of the crowd followed him ; and at Mile-end he saw himself surrounded with sixty thousand petitioners. Their demands were reduced to four : the abolition of slavery j the reduction of the rent of land to four- pence the acre ; the free liberty of buying and selling in all fairs and markets; and a general pardon for the past offences. A charter to that effect was granted ; and the whole body, consisting chiefly of the men of Essex and Hertfordshire, retired, bearing the king's banner, as a token that they were under his protection. But Tyler and Straw had formed other and more ambitious de- signs. The moment the king was gone, they rushed at the head Conference at of four hundred men into the Tower, and killed the Smitbfield, and the . . . , , „ , mi death of Tyler. archbishop and nve others, lne next morning, as the king rode through Smithfield with sixty horsemen, he en- countered Tyler at the head of twenty thousand insurgents. As soon as he saw Richard, he made a sign to his followers to halt, and boldly rode up to the king. A conversation immediately began; Tyler, as he talked, affected to play with his dagger; 1382 A. D.] RICHARD THE SECOND. 239 at last he laid his hand on the bridle of his sovereign ) but at the instant, Walworth, the lord mayor, jealous of his design, plunged a short sword in his throat. He spurred his horse, rode about a dozen yards, fell to the ground, and was despatched by Robert Standish, one of the king's esquires. The insurgents, who wit- nessed the transaction, drew their bows to revenge the fall of their leader, and Richard would inevitably have lost his life, had he not been saved by his own intrepidity. Galloping up to the archers, he exclaimed, " What are you doing, my lieges ? Tyler was a traitor. Come with me, and I will be your leader." Wavering and disconcerted, they followed him into the fields at Islington, whither a force of one thousand men-at-arms hastened to protect the young king; and the insurgents, falling on their knees, begged for mercy. Many of the royalists demanded permission to punish them for their past excesses ; but Richard firmly refused, and or- dered the suppliants to return to their homes. As soon as the death of Tyler and the dispersion of the men of Kent and Essex were known, thousands became eager to display their loyalty. At the head of forty thousand horse, The i nsurrec ti on he published proclamations, revoking the charters suppressed. of manumission which he had granted. In several parts, the commons threatened to renew the horrors of the late tumult in defence of their liberties ; but the approach of the royal army dis- mayed them • and numerous executions in different counties effec- tually crushed the spirit of resistance. When the parliament met, the two houses were informed by the chancellor, that the king had revoked the charters of emanci- pation which he had been compelled to grant to the villeins ; but at the same time wished to submit to their consideration, whether it might not be wise to abolish the state of bondage altogether. The minds of the great proprietors were not, however, prepared for the adoption of so liberal a measure ; and the charters were repealed by authority of parliament. In 1382, Richard married Anne of Bohemia, the daughter of the late emperor, Charles IV., a princess of great accomplishments, and of still greater virtue, who, during the twelve The marriage of years of their union, possessed the affections of her Richard - husband, and after her death was long remembered by the people under the appellation of the " good Queen Anne." 240 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1382. While the principal nations of Europe were thus agitated by popular tumults, the Christian world had been thrown into con- Competitors for fusion by the opposite pretensions of two competi- the papacy. torg f or fa e papacy. Gregory XL, about seventy years after his predecessors had fixed their residence in France, returned, against the unanimous advice of the cardinals, to Rome. At his death three-fourths of the Sacred College consisted of Frenchmen; and the Romans, jealous of their preponderance, surrounded the conclave, and with the most alarming menaces de- manded an Italian pope. To appease them, the archbishop of Bari was chosen, and assumed the name of Urban VI. For some months he exercised the pontifical authority without opposition ; but his severity alienated his friends and irritated his enemies ; the French cardinals seceded to Anagni ; and under pretence that the former election had been made through the influence of terror, chose another pontiff, the cardinal of Geneva, who called himself Clement VII. Clement was immediately acknowledged by France, and the allies of France, the kings of Scotland, Spain, Sicily, and Cyprus ; England and the rest of Europe continued in their obe- dience to Urban. From Rome and Avignon, their respective re- sidences, the two pontiffs launched their anathemas, and preached up crusades against one another. Before we proceed to the subsequent transactions of this reign, it will be proper to resume the history of Wycliffe. The insur- iiistory of Wye- rec ti° n of the commons had created a strong preju- USe - dice against the new doctrines of that reformer. A few weeks before the death of the late king, eighteen proposi- tions, selected from the works and lectures of Wycliffe, had been laid before Gregory XL; and the writer was summoned to explain his opinions in the presence of the primate and of the bishop of London. At his trial he exhibited to the prelates a paper pro- fessing his readiness to submit to the correction of the church, and a revocation of whatever he might have taught contrary to the doc- trine of Christ. He then proceeds to explain, qualify, and defend his propositions; and was dismissed, with an order to abstain from the use of language calculated to perplex and mislead the ignorant. Wycliffe died suddenly about two years afterward. The king had now reached his seventeenth year. The resolu- tion and intrepidity which he had displayed during the insurrec- 1383 A. D.] RICHARD THE SECOND. 241 tion seemed to portend a fortunate and glorious Keai or pre - reign ; and the qualities of his heart were recom- T the "duke^o? mended by the superior beauty of his person and- Lancaster - the elegance of his manners. And yet his reign from this period became a succession of errors and misfortunes ; which ultimately cost him his crown and life. His ministers were not selected from the higher classes in the state j and the favor which they enjoyed was construed into a crime by the ancient families. This sys- tematic opposition to his favorites exasperated the king. At first, the duke of Lancaster had been the chief object of suspicion. The prince thought proper to seek an asylum at the Scottish court; nor did he return till the king by proclamation bore testimony to his innocence. Some time afterward, however, a Carmelite friar put into the king's hands the written particulars of a real or pre- tended conspiracy to place the crown on the head of Lancaster. Richard was advised to communicate it to the duke, who swore that it was false, offered to prove his innocence by battle, and re- quired that the informer might be committed to close custody for future examination. The friar persisted in his story, and was given to the care of Sir John Holand, (a son of the princess of Wales by her first husband,) who strangled him with his own hands. This murder did not remove the secret suspicions of Richard, but he dissembled ; and Lancaster crossed the sea to ob- tain a prolongation of the armistice. A resolution was, however, taken to arrest him on his return j but he disappointed his ene- mies, and shut himself up in his strong castle of Pontefract, till the king's mother, by repeated journeys and entreaties, reconciled the uncle and nephew, and also obtained a full pardon for her own son, Sir John Holand. In consequence of a treaty concluded at Paris, the king of France had sent to Scotland an aid of one thousand men-at-arms. The allied forces, after some delay, burst at length ufchard invades into Northumberland, and took three castles ; but Scotland. the approach of Richard with an army of eighty thousand men, compelled them to retire with precipitation. This was the first time that the young king had appeared at the head of an army. While he was at York his mother died. The king of Scots, sensi- ble of his inability, did not attempt to oppose the progress of the English army. Edinburgh, Dunfermline, Perth, and Dundee 21 242 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1383. were reduced to ashes j and the vanguard had reached the walls of Aberdeen, when advice was received that the Scots were ra- vaging the counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland. The army was disbanded ; and the Scots and French boasted that the havoc which they had wrought in Cumberland and "Westmoreland more than balanced the destruction caused by the English in Scotland. In the next parliament the king confirmed the- honors which he had bestowed during the expedition. His uncles, the earls of The king con- Cambridge and Buckingham, had been created conferred. dukes of York and Gloucester. Henry of Boling- broke, son to the duke of Lancaster, and Edward Plantagenet, son to the duke of York, were made earls of Derby and Rutland. At the same time, to cut of the ambitious hopes of his uncle Lancaster, he declared Roger earl of March, the grandson of Lionel duke of Clarence, the presumptive heir to the throne. At this time an embassy from Portugal arrived in London, to solicit the aid of the duke of Lancaster in a quarrel between that Embassy from country and Castile. The duke accepted the pro- Portugai. posal with pleasure ; and Richard was glad of any pretext to remove him out of the kingdom. The expedition sailed to Portugal, where the duke was met by King John, and to cement their friendship, a marriage was celebrated between that prince and the eldest daughter of Lancaster. But the next campaign proved unfortunate. The English army wasted away; the conquests made in the last year were lost ; and the duke himself, to recover his health, was compelled to take up his residence in Guienne. But these disasters were repaired by his policy. The duke of Berri had proposed to marry Lancaster's only daughter by his present wife Constantia, and heiress to her mother's pretensions to the crown of Spain. Intelligence of this proposal was conveyed to the king of Castile, who took the alarm, and offered to compro- mise the existing quarrel by the marriage of Henry, his son and heir, to the same princess. The offer was accepted. Henry and Catherine were married, and created prince and princess of Astu- rias. Their issue reigned over Spain for many generations. Richard soon found reason to lament the absence of Lancaster, whose authority had hitherto checked the duke of Gloucester. The French form But that prince now assumed the ascendency; fo- vading England, men ted the discontent of the nobility ; new modelled 1387 A. D.] MCHAM) THE SECOND. 243 the government, and left to Lis nephew little more than the empty title of king. The French, encouraged by the absence of the army in Spain, had seriously formed the design of invading Eng- land. Their preparations of arms, provisions, and ships were im- mense. The earl of Arundel received the command of the English fleet, with instructions to destroy the ships of the enemy as soon as they had landed their forces. The confidence of the nation re- vived ; but the opportunity was seized by Gloucester to plot the overthrow of the administration. The intended invasion, from unforeseen occurrences, was delayed from week to week, till it be- came necessary to postpone it to the following year ; and Richard summoned a parliament to meet at Westminster, in which the two parties made the experiment of their strength. The session was opened by a speech from the chancellor, who informed the houses that the king intended to lead an army into France in sup- port of his right to the French crown ; and that if such a mea- sure met with their approbation, they must provide the funds ne- cessary to defray its expense. But the lords and commons, instead of applying to these subjects, presented a petition for the removal of the ministers. Richard retired to his palace at Eltham, and ordered the two houses to proceed to the consideration of the sup- ply. They refused to obey until he should grant their petition, and return to his parliament. After a struggle of almost three weeks, he came to Westminster, and dismissed the obnoxious ministers. But this condescension encouraged his adversaries; and the commons impeached the late chancellor. He was acquit- ted on four charges ; on the others his answers were pronounced insufficient; and he was therefore adjudged to pay a fine, and to be confined in prison during the king's pleasure. Soon after the dissolution of the parliament he was released. The objects of the party in opposition to the court more clearly unfolded themselves, and it was proposed to establish a perma- nent council, with powers to reform the state of contest with tho the nation. To such a measure the king declared P arliam ent. that he would never give his assent, and threatened to dissolve the parliament. At length, when one of the lords represented tc him that if he should persist in his refusal, his life would be in danger, his obstinacy was subdued ; and with a reluctant hand he signed a commission to inquire into all the alleged grievances, 244 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1387 and to provide such remedies as should appear good. The com- missioners commenced their labors with examining the revenue accounts ; and the sequel affords a strong presumption that the royal administration had been foully calumniated ; for we hear not of any frauds discovered, or of defaulters punished, or of grievances redressed. The earl of Arundel alone, who had been appointed admiral of the fleet, reflected a lustre on the new ad- ministration, by some very bold achievements on the French coast. Richard had now reached his twentieth year, and resolved to emancipate himself from the actual control of the commissioners. The king and He made a journey through England, and where ver the judges. ne came? his arrival was distinguished by some act of grace. He held a council of several judges at Nottingham, in which he enjoined them, on their allegiance, to inform him what was the law of the land on the different questions which should be laid before them. In their reply they maintained, that the commission which had superseded the king in the exercise of the royal authority was subversive of the constitution. They affixed their seals to this answer, and promised on their oaths to keep it secret ; but the next day it was betrayed by Sir Roger Fulthorpe, one of the number, to the earl of Kent, and was by him commu- nicated to the duke of Gloucester. Richard, ignorant of this unfortunate discovery, proceeded to make arrangements to secure a majority in the next house of commons. The commission was to expire on the 19th of Novem- ber, 1387, and on the 10th Richard entered the capital. He was received with unusual expressions of joy and respect; the mayor and principal citizens wore the livery of white and crimson ; and an immense crowd accompanied him to the church of St. Paul's, and thence to his palace at Westminster. Elated with his reception, the king retired to rest; the next morning he learned with astonishment that a numerous body of The king's fa- forces had reached the neighborhood of London treason. under the command of the duke of Gloucester and the earls of Arundel and Nottingham, the constable, admiral, and marshal of England. The ensuing day they were joined by the earls of Derby and Warwick ; and these five noblemen accused five of the king's favorites with treason. Richard, unable to re- 1387 A. D.] RICHARD THE SECOND. 245 sist, received them on the next Sunday. They began with the most solemn protestations of attachment and loyalty ; then ac- cused of treason the archbishop of York, the duke of Ireland, the earl of Suffolk, Sir Robert Tresilian, and Sir Nicholas Brembre. Richard answered, that he would summon a parliament, in which justice should be done. It now became evident that flight alone could save the ob- noxious councillors. The earl of Suffolk reached France; the archbishop concealed himself in Newcastle ; and the duke of Ire- land repaired to the northern borders of Wales. Here, however, he received letters from the king, authorizing him to raise forces, and promising to join him on the first opportunity. With joy he unfurled the royal banner ; and his hopes were encouraged by the accession of Molyneux, the constable of Chester. In a meet- ing at Huntingdon, Gloucester agreed with the earls of Arundel and Warwick and Sir Thomas Mortimer, to depose Earls of Ann- Richard, and take the crown under their own cus- del and Warwick to deposo tody. Their intention was defeated by the opposi- Richard, tion of the earls of Derby and Nottingham. In the mean time, the duke of Ireland, at the head of five thousand men, rapidly advanced toward the Thames ; but Gloucester and his friends, acquainted with his motions, marched in the night by different roads from the neighborhood of London, occupied all the passes before his arrival, and in the first contest defeated him. On their return to London, Gloucester and Derby took from the mayor the keys of the city, and required an audience of the king, who had retired into the Tower. The intimidated monarch yielded to all their demands, and assented to the arrest of his friends. As soon as the parliament met, Gloucester exhibited articles of impeachment against the five who had been accused of trea- son : the latter, with the exception of Sir Nicholas Articles of im- Brembre, who was in prison, were called, but did peackment. not answer to their names ; and judgment was immediately prayed against them for their default. But the decision was put off till the next day; and all the judges, with the exception of Sir Wil- liam Skipwith, were arrested by Gloucester's orders, on their seats in court, and committed to separate cells in the Tower. The next morning, the king called upon the judges to give to 21* 246 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1387. the lords their opinion respecting the bill of impeachment; who unanimously declared that it was illegal. The peers, however, resolved to proceed, and again demanded judgment; but the house adjourned till the next day, when the demand was re- peated, and the primate instantly rising, observed, that the canons forbade the clergy to interfere in judgments of blood. All the bishops and abbots immediately left the house. Eight days were spent in examining the bill of impeachment. Of the articles in this instrument, fourteen were declared to amount to treason j the accused were found guilty of them all ; and the duke, the earl, and Tresilian were separately adjudged to suffer death. The case of the archbishop of York was re- served. Of the victims, three were already beyond their reach. The earl of Suffolk had arrived at Paris; the duke of Ireland had found an asylum in Holland ; and the archbishop was still concealed in Northumberland ; but Tresilian and Brembre were executed. For nearly twelve months Richard continued a mere cipher in the hands of the party. The duke governed with greater lenity than might have been expected from his vindictive disposition ; but his administration was not distinguished by any act of suffi- cient importance to dazzle the eyes of the nation, or to give sta- bility to his power. The terror which Gloucester had inspired insensibly wore away; several of his partisans offered their ser- vices to the king; and Richard, by one bold action, instanta- neously dissolved that authority which had been cemented with so much blood. In a great council held after Easter, he unex- pectedly requested his uncle to tell him his age. " Your high- ness," the duke replied, " is in your twenty-second year." " Then," added the king, " I must certainly be old enough to manage my own concerns. I thank ye, my lords, for your past services, but do not require them any longer." A new treasurer and new chancellor were appointed ; the former council was dis- missed, and the king gave his confidence to a few tried friends, with the duke of York and the young earl of Derby, who, though they originally belonged to the commission, had either never for- feited, or had regained the royal favor. Gloucester submitted with reluctance, and after an interview with his nephew, retired into the country. 1394 A. D.] RICHARD THE SECOND. 247 The king was now his own master, and for some years his ad- ministration was tranquil and happy. He preserved uninter- rupted harmony between himself and his people. The king en j 0yg Though he retained a deep sense of the injuries tranquillity, which he had suffered, he had the prudence to suppress his re- sentment; and on the return of the duke of Lancaster from Gruienne, recalled the duke of Gloucester to a seat in the council. A long and angry controversy took place at this time respect- ing the appointment of English bishops, which ended entirely to the advantage of the crown ; for though the right of election re- mained to the clergy, it was merely nominal, as they dared not reject the person recommended by the king; and though the pope still conferred the great dignities of the church by " pro- vision," the " provisor" was invariably the person who had been nominated by the crown. If the war between the kings of England and France still con- tinued, it was more from the difficulty of adjusting their differ- ences than from any real enmity between the two i re ian reduction of Orleans. Montague, earl of Salis- bury, had lately returned from England with a reinforcement of six thousand men. After the earl of Warwick, he was the most renowned of the English commanders ) and to him by com- mon consent was intrusted the conduct of the siege. On the part of the French no preparation was omitted, no sacrifice spared, to preserve the city and annoy the aggressors. The English com- mander was killed, and the command devolved on the earl of Suf- folk, who received several reinforcements and successively esta- blished his men in different posts round the city. The fall of Orleans was confidently anticipated; and the most gloomy apprehensions prevailed in the councils of the French monarch, when the French throne was saved from ruin by Joan d'Arc, the daughter of a small farmer at Domremy, a hamlet in Champagne, situate between Neufchateau and Vaucouleurs. This interesting female was born about the year 1412. Her education did not differ from that of the other poor girls in the neighborhood ; but she was distinguished above them all by her diligence, modesty, and piety. Near Domremy was a solitary chapel, called the Her- mitage of the Virgin. Joan was accustomed to visit this hermit- age every Saturday and to hang up a garland of flowers, or burn a taper of wax in honor of the mother of Christ. These her early habits are worthy of notice, as they probably served to im- press on her mind that romantic character which it afterward exhibited. The child was fond of solitude; whatever interested 284 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. [A. D. 1428. her, became the subject of long and serious thought ; and in these day-dreams the young enthusiast learned to invest with visible forms the creations of her own fancy. Besides religion, there was another sentiment which sprang up in the breast of Joan. Young as she was, she had heard enough of the calami- ties which oppressed her country, to bewail the hard fate of her sovereign, driven from the throne of his fathers. It chanced that in May, 1428, a marauding party of Burgundians compelled the inhabitants of Domremy to seek an asylum in Neufchateau. The village was plundered, and the church reduced to a heap of ruins. On their departure the fugitives returned, and the sight wound up the enthusiasm of Joan to the highest pitch. She escaped from her parents, prevailed on an uncle to accompany her, and announced her mission to Baudricourt, one of the French gene- rals, who, though he treated her with ridicule^ deemed it his duty to communicate her history to the dauphin, and received an order to forward her to the French court. To travel a distance of one hundred and fifty leagues, through a long tract of country, of which one portion was possessed by hostile garrisons, and the other perpetually infested by parties of plunderers, was a perilous and almost hopeless attempt. But Joan was confident of success j on horseback, and in male attire, with an escort of seven persons, she passed without meeting an enemy; and on the tenth day at Fierbois, a few miles from Chinon, announced to Charles her ar- Joan introduced rival and object. An hour was fixed for her adniis- to the king. s i on t the royal presence : and the poor maiden of Domremy was ushered into a spacious hall, lighted up with fifty torches, and filled with some hundreds of knights, among whom Charles himself had mixed unnoticed, and in plain attire. Joan entered without embarrassment ; the glare of the lights, the gaze of the spectators did not disconcert her. Singling out the dauphin at the first glance, she walked up to him with a firm step, bent her knee, and said, "God give you good life, gentle king." He was surprised, but replied, "I am not the king, he is there," pointing at the same time to a different part of the hall. " In the name of God," she exclaimed, " it is not they, but you are the king. Most noble lord dauphin, I am Joan the maid, sent on the part of God to aid you and the kingdom; and by his order I announce to you that you will be crowned in the city 1429 A. D.] HENRY" THE SIXTH. 285 of Rheims." The following day she made her appearance in public and on horseback. From her look she was thought to be in her sixteenth or seventeenth year; her figure was slender and graceful, and her long black locks fell in ringlets on her shoulders. She ran a course with the lance, and managed her horse with ease and dexterity. The crowd burst into shouts of admiration; they saw in her something more than human; she was, they thought, a knight descended from heaven for the salvation of France. Men of every rank caught the enthusiasm ; and thousands offered their services to follow her to battle. Sixty bastiles or forts, erected in a circle round Orleans, had effectually intercepted the communication with the country; and the horrors of famine were already felt within the walls, when it was resolved by the French cabinet to make a desperate effort to throw a supply of provisions into the city. A strong body of men, under some of the bravest officers in France, assembled at Blois, and Joan solicited and obtained permission not only to join, but also to direct, the expedition. To the English com- manders, she sent orders in the name of G-od to she is admit ted withdraw from France, and return to their native into Orleans, country. Dunois, the governor of Orleans, led her secretly into that city, where she was received by the citizens with lighted torches and acclamations of joy. Her presence created in the soldiers a spirit of daring and a confidence of success. Day after day sallies were made, and the strongest of the English forts suc- cessively fell into the hands of the assailants. One day while she was in the act of planting a ladder, an arrow passed through an opening in her corslet, and fixed itself between the chest and the shoulder. Her companions conveyed her out of the crowd ; the wound was dressed; and the heroine, after a few minutes spent in prayer, rejoined the combatants. At her appearance the assailants redoubled their efforts, and the fort was soon won. Suffolk, disconcerted by repeated losses, determined to raise the siege, and the soldiers, with feelings of shame and regret, turned their backs to the city. The earl of Suffolk was soon besieged in a neighboring town, and the place was carried by storm. More than three hundred of the garrison perished ; and Suffolk with the remainder fell into the hands of the enemy. Joan had always declared that the object of her mission was 286 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1430. twofold, the liberation of Orleans and the coronation of the king at Rhehns. Of these the first had been accomplished, and she vehemently urged the execution of the second. Though to pene- Charies, under trate as far as Rheims was an enterprise of diffi- her direction, pro- .. n .. _ . *,, _ ceeds to ithehns. culty and danger, tor every intermediate fortress was in the possession of the enemy, Charles determined to trust to his own fortune and the predictions of his inspired deliverer. Having sent a strong division of troops to alarm the frontiers of Normandy, and another to insult those of Gluienne, he com- menced his march with an army of ten thousand cavalry. The citizens of Rheims, having expelled the Burgundian garrison, re- ceived him with the most flattering testimonies of joy. The coronation was performed in the usual manner; but as none of the peers of France attended, Charles appointed proxies to perform their duties. Daring the ceremony Joan, with her ban- ner unfurled, stood by the king's side; as soon as it was over, she threw herself on her knees, embraced his feet, declared her mis- sion accomplished, and with tears solicited his leave to return to her former station. But the king was unwilling to lose the ser- vices of one who had hitherto proved so useful ; and at his earn- est request she consented to remain with the army, and to strengthen that throne which she had in a great measure esta- blished. Bedford obtained fresh assurances of fidelity from the duke of Burgundy, withdrew five thousand men from his Nor- man garrisons, and received an equal number from his uncle Beaufort. With these he went in pursuit of Charles, who was unwilling to stake his crown on the uncertain event of a battle. In the neighborhood of Senlis, however, the two armies undesign- edly came in sight of each other. The English, inferior in num- ber, prepared for the fight after their usual manner; the French ofiicers, flushed with success, impatiently demanded the signal for battle. But the defeats of Azincourt and Yerneuil had taught Charles not to rely on mere superiority of number. The armies separated as if it had been by mutual consent. The regent hast- ened into Normandy, and Charles, at the solicitation of his female champion, took advantage of the duke's absence to make an attempt on the capital. Soissons, Senlis, Beauvais, and St. Denis opened their gates. He advanced to Montmartre, published an amnesty, and directed an assault on the fauxbourg of St. Honore. 1431 A. D.] HENRY THE SIXTH. 287 The action lasted four hours. At its very commencement Joan received a dangerous wound, was thrown into the ditch and lay there unnoticed, till she was discovered in the evening, and car- ried off by a party sent to search after her. Charles, mortified by the obstinate resistance of the Parisians, retired to Bourges ; while the maid, looking on her wound as an admonition from heaven that her commission had ceased with the coronation at Rheims, consecrated her armor to God in the church of St. Denis. Her services, however, were still wanted. At the solicitation of her sovereign, she consented to resume the profession of arms, and accepted a patent of nobility for herself and her family, ac- companied with a grant of income equal to that of an earl. At the commencement of spring, the duke of Burgundy un- dertook to reduce the city of Compeigne; and the maid was selected to raise the siege. Her troops were defeated, however ; she was taken prisoner, and was handed over to the regent, Bedford. The unfortunate maid was treated with neglect by her friends, with cruelty by her enemies. If ever prince had been indebted to a subject, Charles VII. was indebted to Joan The death of d' Arc ; yet from the moment of her captivity she 30, 1431. appears to have been forgotten. "We read not of any sum offered for her ransom, or attempt made to alleviate the rigor of her con- finement, or notice taken of her trial and execution. The bishop of Beauvais, in whose diocese she had been taken, claimed the right of trying her in his court on an accusation of sorcery and imposture. It is generally supposed that this claim was made at the suggestion of the duke of Bedford. The inquiry was opened at Rouen ; on sixteen different days she was brought to the bar ; the questions, with her answers, were laid before the university of Paris; and the opinion of that body concurred with the judg- ment of the court. Still the sentence was delayed from day to day; and repeated attempts were made to save her from the pu- nishment of death, by inducing her to make a frank and explicit confession. But the spirit of the heroine continued undaunted; she proudly maintained that she had been the inspired minister of the Almighty. The fatal day, however, arrived, and the cap- tive was placed at the bar; but when the judge had prepared to pronounce sentence, she yielded to a sudden impulse of terror, 288 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1435 subscribed an act of abjuration, and, having promised upon oath never more to wear male attire, was remanded to her former place of confinement. Her enthusiasm, however, revived in the solitude of a prison, and her judges condemned her, on the charge of having relapsed into her former errors. She was led sobbing and struggling to the stake; but the expectation of a heavenly deliverer did not forsake her though she saw the fire kindled at her feet. She then burst into loud exclamations, pro- testing her innocence, and invoking the aid of the Almighty; and just before the flames enveloped her, was seen embracing a cruci- fix, and calling on Christ for mercy. This cruel and unjustifiable tragedy was acted in the market-place of Rouen, before an im- mense concourse of spectators, about twelve months after her capture. No sooner had Charles been crowned at Rheims, than the duke of Bedford determined that his nephew Henry VI. should be also Henry vi. crown- crowned at the same place. The young king, as a ed in Paris, Dec. *\ J 6 , ?' 17,1430. preparatory step, received the regal unction at Westminster in his eighth year; but six months elapsed before he was enabled to leave England. At length, the sums necessary for his journey were raised by loan ; the cardinal of Winchester consented to accompany him ; and the duke of Gloucester was appointed the king's lieutenant during his absence. Henry pro- ceeded to Rouen; but the prospect of penetrating to Rheims grew fainter every day; and at the end of eighteen months [17th of December, 1430] the coronation took place in. Paris. After a few days Henry was re-conducted to Rouen, where he resided a year, and then returned by Calais to England. The war languished during the two following years, and then an attempt was made to cause a general pacification, under the The Congress at mediation of the pope, as the common father of Arras - Christian princes. To this proposal Eugenius IV. gladly acceded; and in 1435 was held the Congress of Arras, the most illustrious meeting for political purposes which Europe had yet witnessed ; but the pretensions of the two courts were so op- posite and extravagant, that every hope of pacification speedily vanished. Before the dissolution of the Congress of Arras, the duke of Bedford expired at Rouen, and was succeeded by Richard, duke 1449 A. D.] HENRY THE SIXTH. 289 of York. The duke of York was succeeded by Beauchamp, sur- named the Good, earl of Warwick, with the title of lieutenant- general and governor of France. The pope repeatedly exhorted the rival powers to lay aside their arms, but was thwarted by the obstinacy of the French cabinet. During Henry's minority, little occurred deserving of being re- corded. He was free from vice, but devoid of capacity. Gentle and inoffensive, he was shocked at the very shadow The marriage of of injustice; but, easy and unassuming, was Henr y- always ready to adopt the opinion of his advisers. When he was twenty-three years old, his council suggested that it was time he should marry; and every one foresaw that the queen, whoever she might be, would possess the control over the weak mind of her husband. The choice of Henry was directed toward Margaret, the daughter of Rene, king of Sicily and duke of Anjou. In personal beauty she was thought superior to most women, in mental capacity equal to most men of the age. The marriage was agreed on. Margaret landed at Porchester, was married to Henry at Tichfield, and crowned, May 30, 1444, with the usual ceremony, at Westminster. The deaths of the duke of Gloucester and cardinal Beaufort removed the two firmest supports of the house of Lancaster, and awakened the ambition of Richard, duke of York, Ridiard duke of who, by the paternal line, was sprung from Ed- York - ward Langley, the youngest son of Edward III., and by the maternal had become, after the death of the earl of March in 1424, the representative of Lionel, the third son of the same monarch. He had been appointed regent of France during five years ; but the duke of Somerset, who sought to succeed to the influence of his relatives, the late cardinal and the duke of Glou- cester, expressed a wish to possess that command ; and York was reluctantly induced to exchange it for the government of Ireland. The affront sank deep into his breast; he began to consider Somerset as a rival ; and, to prepare himself for the approaching contest, sought to win by affability and munificence the affections of the Irish. If Henry felicitated himself on the acquisition of an accom- plished and beautiful wife, his dreams of happiness were disturbed 25 290 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1149. The French king by the murmurs of the people. It was said that recovers his posses- .. . • i t»t ii-i sions. nis union with Margaret had been purchased at too great a price in the cession of Anjou and Maine. Obstacles were opposed to the cession of Maine by the persons holding grants of land in that country; and the French king, weary of the tergiversation of the English government, resolved to cut the knot with the sword, and invested the capital of the province with an army. Henry, who was in no condition for war, sur- rendered almost the whole province, and obtained in return a truce for two years. Maine was soon filled with French troops ; and the king and duke of Bretagne resolved to unite their forces, and sweep the English from the soil of France. Within two months one- half of Normandy was in their possession. They soon also obtained the city of Rouen ; and within the space of a year and six days, Normandy, with its seven bishoprics and one hundred fortresses, was entirely recovered by the French monarch. Charles, however, was not satisfied without the conquest of Gruienne ; and soon the French banner waved in triumph from the mouth of the Garonne to the very borders of Spain. When nothing but Calais remained to England, Charles offered to treat of peace. The proposal was rejected with an idle threat, that Henry would never sheath his sword till he should have recon- quered all that had been lost. Every tongue was employed in bewailing the fallen glory of England, and every place resounded with cries of vengeance on The arrest of * ne nea( ^ °^ tne minister, Suffolk. His enemies in Suffolk : his fail, the lower house had formed themselves into a powerful party, who requested that he might be immediately com- mitted to the Tower. But the lords, having consulted the judges, replied that they had no power to order any peer into confinement unless some specific charge were brought against him. Two days later the speaker returned, and accused him of having aided the king of France, who, he pretended, was then making preparations to invade the country. On this charge, he was arrested and con- fined in the Tower. On the day appointed for his trial he was introduced into the house of lords, and falling on his knees before the king, solemnly declared his innocence. But whatever might be his guilt or inno- 1449 A. D.] HENRY THE SIXTH. 291 cence, it was evident that his enemies thirsted for his blood ; nor would the commons grant any supply till their cry for vengeance had been appeased. It became therefore the policy of the court to devise the means of satisfying them without endangering his life; and he was sentenced to banishment for five years. He sailed from Ipswich with two small vessels, and sent a pinnace before him to inquire whether he might be permitted to land in the harbor of Calais. But the pinnace was captured by a squad- ron of men-of-war ; and one of the largest ships in the navy bore down on the duke's vessels. He was ordered on board, and received on deck by the captain with the ominous salutation of " Welcome, traitor." On the second morning, a small boat came alongside, in which were a block, a rusty sword, and an execu- tioner ; the duke was lowered into it, and beheaded. The news of this tragical event plunged the king and queen into the deepest distress; and the people of Kent were roused by rumors of the signal vengeance which Henry had i nsurre ction of determined to inflict on them for having furnished John Cade - the ships which intercepted his friend. An Irish adventurer, whose real name was John Cade, but who had assumed that of Mortimer, cousin to the duke of York, seized the moment to un- furl the standard of insurrection. At the head of twenty thou- sand men he marched to Blackheath. Henry instantly dissolved the parliament, and summoning his forces, advanced to London. Cade demanded that the relatives of the duke of Suffolk should be banished from the court, and the dukes of York, Exeter, Buckingham, and Norfolk, with the earls and barons, be employed about the king's person. Henry had levied between fifteen and twenty thousand men, with whom he marched to suppress the insurgents; but Cade withdrew before the king's arrival, and was pursued. At Seven- oaks he turned on his pursuers. Henry disbanded his forces, and retired to the castle of Kenilworth, while Cade took possession of London. He was, however, soon afterward taken and beheaded. The chief of his followers were executed; of whom some con- fessed on the scaffold that it had been their intention to place the duke of York on the throne. This nobleman, leaving his government of Ireland without per- mission, landed in England, and hastened toward London with 292 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1449. Somerset returns f° ur thousand men. He was introduced to Henry, from France. behaved with insolence in his presence, and ex- torted a promise that he would summon a parliament. The duke of Somerset now returned from France. The king and queen hailed his arrival as a blessing. He was the nearest of kin to Henry, and it was hoped that his fidelity and services would prove a counterpoise to the ambition of Richard. For several months the nation was agitated by quarrels between the adherents of the two parties, by acts of violence and blood- shed, and by fruitless attempts to effect a reconciliation. The king, at the head of an army, soon marched against the duke of York; but he, avoiding the direction of the royalists, advanced to London by a different road, and finding the gates shut against him, proceeded as far as Dartford. Henry followed him, to de- mand an explanation of his conduct. The duke asserted that he was come to vindicate his innocence. To satisfy him, Henry ordered the duke of Somerset into custody; on which York dis- banded his army, and swore fealty to the king. At this time the inhabitants of Griiienne offered to renew their allegiance, and solicited the aid of an English army. This was granted, and the command given to the earl of Shrewsbury. The expedition, however, did not succeed, and from that period Guienne was incorporated with the dominions of the French monarch. In 1453, the queen was delivered of a son, whom she called Edward. It was in vain that the king's enemies attempted to throw doubts on the legitimacy of the young prince; and the prospect of an undisputed succession was hailed with joy by the friends of tranquillity. Henry about this time sank into a state of mental, as well as bodily incapacity. His situation rendered it necessary to pro- The conduct of rogue the parliament, and recalled the duke of the duke of York. York into the cabinet. He soon gained the as- cendency over his rival, and Somerset was committed to the Tower. A committee of peers was chosen to visit the king; and as soon as they had reported that he was incapable of transacting business, an act was passed appointing the duke protector. The king soon recovered his health, and with it the use of his reason. Though he received the duke of York with his usual kindness, 1454 A. D.] HENRY THE SIXTH. 293 he put an end to the protectorate, liberated the duke of Somer- set from the Tower, and labored most earnestly to reconcile the two dukes. York retired from court, invited his friends to meet him in the marches of Wales, and soon saw himself at the head of three thousand men, with the duke of Norfolk, the earl of Salisbury, and his son, the celebrated earl of Warwick. At the news Henry left London, and early the next morning, as he entered St. Alban's, was surprised to behold the banners of the Yorkists advancing toward the town. A battle ensued, and the king The ki is tak . was defeated and taken prisoner. Henry, now at en P ris01ier - the mercy of his enemies, was compelled to lend the sanction of his authority to the very acts by which he had been deprived of his liberty. When the parliament assembled, York and his adhe- rents said that all their proceedings had been actuated by senti- ments of the purest loyalty, and they received a full pardon. Henry soon relapsed into his former disorder, and the duke of York was again named protector. But Henry soon recovered, and the protector's commission was revoked. Two years passed without any important occurrence, during which Henry labored to mitigate the resentments of the two parties. Discord, however, again broke out. York and his followers rebelled. Henry granted an amnesty to the insurgents, and convoked a parliament. Its principal employment was to pass an act of attainder against the duke and duchess of York, and their children the earls of March and Rutland. The hopes and fortunes of the Yorkists now rested on the abilities and popularity of the earl of Warwick, who had been permitted to retain the command of the fleet with Rebellion headed ,, /» /-i i • xt by the earl of War- the government ot Calais. He was now super- wick, seded in both ; in the former by the duke of Exeter, in the latter by the duke of Somerset. But when Somerset prepared to enter the harbor, he was driven back, and Warwick sailed to Dublin, to concert measures with the duke of York. He soon, with nu- merous forces, landed in Kent, where he was joined by the lord Cobham with four hundred followers, by the archbishop of Can- terbury, who owed his dignity to the favor of the duke during the protectorate, and by most of the neighboring gentlemen. As he advanced, his army swelled to the amount of twenty-five, some 25* 294 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1454. say, forty thousand men. London opened its gates. Henry had collected his army at Coventry, and advanced to Northampton, where he intrenched himself. Warwick, after three ineffectual attempts to obtain a conference with the king, gave to him notice to prepare for battle. A battle was fought, and Henry was taken prisoner. The captive monarch was conducted to London. But though he entered the capital in great pomp, the earl of Warwick riding bareheaded and carrying the sword before him, he was com- pelled to give the sanction of his authority to such measures as the victors proposed. The duke of York, by his counsel, delivered to the bishop of Exeter, the new chancellor, a statement of his claim to the crown, and requested that he might have a speedy answer. The lords resolved in favor of the duke of York ; but they refused to proceed to the step of dethroning the king. To save their oaths The queen as- and clear their consciences, they proposed a com- to m £pport ofte promise — that Henry should possess the crown for lung, a. d. 1455. t h e term f hj s natural life, and that the duke and his heirs should succeed to it after Henry's death. To this both parties agreed. But though the monarch had consented to sur- render the interests of his son, they were still upheld by the queen. The lords who had always adhered to the house of Lan- caster, assembled an army at York, and the duke of Somerset and the earl of Devon joined them with their tenants from those counties. This union alarmed the other party. York met the enemy with inferior forces near Wakefield, and was either killed in the battle, or taken and beheaded on the spot. The queen with her victorious army advanced on the road to London, and met with no opposition till she had reached the town of St. Al- ban's. Here, by an important victory, Henry was restored to his friends, and placed at the head of an army. He announced by proclamation that his assent to the late award had been extorted by violence, and issued orders for the immediate arrest of Edward, late earl of March, and son to the late duke of York. But Edward had now united his forces with those of the earl of Warwick ; and their superiority in numbers induced the royalists to retire with expedition into the northern counties. They were not pursued. Edward had a more important object in view, and entered London with all the pomp of a victorious monarch. He was immediately 1461 A. D.] EDWARD THE FOURTH. 295 proclaimed king in the usual style by the heralds, in different parts of the city. On the 4th of March, 1461, expired the reign of Henry VI. He was a prince whose personal character commanded the respect even of his enemies, and whose misfortunes still Henry ends his claim the sympathy of the reader. He was vir- 1461.' tuous and religious, humane, forgiving, and benevolent ; but nature had refused him that health of body and fortitude of mind which would have enabled him to struggle through the peculiar difficulties of his situation CHAPTER XXIV. dRrtoarfc % Jfirttrtfc. CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. Popes. Scotland. James III. France. Charles VII. Pius II. Louis XL Paul II. Germany. Spain. Sixtus IV. Frederic II. Henry IV. Isabella > Ferdinand j Misfortunes of the Lancastrians — Henry VI. is made prisoner — Insurrection — Edward is made prisoner — His release — Clarence and Warwick leave the kingdom, and return — Edward is expelled, and Henry restored — Edward re- turns — His victory at Barnet — Death of Henry — War with France — Death of the King.— A. D. 1461 to 1483. Though Edward had assumed the title of king, the two parties were still nearly balanced. The earl of Warwick, anxious to bring the question to an issue, marched from London at the head of a body of . veterans : Edward in a few days followed with the main army. The preparations of the house of Lancaster were equally formidable. The duke of Somerset, with sixty thousand men, lay near York. Between the villages of Tow- o The battle ton and Saxton was fought (March 29, 1461) the Towtou. of 296 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1461. battle which fixed the crown on the brow of Edward. The dukes of Somerset and Exeter conducted Henry and his family to the borders, while the conqueror rode toward York, which he entered the next morning. He soon hastened to London, was crowned at Westminster with the usual solemnity, and created his two younger brothers, George and Richard, dukes of Clarence and Gloucester. Henry VI., his queen, their son Edward, and seve- ral others, were adjudged by parliament to suffer all the penalties of treason. The cause of the red rose, the Lancastrian emblem, now ap- peared desperate ; but it was still supported by the courage and industry of Margaret. To aid her cause, Margaret visited the continent, and invited all true knights to avenge the wrongs of the injured Henry. After an absence of five months she re- turned, and her hopes were cheered with a temporary gleam of success ; but Edward and "Warwick advancing with large forces, overcame her troops. The spirit and activity of Margaret exposed her to numerous privations and dangers. On one occasion it is said that, as she The misfortunes was riding secretly with her son and the seneschal and privations of . . ' ,L , ' _ . ,. , the queen. through a wild and mountainous district, they were surprised by a party of banditti, who despoiled them of their money, jewels, and every other article of value. It is probable that the queen concealed her quality, or such distinguished cap- tives would have been more carefully guarded. The ruffians quarrelled about the partition of the booty; menaces were ut- tered, and swords drawn, when Margaret, watching her opportu- nity, grasped her son by the arm, and plunged into the thickest part of the wood. She had not proceeded far when another rob- ber made his appearance. The queen, with the intrepidity of de- spair, advanced to meet him ; and taking the young Edward by the hand, " Friend," said she, " I intrust to your loyalty the son of your king." This address awakened his generosity. He took them both under his protection, and conducted them to the quar- ters of the Lancastrians. Henry for security had been conveyed to the castle of Hardlough, in Wales. The queen sailed to Sluys, in Flanders, and thence proceeded to Bar, in Lorrain, belonging to her father. There she fixed her residence, watching with anxiety the course of events, and consoling her sorrows with the 14G9 A. D.] EDWARD THE FOURTH. 297 hope of yet placing her husband or her son on the English throne. Henry sought an asylum among the natives of Lancashire and Westmoreland — a people sincerely devoted to his interests. Their fidelity enabled him for more than a year to elude the vigi- lance of the government ; but he was at last be- Henry betrayed trayed by a monk of Abingdon. The unfortunate soner. king was met near London by the earl of Warwick, who ordered by proclamation that no one should show him any respect, tied his feet to the stirrups as a prisoner, led him thrice round the pillory, and conducted him to the Tower. Edward now turned his thoughts to his relations with foreign states. To the pope he had already notified his accession, and sent an abstract of the ar- guments on which he founded his claim. The answer of Pius II. was civil, but guarded. With Scotland, which had so long offered an asylum to his enemies, Edward concluded a peace for fifteen, and afterward prolonged it for fifty-five years ; and he was on terms of amity with almost all the powers of Europe. In these circumstances, the king no longer hesitated to acknow- ledge in public a marriage which he had some time before con- tracted in private with Elizabeth — a woman of superior beauty and accomplishments, the relict of Sir John Gray, a Lancastrian. For this purpose he summoned a general council of peers, by whom she was acknowledged as queen. George, the elder of the surviving brothers of Edward, had re- ceived with the title of duke of Clarence a proportionate income, and had been named to the lieutenancy of Ireland, which office, on account of his age, he was permitted to execute by his deputy, the earl of Worcester. This young prince, dissatisfied at the ascendency of the queen's relations, absented himself frequently from court, and preferred to the company of his brother that of the earl of Warwick, whose daughter he married. An insurrection burst forth in 1469. Its ostensible cause was the determination of the farmers of Yorkshire to resist some un- popular demand. The peasants flew to arms ; but i n8urrec tion in the earl of Northumberland, Warwick's brother, Yorkshire, to prevent the destruction of York, attacked and defeated them with considerable slaughter. The rebels, though repulsed, were 298 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1469. not dispersed; and in a few days were said to amount to sixty thousand men. On the first intelligence of the rising in Yorkshire, Edward had summoned his retainers. He advanced to Newark; but, alarmed at the disaffection which he observed on his march, he despatched letters, written with his own hand, to his brother Clarence, the earl of Warwick, and the archbishop, requesting them to hasten to him at Nottingham, with the same retinue which usually attended them in time of peace. They, however, hastened to increase their forces. A defeat at Edgecoat extin- guished the hopes of Edward. The earl Rivers, the queen's father, was discovered, with his son, Sir John Wydeville, in the forest of Deane, and they were put to death. The king's brother and the two Nevilles proceeded in search of Edward, whom they found at Olney, plunged in the deepest distress. He soon dis- covered that he was their captive. The few royalists who had remained with the king, dispersed with the permission of War- wick. At his command, the insurgents returned to their homes laden with plunder ; and Edward accompanied the two brothers to Warwick ; whence, for greater security, he was removed to Middleham in Yorkshire. England exhibited at this moment the extraordinary spectacle of two rival kings, each confined in prison, Henry in the Tower, The two royal Edward in Yorkshire. The Lancastrians seized prisoners. the opportunity to unfurl the standard of Henry. Edward was released, and repaired to the capital, where his re- turn was hailed by his own friends as little short of a miracle. A council of peers was now summoned, in which, after many negotiations, Clarence and his father-in-law condescended to jus- tify their conduct. Edward, with apparent cheerfulness, accepted their apology, and a general pardon was issued in favor of all persons who had borne arms against the king. Yet under this outward appearance of harmony, distrust and resentment fes- tered in their breasts; and a singular occurrence proved how little faith was to be given to the protestations uttered on either side. The archbishop had invited the king to meet Clarence and Warwick at an entertainment, which he designed to give at his seat at the Moor, in Hertfordshire. As Edward was washing his hands before supper, John Ratcliffe, afterward Lord Fitzwaltcr, 1470 A. D.] EDWARD THE FOURTH. 299 whispered in his ear that one hundred armed men were lying in wait to surprise and convey him to prison. Without inquiring into the grounds of the information, he stole to the door, mounted a horse, and rode with precipitation to Windsor. An insurrection soon hurst out in Lincolnshire, of which the king could at first discover neither the real ohject nor the authors. The king attacked the insurgents at Erpingham, insurrection in in Rutlandshire : his artillery mowed down their Lincolnshire. ranks, and their leaders were taken and executed. Their con- fessions show that the insurrection had been got up at the insti- gation of Clarence and Warwick — that a confidential emissary from the duke regulated the movements of the force, and that the avowed object was to raise Clarence to the throne. Warwick and Clarence fled from England, steered their course toward Normandy, captured every Flemish merchantman which fell in their way, and were received at Harfleur Queen Margaret ,.. -ill i l i-i o * s reconciled with with distinguished honors by the admiral ot Warwick. France. Louis XL invited them to his court, where they met Henry's queen, Margaret of Anjou. After a struggle, Margaret suffered her antipathy to Warwick to be subdued. The earl ac- knowledged Henry for his rightful sovereign, and bound himself to aid her, to the best of his power, in her efforts to restore her husband to the throne. To cement their friendship, it was agreed that the prince, her son, should marry his daughter Anne ; and, to lull the probable discontent of Clarence, that in failure of issue by such marriage, the right to the crown should, on the death of the prince, devolve on the duke. Soon afterward, the exiles, under the protection of a French fleet, landed without opposition at Plymouth and Dartmouth. Edward had been drawn as far as York by an arti- The exiles land fice of the lord Fitzhugh, brother-in-law to War- at Plymouth, wick, who pretended to raise a rebellion in Northumberland, and on the approach of the king, retired within the borders of Scot- land. Thus the southern counties were left open to the invaders. Warwick proclaimed Henry VI., ordered all men between sixteen and sixty to join his standard, and marched with an army which increased every hour, in a direct line toward Nottingham. The thoughtless king had affected to treat the invasion with his usual 300 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1471. levity, but soon being convinced that his cause was lost, lie fled to Holland. Queen Elizabeth with her family had remained in the Tower j but perceiving that the tide of loyalty had turned in favor of Henry, she left that fortress secretly, and fled with her mother and three daughters to the sanctuary of Westminster, where she was shortly afterward delivered of a son. Within a few days, Clarence and Warwick made their triumphal entry into the capital. Henry was immediately conducted from Henry released tne Tower to the bishop's palace; and thence from the Tower. wa lked in solemn procession, with the crown on his head, to the cathedral of St. Paul's. By a parliament sum- moned in the name of the restored king, Edward was pronounced an usurper, his adherents were attainted, and the crown was en- tailed on the issue male of Henry VI., and in default of such issue, on the duke of Clarence and his heirs. Edward solicited assistance from the duke of Burgundy, who feared to aid him publicly ) but in secret he made him a present of fifty thousand florins, ordered four large ships to be equipped for his use at Yere, in Holland, and hired fourteen vessels from the Hanse Towns, to transport him to England. Edward with ten or fifteen hundred men disembarked (March 14, 1471) at Bavenspur, in Yorkshire, the very place where Edward lands in Henry IY. landed to dethrone Bichard II. Ed- Engiand. ward directed his march with expedition to the capital, which had been intrusted to the care of the archbishop. That prelate already began to waver. In the morning he con- ducted Henry, decorated with the insignia of royalty, through the streets of the city ; in the afternoon he ordered the recorder to admit Edward by a postern in the walls, alleging that the party of the house of York had gained the ascendency among the citizens ; that the richest of the merchants were the creditors of Edward ; that his affability and gallantries had attached numbers to his interests ; and that the sanctuaries contained two thousand of his adherents, ready at a signal to unsheath the sword in his favor. However that may be, the archbishop secured a pardon for himself. Warwick followed Edward, expecting to find him encamped before the capital ; but he, apprehensive of the Lan- 1-171 A.D.] EDWARD THE FOURTH. 301 cas'trians within its walls, immediately left it, and taking Henry with him, advanced to meet the enemy. It was late on Easter-eve when the hostile armies met, a little to the north of the town of Barnet. Warwick had already chosen his ground ; Edward made his preparations The battle of during the darkness of the night • in consequence Barnet - of which, he posted by mistake his right wing in front of the enemy's centre, while his left stretched far away to the west. But at daybreak a fog of unusual density concealed from both parties their relative position ; and at five o'clock the king gave by trumpet the signal for battle. It lasted four or five hours. At length the welcome intelligence was brought to Edward, that the body of Warwick had been found, lying near a thicket, breathless and despoiled of armor. This terminated the im- portant battle of Barnet. To Edward the death of Warwick was of greater importance than any victory. That nobleman, by a long course of success, had acquired the surname of the King- maker ; and the superstition of the vulgar believed that the cause which he supported must finally succeed. Edward entered the city in triumph, remanded the unfortunate Henry to his cell in the Tower, and resumed the exercise of the sovereign authority. But he was not long permitted to indulge in repose or festivity. He had fought at Barnet on the Sunday ; on the Friday he was again summoned into the field, as Queen Margaret had landed with a body of French auxiliaries at Wey- mouth. On hearing of the defeat at Barnet, she sank to the ground in despair ; and as soon as she came to herself, hastened with her son for safety to the abbey of Cerne. But the Lancas- trian lords raised a considerable body of troops to fight under her banner, and a battle took place (May 4, 1471) at The battle of Tewksbury. The victory was won by Edward. ^SS'of S Of the prisoners, the most important was the Lan- Ferdinand. ) Scotland. Fran ce. James III. Louis XI. The conduct of the Duke of Gloucester — The Duke is made Protector — Penanco of Jane Shore — He aspires to the Crown — The Crown is offered to him — He accepts it.— A. D. 1483. As soon as the king had expired, the council assembled, and resolved to proclaim his eldest son by the style of Edward V. The young prince, accompanied by his uncle, Earl Rivers, and his half-brother, Lord Grey, had been sent to Ludlow in Shropshire. Richard, duke of Gloucester, having the command of the army against the Scots, was employed on the borders at the time of his brother's death ; but the moment he heard of that The conduct of event, he repaired to York, summoned the gentle- cester. men of the county to swear allegiance to Edward V. ; and to give 2§* 306 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1483. them an example, was himself the first who took the oath. At the same time he despatched letters to profess his affection and loyalty to his nephew, and proceeded southward, avowedly for the purpose of assisting at the coronation. Edward reached Stony Stratford, on his road to London, on the same day on which his uncle arrived at Northampton, about ten miles behind him. Gloucester arrived the next day at Stratford, proceeded to the house where the king resided, and approached him bending the knee and professing loyalty and attachment. But after this out- ward demonstration of respect, he apprehended Vaughan and Hawse, his confidential servants, ordered the rest of his retinue to disperse, and forbade by proclamation any of them to return into the royal presence under the penalty of death. The prince, abandoned and alarmed, burst into tears, but Gloucester, on his his knees, conjured him to dismiss his terrors, and conducted him back to Northampton. The queen-mother, foreboding the ruin of her family, retired with her second son, Richard, her five daughters, and the marquess of Dorset, into the sanctuary at Westminster. The capital was instantly thrown into confusion. The citizens armed themselves, and the adherents of the queen, without a leader, and without information, awaited the result in the most anxious uncertainty. On the 4th of May, 1483, Gloucester conducted his captive nephew into the metropolis. He was lodged with all the honors of royalty in the palace of the bishop, but soon on the motion of the duke of Buckingham was removed to the Tower, and Glou- cester was appointed protector. While orders were issued and preparations made for the ex- pected coronation, Gloucester was busily employed in maturing his plans, and despatching instructions to his adhe- 0rder for the co- rents. The council met daily at the royal apart- ^nation. ments in the Tower ; the confidants of the protector at Crosby- place, in Bishopsgate-street, his residence in London. One day he entered the council-chamber at the Tower, stood at first in silence knitting his brows, and then, in answer to a remark by Lord Hastings, called him a traitor, and struck his fist upon the table. A voice at the door exclaimed, " Treason," and a body of ruffians bursting into the room arrested Hastings, Stanley, and the two prelates York and Ely. The last three were conveyed to 1483 A. D.] EDWARD THE FIFTH. 307 separate cells; Hastings was immediately executed, and a pro- clamation was issued the same afternoon, announcing that Hast- ings and his friends had conspired to put to death the dukes of Gloucester and Buckingham. Of the royal brothers the elder had been now securely lodged in the Tower ; the younger still remained in sanctuary under the eve of Elizabeth. Him also, the protector resolved Elizabeth sur- J . . . , . , : | • . , renders her second to have at his mercy; and with that intention pro- son. ceeded to Westminster in his barge. Arrived there, he ordered a deputation of lords, with the cardinal of Canterbury at their head, to enter and demand the young prince from his mother. Elizabeth, convinced of the inutility of resistance, affected to ac- quiesce with cheerfulness in the demand. She called for her boy, gave him a last and hasty embrace, and turning her back, burst into tears. The innocent victim was conducted with great pomp to the Tower; and while the mother abandoned herself to the prophetic misgivings of her heart, her sons made themselves happy in the company of each other, little suspecting the wiles and cruelty of their unnatural uncle. Among those who had fallen victims to the sensuality of Ed- ward IV. was Jane, the wife of Shore, a young and opulent citi- zen. From the moment that her sin became public, Penance of Jano she had been abandoned by her husband, but had Sll0re - contrived to retain the principal place in the king's affections till the time of his death. This woman, whose husband was now dead, Richard singled out for punishment. Her plate and jewels he appropriated to himself; her person he delivered over to the ecclesiastical court to be punished according to the canons, and with her feet bare, carrying a lighted taper in her hand, and preceded by an officer bearing the cross, she was compelled to walk through the streets of the capital, lined with an immense concourse of people. Gloucester now began openly to aim at the crown, and on 24th June, 1483, the duke of Buckingham, attended by several lords and gentlemen, harangued the citizens of London Gloucester aims from the hustings at Guildhall. He reminded iy accepts it." them of Edward's tyranny, and said that Richard duke of -Glouces- ter was the only true issue of the duke of York. Contrary to his expectations, the citizens were still silent; he at length re- 308 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D 1483. quired an answer, whether they were in favour of the protector or not ; and a few persons, hired for the purpose, and stationed at the bottom of the hall, having thrown up their bonnets, and ex- claimed " King Richard," the duke gave the assembly his thanks for their assent, and the next morning with many lords and gen- tlemen proceeded to the palace, and demanded an audience of Gloucester. The protector affected to be surprised at their arrival; expressed apprehensions for his safety ; and when at last he showed himself at a window, appeared before them with strong marks of embarrassment and perturbation. Buckingham, with his per- mission, presented to him an address requesting that he would take upon him the crown and royal dignity. The protector replied, with affected modesty, that he was not ambitious : that royalty had no charms for him : that he was much attached to the children of his brother, and would preserve the crown to grace the brows of his nephew. " Sir," returned the duke of Buckingham, " if the lawful heir refuse the sceptre, we know where to find one who will cheerfully accept it." At these words Richard affected to pause ) and after a short silence replied, that it was his duty to obey the voice of his people ; that since he was deemed the true heir and had been chosen by the three estates, he would assent to their petition. Thus ended this hypocritical farce. The next day, June 26, 1483, Richard proceeded to Westminster in state, took possession of his pretended inheritance, by placing himself on the marble seat in the great hall, and ordered proclamation to be made that he forgave all offences which had been committed against him before that hour. 1483 A D.] RICHARD THE THIRD. 309 CHAPTER XXVI. CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. Popes. Germany. Spain. Sixtus IV. Frederic III. Innocent VIII. France. Isabella Scotland. Louis XL Ferdinand James III. Charles VIII. Coronation of Richard — The death of his two nephews — Conspiracy against him — He raises an army against the earl of Richmond — Is killed in the battle of Bosworth.— From A. D. 1483 to 1489. In less than a fortnight from his acceptance of the throne, Richard was crowned at Westminster with his consort Anne, the daughter of the late earl of Warwick. He em- coronation of ployed the first days of his reign in acts of favor Richard, and clemency : many of the nobility were raised to a higher rank ; and the treasures amassed and left by Edward were lavishly em- ployed in the reward of past, and the purchase of future services. Richard affected an extraordinary zeal for the suppression of crime and the reformation of manners. In all the great towns he administered justice in person, listened to petitions and dis- pensed favors ; and to please the men of the north, among whom he had for some years been popular, he was again crowned at York with his consort ; and the ceremony was performed with the same pomp and pageantry which had been exhibited in the metropolis. While Richard was thus spending his time in apparent security at York, he was apprized of the tempest which had been gather- ing behind him. The terror of his presence had confederacy before silenced the suspicions of the public; but against him. he was no sooner gone, than men freely communicated their thoughts to each other, commiserated the lot of the young Ed- ward and his brother in the Tower, and openly condemned the usurpation of the crown by their unnatural uncle. The king, 31C HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1483. though it was unknown, had already caused the murder of his nephews. By the friends of the princes, a resolution was taken to appeal to arms ; and the hopes of the confederates were raised by the unexpected accession of the duke of Buckingham, now a determined enemy to the king ; but when their hearts beat with the confidence of success, their hopes were suddenly dashed to the ground by the mournful intelligence that the two princes, for whom they intended to fight, were no longer alive. Soon after his departure from London, Richard had tampered in vain with Brakenbury, the governor of the Tower. From The murder of Warwick he despatched Sir James Tyrrel, his the two princes. mas ter of the horse, with orders that he should receive the keys and the command of the fortress during twenty- four hours. In the night Tyrrel, accompanied by Forest, a known assassin, and Dighton, one of his grooms, ascended the staircase leading to the chamber in which the two princes lay asleep. While Tyrrel watched without, Forest and Dighton entered the room, smothered their victims with the bed-clothes, called in their em- ployer to view the dead bodies, and by his orders buried them at the foot of the staircase. The intelligence was received with horror both by the friends and the foes of the usurper; but, if it changed the object, it did Conspiracy in not dissolve the union of the conspirators. The of Kichmond. bishop of Ely proposed that the crown should be offered to Henry, the young earl of Richmond, the representative, in right of his mother, of the house of Lancaster; but on the condition that he should marry the princess Elizabeth, to whom the claim of the house of York had now devolved. The sugges- tion was approved of, and a messenger was despatched to Bre- tagne, to inform the earl of the agreement, to hasten his return to England, and to announce the eighteenth of October [1483] as the day fixed for the general rising in his favor. When the answer of Henry was received, it was soon com- municated to Richard, who prepared for the contest, summoned all his adherents to meet him with their retainers at Leicester, proclaimed Buckingham a traitor, and sent for the great seal from London. On the appointed day the rising took place. Had Henry then landed, the reign of the usurper would probably have been terminated. But though Henry had sailed from St. Malo 1485 A. D.] RICHARD THE THIRD. 311 with a fleet of forty sail, the weather was so tempestuous that but few could follow him across the channel ; and when he reached the coast of Devon, the insufficiency of his force forbade him to disembark. Buckingham was deserted by his followers, taken prisoner, and executed. The insurgents dispersed ; the marquess of Dorset and bishop of Exeter crossed the channel to the coast of Bretagne ; and others found an asylum in the fidelity of their neighbors, and the respect which was still paid to the sanctuaries. When the conqueror had traversed the southern counties, he returned to the capital, and summoned a parliament, which pro- nounced him undoubted king of this realm of Eng- The ki land ; and entailed the crown on his son Edward alarmed, prince of Wales. Still the king was seriously alarmed at the idea of a marriage between the young earl of Richmond and the eldest of the daughters of Edward IV. Henry of himself could not advance any right to the crown. But the Yorkists, convinced of the death of the two sons of Edward, considered his eldest daughter as rightful sovereign ; and the moment Henry bound him- self by oath to marry that princess, they swore fealty to him as the future husband of her who was by succession queen of England. To defeat this project now became the chief policy of Richard. That he might draw the late queen out of the Death of Rich . sanctuary, he tempted her with the most flattering ard ' s ( i ueen - promises, and harassed her with the most terrible threats; so that at length she came to court. Richard's queen soon died, (it was supposed by poison,) and he was anxious to marry his niece, but was dissuaded from this course. At length he was informed by his emissaries, that the earl of Richmond had raised an army of three thousand adventurers, most of them Normans; and that a fleet was lying in the mouth of the Seine to transport them to England. He affected to receive the intelligence with joy; and immediately, to prepare the public for the event, published a long and artful proclamation, calling on the people to defend him against all traitors. Having issued instructions to his friends in the maritime counties, Richard sent for the great seal, and fixed his head-quarters at Nottingham. On the 1st of August, 1485, his competitor sailed from Harfleur; IIenrv ]and8 at on the seventh he landed at Milford Haven, and Milford Haven, directed his march through the northern districts of Wales, a 312 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1485. tract of country in the interest of the Stanleys. He met with little to oppose or to encourage him; and when he took possession of Shrewsbury, his army did not exceed four thousand men. A week elapsed before Richard heard of his landing; but orders were instantly despatched for all his subjects to meet him at Lei- cester. The duke of Norfolk obeyed, as did the earl of North- umberland, the Lord Lovet, and others. At Leicester the king found himself at the head of a numerous and well-appointed army, which, had it been attached to its leader, might have trampled under foot the contemptible force that followed the banner of his competitor. But Henry, assured by the promises of his secret adherents, continued to press forward. On the twenty-first of Battle of Bos- August Richard rode from Leicester with the worth, and the t - i i -i -, -i •-, death of Richard, crown on his head, and encamped about two miles from the town of Bosworth. The same night, Henry proceeded from Tamworth to Atherston, where he joined the Stanleys, and was encouraged by the repeated arrivals of deserters from the enemy. In the morning both armies (that of Richard was double in number) advanced to Redmore; and the vanguards, commanded by the duke of Norfolk and the earl of Oxford, engaged. Richard was dismayed to see the Stanleys opposed to him, the earl of Northumberland remaining inactive at his post, and his men wavering and on the point of flying, or going over to his com- petitor. Chancing to espy Henry, he determined to win the day, or perish in the attempt. Spurring his horse and exclaiming, " Treason, treason, treason/ 7 he slew with his own hand Sir William Brandon, the bearer of the hostile standard, struck to the ground Sir John Cheney, and made a desperate blow at his rival, when he was overpowered by numbers, thrown from his horse, and immediately slain. Lord Stanley, taking up the crown, placed it on the head of Henry, and the conqueror was instantly greeted with the shouts of " Long live King Henry/' The body of the late king was stript, laid across a horse behind a pursuivant at arms, and conducted to Leicester, where, after it had been exposed for two days, it was buried with little ceremony in the church of the Grey Friars. Henry entered the town with the same royal state with which Richard had marched out on the pre- ceding day. Ha was careful, however, not to stain his triumph with blood. Of all his prisoners three only suffered death : the 1485 A. D.] HENRY THE SEVENTH. 313 notorious Oatesby, and two persons of the name of Brecher, who probably had merited that distinction by their crimes. Of the character of Richard it is unnecessary to say much. If he was guilty of the crimes laid to his charge, he was little better than a monster in human shape. Writers have indeed existed in modern times who have attempted to prove his innocence; but their arguments are rather ingenious than conclusive, and dwindle into groundless conjectures when confronted with the evidence which may be arrayed against them. CHAPTER XXVII. CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. Scotland. France. James III. Charles VIII. James IV. Louis XII. Germany. Spain. Frederic III. Isabella. 1 Ferdinand, j Maximilian. Popes. Innocent VIII. Alexander VI. Pius III. Julius II. The Coronation of Henry — The Settlement of the Crown — Insurrection in favor of the pretended Earl of Warwick — War in Bretagne — Imposture of Perkin Warbeck — Marriage and Death of Prince Arthur — Henry's Death and Cha- racter.— From A. D. 1485 to 1509. From the field of Bosworth, Henry proceeded to Leicester. Victory had placed the crown on his temples; and the absence of a rival secured to him its present possession. The The coronation fall of the usurper excited little regret. No man of Henr y- could pity his death, who had pitied the fate of his unoffending nephews. When the conqueror entered the capital, he was re- ceived with unequivocal demonstrations of joy. But his corona- tion was delayed, and the gladness of the public was damped by the sudden spread of a disease, which acquired from its predomi- nant symptoms the appellation of the sweating sickness. At the u 27 314 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A.D. 1486. end of the month its violence began to abate, and the new king received the rite of coronation from the hands of the cardinal archbishop of Canterbury. Soon after the coronation the king met his parliament. In the settlement of the crown by legislative enactment, he proceeded The settlement w ^ n cautious and measured steps. In the act of of the crown. settlement itself, no mention was made of Eliza- beth or her heirs ; even Henry's own claim was studiously omit- ted ; and it was merely enacted that the inheritance of the crown should be in the person of King Henry VII. and his heirs. But this cautious policy, and in particular this silence with respect to the princess, seems to have alarmed not only the partisans of the house of York, but even Henry's own friends. He soon married Elizabeth, but if the ambition of the princess was flattered by this union, we are told that she had little reason to congratulate herself on the score of domestic happiness; that Henry treated her with harshness and with neglect ; and that, in his estimation, neither the beauty of her person nor the sweetness of her disposi- tion could atone for the deadly crime of being a descendant of the house of York. After his marriage and the dissolution of the parliament, the new monarch, in imitation of his predecessors, resolved to signalize insurrection of tne commencement of his reign by a progress Lord Loveii. through the kingdom. He was stopped at Ponte- fract by the intelligence that Lord Lovell had raised a force and was preparing to surprise him at his entry into York. But Hen- ry's court was now attended by most of the southern and northern nobility; and their followers formed a pretty numerous army. The duke of Bedford led the royalists ; by his order an offer of pardon was made to all who should return to their duty; and the insurgent force immediately dispersed. The king made his entry into York with royal magnificence. Thence he returned through Worcester, Hereford, Gloucester, and Bristol, to London, to receive a numerous and splendid embassy sent by James, king of Scotland. As the former truce between the two crowns was supposed to have expired at the death of Richard, both kings readily consented to its renewal, but the tur- bulence and discontent of the Scottish nobility compelled James to limit its duration to three years. In September, 1486, the 1486 A. D.] HENRY THE SEVENTH. 315 queen was safely delivered of a son, whose birth gave equal joy- to the king and the nation. He was christened The pre t e ndea with extraordinary parade in the cathedral ; and at earl Warwick. the font received the name of Arthur, in memory of the celebrated king of the Britons, from whom Henry wished it to be thought that he was himself descended. Soon afterward one Richard Simons, a priest of' Oxford, entirely unknown in Ireland, landed at Dublin with a boy about fifteen years of age, and presented his ward to the earl of Kildare, the lord deputy, under the name of Edward Plantagenet, son of Clarence, and earl of Warwick, and reported to have been murdered. He implored the protection of that nobleman for a young and innocent prince, who, by escaping from the Tower, had avoided the fate similar to that of his unfor- tunate cousins, the sons of Edward IV. The boy — he was the son of Thomas Simnel, a joiner at Oxford — had been well in- structed in the part which he had to perform. His person was handsome; his address had something in it which seemed to be- speak nobility of descent ; and he could relate with apparent ac- curacy his adventures at Sheriff-Hutton, in the Tower, and during his escape. The Butlers, the bishops of Cashel, Tuarn, Clogher, and Ossory, and the citizens of Waterford, remained steady in their allegiance ; the rest of the population, relying on the acqui- escence or authority of Kildare, admitted the title of the new Plantagenet, without doubt or investigation ; and the adventurer was proclaimed by the style of Edward VI., king of England and France, and lord of Ireland. When the intelligence reached Henry he assembled a great council of peers and prelates, and by their advice published a par- don which extended to every species of treason. The king's con- He conducted the real earl of Warwick from the sion. Tower to St. Paul's, that he might be publicly recognised by the citizens. This prudent measure satisfied the people of England. They laughed at the imposture in Ireland, while the Irish main- tained that theirs was the real Plantagenet. The earl of Lincoln repaired to the court of his aunt, the duchess of Burgundy, con- sulted with her and Lord Lovell, and receiving an aid of two thousand veterans under Martin Swartz, an experienced officer, sailed to Ireland and landed at Dublin. His arrival gave new im- portance to the cause of the counterfeit Warwick. Though Lin- 316 HISTORY OF ENGLAND- [A. D. 1487. coin had frequently conversed with the real prince at Shene, he advised that the impostor should be crowned, and the ceremony of his coronation was performed by the bishop of Meath. When Henry first heard of the departure of Lincoln, he made a progress through the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk, in which the earl possessed considerable interest; and thence proceeded through Northampton and Coventry to his castle of Kenilworth, which he had appointed for the residence of his queen and his mother. He soon found himself surrounded by his friends with their re- tainers, and orders were published against any robbery or other misconduct by his army. The two armies, as if by mutual compact, hastened toward Newark. It was in vain that the earl, as he advanced, tempted The battle at tne l°y a lty of the inhabitants by proclaiming Ed- stoke, ward VI. the head of the house of York. Disap- pointed but undismayed, Lincoln resolved to stake his life on the event of. a battle ; and precipitated his march that he might find the king unprepared. The royalists had moved from Kenilworth by Coventry, Leicester, and Nottingham, and their numbers daily increased. The vanguard, under the earl of Oxford, was attacked at Stoke by the insurgents, amounting to eight thousand men. The action was short but sanguinary. The Germans fought and perished with the resolution of veterans; the adventurers from Ireland displayed their characteristic bravery, but with their darts and " skeans" (for the English settlers had adopted the arms of the natives) they were no match for the heavy cavalry; and though a portion only of the royalists was engaged, the victory was won with the slaughter of one-half of their opponents. Simons and his pupil surrendered, the latter of whom obtained his pardon, resumed his real name of Lambert Simnel, was made a scullion in the royal kitchen, and afterward, in reward of his good con- duct, was raised to the more honorable office of falconer. A court was at this time established to punish those who asso- ciated themselves under any chief. The limits of its jurisdiction, The court of the as fixed by statute, were extended till they included tiished. libels, misdemeanors, and contempts ; and the power of pronouncing that judgment on delinquents to which they would have been liable if they had been convicted after the due course of law, grew in practice into a power of punishing at dis« 1487 A. D.] HENRY THE SEVENTH. 317 cretion, and with a severity which provoked the curses and hatred of all classes of men. This court was called the court of the star- chamber, from the accidental decorations of the room in which it usually sat. As soon as the king was relieved from domestic enemies, he was compelled to direct his attention to the continent. The French monarchs had gradually obtained possession of the n Jr * * -r» i Affairs in France. other great fiefs of the crown ; Bretagne alone re- tained its own prince and its ancient constitution. But the duke Francis was advanced in age, and weak both in mind and body. His family consisted of two daughters, the elder of whom, named Anne, had reached her twelfth year. Charles VIII. ascended the throne of France in 1483, at the age of fourteen, and the states placed the young king under the tutelage of his elder sister, Anne of France. The duke of Orleans, though he had not reached his twenty-fourth year, was "offended with the choice ; he raised forces against the regent, and was compelled to seek the protection of the duke of Bretagne. The regency declared war, for the ap- parent purpose of compelling the duke to pardon the exiles, and give up the French prince, but with the real view of preventing the marriage of Anne of Bretagne. Both parties applied to Henry, who was perplexed, and, unwilling to offend either, offered himself as a mediator between both. Charles, while he professed himself willing to accept the mediation, prosecuted the war with additional vigor. The duke of Orleans was made prisoner and Francis signed a treaty, by which he consented that Charles should retain all his conquests, and that neither of his daughters should marry without the approbation of the French king. But the se- quel was still more perplexing. In a few weeks Francis died, and soon afterward his younger daughter followed him to the grave. The king of France, in virtue of his pretended claim, demanded the whole succession ; hostilities recommenced ; and before Christ- mas one-half of Bretagne was in the hands of the French. The clamor of the nation now roused Henry from his apathy; he sum- moned a parliament. The English people were anxious to rescue a young and unfortunate princess from the power of a victorious enemy j but the cold-hearted king had determined to enrich him- self from the generosity of the one and the necessities of the other. 27* 18 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1495 To Anne he sent an army of six thousand archers to serve for six months; but on severe conditions, and these auxiliaries, as soon as the six months of their service were completed, returned to their own country without having rendered any important aid. Soon afterward, Maximilian of Germany married, by proxy, Anne of Bretagne ; and, within a few weeks, the lord D'Albret, one of her suitors, to revenge the disappointment, betrayed to the French the important city of Nantes. War was now renewed, Maximilian, thinking himself se- cure, neglected to go and succor his wife ; Henry harassed her with demands of money for the repayment of his former expenses ; and Charles of France formed a plan, suspected by neither of these powers, of compelling her to break her contract with Maximilian, and to marry himself. When the proposal was made to her, she rejected it with disdain. But a French army soon appeared be- fore the gates of Bennes. There remained no hope of escape. She must be either the wife or the captive of Charles. Subdued at last by importunity and terror, she consented to marry the French king. The English king said he would punish the perfidy of France respecting Bretagne, and after much delay he landed at Calais with 1600 men-at-arms, and 2500 infantry; but soon made peace with the French king. At this time appeared one of the most mysterious personages recorded in English history. About the time when Henry pub- The story of lisliecl his intention of making war against France, Perkin Warbeck. a merchant vessel from Lisbon cast anchor in the cove of Cork. Among the passengers was a youth whom no per- son knew, about twenty years of age, of handsome features and courtly deportment. It was soon rumored that he was Kichard, duke of York, the second son of Edward TV., and as the English settlers were warmly attached to the house of York, the citizens of Cork declared in his favor. He soon afterward accepted an invitation from the ministers of Charles VIII. to visit France, and place himself under the protection of that monarch. He was received by the king as the real duke of York, and the rightful heir to the English throne. Henry was perplexed and alarmed. He hastened to sign the peace with the French monarch ; and Charles instantly ordered the adventurer to quit his dominions. Leaving France, he solicited the protection of Margaret, the dowa- 1497 A. D.] HENRY THE SEVENTH. 319 ger duchess of Burgundy, who received him with joy, appointed him a guard of thirty halberdiers, and gave him the surname of " The white rose of England." And yet for three years after he first set forth his claim he never made any attempt to establish it by legal proof, or to enforce it by an appeal to the sword. In July, 1495, he sailed from the coast of Flanders with a few hun- dred adventurers attached to his fortunes ; and, while Henry was on a visit to his mother at Latham, in Lancashire, made a descent in the neighborhood of Deal. But the inhabitants attacked the invaders, made many prisoners, and drove the remainder into their boats. All the captives were hanged by the order of Henry. Warbeck, despairing of success in England, sailed to Ireland, and with the aid of the earl of Desmond laid siege to "Waterford ; but Sir Edward Poynings soon compelled him to flee with the loss of three of his ships. The repulse of Warbeck and the complaint of the Flemish mer- chants, induced the archduke of the Netherlands to solicit a re- conciliation with Henry: and, after a few con- Warbeck returns - ,, . . ,. —is received by the ierences between their respective envoys, a treaty king of Scotland, was signed, by which every facility was afforded to the trade of the two countries ; and there was appended to it a provision that each of the contracting parties should banish from his dominions the known enemies of the other. Warbeck, therefore, could no longer remain in Flanders, where he had taken refuge. He sailed to Cork ; but the Irish refused to venture their lives in his service. From Cork he passed to Scotland, and exhibited, it is said, to the king recommendatory letters from Charles VIII. and his friend the duchess of Burgundy. James received the adventurer with kindness, paid to him the honors due to the prince whose character he had assumed ; and to evince the sincerity of his friendship, gave to him in marriage his near relation, the lady Catherine Gordon, daughter to the carl of Huntley. Warbeck mustered un- der his standard 1400 men, outlaws from all nations ; to these James added all the forces it was in his power to raise; and the combined army crossed the borders in the depth of winter and when no preparation had been made to oppose them. As soon as the intelligence of this invasion reached Henry, he raised forces, summoned a parliament, and obtained a grant of sup- plies. In most counties the tax was levied without opposition, 320 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1499, but in Cornwall the people refused to pay their money for an ob- ject which, it was pretended, did not concern them, but the na- tives of the northern counties. They took up arms and marched to London ; but Henry, who had been joined by many of the no- bility, soon defeated them. The enthusiasm which had been excited by the first appearance of Warbeck in Scotland had long been on the decline ; and when he saw the current of public opinion setting against him, he de- Warbeck sur- P arte( l fr° m Scotland with four ships and a few renders to Henry, companions. He first touched at Cork, and soli- cited in vain the aid of the earl of Desmond. From Cork he di- rected his course across the channel to Whitsand Bay ; and pro- ceeding by land to Bodmin, unfurled the standard of Richard IV. He soon, however, submitted, and threw himself on the mercy of Henry. The king refused to admit him into his presence. When he returned to London, Warbeck rode in his suite, surrounded by multitudes, who gazed with wonder at the man whose claim and adventures had so long engaged their attention. He was con- ducted as a spectacle through the principal streets of the city, and ordered to confine himself within the precincts of the palace. He was compelled to stand a whole day in the stocks at Westminster Hall, and the next in Cheapside ; and on both occasions to read to the people a confession of his having been an impostor. After suffering this punishment he was committed to the Tower. The real earl of Warwick and the pretended duke of York were now fellow-prisoners in the Tower. They soon contracted a The execution of mutual friendship, and adopted a plan for their Warbeck and the earl of Warwick, escape. Their plans, which involved a new revolt, were discovered, and Warbeck was indicted in Westminster Hall, condemned and executed. The earl of Warwick was arraigned at the bar of the house of lords. Of his own accord he pleaded guilty; the earl of Oxford, as lord steward, pronounced judgment; and after a few days Henry signed the warrant for the execution of the last legitimate descendant of the Plantagenets whose pre- tensions could excite the jealousy of the house of Tudor. From this period, the ambition of Henry was no more alarmed by pretenders to the crown, nor his avarice distressed by the expense of foreign expeditions. The principal events of his reign during the ten years of tranquillity which preceded his death 1502 A. D.] HENRY THE SEVENTH. 321 consisted of treaties with other powers, and expedients to amass money. The truces between England and Scotland, though frequently renewed and enforced with menaces and punishments, were but ill observed by the fierce and turbulent inhabitants Truces with Eng . of the borders. At length, however, James of land and Scotland. Scotland proposed to marry Margaret, the eldest daughter of Henry. By the English prince, the offer was most joyfully ac- cepted ; and when some of his council expressed a fear that then, in failure of the male line, England might hereafter become an appendage to the Scottish crown, " No," he replied, " Scotland will become an appendage to the English ; for the smaller must follow the larger kingdom." The event verified the king's pre- diction. The parties were solemnly aflianced to each other in London, in the queen's chamber, the earl of Bothwell acting as proxy for James ; tournaments were performed for two days in honor of the ceremony; and to exhilarate the populace, twelve hogsheads of claret were tapped in the streets, and twelve bonfires kindled at night. At the same time was concluded, after one hundred and seventy years of war, or of truces little better than war, a treaty of perpetual peace between the two kingdoms. Henry had always cultivated with particular solicitude the alli- ance of Ferdinand, king of Castile and Arragon ; and the more strongly to cement their friendship, had proposed Marriage of Prince a marriage between his eldest son, Arthur, prince Arthur. of Wales, and Catherine, the fourth daughter of the Castilian monarch. The marriage was postponed on account of the youth of Arthur ; but when he had completed his twelfth year a dis- pensation was obtained to enable him to make the contract; and the marriage ceremony was performed in the chapel of his manor of Bewdley, where Catherine was represented by her proxy, the Spanish ambassador. She was nine or ten months older than Arthur ; and when the latter had completed his fourteenth year, Henry demanded her of her parents ; and she accordingly came to England. She renewed to Arthur the contract which had been made by her proxy, and the marriage ceremony was per- formed in St. Paul's. The abilities of Arthur, the sweetness of his temper, and his proficiency in learning, had gained him the affection of all who knew him; and his bride, by her beauty, 322 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1509. modesty, and accomplishments, became the object of general ad- miration. But the hopes of the nation were unexpectedly blighted by his premature death in the fourth month after his marriage. The intelligence of this event alarmed Ferdinand and Isabella, the parents of the young widow. Anxious to preserve the friend- ship of England as a counterpoise to the enmity of France, they hastened to propose a marriage between their daughter and her brother-in-law, Henry, now apparent heir to the throne. A year elapsed before it was finally agreed that the marriage should be contracted within two months after the arrival of a dispensation from the pope. The dispensation was obtained, and the parties were contracted to each other. While the king sought by foreign alliances to add to the secu- rity of his family, he was equally solicitous to amass riches at the expense of his subjects. The men whom he employed as the agents of oppression were Sir Richard Empson and Edmund Dud- ley, both lawyers, of inventive heads and unfeeling hearts ', who despoiled the subject to fill the king's coffers, and despoiled the king to enrich themselves. The king was for many years visited with regular fits of the gout. His strength visibly wasted away, and every spring the Death of Henry, most serious apprehensions were entertained for his April 21, 1509. life. Whatever might be the hopes with which he flattered himself, his preachers did not allow him to be ignorant of his danger. From the pulpit they admonished him of the ex- tortion of his officers, and exhorted him to prepare for death by making reparation to the innocent sufferers. Henry does not appear to have been displeased with their freedom. He forgave all offences against the crown, with the exception of felony and murder ) satisfied the creditors of all persons confined for debts under the amount of forty shillings ; and ordered strict justice to be done to all who had been injured by the tyranny of the minis- ters. The prosecutions, however, were soon revived ; it was con- tended that no injustice could be committed where the conviction was procured by due process of law; and several of the most respectable citizens in London were heavily amerced, and in de- fault of payment thrown into prison. Thus Empson and Dudley continued to pursue their iniquitous career till they were arrested by the death of the king, who, on the 21st April, 1509, sank 1509 A. D.] HENRY THE SEVENTH. 323 under the violence of his disease. He left three children ; a son Henry, who inherited his father's crown, and two daughters, Mar- garet, married to James, king of Scots, and Mary, afterward the wife of Louis XII., king of France. To Henry, by his contemporaries, was allotted the praise of political wisdom. He seems, indeed, to have been formed by nature for the circumstances in which accident had placed him. With a mind dark and mistrustful, tenacious of its own secrets and adroit in divining the secrets of others ; capable of employing the most unprincipled agents, and of descending to the meanest artifices, he was able to unravel the plots, to detect the impostures, and to defeat the projects of all his opponents. But there was nothing open in his friendship, nothing generous in his emnity. His suspicions kept him always on his guard; he watched with jealousy the conduct of his very ministers, and never unbosomed himself with freedom even to his consort or his mother. It was his delight to throw an air of mystery over the most ordinary transactions ; nor would pride or policy allow him, even when it appeared essential to his interests, to explain away the doubts, or satisfy the curiosity of his subjects, The consequence was, that no one knew what to believe or what to expect. He appears to have been the first of our kings since the accession of Henry III. who confined his expenses within the limits of his income. But the civil wars had swept away those crowds of annuitants and creditors that formerly used to besiege the doors of the exchequer; and the revenue of the crown came to him free from incumbrances and augmented by forfeitures. Hence he was enabled to reign without the assistance of parliament; and, if he occasionally summoned the two houses, it was only when a decent pretext for demanding a supply offered to his avarice a bait which it could not refuse. He had, however, little to appre- hend from the freedom or the remonstrances of these assemblies. That spirit of resistance to oppression, that ardour to claim and establish their liberties, which characterized the parliaments of former times, had been extinguished in the feuds between " the two roses." The temporal peers who had survived the storm were few in number, and without the power of their ancestors ; they feared by alarming the suspicions of the monarch to re- plunge themselves into the dangers from which they had so lately 324 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1509. emerged ; and the commons readily adopted the humble tone and submissive demeanor of the upper house. Henry, and the same may be observed of his two last predecessors, found them always the obsequious ministers of his pleasure. But if the king was economical in his expenses, and eager in the acquisition of wealth, it should also be added, that he often rewarded with the generosity, and on occasions of ceremony dis- played the magnificence of a great monarch. His charities were many and profuse. Of his buildings, his three convents of friars fell in the next reign ; his chapel at Westminster still exists, a monument of his opulence and taste. He is said to have occa- sionally advanced loans of money to merchants engaged in pro- fitable branches of trade ; and not only gave the royal license to the attempt of the Venetian navigator Cabot, but fitted out a ship at his own expense to join in the voyage. Cabot sailed from Bristol, discovered the island of Newfoundland, crept along the coast of Florida, and returned to England. It was the first Eu- ropean expedition that ever reached the American continent. 1509 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. CHAPTER XXVIII. iwrj % tfi#t CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. 325 Popes. Scotland. France. James IV. Louis XII. Julius II. James V. Francis I. Leo X. Mary. Spain. Adrian VI. Germany. Ferdinand. ) Isabella. J Clement VII. Maximilian. Paul III. Charles V. Charles V. The Accession and Marriage of Henry — "War with France — Defeat of the Scots at Flodden — The Rise and Power of Wolsey — Execution of the Duke of Buckingham — Wolsey aspires to the Papacy — Peace with France — Origin of the Reformation — Henry writes against Luther — Is declared Defender of the Faith — Anne Boleyn — Disgrace of "Wolsey — The rise of Cromwell — ■ The King marries Anne Boleyn — Cranmer — The King assumes the title of Head of the Church — Papal Bull against Henry — Dissolution of the Mo- nasteries — Death of Queen Catherine — Marriage with Anne of Cleves — Fall of Cromwell — Marriage with Catherine Howard— The King's last illness — His Death and Character.— A. D. 1509 to 1542. The late king had forfeited, long before his death, the affec- tions of his people ; and the accession of his son, of the same name, was hailed as the commencement of a new Accession of era. The young Henry had almost completed his Hem *y vin - eighteenth year. He was handsome in person, apparently gene- rous in disposition, and adroit in every martial and fashionable exercise. With the unanimous assent of the council, he was now publicly married to the Spanish princess by the archbishop of Canterbury; their coronation followed, and these two events were celebrated with rejoicings, which occupied the court during the remaining part of the year. The first public acts of the young monarch were calculated to win the affections of his people. Henry confirmed by proclama- tion the general pardon which had been granted by his father, 28 326 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1509. offered redress to all persons who had been aggrieved by the late commission of forfeitures, and ordered the arrest of Empson and Dudley, who were soon afterward tried, convicted, and put to death. Peace abroad and tranquillity at home, allowed the young mo- narch to indulge his natural taste for amusements and pleasure. Henry invades ^ was not ^ on gj however, before a quarrel between France. Julius, the Roman pontiff, and Louis XII., king of France, caused Henry to engage in war. Henry took part with the pope, and invaded France ; in which country war raged with varying success for a considerable time. The memorable battle of Flodden was fought at this period. James IV. of Scotland had married Margaret, the sister of Henry. This new connection did not, however, extinguish the hereditary partiality of the Scottish prince for the ancient alliance with France ; and his jealousy of his English brother was repeatedly irritated by a succession of real or supposed injuries. When Henry joined in the league against Louis, the Scottish court be- came the scene of the most active negotiations, the French am- bassadors claiming the aid of Scotland, the English insisting on •its neutrality. James renewed the ancient alliance between Scot- land and France, with an additional clause reciprocally binding each prince to aid his ally against all men whomsoever. Henry was already in France; and James despatched his fleet with a body of three thousand men to the assistance of Louis. At the same time a Scottish herald sailed to France, the bearer of a let- ter from James to Henry, requiring the retreat of the English army out of that country; to which demand Henry refused to accede. James, at the head of one of the most numerous armies that had ever been raised in Scotland, passed the Tweed, and turning to the north, took numerous strong places. The earl The battle of of Surrey challenged James to battle, and the Flodden Field, and . ( . &* > . the death of James, fecottish king, leading his army across the river, encamped on the hill of Flodden, the last of the Cheviot moun- tains, which border on the vale of Tweed. The memorable en- gagement of " Flodden Field" took place on the 9th September, 1513. James fought on foot, surrounded by some thousands of his chosen warriors, who were cased in armour, and on that account less exposed to the destructive aim of the English 1513 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 327 archers. Animated by the presence and example of their mo- narch, they advanced steadily, and fought with a resolution which, if it did not win, at least deserved, the victory. Though Surrey made every effort, he could not arrest their progress; they had penetrated within a few yards of the royal standard ; and James, ignorant of the result in other parts of the field, flattered him- self with the prospect of victory. But in the mean while, Sir Ed- ward Stanley, who commanded the left wing, had defeated the earls of Argyle and Lennox. The ranks of the Scots, as they descended the hill, were disordered by the murderous discharges of the archers ; the moment they came into close combat, the confusion was completed by a sudden charge in flank from three companies of men-at-arms. They began to retreat; Stanley chased them over the summit of the hill ; and, wheeling to the right, led his followers against the rear of the mass commanded by James in person. In a few minutes that gallant monarch was slain by an unknown hand, and fell about a spear's length from the feet of Surrey. The battle had begun between four and five in the afternoon, and was decided in something more than an hour. Six thousand horses were taken, with the park of artillery, amounting to seventeen pieces. Lord Dacre recognised among the slain the body of the Scottish king, and conveyed it to Ber- wick, whence it was afterward carried to London, that it might be interred with suitable honours. When the news of this important victory reached the king of England, he was besieging Tournay. This city contained a population of eighty thousand souls, and though The sie „ e of situate within the territory of another power, had Tournay. long been distinguished by its attachment to the French crown. To the summons sent by Henry, the inhabitants returned a bold and chivalrous defiance ; but their resolution evaporated amid the fatigues and dangers of a siege, and on the eighth day they sub- mitted. Henry soon returned to England, proud of his victory, and spent the winter in preparations for new conquests which he con- templated. But Louis, humbled by a long series of disasters, pre- ferred negotiation to war. He appealed to the individual inte- rests of the confederates, infused into them suspicions of each other's sincerity, and successively detached them, one by one, 328 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1513 from the league against him. Louis soon died, and his successor, Francis L, renewed all the engagements of his predecessor to the satisfaction of the English monarch. Among the inferior dependants of Henry, there now appeared one whose aspiring views and superior talents rapidly enabled him to supplant every competitor. Thomas Wol- TheriseofWolsey. .. « T . ■, -. ■, , , sey, a native 01 Ipswich, and a clergyman, had been appointed in the last reign one of the royal chaplains. After the death of his patron, he attached himself to the service of the bishop of Winchester, at whose recommendation he was intrusted with a secret and delicate negotiation at the imperial court ; and the expedition and address with which he executed his commis- sion, not only justified the discernment of his friends, but also raised the agent in the estimation of his sovereign. Before the death of Henry VII., he had been collated to the deanery of Lin- coln, one of the most wealthy preferments in the English church ; soon after the commencement of the present reign, we find him exercising the office of almoner to the king, and thus possessing every facility of access to the presence of the young monarch. Henry was captivated with the elegance of his manners and the gayety of his disposition. It was soon discovered that the most sure and expeditious way to the royal favor was through the re- commendation of the almoner ; and foreigners, as well as natives, eagerly solicited, and frequently purchased his patronage. Pre- ferments rapidly poured in upon him. He was made dean of York, then bishop of Lincoln; and, on the death of Cardinal Bambridge, succeeded that prelate in the archiepiscopal see of York. His preponderating influence in the council induced foreign princes to flatter him with compliments, and to seek his friend- ship with presents; and during fifteen years he governed the kingdom with more absolute sway than had fallen to the lot of any former minister. The affairs of Scotland, after the death of its king and the destruction of its nobility in the field of Flodden, presented for some time a melancholy scene of confusion and terror. By de- grees, however, the Scottish spirit recovered from its depression ; the call for revenge was echoed throughout the nation ; several m chieftains gathered their retainers ; and the devas- The affairs of . ° . \ Scotland. tation ol one inroad was repaid by the devasta- 1513 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 329 tion of another. The queen had been permitted, in conformity with the will of her husband, to assume the regency as guardian to her son James V. Seven months had not elapsed from the death of her husband, when she was safely delivered of a second son, Alexander, duke of Ross; but in less than three months afterward, she displeased both the nation and her brother by mar- rying the young earl of Angus. A national deputation invited the duke of Albany to assume the government of the kingdom. He consented, and compelled the queen to surrender the two princes, whom he placed under the custody of three lords ap- pointed by parliament. The French monarch, Francis, whose youth and accomplish- ments made him the idol of his people, had already formed the most gigantic projects of conquest and aggrandize- FranC i S king of ment. He soon put in motion the numerous army Fl ' ance - which he had collected with the avowed purpose of chastising the hostility of the Helvetic cantons ; but, instead of following the direct road either into Switzerland or Italy, he passed unex- pectedly between the maritime and Cottian Alps, and poured his cavalry into the extensive plains of Lombardy. His real object was now manifest. The Italian princes, whose jealousy had guarded to no purpose the accustomed roads over the Alps, were filled with consternation : in a consistory at Rome it was pro- posed to solicit the aid of Henry ; and in a few days later, Leo, to secure the mediation of Wolsey, named that minister cardinal priest of St. Cicely beyond the Tiber. After much deliberation in the English cabinet, it was resolved to follow a middle course between peace and war ; to avoid actual hostilities with France, but to animate its enemies with hopes, and to aid them with subsidies. Henry directed his attention to a matter which more nearly concerned his own interests — the conduct of the duke of Albany in Scotland. Against the regency of that prince he had remonstrated in strong and threatening terms. The Scottish parliament returned a firm, though respect- ful answer ; but Francis, who still dreaded the hostility of the king of England, advised the Scots to conclude a perpetual peace with Henry, and even required the regent, in quality of his sub- ject, to return to France. Albany obeyed, but before his de- parture, provision was made for the return of Queen Margaret, V 2S* 330 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1518, who had sought an asylum in England ; and a temporary council was appointed, in which the numbers of the two parties were nearly balanced, and under the nominal government of which, Scotland passed four years of dissension and anarchy. Francis, having won the duchy of Milan, determined to secure his conquest by disarming the hostility of his neighbors. He was Peace between soon at peace with all the powers of Europe, but France and Eng- _ . , ■*■ _ . _ . * ., . land. telt alarmed at the unfriendly conduct or the king of England, who had aided his enemies. Friendship among European princes, however, arose at the suggestion of the pope ; and to cement the union between England and France, the dau- phin, an infant just born, was affianced to Mary, the daughter of Henry, a child not four years old. That every probable occasion of dispute might be done away, Tournay, with its dependencies, was restored to France, for the sum of six hundred thousand crowns. Thus, after ten years of war and negotiation, of blood- shed and perfidy, were all the powers of Europe re-established in the same situation in which they had previously stood, with the exception of the king of Navarre, whose territories on the south of the Pyrenees could not be recovered from the unrelenting grasp of Spain. Wolsey still retained the first place in the royal favor, and con- tinued to rise in power and opulence. He was made chancellor The wealth and anc ^ P a P a l legate, and having repeatedly solicited power of woisey. additional powers, at length possessed and exer- cised within the realm almost all the prerogatives of the sovereign pontiff. Nor was his ambition yet satisfied j for at the death of each pope he labored, but in vain, to seat himself in the chair of St. Peter. His love of wealth was subordinate only to his love of power. As chancellor and legate he derived considerable emoluments from the courts in which he presided. He held other profitable appointments, and received pensions from the pope and from Francis. In justice to his memory, it should, however, be observed, that if he grasped at wealth, it was to spend, not to hoard it. His establishment was on the most princely scale, comprising eight hundred individuals. He spared no expense in his buildings ; and, as soon as he had finished the palace of Hampton Court, and furnished it to his taste, he gave the whole to Henry ; perhaps the most magnificent present that 1519 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 331 a subject ever made to his sovereign. He was a minister of con- summate address and commanding abilities; greedy of wealth, and power, and glory ; anxious to exalt the throne on which his own greatness was built, and the church of which he was so dis- tinguished a member ; but capable, in the pursuit of these dif- ferent objects, of stooping to expedients which sincerity and jus- tice would disavow, and of adopting, through indulgence to the caprice and passions of the king, measures which often involved him in contradictions and difficulties, and ultimately occasioned his ruin. It is acknowledged, however, that he reformed many abuses in the church, and compelled the secular and regular clergy to live according to the canons. His office of chancellor afforded him the opportunity of displaying the versatility and superiority of his talents. He was not, indeed, acquainted with the subtleties and minutiae of legal proceedings, and on that ac- count was careful to avail himself of the knowledge and expe- rience of others ; but he always decided according to the dictates of his own judgment; and the equity of his decrees was uni- versally admitted and applauded. To appease domestic quarrels, and reconcile families at variance with each other, he was accus- tomed to offer himself as a friendly arbitrator between the parties ; that the poor might pursue their claims with facility and without expense, he established courts of requests ; in the ordinary admi- nistration of justice he introduced improvements which were re- ceived with gratitude by the country ; and he made it his pecu- liar care to punish with severity those offenders who had de- frauded the revenue, or oppressed the people. But his reputa- tion, and the ease with which he admitted suits, crowded the chancery with petitioners; he soon found himself overwhelmed with a multiplicity of business; and the king, to relieve him, established four subordinate courts, of which that under the pre- sidency of the Master of the Rolls is still preserved. Literature found in the cardinal a constant and bountiful patron. He employed his influence in foreign courts to borrow valuable manuscripts for the purpose of transcrip- IIe ig the patron tion. On native scholars he heaped preferment, of literature. and the most eminent foreigners were invited by him to teach in the universities. Both of these celebrated academies were the objects of his care ; but Oxford chiefly experienced his munifi- 332 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1520, cence in the endowment of seven lectureships, and the foundation of Christ Church, which, though he lived not to complete it, still exists, a splendid monument to his memory. As a nursery for this establishment, he erected another college at Ipswich, the place of his nativity. But these occupations at home did not divert his eyes from the shifting scenes of politics abroad. He was constantly informed of the secret history of the continental courts j and his despatches, of which many are still extant, show that he was accustomed to pursue every event through all its probable consequences; to consider each measure in its several bearings ; and to furnish his agents with instructions beforehand for almost every contingency. His great object was to preserve the balance of power between the rival houses of France and Austria ; and to this we should refer the mutable politics of the English cabinet, which first deserted Francis to support the cause of Charles, and when Charles had obtained the ascendency, aban- doned him to repair the broken fortunes of Francis. The conse- quence was, that as long as "Wolsey presided in the council, the minister was feared and courted by princes and pontiffs, and the king held the distinguished station of arbiter of Europe. When Charles V. of Spain was elected emperor of Germany, Francis and Henry (who had also been candidates for the impe- Charies v. visits r ^ throne) became closer allies. Francis invited England. Henry to France ; and the English monarch, with, a numerous and splendid retinue, leaving Greenwich, proceeded by slow stages to Canterbury, where, to the surprise of all who had not been admitted into the secret, advice was received that Charles, with a squadron of Spanish ships, had cast anchor in the harbor of Hythe. This apparently accidental meeting was cele- brated at Canterbury with feasts and rejoicings; the young em- peror, by his flattery and attentions, rooted himself in the affec- tions of Henry, and by promises and presents secured the friend- snip of Wolsey; and on the fourth day, when he sailed from Sandwich, the king, with his court, crossed the strait from Dover to Calais. The two kings met near the town of xirdres, in a field called " The Field of the Cloth of Gold," on account of the splendor of the preparations. As soon as the kings had reached their respective residences, the cardinal paid a visit to Francis, and remained with him two days. The result was an additional 1520 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 333 treaty, the terms of which proved the extreme anxiety of that monarch to secure the friendship, or at least the forbearance of the English king. After these preliminaries, the monarchs rode from their several residences, alighted from their horses, em- braced each other, and walked arm-in-arm into a pavilion, which had been prepared for their reception. The next fortnight was consumed in feats of arms and in banquets. The queens of Eng- land and France, with their ladies and officers, beheld the com- batants from the galleries ; and the heralds daily registered the names, the arms, and the feats of the knights. On every occa- sion the two kings appeared with equal splendor, and acquitted themselves with equal applause ; their bravest antagonists deemed it no disgrace to yield to royal prowess ; and Henry and Francis, though they fought five battles each day, invariably overcame every opponent. Henry, on leaving Francis, paid a visit to Charles V. in Flanders. Every artifice was employed to discover the real object of this second meeting ; and the French ambas- sador, La Roche, having obtained an audience of the two mo- narchs, read in their presence the tripartite league formerly con- cluded between them and Francis, and required Charles to ratify it with his signature as emperor. That prince, however, eluded the demand, and appointed Henry umpire in every subsequent difference which might arise between himself and the French monarch. In the interview at Ardres, not only the two kings, but also their attendants, had sought to surpass each other in the magnifi- cence of their dress and the display of their riches. Death of the Of the French nobility, it was said that many ham. carried their whole estates on their backs; among the English the duke of Buckingham ventured to express his marked disap- probation of a visit which had led to so much useless expense. The duke was descended from Edward III., and it had been fore- told to him that one of his family would be king. He was accused of treason, and put to death. Ever since Henry had failed in his attempt to procure the im- perial dignity, he had turned his thoughts and ambition toward the crown of France. This subject had been secretly discussed by Henry and Charles, and had led to the proposal of a stricter union between the crowns by the marriage of the emperor with 334 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1521. the daughter of Henry. The flames of war were unexpectedly rekindled in 1521 between Francis and Charles, in Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands. The contending parties immediately ap- pealed to Henry, and each claimed his aid in virtue of treaty. He exhorted each monarch to conclude a peace, and then pro- posed, that before he should make his election between them, they should appoint commissioners to plead before him or his deputy. Charles instantly signified his assent. Francis wavered, but, at length, condescended to accept the proffered mediation. Henry conferred the high dignity of arbitrator on Wolsey, who proceeded to Calais in great state, as the representative of his sovereign. The mediation failed, and Wolsey declared that Francis had been the aggressor in the war, and that Henry was bound by treaty to aid his imperial alty. The deliverance of Milan from the yoke of France, which took place about this time, diffused the most extravagant joy through- woisey again as- out the Italian states. The pontiff, Leo X., ordered throne. the event to be celebrated with thanksgivings and games, hastened to Home that he might enjoy the triumph of his policy and arms, and entered his capital in high spirits, and apparently in perfect health ; yet a sudden indisposition prevented him from attending a consistory, which he had summoned ; and in a few days it was known that he was dead. The news travelled with expedition to England, and Wolsey immediately extended his views to the papal throne, but without success, as Cardinal Adrian, a Belgian, was elected pope. Francis, having fruitlessly attempted to recover the friendship of the king of England, at length laid an embargo on the English War between shipping in his ports, and seized all the property lancL of the English merchants. In retaliation, Henry confined the French ambassador to his house, ordered all French- men in London to be taken into custody, and at length sent a defi- ance to Francis. The emperor, Charles V., landed at Dover, and was accompanied by the king through Canterbury, London, and Winchester, to Southampton. It was agreed between them that each power should make war on Francis with forty thousand men. At Southampton, the emperor took leave of the king, and em- barked on board his fleet. The money necessary for the support of the army destined to invade France was yet to be raised ; and 1522 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 335 to supply the deficiency, required all the art of Wolsey aided by the despotic authority of the king. At length, the earl of Surrey, who had been named to the com- mand, mustered his army under the walls of Calais. He marched toward Amiens, carefully avoiding the fortified towns, and devot- ing to the flames every house and village which fell in his way ; while the French, who had been forbidden to risk an engagement, hovered in small bodies round the invaders. But the season proved the most formidable enemy. Cold and rain introduced a dysentery into the camp, and the earl led back his followers to Calais. In the early part of the summer, Francis, that he might divert the attention of the king, sought to raise up enemies to Henry both in Ireland and Scotland. In Ireland, he ad- France makes a dressed himself to the chief of the house of Des- mond. mond, and the earl of that name, seduced by the hopes which were held out to him, signed a treaty by which, in return for an annual pension, he engaged to join the French army as soon as it should land in Ireland. But Francis forgot his engagement to Desmond; the army was never sent, the pension never paid; and the misguided earl had full leisure to lament the imprudence with which he had listened to the suggestions and promises of his de- ceitful ally. In Scotland, Francis found a more able and equally willing associate in the duke of Albany, who, having received supplies and instructions from Francis, assembled the Scottish army at Annan. Thence he marched at the head, it is said, of eighty thousand men, while the English general had no force to oppose to him. But the storm was dispersed by Lord Dacre, warden of the western marches, who assumed a tone of bold de- fiance, and pretended that a numerous army was hastening to his aid. Albany engaged to disband his army; Dacre to forbid the advance of the English forces, which, instead of being on their march, were not in reality assembled. The minister's chief embarrassment at this period arose from the exhausted state of the treasury. Henry, following the ex- ample of his father, had governed during eight The minister > a years without the aid of the great council of the embarrassment, nation ; but his necessities now compelled him to summon a par- liament to meet at the Black Friars; and Sir Thomas More, a 336 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D 1522. member of the council, was, by the influence of the court, chosen speaker of the commons. After some days the cardinal carried to that house a royal message, showing from the conduct of Francis that the war was just and necessary, and proposed to raise money by a property-tax of twenty per cent. After some hesitation the commons agreed to a tax on every kind of property, of five per cent, for two years, to be continued during the third year on fees, pensions, and rents of land, and during the fourth year on movables only. The clergy were obliged to pay a higher rate of taxation. The duke of Albany, after his inglorious negotiation with Lord Dacre, had left Scotland ; but the principal lords remained con- iienry reconciled s * an t m their attachment to France, and impa- with his sister. tiently expected his return with supplies of men and money. Henry sought a reconciliation with his sister, Queen Margaret, that he might set her up in opposition to Al- bany; and gave the chief command in the north to the earl of Surrey, son to the victor of Flodden Field, with instructions to purchase the services of the Scottish lords with money, and to invade and lay waste the Scottish borders. Margaret gladly ac- cepted the overture, and consented to conduct her son, now in his twelfth year, to Edinburgh, and to announce by proclamation that he had assumed the government, provided the English general would march a strong force to her support. Surrey repeatedly entered the marches, spread around the devastation of war, and at last reduced to ashes the large town of Jedburgh. But on that very day Albany landed at Dumbarton with two thousand soldiers, and a great quantity of stores and ammunition. The projects of Margaret were instantly crushed; at the call of the parliament the whole nation rose in arms ; and Albany saw above sixty thousand men arrayed round his standard. Surrey, how- ever, received reinforcements, and Albany, after an ineffectual attempt to retain the regency, sailed for France, never more to set foot in Scotland. His departure enabled Margaret to resume the ascendency, and proclaim her son; but her imperious temper alienated her friends ; her application to Francis and Albany was received with indifference ; and her husband, the earl of Angus, under the protection of Henry, took upon himself the office of 1517 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 337 regent. The borders of both countries enjoyed at this period a cessation from hostilities during eighteen years.* It is well known that the primitive church visited with pecu- liar severity the more flagrant violations of the divine law; and that such punishments were occasionally mitigated by the " indulgence" of the bishops, who, in favor n gences ' of particular penitents, were accustomed to abridge the austerities enjoined by the canons, or to commute them for works of charity and exercises of piety. In process of time abuses grew out of the practice. The money was frequently diverted from its origi- nal destination • and as the office of collecting the contributions was committed to inferior agents called questors, who received a per-centage on the amount, they often exaggerated the advantages of the indulgence, and imposed on the people. To prevent such abuses, severe constitutions had been enacted by several popes ; but these laws were either not enforced, or had fallen into disuse. Among the different projects which occupied the restless mind of Julius II., was that of erecting a temple worthy of the capital of the Christian world, of enormous dimensions The pro ; ects of and unrivalled magnificence. To raise money for Julius n - this purpose, he had published an indulgence in Poland and France ; which his successor, Leo X., had with the same view extended to the northern provinces of Germany. The papal commission was directed to Albert, elector of Mentz, and arch- bishop of Magdeburg; and that prelate employed as his delegate Tetzel, a Dominican friar, whose brethren rapidly spread them- selves over Saxony. The origin of the revolution which followed may, with proba- bility, be attributed to the counsels of Staupitz, vicar of the friars of St. Augustine. It has been generally supposed Luther attacks ., , & , .^ ./ 5 . the doctrine of in, tnat he was actuated by a spirit of opposition to duigence. the Dominicans. For his ostensible agent he selected a young * We pass over, for want of space, Dr. Lingard's interesting detail of the continental -wars, in which Henry was for some years engaged, and proceed to examine the history of the religious revolution which subverted the established creed, and abolished the papal authority in several of the states of Europe. An account of tho causes which led to its commencement and accelerated its progress will be appropriate in this place. 29 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1517. friar of his own order, named Martin Luther. When Frederic, elector of Saxony, founded the university of Wittemberg, Luther had obtained a professorship at the recommendation of Staupitz, and soon attracted notice by the peculiar boldness of his writings. He was now in his thirty-fifth year, vain of his talents for dispu- tation, and fearless of opposition j and eagerly undertook the task assigned to him by the zeal or the envy of his superior. His first essay was the composition of ninety-five short theses on the nature of indulgences. He affixed his theses to the great door of the church of Wittemberg ; then maintained them publicly from the pulpit, and afterward dispersed them in printed copies through the chief cities of Germany. The Dominican friars were alarmed and exasperated at the op- position of Luther. They refuted his theses with warmth, and were answered by him with greater warmth. The controversy soon attracted public notice throughout Germany and the neigh- boring countries. At Heidelberg Luther maintained, both in word and writing, that by the fall of Adam man has been de- prived of the use of free will ; that faith alone is sufficient for salvation; and that the best of our actions are of their own nature grievous offences. The auditor of the papal court, the bishop of Ascoli, had already cited him to appear at Rome within sixty days; but when he heard of Luther's conduct at Heidelberg, he pronounced him a heretic, without waiting for the expiration of that term. About this time Leo published a bull declaratory of the doctrine of the Roman church respecting indulgences, the original subject Leo polishes a of the controversy. Though it does not mention bulL Luther by name, it is evidently pointed against his assertions. It teaches that the pope, as successor of St. Peter, and the vicar of Christ upon earth, possesses the power of grant- ing, for reasonable causes, certain indulgences in favor of such of the faithful as are in a state of grace, whether they be alive or dead, for the remission of the temporal punishment due on ac- count of actual sin. This bull probed the sincerity of Luther to the quick. He had promised to accept the decision of the pontiff, whether it approved or condemned his doctrine. That prelate had now spoken, and the decision was unfavorable ; but the pro- fessor, forgetful of his former protestations, instead of submit- 1521 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 339 ting, appealed by a formal instrument from the pope to a general council. There existed in G-ermany a very prevalent feeling of disaffec- tion to the see of Rome. The violent contests between the popes and the emperors in former times had left a germ The state of Ger- of discontent, which required but little aid to many at that time, shoot into open hostility. The recent invention of printing, by multiplying the copies of books and the number of readers, had given a new and extraordinary impulse to the powers and passions of men, who began to conceive that their ancestors had been kept not only in intellectual but also in civil thraldom. All Germany was in a ferment ; and Luther converted the general feeling to his own purpose with admirable address. The politicians of Rome blamed the tardiness and irresolution of Leo himself, who for two years had suffered the innovator to brave the papal authority, without taking any decisive step to punish his presumption. The pope, whether he listened to the timidity of his temper, or thought that the storm might be allayed by gentleness, commissioned Miltitz, a Saxon nobleman, to bring Luther back to his duty by persuasion and promises. Miltitz exhorted and advised, but without success. Leo The procee( jing3 soon published a bull in which he stigmatized Lu- of Le0 - ther's propositions as false, scandalous, and heretical; allowed him sixty days to retract his errors; and pronounced him excommuni- cated if he continued obstinate after the expiration of that term. But success and impunity had taught Luther to deride the au- thority before which he had formerly trembled. He appealed to the decision of a general council ; and having called an assembly of the inhabitants of Wittemberg, led them to a funeral pile, erected without the walls, and with much solemnity cast into the flames the books of the canon law, and the bull of Pope Leo against himself. War was now openly declared, and each party labored to se- cure the friendship of the new emperor. The elector Frederic, to whom that prince lay under the greatest obliga- ^^ against tions, exerted all his influence in favor of his Luther - friend ; and Luther himself, to alienate the inexperienced mind of Charles from the see of Rome, addressed to him an historical treatise, in which he artfully exaggerated the many injuries 340 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1521. which the different pontiffs had inflicted on the empire, and ex- horted him to vindicate the honor of the imperial crown. But this course availed him not, for a decree was soon published against him, ordering the seizure of his person, forbidding any prince to harbor or protect him, and prohibiting the publication of writings on doctrinal matters without the previous approbation of the ordinary. Luther, however, had already provided for his own security. He took refuge in a solitary castle situate at a distance in the mountains. The place of his concealment was kept a profound secret both from his friends and his enemies ; but he continued to animate the former by his writings ; while the latter found themselves repeatedly assailed by their indefati- gable but invisible adversary. Detailed accounts of all these transactions had been carefully transmitted to England by the royal agents. Wolsey, by his Henry and Wol- office of legate, Was bound tO Oppose the new doc- doctrines, trines; and Henry, who had applied to the school divinity, attributed their diffusion in Germany to the supine ignorance of the native princes. By a letter to Charles V. he had already evinced his hostility to doctrinal innovation ; but it was deemed prudent to abstain from any public declaration till the future decision of the diet could be conjectured with some degree of certainty. Then the legate, attended by the other pre- lates and the papal and imperial ambassadors, proceeded to St. Paul's; the bishop of Rochester preached from the cross; and the works of Luther, condemned by the pontiff, were burned in presence of the multitude. Henry himself was anxious to enter the lists against the German; nor did Wolsey discourage the attempt, under the idea that pride no less than conviction would afterward bind the royal polemic to the support of the ancient creed. That the treatise in defence of the seven sacraments, which the king published, was his own composition, is forcibly asserted by himself; that it was planned, revised, and improved by the superior judgment of the cardinal and the bishop of Ro- chester, was the opinion of the public. The dean of Windsor carried the royal production to Rome, and in a full consistory submitted it to the inspection and approbation of the pontiff. Clement accepted the present with many expressions of admira- tion and gratitude, and conferred on the English monarch the 1621 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 341 title of " Defender of the Faith." Luther wrote Henry is etyied _ , . " Defender of the an answer to Henry, but the intemperance of nis Faith." declamation scandalized his friends, while it gave joy to his ene- mies. To the king, he allotted no other praise than that of writing in elegant language ; in all other respects, he was " a fool and an ass, a blasphemer and a liar." Henry complained to Lu- ther's patron, the elector; the German princes considered the work as an insult to crowned heads ; and at the earnest entreaty of Christian, king of Denmark, Luther condescended to write an apology ; but his " apology" was severe satire, and not likely to appease the mind of Henry, who published an answer, in which he openly avows himself to be the author of the tract printed with his name, and expresses his esteem for Wolsey, " whom he always loved, but whom he shall now love much more, since he has been honored with the abuse of one who never spared exalted worth either in the living or the dead." Luther now announced his regret that he had descended to the meanness of making an apology ; and condemned his own folly in supposing that virtue could exist in a court, or that Christ might be found in a place where Satan reigned. Luther, returning to Wittemberg, pub- lished his German translation of the Scriptures. It was prepos- terous to imagine that, from the perusal of the sacred volume, the common people could be enabled to decide those questions which divided the most learned; but the gift flattered their pride. Several new preachers arose, who said that they had as good a claim to infallibility as Luther ; they began to dispute many of his doctrines, and to reform the reformer himself. Zwinglius declared against him in Switzerland. Muncer, driven from Saxony, erected his hostile standard at Mulhausen in Thu- ringia. The peasants, allured by his doctrines, were soon in arms, and the princes of the empire began to tremble for their political existence. Luther was overwhelmed with reproaches; the evil, it was said, had sprung from the tendency of his doc- trines; and, to justify himself, he declared that Muncer was in- spired and aided by the devil, and that the only remedy was to extirpate with fire and sword both the teacher and his disciples. After many a bloody field in different parts of the empire, the Catholics and Lutherans, by their united efforts, suppressed the insurrection. But the moment the common enemy was removed, 29* 342 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1525. their mutual distrust revived ; the Catholic princes requested the presence of the emperor to protect them from the machinations of their enemies ; and the Protestant princes concluded, at Torgau, a league for their common defence. In 1525, Henry fell in love with Anne Boleyn, one of the queen's maids of honor, and, in order that he might marry her, Henry falls in he now, to obtain a divorce, affected to fear that he Boieyn. was living in a state of incest with the relict of his brother. The royal wish was no sooner communicated to "Wolsey, than he offered his aid, and ventured to promise complete success. His views, however, were very different from those of his sove- reign. Unapprized of Henry's intentions in favor of Anne, he looked forward to the political consequences of the divorce; and had already selected, for the successor of Catherine, Renee, the daughter of Louis XII. of France. Henry mentioned his doubts respecting the validity of his marriage to several canonists and divines ; most of whom, from a passage in Leviticus, contended that no dispensation could have authorized a marriage with tho widow of a brother. Wolsey soon proceeded to the continent, that he might settle in person with Francis the promised marriage of the princess Mary. That monarch still insisted on their union; and the most that Wolsey could obtain was, that the marriage should take place either with the king or his second son, the duke of Orleans. Henry would not consent to the first part of this alternative; and therefore imposed on his minister the task of persuading Francis to be satisfied with the second, or to break off the intended marriage altogether. Wolsey, though not pleased at the commission, made up his mind to fulfil with apparent cheerfulness the pleasure of his sovereign, and proceeded to France. Hitherto the king had concealed his thoughts respecting a divorce from the knowledge of the queen ; but Catherine's eyes had witnessed his partiality for her maid, and her jealousy at last discovered the whole intrigue. In a fit of passion she reproached him to his face with the baseness of his conduct. Henry, how- ever, appeased her by appealing to her piety, and protesting that his only object was to search out the truth, and to tranquillize his own conscience. When the cardinal returned to England from his French mis- 1528 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 343 sion, the king took an opportunity of communicating to him his fixed determination to marry Anne Boleyn. The . Henry deter- minister received the intelligence with grief and AnneBoieyn. dismay. On his knees he besought the king to recede from a project which would cover him with disgrace; but, aware of the royal temper, he soon desisted from his opposition, and became a convert to the measure which he could not prevent. With the nation at large the king's course was unpopular. The fate of a princess who for so many years had been acknowledged as queen, and who had displayed in that situation every virtue which could grace a throne, was calculated to awaken in her favor the feelings of the public. A commission was obtained from the pope authorizing Wolsey, with the aid of any of the other Eng- lish prelates, to inquire summarily, and without judicial forms, into the validity of the dispensation which had been granted by Julius, and of the marriage between Henry and Catherine; to pronounce, in defiance of exception or appeal, the dispensation sufiicient or surreptitious, the marriage valid or invalid, according to the conviction of his conscience ; and to divorce the parties, if it were invalid, but at the same time to legitimate their issue, if such legitimation were desired. Wolsey now began to hesitate ; and took the opportunity of declaring to the king at one of the consultations, that though he was bound in gratitude, and was ready to spend Wo i sey > g deter . his goods, blood, and life in his service, yet he motion, was under greater obligations to God, at whose tribunal he would have to render an account of his actions, and therefore was deter- mined to show the king no more favor than justice required; and if he found the dispensation sufficient in law, so to pronounce it, whatever might be the consequence. Henry at the moment sup- pressed his feelings ; but in a short time gave way to his anger in language the most opprobrious and alarming. Wolsey saw the danger which threatened him. Anne Boleyn was not his friend. Her relatives and advisers were his rivals and enemies ; and he knew that they only waited for the expected marriage to effect his downfall with the aid of her influence over the mind of the kins;. In 1528 a plague broke out, and while it continued, the har- mony in which the king lived with his wife, and the religious impression which the danger had left on his mind, excited a sus- 344 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1529. The progress of picion that he would abandon his project of a di- the divorce. vorce ) hut the contagion had no sooner ceased than he resumed his former course of conduct. Campeggio, the legate who came from Rome on the subject of the divorce, after he had been introduced to Henry, waited on the queen, first in private, and then in the company of Wolsey and four other prelates. He exhorted her in the name of the pontiff to enter a convent, and then explained to her the objections against the validity of her marriage. Catherine replied with modesty and firmness ; that it was not for herself that she was concerned, but for her daughter, whose interests were more dear to her than her own. She there- fore demanded as a right the aid of counsel of her own choice. This request was partially granted ) and, in addition to certain English prelates and canonists, she was permitted to choose two foreign advocates. The court, for the trial of the question, met after much delay in the parliament chamber at the Blackfriars, and summoned the king and queen to appear on the eighteenth of June, 1529. The latter obeyed, but protested against the judges, and appealed to the pope. At the next session Henry sat in state on the right of the cardinals, and answered in due form to his name. Cathe- rine was on their left ; and, as soon as she was called, rising from her chair, renewed her protest. On the refusal of the cardinals to admit her appeal, she rose a second time, crossed before them, and, accompanied by her maids, threw herself at the king's feet. " Sir," said she, u I beseech you to pity me, a woman and a stranger, without an assured friend, and without an indifferent counsellor. I take God to witness, that I have always been to you a true and loyal wife. If there be any offence which can be alleged against me, I consent to depart with infamy ; if not, then I pray you do me justice." She immediately rose, made a low obeisance, and retired. Henry, observing the impression which her address had made on the audience, replied that she had always been a dutiful wife ; that his present suit did not proceed from any dislike to her, but from the tenderness of his own con- science. Notwithstanding the queen's appeal, the cause proceeded, and on her refusal to appear in person or by her attorney, she was pronounced contumacious. Several sittings were held, but the 1529 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 315 evidence and the arguments were all on the same side. Wolsey urged for a speedy decision; hut Campeggio, unwilling to pro- nounce against his conscience, and afraid to irritate the king, solicited the pope by letter, to call the cause before himself. To add to their common perplexity, despatches had arrived from the agents at Rome, stating that the queen's appeal had been re- ceived ; and that Clement would in a few days revoke the com- mission, and reserve the cognizance of the cause to himself. The legates had prolonged the trial by repeated adjournments. On the 23d of July, 1529, they held their last session ; the king attended in a neighboring room, from which he could see and hear the proceedings ; and his counsel in lofty terms called for the judgment of the court. But Campeggio re- The determina _ plied, that judgment must be deferred till the tionofCampeggio whole of the proceedings had been laid before the pontiff, and that no consideration should divert him from his duty. He was too old, and weak, and sickly to seek the favor, or fear the resent- ment of any man. The defendant had challenged him and his colleague as judges, because they were the subjects of her oppo- nent. To avoid error, they had therefore determined to consult Rome, and for that purpose he adjourned the court to the com- mencement of the next term, in the beginning of October. Henry seemed to bear the disappointment with a composure of mind which was unusual to him. But he had not been unpre- pared for the event. By the advice of Wolsey he resolved to con- ceal his real feelings, to procure the opinions of learned men in his favor, to effect the divorce by ecclesiastical authority within the realm, and then to confirm it by act of parliament. Wolsey' s good fortune now began to abandon him. At this moment, while Henry was still smarting under his recent disap- pointment, an instrument arrived from Rome, for- The dlS(rrace of bidding him to pursue his cause before the le- Wols ey. gates, and citing him to appear by attorney in the papal court under a heavy penalty. The whole process was one of mere form j but it revived the irritation of the king ; he deemed it a personal insult, and insisted that Wolsey should devise some ex- pedient to prevent it from being served on him, and from being made known to his subjects. This, after a tedious negotiation, was effected with the consent of the queen and her counsel. But w 346 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1529, it was in vain that the cardinal labored to recover the royal favor. The proofs of his disgrace became daily more manifest. He was not invited to court ; on matters of state his opinion was seldom asked, and then only by special messengers; even letters address- ed to him were intercepted, opened, and perused by Henry. Still, amid the misgivings of his own breast and the sinister predic- tions of his friends, he cherished the hope that some lucky chance might replace him on his former pre-eminence, and impru- dently trusted to the hollow professions of men, who, though they had served him faithfully in prosperity, were ready to be- tray his confidence in his declining fortune. With some difficulty he obtained an interview with Henry, in company with Campeg- gio, when that prelate took leave of the king. The Italian was received by the officers of the court with the attention due to his rank ; the fallen minister found to his surprise that, though an apartment had been ordered for his companion, none was provided for himself. He was introduced into the presence. Every tongue foretold his disgrace — every eye watched his reception. To the general surprise, when he knelt, the king graciously raised him up with both hands, led him aside in a friendly manner, and con- versed with him familiarly for a considerable time. The cardinal dined with the ministers; Henry with the lady Anne in her chamber; but after dinner he sent for Wolsey again, conducted him by the hand into his closet, and kept him in private con- ference till it was dark. At his departure — for he slept at a gentleman's house in the neighborhood — he received a command to return on the following morning. Wolsey' s enemies now trembled for their own safety; they were relieved from their ap- prehensions by the ascendency of Anne Boleyn, who extorted from her lover a promise that he would never more speak to the cardinal. When Wolsey returned in the morning the king was already on horseback, and having sent a message to him to attend the council and then depart with Campeggio, rode out in the com- pany of the lady Anne. After that day, he and Wolsey never met each other. Hales, the attorney -general, soon afterward filed two bills against him in the King's Bench, charging him with having, as legate, transgressed the statute of Premunire* * An act forbidding documents against the crown being brought from Rome. 1530 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 347 This stroke, though it was not unexpected, plunged Wolsey into despair. He knew the stern and irritable temper of his prosecu- tor; to have maintained his innocence would have been to exclude the hope of forgiveness. He therefore submitted without a mur- mur to every demand; resigned the great seal; transferred to the king the whole of his personal estate; ordered his attorney to plead guilty to the indictment, and threw himself without reserve on the royal mercy. His enemies labored doubly to keep alive the royal displeasure against him. They represented him as an ungrateful favorite, who had sought nothing but his own interest and gratification. Still the king's partiality for his The king shows former favorite seemed to be proof against all the wolsey. representations of the council. He continued to send to the car- dinal from time to time consoling messages and tokens of affec- tion, though it was generally by stealth, and sometimes during the night. When the court pronounced judgment against him, he took him under the royal protection; and when articles of im- peachment had been introduced into the house of lords, and passed from it to the house of commons, he procured them to be thrown out by the agency of Cromwell, who from the service of the cardinal had risen to that of the king. Wolsey however sank in health and spirits. The anguish of his mind rapidly con- sumed the vigor of his constitution. About Christmas, 1529, he fell into a fever, which obstinately defied the powers of medicine. When Henry heard of his danger, he exclaimed, " Grod forbid that he should die. I would not lose him for twenty thousand pounds." He immediately ordered three physicians to hasten to Esher, where Wolsey lived, and repeatedly assured the cardinal of his unabated attachment. As the agitation of Wolsey' s mind subsided, the health of his body was restored ; but his enemies has prepared for him a new conflict, and required of him additional sacrifices. It was ulti- mately agreed that Wolsey should retain the administration, tem- poral as well as spiritual, of the archiepiscopal see of York, but, in consideration of a general pardon, make over to the crown all his other ecclesiastical revenues. On the 4th of November, 1530, Wolsey was unexpectedly ar- rested on a charge of high treason. He betrayed no symptoms of guilt; the king had not, he main- high treason. c 348 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [1530 A. D. tained, a more loyal subject than himself; there lived not on earth the man who could look him in the face and charge him with untruth ; nor did he seek any other favor than to be con- fronted with his accusers. His health (he suffered much from dropsy) would not allow him to travel with expedition ; and at Sheffield Park, a seat of the His illness and ear ^ °^ Shrewsbury, he was seized with a dysentery death. which confined him a fortnight. As soon as he was able to mount his mule he resumed his journey; but feeling his strength rapidly decline, he said to the abbot of Leicester, as he entered the gate of the monastery, u Father abbot, I am come to lay my bones among you." He was immediately carried to his bed ; and the second day, seeing Kyngston, the lieutenant of the Tower, in his chamber, he addressed him in these well-known words : " Master Kyngston, I pray you have me commended to his majesty; had I but served God as diligently as I have served him, he would not have given me over in my gray hairs. But this is my just reward for my pains and study, not regarding my service to God, but only my duty to my prince." Having received the last consolations of religion, he expired the next morning, in the sixtieth year of his age. The best eulogy on his character is to be found in the contrast between the conduct of Henry before and after the cardinal's fall. As long as Wolsey continued in fa- vor, the royal passions were confined within certain bounds ; the moment his influence was extinguished they burst through every restraint, and by their caprice and violence alarmed his subjects and astonished the other nations of Europe. To appoint a successor to Wolsey, in the chancery, was an ob- ject of great importance; and the office was at length given to sir Thomas More Sir Thomas More, the treasurer of the household, ceed Wolsey. ' and chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. It may justly excite surprise that More should accept this dangerous office. With a delicate conscience and a strong sense of duty, he was not a fit associate for less timorous colleagues. As a scholar, he was celebrated in every part of Europe, and as a lawyer he had long practised with applause and success. From the office of under-sheriff or common sergeant, Henry had called him to court, had employed him in different embassies, and had rewarded him with the lucrative preferments which have already been men- 1531 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 349 tioned. The merit of More was universally acknowledged, and even Wolsey declared that he knew no one more worthy to be his successor. About this time Thomas Cromwell appears in history. His father was a fuller in the neighborhood of the capital. The son in his early youth served as a trooper in the wars The rise of Th(> of Italy ; from the army he passed to the service mas Cromweu. of a Venetian merchant ; and after some time, returning to Eng- land, exchanged the counter for the study of the law. Wolsey had employed him to dissolve the monasteries which had been granted for the establishment of his colleges, a trust which he discharged to the satisfaction of his patron, at the same time that he enriched himself. His principles, however, if we may believe his own assertions, were of the most flagitious description. When Wolsey fell he followed him for a time ; but despairing of the fortune of the fallen favorite, hastened to court, purchased with presents the protection of the ministers, and was confirmed in that office under the king, which he had before held under the cardinal. When Henry, despairing of obtaining the pope's consent to the divorce, declared that he would abandon the idea, Cromwell urged him to imitate the princes of Germany, who Henry advised to declare himself had thrown off the yoke of Rome; and, with the head of the church, authority of parliament, to declare himself the head of the church within his own realm. Henry listened with surprise and pleasure to a discourse which flattered not only his passion for Anne Bo- leyn, but his thirst of wealth and greediness of power. He thanked Cromwell, and ordered him to be sworn of his privy council. Soon afterward, a deputation was sent to Catherine with an order for her to leave the palace at Windsor. " Go where I may," she answered, " I shall still be the king's lawful wife." She repaired to Ampthill ; where, if she was no longer treated as queen, she no longer witnessed the ascendency of her rival. The bishoprics of York and Winchester, two of the most wealthy preferments in the English church, had remained vacant since the death of Wolsey, through the desire of Henry to bestow one of them on his kinsman, Reginald Pole. He was told that the king had marked him out for the first dignities in the English church, but previously expected from him a faithful explanation of his 30 350 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A.D. 1533. opinion concerning the divorce. Pole frankly owned that lie was against it, but, by the advice of the duke, requested the respite of a month, that he might have leisure to study the question. He condemned the divorce, and the vacant sees were given to others. Five years had now rolled away since Henry first solicited a divorce, and still he appeared to have made but little progress to- Heniy is private- war( * tfte attainment of his object. Anne Boleyn, i y married toAnne. [ n 1532^ proved to be in a condition to promise him an heir j and the necessity of placing beyond cavil the legiti- macy of the child induced him to violate a pledge which he had solemnly given to the king of France, that he would not marry Anne without the consent of the church, and he was privately married to her in January, 1533 ) but the marriage was not pub- licly avowed till the following Easter. The next step was to obtain some ecclesiastical decision in favor of the divorce. "With this view, Thomas Cranmer, who was in Cranmer made Henry's interest, was appointed archbishop of archbishop of York. York. He held a court to which Catherine was summoned, but she did not appear, and Cranmer, in May, 1533, pronounced his judgment, that the marriage between her and Henry was null and invalid, and without force from the very be- ginning. Cranmer held another court at Lambeth, and officially declared that Henry and Anne were and had been joined in lawful matrimony. These proceedings were preparatory to the coronation of the new queen, which was performed with unusual magnifi- cence, attended by all the nobility of England, and celebrated with great splendor. In the eighth month after the performance of the nuptial ceremony, Anne bore the king a child ; but that child, to his inexpressible disappointment, was a female, the princess Elizabeth, who afterward ascended the throne. As soon as Cranmer had pronounced judgment, Catherine re- ceived a command from the king to be content with the style of Proceedings in dowager princess of "Wales ; and those among her favor of Catherine, dependants who gave her the title of queen, were ordered to be irrevocably dismissed from her service. In foreign nations her lot became the object of universal commiseration; even in England the general feeling was in her favor. At Rome, Cle- ment was daily importuned by Charles V. and Ferdinand to do justice to their aunt, and he annulled the sentence given by Cran- 1534 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 351 mer, as the cause was at the very time pending before himself, and excommunicated Henry and Anne, unless they should separate before the end of September, or show why they claimed to be con- sidered as husband and wife. The college of cardinals subse- quently pronounced a definitive sentence, declaring the proceedings against Catherine unjust, and ordering the king to take her back as his legitimate wife. But, in reality, it mattered little to Henry whether Clement had pronounced for or against him. The die was already cast ; violent counsels began to prevail in the English violent proceed- cabinet; and a resolution was taken to erect a se- frgs in parliament, parate and independent church within the realm. Act after act derogatory from the papal claims was debated and passed in par- liament; and the kingdom was severed by legislative authority from the communion of Rome, in 1534. Appeals to Rome were prohibited in all cases whatsoever ; and in lieu of the right thus abolished, suitors were allowed to appeal from the court of the archbishop to the king in chancery. It was enacted that bishops should no longer be presented to the pope for confirmation, nor sue out bulls in his court ; but that, on the vacancy of any cathe- dral church, the king should grant to the dean and chapter, or to the prior and monks, permission to elect the person whose name was mentioned in his letters missive. It was also enacted, thai since the clergy had recognised the king for the supreme head of the Church of England, every kind of payment made to Rome, and every species of license, dispensation, and grant, usually ob- tained from Rome, should forthwith cease ; that hereafter all such graces and indulgences should be sought of the archbishop of Canterbury. By another act, the marriage between Henry and Catherine was pronounced unlawful and null; that between him and Anne Boleyn lawful and valid ; the king's issue by the first marriage was of course excluded from the succession, and by the second was declared entitled to inherit the crown. The king had now accomplished his two great objects : he had bestowed on Anne the rights of a lawful wife, and had invested himself with the supremacy of the church. But the opposition which he had experienced strengthened his passions and steeled his heart against the common feelings of humanity; and each 352 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1534. Fisher, bishop of succeedin g y ear ° f kia reign was stained with the Rochester, and sir blood of many, often of noble and innocent, vic- Thomas More, op- . tt 1 i • i o i-» <~i« mi pose the king's su- tims. issuer, bishop ot .Rochester, and Sir Thomas More, lately lord chancellor, were sacrificed to Henry's anger, in 1534. Fisher was far advanced in age. For many years the king had revered him as a parent, and was accus- tomed to boast that no prince in Europe possessed a prelate equal in virtue and learning to the bishop of Rochester. But his oppo- sition to the divorce gradually effaced the recollection of his merit and services. He was accused of misprision of treason, because, as it was said, he had declared his belief in the prophecy of a woman named Barton, who said that Henry would not survive the divorce many months. He was attainted with others, and compounded with the crown for his freedom and personalities in the sum of three hundred pounds. Sir Thomas More had ceased at this time to fill the office of chancellor. He opposed the divorce ; and as, in the execution of his office, he had found himself unavoidably engaged in matters which he could not reconcile with his conscience, he tendered his resignation, and avoiding all interference in politics, devoted his whole time to study and prayer. He looked upon Elizabeth Bar- ton as a pious and virtuous woman, deluded by a weak and excited imagination, and wrote to her to avoid public affairs. His letter and an interview afforded a presumption that he was a party in some conspiracy; his name was introduced into the bill of at- tainder, and with difficulty he caused it to be erased. Fisher and More were summoned before the council at Lambeth, and were asked whether they would consent to take the new oath of succession. They offered to take the oath of succession if some matters were expunged which they considered wrong in theology. Both were remanded that they might have more time for consi- deration. The oath was tendered to them a second time ) and both, on their refusal to take it, were committed to the Tower. The form of the oath, for the refusal of which More and Fisher were committed, had not then obtained the sanction of the legis- lature. But the two houses made light of the objection, and passed against them a bill of attainder for misprision of treason, involving the penalty of forfeiture and perpetual imprisonment. Under this sentence, More had no other resource for the support 1534 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 353 of life than the charity of his friends. Fisher, Pate of risher though in his seventieth year, was reduced to a and More - state of destitution, in which he had not even sufficient cloth- ing. In the mean time, news arrived that the pontiff, Paul III., at a general promotion of cardinals, had appointed Fisher cardinal. Henry is reported to have on this occasion ex- claimed, u Paul may send him the hat, but I will take care that he have never a head to wear it on." He was soon afterward tried for denying the king's ecclesiastical supremacy, found guilty, and beheaded. More was soon afterward tried for the same cause of offence, and was of course convicted. He met his fate with constancy, even with cheerfulness, declaring that he died a faithful subject to the king, and a true Catholic before God. His head was fixed on London Bridge. A bull was at this time signed by the pope against Henry and his abettors, but on account of the state of Europe, it was not thought prudent to promulgate the instrument. Although Henry had now obtained the great object of his am- bition, the extent of his ecclesiastical pretensions remained sub- ject to doubt and discussion. Henry himself did Cromwell exait- not clearly explain, perhaps knew not how to ex- ed above the clergy, plain, his own sentiments. If on the one hand he was willing to push his ecclesiastical prerogative to its utmost limits, on the other he was checked by the contrary tendency of those principles which he had published and maintained in his treatise against Luther. He established an additional office for the conduct of ecclesi- astical affairs. At its head was placed Cromwell, with the title of " royal vicegerent and vicar-general." It was with difficulty that the clergy suppressed their murmurs, when they saw at their head a man who had never taken orders, nor graduated in any university; but their degradation, however, was not yet consum- mated. It was resolved to probe the sincerity of their submission, and to extort from them a practical acknowledgment that they derived no authority from Christ, but were merely the occasional delegates of the crown. With this object all the prelates were suspended from their functions, and then, by royal letters, reap- pointed as ministers of the king. Cromwell had long ago promised that the assumption of the 30* 354 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1535. supremacy would place the wealth of the clerical and monastic Dissolution of b°di es at the mercy of the crown. Hence that the monasteries, minister, encouraged by the success of his former counsels, ventured to propose the dissolution of the monasteries ; and the motion was received with welcome by the king and by Arch- bishop Cranmer, whose approbation of the new doctrines taught him to seek the ruin of those establishments which proved the firmest supports of the ancient faith. A general visitation of the monasteries was therefore enjoined. The instructions which the visitors received breathed a spirit of piety and reformation, and were formed on the model of those formerly used in episcopal and legatine visitations ; so that to men not intrusted with the secret, the object of Henry appeared, not the abolition but the support and improvement of the monastic institute. A statement was compiled and laid before parliament, which, while it allotted the praise of regularity to the greater monasteries, described the less opulent as abandoned to sloth and immorality. A bill was intro- duced and hurried, though not without opposition, through the two houses, giving to the king and his heirs all monastic esta- blishments the clear yearly value of which did not exceed £200. By this act about three hundred and eighty communities were dissolved ; and an addition of £32,000 made to the yearly reve- nue of the crown, besides the present receipt of £100,000 in money, plate, and jewels. The parliament, by many successive prorogations, had continued six years ; it was now dissolved, and commissioners were named to execute the last act for the suppression of the smaller monas- teries. The superior of each suppressed house received a pension for life ', of the monks, those who had not reached the age of twenty-four were absolved from their vows, and sent adrift in the world without any provision ; the others were dispersed among the larger monasteries. The lot of the nuns was more distressing. Each received a single gown from the king, and was left to sup- port herself by her own industry, or to seek relief from the charity and commiseration of others. During three years, Catherine, with a small establishment, had resided on one of the royal manors. In most points she submitted without a murmur to the royal pleasure ; but no Queen Catherine, promise, no intimidation could induce her to forego 1536 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 355 the title of queen, or to acknowledge the invalidity of her mar- riage, or to accept the offer made to her by her nephew, of a safe and honorable asylum either in Spain or Flanders. It was not that she sought to gratify her pride, or to secure her personal interests ; but she still cherished a persuasion that her daughter Mary might at some future period be called to the throne. Her bodily constitution was gradually enfeebled by mental suffering; and feeling her health decline, she repeated a request, which had often been refused, that she might see her daughter once at least before her death ; for Mary, from the time of the divorce, had been separated from the company that she might not imbibe the principles of her mother. Henry had the cruelty to refuse this last consolation to the unfortunate Catherine, who, from her death- bed, dictated a short letter to him, in which she conjured him to think of his salvation ; forgave him all the wrongs which he had done her; and recommended their daughter Mary to his paternal protection. As he perused the letter, the stern heart of Henry was softened ; he even shed a tear, and desired the ambassador to bear to her a kind and consoling message ; but she died [January 8, 1586] before his arrival; and was buried, by the king's direction, with becoming pomp, in the abbey church of Peter- borough. Four months did not elapse before Catherine was followed to the grave by Anne Boleyn. Henry's passion for her gradually subsided into coldness and neglect: and the indul- Anne Boieyn , . , . . . -i r> i loses the affection gent lover became at last a suspicious and unteel- of the king, ing master. At the death of Catherine she made no secret of her joy. Out of respect for the Spanish princess, the king had ordered his servants to wear mourning on the day of her burial ; but Anne dressed herself in robes of yellow silk, and openly declared that she was now indeed a queen, since she had no longer a competitor. In this, however, she was fatally deceived. Among her maids was one named Jane Seymour, the daughter of a knight of Wiltshire, who, to equal or superior elegance of person, added a gentle and playful disposition. The queen discovered that an intimacy existed between Jane and Henry, and was so much affected thereby, that she prematurely gave birth to a dead male child, which was a bitter disappointment to Henry. Reports, injurious to Anne's honor had been circulated at court; they had 356 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1536. reached the ear of Henry, and some notice of them had been whispered to Anne herself. The king, eager to rid himself of a woman whom he no longer loved, referred these reports to the council; and a committee was appointed to inquire into the charges against the queen, who reported that sufficient proof had been discovered to convict her. On 1st May, 1536, the Lord Kochford appeared as principal challenger in a tilting match at Greenwich, and was opposed by Sir Henry Norris (one of those with whom Anne was suspected of being too familiar) as principal defendant. The king and Anne were both present; and it is said that, in one of the intervals between the courses, the queen, through accident or design, dropped her handkerchief from the balcony; that Norris, at whose feet it fell, took it up and wiped his face with it ; and that Henry instantly changed color, started Anne arrested from his seat and retired. The next day Anne Tower. was charged with infidelity to the king's bed, and was sent to the Tower. She abandoned herself to despair, and her affliction produced occasional fits of insanity. It is plain that her conduct had been imprudent ; that she had descended from her high station to make companions of her men-servants ; and that she had even been so weak as to listen to their declarations of love. But whether she rested here or not, is a question which probably can never be determined. Those with whom she was accused of having committed adultery, were tried, convicted, and put to death. Anne was soon tried and convicted. By the result of this trial her life was forfeited to the law ; but the vengeance of Henry had prepared for her an additional punishment in the degradation of herself and her daughter Elizabeth. He ordered Cranmer to declare that the marriage with Anne had been invalid. To hesitate would have cost the archbishop his head. Never, perhaps, was there a more solemn mockery of the forms of justice than in the pretended trial of this extraordinary cause. Cranmer pronounced definitively that the marriage formerly contracted be- tween Henry and Anne Boleyn was, and always had been, null and void. The divorce was approved and confirmed by convoca- tion and by parliament. To Elizabeth, the infant daughter of Anne, the necessary consequence was, that she, like her sister, the daughter of Catherine, was reputed illegitimate. On the evening before her death, Anne, falling on her knees before the 1536 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 357 wife of the Tower lieutenant, asked her for a last favor ; which was, that she would in her name beseech the princess Mary to forgive the many wrongs which the pride of a thoughtless, unfor- tunate woman had brought upon her. About noon, she is executed, 19th May, 1536, Anne was led to the scaffold, Mayi9,i&36. dressed in a robe of black damask, and attended by her four maids. With the permission of the lieutenant, she addressed the spectators, but neither confessed guilt nor — as at her trial — ■ protested innocence. She then knelt down ; one of her attend- ants tied a bandage over her eyes, and, as she exclaimed, " O Lord God, have mercy upon my soul/' the executioner, with one blow of his sword, severed her head from the body. Her remains were immediately afterward buried within the chapel of the Tower. Thus fell this unfortunate queen within four months after the death of Catherine. Henry had wept at the death of Catherine; but, as if he sought to display his contempt for the memory of Anne, he dressed himself in white on the day of n en ry marries her execution, and was married to Jane Seymour Jane Se y mour - the next morning. For two years the princess Mary had lived at Hunsdon, a royal manor, in a state of absolute seclusion from society. Through Cromwell's intercession, she was permitted to write to her father; but before he would see her, she was obliged to acknowledge that it was her duty to observe all the king's laws ; that Henry was the head of the church; and that the marriage between her father and mother had been incestuous and unlawful. But though she was received into favor, she was not restored in blood. The king had called a parliament to pass a new act of succession, entailing his crown on his issue by his queen, Jane Seymour. But he did not rest here : in violation of every constitutional principle, he obtained a power, in failure of children by his present or any fu- ture wife, to bequeath the crown to any such person or persons whom he might think proper. An insurrection insurrection in took place, in the autumn of 1536, in the north- ties. thern counties, where the people retained a strong attachment to the ancient doctrines ; and the clergy, farther removed from the influence of the court, were less disposed to abjure their opinions at the nod of the sovereign. When they saw the ruin of the establishments which they had revered from their childhood; the 358 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1536. monks driven from their homes, and in many instances compelled to beg their bread ; and the poor, who had formerly been fed at the doors of the convents, now abandoned without relief; they demanded the redress of their grievances. Nor was the insurrec- tion long confined to the common people. The nobility and gentry joined the insurgents, either through compulsion, as they afterward pretended, or through inclination, as was generally be- lieved. The enterprise was quaintly termed the " pilgrimage of grace •" on the banners wore painted the image of Christ cruci- fied, and the chalice and host, the emblems of the ancient belief; and wherever the pilgrims appeared, the ejected monks were re- placed in the monasteries, and the inhabitants were compelled to take the oath, and to join the army. The insurgents appointed delegates to lay their demands before Henry. After some delays the king offered, and the insurgents accepted, an unlimited pardon, with an understanding that their grievances should be shortly and patiently discussed in a parliament to be assembled at York. But the king, freed from his apprehensions, neglected to redeem his promise; and within two months the "pilgrims" were again under arms. They failed, however, in two successive at- tempts to surprise Hull and Carlisle. Most of the leaders were taken and executed; and tranquillity was restored by a general pardon; but not until a large number had been put to death. The northern insurrection, instead of securing the stability, accelerated the ruin of the remaining monasteries. They were The suppression visited under pretext of the late rebellion, and by of the remaining .. , . , religious houses, one expedient or other were successively wrested from the possessors and transferred to the crown. Many supe- riors deemed it prudent to obey the royal pleasure : some resigned their situations, and were replaced by successors of more easy and accommodating loyalty; and the obstinacy of the refractory monks and abbots was punished with imprisonment during the king's pleasure. Some of them, like the Carthusians, confined in New- gate, were left to perish through hunger, disease, and neglect ; others, like the abbots of Colchester, Reading, and Glastonbury, were executed as felons or traitors. A bill was next brought into parliament, vesting in the crown all the property of the monastic establishments. The suppression of the religious houses failed to produce the benefits which had been so ostentatiously foretold. 1536 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 359 Pauperism was found to increase; the monastic property was lavishly squandered among the parasites of the court ; and the king, instead of lightening the national burdens, demanded com- pensation for the expense which he had incurred in the reforma- tion of religion. By the spring of the year 1540, all the monastic establishments in the kingdom had been torn from the the possession of the real owners by forced and illegal surrenders. To soften the odium of the measure, much has been said of the immorality practised, or supposed to be practised, within the monasteries. It is not in human nature that in numerous socie- ties of men all should be equally virtuous. The monks of dif- ferent descriptions amounted to many thousands ; and in such a multitude there must have existed individuals whose conduct was a disgrace to their profession. But when this has been conceded on the one hand, it ought to be admitted on the other that the charges against them are entitled to very little credit. They are statements to which the accused had no opportunity of replying, and were made to silence inquiry and sanctify injustice. To lull his own conscience, or to silence the murmurs of his subjects, Henry resolved to appropriate a portion of the spoil to the advancement of religion; and for that purpose Henry founds was authorized by act of parliament to establish *ew bishoprics, new bishoprics, deaneries, and colleges, and to endow them with adequate revenues out of the lands of the suppressed monasteries. But only six episcopal sees, those of Westminster, Oxford, Peter- borough, Bristol, Chester, and Gloucester, were established. At the same time the king converted fourteen abbeys and priories into cathedral and collegiate churches, attaching to each a dean and a certain number of prebendaries ; but was careful to retain for himself a portion of the original possessions, and to impose on the chapters the obligation of contributing annually a certain sum to the support of the resident poor, and another for the re- pair of the highways. In 1535, Henry sent to the German Protestant princes an em- bassy to represent to them that, as both he and they had defied the authority of the« pontiff, it might be for their mutual interest to join in one common confederacy. But as the Germans, assum- ing a lofty tone, required that he should subscribe to their confession of faith, and should advance, tides? 360 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1537 partly as a loan, partly as a present, a large sum of money, the negotiations were broken off. Henry, with the aid of his theo- logians, compiled a book of "Articles," which was presented to the convocation by Cromwell, and subscribed by him and the other members. It may be divided into three parts. The first declares that the belief of the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed, is necessary for salvation : the second explains the three great sacraments of baptism, penance, and the altar, and pronounces them the ordinary means of justification ; the third teaches that, though the use of images, the honoring of the saints, the soliciting of their intercession, and the usual ceremonies in the service, have not in themselves the power to remit sin or to justify the soul, yet they are highly profitable, and ought to be retained. A work entitled, " The godly and pious Institution of a Christian Man," was soon afterward published, subscribed by the archbishops, bishops, archdeacons, and certain doctors of canon and civil law, and pronounced by them to accord "in all things with the very true meaning of Scripture. " It explains in succession the creed, the seven sacraments, the ten commandments, the Paternoster and Ave Maria, justification, and purgatory. In 1537, a new edition of the Bible was published in the Eng- lish language, and injunctions were issued that a copy of this edition should be placed in every church, at the joint expense of the incumbent and the parishioners. For many years persecution raged against those who differed from Henry's opinions; and the prelates of the new learning Religious perse- were not less eager than those of the old to light cution - the fagot for the punishment of heresy. The first victims were John Frith, and Hewet, a tailor, who maintained that it was not necessary to believe or deny the doctrine of the real presence. When, in 1535, a colony of German Anabaptists landed in England, they were instantly apprehended; and four- teen, who refused to recant, were condemned to the flames. But of all the prosecutions for heresy, none excited greater interest than that of Lambert, a clergyman in priest's orders, and school- master in London, who wrote a book in which he denied the real presence. Cranmer summoned the schoolmaster to the archiepis- copal court ; but he appealed from the metropolitan to the head 1538 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 361 of the church; and the king gladly embraced the opportunity of exercising in person the judicial functions attached to his su- premacy. On the appointed day he took his seat on the throne, clothed in robes of white silk, and in a mild and conciliatory tone inquired of the accused whether he were still attached to his former opinion. Having received an answer in the affirmative, he made a long and argumentative harangue against the writings of Lambert, who was condemned and executed. In 1538, a truce of ten years was concluded between Charles V. and Francis I., and the pontiff embraced the favorable opportu- nity to sound the disposition of the two monarchs relatively to the conduct of Henry. From both he received the same answer, that if he would publish the bull, they would send ambassadors to England to protest against the schism, and would strictly forbid all commercial intercourse between their subjects and the English merchants. The substance of these negotiations was soon con- veyed to Henry, who ordered his navy to be equipped, the har- bors to be put in a state of defence, and the whole population to be called under arms. The pontiff, encouraged by the promises of Charles and Francis, soon ordered the publication of the bull. At the same time, Car- dinal Pole, many of whose relatives in England had The determmar been put to death on account of his acts, was de- tion of the P° n tiff- spatched on a secret mission to the Spanish and French courts ; but his arrival had been anticipated by the English agents : neither Charles nor Francis would incur the hostility of Henry by being the first to declare himself; and both equally prohibited the publication of the bull within their dominions. The pontiff, who saw that he was deluded by the insincerity of the two monarchs, recalled Pole to Rome ; and the papal court, abandoning all hope of succeeding by intimidation, submitted to watch in silence the course of political events. For some time, Cromwell and Cranmer had reigned without control in the council. But the general understanding between the pontiff and the Catholic sovereigns, and the mission of Pole to the emperor and the king of France, had awakened serious apprehensions and new projects in the mind of Henry. He de- termined to prove to the world that he was the de- cided advocate of the ancient doctrines, and there- the " Six Articles." x 31 362 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1539 fore caused an act to be passed, declaring that in the eucharist is really present the natural body of Christ, under the forms, and without the substance, of bread and wine; that communion, under both kinds, is not necessary for salvation ; that priests may not marry by the law of God ; that vows of chastity are to be observed ; that private masses ought to be retained, and that the use of auricular confession is expedient and necessary. This sta- tute (known as the " Six Articles") enacted severe penalties as the consequence of opposition to these points of faith. Latimer and Shaxton, the bishops of Worcester and Salisbury resigned their respective sees. But no one had greater cause of alarm than Cranmer. Before his promotion to the archiepiscopal dignity, he had married in Germany. At a convenient time his wife followed him to England, where she bore him several children. He was too prudent to acknowledge her publicly : but the secret quickly transpired, and many priests imitated his example. When the celibacy of the priesthood was made one of the six articles, Cran- mer saw with dismay that his marriage was reputed void in law, and he despatched his children with their mother to her friends in Germany. In 1539, an act was passed which placed prostrate at the foot of the throne the liberties of the whole nation. It declared that Henry celebrates the king for the time being should possess the right his triumph over . • n ±i i ' • n 1 • m 1 the court of Rome, oi issuing, with the advice 01 his council, procla- mations which ought to have the effect of acts of parliament; adjudged all transgressors of such proclamations to suffer the im- prisonment and pay the fines expressed in them ; and made it high-treason to leave the realm in order to escape the penalty. At the same time, Henry celebrated his triumph over the court of Rome by a naval exhibition on the Thames. Two galleys, one decorated with the royal, the other with the pontifical arms, met on the river j a stubborn conflict ensued ; at length the royalists boarded their antagonist; and the figures of the pope and the different cardinals were successively thrown into the water, amid the acclamations of the king, of his court, and of the citizens. Henry had been a widower more than two years. In 1537, Jane Seymour, his third queen, had borne him a male child, . afterward Edward VI., and in less than a fortnight Henry marries . ~ ,, , . . Anne of cieves. expired. Cromwell proposed to him to marry 1540 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 363 Anne, sister of William, the reigning duke of Cleves, and one of the Protestant princes of Germany. The English envoys reported to the king that Anne was both tall and portly; but when she arrived Henry' s disappointment was evident. She was indeed tall and large as his heart could wish ; but her features, though regular, were coarse, her manners ungraceful, her figure ill- proportioned. Cromwell received orders to devise some expedient to interrupt the marriage. Two days passed in fruitless consulta- tion -, and the king at length, unprovided with any reasonable ex- cuse, and afraid of adding the German princes to his other ene- mies, was persuaded by Cromwell to submit to the ceremony. Anne had none of those qualifications which might have subdued the antipathy of her husband. His aversion increased ; he found fault with her person, and openly lamented his fate in being yoked for life with so disagreeable a companion. This unfortunate marriage had already shaken the credit of Cromwell ; his fall was hastened by a theological quarrel between Dr. Barnes, one of his dependants, and Gardiner, ThefaiiofCrom- bishop of Winchester. The king summoned the welL former before himself and a commission of divines, and discussed with him several points of controverted doctrine. Barnes affected to recant, but in his next sermon maintained in still stronger terms the very doctrine which he had recanted. Irritated by this insult, the king committed him to the Tower. Henry ascertained that Barnes was the confidential agent of Cromwell ; that he had been employed in secret missions to Germany; and that he had been the real negotiator of the late marriage with Anne of Cleves. Cromwell was arrested on a charge of high-treason. He was confronted, at his request, with his accusers in presence of the royal commissioners, but was refused the benefit of a public trial before his peers. The court preferred to proceed against him by bill of attainder ; a most iniquitous measure, but of which he had no right to complain, as he had been the first to employ it against others. The disgrace of Cromwell was quickly followed by the divorce of the queen — on the ground of alleged misrepresentation having been made to him as to her person, and the want of consent on his part both at the celebration, and ever since the celebration of the marriage. Henry and Anne now called each other bro- 364 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1541 ther and sister, and a yearly income of three thousand pounds ; with the palace of Richmond for her residence, amply indemni- fied the degraded queen for the loss of a capricious and tyrannical husband. From the moment of his arrest, Cromwell had labored with- out ceasing to save his life. Unfortunately, however, among his papers had been found a clandestine correspondence with the princes of Germany; the king would listen to no plea in favor of a man who had betrayed his confidence to strangers ; and on the fourth day after the bill of attainder had received the royal assent, he was led to execution. On the scaffold he asked pardon of his sovereign, and admitted that he had been seduced by the spirit of error ; but protested that he had returned to the truth, and should die in the profession of the Catholic faith. Henry did not long remain a widower after his divorce from Anne of Cleves. Within a month, Catherine, daughter to the Catherine How- late lord Edmund Howard, and niece to the duke throne/ of Norfolk, appeared at court with the title of queen. She was, however, accused of adultery, and found guilty; and in six months after her marriage she was executed. The king's attention was next directed to his duties as head of the church. He had formerly sanctioned the publication of an English version of the Bible, and granted permission to all his subjects to read it at their leisure ; but it had been represented to him, that even the authorized version was disfigured by unfaithful renderings, and contaminated with notes calculated to mislead the Restrictions on ignorant and unwary. To remedy the evil, it was reading the Bible, enacted, that the version of Tyndal should be dis- used altogether as " crafty, false, and untrue," and that the au- thorized translation should be published without note or comment. The permission of reading the Bible to others in public was re- voked; that of reading it to private families was confined to persons of the rank of lords or gentlemen ; and that of reading it personally and in secret was granted only to men who were householders, and to females of noble or gentle birth. We have hitherto confined our attention to those occurrences in this reign which had an immediate tendency to quicken or restrain the spirit of religious innovation. Other matters of foreign and domestic policy now claim notice. 1541 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 365 In 1536, it was enacted that the whole of Wales should be united with the realm of England ; that all the natives should enjoy the same rights, liberties, and laws, which were enjoyed and inherited by others of the king's subjects. When Henry ascended the throne, the exercise of the royal authority in Ireland was circumscribed within very narrow limits, comprising only the principal seaports, with one- half of the five counties of Louth, Westmeath, Dublin, Kildare, and Wexford. Henry's innovations in religion were viewed with equal abhorrence by the native Irish and the descendants of the English colonists. The Greraldines, aware of this circumstance, had proclaimed themselves the champions of the ancient faith. On the other hand, the cause of the king was supported by a courtly prelate, Dr. Brown, who, from the office of provincial of the Augustinian friars in England, had been raised to the archiepiscopal see of Dublin, in reward of his subserviency to the politics of Cromwell. But Henry determined to enforce submission. A parliament was summoned by which statutes were passed which were copied from the proceedings in England. The papal authority was abolished ; Henry was declared head of the Irish church ; and the first-fruits of all ecclesiastical livings were given to the king. Several causes contributed to produce a rupture between Henry and his nephew, the king of Scotland, but our space does not permit us to trace them. The king of Scots, satis- The affairs of tied with his own creed, refused to engage in theo- of James, logical disputes; and the pontiff, to rivet him more closely to the communion of the Apostolic See, bestowed a cardinal's cap on the most able and most favored of his counsellors, David Beaton, afterward archbishop of St. Andrew's. When Paul de- termined to publish the sentence of deprivation against Henry, James signified his assent, and promised to join with Charles and Francis in their endeavors to convert or punish the apos- tate monarch. As, however, neither Charles nor Francis attempted to enforce the papal bull, their inactivity induced the king of Scots to pre- serve the relations of amity with his uncle. But Henry con- tinued to grow more jealous both of the religious opinions of James, and of his connection with the French court. The Scot- 31* 366 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1542. tish parliament, as if it meant to stigmatize the proceedings of that of England, passed several laws in support of the ancient doctrines and of the papal supremacy. In 1542, forays were re- ciprocally made across the borders; and each nation charged the other with the first aggression; but the Scots had the advantage, who at Haldenrig defeated three thousand cavalry, and made most of the captains prisoners. Enraged at this loss, Henry published a declaration of war, in which he claimed the supe- riority over the Scottish crown, and ordered the duke of Norfolk to assemble a numerous army at York. Norfolk succeeded, and James died through grief at his defeat. A week before his death, his queen was delivered of a female child, who, under the name of Mary, was proclaimed his successor on the Scottish throne. These events opened a new scene to the ambition of Henry, who determined to marry his son Edward to the infant queen of Scotland; and, in consequence of that marriage, to de- mand, as natural tutor of the young princess, the government of the kingdom. In Edinburgh, soon after the death of the king, Cardinal Bea- ton had published a will of the deceased monarch, by which the James's will dis- regency was vested in himself and three other no- regarded, blemen; but this instrument was disregarded by the lords assembled in the city. James Hamilton, earl of Arran, and presumptive heir to the throne, was declared governor dur- ing the minority of the queen ; and the cardinal appeared to ac- quiesce in an arrangement which he had not power to disturb. Seeming tranquillity soon vanished, and war raged for some years. At length, the Scots were comprehended in the treaty of peace between England and France; and though the condi- tions of that comprehension became the subject of dispute, the latter part of Henry's reign was not disturbed by open hostili- ties. Respecting France, the reader will recollect that the king of that country complained of Henry's marriage with Anne Boleyn, as of a violation of his promise. This dissension, though it might weaken, did not dissolve, the friendship which had so long subsisted between them; but fresh bickerings ensued; the tempers of the two princes became reciprocally soured; each wishing to chastise what he deemed the caprice, the ingratitude, 1546 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 367 and the perfidy of the other. The military transactions which this hostile feeling caused belong rather to the history of France than of England. Peace was concluded in 1546. During the latter part of Henry's reign the court was divided by the secret intrigues of the two religious parties, which con- tinued to cherish an implacable hatred against Cranmer re- each other. The men of the old learning natu- my. rally looked upon Cranmer as their most steady and most dan- gerous enemy; and, though he was careful not to commit any open transgression of the law, yet the encouragement which he gave to the new preachers, and the clandestine correspondence which he maintained with the German reformers, would have proved his ruin, had he not found a friend and advocate in his sovereign. Henry still retained a grateful recollection of his former services, and felt no apprehension of resistance or treason from a man who, on all former occasions, whatever were his real opinions or wishes, had moulded his conscience in conformity to the royal will. Henry's sixth queen was Catherine Parr, relict of the late Lord Latimer, who, with her brother, the earl of Essex, and her uncle, created Lord Parr of Horton, zealously promoted Henry marries the new doctrines. But her zeal transgressed Catherine Parr - the bounds of prudence. She not only read the prohibited works j she presumed to argue with her husband, and to dispute the decisions of the head of the church. Of all men, Henry was the least disposed to brook the lectures of a female theolo- gian, and he gave orders to have articles prepared against Cathe- rine; but the intelligence was immediately, perhaps designedly, conveyed to the queen, who, repairing to a neighboring apart- ment, fell into a succession of fits, and during the intervals made the palace ring with her cries and lamentations. Henry, moved with pity, or incommoded by the noise, first sent his physician, and was afterward carried in a chair, to console her. In the evening she waited on him, in the company of her sister, and adroitly turning the conversation to the subject of religion, took occasion to express her admiration of his learning, and the implicit deference which she paid to his decisions, which conduct led to their reconciliation. The king had long indulged without restraint in the plea- 368 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 15.47, The king's last sures of the table. At last he grew so enormously lllness - corpulent, that he could not support the weight of his own body. An inveterate ulcer in the thigh, which had more than once threatened his life, and which now seemed to baffle all the skill of his surgeons, added to the irascibility of his temper. Of the king's conduct during his sickness, we know little. It is said that at the commencement he betrayed a wish to be re- conciled to the see of Rome; that the other bishops, afraid of the penalties, evaded the question; but that Gardiner advised him to consult his parliament, and to commit his ideas to writ- ing. He was constantly attended by his confessor, the bishop of Rochester, heard mass daily in his chamber, and received the communion under one kind. About a month before his death, he endowed the magnificent establishment of Trinity Col- lege in Cambridge, for a master and sixty fellows and scholars; and afterward reopened the church of the Gray Friars, which, with St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and an ample revenue, he gave to the city of London. Of his sentiments on his death-bed, nothing can be asserted with any degree of confidence. One account makes him die in He dies, January the anguish of despair; according to another, he 28, 1547. refused spiritual aid till he could only reply to the exhortation of the archbishop by a squeeze of the hand; while a third represents him as expiring in the edifying senti- ments of devotion and repentance. He died on Friday, the 28th of January, 1547, about two in the morning. To form a just estimate of the character of Henry, we must distinguish between the young king, guided by the counsels of The character of Wolsey, and the monarch of more mature age, Henry - governing by his own judgment, and with the aid of ministers selected and fashioned by himself. In his youth the beauty of his person, the elegance of his manners, and his adroitness in every martial and fashionable exercise, were calcu- lated to attract the admiration of his subjects. His court was gay and splendid; and a succession of amusements seemed to absorb his attention ; yet his pleasures were not permitted to en- croach on his more important duties; he assisted at the council, perused the despatches, and corresponded with his generals and 1547 A. D.] HENRY THE EIGHTH. 369 ambassadors; nor did the minister, trusted and powerful as he was, dare to act, till he had asked the opinion and taken the pleasure of his sovereign. His natural abilities had been im- proved by study; and his esteem for literature may be inferred from the learned education which he gave to his children, and from the number of eminent scholars to whom he granted pen- sions in foreign states, or on whom he bestowed preferment in his own. The immense treasure which he inherited from his father was perhaps a misfortune; because it engendered habits of expense not to be supported from the ordinary revenue of the crown; and the soundness of his politics may be doubted, which, under the pretence of supporting the balance of power, repeatedly involved the nation in continental hostilities. Yet even these errors served to throw a lustre round the English throne, and raised its possessor in the eyes of his own subjects and of the different nations of Europe. But as the king ad- vanced in age, his vices gradually developed themselves; and after the death of Wolsey they were indulged without restraint. He became as rapacious as he was prodigal; as obstinate as he was capricious ; as fickle in his friendships as he was merciless in his resentments. Though liberal of his confidence, he soon grew suspicious of those whom he had trusted; and, as if he possessed no other right to the crown than that which he derived from the very questionable claim of his father, he viewed with an evil eye every remote descendant of the Plantagenets; and eagerly em- braced the slightest pretexts to remove those whom his jealousy represented as future rivals to himself or his posterity. In pride and vanity, he was perhaps without a parallel. Inflated with the praises of interested admirers, he despised the judgment of others; acted as if he deemed himself infallible in matters of po- licy and religion; and seemed to look upon dissent from his opinion as equivalent to a breach of allegiance. In his estima- tion, to submit and obey were the great, the paramount duties of subjects: and this persuasion steeled his breast against re- morse for the blood which he shed, and led him to trample with- out scruple on the liberties of the nation. When he ascended the throne, there still existed a spirit of freedom, which on more than one occasion defeated the arbitrary measures of the court, though directed by an able minister, and supported by the au- 370 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1547. thority of the sovereign; but in the lapse of a few years that spirit had fled, and before the death of Henry, the king of Eng- land had grown into a despot, the people had shrunk into a nation of slaves. By the obsequiousness of the parliament, the assumption of the ecclesiastical supremacy, and the servility of religious fac- tions, Henry acquired and exercised the most despotic sway over the lives, the fortunes, and the liberties' of his subjects. Happily, the forms of a free government were still suffered to exist ; into these forms a spirit of resistance to arbitrary power gradually infused itself; the pretensions of the crown were op- posed by the claims of the people; and the result of a long and arduous struggle was that constitution which for more than a century has excited the envy and admiration of Europe. CHAPTER XXIX. tffotonrtr \\t Sixtl], CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. Popes. /Scotland. France. Mary. Francis. Paul III. ] Henry II. Julius III. Germani/. Spain. Charles V. 1 Charles V. Hertford made Protector — Progress of the Reformation — The Lord Admiral arrested and beheaded — Troubles with Lady Mary — Foreign Preachers — Somerset arrested and executed — Death of the King — From A. D. 1547, to 1553. Henry had confided the government of the king and kingdom, during the minority of his son Edward, who was only nine years Hertford made old, to Cranmer and fifteen other guardians. The realm. ° r new king was proclaimed on Monday, January 31, 1547. The council appointed one of their number to transact 1547 A. D.] EDWARD THE SIXTH. 371 business with the foreign envoys, and to represent on other occasions the person of the young sovereign. The earl of Hert- ford, the young king's uncle, was immediately elected to this position as protector of the realm and guardian of the king's per- son. The appointment of Hertford was announced by proclama- tion, and was received with transports of joy by all who were attached to the new doctrines, or who sought to improve their fortunes at the expense of the church. Hertford was created duke of Somerset, and the other members of the council of regency also obtained promotion. The coronation of Edward took place on the 20th February, 1547. Though the duke possessed the title of protector, he had been compelled to accept it on the condition that he should never act without the assent of the majority of the council; now he procured letters-patent under the great seal, conferring on himself alone the whole authority of the crown. The intelligence of the death of Henry had made a deep impression on the mind of the king of France. That monarch entertained a notion that the duration of their Death of the kino- lives was limited to the same year ; and sought in of Franc e- vain to divert his melancholy by change of residence and the pleasures of the chase. At the same time, he appeared to feel an affection for the son of his former friend ; a proposal was made and accepted to renew the alliance between the crowns; and messengers had already been appointed to receive the oaths of the two monarchs, when Francis expired at Rambouillet, about two months after the death of his English brother. His son and successor, Henry II., pursued a very different policy, and when the treaty with England was offered to him for signature, refused to shackle himself with engagements which might prevent him from espousing the cause of the infant queen of Scotland. In 1544, Henry, foiled by Cardinal Beaton in an effort to obtain the custody of the young queen, had despatched the earl of Hertford to invade Scotland at the head of a powerful army; and in that year the cardinal was murdered by some conspirators, who sought thereby to obtain favor with the king of England. The death of Henry made no alteration in the policy of the English cabinet. The protector hastily concluded a treaty with the murderers ; by which they bound themselves to procure, with 372 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1547 all their power, the marriage of their infant sovereign with Edward VI., and never to surrender the castle during her minority to any Scotsman without a previous license in writing from the English king and the protector. War soon broke out afresh, in which England succeeded. Somerset and his associates now undertook to establish the new religious creed. From the young king they could experience Proceedings in no opposition now, and they feared no resentment religion. hereafter, for the men to whom his education had been intrusted by Henry were zealous though secret partisans of the reformed doctrines. Still, to change the established creed during his minority appeared an undertaking of danger, and on this account they determined to proceed with cautious steps. The kingdom was divided into six circuits, to each of which was assigned a certain number of visitors, partly clergymen and partly laymen. The moment they arrived in any diocese, the exercise of spiritual authority by every other person ceased. They summoned before them the clergy and principal house- holders from each parish; administered the oaths of allegiance and supremacy; required answers upon oath to every question which they thought proper to put, and exacted a promise of obedience to the royal injunctions. Among the prelates, there was no individual whom the men of the new learning more feared, or those of the old learning more respected, for his erudition and abilities, his spirit and influence, than Gardiner, bishop of Winchester. That prelate commenced a controversy with the protector and the archbishop ; the conse- quence of which was, that, though he could not be charged with any offence against the law, he was committed to the Fleet and detained a close prisoner till the end of the session.' But the ministers were careful to repair many of those breaches in the constitution which had been made by the despotism of the last reign. All felonies created since the first of srepeae. jj enr y yjjl v and a u treasons created since the twenty-fifth of Edward III., were at once erased from the sta- tute-book ; the privilege of clergy, with the exception of a few cases, was restored ; in convictions of treason, two witnesses were required ; the laws against the Lollards, the prohibition of read- ing the Scriptures, and of printing, selling, or retaining certain 1547 A. D.] EDWARD THE SIXTH. 373 English publications; all enactments respecting doctrine and matters of religion, and the statute which gave to the royal pro- clamations the force of law, were repealed. It should, however, be observed, that if, by the repeal of so many statutes, every sort of religious restraints was removed from the men of the new learning, it was not intended to grant any additional liberty to those of the old. The claim of the spiritual supremacy was placed on an equal footing with the other rights of the crown j and to deny that the present or any succeeding king was head of the church was made the same kind of capital offence as to deny that he was head of the state. The election of bishops was next withdrawn from the deans and chapters, as a useless and unmean- ing form, and vested immediately in the crown. The mendicants, who had formerly obtained relief at the gates of the monasteries and convents, now wandered in crowds through the country, and by their numbers and importuni- statu t e against ties often extorted alms from the intimidated pas- mendicants, senger. To abate this nuisance, a statute was enacted by which two justices of the peace might order the letter V to be burned on the breast of each such mendicant, and adjudge him to serve the informer two years as his slave. His master was bound to provide him with bread, water, and refuse meat; might fix an iron ring round his neck, arm, or leg, and was authorized to com- pel him to labor at any work, however vile it might be, by beat- ing, chaining, or otherwise. If the slave absented himself a fortnight, the letter S was burned on his cheek or forehead, and he became a slave for life ; and if he offended a second time in like manner, his flight subjected him to the penalties of felony. Two years later, this severe statute was repealed. The session of 1547 closed with a general pardon from the king, in consequence of which Gardiner obtained his liberty. The archbishop, aware that the great majority of the nation was still attached to the an- cient faith, deemed it prudent to pursue his course with caution and perseverance. Latimer, who had resigned his bishopric in 1539, was called from his retirement, and appointed to preach at St. Paul's Cross. The character of the man, the boldness of his invectives, his quaint but animated eloquence, were observed to make a deep impression on the minds of his hearers ; and a pul- pit was erected for him in the king's private garden, where the 32 174 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1548 young Edward, attended by his court, listened to his sermons, and admired what he could not understand, the controversial supe- riority of the preacher. The bishops received orders to abolish in their respective dioceses the custom of bearing candles on Candlemas-day, of Orders to abolish receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday, and of carry- certain customs. j D g p a i ms on Palm Sunday. A proclamation also appeared, which required that all images whatsoever should be destroyed. To this succeeded an order for the public admi- nistration of the sacrament under both kinds, and in the English language. It was soon discovered that imprisonment had not broken the spirit of Gardiner. He was again summoned before the council, Gardiner com- and the next day, in proof of his submission, was Tower. ordered to preach at St. Paul's Cross, in the pre- sence of the king, on the feast of St. Peter. The sermon was preached, and the next day the bishop was committed to the Tower. In his discourse he had treated of the mass and the eucharist, though the protector had forbidden him, in writing, to touch on any controverted matter respecting these questions. His imprisonment was evidently illegal ; but his absence from parlia- ment was not less desirable in the present than it had been in the past year. His constancy, however, encouraged the partisans of the ancient faith ; and in a short time several other prelates ven- tured to express their disapprobation of the conduct of Cranmer. That prelate was now employed with a committee of bishops and divines in the composition of a most important work, a liturgy in the English language, for the use of the English Church; the adoption of which by authority of parliament would, it was hoped, consummate the separation of the kingdom from the communion of Rome, by destroying the similarity which still remained in the mode of religious worship sanctioned by the two churches. They soon compiled a book of common prayer and administration of the sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies, for the use of the Church of England. A bill was introduced to abolish all other forms of worship, and establish the forms set forth in the book of common prayer in their place. To this important innovation in the manner of public worship, succeeded another not less important in the condition of the 1549 A. D.] EDWARD THE SIXTH. 375 priesthood. A bill for the marriage of priests was A bill for thQ introduced, and passed after a long and stormy marriage of priests. discussion. It states that, though it were to be wished that the clergy would observe perpetual continency, as more becoming their spiritual character, rendering them better able to attend to their ministry, and freeing them from worldly cares and embar- rassments, yet so many inconveniences had arisen from compulsive chastity, that it was deemed better to allow marriage. The protector had a younger brother, Thomas, whose fate about this time excited much attention. Between them a broad distinc- tion had been drawn by the late king, and while The ambition of Edward had risen to the rank of earl, had obtained Thomas Seymour. the command of armies, and been named one of the governors of his nephew, Thomas had been left without title. The first step toward the improvement of his fortune was his alliance with the queen dowager, who married him, almost before the dead body of Henry was deposited in the grave. With the person of Catherine, Thomas Seymour became master of her wealth and her dower, and his next object was to win and monopolize the affection of his nephew. With this view, he indulged the young Edward in all his wishes ; secretly supplied him with large sums of money, blamed the severity with which he was used by the protector, and hinted that he was kept under undue restraint. The king readily imbibed the opinions of the man whom he loved ; and a resolu- tion was taken that he should attempt, with the aid of his parti- sans, to procure the guardianship for himself. The plot was betrayed to the protector. Thomas condescended to acknowledge his fault; and the two brothers mutually forgave each other. But a new prospect soon opened to his ambition, which, as it sought for power, was not to be satisfied with money. He began to aspire to the hand of the lady Elizabeth, the king's sister, and to condemn that precipitate union with Catherine which excluded him from the pursuit of so noble a prize. His attentions to the princess were remarked ; and their familiarity was so undisguised that it afforded employment to the propagators of scandal, and awakened the jealousy of his wife. But the queen in a short time died in childbirth ; and her death happened so opportunely for his project, that by the malice of his enemies it was attri- buted to poison. He now redoubled his court to the princess. 376 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1549. and means were devised to extort the consent of the council to the marriage. The protector at length determined to crush so dangerous a competitor. Sherington, master of the mint at Bristol, was ex- amined before the council, on a charge of having He is executed. -, • /» . -i i • • , i amassed an enormous fortune by clipping the coin. To save his life, he said that he had promised to coin money for Seymour, who intended to change the present form of the govern- ment. Seymour was committed to the Tower, and in March, 1549, was executed. We may now return to the affairs of Scotland. In an assembly of the Scottish lords at Stirling, in 1548, it was resolved to im- The affairs of P^ ore tne a ^ °^ France, their most ancient and Scotland. faithful ally, to offer the young queen in marriage to the dauphin, and to propose that for greater security she should be educated in the French court. In anger, the English sent the lbrd Gray de Wilton, who, at the head of a powerful army, spread the flames of war to the gates of the capital : Dalkeith was re- duced to ashes; and Haddington was taken, fortified, and garri- soned with more than two thousand men, partly English and partly Italians. Gray had scarcely begun his retreat, when a hostile squadron anchored at Leith, having on board three thou- sand German, and two thousand French veterans. The young queen and her household left Scotland, and reached in safety the harbor of Brest. From Brest that princess, being in her sixth year, was conducted to St. Germain en Laye, and contracted to her destined husband, the dauphin of France. The war continued with alternate losses and advantages to both parties ; though, on the whole, the balance of success inclined in favor of Scotland. The English ascendency gradually yielded, not so much to the power of its adversaries as to the influence of a series of untoward events in England. The depreciation of the currency during the late reign had been followed by an advance in the price of commodities. The The discontent P e °pl e became discontented, and as they saw that of the people. the new proprietors of the church-lands paid not the same attention as the old to the wants of the poor, they coupled their own sufferings with the innovations in religion. The day approached when the use of the old liturgy was to cease, 1549 A. D.] EDWARD THE SIXTH. 377 and that of the new to begin; instead of the high mass, its music and its ceremonies, with which they had been familiarized from their infancy, they were to hear what they deemed an inani- mate service, and the common people rose, almost at the same time, in several counties. The insurrection was finally suppressed, but it was only with the aid of the bands of adventurers that had been raised in Italy, Spain, and Germany to serve in the war against Scotland. These events shook the power of the protector, and his fall was accelerated by the hostile attitude of the king of France. The French obtained several advantages over the Eng- The fall of the lish in France, where war had recommenced, and protector. these disasters were attributed to the misconduct of the pro- tector. Somerset, on the other hand, grew every day more posi- tive and despotic. His very friends could offer no apology for his rapacity. From a simple knight, with a slender fortune, he had become the possessor of more than two hundred manors ; and that magnificent pile of building, which still retains from him the name of Somerset House, was a standing memorial of his vanity and extravagance. In a proclamation, signed by every member of the council, the duke was charged with divers high crimes and misdemeanors. Edward was not unwilling to be emancipated from the control of his uncle; and the protector was [October 14, 1549] deprived of his office in due form by a writ under the great seal, and with the sign manual of the king. He was then committed a prisoner to the Tower ; and five of his confidential advisers were incarce- rated with him. An intimation was given to him, that, if he hoped for pardon, he must submit to a frank and unqualified ac- knowledgment of his guilt. The condition, though painful to his feelings, was gratefully accepted. On his knees he confessed his presumption, negligence, and incapacity, and earnestly implored for mercy. Life was promised ; but on condition that he should forfeit all his offices, and a large portion of his property. Having given security for the payment of a heavy fine, he was discharged from the Tower, and received a pardon. A treaty was soon concluded with France: and for a sum of money England surrendered all her remaining territory in that country. The sovereigns of England from this time contented y 32* 378 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1549. themselves with the sole title of kings of France, a barren but invidious distinction, which, after two centuries and a half, was wisely laid aside by George III. The partisans of the new doctrines felt that the Reformation still rested on a very insecure foundation. Eleven-twelfths of the nation retained a strong attachment to the creed of their fa- Proceedings thers. The council ordered Bonner to preach at against non-con- -r»i> at • i i -i forming bishops, bt. .Paul s. At the appointed day, crowds assem- bled to hear the prelate ; many from curiosity, some for the pur- pose of censure. In his sermon, Bonner broached views different from those held by the council; and Cranmer and Ridley were appointed to try and punish the refractory prelate. Bonner ap- peared before his judges, with the undaunted air of a man who feels conscious that he suffers in a just cause. The archbishop pronounced the sentence of deprivation; and Bonner was re- manded to the Marshalsea, where he remained a prisoner till the king's death; and the bishopric of Westminster was dissolved by royal authority. Gardiner had now been for two years a prisoner in the Tower, without being able to obtain a trial, or even a copy of the charges against him. He was visited by a deputation from the council, and required to approve of every religious in- novation which had been established by act of parliament or by order of the council. Gardiner replied, that he asked for no favour; he sought only a legal trial; he was willing to stand or fall by the law. At length a commission was issued against him for contempt; but he defended himself with ability and perse- verance. Cranmer cut short the proceedings, pronouncing him contumacious, and adjudging him to be deprived of his bishop- ric. By order of the council, he was sent back to a meaner cell in the Tower, with instructions that no man should see him but one of the warders; that all his books and papers should be taken from him and examined; and that he should be refused the use of pen, ink, and paper. There were two other prelates prisoners in the Tower — Heath, bishop of Worcester, and Day, bishop of Chichester — both distin- guished by their learning, their moderation, and their attachment to the ancient creed. Both these bishops were kept in custody till the commencement of the next reign. There still remained one individual whose conversion in the 1550 A. D.] EDWARD THE 'SIXTH. 379 estimation of the reformers would have balanced the opposition of a whole host of bishops — the Lady Mary, the T h e persecution sister of Edward, and the presumptive heir to ^^dyMary. the crown. She had embraced the first opportunity of express- ing to the protector her dislike of further innovation. The " Statute of Uniformity" supplied him with the power of putting her constancy to the test. Its framers appear to have taken for their model the intolerance of the German reformers. Not only did they introduce the new liturgy into the national churches and chapels, but invaded the secrecy of the closet, and enacted severe penalties against every priest who should celebrate, every lay man or woman who should attend where a priest celebrated mass, even in a private house. Mary received an admonition that she must conform to the provisions of the statute. She replied that she did not consider it binding in conscience; re- minded the lords that they had sworn to observe the laws re- specting religion which had been established by her father; and at last appealed from their intolerance to the powerful protection of her cousin, the Emperor Charles V. It chanced to be the very time when the English cabinet solicited the aid of that prince with respect to French affairs. Policy prevailed over fa- naticism; and at the imperial intercession the indulgence which Mary prayed for was reluctantly granted. Yet after the conclu- sion of peace she was again harassed ; but she constantly asserted that her soul was God's, and that she would neither change her faith nor dissemble her opinion. Dr. Mallet, Mary's chaplain, was committed to close custody in the Tower. An active corre- spondence ensued; Mary demanding the enlargement of her chaplain, the council requiring that she should conform to the law. At length the chief officers of her household were com- manded to prevent the use of the ancient service in the house. Having consulted her, they returned to the council, and offered to submit to any punishment, rather than undertake what they could not find in their hearts or consciences to perform. They were committed to the Tower for contempt; and Mary was again urged to conform to the new faith; but she replied, "Rather than use any other service than was used at the death of the late king, my father, I will lay my head on a block and suffer death. If my chaplains do say no mass, I can hear none. They may do 280 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1551. therein as they will; but none of your new service shall be used in my house, or I will not tarry in it." After this bold answer we hear no more of her being perse- cuted. It is probable that Mary continued to have the mass celebrated, but in greater privacy; and that the council deemed it prudent to connive at that which it soon became dangerous to notice. The declining health of the king directed every eye to- ward her as his successor. She occasionally visited her sick brother; and the dignity which she assumed was calculated to overawe her opponents. Though the statutes against heresy had been repealed in the first year of the king's reign, still the profession of erroneous doctrine was held to be an offence punishable by the common law of the realm. It might, indeed, have been hoped that men who had writhed under the lash of persecution would have learned to respect the rights of conscience. But, however forci- Persecution on bly the reformers had claimed the privilege of account of reli- .,. -. , -■ , , , , . , gion. judging for themselves under the late king, they were not disposed to concede it to others when they themselves came into the exercise of power. Several were put to death for preaching new doctrines : one of these, a woman named Bocher, would have been spared, but Cranmer urged the king to put his signature to the warrant. Another victim was Von Parris, a Dutchman, and a surgeon in London. He denied the divinity of Christ; and, having been excommunicated by his brethren of the Dutch church in that capital, was arraigned before Cranmer, Ridley, May, Coverdale, and several others. Coverdale acted as interpreter : but the pri- soner refused to abjure. Cranmer pronounced judgment, and de- livered him to the jailer at the Compter, and a few days later the unhappy man. was committed to the flames. The marquess of Northampton proceeded to Paris, in May, 1551, to invest the king of France with the order of the Garter, The treason and and to seek a wife for his sovereign. His first execution of So-.. , „ . " _. ts . _ merset. demand, oi the young queen ot o Gotland, was in- stantly refused; his second, of the princess Elizabeth, was as readily granted. The negotiators agreed that as soon as Eliza- beth had completed her twelfth year she should be married to Edward; but a difference about her dower suspended the con- 1552 A. D.J EDWARD THE SIXTH. 381 elusion of the treaty for eight weeks. In November, 1551, So- merset was brought to trial for violent and riotous proceedings, and for conspiring against the nobles who were hostile to his views. It was treason for any person, to the number of forty or above, to assemble in a forcible manner, to the intent to murder, kill or slay, take or imprison any of the king's privy council; and felony to stir up any persons to the committal of such of- fences. Somerset was arraigned before his peers, and defended himself with spirit, and was acquitted of the treason, but found guilty of the felony, and received the usual sentence of death. After his condemnation, and in the solitude of his cell, he had leisure to compare his situation with that of his brother, not three years before. Every avenue to the throne was closed j his nephew, the king, was convinced of his guilt, and of the expedi- ence of his punishment; and he received for answer to an ap- peal for mercy, that he must pay the forfeit of his life, but should have a long respite to prepare himself for death. Six weeks after his trial, [January 2 2d, 1552,] his execution took place on Tower Hill. Parliament soon assembled, and of the acts which at this time received the royal assent, a few deserve the reader's atten- tion. 1. Now, for the first time, was made a le- statutes to en- gal provision for the poor. 2. It was about three ship, years since the composition of the Book of Common Prayer had been attributed by the unanimous assent of the legislature to " the aid of the Holy Ghost." But it was now amended, and an act passed by which the bishops were ordered to coerce with spiritual censures all persons who should absent themselves from the amended form of sendee, and the magistrates to visit with corporeal punishment all those who should employ any other ser- vice in its place. To hear, or be present at, any manner of divine worship, or administration of the sacraments, or ordina- tion of ministers, differing from those set forth by authority, subjected the offender on the first conviction to imprisonment during the space of six months, on the second during the space of one year, and on the third during the term of his natural life. The laws of treason were softened, and it was now enacted, that no person should be arraigned, indicted, convicted, or attainted of any manner of treason, unless on the oath of two lawful accusers, 382 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1552. who should be brought before him at the time of his arraignment, and there should openly avow and maintain their charges against him. Thus was laid the foundation of a most important im- provement in the administration of criminal justice; and a maxim was introduced which has proved the best shield of inno- cence against power. In Ireland it had long been the object of the government to suppress the native language; and to have chosen the English Ireland: an at- language for the vehicle of religious instruction and tempt to suppress religious worship, would have been to authorize and the native Jan- ° mi guage. perpetuate its use. The royal advisers submitted to entail on themselves that reproach which they had been ac- customed to cast on the church of Rome, and enjoined by pro- clamation that the Irish should attend to the service in English, a language which few among them could understand. By Brown, the archbishop of Dublin, and four of his brethren, the order was cheerfully obeyed : Dowdal, archbishop of Armagh, and the other prelates, rejected it with scorn. The consequence was that the ancient service was generally retained : the new was adopted in those places only where an armed force compelled its intro- duction. At this time, Cranmer had completed two works of the highest importance to the cause which he espoused, viz. " A Collection of the Articles of Religion/' and, a A Code of Ecclesiastical Constitutions." Edward had inherited from his mother a weak and delicate constitution. In the spring of the year 1552, he was considerably Edward's niness: reduced by successive attacks of the measles and excludes Mary and ^he small-pox : in the latter part of the summer, Elizabeth from the r r ' throne, by will. a troublesome cough, the effect of imprudent ex- posure to the cold, terminated in an inflammation on the lungs ; and when the new parliament assembled, the king's weakness compelled him to meet the two houses at his residence of White- hall. Edward, who had inherited a portion of his father's ob- stinacy, had paid little attention to the advice of his physicians. In the beginning of May an unexpected improvement was ob- served in his health j he promised to submit for the future to medical advice ; and the most flattering hopes were entertained of his recovery. But, after a short and delusive interval, Edward 1553 A. D.] EDWARD THE SIXTH. 383 relapsed into his former weakness. The symptoms of his disor- der grew daily more alarming j and it became evident that his life could not be protracted beyond the term of a few weeks. His danger urged the duke of Northumberland to execute a project, which he had in all probability meditated for some time, of plac- ing the crown, in the event of the king's death, on the head of his own son. By act of parliament, and the will of the last monarch, the next heirs were the ladies Mary and Elizabeth; but, as the statutes pronouncing them illegitimate had never been re- pealed, it was presumed that such illegitimacy might be success- fully opposed in bar of their claim. After their exclusion, the crown would of right descend to one of the representatives of the two sisters of Henry VIII. : Margaret, queen of Scotland, and Mary, queen of France. Margaret was the elder, but her de- scendants had been overlooked in the will of the late king, and the animosity of the nation against Scotland would readily induce it to acquiesce in the exclusion of the Scottish line. There re- mained then the representative of Mary, the French queen, who was Frances, married to Grey, formerly marquis of Dorset, and lately created, in favour of his wife, duke of Suffolk. But Fran- ces had no ambition to ascend a disputed throne, and easily con- sented to transfer her right to her eldest daughter Jane, the wife of Northumberland's fourth son, Guilford Dudley. Having ar- ranged his plan, the duke ventured to whisper it in the ear of the sick prince ; and recommended it to his approbation by a most powerful appeal to his religious prejudices. He was, he said, ac- quainted with the bigotry of his sister Mary, which had hitherto set at defiance both his persuasion and his authority. Were she to as- cend the throne, she would seize the first opportunity to undo all that had been done. Let him therefore make a will, let him pass by the lady Mary on account of illegitimacy, and the lady Eliza- beth, who labored under the same defect, and then entail the crown on the posterity of his aunt, the French queen, whose pre- sent descendants were distinguished by their piety and their at- tachment to the reformed worship. To these interested sugges- tions the sick prince listened with feelings of approbation, and wrote and executed the required will. Northumberland's next object was to secure the person of the princess Mary. To secure his prey, a letter was written by the council to Mary, requiring 384 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1553. her by the king's order to repair immediately to court. Had she reached London, her next removal would have been to the Tower; but she received a friendly hint of her danger on the road, and hastened back to her usual residence, Kenninghall, in the county of Norfolk. At this period, the care of the king was intrusted to a female, whose medicines aggravated his sufferings. His physicians, The death of Ed- w ^ en tne y were recalled, pronounced him to be at ■ward. the point of death, and on the 6th of July, 1553, the king expired. It would be idle to delineate the character of a prince, who lived not till his passions could develop themselves, or his faculties acquire maturity. His education, like that of his His character. A _ . " ' . two sisters, began at a very early age. in abili- ties he was equal, perhaps superior, to most boys of his years ; and his industry and improvement amply repaid the solicitude of his tutors. But the extravagant praise which has been lavished on him by his panegyrists and admirers, must be received with some degree of caution. In the French and Latin letters to which they appeal, it is difficult to separate the composition of the pu- pil from the corrections of the master ; and since, to raise his re- putation, deceptions are known to have been employed on some occasions, it may be justifiable to suspect that they were practised on others. The boy of twelve or fourteen years was accustomed to pronounce his opinion in the council with all the gravity of a hoary statesman. But he had been previously informed of the subjects to be discussed; his preceptors had supplied him with short notes, which he committed to memory ; and, while he de- livered their sentiments as his own, the lords, whether they were aware or not of the artifice, admired and applauded the precocious wisdom with which heaven had gifted their sovereign. Edward's religious belief could not have been the result of his own judg- ment. He was compelled to take it on trust from those about him, who moulded his infant mind to their own pleasure, and in- fused into it their own opinions or prejudices. From them he derived a strong sense of piety, and a habit of daily devotion, a warm attachment to the new, and a violent antipathy to the an- cient doctrines. During this reign, poverty and discontent generally prevailed. A. D. 1553.] EDWARD THE SIXTH. 385 The extension of inclosures, and the new practice The condition of of letting lands at rack rents, had driven from the P e °P le - their homes numerous families, whose fathers had occupied the same farms for several generations ; and the increasing multitudes of the poor began to resort to the more populous towns in search of that relief which had been formerly contributed at the gates of the monasteries. Nor were the national morals improved, if we may judge from the portraits drawn by the most eminent of the reformed preachers. They assert that the sufferings of the indigent were viewed with indifference by the hard-heartedness of the rich ; that in the pursuit of gain the most barefaced frauds were avowed and justified; that robbers and murderers escaped punishment by the partiality of juries and the corruption of judges ; that church livings were given to laymen, or converted to the use of the patrons ; that marriages were repeatedly dis- solved by private authority; and that the haunts of sin were mul- tiplied beyond measure. How far credit should be given to such representations, may perhaps be doubtful. Enough of proof re- mains to justify the conclusion that the change of religious polity, by removing many of the former restraints upon vice, and ener- vating the authority of the spiritual courts, gave a bolder front to licentiousness, and opened a wider scope to the indulgence of criminal passion. 33 386 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1553. CHAPTER XXX. CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. Popes. Scotland. France. Mary. Henry II. Julius III. Germany. Spain. Marcellus II. Charles V. Charles V. Paul IV. Ferdinand. Philip II. Lady Jane Grey proclaimed queen — Execution of Northumberland — The Queen restores tho ancient service — Elizabeth conforms — Insurrection — Elizabeth sent to the Tower — Mary's marriage with Philip — Reconciliation with Rome — Persecution of the Reformers — Departure of Philip — Death of Gardiner — "War with France — Victory of St. Quintin's — Loss of Calais — Death and character of Mary— From A. D. 1553 to 1558. The presumptive heir to the late king was his sister Mary, a princess who, ever since the death of her father, had been guided by the advice, and under persecution had been protected by the remonstrances, of the emperor Charles V. It was on the evening of July 6, 1553, that Edward expired at Greenwich. "With the view of concealing his death for some Endeavors to davs from the knowledge of the public, in order to conceal the death . ,. ,° .". J ■»> ,i of Edward. gain time to strengthen opposition to Mary, the guards had been previously doubled in the palace, and all com- munication intercepted between his chamber and the other apart- ments. Yet that very night, while the lords sat in deliberation, the secret was communicated to Mary, who, without losing a mo- ment, mounted her horse and rode with the servants of her house- hold to Kenninghall, in Norfolk. The council broke up after midnight; and Clinton, the lord admiral, took possession of the Tower, with the royal treasures, the munitions of war, and the prisoners of state. The three next days were employed in making such previous arrangements as 1553 A. D.] MARY. 387 were thought necessary for the success of the plans of the council. On the fourth morning, it was determined to publish the result. The lords, attended by a numerous escort, rode to Sion House to announce to the lady Jane Grey that she had been appointed to succeed her royal cousin. Jane G-rey has been described to us as a young woman of gen- tle manners, and superior talents, addicted to the study of the Scriptures and the classics, but fonder of dress than suited the austere notions of the reformed preachers. Of the designs of the duke of Northumberland in her a y ane rey ' favor, she knew nothing. Her love of privacy had induced her to solicit permission to leave London, and to spend a few days at Chelsea ; she was indulging herself in this retirement, when she received an order from the council to return immediately to Sion House, and to await there the commands of the king. She obeyed ; and the next morning was visited by the duke of Nor- thumberland and others. She was told, that the king her cousin was dead ; that before he expired he had named her as his lawful heir. She trembled, uttered a shriek, and sank to the ground. On her recovery she observed to those around her, that she seemed to herself a very unfit person to be a queen ; but that, if the right were hers, she trusted God would give her strength to wield the sceptre to his honor and the benefit of the nation. Jane was conducted to the Tower, the usual residence of our kings preparatory to their coronation. The heralds proclaimed the death of Edward and the succession of Jane ; t -i-ii .'.ii • . Jane proclaimed. and a printed document with her signature was circulated, to acquaint the people with the grounds of her claim. To the arguments contained in this labored proclamation, the people listened in ominous silence, not a single voice being heard in approbation. The following morning arrived at the Tower a messenger from Mary, the bearer of a letter to the Lords, in which she commanded them to proclaim her accession imme- diately in the metropolis, and as soon as possible in all other parts of the kingdom. This communication caused no change in their counsels, for they considered that Mary was a single and defenceless female, unprepared to vindicate her right, without money and without followers; and they returned an answer, requiring her to abandon 388 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1553 her false claim, and to submit as a dutiful subject to her lawful and undoubted sovereign. In a few hours their illusion vanished. The mass of the peo- ple knew little of the Lady Jane, but all had heard of the ambi- The murmurs of tion of Northumberland. They said that he had Northumberland, persuaded Somerset to take the life of his brother, and Edward to take that of Somerset. The royal youth was the next victim. He had been removed by poison to make room for the Lady Jane, who, in her turn, would be compelled to yield the crown to Northumberland himself. These reports were be- lieved, and the public voice, wherever it might be expressed with impunity, was unanimous in favor of Mary. She was already joined by the earls of Bath and Sussex, and by several other nobles. Northumberland saw the necessity of despatch; but preferring not to leave the capital, he proposed to give the com- mand of the forces to the duke of Suffolk. But he could not deceive the secret partisans of Mary, who saw his perplexity, and to liberate themselves from his control, urged him to take the command upon himself. He gave a tardy and reluctant consent, and, as he rode through the city at the head of the troops, he re- marked, in a tone of despondency, "The people crowd to look upon us, but not one exclaims, G-od speed ye." Mary left Kenninghall; and, riding forty miles without rest, reached, on the same evening, the castle of Framlingham. There, her hopes were hourly cheered with the most gratifying intelli- gence. In a few days she was surrounded by more than thirty thousand men, all volunteers in her cause, who refused to receive pay, and served through the sole motive of loyalty. Northumberland had marched from Cambridge, in the direc- tion of Framlingham, and saw, as he advanced, the enthusiasm The triumph of °f tne people in Mary's cause, heard that he had the cause of Mary, fo^ proclaimed a rebel, and that a price had been fixed on his head. At Bury his heart failed him. He ordered a retreat to Cambridge, and wrote to the council for a numerous and immediate reinforcement. The lords proposed to separate, and hasten to the army, at the head of their respective friends and dependants. But this was only a pretence in order to get away from the Tower, where Suffolk had endeavored to keep them They assembled in the city of London. The earl of 1553 A. D.] MARY. 389 Arundel declaimed against the ambition of Northumberland, and asserted the right of the two daughters of Henry VIII. The earl of Pembroke drew his sword, exclaiming, " This sword shall make Mary queen, or I will die in her quarrel." He was answered with shouts of approbation; and at St. Paul's Cross the earl of Pembroke proclaimed Mary queen, amid the deafen- ing acclamations of the populace. " Te Deuni" was sung in the cathedral; beer, wine, and money were distributed among the people; and the night was ushered in with bonfires, illumina- tions, and the accustomed demonstrations of public joy. The next morning the lady Jane departed to Sion House. Her reign had lasted but nine days ; and they had been days of anxiety and distress. The moment she was gone, Northumberland the lords, without any distinction of party, united sent to the Tower - in sending an order to Northumberland to disband his forces, and to acknowledge Mary for his sovereign. But he had already pro- claimed her, and threw his cap into the air in token of joy. He was arrested on a charge of high-treason by the earl of Arundel, and conducted, with several of his associates, to the Tower. It required a strong guard to protect the prisoners from the ven- geance of the populace. The lady Elizabeth had taken no part in this contest. She did not join the lady Jane, and she did nothing in aid of the lady Mary. Under the excuse of a real or feigned indisposition, she confined herself to her chamber, that, whichever party proved victorious, she might claim the ne- gative merit of non-resistance. Now, however, the contest was at an end : the new queen approached her capital ; and Elizabeth deemed it prudent to court the favor of the conqueror. At the head of a hundred and fifty horse, she met her at Aldgate ; and they rode together in triumphal procession through the streets. Mary ordered a dole to be distributed, of eight pence, to every poor householder in the city. Of Mary's counsellors, the chief were the bishops Gardiner and Tunstall, who, under her father, had been employed in offices of trust, and had discharged them with fidelity Mary » 8 COU nsei- and success. The acknowledged abilities of the lors - former soon raised him to the post of prime-minister. He first received the custody of the seals, and was soon afterward ap- pointed chancellor. 33* 390 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1553 Though the queen found herself in debt from the policy of Northumberland, who had kept the public officers three years in arrear of their salaries, she issued two proclamations which drew upon her the blessings of the whole nation. By the first she re- stored the depreciated currency to its original value. By the other she remitted to her people, in gratitude for their attachment to her right, the subsidies on land and goods, which had been granted to the crown by the late parliament. As the time of her The coronation coronation approached, the queen introduced with- of Mary. j n ^he palace an innovation highly gratifying' to the younger branches of the female nobility, though it foreboded little good to the reformed preachers. Under Edward, their fanaticism had given to the court a sombre and funereal appear- ance. Mary appeared publicly in jewels and colored silks; the ladies copied her example; and the courtiers dressed with a splendor that became their rank in the state. A new impulse was thus communicated to all classes of persons; and consider- able sums were expended in preparations for the coronation. That ceremony was performed [30th September, 1553] after the ancient rite, by Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, and was con- cluded in the usual manner, with a magnificent banquet in West- minster Hall. The same day a general pardon was proclaimed, Trial of the pri- W ^ Q tne exception, by name, of sixty individuals eoners. w h were accused of treasonable or seditious of- fences committed since the queen's accession. Mary selected out of the list of prisoners seven only for immediate trial; the duke of Northumberland, the contriver and executor of the plot, his son the earl of Warwick, the marquess of Northampton, Sir John Gates, Sir Henry Gates, Sir Andrew Dudley, and Sir Thomas Palmer, his principal counsellors and constant associates. It was in vain that she was urged to include the Lady Jane in the number. Mary said that she could not find in her heart or in her conscience to put her unfortunate cousin to death ; for that Jane was not the accomplice of Northumberland, but merely a puppet in his hands. Northumberland, Sir John Gates, and Sir Thomas Palmer were selected for execution. Northumberland acknowledged the jus- Execution of tice of his punishment, but denied that he was and others. the first projector of the treason. He called on them to witness that he was in charity with all mankind, that 1553 A. D.] MARY. 391 he died in the faith of his fathers, though ambition had induced him to conform in practice to a worship which he condemned in his heart, and that his last prayer was for the return of his coun- trymen to the Catholic church ; for, since their departure from it, England, like Germany, had been a prey to dissensions, tumults, and civil war. Under the reign of Edward, Mary had spontaneously preferred a single life ; but from the moment of her accession to the throne, she made no secret of her intention to marry. Mary's intention She asked the advice of the emperor Charles V., to mavr J- and waited with impatience for his answer. It was obviously the interest of Charles that she should prefer his son Philip. He was, however, careful not to commit himself by too hasty an answer. At length he proposed his son Philip, but told her not to be swayed by his advice; but to consult her own inclination and judgment. It was soon discovered by the courtiers that Philip had been proposed to the queen, and had not been rejected; and the chan- cellor was the first to remonstrate with his sovereign. He' ob- served to her that her people would more readily submit to the rule of a native than of a foreigner. Gardiner, who spoke the sentiments of the majority of the council, was followed by others of his colleagues ; they were opposed by Norfolk, Arundel, and the lord Paget. On Mary's accession, she acquainted both the emperor and the king of- France with her determination to restore Mary . s determi- the Catholic worship. Henry applauded her zeal, ° atio £ *° ,. restoro . r J *\ y the Catholic wor- and offered aid ; but Charles advised her to pro- ship, ceed with temper and caution, and to abstain from any public in- novation till she had obtained the consent of her parliament. She issued no order for the public restoration of the ancient service ; but she maintained that she had a right to worship God as she pleased within her own palace ; and was highly gratified by the compliance of those who followed her example. The proceedings against the bishops deprived in the last reign were reversed ; and Gardiner, Bonner, Tunstall, Heath, and Day recovered the pos- session of their respective sees. A riot was, however, occasioned by the public celebration of mass in a church. The council re- primanded and imprisoned the priest; and the queen, sending for 392 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1553. the lord mayor and aldermen, ordered them to put down all tumultuous assemblies. Mary, following the example of the last two monarchs, prohibited preaching in public without license. The queen declared that she could not conceal her religion, which God and the world knew that she had professed from her infancy; but she had no intention to compel any one to embrace it till fur- ther order were taken by common consent; and therefore she strictly forbade all persons to excite sedition among the people, or to foment dissension by using the opprobrious terms of heretic or papist. The reformers now fixed their hopes on the constancy of the lady Elizabeth, the presumptive heir to the throne. They already Elizabeth con- considered her as the rival of the queen ; and it forms. was openly said that it would not be difficult to transfer the sceptre to her hands. On this account it had been proposed by some of the royal advisers to put Elizabeth under arrest ; but Mary refused her assent, and rather sought to with- draw her from the new to the ancient worship. For some time the princess resisted every attempt ; but when she learned that her repugnance was thought to arise from the persuasions of the factious, she solicited a private audience, threw herself on her knees, and excused her past obstinacy, on the ground that she had never practised any other than the reformed worship. Per- haps, she said, if she were furnished with books, and aided by the instructions of divines, she might see her errors, and embrace the religion of her fathers. After this beginning, the reader will not be surprised to learn that her conversion was effected in the short course of a week. Mary now treated her with extraor- dinary kindness; and Elizabeth, to prove her sincerity, not only accompanied her sister to mass, but opened a chapel in her own house, and wrote to the emperor for leave to purchase, in Flan- ders, a chalice, cross, and the ornaments usually employed in the celebration of the Catholic worship. But the Protestant cause was consoled for the defection of Elizabeth by the zeal of Cranmer. Though he had been the au- Cranmer sent to tnor °^ ner mother's divorce, and one of the last the Tower. to abandon the conspiracy of Northumberland, he had not been sent to the Tower, but received an order to confine himself to his palace at Lambeth. Here intelligence was brought 1553 A. D.] MARY. 393 to him that the Catholic service had been performed in his church at Canterbury, and that a report was circulated of his having of- fered to celebrate mass before the queen. Cranmer hastened to refute these charges by a public denial; and in a declaration, which, while its boldness does honor to his courage, betrays by its asperity the bitterness of his feelings, asserted that the mass was the device and invention of the father of lies. Of this intem- perate declaration, several copies were dispersed and publicly read to the people in the streets. The council sent for the archbishop, and, after a long debate, committed him to the Tower. A few days afterward, Latimer was also sent to the same prison. To Julius III., the Roman pontiff, the accession of Mary had been a subject of triumph. Foreseeing the result, he imme- diately appointed Cardinal Pole his legate to the Cardinal Pole queen, the emperor, and the king of France. He to the queen, declined at first, and a private messenger proceeded to England, who procured more than one interview with Mary, and carried from her the message that it was her most anxious wish to see her kingdom reconciled with the Holy See; that for this purpose she meant to procure the repeal of all laws trenching on the doc- trine or discipline of the Catholic church; and that for the suc- cess of the undertaking it would be necessary to act with temper and prudence; to respect the prejudices of her subjects; and most carefully to conceal the least trace of any correspondence between her and the court of Rome. Such was the situation of affairs when Mary met her first par- liament. The two objects which she had principally at heart were, to remove from herself the stain of illegitimacy, Meeting of par- and to restore to its former ascendencv the religion lament: theresto- J ° ration of the an- of her fathers. By the council it was at first deter- cient service. mined to attempt both objects by a bill, which should repeal at once all the acts that had been passed in the two last reigns, affecting either the marriage between the queen's father and mother or the exercise of religion as it stood in the first year of Henry VIII. By the peers no objection was made; but opposition was organized among the commons; and the queen prorogued the parliament. In the succeeding session, two new bills were introduced in the place of the former; one confirming the marriage of Henry and Catherine, the other regulating the national worship. Against 394 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1553. the first bill not a voice was raised in either house of parliament. The next measure was so framed as to elude the objections of those who were hostile to the pretensions of the see of Rome. It professed to have no other object .than to restore religion to that state in which Edward found it on his accession. The opposition was confined to the lower house, and the bill passed. By it was at once razed to the ground that fabric which Cranmer had erected in the last reign; the new liturgy was abolished; and in lieu thereof were revived such forms of divine worship and adminis- tration of sacraments as had been most commonly used in Eng- land in the last year of Henry VIII. X That which now chiefly interested and agitated the public mind, was the project of marriage between Mary and Philip of Mary determines Spain. The projected alliance was unpopular. Spain. Protestants and Catholics, postponing their reli- gious animosities, joined in reprobating a measure which, they said, would place a foreign and despotic prince on the English throne. The commons voted an address to the queen, in which they prayed her to marry, but to select her husband not from any fo- reign family, but from the nobility of her own realm. But the queen had inherited the resolution or obstinacy of her father. Opposition might strengthen, it could not shake her purpose. Sending for the imperial ambassador, she bade him follow her into her private oratory, where, on her knees at the foot of the altar, she called God to witness that she had pledged her faith to Philip, prince of Spain. She next sent for the lower house : the speaker read the address; and, when it was expected that the chancellor, according to custom, would answer in her name, she herself re- plied : that for their expression of loyalty she sincerely thanked them; but, in as much as they pretended to limit her in the choice of a husband, she thanked them not. The marriages of her predecessors, she observed, had always been free, nor would she surrender a privilege which they had enjoyed. Elizabeth remained at court, watched by the imperialists, and caressed by their opponents; one day terrified by the fear of a prison, and the next day flattered with the prospect of a crown. No pains were spared to create dissension between the royal sis- ters. But Mary treated Elizabeth with kindness and distinction; and presented her with two sets of large and valuable pearls. 1554 A. D.] MARY. . 395 The enemies of the Spanish marriage joined in a rebellion against Mary, which seemed formidable. The queen ordered her ministers to provide the means of defence, and a revolt sup- undertook to fix, by her confidence and address, P ressed - , the wavering loyalty of the Londoners. The lord mayor called' an extraordinary meeting of the citizens; and Mary, with the sceptre in her hand, and accompanied by her ladies and officers of state, entered the Guildhall. She said that she was con- vinced that her people loved her too well to surrender her into the hands of rebels; and promised that, if it should not appear to the lords and commons in parliament to be for the benefit of the whole realm, she would never marry. The hall rang with acclamations; and by the next morning more than twenty thou- sand men had enrolled their names for the protection of the city. The insurgents were soon overcome, though not without a battle in the neighbourhood of London, in which many lives were lost. At the termination of the former conspiracy, the queen had per- mitted but three persons to be put to death — an instance of cle- mency, considering all the circumstances, not perhaps to be paralleled in the history of those ages. But the policy of her conduct had been severely arraigned; and now, while her mind was still agitated with the remembrance of her danger, she was induced to sign a warrant for the execution of Guilford Dudley and Lady Jane Grey, whose family had joined in the second re- bellion. On the fatal morning, the queen sent them permission to take a last farewell of each other; but Jane refused the indul- gence, saying, that in a few hours they should meet in heaven. From the window of her cell she saw her husband Execution of led to execution, and beheld his bleeding corpse wife, brought back to the chapel. He had been beheaded on Tower Hill, in sight of an immense multitude; she, on account of her royal descent, was spared the ignominy of a public execution. With a firm step and cheerful countenance she mounted the scaffold, which had been erected on the green within the Tower. Having laid her head upon the block, at one stroke it was severed from the body. Her life had before been spared as a pledge for the loyalty of the house of Suffolk. That pledge was indeed forfeited by the late rebellion of the duke; but it would 396 • HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1554 have been to the honor of Mary if she had overlooked the provo- cation, and refused to visit on the daughter the guilt of the father. Her youth ought to have pleaded most powerfully in her favor; and, if it were feared that she would again be set up by the factious as a competitor with her sovereign, the danger might certainly have been removed by some expedient less cruel than the infliction of death. The duke of Suffolk, lady Jane's father, fell unpitied. His ingratitude to the queen, his disregard of his daughter's safety, and his meanness in seeking to purchase forgiveness by the accu- sation of others, had sharpened the public indignation against him. Elizabeth was at Ashridge, laboring, or pretending to labor, under some severe indisposition. Much had come to light which Elizabeth com- tended to implicate her in the conspiracy; she re- mitted to the - . . r f J1 Tower. fused to join the queen in the capital, which was imputed to consciousness of guilt rather than infirmity of body. The council resolved to enforce submission ; but Mary insisted that, at the same time, due consideration should be paid to her health and her rank. A very kind invitation was written to her by the queen, and three members of the council were ordered to bring her to the court. They were instructed to take with them two of the queen's physicians, to ascertain her ability to travel, and also the queen's litter for her greater convenience on the road. It was with the utmost reluctance that Elizabeth yielded. The physicians assured her that there was no danger; but a respite of another week was granted ; and she at last reached London in great state. On her arrival she asked in vain for an interview with the queen, and was immediately conducted to apartments provided for her in a quarter of the palace out of which there was no egress but through a passage occupied by a guard. Mary, however, soon grew weary of being the jailer of her sister. She proposed to the council that some one of the lords should take charge of her in a private house in the country. But no man was willing to incur the responsibility; and an order was made for her committal to the Tower. She received the intelligence with dismay, and most earnestly solicited permission to speak to, or if that could not be, to write to the queen. The last was 1554 A. D.] MARY. 397 granted; and in the letter said to have been written on that occa- sion, she maintained that she had never consented to any project that could endanger the life or crown of her sister. In the Tower, Elizabeth abandoned herself to the most gloomy anticipations; she was saved from the danger by the abilities and good offices of one, whom it has been the fashion to describe as her bitterest enemy. For several weeks, Renard, the imperial ambassador, labored incessantly to extort the queen's consent that the princess should be condemned and sent to the scaffold. Gardiner however defended her with success. Mary sent an order to Elizabeth to come from the Tower by water, and join the court. A few days later the princess was sent forward to Woodstock, which had been selected for her residence, and where she remained till the beginning of the next year. The rebellion had suspended, for a few weeks, the proceedings relative to the queen's marriage; but in the beginning of March [1554] the Spanish ambassador arrived in Lon- The marriage of don, and espoused Mary in the name of the Mary and Philip, prince of Spain. Both houses unanimously concurred in an act confirming the treaty of marriage, declaring that the queen, after its solemnization, should continue to enjoy and exercise the sove- reignty as sole queen, without any right or claim to be given unto Philip. Philip soon arrived at Southampton, escorted by the combined fleets of England, the Netherlands, and Spain. The moment he set his foot on the beach, he was invested with the insignia of the Order of the Garter; and instantly a royal salute was fired by the batteries and the ships in the harbor. The queen had sent him a Spanish genet, richly caparisoned; and, as he rode first to the church, and thence to his lodging, the people crowded around hiin to see the husband of their sove- reign. His youth, the grace of his person, the pleasure dis- played in his countenance, charmed the spectators : they saluted him with cries of "God save your grace;" and he, turning on either side, expressed his thankfulness for their congratulations. On the festival of St. James, the patron saint of Spain, [July 25th,] the marriage was celebrated in the cathedral church at Winchester, before crowds of noblemen collected from every part of Christendom, and with a magnificence which has seldom been surpassed. From Winchester the royal pair proceeded, by slow 34 398 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1555 journeys, to Windsor and the metropolis. The city had been beautified at considerable expense, and the most splendid pa- geants were devised to welcome their arrival. * Mary now resolved to attempt that which she had long con- sidered an indispensable duty, the restoration of the religious Keunion with polity of the kingdom to that state in which it ex- Kome • isted at the time of her birth. In her first par- liament, she had prudently confined her efforts to the public re- establishment of the ancient form of worship. The statute was carried into execution on the appointed day, almost without op- position; the married clergy, according to the provisions of the canon law, were removed from their benefices; and Gardiner, with the secret approbation of the pontiff, had consecrated Ca- tholic prelates to supersede the few Protestant bishops who remained in possession of their sees. Thus one-half of the mea- sure had been already accomplished; the other, the recognition of the papal supremacy, a more hazardous task, still remained. Many had shared the plunder of the church; and they ob- jected to the restoration of that jurisdiction which might call in question their right to their present possessions. It was neces- sary, in the first place, to free them from apprehension, and for that purpose to procure from the pontiff a bull confirming all past alienation of the property of the church. This subject had from the commencement been urged on the consideration of the court of Rome. The pope having consulted his canonists and divines, signed a bull empowering the legate to give to the pre- sent possessors, all property which had been torn from the church during the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. The parliament was soon convoked. The procession on the first day was opened by the commoners; the peers and prelates followed; and next came Philip and Mary, in robes of purple, the king on horseback, attended by the lords of his household, the queen in a litter, followed by the ladies of her establishment. The chancellor, having taken his place in front of the throne, addressed the two houses. The queen's first parliament, he said, had re-established the ancient worship, her second had confirmed the articles of her marriage; and their majesties expected that the third, in preference to every other object, would accomplish the reunion of the realm with the universal church. An act 1555 A. D.] MARY. 399 was passed reversing the attainder of Cardinal Pole. He imme- diately came to England as legate, and assured the parliament of every facility on his part to effect the reunion of the church of England with that of Rome. The motion for the reunion was carried almost by acclamation. It was determined to present a pe- tition in the name of both houses to the king and queen, stating that they looked back with sorrow and regret on the defection of the realm from the communion of the Apostolic See. Mary and Philip spoke to the cardinal; and he absolved all those present and the whole nation from all heresy; and restored them to the communion of holy church in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. "Amen/' resounded from every part of the hall; and the members, rising from their knees, followed the king and queen into the chapel, where Te Deum was chanted in thanks- giving for the event. The next Sunday the legate, at the invi- tation of the citizens, made his public entry into the metropolis; and Grardiner preached at St. Paul's Cross the celebrated ser- mon, in which he lamented in bitter terms his conduct under Henry VIII. , and exhorted all, who had fallen through his means, or in his company, to rise with him, and seek the unity of the Catholic Church. The decree of the legate was soon afterward published, which declared — 1. That all cathedral churches, hospitals, and schools founded during the schism, should be preserved; T h e decrees of 2. That all persons, who had contracted marriage the legate * within the prohibited decrees without dispensation, should re- main married; 3. That all judicial processes, made before the ordinaries, or in appeal before delegates, should be held valid; and 4. That the possessors of church property should not be molested, under pretence of any canons of councils, decrees of popes, or censures of the church. An act was soon passed which provided that all papal bulls, dispensations, and privileges, not containing matter prejudicial to the royal authority, or to the laws of the realm, might be used in all courts whatsoever; that the pope should have the same authority and jurisdiction which he might have lawfully exercised before the twentieth year of the reign of Henry VIII.; and that the jurisdiction of the bishops should be restored to that state in which it existed at the same period. In the lords, the bill was read thrice in two 400 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1555. days; in the commons, it was passed after a sharp debate on the third reading. Thus was re-established in England the whole system of religious polity which had prevailed for so many cen- turies before Henry VIII. The dissolution of the parliament was followed by an unex- pected act of grace. The lord chancellor, accompanied by seve- ral members of the council, proceeded to the Tower, called be- fore him all state prisoners, and informed them that the king and queen had ordered them to be discharged. Elizabeth reap- peared at court, and by the king and queen was treated with kindness and distinction. After a visit of some months, she re- turned to her own house in the country. Pope Julius died in 1555. The new pontiff, who had taken the name of Marcellus II., died within one and twenty days; and the friends of Pole labored to honor him with the tiara. But as the cardinals, as well in the imperial as in the French interest, refused their voices, Caraffa was chosen, and took the name of Paul IV. On the very day of the coronation of this The embassy to pontiff, three English ambassadors reached Rome. Kome - Pole had foreseen that the new title of king and queen of Ireland, assumed by Philip and Mary, in imitation of Henry and Edward, might create some difficulty, and had there- fore requested that Ireland might be declared a kingdom before the arrival of the ambassadors. But the death of Julius, suc- ceeded by that of Marcellus, had prevented those pontiffs from complying with his advice; and the first act of the new pope, after his coronation, was to publish a bull, by which, at the peti- tion of Philip and Mary, he raised the lordship of Ireland to the dignity of a kingdom. Till this had been done, the ambassadors waited without the city; three days later they were publicly in- troduced. They acknowledged the pontiff as head of the uni- versal church, presented to him a copy of the act by which his authority had been re-established, and solicited him to ratify the absolution pronounced by the legate, and to confirm the bishop- rics erected during the schism. Paul received them with kind- ness, and granted their requests. It was the lot of Mary to live in an age of religious intolerance, when to punish the professors of erroneous doctrine was inculcated as a duty. The Protestants had no sooner obtained the ascend- 1555 A. D.] MARY. 401 ency during the short reign of Edward, than 0rigin of perse> they displayed the same persecuting spirit which cution - they had formerly condemned — burning the Anabaptist, and pre- paring to burn the Catholic at the stake, for no other crime than adherence to religious opinion. By a law proposed by Cranmer, to believe in transubstantiation, to admit the papal supremacy, and to deny justification by faith only, had been severally made heresy ; and it was ordained that individuals accused of holding heretical opinions should, if they continued obstinate, be delivered to the civil magistrate, to suffer the punishment provided by law. Edward died before this code had obtained the sanction of the legislature : by the accession of Mary, the power of the sword passed from the hands of one religious party to those of the other ; and within a short time, Cranmer and his associates pe- rished in the flames which they had prepared to kindle for the destruction of their opponents. Though it had been held in the last reign that by the common law of the land heresy was a crime punishable with death, it was deemed advisable to revive the three statutes which had formerly been enacted to suppress the doctrines of the Lollards. An act for this purpose was brought into the Commons, and in the course of four days it had passed the two houses. The new year opened to the Protestant preachers with a lower- ing aspect, and the storm soon burst on their heads. The firBt TiCh Gardiner presided in a court which was now opened, tims - and was attended by thirteen other bishops, and a crowd of lords and knights. Six prisoners accused of heresy were called before them ; of whom four, Hooper the deprived bishop of Gloucester, Rogers a prebendary of St. Paul's, Saunders rector of Allhallows in London, and Taylor rector of Hadley in Suffolk, were ex- communicated ; and their excommunication was followed by the delivery of the recusants to the civil power. Rogers was the first victim. He perished at the stake in Smithfield; Saunders under- went a similar fate at Coventry, Hooper at Gloucester, and Taylor at Hadley. An equal constancy was displayed by all: and, though pardon was offered them to the last moment, they scorned to purchase the continuance of life by feigning an assent to doc- trines which they did not believe. Gardiner never afterward took his seat on the bench, but transferred the ungracious office 34* 402 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1555. si conducting these prosecutions in the metropolis to Bonner, bishop of London. That prelate, accompanied by the lord mayor and sheriffs, and several members of the council, excommunicated six other prisoners, and delivered them to the civil power. But The sermon of tne nex * day> Alphonso di Castro, a Spanish friar, the Spanish friar, confessor to Philip, preached before the court, and, to the astonishment of his hearers, condemned these proceedings in the most pointed manner. He pronounced them contrary, not only to the spirit, but to the text of the gospel : it was not by severity, but by mildness, that men were to be brought into the fold of Christ ; and it was the duty of the bishops, not to seek the death, but to instruct the ignorance of their misguided brethren. Men were at a loss to account for this discourse. It made, however, a deep impression ; the execution of the prisoners was suspended ; the question was again debated in the council, and five weeks elapsed before the advocates of severity could obtain permission to rekindle the fires of Smithfield. The bishops, in general, declined the odious task of proceeding against persons accused of heresy. This reluctance of the prelates was remarked by the lord treasurer, the marquess of Winchester, who complained to the council, and procured a reprimand to be sent to Bonner, stating that the king and queen marvelled at his want of zeal and diligence, and requiring him to proceed accord- ing to law, for the advancement of God's glory, and the better preservation of the peace of the realm. The prelates no longer hesitated, and the persecution recommenced. To describe the sufferings of each individual would fatigue the patience and torture the feelings of the reader ; the last moments of Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, however, deserve special mention. During the pre- ceding reign they had concurred in sending the Anabaptists to the stake ; in the present, they were compelled to suffer the same punishment which they had so recently inflicted. Cranmer was served, as a matter of form, with a citation to answer before the pontiff in the course of eighty days — a dis- tinction which he owed to his office of archbishop; his com- The execution of P an i° n s, having appeared twice before the bishops Latimer and Ridley. f Li nC oln, Gloucester, and Bristol, as commis- sioners of the legate, and twice refused to renounce their opinions, were degraded from the priesthood, and delivered to the secular 1556 A. D.] MARY. 403 power. At the stake, to shorten their sufferings, bags of gun- powder were suspended from their necks. Latimer expired almost the moment that the fire was kindled ; but Ridley was doomed to endure the most excruciating torments. The constancy with which they suffered consoled the sorrow and animated the zeal of their disciples. From the window of his cell, Cranmer had seen his two friends led to execution. At the sight, his resolution began to waver, and he let fall some hints of a willingness to relent R eca ntations of and of a desire to confer with the legate. But in Cr anmer - a short time he recovered the tranquillity of his mind, and ad- dressed, in defence of his doctrine, a long letter to the queen, which at her request was answered by Cardinal Pole. At Rome, on the expiration of the eighty days, the royal proctors demanded judgment; and Paul, in a private consistory, pronounced the usual sentence. The intelligence of this proceeding awakened the terrors of the archbishop. He had not the fortitude to look death in the face. To save his life he feigned himself a convert to the Catholic creed, openly condemned his past delinquency, and, stifling the remorse of his conscience, in seven successive instruments abjured the faith which he had taught, and approved of that which he had opposed. He professed to believe on all points, and particularly respecting the sacraments, as the Catholic Church believed. To Ridley and Latimer, life had been offered on condition that they should recant ; but when the question was put, whether the same favor might be granted to Cranmer, it was decided by the council in the negative. His political offences, it was said, might be overlooked j but he had been the cause of the schism in the reign of Henry, and the author of the change of religion in the reign of Edward ; and such offences, it was urged, required that he should suffer. The writ was directed to the mayor of Oxford; the day of execution was fixed; still he cherished a hope of pardon ; and in a fifth recantation abjured the erroneous doctrines which he had formerly maintained. In a sixth confes- sion he acknowledged that he had been a greater persecutor of the church than Paul. He had, he said, blasphemed against the sacrament, had sinned against Heaven, and had deprived men of the benefits to be derived from the eucharist. In conclusion, he conjured the pope to forgive his offences against the Apostolic 404 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1556= See, and the king and queen to pardon his transgressions against them. Mary, however, persuaded herself, or had been persuaded by others, that public justice would not allow her to save him from the punishment to which he had been condemned. At length the fatal day arrived. At the appointed hour the procession set forward, and, on account of the rain, halted at the church of St. Mary, where the sermon was preached by Dr. Cole. Cranmer stood on a plat- form opposite the pulpit. At the conclusion of the sermon, he began to read a paper, and was heard for a time with profound silence. But when he recalled his former recantations, rejected the papal authority, and confirmed the doctrines contained in his book, he was interrupted by the murmurs and agitation of the audience. As soon as order could be restored, he was conducted to the stake, declaring that he had never changed his belief; that his recantations had been wrung from him by the hope of life ; and that, as his hand had offended by writing contrary to his heart, it should be the first to receive its punishment. When the fire was kindled, to the surprise of the spectators, he thrust his hand into the flame, exclaiming, "This hath offended/' His sufferings were short ; the flames rapidly ascended above his head, and he expired in a few moments. On the deprivation of Cranmer, Pole had been appointed arch- bishop; and his consecration took place on the day after the The conduct of death of his predecessor. It has been said that Pole - Pole hastened the death of Cranmer, that he might get possession of the archbishopric; but the life of Cranmer, after his deprivation, could be no obstacle. The fact is, that Pole pro- cured several respites for Cranmer, and thus prolonged his life. The persecution now ceased in the diocese of Canterbury. Pole found sufficient exercise for his zeal in reforming the clergy, re- pairing the churches, and re-establishing the ancient discipline. But his moderation displeased the more zealous ; they called in question his orthodoxy; and, in the last year of his life, (perhaps to refute the calumny,) he issued a commission within his diocese. Five persons were condemned; four months afterward they suffered, but at a time when the cardinal lay on his death-bed, and was probably ignorant of their fate. It had at first been hoped that a few of these barbarous ex- 1558 A. D.] MARY. 405 hibitions would silence the voices of the preachers, and check the diffusion of their doctrines; hut as they con- Reflections on tinued to promulgate their views, the persecution the P ersecutions - continued till the death of Mary. Sometimes milder counsels seemed to prevail; and on one occasion all the prisoners were discharged, on the easy condition of taking an oath to be true to God and the queen. But these intervals were short, and, after some suspense, the spirit of intolerance was sure to resume the ascendency. Any attempt at defending such persecution can take but little from the infamy of the measure. After every al- lowance, it will be found that, in the space of fbur years, almost two hundred persons perished in the flames for religious opinion; a number, at the contemplation of which the mind is struck with horror, and learns to bless the legislation of a more tolerant age, in which dissent from established forms, though in some countries still punished with civil disabilities, is nowhere liable to the penalties of death. If any thing could be urged in extenuation of these cruelties, it must have been the provocation given by the reformers. The succession of a Catholic sovereign had deprived g om e palliation them of office and power; had suppressed the offered - English service, the idol of their affections; and had re-esta- blished the ancient worship, which they deemed antichristian and idolatrous. Disappointment imbittered their zeal; and enthu- siasm sanctified their intemperance. They heaped on the queen, her bishops, and her religion, every indecent and irritating epi- thet which language could supply. Her clergy could not exer- cise their functions without danger to their lives; a dagger was thrown at one priest in the pulpit; a gun was discharged at another; and several wounds were inflicted on a third, while he administered the communion in his church; and some congre- gations even prayed for the death of the queen. It is not improbable that such excesses would have considerable influence with statesmen who might deem it expedient to suppress sedition by prosecution for heresy, but there is reason to believe that the queen herself was not actuated so much by motives of policy as of conscience; and that she had imbibed the same intolerant opinions which Cranmer and Ridley labored to instil into the young mind of Edward. 406 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 155a From the moment of his arrival in England, Philip had sought to ingratiate himself with the natives. He had con- Phiiip's depar- formed to the national customs, and appeared to ture from Eng- , , ,-» _ , . , , . x L land. be delighted with the national amusements. In the government of the realm he appeared not to take any active part; and, when favors were conferred, was careful to attribute them to the bounty of the queen, claiming for himself no other merit than that of a well-wisher and intercessor. But he labored in vain. The antipathy of the English was not to be subdued; personally, indeed, he was always treated with respect, but his attendants met with daily insults and injuries. Under these cir- cumstances the king grew weary of his stay in England, and his secret wishes were aided by letters from his father, who, ex- hausted with disease and the cares of government, earnestly en- treated him to return; but the queen, believing herself in a state to give him an heir to his dominions, extorted from him a promise not to leave her till after her expected delivery. She was mistaken, however, as to the fact of pregnancy, and Philip departed for Flanders. He left the queen with every demonstra- tion of attachment, and recommended her in strong terms to the care of Cardinal Pole. The queen, considering the impoverished state of the church, judged it her duty to restore to it such ecclesiastical property Death of Gar- as during the late reigns had been vested in the stores the a church crown. Gardiner died at this period. His death property. was a su kj ec t f Jeep regret to Mary, who lost in him a most able, faithful, and zealous servant. During his ill- ness, he edified all around him by his piety and resignation. His death interrupted the plans of the council. He had under- taken to procure the consent of parliament to the queen's plan of restoring the church property vested in the crown : now Mary herself assumed his office, and sending for a deputation from each house, explained her wish, and the reasons on which it was grounded. In the lords, the bill passed with only two dissen- tient voices; in the commons, though encountering considerable opposition, it was carried. By it a yearly revenue of about sixty thousand pounds was resigned by the queen, and placed at the disposal of the cardinal. About the same time, that the monas : tic bodies might not complain of neglect, Mary re-established the 1558 A. D.] MARY. 407 Gray Friars at Greenwich, the Carthusians at Sheen, and the Brigittins at Sion. The dean and prebendaries of Westminster retired on pensions, and yielded their places to a colony of twenty-eight Benedictine monks. In addition, the house of the Knights of St. John arose from its ruins. But these renewed establishments fell again on the queen's demise; her hospital at the Savoy being alone suffered to remain. While Gardiner lived, his vigilance had checked the intrigues of the factious : his death emboldened them to renew their machinations against the government. Secret meetings were now held; defamatory libels on the king and queen, printed on the continent, were found scattered in the streets, in the palace, and in both houses of parliament; and reports were circulated that Mary, hopeless of issue to succeed her, had determined to settle the crown on her husband after her decease. A new conspi- cieobury's con- racy was formed, which had for its object to de- s P irac y- pose Mary, and to raise Elizabeth to the throne. The conspira- tors reported that Philip devoted to Spanish purposes the revenue of the English crown; though at the same time they knew that, on different occasions, he had brought an immense mass of trea- sure into the kingdom, of which one portion had been distri- buted in presents, another had served to defray the expenses of the marriage, and the remainder, amounting to fifty thousand pounds, was still lodged in the Exchequer. A plan was devised to surprise the guard, and to obtain possession of this money; but one of the conspirators proved a traitor to his fellows; of the others, several, apprehended by his means, paid the forfeit of their lives, and many sought and obtained an asylum in France. Among the prisoners apprehended in England, were two officers in the household of ^Elizabeth, from whose confessions much was elicited to implicate the princess herself. She was rescued from danger by the interposition of Philip, who, despairing of issue by his wife, foresaw that, if Elizabeth were removed out of the way, the English crown, at the decease of Mary, would be claimed by the young queen of Scots, the wife of the dauphin of France. By his orders the inquiry was dropped, and Mary, sending to her sister a ring in token of her affection, professed to believe that Elizabeth was innocent. The exiles in France soon made a new attempt to excite an insurrection. There was among them a 408 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1558 young man, of the name of Cleobury, who landed in Sussex, was taken, and suffered at Bury the penalty of his treason. Though Cleobury had employed the name of Elizabeth, we have no rea- son to charge her with participation in the imposture. The council pretended, at least, to believe her innocent; and she her- self, in a letter to Mary, expressed her detestation of all such attempts. She resolved, however, to seek an asylum in France, but was dissuaded from this course. From that period, the princess resided, apparently at liberty, but in reality under the eyes of watchful guardians, in her house at Hatfield, and occa- sionally at court. Mary finding political difficulties increasing, urged Philip to return without delay. But he, to whom his father had resigned all his dominions in Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands, was over- whelmed with business of more importance to him than the tran- quillity of his wife or of her government; and, to pacify her mind, he made her frequent promises, the fulfilment of which it was Philip returns always in his power to elude. In March, 1557, with France. he revisited Mary, not so much in deference to her representations, as to draw England into a war with France. A proclamation was issued, containing charges against the French monarch, which it was not easy to refute. From the very accession of Mary he had put on the appearance of a friend, and acted as an adversary. He had approved of the re- bellion of Northumberland and other English rebels. Henry of France, when he heard of the proclamation, determined to op- pose to it a manifesto, in which he complained that Mary had maintained spies in his dominions, and had laid new and heavy duties on the importation of French merchandise. Philip returned to Flanders, where mercenaries from Ger- many and the troops from Spain had already arrived. The earl of Pembroke followed at the head of seven thousand Eng- lishmen; and the command of the combined army, consisting of forty thousand men, was assumed by Philibert, duke of Savoy. The English fleet rode triumphant through the summer, and kept the maritime provinces of France in a state of perpetual alarm. When Mary determined to aid her husband against Henry, she had made up her mind to a war with Scotland. In that 1558 A. D.] MARY. 409 kingdom the national animosity against the English, the ancient alliance with France, the marriage of the queen to the dauphin, and the authority of the queen-regent, a French princess, had given to the French interest a preponderance. The Scotch, to please France, ravaged the North of England; they soon, how- ever, assembled in council, and reminding each other of the fatal field of Flodden, the army was disbanded The king of France next resolved to besiege Calais. In the month of December, 1558, twenty-five thousand men, with a numerous train of battering artillery, assembled near that fortress. The governor, Lord Went- worth, had received repeated warning to provide for the defence of the place, but he persuaded himself that the object of the ene- my was not conquest, but plunder. A company of Frenchmen waded across the haven, and the French standard was soon un- furled on the walls. The next morning an offer of capitulation was made; and the town, with all the ammunition and mer- chandise, was surrendered, on condition that the citizens and garrison should have liberty to depart, with the exception of Wentworth himself and of fifty others. Thus in the depth of winter, and within the short lapse of three weeks, was Calais, with all its dependencies, recovered by France, after it had re- mained in the possession of the English more than two hundred years. The queen felt the event most poignantly; and we may form a notion of her grief from the declaration which she made on her death-bed, that if her breast were opened after T he grief of Mary. death, the word " Calais" would be found engraven The J°y in Fra nce. on her heart. The ministers prepared an armament sufficiently powerful to surprise some port on the French coast, as an equiva- lent for that which had been lost. During the spring, seven thousand men were levied, and trained to military evolutions; the lord admiral collected in the harbor of Portsmouth a fleet of one hundred and forty sail ; and Philip willingly supplied a strong reinforcement of Flemish troops. In France the capture of Ca- lais had excited an intoxication of joy. The event had been celebrated by the nuptials of the dauphin to the young queen of Scotland. The lord admiral, instead of proceeding immediately to his destination, amused himself with making a descent on Con- 2A 35 410 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [1558 A. D. quest ; in Bretagne. He burnt the town, and plundered the ad- jacent villages; but, in the mean time, the alarm was given; troops poured from all quarters into Brest; and his fears or his prudence induced him to return to England, without having done any thing to raise the reputation of the country, or to repay the expenses of the expedition. The reign of Mary was now hastening to its termination. Her health had always been delicate, and from the time of her first Mary's last sick- supposed pregnancy she was afflicted with frequent ness and death. maladies. Nor was her mind more at ease than her body. The exiles from Geneva, by the number and virulence of their libels, kept her in a constant state of fear and irritation; and to other causes of anxiety, which have been formerly men- tioned, had lately been added the loss of Calais. In August she experienced a slight febrile indisposition at Hampton Court, and immediately removed to St. James's, where she languished for three months. During this long confinement, Mary edified all around her by her cheerfulness, her piety, and her resignation to the will of Providence. Her chief solicitude was for the stability of that Church which she had restored; and her suspicions of Elizabeth's insincerity prompted her to require from her sister an avowal of her real sentiments. In return, Elizabeth complained of Mary's incredulity. She said that she was a true and con- scientious believer in the Catholic creed; nor could she do more now than she had repeatedly done before, which was to confirm her assertion with her oath. On the morning of Mary's death, mass was celebrated in her chamber. She was perfectly sensible, and expired a few minutes before the conclusion. Her friend and kinsman, Cardinal Pole, who had long been confined with a fever, survived her only twenty-two hours. He had reached his fifty-ninth, she her forty- second year. The foulest blot on the character of this queen is her long and cruel persecution of the Protestants. The sufferings of the vic- tims naturally begat an antipathy to the woman by Her character. , ,_ J . ° . ». , ' -r VV wnose authority they were inflicted. It is, how- ever, but fair to recollect that the extirpation of erroneous doc- trine was inculcated as a duty by the leaders of every religious party. Mary only practised what all taught. It was her mis- 1558 A. D.] MARY. 411 fortune, rather than her fault, that she was not more enlightened than the wisest of her contemporaries. With this exception, she has been ranked, by the more moderate of the Protestant writers, among the best, though not the greatest, of our sovereigns. They have borne honorable testimony to her virtues, and have allotted to her the praise of piety and clemency, of compassion for the poor, and liberality to the distressed. It is acknowledged that her moral character was beyond reproof. It extorted respect from all, even from the most virulent of her enemies. The ladies of her household copied the conduct of their mistress; and the decency of.Mary's court was often mentioned with applause by those who lamented the dissoluteness which prevailed in that of her successor. The queen was thought by some to have inherited the obstinacy of her father; but there was this difference, that, before she formed her decisions, she sought for advice and in- formation, and made it an invariable rule to prefer right to expe- diency. Her natural abilities had been improved by education. She understood the Italian, she spoke the French and Spanish languages; and the ease and correctness with which she replied to the foreigners who addressed her in Latin, excited their admi- ration. Her speeches in public, and from the throne, were delivered with grace and fluency. Neither were the interests of trade neglected during her government. She had the honor of concluding the first com- mercial treaty with Russia. The Russian trade fully compensated the queen and the nation for these efforts and expenses; and the woollen cloths and coarse linens of England were exchanged at an immense profit for the valuable skins and furs of the northern regions. Ireland, during this reign, offers but few subjects to attract the notice of the reader. The officers of government were care- ful to copy the proceedings in England. They first Ire i an d during proclaimed the lady Jane, and then the lady her rei s n - Mary. They suffered the new service to fall into desuetude; Dowdall resumed the archbishopric of Armagh; the married pre- lates and clergy lost their benefices; and Bale, the celebrated bishop of Ossory, who had often endangered his life by his vio- lence and fanaticism, had the prudence to withdraw to the con- tinent. When the Irish parliament met, it selected most of its 412 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1558 enactments from the English statute-book. The legitimacy and right of the queen were affirmed, the ancient service restored, and the papal authority acknowledged. But though the laws against heresy were revived, they were not carried into execution. The lord deputy, the earl of Sussex, distinguished himself by the vigor of his government. He recovered from the native Irish the two districts of Offally and Leix, which he moulded into counties, and named King's County and Queen's County, in honor of Philip and Mary. CHAPTER XXXI. $IipMft. CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. Popes. Scotland. France. Paul IV. Mary. Henry II. Pius IV. James VI. Francis II. Pius V. Charles IX Gregory XIII. Germany. Henry III. Sixtus V. Ferdinand. Henry IV. Urban VII. Maximilian. Gregory XIV. Pvodolph. Spain. Innocent IX. Philip II. Clement VIII. Philip III. Accession of Elizabeth — Abolition of Catholic worship — "War in Scotland — Re- turn of Mary Stuart — Elizabeth's suitors — Penal statutes — Thirty-nine Arti- cles — Queen of Scotland marries Darnley — Assassination of Rizzio : of Darnley — Mary marries Bothwell — The misfortunes of Mary — She seeks an asylum in England — Persecution of the Puritans : the Catholics — Plots for the liberation of Mary Stuart — Proceedings against Mary — Her trial and execution — Philip of Spain determines to invade England — The sailing of the Armada — Transactions in Ireland — Rebellion of Tyrone — Declining health of the Queen — Her death and character — A. D. 1558 to 1603. Elizabeth ascended the throne without opposition. Imme- diately after Mary's death a deputation of the council repaired to A. D. 1558.] ELIZABETH. 413 her residence at Hatfield. She received them Elizabeth a*, courteously, and to their congratulations replied in her council. a formal and studied discourse. Sir William Cecil was ap- pointed secretary j and the queen with his aid named the mem- bers of her council. Of the advisers of Mary she retained those who were distinguished for their capacity, or formidable by their influence ; and to these she added eight others, who had shown attachment to her in her troubles. There was another and secret cabinet, consisting of Cecil and his particular friends, who pos- sessed the ear of the queen, and controlled through her every department in the state. During the reign of her sister, Elizabeth had professed herself a convert to the ancient faith. The Catholics were willing to believe that her conformity arose from conviction ; the Protest- ants, while they lamented her apostasy, persuaded The conduct of . J . f. . , \ , . t , Elizabeth in mat- themselves that she feigned sentiments which she ters of religion. did not feel. It is probable that, in her own mind, she was in- different to either form of worship; but her ministers, whose prospects depended on the change, urged their mistress to put clown a religion which proclaimed her illegitimate, and to support the reformed doctrines, which alone could give stability to her throne. After some hesitation, Elizabeth complied; but a reso- lution was adopted to suppress all knowledge of the intended measure, till every precaution had been taken to insure its success. Elizabeth, by the ambiguity of her conduct, contrived to balance the hopes and fears of the two parties. She con- tinued to assist, and occasionally to communicate, at mass ; she buried her sister with all the solemnities of the Catholic ritual ; and she ordered a solemn dirge, and a mass of requiem, for the soul of the emperor Charles V. By degrees, how- The alarmof the ever, the secret of the intended change of religion Wshops. was suffered to transpire. White, bishop of Winchester, was imprisoned for his sermon at the funeral of Queen Mary, and Bonner, bishop of London, was called upon to account for the different fines which had been levied in his courts during the last reign. Archbishop Heath either received a hint, or deemed it prudent, to resign the seals, which, with the title of lord keeper, were transferred to Sir Nicholas Bacon. But that which cleared 414 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1559. away every doubt was a proclamation, forbidding the clergy to preach, and ordering the Catholic worship to be observed " until consultation might be had in parliament by the queen and the three estates." Alarmed by this clause, the bishops assembled in London, and declared that they could not in conscience officiate at the coronation of a princess, who, it was probable, might ob- ject to some part of the service; and who, if she did not refuse to take, certainly meant to violate, that part of the oath which bound the sovereign to maintain the liberties of the church. The question was put, and was unanimously resolved in the ne- gative. This unexpected determination of the prelates created consider- Coronation of a ^ e embarrassment. Many expedients were de- Eiizabeth. vised to remove or surmount the difficulty; and at last the bishop of Carlisle separated himself from his col- leagues. He was prevailed upon to crown the queen, and she on her part was compelled to take the accustomed oath, to receive the sacrament under one kind, and to conform to all the Catholic rites. But Cecil soon completed his arrangements. On the 25th of January, 1559, the queen assisted in state at a solemn high mass, which was followed by a sermon from Dr. Cox, a Protestant preacher. The lord keeper then opened the parliament in her presence. He first drew a melancholy picture of the state of the realm under Queen Mary, and next exhibited the cheering pros- pect of the blessings which awaited it under the new sovereign. Before the commons proceeded to any other business, they voted an address to the queen, praying that she would marry. She thanked them, but said that she preferred a single life. An act was passed, which without reversing the attainder of Anne Boleyn, restored Elizabeth in blood, and rendered her in- Acts of pariia- heritable to her mother, and to all her ancestors ment relating to . „, a , . -»-» i religion. on the part ot her said mother. But the subject which principally occupied the attention of parliament was the alteration of religion. It was enacted that the Book of Common Prayer, with certain additions and emendations, should alone be used by all ministers ; and that the spiritual authority of every foreign prelate within the realm should be utterly abolished. It next devolved on the queen to provide a new hierarchy for the 1560 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 415 English Church. She first sent for the bishops then in London, and required them to conform ; but they refused, and being de- prived of their bishoprics, were committed to custody. After the consecration of new bishops, there was little to impede the progress of the reformed worship. The oath of supremacy was tendered by them to the clergy of their respective dioceses ; but in general it was refused. The restoration of Calais was a matter forming, at this time, a ground of negotiation. It was agreed that the French king should retain possession during the next eight years ) and that at the expiration of the term he should restore the town with its dependencies to Elizabeth. It was evident, however, that at the expiration of eight years, French ingenuity would easily discover some real or pretended infraction of the treaty, on which the king might ground his refusal to restore the place. This consequence was foreseen by the public ; and the terms were therefore con- demned as prejudicial and disgraceful. Mary Stuart had now completed her fifteenth year. She was married to the dauphin Francis, a prince of nearly the same age, in the cathedral of Paris; he was immediately saluted by his consort with the title of king-dau- ary phin ; and to cement the union of France and Scotland, the na- tives of each country were by legislative acts naturalized in the other. A war on the subject of religion raged for a long time in Scot- land, the details of which possess little interest. John Knox led the party of the new creed, and Elizabeth, though personally disliking Knox, aided his friends. This reflected little credit on Elizabeth, and still less on the character of her advisers ; for the right of intervention, even in its most liberal acceptation, can never authorize one prince to intrigue clandestinely with the sub- jects of another. Francis, a weak and sickly priuce, died in 1560. By this event, the near connection between France and Scotland was dissolved, and Mary persuaded herself that she might assume Death of Francis, without molestation the government of her native Scotland! Ur kingdom. Such, however, was not the design of the English ministry. They were aware that she might marry a second time, and that with a new husband her former pretensions might re- 416 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1560. vive, a contingency against which it was their duty to provide. With this view a resolution was taken to prevent, or at least to retard, the return of Mary Stuart to Scotland. Mary had been left a widow at the age of eighteen. She spent the winter among her maternal relatives in Lorrain, and consoled her grief by writ- ing elegies on her departed husband. Having spent a few days with the French royal family at St. Germain en Laye, she pro- ceeded to Calais in great state ; whence she sailed in a short time, with two galleys and four transports, accompanied by three of her uncles and many French and Scottish noblemen. As long as the coast remained in view, she fixed her eyes on the land in which she had lived from her childhood and had reigned as queen ; then, stretching out her arms, exclaimed, " Farewell, beloved France, farewell. Never shall I see thee more." On the fourth day, Mary approached the land of her fathers with mingled emo- tions of hope and apprehension. To disappoint the machinations of her enemies, she had arrived a fortnight before the appointed time. No preparations were made for her reception, but the whole population, nobles, clergy, and people, poured to Leith to testify their allegiance to their young and beautiful sovereign. Her fears were dispelled : with a glad and lightsome heart she mounted her palfrey; and entered the capital amid the shouts and congratulations of her subjects. We may now call the attention of the reader to the private history of Elizabeth in the commencement of her reign. There The private Ms- were many, both among foreign princes and native he?" various b s2t- subjects, whose vanity or ambition aspired to the ors - honor of marrying the queen of England. Of foreign princes the first was Philip of Spain ; but as he received an answer he deemed equivalent to a refusal, he turned his eyes toward Isabella of France, by whom his offer was accepted. The place of Philip was supplied by his cousin Charles of Austria, son to the emperor Ferdinand; but difficulties connected with religion interfered with this alliance : and John, duke of Finland, next solicited the hand of the queen for his brother Eric, king of Sweden. He was received with royal honors, and flattered with delusive hopes, but his suit did not succeed, and he consoled him- self for his disappointment by marrying a lady who, though un- 1562 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 417 equal in rank to Elizabeth, could boast of superior beauty and repaid his choice by the sincerity of her attachment. The next suitor was Adolphus, duke of Holstein. The prince was young and handsome. On bis arrival he was received with honor, and treated with peculiar kindness. He loved and was beloved. The queen made him knight of the Garter j she grant- ed him a pension for life; still she could not be induced to take him for her husband. The earl of Arran next aspired to Eliza- beth's hand. During the war of the Reformation he had dis- played courage and constancy. To the deputies of the Scottish convention, who urged bis suit, Elizabeth, with her usual affecta- tion, replied, that she was content with her maiden state, and that God had given her no inclination for marriage. Yet the sudden departure of the ambassadors deeply offended her pride. She complained that while kings and princes persevered for months and years in their suit, the Scots did not deign to urge their requests a second time. The man who made the deepest and most lasting impression on Elizabeth's heart, was the lord Robert Dudley, who had been at- tainted with his father, the duke of Northumber- Dud i ey and Eli . land, for the attempt to remove Elizabeth as well zab eth. as Mary from the succession. He had, however, been restored in blood, and frequently employed by the late queen ; under the present he met with rapid preferment, was appointed master of the horse, and soon afterward, to the surprise of the public, in- stalled knight of the Garter. The queen and Dudley became in- separable companions. Scandalous reports were whispered and believed at home ; in foreign courts it was openly said they lived together in criminal intercourse. Dudley had married Amy, the daughter and heiress of Sir John Robesart ; but that lady was not permitted to appear at court. Her sudden death provoked the injurious suspicion that his impatience of waiting had prompted him to make away with his wife. It was believed that the queen at this period solemnly pledged her word to Dudley ; and even a lady of the bed-chamber was named as witness to the contract. At this time, religious rancor had caused the flames of war to burst out in every province in France. Each party displayed a 418 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1562. most ferocious spirit, and the most inhuman atrocities were daily perpetrated by men who professed to serve under the banners of religion, and for the honor of the Almighty. A treaty was concluded between Elizabeth (although she was the ally of Charles IX.) and the prince of Conde, a subject in arms against that sovereign, and one of the principal leaders of the Protestant party. She engaged to advance money and to land an army on the coast of Normandy, and Conde was to surrender into her hands the town of Havre de Grace, to be detained by her as a security, not only for the repayment of the money, but also for the restoration of Calais. The English fleet sailed to the coast of Normandy, Havre and Dieppe were delivered to the queen ; and the new earl of War- wick, the brother of the lord Robert Dudley, was ranee mya e . appointed commander-in-chief of the English army in France. Fired with resentment, the French nobility hastened to the royal army from every province ; and to animate their ex- ertions, Charles, the queen regent, and the king of Navarre re- paired to the camp before Rouen. The city was taken by assault, and abandoned, during eight days, to the fury of a victorious soldiery. Elizabeth sent reinforcements to the earl of Warwick, commis- sioned Count Oldenburgh to levy twelve thousand men in Ger- many, and ordered public prayers during three Penal acts passed. -, ■. ,1 ^ ^ • « T t i days, to implore the blessing of Heaven upon her cause, and that of the gospel. She soon afterward obtained a grant from Parliament to aid in carrying on the war in France. An act highly penal against the professors of the ancient faith was passed in this year. By the law, as it already stood, no heir hold- ing of the crown could get legal possession of his lands, no indivi- dual could obtain preferment in the church, or accept office under the crown, or become member of either university, unless he had previously taken the oath of supremacy, which was deemed equi- valent to a renunciation of the Catholic creed. The new act ex- tended to many others the obligation of taking the oath, and made the first refusal an offence punishable by premunire, the second by death, as in case of treason. It is manifest that if this bar- barous statute had been strictly carried into execution, the scaf- 1562 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 419 folds in every part of the kingdom would have been drenched with the blood of the sufferers ; but the queen was appalled at the prospect before her, and she admonished the bishops, who had been appointed to administer the oath, to proceed with lenity and caution. When the convocation assembled, matters were submitted to its deliberation of the highest importance to the new church, viz. an adequate provision for the lower order of the The Th^ty-nine clergy, a new code of ecclesiastical discipline, and Articles, the promulgation of a creed to be considered by Protestants the future standard of English orthodoxy. The Thirty-nine Articles, as they now exist, were drawn up at this period. The hope of recovering Calais was one of the chief baits by which the queen had been drawn into the war between the French Huguenots and their sovereign. Her ministers had predicted the restoration of that important place; the prince of Conde had promised to support her demand with his whole power • and the admiral, Coligny, confirmed the engagement made by the prince. It was soon seen how little reliance could be placed Toleration of re- x ligion granted in upon men who tought only tor their own emolu- France. ment. The duke of Guise was assassinated. Conde aspired to the high station in the government to which he was entitled as first prince of the blood ; and the Catholics feared that the Eng- lish, with the aid of Coligny, might make important conquests in Normandy. The leaders on both sides, anxious for an accom- modation, met, were reconciled, and subscribed a treaty of peace, by which the French Protestants promised their services to the king as true and loyal subjects, and obtained in return an amnesty for the past, and the public exercise of their religion for the future. Elizabeth received the intelligence with surprise and anger. In her public declarations, she had hitherto professed to hold the town of Havre in trust for the king of France ; but A conference now, when he required her to withdraw her forces, °P en ed. she replied that she would continue to hold it as a security for the restoration of Calais. She continued inexorable, till she saw that both parties, the Huguenots as well as the Catholics, had de- termined to unite and expel the English troops from the soil of France. Conferences were opened; but no mention was made 420 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1563. of the restitution of Calais to England. The one party would not suffer it ; the other dared not urge it, because Elizabeth had forfeited her claim to the recovery of the place by landing a hos- tile army in France. But she still had in her power the French hostages, and their bonds for the sum of five hundred thousand crowns. After a long discussion it was agreed that the hostages should be released ; and that the queen should be content to re- ceive payment of one-fourth of her original demand. Here we may return to the transactions between the English and Scottish queens. When Mary took possession of her paternal throne, she was aware that from France, distracted as it was by civil and religious dissension, she could derive no support; and therefore had determined, with the advice of her uncles, to sub- due by conciliation, if it were possible, the hostility of her former opponents. The lord James, her illegitimate brother, and Maitland, the apostate secretary, both high in the confidence of the " Con- gregationalists," or Protestant party, and both pensioners of the English queen, were appointed her principal ministers; the friend- ship of Elizabeth was sought by compliments and professions of at- tachment ; and an epistolary correspondence was established be- tween the two queens. In a few months, the jealousy or policy of Elizabeth was called into action by a communication from Mary, stating that she had Proposal of mar- received a proposal of marriage from the archduke of Austria. Charles of Austria. The announcement put to the test all the ingenuity of Cecil. To prevent the match, he devised two plans, which were instantly carried into effect. By the first, Elizabeth was again brought forward as a rival to Mary. Cecil applied to the duke of Wirtemberg; and that prince, as if of himself, solicited the emperor to make a second offer of his son to the English queen. But Ferdinand replied, that he had once been duped by the selfish and insincere policy of Elizabeth, and that he would not expose himself to similar treatment a second time. The other plan was to induce Mary, by threats and pro- mises, to refuse the archduke. Elizabeth proposed that Mary should marry Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester; but she refused, as Elizabeth evidently expected. In a short time the lord Darn- ley was set up. Darnley was the eldest son of the countess of Lennox ; and it was represented to Mary that a marriage with 15G5 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 421 him could not be degrading, since he was sprung by his father from the kings of Scotland, by his mother from those of England. Mary appeared to listen to this proposal with a willing ear ; and the intelligence was immediately conveyed to Elizabeth. The matter hung in suspense till Elizabeth, to the surprise of most men, though she had at first refused, allowed Darnley to proceed to the Scottish court with letters of recommendation. Mary ac- cepted Darnley, but strange to say, this announcement irritated the English queen ; and a letter was forwarded to Mary, describ- ing the inconveniences and impolicy of the marriage. Mary said that she had pledged her word, but would defer the ceremony for three months. Elizabeth then sent agents to excite a rebellion in Scotland. Maiy summoned the Scottish nobles to meet her at Perth : Mur- ray and his friends refused to obey. She received Mary marries , . , . ,.. /.in. Darnley, July 9, secret advice that it was the intention ot the dis- 1565. contented lords to make her their prisoner, with Lennox and Darnley; but she defeated their object. Mary now, to free her- self from the state of uncertainty in which she had so long lived, privately married Darnley. Both parties soon began to prepare for the approaching struggle. The lords met at Stirling, and subscribed a bond to stand by each other: a messenger was despatched the next day to Elizabeth, to solicit speedy and effectual aid. Mary immediately acknowledged her choice of Darnley. She ordered the banns to be published, created him duke of Albany, and was married openly to him in the chapel of Holyrood House, by the bishop of Brechin. Pro- clamation was made that he should be styled king during the time of their marriage, and that all writs should run in the joint names of Henry and Mary, king and queen of Scotland. He was in his twentieth, she had reached her twenty-third year. The associated lords receiving no aid from England, were unable to withstand the superior force of the royalists, and they retired, some toward Ayr, some toward Argyleshire. The rebel force soon disbanded, and Murray was allowed to proceed to Lon- don. At first Elizabeth refused to see him ; afterward he was admitted in presence of the French and Spanish ambassadors, when, falling on his knees, he acknowledged that the queen was 36 422 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. 1). 1565 innocent of the conspiracy, and had never advised them to dis- obey their sovereign lady. Elizabeth was now actively employed in seeking a husband for herself. From whatever cause her former repugnance had sprung, Elizabeth desires Jt was at len g th subdued by the danger from the to marry. claim of the Scottish queen, if that princess should have issue while she herself remained childless. But she found it more easy to determine to marry, than to fix on the choice of a husband, and so she still remained single. Mary, in the ardor of her affection, had overlooked the defects in the character of Darnley. Experience convinced her that he The ambition of was capricious in his temper, violent in his pas- Damiey. sions, and implacable in his resentments. He had already contracted habits of inebriety, which led him occasionally into the most scandalous excesses, and made him forget, even in public, the respect due to his consort. But his ambition proved to her a source of more bitter disquietude. She had summoned a parliament for the twofold purpose of attainting the most guilty of the fugitive rebels, and of granting liberty of conscience for those among her subjects who, like herself, professed the ancient faith. Darnley insisted that a matrimonial crown should be granted to himself, but Mary refused ; and the discontented prince directed his resentment against those whom he supposed to be her advisers, and particularly against David Biccio, one of her secre- taries, a native of Piedmont, who had come to Scotland in the suite of the ambassador of Savoy. Many of the Scotch viewed Biccio with hostility. He was a stranger and a Catholic; two qualities calculated to excite the The assassination jealousy both of the courtiers and of the preachers. ofRiccio. Maitland, observing the discontent of the king, suggested to him that Mary had transferred her affections to Bic- cio ; and that the refusal of the matrimonial crown had proceeded from the advice of that minion. On Saturday, March 9, 1566, between seven and eight in the evening, eighty armed men took possession of the gates of Holyrood palace. Mary, who was in- disposed and in the seventh month of her pregnancy, was at the time seated at supper in the closet of her bed-chamber with her illegitimate brother and sister. Biccio, Erskine, captain of the guard, and Beaton, master of the household, were in attendance. 1566 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 423 Suddenly the king entered by a private staircase, and placing himself next the queen, put his arm round her waist. He was followed by Ruthven and others armed. Mary, alarmed at the sight of Ruthven, commanded him to quit the room, under the penalty of treason; but he replied, that his errand was with David; and the unfortunate secretary, exclaiming " Justitia., jus- titia !'.' sprang for protection behind his sovereign. Her prayers and gestures were despised. The table was thrown over in the struggle; and the assassins, dragging their victim through the bed-chamber, despatched him in the adjoining room with no fewer than fifty-six wounds. The following morning, the chiefs of the conspirators sat in secret consultation ; and it was resolved to confine the queen in the castle of Stirling till she should consent to approve in parliament of the late proceedings, and to give to her husband the crown matrimonial. After dinner, relying on the assurances of Darnley, they separated, and repaired to their respective dwellings in the city. Mary had passed the first night and day in fits and lamenta- tions. She felt some relief from the kind expressions of her bro- ther, the earl of Murray; and was no sooner left The conspiracy alone with her husband than she resumed her suppressed. former ascendency, and convinced him of the impropriety of his conduct. They both secretly left the palace, and reached in safety the castle of Dunbar. The royal standard was imme- diately unfurled ; before the end of the week eight thousand faithful subjects had hastened to the aid of Mary; and as she approached Edinburgh, the murderers fled to Berwick. The English queen had been informed of the object of the conspi- racy ; but when she heard of the result she sent her congratu- lations to Mary, and at her request commanded the assassins to leave the kingdom. But the messenger was instructed to remark that they had nothing to fear if they did not provoke inquiry. Mary took up her residence in the castle of Edinburgh, and soon was delivered of a son. This child lived to Mary delivered ascend the thrones of both kingdoms. Elizabeth 1566. was dancing at Greenwich when Cecil whispered the intelligence in her car. She instantly retired to her chair, reclined her head on her hand, and appeared for some time absorbed in profound 424 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. U. 1566. thought. By the next morning her feelings were subdued, and she expressed her satisfaction at the happy event. Elizabeth soon summoned a parliament. The lords of the council requested to be informed of her sentiments respecting marriage and the succession. She heard them with impatience, and told them to go and perform their duties, and that she would perform hers. As soon, however, as the motion for a supply was made in the lower house, it was opposed on the ground that the queen had not Elizabeth and adeemed the pledge on the faith of which the last her parliament. grant had been voted ; she had neither married nor declared her successor. Elizabeth sent them an order to proceed to other matters. They maintained that the royal message was an infringement of their liberties; she repeated the command. They obeyed with reluctance ; but still allowed the bill for the subsidy, which had been read only once, to lie unnoticed on the table. The queen, after the pause of a fortnight, promised to consider the subject. The public business proceeded; and the supply was granted. In Scotland, the murder of Riccio disappointed the hopes of Darnley. Instead of obtaining the matrimonial crown, and with it the sovereign authority, he found himself an object of scorn and aversion. He therefore formed the design of leaving the kingdom. Mary led him before the council, and, holding him by the hand, conjured him to detail his complaints, and not to spare her if she were the cause of offence. In his answer, he exone- rated her from all blame ; but on every other point was sullen and reserved. Mary about this time got a serious attack of illness, and think- ing herself dying, recommended, by letter, her son to the protec- tion of the king of France and of the queen of x arys ness England. Sending for the principal lords, she ex- horted them to live in harmony with each other, required them to watch with care over the education of the young prince, and solicited, as a last favor, liberty of conscience for their country- men who professed the Catholic faith, the faith in which she had been bred, and in which it was her determination to die. Her symptoms were soon however more favorable ; she began to re- cover slowly ; and the king, who had been sent for at the begin- 1567 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 425 ning of her illness, at length paid her a visit ; but no advance was made toward a reconciliation. Mary was advised by some of the nobles to seek for a divorce, but she did not consent, and the lords formed a scheme of assassination. The earl Bothwell took upon himself to perpetrate the crime, and the others to save him from the consequences. It chanced that at this time the small-pox was prevalent in Glasgow, and that Darnley took the infection. When the news reached Edinburgh, Mary sent her own physician to her husband, with a message that she would shortly visit him herself. This promise she fulfilled ; their affection seemed to revive ; and they mutually promised to forget all former causes of offence. From Glasgow, as soon as he was able to remove, she returned with him to Edinburgh, and, probably, to preserve the young prince from infection, lodged him not in Holyrood House, but in a house without the walls, belonging to the provost of St. Mary's, gene- rally called "the Kirk of Field." Here it was that the conspi- rators prepared to execute their plan. By a door Darnley is blown in the city wall their agents obtained access to the Field, cellar of the house, undermined the foundations in several parts, and placed a sufficient quantity of gunpower under the angles of the building. The queen visited her husband daily, gave him repeated testimonies of her affection, and frequently slept in the room under his bed-chamber. She had promised to be present at a ball to be given on the 9th of February [1567] in honor of the marriage of two of her servants ; and the certainty of her absence on that night induced the conspirators to select it for the execu- tion of the plot. On that day, Mary went as usual to the Kirk of Field, with a numerous retinue, remained in Darnley's com- pany from six till almost eleven o'clock, and at her departure kissed him, and taking a ring from her finger, placed it on his. She then returned by the light of torches to Holyrood House ; on the termination of the ball, a little after twelve, she retired to her chamber ; and about two the palace and city were shaken by a tremendous explosion. It was soon ascertained that the house of Kirk of Field had been blown up with gunpowder ; that the dead bodies of the king and his page were lying uninjured in the gar- den ; that two men had perished among the ruins ; and that three others had escaped with very little hurt. 2 is 36* 426 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1567. Mary's chamber, according to custom on the death of a king, was hung with black; the light of the day was excluded; and in darkness and solitude she received the few who were admitted to offer their respects or condolence. Judicial inquiries were insti- Bothweii accused tuted, and a proclamation was issued, offering of the murder of ' . r .... , ' . '. J ° Darniey. rewards m money and land, lor the discovery and apprehension of the murderers, with a full pardon to any one of the party who would accuse his accomplices. The same noble- men, however, continued to attend the royal person. Darnley's father, Lennox, expressed his suspicion of Bothwell' s guilt, and that noblemen demanded a trial. His request being granted, he proceeded to the Tolbooth, surrounded by two hundred soldiers and four thousand gentlemen. As no prosecutor appeared, the jury having heard the indictment, and evidence to show that Bothwell could not have been at the Kirk of Field at the time of the explosion, returned a verdict of acquittal. On the 24th of April, Mary rode to Stirling, to visit her infant son, whom, for greater security, she had lately intrusted to the Mary taken pri- custody of the earl of Marr. On her return, she soner by Bothwell : 111111 . . . m « she marries him. had reached the Jboulbngge, halt a mile Irani the casle of Edinburgh, when she was met by Bothwell at the head of one thousand horse. To resist would have been fruitless ; and the queen with her attendants, the earl of Huntley,. Maitland, and Melville, were conducted to the castle of Dunbar. There she remained a captive for the space of ten days : nor was she suffered to depart till she had consented to become the wife of Bothwell. He then left the fortress ; but it was to conduct the captive queen from one prison to another, from the castle of Dunbar to that of Edinburgh. Here she pleaded for time, that she might obtain the consent of the king of France, and of her relations of the house of Guise. But his ambition was too impatient to run the hazard of delay. The only remaining obstacle, his existing marriage with Janet Gordon, sister to the earl of Huntley, was in a few days removed by a divorce. Exactly one month after his trial, Bothwell led the queen to the court of session, where, in the pre- sence of the judges, she forgave the forcible abduction of her person, and declared that he had restored her to the full enjoyment of liberty ; the next day she created him duke of Orkney, and was married to him. 1567 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 427 Several noblemen entered into a confederacy against Bothwell, and openly charged him with the murder of Darnley, the treason- able seizure and marriage of the queen, and an Mary imprisoned „ . . . P , . in the castle of intention ot gaming possession ot the young prince Lochievin. that he might murder him. In four days, Bothwell ventured, with his friends, to meet the more numerous and well-appointed force of his enemies on Carberry Hill, at no great distance from Edinburgh. From an early hour in the morning till nine at night, the two armies faced each other. The queen offered a full pardon to the confederates, on condition that they should disband their forces ; they required of her to come over to the nobility, and leave Bothwell to suffer the punishment of his crime. At length it was agreed that he should retire without molestation ; that the queen should return to her capital, and that the associated lords should pay to her that honor and obedience which was due to the sovereign. The agreement was mutually ratified, and the army returned toward Edinburgh. An hour did not elapse be- fore Mary learned that she was a captive in the hands of unfeel- ing adversaries. At her entrance into the city, she was met by a mob in the highest state of excitement, and her ears were assailed with reproaches and imprecations. The next day she was con- veyed by a body of four hundred armed men out of the capital to the castle of Lochievin, the residence of William Douglas, half brother of Murray. Elizabeth had been informed of this extraordinary revolution by an envoy from the insurgents, whom she received with the strongest expressions of displeasure. The insult offered to the Scottish queen was, she contended (and on this oc- The d i sp i easure casion she spoke her real sentiments) common to of Elizabeth - every crowned head; it resulted from the doctrines of Knox, which she had so often condemned; it required severe and im- mediate punishment, that subjects might learn to restrain their unhallowed hands from the anointed persons of their sovereigns. Soon afterward she sent an ambassador to Scotland to negotiate in Mary's favor. The Queen of Scots was called upon to resign M forced to the crown in favor of her son ; and, when she had resi s Q her crown - yielded to the threat of force, the royal infant was crowned in the High Church in Stirling, and Murray was appointed regent. 428 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1567. Bothwell had been suffered to retire without molestation from Carberry Hill to his castle of Dunbar. Some days later, leaving the castle to the care of a trusty partisan, he traversed the west The fall of Both- anc ^ north of Scotland to consult with the friends wel1, of Mary, by whom it was resolved that Bothwell should proceed through Denmark to France, and solicit the ad- vice and aid of the French monarch. The earl was preparing for his voyage in one of the Shetland isles, when a hostile squadron appeared. He put to sea ; his pursuers overtook him ; but the engagement was interrupted by a sudden storm, which cast him on the coast of Norway, where he was detained a prisoner. In June, a silver casket, which Mary had inherited from her first husband Francis, and which she is said to have given to Bothwell, came into the possession of the earl Morton. In it, if we may believe him, were found several papers in the hand- writing of the queen, which proved her to have been an accom- plice in BothwelFs crime. A resolution was taken in the following winter to accuse Mary of adultery and murder ; and an act was passed declaring these charges true. The Scottish queen was still confined in the towers of Loch- ' levin, under the jealous eye of the lady Douglas, mother to the regent. It was in vain that, to recover her liberty, she made repeated offers to her brother and the council. They had resolved that she should never leave her prison alive. But she possessed resources beyond the control of her enemies ; and her beauty, her manner, and her misfortunes won for her an invaluable partisan in Greorge Douglas, the brother of the regent. He introduced a laundress at an early hour into the bed-chamber of Mary, who exchanged clothes with the woman, and, carrying out a basket of linen, took her seat in the boat. She had almost reached the opposite bank, when, to secure her muffler from the rudeness of one of the rowers, she raised her arm to her face, and a voice immediately exclaimed, "That is not the hand of a washerwoman." She was recognised, and conveyed back to Lochlevin. In five weeks afterward she succeeded in escaping, and rode in safety to the castle of Hamilton, where she revoked the resignation of the crown she made in her prison at Lochlevin. At this intelligence, the royalists crowded round their sovereign. To her brother the regent, she made repeated offers 1568 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 429 of settling every cause of dissension in a free parliament ) but without success. On May 13th, 1568, Mary was on her road to the castle of Dumbarton, when Murray, with a small but disci- plined force, appeared on an eminence called Battle of Lang . Langside. At the sight, her followers rode in con- side - i fusion to charge the rebels ; but were repulsed. From the field of battle, the disconsolate queen rode to the abbey of Dundrennan, in Galloway, a distance of sixty Scottish miles, in the course of the same day. Her adversaries followed in every direction ; but she eluded their pursuit, resumed her flight the next evening, and on the following morning, after a hasty repast, expressed her deter- mination to seek an asylum in the court of " her good sister/' the queen of England. Her best friends remonstrated ; and the archbishop of St. Andrew's conjured her on his knees to change her resolution ; but Mary, crossing the Sol way Frith in a fishing- boat, landed with twelve attendants in the harbor of Workington, and proceeded to Carlisle. Elizabeth had publicly professed herself the friend of the Scottish queen ; but, on the other hand, her ministers were inti- mately leagued with the enemies of that princess, The conduct of and Mary's unexpected arrival in England opened Mary. new prospects to Cecil and his confidential friends in the council. They rejoiced that the prey, which they had hunted for years, had at last voluntarily thrown herself into the toils j but they were perplexed to reconcile their designs against the royal fugitive with the appearance of decency and justice. After repeated meetings, it was concluded that to detain her in captivity for life would be the most conducive both to the security of their sovereign and to the interests of their religion. The accomplishment of this object was intrusted to the dark and intriguing mind of Cecil. Mary was at first assured that Elizabeth would vindicate the common cause of sovereigns, and reinstate her in her former authority. Next it was intimated to her that the English queen has determined to essay the influence of advice, before she would have recourse to arms; lastly, a hint was given that it was desir- able that the Scottish queen should clear herself from the crimes with which she had been charged. t Mary, immediately after her arrival, had demanded permission to visit Elizabeth, that she might lay before her the wrongs which she had suffered, and explain to 430 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1569 her the deceit of her adversaries. But a personal interview might have proved dangerous, not only to Murray and his party, but to their friends in the English cabinet. Cecil suggested to his mistress, that, as a maiden queen, she could not in decency admit into her presence a woman charged with adultery and murder. Mary, however, refused to submit to a trial, as she knew the court would be hostile, and requested permission to return again into Scotland, or to pass through England to France. The de- mand was reasonable — but it was refused. Mary then demanded to be allowed permission to prove her innocence in the presence of " her good sister," as her friend, but not as her judge. After long consultation, it was resolved that Mary should not be re- ceived at court till her innocence had been fully established ; that her request to leave the kingdom should not be granted ; and that she should be transferred from Carlisle to Bolton Castle. Cecil suggested an expedient which served his purpose as well as a trial of Mary — an investigation, not into her conduct, but that of her enemies. Mary assented to this expedient. Murray dared not refuse ; and the place of conference was fixed in York, which city became the scene of active and intricate negotiation. The proceedings were afterward transferred to London. After much intrigue on the part of Elizabeth and Cecil, it was resolved to put an end to the conferences. Murray and his associates were first licensed to depart, with a declaration that, as nothing had been proved against them to impair their honor, so they had shown no sufficient cause why Elizabeth should conceive or take any evil opinion against the queen "her good sister." The victory in argument was undoubtedly Mary's. It was claimed by her friends j and it appears to have been acknowledged by the chief of the English nobility, who had witnessed the whole of the pro- ceedings. The Scottish queen was removed to Wynfield. The foreign powers complained of the confinement of a crowned head; but, in answer to their remonstrances, Elizabeth boasted of her indul- gence to Mary, in suppressing documents which would otherwise render her the execration of her contemporaries, and immortalize her infamy with posterity. In November, 1569, an insurrection took place in the northern counties. The object of the insurgents was to march to Tutbury, 1670 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 431 to liberate the queen of Scots, and to extort from insurrection in Elizabeth a declaration that Mary was next heir fa ™ rofMar y- to the throne. The first act of hostility was the occupation of the city of Durham. Thence the insurgents marched forward, issuing proclamations, calling on the people for aid, and restoring the ancient service in several places. Their standard, represent- ing the Saviour, was borne by Richard Norton, an aged gentle- man, whose gray locks and enthusiastic air aroused the feelings and commanded the respect of the beholders. They proceeded as far as Branham Moor without opposition. But here dissension insinuated itself into their counsels. Their money was already ex- pended, and all their expectations had been disappointed. Under these circumstances they resolved to despatch messengers into different counties, to solicit aid from the noblemen and gentle- men distinguished by their attachment to the ancient faith, or known to abet the cause of the queen of Scots. Elizabeth had recourse to the most energetic measures; and having succeeded in quelling the insurrection, she caused a large number of the in- surgents to be executed. In Scotland, at this time, the regent Murray was assassinated ; and Lennox, the grandfather of the young king, was, at Eliza- beth's recommendation, raised to the regency. In 1570, \bull was prepared, in which the pope pronounced Elizabeth guilty of heresy, deprived her of her " pretended'' right to the crown of England, and absolved her publication of English subjects from their allegiance. Several the papal bun. copies were sent to the Spanish ambassador in England. Early one morning a copy was seen affixed to the gates of the bishop of London's residence in the capital. The council was surprised and irritated ; a rigorous search was made through the inns of law j and another copy of the bull was found in the chamber of a student of Lincoln's Inn, who acknowledged, on the rack, that he had received it from a person of the name of Felton. Felton confessed that he had set up the bull, and was executed. France having again become the scene of war, Elizabeth's ministers practised their usual policy. In secret they aided the Protestant party; publicly they maintained the relations of amity with the Catholics. After some years the war in France 432 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1570. ceased, but Elizabeth's interference in French affairs was not for- gotten. More than two years had arrived since the arrival of Mary in England, and she was still a captive. Her death was strongly The death of an ^ repeatedly suggested by some of the council. Mary suggested, jf j t was rejected by Elizabeth, her repugnance arose less from motives of humanity than of decency. She was willing that Mary should perish, but was ashamed to imbrue her own hands in the blood of a sister queen. Hence she offered to transfer the royal captive to the hands of the Scottish regent, provided he would give security that she should be removed out of the way; and hence the earl of Shrewsbury, who had the custody of Mary, was made to engage that she should be put to death on the very first attempt to rescue her. In the autumn of 1570, the solicitations of Mary, the attempts of her friends in England, and the remonstrances of the French and Spanish monarchs, extorted from Elizabeth a promise to fix the conditions on which her captive might at last be restored to liberty. For this purpose, Cecil repaired to Chatsworth, where the Scottish queen was then confined. The negotiations, how- ever, were soon broken off. It had for some time been a favorite object with the leaders of the Huguenots to bring about a marriage between # the English queen and the duke of Anjou, the eldest of the two brothers of Charles IX. Elizabeth gave permission to those who wished to Project of a mar- proceed with this plan. But on the part of the S&wX t£ r °y al famil y in France, Catherine de Medicis, the duke of Anjou. queen-mother, received the proposal very coldly. Repeated messages induced her at last to view the matter in a more favorable light; but Anjou sent her word by the king, his brother, that he could not think of disgracing himself by taking for his wife a woman who had no regard for her own honor. More than a fortnight passed before she could extort from her son his assent. Elizabeth sent her portrait as a present to the French prince, and received at last a proposal of marriage in due form from Anjou himself. Several new enactments were at this time proposed, having for their chief object to check the boldness of the partisans of Mary, and to cut off the communication between the English Ca- A. D. 1570.] ELIZABETH. 433 tholics and the court of Rome. The Catholic _ , Penal acts lords, a large portion of the house, assembled j they complained that if the bills passed, they could neither remain within the kingdom without offence to their consciences, nor leave it without the sacrifice of their fortunes ; and they deter- mined to wait in a body on the queen, and present to her a strong but respectful remonstrance. This project was, however, aban- doned; but, at the same time, one of the bills respecting the fre- quentation of communion under the new form, the most harass- ing in its probable consequences, was dropped. The others, which were principally aimed against the intercourse with Rome, passed the two houses and received the royal assent. The Puritans now began to object to the ceremonies which had been retained; and the queen resolved to repress the zeal of these ultra-reformers. By the assumption of the supremacy, it had become the duty of Elizabeth to watch over doctrine, discipline, and public worship ; and she therefore appointed The High Com . delegates, whom she armed with most formidable mission Court. and inquisitorial powers. They were authorized to inquire, on the oath of the person accused, and on the oaths of witnesses, of all heretical, erroneous, and dangerous opinions; of absence from the established service, and the frequentation of private conventicles; and to punish the offenders by spiritual censures, by fine, imprisonment, and deprivation. The first victims who felt the vengeance of this tribunal, called the High Commission Court, were the Catholics; from the Catholics its attention was soon directed to the Puritans. More than one hundred persons were brought before the high commission court; those who re- fused to acknowledge their offence were committed ; and of the prisoners, twenty-four men and seven women did not recover their liberty till the expiration of twelve months. The proposal of marriage between Elizabeth and the duke of Anjou, though entertained on each side, made but little pro- gress. When almost every other article had been settled, the duke required the insertion of a clause securing to him the free exercise of his religion. This the queen was advised to refuse as contrary to law. He then required a promise to the same effect in her handwriting. The marriage was therefore broken 37 434 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1571. off; but an international treaty was concluded to the satisfaction of the English cabinet. In August, 1571, a conspiracy was discovered, in which the duke of Norfolk was implicated. He was conveyed to the Tower The duke of by water. The depositions of his servants, and conspiracy^andbe- papers which had been discovered, were laid be- headed. £ ore ym jj e con f esse( j that he had been made acquainted with several projects of discontented men for the surprisal of the queen, or the deliverance of Mary Stuart; pro- testing, however, that the idea of injuring the person of the sovereign, or of subjugating the kingdom to a foreign prince, had never entered his mind. Norfolk was charged with the crime of imagining and compassing the death of his own sove- reign — 1. By seeking to marry the queen of Scots, who claimed the English crown to the exclusion of Elizabeth. 2. By solicit- ing foreign powers to invade the realm. 3. By sending money to the English rebels and the Scottish enemies of the queen. The duke maintained his innocence, but was found guilty. Five months after his condemnation, the duke was led to the scaffold; and in his speech to the spectators, in which he was repeatedly interrupted by the officers, asserted his innocence of treason, and his profession of the Protestant faith. The death of the queen of Scots was next sought with equal obstinacy. Both houses resolved to proceed against her by bill Designs against of attainder; the queen forbade it; they dis- the life of Mary- obeyed; and she repeated the prohibition. Foiled in this attempt, the ministers adopted another course; they in- troduced a bill, which, by rendering Mary incapable of the suc- cession, secured them from the danger of her resentment if she should survive the present sovereign. They were, however, op- posed by a powerful but invisible counsellor, suspected, though not known, to be the earl of Leicester. The queen interdicted all reference to the inheritance of the crown, and seeing that, in defiance of the message, the bill had passed both houses, she pro- rogued the parliament. The execution of the duke, and the proceedings in parliament, disheartened the friends of Mary in England, while, at the same time, her interest was rapidly declining in her native country, 1572 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 435 where Lennox, the regent, had exercised his authority with rigor. He was killed in 1572, and the earl of Marr was in- vested with the regency. His prudence and vigor rendered him formidable j Elizabeth declared openly her intention to support him with the whole power of her crown; and the avowed ad- herents of Mary dwindled away to a handful of brave and reso- lute men, who still kept for her the castle of Edinburgh, and a band of Highlanders, who maintained her cause in the moun- tains. The duke of Northumberland, one of her firmest friends, was executed without trial at this period. Elizabeth was next advised to listen to a new proposal of mar- riage, not with her first suitor, the duke of Anjou, but with his younger brother, the duke of Alencon. The The massacre of former was the leader of the Catholic party; the day. latter was thought to incline to the tenets of Protestantism. This arrangement was unexpectedly checked by an event which struck with astonishment all the nations of Europe, and which cannot be contemplated without horror at the present day. The young king of Navarre was at this time the nominal, the admiral Coligny the real leader of the Huguenots. He ruled among them as an independent sovereign; and, what chiefly alarmed his opponents, seemed to obtain gradually the ascendency over the mind of Charles. He had come to Paris to assist at the marriage of the king of Navarre, and was wounded in two places by an assassin as he passed through the streets. The public voice attributed the attempt to the duke of Guise, in revenge of the murder of his father at the siege of Orleans; it had pro- ceeded, in reality — and was so suspected by Coligny himself — from Catherine, the queen mother. The wounds were not dan- gerous; but the Huguenot chieftains crowded to his hotel; their threats of vengeance terrified the queen; and in a secret council the king was persuaded to anticipate the designs attributed to the friends of the admiral. The next morning (St. Bartholo- mew's day, 1572,) by the royal order, the hotel was forced; Co- ligny and his principal counsellors perished; the populace joined in the work of blood; and every Huguenot, or suspected Hugue- not, who fell in their way was murdered. The news of this sanguinary transaction excited throughout England one general feeling of horror. Burghley again advised 436 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1572. Elizabeth again Elizabeth to put to death her rival, Mary. The urged to put Marv A . ' \ to death. ' queen did not reject the advice; but, that she might escape the infamy of dipping her hands in the blood of her nearest relative and presumptive heir, a messenger was de- spatched to Edinburgh, ostensibly to compose some differences among the nobles; but, in reality, to bring about the death of the queen of Scots, from the hands of her own subjects. He was, however, warned not to commit his sovereign as if the pro- posal came from her. Marr, the regent, at first, affected to look upon the project as attended with difficulty and peril; but after- ward entered into it most cordially, and sought to drive a profit- able bargain with Elizabeth. He died soon, after a short illness at Stirling, (as his friends gave out, of poison,) and was suc- ceeded by Morton, a most determined enemy of Mary, and the tried friend of the English ministers. He obtained troops from Elizabeth, and took the castle of Edinburgh. The late massacre in France had caused many of the Protest- ants to cross the eastern frontier into Germany and Switzer- land; others, from the western coast, had sought an asylum in England; while the inhabitants of Poitou and the neighboring provinces poured with their ministers into La Rochelle. The place, strong by nature, was still more strengthened by art. The enthusiasm of the townsmen taught them to despise the efforts of the besiegers under the duke of Anjou. La Rochelle was saved by the heroism of its inhabitants, and the impatience of Anjou to take possession of the throne of Poland, to which he had been elected by the national diet. Charles IX. soon died of a pulmonary complaint. Catherine, whom he had appointed regent, preserved the crown for her Death of Charles second son, the king of Poland, (afterward IX- Henry III.,) but she was unable to prevent the factious proceedings of the malecontents in the provinces. Eli- zabeth offered herself as mediatrix between the king of France and his revolted subjects; and a treaty was concluded, by which the public exercise of the Protestant worship was permitted with a few restrictions. But it is now time that the reader should cast his eyes across the northern frontier of France, and survey the convulsed state of the Netherlands. Elizabeth had some years before seized a 1579 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 437 few ships on their voyage from Spain to the Netherlands, with money destined for the pay of the army under the duke of Alva. The Spanish soldiers, thus left without pay, lived at free quar- ters on the inhabitants. The duke, to raise money, required the imposition of new taxes; and, on the refusal of the states, he published an edict, imposing them by his own authority as repre- sentative of the king. This arbitrary act, subversive of the most valuable rights of the nation, filled up, in the estimation of the Flemish people, the measure of their grievances. They rose, and many of the towns in Holland and Zeeland threw off the Spanish yoke. The prince of Orange assumed the govern- ment of Holland and Zeeland, and Elizabeth began to view his designs with jealousy and distrust. In 1579, the young duke of Anjou proposed for Elizabeth, and came over to England. Elizabeth was surprised and grati- fied; his youth, gayety, and attention atoned for the scars with which the small-pox had furrowed his countenance; and, after a private courtship of a few days, he departed with the most flat- tering expectations of success. A preliminary treaty was con- cluded; but the marriage was broken off. "We should now call the attention of the reader to the state of Ireland. It was enacted, by various statutes, that the Irish should be " reformed' ' after the model of the The state of ire- English Church; but both the nobility and the riod.. people abhorred the change; and the new statutes were carried into execution in those places only where they could be enforced at the point of the bayonet. Among the aboriginal Irish, the man who chiefly excited the jealousy of the government was Shane O'Neil, the eldest among the legitimate children of the earl of Tyrone. Shane claimed the chieftainry of Ulster as his right, and the natives honored and obeyed him as the O'Neil. Through the suggestion of the deputy Sussex, he consented to visit Elizabeth, and to lay his pretensions before her. At the English court he appeared in the dress of his country, attended by his guard, who were armed with their battleaxes, and arrayed in linen vests dyed with saffron. The queen was pleased, and, though she did not confirm his claim, dismissed him with pro- mises of favor. He was of a turbulent but generous disposition, proud of his name and importance, and most feelingly alive to 438 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1580. every species of insult. At last he broke — perhaps was driven — into acts of open rebellion; repeated losses compelled him to seek refuge among the Scots of Ulster; and the Irish chieftain was basely assassinated by his new friends, at the instigation of Piers, an English officer. By act of parliament the name, with the dignity of O'Neil, was extinguished for ever, and to assume it was made high-treason. But the reduction of Ulster did not secure peace in Ireland, which was harassed continually with local wars. A new plan was tried in 1572, viz. to colonize the forfeited districts with English settlers, who, having an interest in the soil, would be willing to oppose the natives without expense to the crown. Walter Devereux, earl of Essex, offered to subdue and colonize the district of Clanhuboy, in the province of Ulster. The enter- prise was soon abandoned ; and the earl consented to aid the de- puty in suppressing the insurgents in different parts of the island. He died, however, at Dublin, in 1576. In 1580, San Giuseppe, an Italian officer in the pay of the pontiff, arrived at Smerwick, in Kerry, from Portugal, with Death of the earl several hundred men. But the newcomers had of Desmond. scarcely erected a fort, when they were besieged by the lord deputy on land, and blockaded on the seaside by Admiral Winter. San Giuseppe, in opposition to the advice of the officers, proposed to surrender. Sir Walter Kaleigh entered the fort, received their arms, and then ordered or permitted them to be massacred in cold blood. This disastrous event extin- guished the last hope of Desmond, then the principal Irish chief- tain ; yet he contrived to elude the vigilance of his pursuers, and for three years dragged on a miserable existence among the glens and forests. At last a small party of his enemies, attracted by a glimmering light, entered a hut, in which they found a venerable old man without attendants, lying on the hearth before the fire. He had only time to exclaim, "I am the earl of Desmond," when one of the men struck off his head, which was conveyed, a grateful present, to Elizabeth, and by her order fixed on London bridge. Elizabeth continued to persecute all her subjects, who did not practise that religious worship which she practised. Every other form of service, whether it were that of Geneva or the mass, was 1580 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 439 strictly forbidden ; and both the Catholic and the J 7 Severe penalties Puritan were made liable to the severest penalties against those who if they presumed to worship God according to the established reii- dictates of their consciences. Some Puritans gl0n ' died martyrs to their religious principles; but their suffer- ings bore no comparison with those of the Catholics, of whom many sought with their families an asylum beyond the sea. Their lands and property were immediately seized by the crown, and given, or sold at low prices, to the followers of the court. Those who remained might be divided into two classes. Some, to escape the penalties, attended occasionally at the established service ; but the greater number abstained from a worship which they disapproved, and were, in consequence, liable at any hour to be hurried before the court of high commission, to be interrogated upon oath how often they had been at church, and when or where they had received the sacrament ; and to be condemned, as re- cusants, to fines and imprisonment. Private houses were some- times searched to discover priests or persons assisting at mass. It was expected that, in the course of a short time, the Catholic priesthood, and with it the exercise of the Catholic worship, would become extinct in the kingdom. But the foresight of William Allen, a clergyman of an ancient family in Lancashire, and formerly principal of St. Mary's Hall in Oxford, prevented this. To him it occurred that colleges might be opened abroad, in lieu of those which had been closed to the Catholics at home. His plan was approved by his friends ; several foreign noblemen and ecclesiastical bodies offered their contributions ; and Allen established himself in the university of Douay, whither English Catholics proceeded to study theology, to receive orders, and then to return to England. Thus a constant succession was maintained ; and in the course of the first five years, Dr. Allen sent almost one hundred missionaries into the kingdom. But they were subjected to the utmost severity of the law. A priest named Mayne was charged with having obtained a bull from Home, that he denied the queen's supremacy, and said mass. Of these charges no satisfactory evidence was offered; but the court informed the jury that, where proof could not be procured, strong presumption might supply its place; and a verdict of guilty having been returned, Mayne suffered with constancy the 440 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1581. cruel death of a traitor. With him were condemned fifteen per- son s, partly neighbors and partly servants, as aiders and abettors of his treason. A more active search was now made after recusants; every jail in the kingdom numbered among its inmates prisoners for religion ; and on one occasion not fewer than twenty Catholics of family and fortune perished of an infectious disease in the castle of York. Nelson, a priest, and Sherwood, a layman, were drawn, hanged, and quartered. But the experience of ages has proved that such severities can- not damp the ardor of religious zeal. Missionaries poured into the kingdom. Gregory XIII. established an additional seminary in Rome. Robert Persons and Edward Campian, two English- men of distinguished merit and ability, were sent by the Jesuits Laws against the to England. When the parliament assembled, the Catholics. ministers called on the two houses for laws of still greater severity; and every measure which they proposed was readily adopted. No Catholic Could enjoy security even in the privacy of his own house, where he was liable at all hours, but generally in the night, to be visited by a magistrate at the head of an armed mob. At a signal given, the doors were burst open ; and the pursuivants, in separate divisions, hastened to the dif- ferent apartments, examined the beds, tore the tapestry and wainscotting from the walls, forced open the closets, drawers, and coffers, and made every search which their ingenuity could suggest, to discover either a priest, or books, chalices, and vest- ments appropriated to the Catholic worship. Campian was taken in Berkshire, in July, 1581, and conveyed in procession to the Tower; Persons continued for some months to brave the danger which menaced him ; but at length, at the urgent request of his friends, both for their security and his own, he retired beyond the sea. The use of the torture was common to most of the European nations ; in England, during the reign of Elizabeth, it was em- ployed with the most wanton barbarity. The Catholic prisoner was hardly lodged in the Tower before he was placed on the rack. Campian, (who had been often put to the torture,) twelve other priests, and one layman, collected from different prisons, were arraigned for a conspiracy to murder the queen, to over- 1581 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 441 throw the church and state, and to withdraw the subjects from the allegiance due to the sovereign. They declared that, what- ever might be pretended, their religion was their only offence ; but the jury, after an hour's deliberation, returned a verdict of guilty against all the prisoners. Campian and eight others were executed.* The Anabaptists also were doomed to suffer at the stake under Elizabeth, as their predecessors had suffered under her father and brother. They rejected the baptism of in- Severity a g ainst fants, denied that Christ assumed flesh of the the Anabaptists. Virgin, and taught that no Christian ought to take an oath, or to accept the office of magistrate. Some were dismissed with a reprimand; but two perished in the flames of Smithfield, amid the applause of an immense concourse of spectators. Four years afterward, for the profession of similar opinions, Matthew Ham- mond, a ploughwright, who had been pronounced an obstinate heretic by the bishop of Norwich, was burnt in the ditch of that city; and in the same place, but after an interval of ten years, was also consumed Francis Kett, a member of one of the uni- versities. The unfortunate Mary had now for several years suffered all the horrors of a rigorous and protracted imprisonment in the castle at Sheffield. Elizabeth, though she graciously accepted from her captive presents of needlework and of Parisian dresses, invariably eluded or rejected every petition for a mitigation of the severity of her confinement. As far as regarded the Scottish adherents of the captive, the English queen was free from alarm, so long as Morton retained the regency. But his rapacity had excited the Morton accused murmurs, and his submission to Elizabeth had Jamiey, annexe! wounded the pride of the nation. At length, the cutecL earls of Argyle and Athol obtained access to the young king ; and James, by their persuasion, though he was but twelve years * Ilallam remarks, as an extenuating circumstance distinguishing this per- secution from that of Mary, that no woman was put to death under the penal code, so far as ho remembers. — Const. Hist. i. 197, note. The fact, however, is, that Margaret Clitheroe was executed in 1586, Margaret Ward in 1588, and Anno Line in 1G01. Mrs. Wells recoived sentence of death in 1591, and died in prison. 2G 442 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1581. old, assumed the government, summoned the noblemen of their party to meet him in Stirling, and sent to Morton an order to resign his authority. He obeyed with apparent cheerfulness; but in two months his intrigues gave him possession of the royal person, and enabled him, as head of the council, to resume the power which he had lost. One day, however, when the young king was seated at the board with his council, James Stuart, captain of the guard, and son to Lord Ochiltree, requested per- mission to speak to his sovereign. Being admitted, he fell on his knees, and accused James, earl of Morton, of having been guilty act and part of the murder of the king's father, Darnley. Morton treated the charge and its author with sovereign con- tempt. But Stuart replied in language equally bold; and the justice-clerk having delivered his opinion, that an individual ac- cused of treason must be committed till legal inquiry had been made, Morton was confined in Dumbarton Castle. He was tried, and found guilty by the unanimous verdict of his peers, and soon afterward beheaded. He admitted that he knew of the intention to murder Darnley, but declared that he took no part in the act. The English Catholics sent deputies to James of Scotland, to whom he talked of the affection which he felt toward his mother, of his sense of the many wrongs which she had suffered, and of his readiness to co-operate in any plan for her deliverance from captivity; but lamented that his enemies had deprived him of the means, as he was a king without a revenue. In France, the general opinion was that Mary and James ought to be associated on the Scottish throne ; and that the pope and Project in favor tne king °f Spain should be solicited to relieve the of Mary: it fails, present pecuniary wants of the young king. When this plan was communicated to Mary, she not only gave her own consent, but earnestly solicited that of her son. At the first pro- posal James was alarmed ; but when he was assured that Mary would leave to him the sole exercise of the sovereign authority within the realm, he signified his assent. But this project wa3 extinguished in its very birth by the promptitude and policy of Elizabeth's cabinet. Under its auspices a new revolution was organized in Scotland. The earl of Gowrie invited James to his castle of Ruthven, secured the person of the unsuspecting prince, and assumed with his associates the exercise of the royal authority. 1581 A. D. ] ELIZ ABET IE 443 The Scottish lords of the English faction ruled again without control. For several weeks, the Scottish queen was kept in close confine- ment, that this unexpected event, so fatal to her hopes, might be concealed from her knowledge. When the com- Mary > s let t e r to munication was at last made, it alarmed her ma- Elizabeth. ternal tenderness; she read in her own history the fate which awaited her son ; and from her bed-chamber, to which she was confined by sickness, wrote to Elizabeth a long and most eloquent remonstrance. Having requested the queen to accompany her in imagination to the throne of the Almighty, their common judge, she enumerated the wrongs which she had suffered from her English sister while she reigned in Scotland, on her flight into England, after her innocence had been proved in the conferences at York and Westminster, and now, last of all, in the captivity of her son. In this letter Mary states, that during her imprison- ment at Lochlevin, she received more than one letter from the English queen, inviting her to flee to England for protection, and promising to meet her with an English army at the borders. One of these letters was accompanied with a diamond ring, to be kept by her as a token or pledge of Elizabeth's sincerity. Mary con- trived to escape, and from the field of Langside, aware of the uncertainty of an appeal to arms, she sent back to the queen by a special messenger this very ring to remind her of her promise. These facts fully explain why she afterward, in opposition to the advice of her best friends, determined to pass the Solway Frith and land in England. Mary begged that if she must remain a captive, the queen would grant her a Catholic clergyman to pre- pare her soul for death, and two additional female servants to attend on her during her sickness. Whether this energetic ap- peal made any impression on the heart of Elizabeth we know not; it procured no additional indulgence to the royal captive. A new plan for the liberation of Mary was soon devised. It was proposed that the duke of Guise should land with an army in the south of England ; that James with a Scot- a new plan for tish force should enter the northern counties ; and Mary, that the English friends of the house of Stuart should be sum- moned to the aid of the injured queen. The king immediately expressed his assent; but Mary, aware that her keepers had 444 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1582. orders to deprive her of life if any attempt were made to carry her away by force, sought rather to obtain her liberty by con- cession and negotiation. She acquainted Elizabeth with her design of transferring all her rights to her son ; and proposed a league of perpetual amity between the two crowns. Elizabeth appeared to relent, but soon changed her mind, and the cup of promise was again, for the twentieth time, dashed from the lips of Mary Stuart. At this time, the laws against Catholics were enforced with un- Severity against exampled severity. The scaffolds were repeatedly the catholics. drenched with the blood of priests executed as traitors ; and in several counties the prisons were crowded with recusants of ancient and noble families. Elizabeth also sought to restore and to recruit the English fac- tion in Scotland. The intrigues of her minister, Walsingham, were supported by the gold of the queen. The king, who felt his throne tremble under him, commanded, by proclamation, all dis- affected persons to quit the realm. Elizabeth had resolved to aid her friends with an English force ; but its advance was retarded by a strong remonstrance from the French ambassador ; and the design was laid aside. The cause of Mary had never worn so favorable an appearance as it did at the present moment. The English faction in Scotland was extinct ; her son was believed to be at her devotion ; Eliza- beth, anxious to be freed from apprehension, earnestly sought an agreement. Little doubt was entertained that a treaty would be concluded. But there always happened something to disappoint the expectations of Mary. Creighton, a Scottish Jesuit, and Abdy, a Scottish priest, both on their way to their native coun- try, had been captured by a Dutch cruiser ; and, though Scotland was not at war with any other power, were conducted as prison- ers to England. In the Tower, and in the presence of the rack, Creighton disclosed all the particulars of a projected invasion of England j and the treaty was broken off. It was owing, perhaps, to the peculiar circumstances in which the king of Scotland had been placed from his infancy, or to the Mary treated with education which he had received from his tutors, epect by her son. that he felt none of those generous sentiments which usually glow with so much ardor in the bosom of youth. 1586 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 445 In 1585, Mary appealed to him. James returned a cold and dis- respectful answer, which opened the eyes of the captive to the hopelessness of her situation. Even the son, on whose affection she rested her fondest hopes, had deceived — had abandoned her. In the anguish of her mind she again wrote to Elizabeth, begging, as a last favor, her liberty and life. She demanded nothing more ; as to the conditions, her "good sister" might name, and she would subscribe them. She had now nothing to preserve for a son who had abandoned her ; and was therefore ready to make every sacrifice, except that of her religion. But the English queen, no longer afraid of the interposition of James, neglected the offers and prayers of her captive, and committed the cus- tody of her person to Sir Amyas Paulet, from whose austerity and fanaticism Mary anticipated nothing but severity, perhaps assassination. By the death of the duke of Anjou, the right of succession to the crown of France had devolved on Henry de Bourbon, king of Navarre, afterward Henry IV. Opposition to the right of Henry was organized by the young duke of Guise, a prince who had inherited the talents with the ambition of his family. Elizabeth kept her eyes fixed on the struggle between the two parties j for she believed her own interests to be intimately con- nected with those of the king of Navarre. She therefore sent him large sums of money, and repeatedly made the offer of an asylum in England, whenever he might find himself an unequal match for his enemies. A negotiation was opened at this time between Elizabeth and James, and a treaty was concluded, by which the queen of Eng- land and the king of Scotland bound themselves Treaty between to support the Protestant faith against the efforts lbeth. of the Catholic powers, and to furnish to each other a competent aid in case of invasion by any foreign prince. The misfortunes of Mary, queen of Scots, were, at length, drawing to a close; her friends had blindly adopted a course which conducted her to the scaffold. In 1586, a BabingWs at- plan for her liberation was arranged. One of the Mary, most active in the plot was named Babington, a young man of ancient family and ample fortune. Some years previously he had been page to the carl of Shrewsbury, a situation in which he had 446 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1586. learned to admire and to pity his lord's captive, the queen of Scots. These feelings, as he advanced in years, ripened into the most enthusiastic attachment to her interests ; and he had fre- quently rendered her very important services. He at first objected to any forcible attempt in her favor. It would be to do the work of her enemies — to provoke her immediate death at the hands of her warder. But he learned from a priest named Ballard a plan devised in Paris ; he entered into it with the most sanguine ex- pectations of success; this plan embraced the assassination of Elizabeth, and the carrying off of the Scottish queen. It then occurred, perhaps was treacherously suggested to him, to consult Mary, and a letter to her was prepared, stating that, upon the representation received from Ballard, it was the resolution of himself and friends, at the risk of their lives and fortunes, to procure a sufficient force to "warrant the landing of foreign aid, her deliverance from prison, and the despatch of the usurping competitor ; ,; assuring her, that on the receipt of her approbation they were ready to bind themselves on the sacrament to succeed or forfeit their lives. The letter came into the hands of Walsing- ham, one of the ministers of Elizabeth, who deemed it requisite for his own safety to communicate it to the queen. Mary accepted the offer of liberation made to her by Babing- ton, and composed instructions for his guidance on that point; but he and several others were soon arrested, tried, and executed for high-treason. Two successive days were allotted for their execu- tion. The queen wished that they might suffer some kind of death more barbarous and excruciating than the usual punishment of treason; but when it was represented to her that such an alteration would be illegal, she consented that the law should have its course, on condition that the executions were protracted to the extremity of pain. To return to the history of the Scottish queen. The great question was, how was the life of the captive to be taken ? Lei- Mary arraigned ces ter recommended the sure but silent operation for trial. f poison ; Walsingham, on the contrary, advised, as more honorable to the sovereign, the form and solemnity of a public trial. Mary was removed to the castle of Fotheringhay, in Northamptonshire, the place selected for her trial and death ; and a commission was issued to forty-six individuals, peers, privy 1586 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 447 counsellors, and judges, constituting them a court to inquire into the case. On the 11th of October [1586] the commissioners ar- rived at the castle. Mary, on learning their business, said, "I am sorry to be charged by my sister the queen with that of which I am innocent ; but let it be remembered that I am also a queen, and not amenable to any foreign jurisdiction. I will not degrade the Scottish crown, nor stand as a criminal at the bar of an Eng- lish court of justice/ 7 An expression, however, had fallen from one of the commis- sioners, which exceedingly distressed the unfortunate captive; that, "if she refused to plead, the world would attribute her obsti- nacy to consciousness of guilt. The high tone of her mind in- sensibly relaxed ) and Mary informed the commissioners that she was content to waive her objection, and therefore she consented to be tried, though she refused the aid of counsel. The charge against the Scottish queen, like that against Babing- ton, had been divided into two parts : that she had conspired with foreigners and traitors to procure the invasion of j udo . me nt against the realm, and the death of the queen. The pa- her - pers exhibited to the court as Mary's were only copies. No at- tempt was made to show what had become of the originals, or when, where, or by whom the copies had been taken. The com- missioners adjourned the court, to meet again in the star-chamber at Westminster on an early day. The court was opened at West- minster in the presence of a numerous assemblage of members belonging to both houses of parliament ; but Mary was absent, immured in the castle of Fotheringhay. With one exception, the commissioners unanimously gave judgment, that " Mary, daugh- ter of James V., commonly called queen of Scotland, had com- passed and imagined divers matters tending to the hurt, death, and destruction of the queen." On hearing the result, Mary denied solemnly that she had been privy to a conspiracy against the life of their queen. She had, she said, accepted an offer made to rescue her from Mary's deciara, , , .. . , . . tion of her inno prison ; and where was the person m her situation cence. who would not, after an unjust captivity of twenty years, have done the same ? Her real crime was her adhesion to the religion of her fathers, a crime of which she was proud, and for which she would be happy to lay down her life. She wrote to Eliza- 448 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1586. beth, praying that her dead body mighfc be conveyed to France, and deposited near that of her mother; that she might send a jewel, her farewell, and her blessing to her son; that her servants might be allowed to retain the small bequests which it was her intention to make them ; and that she might not be put to death in private, otherwise her enemies would say of her, as they had said of others, that despair had induced her to shorten her days. Throughout the whole letter she carefully avoided every expression which might be interpreted as a petition for mercy. This noble letter, worthy of a queen and a martyr, was the last which Mary wrote to her English cousin. It drew tears from Elizabeth, but nothing more. James of Scotland felt little for a mother whom he had never known, and whom he had been taught to look upon as an enemy, James writes to seeking to deprive him of his authority. He would Elizabeth. probably have abandoned her but for an admoni- tion of the French court, that her execution would exclude him from the succession to the English throne ; and the remonstrances of the Scottish nobles, who could not brook the notion that a Scottish queen should perish on a scaffold. James therefore wrote to Elizabeth a letter of expostulation, but it had no effect. After the sentence, Elizabeth spent two months in a state of apparent irresolution. She was often heard to lament, that among Elizabeth signs the thousands who professed to be attached to her the warrant for ,. . . , . , , ,, Mary's execution, as their sovereign, not one would spare her the ne- cessity of dipping her hands in the blood of a sister queen. After the departure of the French and Scottish ambassadors, who had fruitlessly appealed to Elizabeth for mercy, she signed the warrant, telling her secretary Davison to take it to the great seal, and to trouble her no more about it; adding, with a smile of irony, that on his way he might call on Walsingham, who was sick, and who, she feared, "at the sight of it would die outright.''' Then suddenly recollecting herself, she said, " Surely Paulet and Drury, Mary's jailers, might ease me of this burden. Do you and Walsingham sound their dispositions." A letter was accord- ingly forwarded to Fotheringhay on the same day, in the name of both secretaries. It informed the two keepers, that the queen charged them with lack of care for her service, otherwise they would long ago have shortened the life of their captive. Paulet 1587 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 449 replied immediately; that his goods, living, and life were at the queen's service ; but he would never shed blood without law or warrant. Brury subscribed to Paulet's opinion. Elizabeth told Davison to proceed no further without her orders ; but the council resolved unanimously that the queen had done all that the law required on her part ; and that it was now their duty to proceed, and take the rest of the burden on themselves. Davison, how- ever, put the question to Elizabeth, whether she intended to pro- ceed to the execution of the commission or not. " Yea," with the addition of an oath, was her reply, with more than usual vehemence ; but she did not like the form, for it threw all the responsibility on herself. On the 7th of February, 1587, the earl of Shrewsbury arrived at Fotheringhay; and his office of earl marshal instantly disclosed the fatal object of his visit. The queen rose from Mary receives the her bed, dressed, and seated herself by a small ~°SSSX W S table, having previously arranged her servants, der for her death, male and female, on each side. The earl entered uncovered; he was followed by the earl of Kent, the sheriff, and several gentle- men of the county; and Eeale, after a short preface, read aloud the commission for the execution. Mary listened, without any change of countenance ; then, crossing herself, she bade them welcome ; the day, she said, which she had long desired, had at last arrived; she had languished in prison near twenty years, useless to others, and a burden to herself; nor could she conceive a termination to such a life more happy or more honorable, than to shed her blood for her religion. She next enumerated the wrongs which she had suffered, the offers which she had made, and the artifices and frauds employed by her enemies ; and, in conclusion, placing her hand on a Testament which lay on the table, "As for the death of the queen your sovereign," said she, " I call God to witness, that I never imagined it, never sought it, nor ever consented to it." " That book," exclaimed the earl of Kent, " is a popish Testament, and of course the oath is of no value." " It is a Catholic Testament," rejoined the queen ; " on that account I prize it the more." The earl exhorted her to ac- cept the spiritual services of the dean of Peterborough, a learned divine appointed by the queen. But Mary replied, that she was, perhaps, better versed in controversy than he thought; she had 38* 450 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1587. read much, and had attended to the most learned of the Pro- testant preachers ; but had never met with any argument which should induce her to leave the faith of her fathers. She re- quested that she might have the aid of Le Preau, her almoner, who was still in the house; but this, which was the last and only indulgence that she had to demand, was cruelly refused. Mary asked when she was to suffer. The earl of Shrewsbury answered, but with considerable agitation, "To-morrow morning, at eight o'clock/ 7 Mary heard the announcement of her death with a serenity of countenance, and dignity of manner, which awed and affected the beholders; but her attendants burst into tears and lamenta- tions. After long and fervent prayer, the queen was called to supper. She ate sparingly; and before she rose from table, drank to all The night preyi- her servants: asking at the same time forgiveness ous to her execu- „ , ._, %. , , , , , tkm. oi them, it she had ever spoken or acted toward them unkindly. The last night of Mary's life was spent in the arrangement of her domestic affairs, the writing of her will and of three letters, and in exercises of devotion. In the retirement of her closet, with her two maids, she prayed and read alternately; and sought for support and comfort in reading the passion of Christ. About four she retired to rest; but it was observed that she did not sleep. Her lips were in constant motion, and her mind seemed absorbed in prayer. At the first break of day her household assembled around her. She read to them her will, distributed among them her clothes and money, and bade them adieu, kissing the women, and giving her hand to kiss to the men. Weeping, they followed her into her oratory, where she took her place in front of the altar; they knelt down and prayed behind her. In the midst of the great hall of the castle had been raised a scaffold covered with black serge, and surrounded with a low she takes leave railing. Before eight a message was sent to the of her servants. q uee n, who replied that she would be ready in half an hour. At that time the sheriff entered the oratory, and Mary arose, taking the crucifix from the altar in her right, and carrying her prayer-book in her left hand. Her servants were forbidden to follow; they insisted; but the queen bade them to 1587 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 451 be content, and turning, gave them her blessing. They received it on their knees, some kissing her hands, others her mantle. The door closed; and the burst of lamentation from those within resounded through the hall. Mary was now joined by the earls and her keepers, and de- scending the staircase, found at the foot Melville, the steward of her household, who for several weeks had been Mary's progress excluded from her presence. "Good Melville/ 7 to the scaffold. said Mary, "I pray thee report that I die a true woman to my religion, to Scotland, and to France. May God forgive them that have long thirsted for my blood as the hart doth for the brooks of water. Commend me to my son; and tell him that I have done nothing prejudicial to the dignity or independence of his crown." She made a last request, that her servants might be present at her death. But the earl of Kent objected. When she asked with vehemence, "Am I not the cousin to your queen, a descendant of the blood royal of Henry VII., a married queen of France, and the anointed queen of Scotland?" It was then resolved to admit four of her men and two of her women ser- vants. She selected her steward, physician, apothecary, and sur- geon, with her two maids. Mary wore the richest of her dresses, that which was appropriate to the rank of a queen-dowager. Her step was firm, and her countenance cheerful. She bore without shrinking the gaze of the spectators and the sight of the scaf- fold, the block, and the executioner; and advanced into the hall with that grace and majesty which she had so often displayed in her happier days, and in the palace of her fathers. To aid her, as she mounted the scaffold, Paulet offered his arm. " I thank you, sir," said Mary; " it is the last trouble I shall give you, and the most acceptable service you have ever rendered me." The queen seated herself on a stool which was prepared for her; and in an audible voice addressed the assembly. She said that she pardoned from her heart all her enemies. she prays for her She then repeated with a loud voice, and in the the 'church. - ,dn Latin language, passages from the book of Psalms; and a prayer in French, in which she begged of God to pardon her sins, declared that she forgave her enemies, and protested that she was inno- cent of ever consenting in wish or deed to the death of her Eng- lish sister. She then prayed in English for Christ's afflicted 452 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1587. church; for her son James, and for Queen Elizabeth, and in con- clusion, holding up the crucifix, exclaimed, "As thy arms, God, were stretched out upon the cross, so receive me into the arms of thy mercy, and forgive me my sins." " Madam," said the earl of Kent, " you had better leave such popish trumperies, and bear him in your heart." She replied, " I cannot hold in my hand the representation of his sufferings, but I must at the same time bear him in my heart." When her maids, bathed in tears, began to disrobe their mistress, the executioners, fearing the loss of their usual perquisites, hastily interfered. The queen remonstrated ; but instantly submitted to their rudeness, observ- ing to the earls with a smile, that she was not accustomed to employ such grooms, or to undress in the presence of so nume- rous a company. Her servants, at the sight of their sovereign in this lamentable state, could not suppress their feelings ; but Mary, putting her finger to her lips, commanded silence, gave them her blessing, and solicited their prayers. One of her Her execution, maids, taking from her a handkerchief edged with February 8, 1587. gold, pinned it over her eyes ) the executioners, holding her by the arms, led her to the block; and the queen kneeling down, said repeatedly, with a firm voice, "Into thy hands, Lord, I commend my spirit." But the sobs and groans of the spectators disconcerted the headsman. He trem- bled, missed his aim, and inflicted a deep wound in the lower part of the skull. The queen remained motionless j and at the third stroke her head was severed from her body. The execu- tioner held it up, and cried as usual, " God save Queen Eliza- beth." " So perish all her enemies !" subjoined the dean of Peterborough. " So perish all the enemies of the gospel !" ex- claimed, in a still louder tone, the fanatical earl of Kent. Not a voice was heard to cry Amen. Party feeling was absorbed in pity. The body was embalmed the same day. It was afterward en- closed in lead, and kept in the same room for six months, till August, when Elizabeth ordered it to be interred with royal pomp in the abbey church of Peterborough, opposite to the tomb of Catherine, queen of Henry VIII. It was transferred to West- minster by order of James I. in 1612. When one of Elizabeth's ladies mentioned before her, as it 1587 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 453 were casually, the death of Mary Stuart, she maintained an air of perfect indifference; but soon, sending for Hatton, expressed the most violent indignation, and indulged in Elizabeth affect- threats of the most fearful vengeance against the death of Mary. men who had abused her confidence and usurped her autho- rity, by putting the queen of Scots to death without her know- ledge or consent ; she attempted to prove the sincerity of her regret by the execution of her threats ; she suspended the ob- noxious ministers ; but one after another all, with the exception of Davison, were restored to office and favor. He had earned this distinction • for, in defending himself, he charged the queen indirectly with falsehood, and alluded in obscure terms to her message to Paulet. He was condemned in a fine of ten thou- sand marks, and to be imprisoned during the royal pleasure. The treasury seized all his property; so that at his release from confinement in 1589, he found himself reduced to a state of ex- treme indigence. The queen, though she lived seventeen years longer, would never restore him to favor. It may appear surprising, but a full month elapsed before the king of Scotland received any certain intelligence of the execu- tion of his mother. At the news he burst into The conduct of tears, and talked of nothing but vengeance; but ^V£m£^ Elizabeth's partisans in the Scottish court sup- Smother, ported her cause. They admonished James to recollect that he was now the next heir to the English crown, and advised him not to forfeit that splendid inheritance by offending a princess who alone could remove him from it. His indignation gradu- ally evaporated ; and his mouth was sealed with a present of £4000. The revenge of Henry III. of France was equally harmless. A sense of honor had compelled him to forewarn Elizabeth that he should consider the execution of a queen-dowager of France as an insult offered to the French crown; but the death of Mary was left unrevengeel by those on whom that duty chiefly devolved — her son the king of Scotland, and her brother-in-law the king of France. That spirit of commercial enterprise which had been awakened under Mary, seemed to pervade and animate every description of men during the reign of Elizabeth. For the extension of trade, 454 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1587. Commercial en- an( ^ t ne discovery of unknown lands, associations terprises. were formed, companies were incorporated, ex- peditions were planned; and the prospect of immense profit, which, though always anticipated, was seldom realized, seduced many to sacrifice their whole fortunes, and prevailed even on the ministers, the nobility, and the queen herself, to risk considerable sums in these hazardous undertakings. In 1562, Sir John Hawkins commenced the trade in slaves. He made three voyages to the coast of Africa ; bartered articles slave-trade com- 9f tr i nm g value for negroes ; crossed the Atlantic menced. to Hispaniola and the Spanish settlements in America ; and in exchange for his captives returned with large quantities of hides, sugar, ginger, and pearls. This trade was, however, illicit ; and during his third voyage, he was surprised by the Spanish fleet. Hawkins lost his fleet, his treasure, and the majority of his followers. Out of six ships under his com- mand, two only escaped ; and of these, one foundered at sea ; the other, commanded by Francis Drake, brought back the rem- nant of the adventurers to Europe. Some years afterward, Drake circumnavigated the globe. We now arrive at a memorable epoch in the reign of Eliza- beth. The queen had almost annually offered injuries to the The contem- king of Spain. She had intercepted his treasure, England. " had given aid to his rebels, had hired foreign mer- cenaries to fight against his armies, and had suffered her mariners to plunder and massacre his defenceless subjects on the high seas and in his American dominions. Policy taught him to dis- semble for a long time; but the constant repetition of insult sharpened the edge of his resentment. At length he resolved to invade England with one hundred and thirty-five sail of men-of- war, carrying eight thousand seamen and nineteen thousand sol- diers, who obeyed the command of the marquis of Santa Cruz, an officer who had grown gray in the naval service, and whose brow was shaded with the laurels of numerous victories. Elizabeth ordered that a military council for the defence of the kingdom should be established ; and that all the male population Preparations for ^ rom tne a S e °f eighteen to that of sixty should be defence. enrolled. England, however, was destined to be saved by the skill and intrepidity of her navy, which at this time 1587 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 45{ consisted of thirty-four men-of-war. The city of London added thirty-three, and private individuals eighteen sail ; and to these, in such an emergency, were added forty-three hired ships and fifty-three coasters. The chief command was assumed, in virtue of his office, by Lord Howard of Effingham, admiral of England. Drake was appointed lieutenant of the fleet ; and the best ships were given to Hawkins, Forbisher, and other mariners, who had acquired experience and displayed that contempt of danger and that spirit of enterprise which had long been characteristic of the British sailor. There was within the realm a class of men whose doubtful loyalty created alarm in the cabinet. The real number of the English Catholics was unknown, for the severity of the penal laws had taught many to conceal their religion ; but it was loosely conjectured that they amounted to at least one-half of the population of the kingdom. But, though persecuted, no provoca- tion could urge them to any act of imprudence. They displayed no less patriotism than their more favored countrymen. The peers armed their tenants and dependants in the service of the queen ; some of the gentlemen equipped vessels, and gave the command to Protestants ; and many solicited permission to fight in the ranks as privates against the common enemy. Under the duke of Medina Sidonia the Armada sailed from the Tagus. The grandeur of the spectacle excited the most flat- tering anticipations; and every breast beat high The sa ni ng of with the hope of conquest and glory. In a few tbe Armada - days the delusion was dispelled. Off Cape Finisterre, the southerly breeze was exchanged for a storm from the west; the Armada was dispersed along the shores of G-allicia; three galleys ran aground on the coast of France, eight were dismasted, and no ship escaped without considerable damage. To collect and repair his shattered fleet, detained the duke three weeks in the harbor of Corunna. This disaster had been announced to Elizabeth as the destruc- tion of the Armada — the end of the expedition. If she received the intelligence with joy, she did not forget her usual economy; and the lord admiral received an order to dismantle immediately the four largest ships in the royal navy. Fortunately he ven- v tured to disobey, offering to bear the expense out of his private fortune ; and directed his course across the Bay of Biscay, to 456 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1587- ascertain the real state of the Spanish fleet. But a brisk gale The Armada is from the south-west compelled him to return: the dispersed, and re- . , „ , . , . turns to Spain. enemy took advantage or the same wind to leave Corunna; and the English had scarcely moored their ships in the harbor of Plymouth, when the duke of Medina was discovered oif the Lizard Point. The Armada formed in the shape of a crescent, the horns of which lay some miles asunder, and with a gentle breeze from the south-west, proudly advanced up the Channel. The lord admiral had already formed his plan. To oppose might be dangerous; but he followed and annoyed the Spaniards from a distance. The Spanish admiral found his pro- gress slow and laborious ; the enemy was daring, and the weather capricious ; some of the ships were disabled by successive engage- ments; others were occasionally entangled among the shoals of an unknown coast ; and the necessity of protecting both from the incessant pursuit of the English, so retarded his course, that six days elapsed before he could reach his destination and cast anchor in the vicinity of Calais. Several of the Spanish ships were destroyed by fire on the coast of France ; and the Spanish admiral resolved to return to Spain. He sailed round Scotland and Ireland, and in his voyage lost many of his largest vessels by storm. In order to see her troops, Elizabeth proceeded to Tilbury Fort. It was a proud moment for the English queen. The danger was now over; the Armada which had threatened to overturn her throne was struggling with adverse winds on its way to Spain; and the people, intoxicated with joy, expressed the most ardent attachment to her person. Mounted on a white palfrey, and bearing a marshal's truncheon in her hand, she rode along the ranks ; the soldiers rent the air with acclamations of triumph ; and the raw recruits expressed their regret that they had not been permitted to measure arms with the veteran forces of Spain. In 1588, the earl of Leicester died. He was one who as a statesman or a commander displayed little ability ; but his rapa- Death of Leices- c % anc * ambition knew no bounds. Were we to ter: his character, judge of his moral character from the language of his writings, we should allot to him the praise of distinguished piety ; but if we listen to the report of his contemporaries, the 1588 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 457 delusion vanishes, and he stands before us as the most dissolute and unprincipled of men. The reader will pause before he gives his unqualified assent to all the statements which have been made against Leicester; yet, when he has made every allowance for the envy and malice of political enemies — when he has rejected every charge which is not supported by probable evidence — there will still remain much to stamp infamy on the character of the earl. The defeat of the Armada had thrown the nation into a frenzy of joy. The people expressed their feelings by bonfires, enter- tainments, and public thanksgivings: the queen, Penalties against ... \ l , . .- iT A i t • • the Catholics: nu- whether she sought to satisfy the religious am- merous executions, mosities of her subjects, or to display her gratitude to the Almighty, by punishing the supposed enemies of his worship, celebrated her triumph with the immolation of human victims. A commission was issued; a selection was made from the Catholics in prison on account of religion ; and six clergymen were indicted for their priestly character; four laymen for having been reconciled to the Catholic church ; and four others, among whom was a gentlewoman of the name of Ward, for having aided or harbored priests. All these immediately, and fifteen of their companions, within the three next months, suffered the cruel and infamous punishment of traitors. It was not so much as whis- pered that they had been guilty of any act of disloyalty. On their trials, nothing was objected to them but the practice of their religion. The earl of Arundel was tried at this time on an accusation of having caused mass to be said for the success of the Armada, and upon very insufficient evidence was found guilty. He was not executed, however, but died after eleven years of imprisonment. From the defeat of the Armada till the death of the queen, during the lapse of fourteen years, the Catholics groaned under the pressure of incessant persecution. Sixty-one clergymen, forty-seven laymen, and two gentlewomen suffered capital punish- ment for some or other of the spiritual felonies and treasons which had been lately created. Generally the court dispensed with the examination of witnesses : by artful and ensnaring questions, an avowal was drawn from the prisoner that he had been reconciled, or had harbored a priest, or had been ordained 2D 39 458 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 151 beyond the sea, or that he admitted the ecclesiastical supremacy of the pope, or rejected that of the queen. Any one of these crimes was sufficient to consign him to the scaffold. Life, indeed, was always offered, on the condition of conformity to the established worship; but the offer was generally refused; the refusal was followed by death ; and the butchery, with very few exceptions, was performed on the victim while he was yet in perfect possession of his senses. For professing Catholicity, heavv fines were imposed on men of property. Ile- Pcnal laws. cusants in meaner circumstances were at first thrown into prison. But the jails were soon crowded; the counties complained of the expense of their maintenance ; and the queen ordered them to be discharged at the discretion of the magis- trates. From some, nothing more was required than a promise of good behaviour ; some had their ears bored with a hot iron ; others were publicly whipped. The visitation of private houses in search of priests is described as the most intolerable of grievances. It was in vain that the Catholic gentleman with- drew himself from the eyes of the public, and sought an asylum in solitude. His house afforded him no security ; even in the bosom of his family he passed his time in alarm and solicitude ; and was exposed at every moment to the capricious visits of men whose pride was flattered by the wanton exercise of authority over their betters, or whose fanaticism taught them to believe that they rendered a service to God by insulting and oppressing the idolatrous papist. The Puritans were also persecuted at this period. Many were imprisoned; some were convicted of recusancy; a few were ba- nished. But the queen had now grown old ; the king of Scots, her presumptive heir, professed Puritanical principles ; and the leaders of the orthodox party saw the danger of persisting in a course which might draw upon themselves the vengeance of the next sovereign. The persecution subsided by degrees ; and the Separatists enjoyed a state of comparative tranquillity, long before the death of Elizabeth. Henry III., of France, died in 1589, by the hand of an assas- sin ; and the king of Navarre, the descendant of St. Louis, by his Death of Henr y oun & est son > Robert, count of Clermont, took the of France. title of Henry IV., king of France and Navarre. 1506 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 459 He became the close ally of Elizabeth, from whom he received much aid in his contest with the French nobles and the Spa- nish king ) though she was much chagrined when he embraced the Catholic faith. Hostile preparations in the Spanish harbors, in 1596, excited considerable alarm in England j and for several weeks the defence of the realm had been the subject of daily deliberation in the council. Howard of Effingham, the lord-admiral, urged the send- ing out of an expedition to destroy the Spanish ports, shipping, and magazines. He was powerfully seconded by Essex, who despised the cautious policy of Burghley, and by Expedition to de- his influence, after a long struggle, obtained the Spain, consent of the queen. She gave him the command of the land, while the lord-admiral held that of the naval force; but, to re- strain his impetuosity, he was ordered to ask the advice of a coun- cil of war, and to be guided by the opinion of the majority. Af- ter much irresolution, and considerable delay, occasioned partly by the disguised opposition of the Cecils, and partly by the incon- stant humor of the queen, the expedition left the harbor of Ply- mouth. By the junction of twenty-two ships from Holland, it amounted to one hundred and fifty sail, and carried fourteen thou- sand men, of whom one thousand or fifteen hundred were gentle- men volunteers. At the end of three weeks the fleet cast anchor at the mouth of the haven of Cadiz, in which were discovered fifteen men of war, and about forty merchantmen. The English arms succeeded in Spain. Foreigners applauded the conquerors, their countrymen hailed their return with shouts of triumph j but they experienced from their sovereign a cool and ungracious reception, fbr she had begun to evince a marked difference in her treatment of Essex. Philip of Spain having resolved on taking steps to place his daughter on the throne of England, Elizabeth consented that a powerful armament should be fitted out for the do- Expedition of struction of the Spanish fleet, and gave the com- Essex. mand to Essex, toward whom she had relented. On his arrival at Plymouth, he found a fleet of one hundred and forty sail, and an army of eight thousand soldiers, waiting his command. But he was destined to experience nothing except misfortune in this expedition. The fleet had not proceeded more than forty leagues, 460 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1097. when it was driven back to port by a storm. Essex sailed again, but with a smaller force, and on a different destination. He reached the Azores; Eayal, Graciosa, and Flores submitted; but the Spanish fleet from the Indies, the real object of the expedi- tion, had already escaped into the harbor of Tercera ; and the English, with four inconsiderable prizes, and some plunder, di- rected their course to England. In Ireland, the lord Grey had at this time, by his cruelty and rapacity, earned the hatred of all descriptions of people. He Ireland at this was replaced hy Sir John Perrot, who made no period. distinction between the English or the Irishman, but inflicted punishment on all offenders, according to their de- merits. It had long been the wish of the queen to colonize Ire- land from England. Hitherto she had been deterred by consider- ation of the expense ; now, however, Earl Desmond's lands were granted to English settlers ; and most of the royal favorites ob- tained ample districts, on the condition that one family should be settled on every two hundred and forty acres ; and that no native of Irish origin should be admitted among the new colonists. Perrot reduced Ireland to a state of tranquillity hitherto un- known in its annals. The indigenous Irish observing: the severitv The fate of Per- w ^ n which he punished the injuries inflicted on rot them by the English adventurers, looked up to him as their friend ; but those who suffered from his justice sought to ruin him in the estimation of his sovereign. His hasty tem- per occasionally betrayed him into unseemly expressions; his words, his actions, and his friendships were misinterpreted and misrepresented ; and Elizabeth began to doubt his loyalty, and to think him capable of seeking a kingdom for himself. Perrot was arraigned in Westminster Hall on a charge of high-treason. That he was innocent of treason, there cannot be a doubt ; yet he was found guilty, and two months later received judgment of death. For six months his fate was kept in suspense ; but a broken heart or a poisonous potion deprived him of life after that in- terval. Among the native Irish who had distinguished themselves in the war against the earl of Desmond was Hugh, the son of the late baron of Dungannon. His services had merited the appro- bation of the lord Grey, and he. had been rewarded by the queen, 1600 A. D. ELIZABETH. 461 first with the earldom of Tyrone, and afterward The battle of with all the rights and lands which his grandfather tory of o'Neii. Conn had formerly possessed. To this title of English origin he soon added, without her consent, another which rendered him far more respectable in the eyes of the natives. On the death of Tirlongh Lynnogh, he proclaimed himself the O'Neii, and was considered by his countrymen as the Irish sovereign of Ulster. After many alternations of peace and war, of victory and defeat, a decisive battle was fought near the fort of Blackwater in Tyrone. Bagnal, the English commander-in-chief, with fifteen hundred of his followers, was slain ; the artillery, the ammunition, and the fortress itself fell into the hands of the Irish. The O'Neii was celebrated in every district as the savior of his country; and the whole of the indigenous population, with many of the chieftains of English origin, rose in arms to assert the national independence of Ireland. In 1600, Essex was tried on account of some matters connected with his administration in Ireland. He was found guilty ) but his punishment only consisted of some forfeitures. En- Attempted in- raged at having lost the royal favor, he attempted sex : he is executed! an insurrection in the streets of London in company with Lord Southampton and some others. They were found guilty. Es- sex was executed on the 25th February, 1601, in the Tower. Thus, at the premature age of thirty-three, perished the gallant and aspiring Essex. At his first introduction to Elizabeth he had to contend against the dislike with which she viewed the son of a woman who had been her rival, and a successful rival, in the affections of Leicester. If he overcame this prejudice, it was not owing to personal beauty or exterior accomplishments. In these respects, if we except the exquisite symmetry of his hands, he was inferior to many gentlemen at court. But there was in him a frankness of disposition, a contempt of all disguise, an im- petuosity of feeling, which prompted him to pour out his whole soul in conversation ; qualities which captivated the old queen, fatigued as she was with the cautious and measured language of the politicians around her. Contrary to the lot of most favorites, he had enjoyed at the same time the affection of the sovereign and of the people. To the latter he was known only by the more dazzling traits in his character — his affability and profusion, his 39* 462 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1601. spirit of adventure and thirst of glory, and his constant opposi- tion to the dark and insidious policy of the Cecils. The popu- larity of the queen, which had long been on the wane, seemed to he buried in the same grave with her favorite. On her appear- ance in public, she was no longer greeted with the wonted accla- mations ; and her councillors were received with loud expressions of insult and abhorrence. In September, 1601, four thousand men, under the command of Don Juan D'Aguilar, arrived in Ireland from Spain. They infirmities of l an ded at Kinsale, fortified the town, and called on Elizabeth. ^he natives to join them against a princess who had been excommunicated and deposed by several succeeding pontiffs. "While the deputy Mountjoy assembled an army to op- pose the invaders, Elizabeth summoned a parliament to meet at Westminster. Unwilling that men should notice her increasing infirmities, she opened the session with more than usual parade ; but her enfeebled frame was unable to support the weight of the royal robes ; and she was actually sinking to the ground, when the nearest nobleman caught and supported her in his arms. The only object of the minister was to obtain a supply of money for the Irish war; and his wish was gratified by a liberal vote. But if the mem- bers were liberal in their grant to the crown, they were obstinate Monopolies com- i* 1 demanding the redress of their grievances. The plained of. great subject of complaint, both within and without the walls of parliament, was the multitude of monopolies bestowed by the queen on her favorites. By a monopoly was understood a pat- ent signed by her, and vesting in an individual, as a reward for his real or pretended services, the exclusive right of vending some par- ticular commodity. The commons shook the resolution of the min- ister, who was terrified by the execrations of the people as he hast- ened in his carriage through the streets; and subdued the obstinacy of the queen, who, though she annually became more attached to what she deemed the rights of the crown, yielded at length to his suggestions and entreaties. Sending for the speaker, she assured him, in the presence of the council, that she would, by proclama- tion, revoke every patent prejudicial to the liberties of the subject. The commons, happy to obtain redress without engaging in a con- test with their sovereign, returned their thanks in language little short of blasphemy; and Cecil prided himself on the dexterity 1602 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 463 with, which he had satisfied the people, without surrendering the prerogative of the crown. In the meanwhile, the lord deputy in Ireland had united his forces with those of the president of Munster, and besieged D'Aguilar with his Spaniards within their lines at The Spaniards Kinsale. Tyrone watched the operations of the finally submits, besiegers. With six thousand natives, and about two hundred Spaniards, who had landed at Castlehaven, under the command of Ocampo, he hastened early in the morning to surprise the English camp, ordering another party at the same time to convey a supply of provisions to the besieged. But his project had been already betrayed to Lord Mountjoy, and his advance was retarded by the anxiety of Ocampo to introduce something like regularity into the ranks of the natives. As the latter were crossing a brook, they were charged by a body of four hundred horse, and immediately fled. The Spaniards, abandoned by their allies, threw down their arms, crying Misericordia ; five hundred Irish were slain in the pursuit ; and the O'Neil, collecting about two thousand of his best men, retired into the north. D'Aguilar, convinced of the hopelessness of resistance, surrendered Kinsale and the forts in his possession, and obtained permission to return to Corunna with his men, their arms, and ammunition. O'Neil offered to submit on honorable terms ; but the pride of Elizabeth demanded an unconditional surrender. The lords of the council labored to mollify the obstinacy of the queen. After a long con- test she began to relent ; but it was still impossible to fix the in- decision of her mind ; and each succeeding week new and contra- dictory instructions were forwarded to the deputy. Mountjoy was perplexed ; he knew not what answer to give to Tyrone -, and the time was consumed in useless messages from one to the other. But the moment he heard that the life of the queen was in danger, he sent for the Irish chieftain, who made his submission on his knees, renounced the title of O'Neil, and all dependence on foreign authority, and solicited the restoration of his rights and honors from the mercy of his sovereign. Mountjoy, in return, subscribed a full pardon for him and his followers, and promised that his lands, with one or two exceptions, and his former title, should again be vested in him by a patent from the crown. Elizabeth had surprised the nations of Europe by the splendor 464 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1602. of her course ; she was destined to close the evening of her life Elizabeth over- * n gl° om an( i sorrow. The bodily infirmities which whelmed in gloom, gh e suffered may have been the consequences of age ) her mental afflictions are usually traced by historians to re- gret for the execution of Essex. That she occasionally bewailed his fate, that she accused herself of precipitation and cruelty, is not improbable ) but there were disclosures in his confession, to which her subsequent melancholy may with greater probability be ascribed. From that document she learned the unwelcome and distressing truth, that she had lived too long ; that her favorites looked with impatience to the moment which would free them from her control ; and that the very men on whose loyalty she had hitherto reposed with confidence, had already proved unfaith- ful to her. She became pensive and taciturn ; she sat whole days by herself, indulging in the most gloomy reflections ; every rumor agitated her with new and imaginary terrors ; and the solitude of her court, the opposition of the commons to her prerogative, and the silence of the citizens when she appeared in public, were taken by her for proofs that she had survived her popularity, and was become an object of aversion to her subjects. Under these im- pressions, she assured the French ambassador that she had grown weary of her very existence. In January of this year she was troubled with a cold, and about the end of the month removed, on a wet and stormy day, from iier last mness Westminster to Richmond. Her indisposition in- and death. creased ; but, with her characteristic obstinacy, she refused the advice of her physicians. Loss of appetite was accom- panied with lowness of spirits, and to add to her distress, it chanced that her intimate friend, the countess of Nottingham, died.* In the first week of March all the symptoms of her dis- order were considerably aggravated ; she lay during some hours in a state of stupor, rallied for a day or two, and then relapsed. The council, having learned from the physicians that her recovery was hopeless, prepared to fulfil their engagements with the king * Dr. Lingard has the following note on the subject of the ring said to have been sent by Essex to Elizabeth, through the countess of Nottingham : — I do not notice the story of the ring, said to have been sent by Essex to Elizabeth, but not delivered by the countess, who revealed her treachery on her death-bed. Had it been true, it would have been mentioned by some of those who have related the occurrences of the queen's malady. 1603 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 465 of Scots, by providing for his peaceable succession to the throne. The lord-admiral, the lord keeper, and the secretary, remained with the queen at Richmond ; the others repaired to Whitehall. For some days the queen sat on a chair supported by cushions. She seldom spoke, and refused all nourishment. At the com- mencement of her illness she had said that she would leave the crown to " the right heir." This statement not being deemed sufficiently certain, she was questioned on the subject on the last night of her life. Some say that she declared her wish to be that James of Scotland should succeed to the throne ; there is, how- ever, considerable doubt on this point. Queen Elizabeth, the last of the Tudor line of English sovereigns, died on the 24th of March, 1603. Elizabeth has been numbered among the greatest and the most fortunate of our sovereigns. The tranquillity which, during a reign of nearly half a century, she maintained within her dominions, while the neighboring na- tions were convulsed with intestine dissensions, was taken as a proof of the wisdom or the vigor of her government; and her successful resistance against the Spanish monarch, the severe in- juries which she inflicted on that lord of so many kingdoms, and the spirit displayed by her fleets and armies in expeditions to France and the Netherlands, to Spain, to the West, and even the East Indies, served to give to the world an exalted notion of her military and naval power. When she came to the throne, Eng- land ranked only among the secondary kingdoms ; before her death it had risen to a level with the first nations in Europe. In what exact proportion the merit of this result should be shared between Elizabeth and her councillors, it is impossible to determine. On many subjects she could see only IIer ol3S ti na cy with their eyes, and hear with their ears; yet it is and irresolution, evident that her judgment or her conscience frequently disap- proved of their advice. Sometimes; after a long struggle, they submitted to her wisdom or obstinacy ) sometimes she was terri- fied or seduced into the surrender of her own opinion ; generally a compromise was effected by mutual concessions. This appears to have happened on most debates of importance, and particularly with respect to the treatment of the unfortunate queen of Scots. Irresolution seems to have been a weakness inherent in the con- 466 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1G03. stitution of her mind. To deliberate appears to have been her delight; to resolve, her torment. She would receive advice from any, from foreigners as well as natives, from the ladies of her bed- chamber no less than the lords of her council; but her distrust begot hesitation ; and she always suspected that some interested motive lurked under the pretence of zeal for her service. Hence she often suffered months, sometimes years, to roll away before she came to a conclusion j and then it required the same industry and address to keep her steady to her purpose as it had already cost to bring her to it. Besides irresolution, there was in Elizabeth another quality equally, perhaps more, mortifying to her councillors and favor- ites — her care to improve her revenue, her reluctance to part with money. That frugality in a sovereign is a virtue deserving the highest praise could not be denied ; but they contended that, in their mistress, it had degenerated into parsimony, if not into avarice. The truth, however, was, that the foreign policy of the cabinet had plunged the queen into a gulf of unfathomable ex- pense. Her connection with the insurgents in so many different countries, the support of a standing army in Holland, her long war with Spain, and the repeated attempts to suppress the rebellion of Tyrone, were continual drains upon the treasury. Her poverty increased as her wants multiplied. Elizabeth, while she was yet a subject, was haughty and over- bearing ; on the throne she was careful to display that notion of her own importance, that contempt of all beneath her, and that courage in the time of danger, which were characteristic of the Tu- dors. She seemed to have forgotten that she ever had a mother, but was proud to remind both herself and others that she was the daughter of a powerful monarch, Henry VIII. On occa- sions of ceremony, she appeared in all her splendor, accompanied by the great officers of state, and with a numerous retinue of lords and ladies, dressed in their most gorgeous apparel. In reading descriptions of her court, we may sometimes fancy our- selves transported into the palace of an Eastern princess. Yet while she maintained this state in public and in the palace, while she taught the proudest of the nobility to feel the distance between themselves and their sovereign, she condescended to court the good-will of the common people. In the country they had ac- 1603 A. D.] ELIZABETH. 467 cess to her at all times; neither their rudeness nor importunity appeared to offend her; she received their petitions with an air of pleasure, thanked them for their expressions of attachment, and sought the opportunity of entering into private Her literary at- conversation with individuals. Her natural abili- tainments - ties were very great; she had studied under experienced mas- ters, and her stock of literature was much more ample than that of most females of the age. Like her sister Mary, she possessed a knowledge of five languages; hut Mary did not venture to con- verse in Italian, neither could she construe the Greek Testament, like Elizabeth. The queen is said to have understood the most difficult music. But dancing was her principal delight; and in that exercise she displayed a grace and spirit which was univer- sally admired. She retained her partiality for it to the last; and condescended to perform her part in a dance with the duke of Nevers at the age of sixty-nine. It is seldom that females have the boldness to become the herald of their own charms; but Elizabeth by proclamation an- nounced to her people, that none of the portraits which had hitherto been taken of her person did justice to the original; that at the request of her council she had resolved to procure an exact likeness from the pencil of some able artist; that it should soon be published for the gratification of her loving subjects; and that on this account she strictly for- bade all persons whomsoever, to paint or engrave any new por- traits of her features without license, or to show or publish any of the old portraits till they had been reformed according to the copy to be set forth by authority. The courtiers soon discovered how greedy their sovereign was of flattery. If they sought to please, they were careful to admire; and adulation the most ful- some and extravagant was accepted by the queen with gratitude, and rewarded with bounty. At her death, 3000 dresses were found in her wardrobe, with a numerous collection of jewelry, for the most part presents which she had received from petition- ers. To the austere notions of the bishop of London, this love of finery appeared unbecoming her age, and in his sermon he endeavoured to raise her thoughts from the ornaments of dress to the riches of heaven; but she told her ladies that if he touched upon that subject again, she would fit him for heaven. 463 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1603, In her temper, Elizabeth seemed to have inherited the irrita- bility of her father. The least inattention, the slightest pro- She is profane in vocation, would throw her into a passion. At all conversation. times her discourse was sprinkled with oaths; in the sallies of her anger it abounded with imprecations and abuse. Her familiarity with Dudley provoked dishonorable reports respecting her chastity. At first they gave her pain ; but her feelings were soon blunted, and she proved that she was become regardless of her character, and callous to every sense of shame. The court imitated the manners of the sovereign. It was a place in which, according to a contemporary writer, " all enormi- ties reigned in the highest degree." Elizabeth firmly believed, and zealously upheld the princi- ples of government established by her father — the exercise of absolute authority by the sovereign, and the duty of passive obedience in the subject. In her opinion, the chief use of par- liaments was to vote money, to regulate the minutiae of trade, and to legislate for individual and local interests. To the lower house she granted, indeed, freedom of debate; but it was to be a decent freedom, the liberty of " saying ay or no;" and those that transgressed that decency were liable to feel the weight of the royal displeasure. Besides the judicial tribunals which remain to the present day, there were, in the age of Elizabeth, several other courts, Arbitrary insti- the arbitrary constitution of which was incompati- tutions. ki e w - t | 1 t k e liberties of the subject: the court of high commission, for the cognizance of religious offences; the court of star-chamber, which inflicted the severest punishments for that comprehensive and undefinable trangression, contempt of the royal authority; courts of commissioners appointed occa- sionally for the public or private trial of offences; and the courts martial, for which the queen, from her hasty and imperious tem- per, manifested a strong predilection. Another and an intolera- ble grievance was the discretionary power assumed by the queen, of gratifying her caprice or resentment by the restraint or im- prisonment of those who had given her offence. The queen was not sparing of the blood of her subjects. The statutes inflicting death for religious opinion have been already K03A.D.] ELIZABETH. 469 noticed. In addition, many new felonies and new treasons were created during her reign; and the ingenuity of the judges gave to these enactments the most extensive application. The historians who celebrate the golden days of Elizabeth have described with a glowing pencil the happiness of the peo- ple under her sway. To them might be opposed the dismal pic- ture of national misery, drawn by the Catholic writers of the same period. But both have taken too contracted a view of the subject. Religious dissension had divided the nation into oppo- site parties, of almost equal numbers, the oppressors and the op- pressed. Under the operation of the penal statutes, many ancient and opulent families had been ground to the dust; new families had sprung up in their place; and these, as they shared the plunder, naturally eulogized the system to which they owed their wealth and their ascendency. But their prosperity was not the pros- perity of the nation; it was that of one-half obtained at the ex- pense of the other. It is evident that neither Elizabeth nor her ministers under- stood the benefits of civil and religious liberty. The preroga- tives which she so highly prized have long since withered away; the blood-stained code which she enacted against the rights of conscience has ceased to stain the pages of the statute-book; and the result has proved that the abolition of despotism and intole- rance adds no less to the stability of the throne than to the hap- piness of the people. 470 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAPTER XXXII. lames t\t first CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. [A. D. 1603 Popes. Emperors. France. Clement VIII. Rodolph. Henry IV. Leo XL Matthias. Louis XIII. Paul V. Ferdinand II. Spain. Gregory XV Philip III. Urban VIII. Philip IV. Accession of James — His Coronation — Severity against the Catholics — The Gunpowder Plot — Arabella Stuart — The King's Favorites — Disgrace of Coke — The affairs of Ireland — Persecution of the Catholics — The Puritans — Bacon — Buckingham — Sir Walter Raleigh — Marriage treaty with France — Death of the King— From A. D. 1603 to 1625. By means of Cecil the accession of the Scottish king was pro- claimed before the death of the late queen had become publicly Accession of the known. The officers of state assembled in front Scottish king. of the p a j ace? an( j proceeded thence to the cross in Cheapside : at both places the king of Scots was proclaimed by the voice of Cecil himself; and the citizens, by their accla- mations, bonfires, and the ringing of bells, testified their satis- faction at the accession of the new monarch. James, who was in his thirty-seventh year, lost not a moment to take possession of his new inheritance, and soon arrived in Lon- don. All hastened to meet the new monarch, that they might remind him of their past, and tender to him their future ser- vices. But James had already made his election, and confirmed Cecil in office. A new council was formed, into which, by his advice, or at least with his approbation, six Scotsmen were ad- mitted; but, at the same time, to balance the account between the nations, six English noblemen received the same honor. As the king entered London, proclamation was made to sus- 1603 A. D.] JAMES THE FIRST. 471 pend all grants of monopolies till they had been examined by the council. Honors were afterward bestowed with a most lavish hand; nine new barons were created, among whom was Cecil, the secretary : and in the course of three months the honor of knighthood was conferred on seven hundred individuals. The States of Holland, then at war with Spain, sent to James a splendid and honorable embassy, at the head of which was Frederic, prince of Nassau; but James stood on Embassy from his guard against their entreaties and flattery, and Holland, over his cups he hesitated not to brand the deputies and their masters with the ignominious designation of traitors. He after- ward, however, entered into a treaty in favor of the States, but no important results followed. A conspiracy to seize the person of James was formed at this time in England, but the conspirators quarrelled, and the design was at last abandoned as impracticable. A proclamation was issued, describing the names and persons of several of the con- spirators. In a few days these were in the hands of the officers of government, and then subjected to the most searching exami- nations before certain commissioners. The apprehension of the conspirators was followed by the king's coronation. He had long ago appointed for his purpose his saint's dav, the festival of St. James : and though a dan- Coronation of J1 .. i • n • i n James: trial of the gerous mortality raged in the city, he would not conspirators, allow of any postponement. The ceremony was hastily performed by the archbishop of Canterbury, without the usual parade. From Westminster the king fled into the country; but the infection pursued him wherever he went. In November the conspirators, among whom were Raleigh and Lord Cobham, were tried. Aware of the weakness of his case, the attorney-general, Sir Ed- ward Coke, had recourse to invective and abuse; but Raleigh controlled his feelings, and replied with a moderation which placed in a stronger light the indecorous and violent conduct of his adversary. The jury returned, with visible reluctance, a verdict of guilty. By the great mass of the spectators it was received with disapprobation. Many pronounced him innocent; most acknowledged that he had been condemned without legal or sufficient proof. Cobham and Grey were arraigned before their peers. The 472 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1603 shuffling and meanness of the one opposed a striking contrast to the spirit and eloquence of the other. Cobham appeared unwor- thy of the pardon which he claimed as the reward of his confes- sion; Grey won the esteem of the very judges by w 7 hom he was condemned. Two priests were the first who suffered. Of the lay conspira- tors, Brooke alone was executed. With respect to the others, The king par- James resolved to surprise his subjects with a spe- dons some of the „ . ■ . . „, . , . , , , , , . prisoners. cimen of that kingcraft m which he deemed him- self so complete a master. Confining his secret within his own breast, he signed the warrants for the execution of Markham, Grey, and Cobham, but gave private instructions to the sheriff, who, in a loud voice, declared that the king of his own gracious disposition had granted life to each of the convicts. They were conducted to different prisons, and Raleigh, whose execution had been fixed for the Monday, shared the royal mercy in common with his fellows. James reaped the full fruit of this device. The existence of the plot was proved by confessions made on the scaffold ; and the royal ingenuity as well as clemency was univer- sally applauded. To the Catholics, James felt inclined to grant some partial indulgence. He owed it to their sufferings in the cause of ■ his The king's con- unfortunate mother j he had bound himself to it by cathoUcs W and p£ promises to their envoys, and to the princes of ritans - their communion. But his secret wishes were op- posed by his advisers ; and, if he was ashamed to violate his word, he was taught also to dread the offence of his Protestant subjects. At last he compromised the matter in his own mind, by drawing a distinction between the worship and the persons of the petition- ers. To every prayer for the exercise of that worship he returned a prompt and indignant refusal. But he invited the Catholics to frequent his court, he conferred on several the honor of knight- hood ; and he promised to shield them from the penalties of re- cusancy, as long as by their loyal and peaceable demeanor they should deserve the royal favor. The Puritans relied with equal confidence on the good-will of the new monarch. He had been educated from his infancy in the Genevan theology; but in proportion as the declining age of Elizabeth brought the English sceptre nearer to his grasp, he 1G04A.D.] JAMES THE FIRST. 473 learned to prefer the submissive discipline of a church which owned the sovereign for its head, to the independent forms of a republican kirk ; and ; as soon as he saw himself possessed of the English crown, he openly avowed his belief that the hierarchy was the firmest support of the throne, and that where there was no bishop there would shortly be no king. The Puritan ministers were admitted to a conference. They reduced their demands to four heads — purity of doctrine, a learned ministry, the reformation of the ecclesiastical courts, and the correction of the Book of Common Prayer. After the bishops of London and Winchester, and some of the deans had spoken, James himself took up the argument, and displayed, even in the opinion of his adversaries, considerable ability. In conclusion, all that the ministers could obtain was, that a national catechism should be framed, and a new translation of the Scriptures be published. James soon met his first parliament with the most flattering anticipations j and opened the session with a gracious and eloquent speech from the throne. But, instead of the return James meetg Ms which he expected, he found himself entangled in first parliament, disputes, from which he could not extricate himself with satisfac- tion or credit. In the lower house a formidable party was mar- shalled against him, composed of the men who, about the close of the last reign, had dared to advocate the rights of the subject against the abuse of the prerogative. Bickerings continued during a long and stormy session ; and though the king, by his interest in the upper house, succeeded in averting every blow aimed by the Puritans at the discipline of the church, he was yet unable to carry in the lower any of the measures which he had contem- plated, or to obtain a supply of money in addition to the accus- tomed vote of tonnage and poundage. On one question only were all parties agreed. Fanaticism urged the Puritans to perse- cute the Catholics, and the hope of conciliation induced the friends of the crown to add their support. The oppressive and sanguinary code, framed in the reign of Elizabeth, was re- enacted to its full extent ; it was even improved with additional severities. The Puritans accused the king of a leaning to popery. He per- secuted, they said, the disciples, while he favored the enemies of - E 40* 474 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1604. _ . , , the gospel. James hastened to rescue himself from Banishment of ° * • Catholic missiona- the charge. Another proclamation was published, enjoining the banishment of all Catholic missiona- ries; regulations were adopted for the discovery and presentment of recusants ; and orders were sent to the magistrates to put the penal laws into immediate execution. He even deemed it expe- dient to deliver his sentiments in the star-chamber, to declare his detestation of popery, and to repeat his wish that none of his children might succeed him, if they were ever to depart from the established church. Fines were at this time levied upon Catholics to a considerable amount, and their payment enforced with peculiar severity. The origin of the Among the sufferers was one Robert Catesby, de- gunpowder plot, scended from an ancient and opulent family in Northamptonshire. In revenge he conceived a plan so atrocious in principle, and so sanguinary in execution, that it is difficult to conceive how it could be harbored in the mind of any human being — the plan of blowing up the parliament-house with gun- powder, and involving in one common destruction the king, the lords, and the commons. Catesby communicated his plan to a friend named Winter, who hastened to Ostend, where he met with Guy Faukes, a native of Yorkshire, and a soldier of fortune. Faukes had long served in the Netherlands, and had visited Madrid in the company of Winter, as agent for the exiles of the Spanish party. His courage, fidelity, and military experience pointed him out as a valuable auxiliary. He consented to return with Winter to England, but was kept for some time in ignorance of the part which he was designed to act. Before their arrival, Catesby had communicated the plan to two others, Percy and Wright, the former being a distant relation Progress of the an( * steward to the earl of Northumberland. The P lans - Catholics again at this time petitioned for some concessions ; but the king, under the advice of his ministers, was inexorable, stating that even if he were willing, he dared not make a concession so offensive to the religious feelings of his Protestant subjects. These proceedings following in rapid succes- sion, extinguished the last ray of hope in the breasts of the con- spirators, who then hastened to execute that plan which appeared to be their only resource. On inquiry, they found contiguous to 1605 A. D.] JAMES THE FIKST. 475 the old palace of "Westminster an empty house, with a garden attached to it, exactly adapted to their purpose. It was hired by Percy, under pretence of convenience, because his office of gen- tleman pensioner occasionally compelled him to reside in the vicinity of the court. On one side of the garden stood an old building raised against the wall of the parliament-house. Within this they began to open a mine, allotting two-thirds of the twenty- four hours to labor, and the remaining third to repose ; and di- viding the task among themselves in such manner, that while one enjoyed his portion of rest, the other three were occupied in the work, which, during the day, consisted in excavating the mine — during the night in concealing the rubbish under the soil of the garden. The parliament was prorogued from the 7th of February to the 3d of October, and they immediately separated to spend the Christmas holidays at their respective homes. The mine was soon abandoned, for Faukes hired a cellar under the house of lords, and into it were conveyed, under the cover of night, several barrels of gunpowder, which had been collected in a house at Lambeth. To elude suspicion, these were concealed under stones, billets of wood, and different articles of household furniture ; and the conspirators having completed their preparations, separated to meet again in September, a few days before the opening of parliament. In the mean time the persecution, which had commenced in the preceding year, daily increased in severity. Nocturnal searches for the discovery of priests were resumed with all that train of injuries, insults, and vexations which characterized them in the reign of Elizabeth. Catesby was indefatigable in the prosecution of his design. But, though he might rely with confidence on the fidelity of his accomplices, he knew not how to elude the scruti- nizing eyes of his more intimate friends. Suspicion was awakened, and Garnet, the provincial or superior of the Jesuits, having received some general hint of a conspiracy, seized an op- portunity to inculcate, at the table of Catesby, the obligation of submitting to the pressure of persecution, and of leaving the redress of wrongs to the justice of heaven. Faukes, having completed his arrangements in Flanders, returned to England in September; but 476 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1605. the parliament was again prorogued from October to the fifth of November. It is to these successive postponements that the failure of the plot must be attributed. None of the. conspirators, if we except Catesby, were rich ; and his resources being now exhausted, the necessity of having a large sum of money at his disposal against the day of the explosion, compelled him to trust his secret to two Catholic gentlemen of considerable opulence. The first was a young man of five and twenty, Sir Everard Digby, of Buckingham- shire. The second was Francis Tresham, of Northamptonshire. The plan of operations was next finally arranged. A list was made of all the peers and commoners whom it was thought de- sirable to save on account of their religion, or of their previous Plan of opera- opposition to the penal enactments, or for the favor tione arranged. which t ^ y j^ hitherto shown to the Catholics. It was resolved that each of these, if he were in London, should receive on the very morning a most urgent message, which might withdraw him to a distance from Westminster, and at so late an hour that the artifice should not be discovered till the blow had been struck. To G-uy Faukes was allotted the desperate office of firing the mine. A ship in the river had been provided at the expense of Tresham to convey him immediately to Flanders, where he was instructed to publish a manifesto in defence of the act, and to de- spatch letters invoking the aid of all the Catholic powers. Percy was to obtain possession of the young prince Charles, to take him, under pretext of greater security, to a carriage in waiting, and thence to conduct him to the general rendezvous of the conspira- tors. Catesby undertook to proclaim the heir apparent, and to issue a declaration abolishing several national grievances. It was agreed that a protector (his name was never suffered to transpire) should be appointed to exercise the royal authority during the nonage of the new sovereign. Tresham pleaded most earnestly that warning of the danger should be given to Lord Mounteagle, who had married his sister. Notice of the plot ^ ne proposal confirmed suspicions which Catesby Mounteagle L ° rd k ac * *" or some ^ me cnei 'ished; but he deemed it pru- dent to dissemble, and, after some objections, pre- 1605 A. D.] JAMES THE FIRST. 477 tended to acquiesce. In the course of a few days, Lord Mounteagle ordered a supper to be prepared, not at his residence in town, but at a house belonging to him at Hoxton — a circumstance so unusual that it excited much surprise in his family. While he sat at table, a let- ter was delivered to him by one of his pages, containing advice not to go to the opening of parliament. The king returned to Lon- don on the 31st of October. The next day the letter was laid before him; for Mounteagle had sent it to the secretary of state. He perused it repeatedly, and spent two hours in consultation with his ministers. This intelligence was communicated to the con- spirators, and a change was made in their former arrangements. Faukes undertook to keep guard within the cellar; Percy and Winter to superintend the operations in London ; Catesby and one John Wright departed the next day for the general rendezvous, which was in Warwickshire. Toward the evening [4th November, 1605] the lord chamberlain, whose duty it was to ascertain that the necessary preparations had been made for opening the session, visited the parliament-house, and in company with Lord Mounteagle entered the cellar. Casting around an apparently careless glance, he inquired by whom it was occupied ; and then fixing his eye upon Faukes, who was pre- sent under the designation of Percy's servant, observed that his master had laid in an abundant provision of fuel. This warning was lost on the determined mind of the conspirator. Though he saw and heard all that passed, he was so fixed on his ruthless pur- pose, that he resolved to remain to the last moment ; and having acquainted Percy with the circumstance, returned to his post, with a determination on the first appearance of danger to fire the mine, and perish in the company of his enemies. A little after midnight (the reader will observe that it was now the fifth of November, the day appointed for the commencement of the session) Faukes had occasion to open the The plot vaded the rights of the crown, intercepted the graces granted by the king to his Irish subjects, and solicited subscriptions in Ire- land to a petition for the total extirpation of the Protestant epis- copacy and of the Catholic worship. The disputes between Charles and his parliament continued, and at last the king adopted the bold but hazardous expedient of The king im- impeaching of high -treason the lord Kimbolton, members oTpS- Holies, Haslerig, Pym, Hampden, and Stroud, all liament. distinguished members of the country party. He charged them with having conspired to alienate from him the affections of his people, to excite disobedience in the army, to sub- vert the rights of parliament, and to extort the consent of the majority by the influence of mobs and terror; and with having, moreover, invited a foreign force into the kingdom from Scotland, and actually levied war against the sovereign. The king himself, attended by his guards, and a number of officers with their swords, proceeded to the house of commons. His purpose was to arrest the accused members ; but his secret had been betrayed, and the objects of his search had already left the house. The king, hav- ing stationed his attendants at the door, entered with his nephew, Charles, by his side. Having taken the chair, he looked around him, and, not seeing the persons whom he sought, inquired of the speaker if they were present. The speaker falling on his knees, replied that he was merely the organ of the house, and that he had neither ears to hear, nor tongue to speak, but as he was di- rected by it. The king, seating himself, said that in cases of treason there was no privilege ; that it was not his intention to offer violence, but to proceed against the accused by due course of law; that, if the birds had not flown, he would have taken them himself; as the case was, he expected from the loyalty of the house that they would send them to him, or he should have recourse to other expedients. He was heard in silence, and re- tired amid low but distinct murmurs of " Privilege, privilege." This unadvised and abortive attempt completed the degradation of the unfortunate monarch. It was equally condemned by his 1641 A. D.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 517 friends and enemies ; and it furnished the latter with the means of working on the passions of their adherents, and «■-,.., it- o The accused mem- ot exciting them to a state bordering upon irenzy. bers return in tri- The commons adjourned for a week; but during ump ' . this recess a permanent committee sat in the city to concert matters with their partisans, and to arrange a new triumph over the fallen authority of the sovereign. On the appointed day the five accused members proceeded by water to the house. They were escorted by two thousand armed mariners in boats, and by detachments of the train-bands with eight pieces of cannon on each bank of the river ; and were received on landing by four thousand horsemen from Buckinghamshire, who had come to assert the innocence, and to demand justice for the libel on the character of Hampden, their representative. The air resounded with shouts of joy and with military music \ and, as the procession passed by Whitehall, the populace indulged in the most unseemly vociferations against the misguided monarch. But Charles was no longer there. Distrusting the object, and aware of the power of the opponents, he had, on the preceding evening, fled with his family to Hampton Court. It now became evident that the hope of a reconciliation was at an end, and that both parties resolved to stake the issue of the contest on the sword. Aware that, by his irregular ..,•..,"• .* n -i t -i • Charles apologizes. entrance into the house ot commons, he had given the vantage-ground to his adversaries, Charles attempted to re- trace his steps by apologizing for his conduct, by promising to proceed against the five members by due course of law, by aban- doning the prosecution altogether, and proposing that they should accept a general pardon. But these concessions, instead of molli- fying, strengthened their obstinacy. They rejected every offer, and insisted that, to atone for so flagrant a breach of privilege, he should deliver up the names of his advisers. He scorned to return an answer. To probe, however, the sincerity of their de- clarations, he made to them a request that they should lay before him, in one view, a summary of all the enactments which they required, respecting his authority and revenue, their own privi- leges, the rights of the people, and the reformation of the church, with a promise that his answer should prove him one of the most easy and benevolent of monarchs. To such a proposal it would 44 518 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1041. have been impolitic to return a direct refusal. But they grasped at the opportunity to effect what they had long sought, and what they had previously demanded as a ground of confidence, that the government of the forts, and the command of the army and navy, should be intrusted to officers nominated by the two houses of parliament. The king was startled by this answer, and endea- vored to temporize. A long succession of declarations and answers served to occupy the attention of the public during several months. In this war of words, these appeals of the contending parties to the good sense of the people, the king had plainly the advantage over his adversaries. But the real object of Charles was, like that of his opponents, to prepare for war. He had, in February, sent his queen to Holland, under the pretence of conducting his daughter Mary to her husband, but for the purpose of soliciting aid from foreign powers, of raising money on the valuable jewels which she had carried with her, and of purchasing arms and ammuni- tion. In the mean time he gradually withdrew himself from the vicinity of the metropolis, first to Newmarket, then into the more northern counties, and at last fixed his residence in York. A body-guard was raised for him by the neighboring gentlemen, to form in due time the nucleus of a more numerous army. In Ireland, a national association was formed, and the mem- bers, in imitation of the Scottish Covenanters, bound themselves National associa- by a common oatn to maintain the free and public tion in Ireland. exercise of the Catholic worship, to bear true faith and allegiance to King Charles, and to defend him against all who should endeavor to subvert the royal prerogative, the power of parliament, or the just rights of the subject. They resolved never to lay down their arms till they had obtained an acknow- ledgment of the independence of the Irish on the English parlia- ment, the repeal of all degrading disqualifications on the ground of religion, the free exercise of the Catholic worship, the confirma- tion of toleration, and the exclusion of all but natives from civil and military offices within the kingdom. The Scots, they added in a petition to the king, whose grievances were certainly less numerous, and whose church had been less persecuted, had ap- pealed to the sword in defence of their religion and liberties; and their conduct had been ultimately approved of both by him 1642 A. D.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 519 and the parliament of England ; whence they inferred that what was commendable in Scotchmen could not, by impartial judges, be considered as blamable in Irishmen. In Ulster, the natives, looking on the planters as intruders and robbers, had stripped them of their property, and chased them from their homes, and in some instances had taken their lives. On the other hand, the military, acting by the orders of the council, executed, where they had the power, martial law on the insurgents, laying waste the country, and slaying the fugitives without distinction or mercy. As early as October 27, 1641, the English garrisons began to plunder the lands of the Irish in Ulster. In England, the two houses had already voted a levy of sixteen thousand men in opposition to the king, who intended to levy war against the parliament. On the other hand, the king was not idle. Numbers of the nobility, and gentry, and clergy, with the members of both universities, lent him money. New attempts at Negotiations were, however, again attempted. The negotiation, parliament demanded many matters restricting the prerogative ; and that Catholic peers should be deprived of their votes until they had conformed; and the children of Catholics be brought up in the Protestant faith. Charles replied that he was willing to concur in the forced education of Catholic children, to compel the Catholic peers to give their proxies to Protestants, and to abolish all innovations in religion ; but he could not consent to the rest of the demands. Charles, finding that the parliament had commenced to de- nounce his proclamations, resolved on hostile measures. Having sounded the disposition of the Yorkshire gentlemen, he summoned all his " loving subjects" north of the Trent, and within twenty miles to the south of that river, to meet him in arms at Notting- ham on the 22d of August, 1642. On that day, Roynl standard the royal standard, on which was a hand pointing unf uried. to a crown, with this motto, " Give to Caesar his due/' was car- ried by a guard of six hundred foot from the castle into a large field; the king followed with a retinue of two thousand men; and the inhabitants crowded around to hear the proclamation read by the herald-at-arms. This ceremony, called the raising of the standard, was deemed equivalent to a declaration of hos 520 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1642 tilities ; and thus was the country led into the most direful of national calamities — a civil war. From Nottingham, Charles despatched deputies to London, the bearers of a proposal that commissioners should be appointed on Both parties ap- b° tn sides, w ^ tn full powers to treat of an accom- peai to the sword. mo dation. The two houses, assuming a tone of conscious superiority, replied that they could receive no message from a prince who had raised his standard against his parliament. He next conjured them to think of the blood that would be shed, and to remember that it would lie at their door ; they retorted the charge ; he was the aggressor, and his would be the guilt. With this answer vanished every prospect of peace ; both parties appealed to the sword ; and, within a few weeks, the flames of civil war were lighted up in every part of the kingdom. There was one class of men on whose services the king might rely with confidence — the Catholics — who, alarmed by the fierce intolerance and the severe menaces of the parliament, saw that their own safety depended on the ascendency of the sovereign. But Charles hesitated to avail himself of this resource. His ad- versaries had allured the zealots to their party, by representing the king as the dupe of a popish faction, which labored to sub- vert the Protestant, and to establish on its ruins the popish wor- ship. While higher classes repaired with their dependants to the support of the king, the call of the parliament was cheerfully obeyed by the yeomanry in the country, and by the merchants and tradesmen in the towns. Both parties soon distinguished their adversaries by particular appellations. The royalists were denominated Cavaliers; and they on their part gave to their enemies the name of Roundheads, because they cropped their hair short. The command of the royal army was intrusted to the earl of Lindsey, of the parliamentary forces to the earl of Essex. Charles, having left Nottingham, proceeded to Shrewsbury, col- lecting reinforcements, and receiving voluntary contributions on his march. Halfway between Stafford and Wellington he halted the army, and placing himself in the centre, solemnly declared in the presence of Almighty God that he had no other design, that he felt no other wish, than to maintain the Protestant faith, to govern according to law, and to observe all the statutes enacted in parliament. Waller reduced Portsmouth, while Essex concen- 1642 A. DJ CHARLES THE FIRST. 521 trated his forces, amounting to fifteen thousand men, in the vicinity of Northampton. From Northampton he hastened to Worcester to oppose the advance of the royal army. At Nottingham the kino; could muster no more than six thou- sand men ; but he left Shrewsbury at the head of thrice that number. By a succession of skilful manoeuvres he The king march- contrived to elude the vigilance of the enemy; and tr&poiis. had advanced two days' march on the road to the metropolis before Essex became aware of his object. That general saw his error, and followed the king with expedition. His vanguard entered the village of Keynton on the same evening on which the royalists halted on Edgehill, only a few miles in advance. At midnight, Charles held a council of war, in which it was resolved to turn upon the pursuers, and to offer them battle. Early in the morn- ing the royal army was seen in position on the summit of a range of hills, which gave them a decided superiority in case of attack ; but Essex, whose artillery, with one-fourth of his men, was several miles in the rear, satisfied with having arrested the march of the enemy, quietly posted the different corps, as they arrived, on a rising ground in the Yale of the Red Horse, about half a mile in front of the village. About noon, the Cavaliers grew weary of inaction ; their importunity at last prevailed ; and, about two, the king discharged a cannon with his own hand as the signal of battle. The battle which followed was a very severe engagement. After some hours the firing ceased on both sides, and the adverse armies stood gazing at each other till the darkness induced Battle at K them to withdraw — the royalists to their first posi- tou - tion on the hills, and the parliamentarians to the village of Keyn- ton. Both armies claimed the honor, neither reaped the benefit, of victory. Essex, leaving the king to pursue his march, with- drew to Warwick, and thence to Coventry; Charles, having com- pelled the garrison of Banbury to surrender, turned aside to the city of Oxford. The two houses, though they assumed the laurels of victory, felt alarm at the proximity of the royalists, and ordered Essex to come to their protection. In the mean while the royal army, leaving Oxford, loitered — for what reason is unknown — in the vicinity of Reading, and permitted Essex to march without molestation by the more eastern road to the capital. Kingston, Acton, and Windsor were already garrisoned for the parliament; 2 h 44* 522 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1642. and the only open passage to London lay through the town of Brentford. Charles had reached Colnbrook in this direction, when he was met by commissioners, who prevailed on him to suspend his march. The conference lasted two days ; on the second of which Essex threw a brigade, consisting of three of his best regi- ments, into Brentford. Charles felt indignant at this proceeding. It was in his opinion a breach of faith ; and two days later, after an obstinate resistance on the part of the enemy, he gained posses- sion of the town, haying driven part of the garrison into the river, and taken fifteen pieces of cannon and five hundred men. The latter he ordered to be discharged, leaving it to their option either to enter among his followers or to promise on oath never more to bear arms against him. This action put an end to the projected treaty. The king's situation daily became more critical. His op- ponents had summoned forces from every quarter to London, and Essex found himself at the head of twenty-four thousand men. The two armies faced each other a whole day on Turnham Green ; but neither ventured to charge, and the king understanding tha^, the corps which defended the bridge at Kingston had been with- drawn, retreated first to Reading, and then to Oxford. The whole kingdom at this period exhibited a most melancholy spectacle. No man was suffered to remain neuter. The inter- The condition of C01irse between distant parts of the country was the nation. interrupted, and the operations of commerce were suspended. In Oxford and its vicinity, in the four northern counties, in Wales, Shropshire, and Worcestershire, the royalists triumphed without opposition; in the metropolis, and the adjoin- ing counties on the southern and eastern coast, the superiority of the parliament was equally decisive. But the nation soon got tired of civil war. Petitions for peace, though they were un- graciously received, continued to load the tables of both houses ; and, as the king himself had proposed a cessation of hostilities, prudence taught the most sanguine advocates for war to accede to the wishes of the people. A negotiation was opened at Ox- ford, but no pacific result took place. During the treaty every effort was made to recruit the parlia- mentary army : at its expiration, Essex invested Reading, and took that town. After several messages from the parliament, he removed from Reading and fixed his head-quarters at Tame. One 1642 A. D.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 523 night, Prince Rupert, making a long circuit, sur- T]ie death of prised Chinnor in the rear of the army, and Hampden, killed or captured the greater part of two regiments that lay in the town. In his retreat to Oxford he was compelled to turn on his pursuers at Chalgrove ) they charged with more courage than prudence, and were repulsed with considerable loss. It was in this action that the celebrated Hampden received the wound of which he died. The reputation which he had earned by his re- sistance to the payment of the ship-money had deservedly placed him at the head of the popular leaders, while his insinuating manner, the modesty of his pretensions, and the belief of his in- tegrity, gave to his opinions an irresistible weight. Measures were soon taken to recruit, to its full complement, the army under Essex j and an ordinance was passed to raise a separate force of ten thousand horse for the protection of the metropolis. Com- mittees were appointed to raise men and money in numerous other districts, and were invested with almost unlimited powers ) for the exercise of which in the service of the parliament, they were made responsible to no one but the parliament itself. Here, however, it is time to call the attention of the reader to the opening career of that extraordinary man, who, in the course of the next ten years, raised himself from the igno- ble pursuits of a grazier to the high dignity of lord protector of the three kingdoms. Oliver Cromwell was sprung from a younger branch of the Cromwells, a family of note and anti- quity in Huntingdonshire, and widely spread through that county and the whole of the Fen district. In the more early part of his life he fell into a state of profound and prolonged melancholy ; and it is plain from the few and disjointed documents which have come down to us, that his mental faculties were impaired. It was probably to withdraw him from scenes likely to cause the prolon- gation or recurrence of his malady, that he was advised to direct his attention to the pursuits of agriculture. He disposed by sale of his patrimonial property in Huntingdon, and took a large graz- ing farm in the neighborhood of the little town of St. Ives. This was an obscure, but tranquil and soothing occupation, which he did not quit till five years later, when he migrated to Ely, on the death of his maternal uncle, who had left to him by will the lu- crative situation of farmer cf the tithes and of churchlands be- 524 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1642. longing to the cathedral of that city. Those stirring events fol- lowed which led to the first civil war ; Cromwell's enthusiasm kindled, the time was come " to put himself forth in the cause of the Lord," and that cause he identified in his own mind with the cause of the country party in opposition to the sovereign and the church. The energy with which he entered into the controversies of the time attracted public notice, and the bur- gesses of Cambridge chose him for their representative in both the parliaments called by the king in 1640. It was not, however, before the year 1642, that he took his place among the leaders of his party. When the parliament selected officers to command in the new army under the earl of Essex, Cromwell received the commission of captain; within six months afterward he was raised to the higher rank of colonel, with permission to levy for himself a regiment of one thousand horse out of the trained bands in the Eastern association. To the sentiment of honor which ani- mated the cavaliers in the field, he resolved to oppose the energy which is inspired by religious enthusiasm. At the head of his Iron- sides, he by his activity and daring added new laurels to those which he had previously won; and from parliament, as a proof of confi- dence, he received the commission of lieutenant-general in 1643. In 1643, Charles invested Gloucester, the only place of note in the midland counties which admitted the authority of the par- The battle at liament, but was compelled to raise the siege. A Newbury. battle took place soon afterward, at Newbury, in which the king's cavalry appears to have been more than a match for that of the enemy; but it could make no impression on the forest of pikes presented by the infantry, the greater part of which con- sisted of the trained bands from the capital. The battle raged till late in the evening, and both armies passed the night in the field, but in the morning the king allowed Essex to march through Newbury to London ; and having ordered Prince Rupert to an- noy the rear, retired with his infantry to Oxford. Ever since the beginning of the troubles, a thorough understanding had existed between the chief of the Scottish Covenanters and the principal of the English reformers. Their views were similar; their objects the same. The English parliament sent commission- ers to Scotland, whose arrival was celebrated as a day of na- tional triumph ; and the letters which they delivered were read 1643 A. D.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 525 with shouts of exultation and tears of joy. A proclamation was issued summoning all the lieges in Scotland between the ages of sixteen and sixty to appear in arms ; and the chief command of the forces was, at the request of the parliament, The parIialnent accepted by Leslie, the veteran general of the Co- ^ththeCoTenSI venanters in the last war. This formidable league, era. J this union cemented by interest and fanaticism, struck alarm into' the breasts of the royalists. But Charles stood undismayed, and prepared to meet this additional evil. "With this view he had la- bored to secure the obedience of the English army in Ireland against the adherents and emissaries of the parliament. The Catholics, by the establishment of a federative government, had consolidated their power, and given an uniform direction to their efforts. It was the care of their leaders to copy the example given by the Scots during the successful war of the Covenant. Like them they professed a sincere attachment to the person, a profound respect for the legitimate authority of the monarch; but like them they claimed the right of resisting oppression, and of employing force in defence of their religion and liberties. At their request, and in imitation of the general assembly of the Scottish kirk, a synod of Catholic prelates and divines was con- vened at Kilkenny ; a statement of the grievances which led the insurgents to take up arms was placed before them ; and they decided that the grounds were sufficient, and the war was lawful, provided it were not conducted through motives of personal in- terest or hatred, nor disgraced by acts of unnecessary cruelty. An oath and covenant was ordered to be taken, binding the sub- scribers to protect, at the risk of their lives and fortunes, the freedom of the Catholic worship, the person, heirs, and rights of the sovereign, and the lawful immunities and liberties of the kingdom of Ireland, against all usurpers and invaders whomso- ever. A day was then appointed for a national assembly, which, without the name, assumed the form and exercised the rights of a parliament. Experience had proved to Charles that the very name of par- liament possessed a powerful influence over the minds of the lower classes in favor of his adversaries. To dis- Charles sum- pel the charm, he resolved to oppose the loyal ment. members to those who remained at Westminster, and summoned 526 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1644, by proclamation both bouses to meet him at Oxford on the twen« ty-second of January in tbe succeeding year. Forty-three peers and one hundred and eighteen commoners obeyed; the usual forms of parliament were observed, and the king opened the session with a gracious speech, in which he deplored the calami- ties of the kingdom, desired them to bear witness to his pacific disposition, and promised them all the freedom and privileges be- longing to such assemblies. Negotiations were attempted, but without success. In various counties actions were fought, of which the success was various and the result unimportant. Every eye fixed itself on the two grand armies in the vicinity of Oxford and London. The parliament professed a resolution to stake the fortune of the cause on one great and decisive battle. The king's principal resource was in the courage and activity of Prince Rupert. He ordered that commander to collect all the force in his power, to hasten into Yorkshire and fight the enemy. He did so ; and Battle of Mars- on ^d July, 1644, was fought the battle of Mars- ton Moor. £ 0n ]Vl oor# l n the parliamentary army, the English and the Scots, who had lately crossed the Tweed, were inter- mixed, to preclude all occasion of jealousy or dispute. Rupert, at the head of the royal cavalry on the right, charged with his usual impetuosity, and with the usual result. He bore down all before him, but continued the chase for some miles, and thus, by his absence from the field, suffered the victory to slip out of his hands. At the same time the royal infantry, under Goring, Lu- cas, and Porter, had charged their opponents with equal intrepi- dity and equal success. The line of the confederates was pierced in several points; and their generals, Manchester, Leven, and Fairfax, convinced that the day was lost, fled in different direc- tions. By their flight the chief command devolved upon Crom- well, who improved the opportunity to win for himself the laurels of victory. With his Ironsides and the Scottish horse he had driven the royal cavalry, under the earl of Newcastle, from their position on the left. Ordering a few squadrons to observe and harass the fugitives, he wheeled round on the flank of the royal infantry, and found them in separate bodies, and in disorder, in- dulging in the confidence and license of victory. It was not long, indeed, before the royal cavalry, amounting to three thou- sand men, made their appearance returning from the pursuit. Rut 1645 A. D.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 527 the aspect of the field struck dismay into the heart of Rupert. His thoughtless impetuosity was now exchanged for an excess of caution; and after a few skirmishes he withdrew. Cromwell spent the night on the spot ; but it was to him a night of sus- pense and anxiety. His troopers were exhausted with the fatigue of the day ; the infantry was dispersed, and without orders ; and he expected every moment a nocturnal attack from Rupert, who had it in his power to collect a sufficient force from the several corps of royalists which had suffered little in the battle. But the morning brought him the pleasing intelligence that the prince had hastened by a circuitous route to York. He soon, however, returned to his former command in the western counties ; and York, abandoned to its fate, opened its gates to the enemy, on condition that the citizens should not be molested. In the South of England, Charles obtained some advantages; but the " parliamentary men" continued strong. They wasted, however, much time in personal disputes. The Catholics en- dured much persecution from the parliament, but it affected pro- perty more than life or limb. Episcopacy was at this time abolished by the parliamentarians. In January, 1645, Arch- bishop Laud, who had been a considerable time in prison, was attainted and executed. An attempt at negotiations soon after- ward took place between the king and parliament, but without success. War was resumed, and Montrose, acting for the king, gained some advantage in Scotland. England, however, was the real arena on which the conflict was to be decided, and in England the king soon found himself unable to cope with his enemies.' He still possessed one-third of the kingdom. From Oxford he extended his sway almost with- out interruption to the extremity of Cornwall ; North and South Wales, with the exception of the castles of Pembroke and Mont- gomery, acknowledged his authority; and the royal standard was still unfurled in several towns in the midland counties. But his army, under the nominal command of the prince of Wales, and the real command of Prince Rupert, was frittered away in a multitude of petty garrisons, and languished in a state of the most alarming insubordination. Their excesses provoked new associations in the counties of Wilts, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, 528 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A D. 1645. The association an< * Worcester, known by the denomination oi of Clubmen. Clubmen, whose primary object was the protection of private property, and the infliction of summary vengeance on the depredators belonging to either army. But, though they professed to observe the strictest neutrality between the contend- ing parties, their meetings excited a well-founded jealousy on the part of the parliamentary leaders ; who, the moment it could be done without danger, pronounced such associations illegal, and ordered them to be suppressed by military force. Charles took the field again, in May, 1645. He marched from Oxford at the head of ten thousand men, of whom more than one- half were cavalry ; the siege of Chester was raised at the sole report of his approach ; and Leicester, an important post in possession of the parliament, was taken by storm on the first assault. Fairfax had appeared with his army before Oxford, where he expected to be admitted by a party within the walls ; but the intrigue failed, and he received orders to proceed in search of the king. Ou the evening of the seventh day his van overtook the rear of the royalists between Daventry and Harborough. Fairfax, the parliamentary general, and his officers, hailed with joy the prospect of a battle. Charles, on the contrary, had sufficient reason to decline an engagement. His numbers had been diminished by the necessity of leaving a strong garrison in Leicester, and several reinforcements were still on their march to join the royal standard. But in the presence of the Roundheads, the Cavaliers never listened to the suggestions of prudence. Early in the morning, the royal army formed in line about a mile south of Harborough. Till eight, they awaited with patience the expected charge of the enemy ; but Fairfax re- fused to move from his strong position near Naseby, and the king, yielding to the importunity of his officers, gave the word to advance. Prince Rupert commanded on the right. The enemy fled before him ; six pieces of cannon were taken, and Ireton, the general of the parliamentary horse, was wounded, and for some time a prisoner in the hands of the victors. But the lessons of experience had been thrown away upon Rupert. He urged the pursuit with his characteristic impetuosity, and, as at Marston Moor, by wandering from the field, suffered the victory to be won by the masterly conduct of Oliver Cromwell. In this battle, 1646 A. D.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 529 fought near the village of Naseby, the king lost more than three thousand men, nine thousand stand of arms, his park of artillery, the baggage of the army, and with it his own cabinet, containing private papers of the first importance. Out of these the parlia- ment made a collection, which was published, with remarks to prove to the nation the falsehoods of Charles, and the justice of the war. After the battle of Naseby, the campaign presented little more than the last and feeble struggles of an expiring party. Charles himself bore his misfortunes with an air of mag- The struggles of nanimity, which was characterized as obstinacy by an expiring party, the desponding minds of his followers. From Leicester he re- treated to Hereford ; from Hereford to Ragland Castle, the seat of the loyal marquis of Worcester ; and thence to Cardiff, that he might more readily communicate with Prince Rupert at Bristol. Each day brought him a repetition of the most melancholy intel- ligence. From Cardiff he hastily crossed the kingdom to Newark. Learning that the Scottish cavalry were in pursuit, he left Newark, burst into the associated counties, ravaged the lands of his ene- mies, took the town of Huntingdon, and at last reached in safety his court at Oxford. His generals in Scotland gained some ad- vantages at this time, and the Scottish cavalry, which, in accord- ance with treaty, had already advanced to Nottingham, marched back to the Tweed to protect their own country. The king on the third day left Oxford with five thousand men, to drive the infantry from the siege of Hereford. They did not wait his arrival, and he entered the city amid the joyful acclamations of the inhabitants. But Charles was not long suffered to enjoy his triumph. Full of confidence, he had marched from Hereford to the relief of Bristol j but at Ragland Castle learned that it was already in possession of the enemy. While the king mourned over the loss of Bristol, he received disastrous intelligence from Scotland. His troops met with severe reverses, and the prisoners were put to death in cold blood ; not the men only, but also every woman and child found near them. Nor was this sacrifice suffi- cient. Forty females, who had made their escape, inhumanity of and had been secured by the country people, were the victors - a few days later delivered up to the victors, who, in obedience to the decision of the kirk, put them to death by throwing them 45 530 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1646. from the bridge near Linlithgow into the river Avon. After- ward, the Scottish parliament approved of their barbarities, on the pretence that the victims were " papists from Ireland/ 7 In the Highlands, Montrose raised the royal standard, and, with a small force and diminished reputation, continued to bid defiance to his enemies. At length, in obedience to repeated messages from the king, he dismissed his followers, and reluctantly with- drew to the continent. Oxford during the war had been rendered one of the strongest fortresses in the kingdom. With a garrison of five thousand men, and a plentiful supply of stores and provisions, Charles might have protracted his fate for several months ; yet, the re- sult of a siege must have been his captivity. He possessed no army; he had no prospect of assistance from without; and within, famine would in the end compel him to surrender. The march of Fairfax with the advanced guard of his army toward Andover, admonished him that it was time to quit the city of Oxford. He left Oxford at midnight, disguised as a servant, fol- lowing his supposed master Ashburnham, who rode before in company with Hudson, a clergyman, well acquainted with the country. They passed through Henley and Brentford to Har- row; but the time which was spent on the road proved either that Charles had hitherto formed no plan in his own mind, or that he lingered with the hope of some communication from his partisans in the metropolis. At last he turned in the direction of St. Alban's; and, avoiding that town, hastened through by- ways to Harborough. Crossing by Stamford, he rested at Down- ham, and spent two or three days in inquiries for a ship which might convey him to Newcastle or Scotland. Not having suc- Charies finally ceeded, he surrendered at Kelham to the Scottish surrenders to the . - , m , , ,, Scottish army. army, on a promise ot saiety. The moment the place of the king's retreat was ascertained, both Presbyterians and Independents united in condemning the perfidy of their northern allies. Menaces of immediate hostilities were heard. Poyntz jeceived orders to watch the motions of the Scots with five thousand horse ; and it was resolved that Fairfax should follow with the remainder of the army. But the Scottish leaders, anxious to avoid a rupture, and yet unwilling to surrender the royal prize, broke up their camp before Newark, and retired with 1647 A. D.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 531 precipitation to Newcastle. A committee assembled to balance the accounts between the nations ; many charges on both sides were disputed and disallowed; and at last the Scots agreed to accept four hundred thousand pounds in lieu of all demands, of which one-half should be paid before they left England, the other after their arrival in Scotland. The first payment of one hundred thousand pounds was made at Northallerton : the Scots, according to agreement, evacuated Newcastle ; and the parliamentary com- missioners from London, without any other ceremony, took charge of the royal person. Four days later, the Scots received the second sum of one hundred thousand pounds; their army re- passed the border-line between the two kingdoms ; and the cap- tive monarch, under a strong guard, but with every demonstra- tion of respect, was conducted to prison at Holmby. The king during his captivity at Holmby divided his time be- tween his studies and amusements. Three months passed away without any official communication from the two houses. The king's patience was exhausted; and he addressed them by a let- ter, in which he said that on full consideration there were many things he would cheerfully concede. By the lords the royal letter was favorably received, and they resolved by a majority of thirteen to nine that the king should be removed from Holmby to Oatlands; but the commons neglected to notice the subject. To disband the army was now become the main object of the Presbyterian leaders ; but they disguised their real motives under the pretence of the national benefit. The royalists The Presbyterian were humbled in the dust; the Scots had de- disband the army, parted ; and they said that it was time to relieve the country from the charge of supporting a multitude of men in arms with- out any ostensible purpose. The Independents resolved to op- pose their adversaries with their own weapons, and to intimidate those whom they were unable to convince. Suddenly, at their secret instigation, the army, rising from its cantonments in the neighborhood of Nottingham, approached the metropolis, and selected quarters in the county of Essex. The person of the king was soon afterward taken possession of by the army. This design of seizing the person of the king was attributed to the contrivance of Cromwell. The day after the abduction of the king from Holmby, the army rendezvoused at Newmarket, and 532 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1647. entered into a solemn engagement, stating that, whereas several officers had been called in question for advocating the cause of the military, they had chosen certain men out of each company, who then chose two or more out of themselves, to act in the name and behalf of the whole soldiery of their respective regiments; and that they did now unanimously declare and promise that the army should not disband till their grievances had been redressed. The chiefs, however, who now ruled at Westminster, were not the men to surrender without a struggle. They submitted, in- deed, to pass a few ordinances calculated to give satisfaction, but these were combined with others which displayed a fixed determi- nation not to succumb to the dictates of a mutinous soldiery. Every day the contest assumed a more threatening aspect. After a short time the army took possession of London. Charles was, in August, 1647, transferred to the palace of Hampton Court. There he was suffered to enjoy the company of his children, whenever he pleased to command their attend- ance, and the pleasure of hunting, on his promise not to attempt an escape ; all persons whom he was content to see, found ready admission to his presence ; and, what he prized above all other concessions, he was furnished with the opportunity of correspond- ing freely and safely with the queen at Paris. At the same time the two houses, at the requisition of the Scottish commissioners, submitted propositions once more to the royal consideration ; but the negotiations were soon discontinued. Charles surrendered Charles escapes his parole, and in November made his escape to to the Isle of , i. „ TTT . . „. i tt Wight. the Isle ot Wight. The governor, named Ham- mond, received him in a friendly manner, and placed him in Carisbrook Castle. Charles having refused to assent to some bills proposed in par- liament, and feeling aware of the consequences of his refusal, resolved to anticipate the vengeance of the parliament by making his escape to a ship which had been sent by the queen, and had been waiting for him several days in Southampton Water ; but he was prevented by the vigilance of Hammond, who closed the gates on the departure of the commissioners, doubled the guards, confined the royal captive to his chamber, and dismissed the greater part of his attendants. An attempt to raise in his favor the inhabitants of the island was instantly suppressed, and the 1647 A. D.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 533 houses resolved that they would receive no additional message from the king ; that they would send no address or application to him ; that if any other person did so without leave, he should be subject to the penalties of high-treason. In the mean while an extraordinary ferment seemed to agitate the whole mass of the population. With the exception of the army, every class of men was dissatisfied. Four- Discontent ^^ fifths of the nation began to wish for the re-estab- the p^p 16 - lishment of the throne. The king appealed to the people through the agency of the press. The impression made by him called for an answer, and a long and labored vindication of the proceedings of the house of commons was published, to which several answers, eloquently and convincingly written, were circulated in many parts of the country. But, while the royal cause made rapid progress among the people, in the army itself the principles of the " Levellers' ' (a fanatic sect) had been embraced by the ma- jority of the privates, and had made several converts among the officers. They insisted that the king was answerable for the blood which had been shed; and that it was the duty of the repre- sentatives of the nation to call him to justice for the crime, and, in order to prevent the recurrence of similar mischiefs, to provide for the liberties of all, by founding an equal commonwealth on the general consent. Cromwell invited the patrons of this doc- trine to meet at his house the grandees (so they were called) of the parliament and army; but they took care not to commit themselves by too explicit an avowal before they could see their way plainly before them. Risings took place in favor of Charles in several places, and an army from Scotland under the duke of Hamilton crossed the borders. This army was defeated at Pres- ton by Cromwell. The king's adherents in the northern counties had already surprised Berwick and Carlisle; and, to facilitate his entry, had for two months awaited with impatience his arrival. Hamilton, though possessed of personal courage, was diffident of his own powers, and resigned himself to the guidance of men who sacrificed the interests of the service to their private jealousies and feuds. At this time the prince of Wales had been more than six weeks in the Downs. Having heard that the fleet had revolted, he repaired to the Hague, and taking upon himself the command, 45* 534 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1647. m hastened with nineteen sail to the English coast. The prince of f? Wales sails to the Had he appeared before the Isle of Wight, there can be little doubt that Charles would have recovered his liberty; but the council, with the prince, decided that it was more for the royal interest to sail to the mouth of the river, where they long continued to solicit by letters the wavering disposition of the parliament and the city. While Hamilton advanced, there seemed a prospect of success ; the destruction of his army extin- guished their hopes. The king, by a private message, suggested that before their departure from the coast, they should free him from his captivity. But the mariners proved that they were the masters. They demanded to fight the hostile fleet under the earl of Warwick, who studiously avoided an engagement, that he might be joined by a squadron from Portsmouth. During two days the royalists offered him battle j by different manoeuvres he eluded their attempts ; and on the third day, the want of provi- sions compelled the prince to steer for the coast of Holland, with- out paying attention to the request of his royal father. It is now time to revert to the subject of the proposed treaty with the king. Fifteen commissioners, five lords and ten com- moners, were appointed to conduct the negotiation. At length they arrived; Charles repaired from his prison in Carisbrook Castle to the neighboring town of Newport ; but no practical re- sult took place. It had long, however, been the conviction of the officers of the army that the life of the king was incompatible Preparations for with their safety. If he were restored, they would the trial of the - . , , J - . < . ' 1- , king. become the objects or his royal vengeance; it he were detained in prison, the public tranquillity would be dis- turbed by a succession of plots in his favor. In private assassi- nation there was something base and cowardly, from which the majority revolted; but to bring him to public justice was to act openly and boldly; it was to proclaim their confidence in the goodness of their cause ; to give to the world a splendid proof of the sovereignty of the people and of the responsibility of kings. When the motion was made in the commons, a few ventured to oppose it; not so much with the hope of saving the life of Charles, as for the purpose of transferring the odium of his death on its real authors. But their opponents were clamorous, obsti- nate, and menacing. The opposition was silenced ; and a com- 1648 A. D.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 535 mittee of thirty-eight members was appointed to receive informa- tion, and to devise the most eligible manner of proceeding. At the recommendation of this committee, the house passed a vote declaratory of the law, that it was high-treason in the king of England, for the time being, to levy war against the parliament and kingdom of England; and this was followed up with an ordinance erecting a high court of justice to try the question of fact, whether Charles Stuart, king of England, had or had not been guilty of the treason described in the preceding vote. The lords would not concur in the proceedings, and the act for the trial of the king was passed by the authority of the commons only. Cromwell continued to act his accustomed part. Whenever he rose in the house it was to recommend moderation, to express the doubts which agitated his mind, to protest that if he assented to harsh and ungracious measures, he did it with reluctance, and solely in obedience to the will of the Almighty. On the 18th December, 1648, the king in anticipation of his subsequent trial, was removed to the palace of St. James. The princes of Europe looked with cold indifference on indifference of his fate. The king of Spain, during the whole Europe™ 10 contest, had maintained a friendly correspondence with the par- liament. Frederic III., king of Denmark, though he was his cousin-german, made no effort to save his life; and Henrietta could obtain for him no interposition from France, where the in- fant king had been driven from his capital by civil dissension, and she herself depended for subsistence on the charity of the Cardinal de Retz, the leader of the Fronde. The Scottish par- liament, indeed, made a feeble effort in his favor. The commis- sioners subscribed a protest against the proceedings of the com- mons, by whom it was never answered; and argued the case with Cromwell, who referred them to the covenant, and maintained that if it was their duty to punish the malignants in general, it was still more so to punish him who was the chief of the malig- nants. As the day of trial approached, Charles resigned the hopes which he had hitherto indulged ; and his removal to Whitehall admonished him to prepare for that important Thecommi.«sion- scene on which he was soon to appear. Without meet? try the 536 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1649. information or advice, he could only resolve to maintain the port and dignity of a king, to refuse the authority of his judges, and to commit no act unworthy of his exalted rank and that of his ancestors. On the 20th of January, 1649, the commissioners appointed by the act assembled in the painted chamber, and pro- ceeded in state to the upper end of Westminster Hall. A chair of crimson velvet had been placed for the lord president, John Bradshaw, serjeant-at-law; the others, to the number of sixty-six, ranged themselves on either side, on benches covered with scarlet; at the feet of the president sat two clerks at a table, on which lay the sword and the mace ; and directly opposite stood a chair intended for the king. After the preliminary formalities of read- ing the commission, and calling over the members, Bradshaw ordered the prisoner to be introduced. Charles was received at the door by the serjeant-at-arms, and conducted by him within the bar. His step was firm, his coun- The reply of tenance erect and unmoved. He did not uncover ; charges. but first seated himself, then rose, and surveyed the court with an air of superiority, which abashed and irritated his enemies. While the clerk read the charge, he appeared to listen with indifference ; but a smile of contempt was seen to quiver on his lips at the passage which described him as a ". tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public and implacable enemy to the com- monwealth of England." At the conclusion, Bradshaw called on him to answer ; but he demanded by what lawful authority he had been brought thither. He was king of England ; he ac- knowledged no superior upon earth; and the crown which he had received from his ancestors, he would transmit, unimpaired by any act of his, to his posterity. He would never acknowledge an usurped authority. It was a duty imposed upon him by the Almighty to disown every lawless power that invaded either the rights of the crown or the liberties of the subject. Bradshaw, after the trial had proceeded some days, animad- verted on the principal events of Charles's reign. The meek spirit of the prisoner was roused ; he made an attempt to speak, He is sentenced ^ ut was immediately silenced with the remark, to be beheaded. that the time for his defence was passed. The charge was again read, and was followed by the judgment, " that the court, being satisfied in conscience that he, the said Charles 1649 A. D.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 537 Stuart, was guilty of the crimes of which he had been accused, did adjudge him as a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy to the good people of the nation, to be put to death by severing his head from his body." The king heard it in silence, some- times smiling with contempt, sometimes raising his eyes to heaven, as if he appealed from the malice of men to the justice of the Almighty. At the conclusion, the commissioners rose in a body to testify their assent, and Charles made a last and more earnest effort to speak j but Bradshaw ordered him to be removed, and the guards hurried him out of the hall. During this trial a strong military force had been kept under arms to suppress any demonstration of popular feeling in favor of the king. On the first day, when the name of Manifestations Fairfax as one of the commissioners was called, a ia his faTOr - female voice cried from the gallery, " He has more wit than to be here." On another occasion, when Bradshaw attributed the charge against the king to the consistent voice of the people of England, the same female voice exclaimed, "No, not one-tenth of the people." A faint murmur of approbation followed, but was instantly suppressed by the military. The speaker was re- cognised to be Lady Fairfax, the wife of the commander-in-chief; and these affronts, probably on that account, were suffered to pass unnoticed. When Coke, the solicitor-general, opened the pleadings, the king gently tapped him on the shoulder with his cane, crying, "Hold, hold." At the same moment the silver head of the cane fell off, and rolled on the floor. It was an accident which might have happened at any time; but in this superstitious age it could not fail to be taken for an omen. Both his friends and enemies interpreted it as a presage of his approaching decapitation. On one day, as the king entered the court, he heard behind him the cry of " Justice, justice j" on another, as he passed be- tween two lines of soldiers, the word " execution" was repeatedly sounded in his ears. He bore these affronts with patience, and on his return said to Herbert, "I am well, assured that the soldiers bear me no malice. The cry was suggested by their of- ficers, for whom they would do the like if there were occasion." On his return from the hall, men and women crowded behind the guards, and called aloud, " God preserve your majesty." But 21 538 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1649. one of the soldiers venturing to say, " God bless you, sir/' re- ceived a stroke on the head from an officer with his cane. " Truly," observed the king, u I think the punishment exceeded the offence. " By his conduct during these proceedings, Charles had exalted his character even in the estimation of his enemies : he had now The king pre- to prepare himself for a still more trying scene ; pares for death. ^o nerve his mind against the terrors of a public and ignominious death. But he was no longer the man he had been before the civil war. Affliction had chastened his mind; he had learned from experience to submit to the visitations of Providence ; and he sought and found strength and relief in the consolations of religion. The next day, the Sunday, was spent by him at St. James's, and by the commissioners at Whitehall. They observed a fast, preached on the judgments of God, and prayed for a blessing on the commonwealth. He devoted his time to devotional exercises in the company of Herbert and of Dr. Juxon, bishop of London, who, at the request of Hugh Peters, (and it should be recorded to the honor of that fanatical preacher,) had been permitted to attend the monarch. His nephew, the prince elector, the duke of Richmond, the marquess of Hertford, and several other noblemen, came to the door of his bed-chamber to pay their last respects to their sovereign ; but they were told in his name that he thanked them for their attach- ment, and desired their prayers ; that the shortness of his time admonished him to think of another world ; and that the only moments which he could spare must be given to his children. These were two, the princess Elizabeth and the duke of Glouces- ter; the former wept for her father's fate; the latter, too young to understand the cause, joined his tears through sympathy. Charles placed them on his knees, gave them such advice as was adapted to their years, and seemed to derive pleasure from the pertinency of their answers. In conclusion, he divided a few jewels between them, kissed them, gave them his blessing, and hastily retired to his devotions. On the last night of his life he slept soundly about four hours, and early in the morning awakened Herbert, who lay on a pallet by his bedside. " This," he said, " is my second marriage-day. I would be as trim as may be; for before night I hope to be 1G49A.D.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 539 espoused to my blessed Jesus." lie then pointed out the clothes which he meant to wear, and ordered two shirts, on account of the severity of the weather: "For," he observed, "were I to shake through' cold, my enemies would attribute it to fear. I would have no such imputation. I fear not death. Death is not terrible to me. I bless my God I am prepared." The king spejit an hour in privacy with the bishop; Herbert was afterward admitted; and about ten o'clock, Colonel Hacker announced that it was time to proceed to White- H e j S conducted hall. He obeyed, was conducted on foot between to ™tehaii. two detachments of military across the park, and received per- mission to repose himself in his former bedchamber. About two o'clock, the king proceeded through the long gallery, lined on each side with soldiers, who, far from insulting the fallen monarch, appeared by their sorrowful looks to sympathize with his fate. At the end, an aperture had been made in the wall, through which he stepped at once upon the scaffold. It was hung with black; at the further end were seen the two execu- tioners, the block, and the axe ; below appeared, in arms, several regiments of horse and foot; and beyond, as far as the eye was permitted to reach, waved a dense and countless crowd of spec- tators. The king stood collected and undismayed amid the ap- paratus of death. There was in his countenance that cheerful intrepidity, in his demeanor that dignified calmness, which had characterized, in the hall of Fotheringay, his royal grandmother, Mary Stuart. It was his wish to address the people; but they were kept beyond the reach of his voice by the swords of the military; and, therefore, confining his discourse to the few per- sons standing with him on the scaffold, he took, he said, that op- portunity of denying, in the presence of his God, the crimes of which he had been accused. Being ready, he bent his neck on the block, and after a short pause, stretched out his hands as a signal. At that instant the axe descended; the head rolled from the body; TI is execution. and a deep groan burst from the multitude of the Rcflections - spectators. But they had no leisure to testify their feelings; two troops of horse dispersed them in different directions. Such was the end of the unfortunate Charles Stuart: an awful lesson to the possessors of royalty, to watch the growth of publiG 540 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1649 opinion, and to moderate their pretensions in conformity with the reasonable desires of their subjects. Had he lived at a more early period, when the sense of wrong was quickly subdued by the habit of submission, his reign would probably have been marked with fewer violations of the national liberties. It was resistance that made him a tyrant. The spirit of the people re- fused to yield to the encroachments of authority^ and one act of oppression placed him under the necessity of committing another, till he had revived and enforced all those odious prerogatives, which, though usually claimed, were but sparingly exercised by his predecessors. For some years his efforts seemed successful; but the Scottish insurrection revealed the delusion; he had parted with the real authority of a king, when he forfeited the confidence and affection of his subjects. But while we blame the illegal measures of Charles, we ought not to screen from censure the subsequent conduct of his princi- His opponents pal opponents. From the moment that war seemed notto be screened, inevitable, they acted as if they thought them- selves absolved from all obligations of honor and honesty. They never ceased to inflame the passions of the people by misrepre- sentation and calumny; they exercised a power far more arbitrary and formidable than had ever been claimed by the king; they punished summarily, on mere suspicion, and without attention to the forms of law; and, by their committees, they established in every county a knot of petty tyrants, who disposed at will of the liberty and property of the inhabitants. Such anomalies may, perhaps, be inseparable from the jealousies, the resentments, and the heart-burnings which are engendered in civil commotions; but certain it is that right and justice had seldom been more wan- tonly outraged than they were by those who professed to have drawn the sword in the defence of right and justice. Neither should the death of Charles be attributed to the vengeance of the people. They, for the most part, declared themselves satisfied with their victory; they sought not the blood of the captive monarch; they were even willing to replace him on the throne, under those limitations which they deemed necessary for the preservation of their rights. The men who hurried him to the scaffold were a small faction of bold and ambitious spirits, who had the address to guide the passions and fanaticism of their fol- 1649 A. D.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 541 lowers, and were enabled through thern to control the real senti- ments of the nation. But so it always happens in revolutions : the most violent put themselves forward; their vigilance and ac- tivity seem to multiply their number; and the daring of the few wins the ascendency over the indolence or the pusillanimity of the many. CHAPTER XXXIV. Council of State appointed — Charles II. proclaimed in Scotland — Success of Cromwell in Ireland — Charles lands in Scotland — Battle at Dunbar — Battle of Worcester — 'The Escape, and Adventures of Charles — Reduction of Ireland and Scotland — Cromwell dissolves the Long Parliament, and expels its mem- bers — Calls a new Parliament — Makes himself Protector — Aspires to the title of King — His Death, and Character — His son Richard proclaimed Pro- tector — He resigns the office — From A. D. 1649 to 1660. The moment the head of the royal victim fell on the scaffold at Whitehall, a proclamation was read in Cheapside, declaring it treason to give to any person the title of king without the autho- rity of parliament; and at the same time was published the vote of the 4th of January, that the supreme authority in the nation resided in the representatives of the people. The peers, though aware of their approaching fate, continued to sit; but, after a pause of a few days, the commons resolved, first, that the house of lords, and, next, that the office of king, ought to be abolished. The next measure was the appointment, by the a council of commons, of a council of state, to consist of forty- state a PP° inted - one members, with powers limited in duration to twelve months. But, at the very outset, a schism appeared among the new councillors. The oath required of them by the parliament contained an approval of the king's trial, of a vote against the 46 542 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. . [A. D. 1649 Scots and their English associates, and of the abolition of mo- narchy and of the house of lords. By Cromwell and eighteen others it was taken cheerfully, and without comment; by the re- maining twenty-two, with Fairfax at their head, it was firmly, but respectfully, refused. Cromwell and his friends had the wisdom to yield; the retrospective clauses were expunged, and in their place was substituted a general promise of adhesion to the par- liament. There was much in the internal state of the country to awaken apprehension in the breasts of Cromwell and his friends. Throughout the kingdom the lower classes loudly complained of the burden of taxation : in several parts they suffered under the pressure of penury and famine. But that which chiefly created alarm was the progress made among the military by the " Level- lers," men of consistent principles and uncompromising conduct, under the guidance of Colonel John Lilburne, an officer distin- guished by his talents and his eloquence. He wrote a book against Cromwell and his partisans: by the parliament it was voted a seditious and traitorous libel, and the author was com- mitted, by order of the council, to close custody in the Tower. It had been determined to send to Ireland a division of twelve thousand men ; and the regiments to be employed were selected by ballot, apparently in the fairest manner. The men, however, avowed a resolution not to march. It was not, they said, that they refused the service; but they believed the expedition to be a mere artifice to send the discontented out of the kingdom. When the Scottish parliament received the news of the king's execution, the chancellor, attended by the members, proceeded Scotland pro- to the cross in Edinburgh, and proclaimed Charles, claims Charles, son . , h , . . _ „ . , of the late king, the son ot the deceased prince, king ot fecotland, England, France, and Ireland. But to this proclamation was appended a provision, that the young prince, before he could enter on the exercise of the royal authority, should satisfy the the parliament of his adhesion both to the national covenant of Scotland, and to the solemn league and covenant between the two kingdoms. The earl of Cassilis, with four new commission- ers, was appointed to proceed to Holland, where Charles, under the protection of his brother-in-law, the prince of Orange, had resided since the death of his father. His court consisted of a few individuals whom that monarch had placed around him, and 1650 A. D.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 543 whom lie now swore of his privy council. He was perplexed by the conflicting opinions of several advisers. The royal interest was predominant in Ireland. The fleet under Prince Rupert rode triumphant oif the coast; the parlia- mentary commanders, Jones in Dublin, Monk in Belfast, and Coote in Londonderry, were almost confined within the limits of their respective garrisons; and Inchiquin in Munster, the Scot- tish regiments in Ulster, and the great body of the Catholics adhering to the supreme council, had proclaimed the king, and acknowledged the authority of his lieutenant. To the leaders in London, the danger of losing Ireland became a Cromwell sent source of the most perplexing solicitude, and the to reduce Ireland - office of lord lieutenant was conferred on Cromwell. Out of the standing army of forty-five thousand men, with whose aid Eng- land was now governed, he demanded a force of twelve thousand veterans, with a plentiful supply of provisions and military stores, and the round sum of one hundred thousand pounds in ready money. On the day of his departure, his friends assembled at Whitehall, and three ministers solemnly invoked the blessing of God on the arms of his " saints " He sailed from Milford with a single division; his son-in-law, Ireton, followed with the remainder of the army, and a fortnight was allowed to the sol- diers to refresh themselves after their voyage. The campaign was opened with the siege of Drogheda. Ormond had thrown into the town a garrison of two thousand five hundred chosen men, under the command of Sir Arthur Aston, an officer who had earned a brilliant reputation by his services to the royal cause in England during the civil war. On the eighth day a sufficient breach had been effected in the wall : the assailants on the first attempt were driven back with immense loss. They re- turned a second, perhaps a third time to the assault, and their perseverance was at last crowned with success. Cromwell gave orders that no one belonging to the garrison should be spared; and Aston, his officers and men, having been previously dis- armed, were put to the sword. From thence the conquerors, stimulated by revenge and fanaticism, directed their fury against the townsmen; and, on the next morning, one thousand unresist- ing victims were immolated together within the The massacre at walls of the great church, whither they had fled Wexford. 544 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1350. for protection. From Drogheda the conqueror led his men, flushed with slaughter, to the siege of Wexford. The mayor and governor offered to capitulate; but while their commission- ers were treating with Cromwell, an officer perfidiously opened the castle to the enemy; the adjacent wall was immediately scaled; and, after a stubborn but unavailing resistance in the market-place, Wexford was abandoned to the mercy of the assail- ants. The tragedy so recently acted at Drogheda was renewed. No distinction was made between the defenceless inhabitant and the armed soldier; nor could the shrieks and prayers of three hundred females, who had gathered around the great cross, pre- serve them from the swords of these ruthless barbarians. The garrisons of Cork, Youghal, Bandon, and Kinsale de- clared for the parliament, and Cromwell seized the opportunity The sanguinary *° c ^ se the campaign, and place his followers in proceedings of w i n ter quarters. But inactivity suited not his CromweU in Ire- .... land. policy or inclination. After seven weeks of re- pose he again summoned them into the field; and at the head of twenty thousand men, well appointed and disciplined, confi- dently anticipated the entire conquest of Ireland. The royalists were destitute of money, arms, and ammunition. Cromwell met with little resistance; wherever he came, he held out the pro- mise of life and liberty of conscience; but the rejection of the offer, though it were afterward accepted, was punished with the blood of the officers; and if the place were taken by force, with indiscriminate slaughter. Proceeding on this plan, one day granting quarter, another putting the leaders only to the sword, and on the next immolating the whole garrison — hundreds of human beings at a time — he quickly reduced most of the towns and castles in the three counties of Limerick, Tipperary, and Kilkenny. But this bloody policy at length recoiled upon its author. Men, with no alternative but victory or death, learned to fight with the energy of despair. At the siege of Kilkenny the assailants, though twice repulsed from the breach, were, by the timidity of some of the inhabitants, admitted within the walls; yet, so obstinate was the resistance of the garrison, that, to spare his own men, the general consented to grant them ho- norable terms. From Kilkenny he proceeded to the town of Clonmel, where Hugh, the son of the deceased O'Neil, com- A. D. 1650.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 545 manded with one thousand two hundred of the best troops of Ul- ster. The duration of the siege exhausted his patience; the breach was stormed a second time; and, after a conflict of four hours, the English were driven back with considerable loss. The garrison, however, had expended their ammunition; they took advantage of the confusion of the enemy to depart during the darkness of the night; and the townsmen the next morning, keeping the secret, obtained from Cromwell a favorable capitula- tion. This was his last exploit in Ireland. From Clonmell he was recalled to England to undertake a service of greater import- ance and difficulty, to which the reader must now direct his at- tention. The young king at St. Germains had given to Montrose a commission to raise the royal standard in Scotland. The fame of that nobleman secured to him a gracious recep- Montrose endea- tion from the northern sovereigns; he visited each Icot? ki r favor ^f court in succession; and, in all, obtained permis- the royal cause. sion to levy men, and received aid either in money or in military stores. In autumn, 1649, he despatched the first expedition of twelve thousand men from Gottenburg, under the lord Kinnoul ; but the winds and waves fought against the royalists ; several sail were lost among the rocks; and, when Kinnoul landed at Kirk- wall in the Orkneys, he could muster only eighty officers and one hundred common soldiers out of the whole number. But Mont- rose was not to be appalled by ordinary difficulties. Having re- ceived from the new king the order of the garter, he followed with five hundred men, mostly foreigners; added them to the wreck of the first expedition and to the new levies, and then found himself at the head of a force of more than one thousand men. On his banner was painted a representation of the late king decapitated, with this motto, " Judge and avenge my cause, Lord." Montrose was defeated, and sentenced to death. On the scaffold, he defended his conduct, praised the character of the present king, and appealed from the censures of the kirk to the justice of heaven. As a last disgrace, the executioner hung round his neck his late declaration, with the history of his former exploits. He smiled at the malice of his enemies, and said that they had given him a more brilliant decoration than the garter with which he had been honored by his sovereign. 4G* 546 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1650. Montrose, by his death, won more proselytes to the royal cause than he had ever made by his victories. He was in his thirty- eighth year. Charles signed a treaty, binding himself to take the Scottish Covenant and the Solemn League and Covenant; to disavow and Charles accedes declare null the peace with the Irish, and never to the League, and • -i r» • r» 1 i r^ ,1 1 1 • i« lands in Scotland, to permit the tree exercise 01 the Catholic reli- gion in Ireland, or any other part of his dominions; to acknow- ledge the authority of all parliaments held since the commence- ment of the late war; and to govern, in civil matters, by advice of the parliament — in religious, by that of the kirk. These pre- liminaries being settled, he embarked on board a small squadron furnished by the prince of Orange ; and, after a perilous naviga- tion of three weeks, during which he had to contend with the stormy weather, and to elude the pursuit of the parliamentary cruisers, he arrived in safety in the Frith. of Cromartie, where he was received with the honors due to his dignity. It was the negotiation between the Scots and their nominal king that arrested Cromwell in the career of victory, and called him away from Ireland. He left the command in Ireland to Ire- ton, and, returning to England, appeared in parliament. He was received with acclamations; the palace of St. James was allotted for his residence, and a valuable grant of lands was voted as a reward for his eminent services. In a few days followed the ap- pointment of Fairfax to the office of commander-in-chief, and of Cromwell to that of lieutenant-general of the army designed to Fairfax resigns he employed in Scotland. Fairfax objected to the his commission, invasion of Scotland, and resigned his commis- sion; in consequence of which, the chief command of all the forces raised, or to be raised, by order of parliament, was confer- red on Oliver Cromwell. Thus this adventurer obtained at the same time the praise of moderation (for he had urged Fairfax to continue in command) and the object of his ambition. Imme- diately he left the capital for Scotland; and Fairfax retired to his estate in Yorkshire, where he lived with the privacy of a country gentleman till he once more drew the sword, not in support of the commonwealth, but in favor of the king. Cromwell passed the Tweed at the head of sixteen thousand men, most of them veterans, all habituated to military discipline. 1651 A. D.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 547 He found the Scottish troops posted behind a deep intrenchinent, running from Edinburgh to Leith, fortified with numerous batte- ries, and flanked by the cannon of the castle at one extremity, and of the harbor at the other. Cromwell employed all his art to provoke an engagement, which Leslie, the Scottish general, wished to avoid. The caution of Leslie triumphed over the skill and activity of Cromwell, who saw no alternative but victory or retreat : of the first he had no doubt, if he could come in contact with the enemy; the second was a perilous attempt, when the passes before him were preoccupied, and a more numerous force was hanging on his rear. At Musselburg, having sent the sick on board the fleet, he ordered the army to march the next morn- ing to Haddington, and thence to Dunbar. At Cromwell defeats -r. , ~ to „ -, , . . t ... the Scots at Dun- JDunbar, Cromwell posted his men in the vicinity bar. of Broxmouth House; Leslie with the Scots moving along the heights of Lammermuir, occupied a position on the Doon Hill, about two miles to the south of the invaders ; and the advanced posts of the armies were separated only by a ravine of the depth and breadth of about thirty feet. Cromwell was not ignorant of the danger of his situation ; he had even thought of putting the infantry on board the fleet, and of attempting to escape with the cavalry by the only outlet, the high road to Berwick; but the next moment he condemned the thought. On the other side the Scotch council compelled their general to depart from his usual caution, and to make preparation for battle. The next morning the Scottish lancers, aided by their artillery, charged down the hill, drove the brigade of English cavalry from its po- sition, and broke through the infantry, which had advanced to the support of the horse. At that moment the sun made its appearance above the horizon; and Cromwell, turning to his own regiment of foot, exclaimed, " Let the Lord arise, and scat- ter his enemies." They instantly moved forward with their pikes levelled ; the horse rallied ; and the enemy's lancers hesitated, broke, and fled. At that moment the mist dispersed, and the first spectacle which struck the eyes of the Scots was the rout of their cavalry. A sudden panic instantly spread from the right to the left of their line; at the approach of the English they threw down their arms and ran. Cromwell's regiment halted to sing the 117th Psalm; but the pursuit was continued for more than eight 548 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1851. miles; the dead bodies of three thousand Scots strewed their native soil ; and ten thousand prisoners, with the artillery, am- munition, and baggage, became the reward of the conquerors. Cromwell now thought no more of his retreat. He marched back to the capital; the hope of resistance was abandoned; Edinburgh and Leith opened their gates, and the whole country to the Forth submitted to the will of the English general. To the young king, the defeat at Dunbar was a subject of real and ill-dissembled joy. Hitherto he had been a mere puppet in Charles is crown- the nands of Argyle and his party; now their power ed at Scone. was fo ro ken, and it was not impossible for him to gain the ascendency. On the first day of the new year, he rode in procession to the church of Scone, where his ancestors had been accustomed to receive the Scottish crown : there, on his knees, with his arm upraised, he swore by the Eternal and Almighty God to observe the two covenants ; to establish the presbyterian govern- ment in Scotland and in his family ; and to give his assent to acts for establishing it in his other dominions. Argyle then placed the crown upon his head, and seated him on the throne, and both nobility, and people swore allegiance to him " according to the na- tional covenant, and the Solemn League and Covenant." In April, the king, with Leslie and Middleton as his lieutenants, took the command of the army, which had been raised by new levies to twenty thousand men ; and, having fortified the passages of the Forth, awaited, on the left bank, the motions of the enemy. In the mean while, Cromwell had obtained possession of the castle of Edinburgh through the perfidy or the timidity of the governor. Charles invades He gained such great advantages in a few months, England. ^ Charles resolved to abandon the Scottish con- test, and to transfer the war to England. So rapid was his ad- vance, that he traversed the lowlands of Scottland, and the northern counties in England, without meeting a single foe. The king pushed forward till he reached Worcester, where he was solemnly proclaimed by the mayor, amid the loud acclamations of the gen- tlemen of the county, who, under a suspicion of their loyalty, had been confined in that city by order of the council. At the first news of the royal march, the leaders at Westminster abandoned themselves to despair. They were relieved by the arrival of despatches from the general, and by the indecision of the royal- 1651 A. D.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 549 ists, who, unprepared for the event, had hitherto made no movement. The occurrences of each day added to the disap- The battle of \V orcpstcr £tncl tho pointment of Charles and the confidence of his defeat of Charles, enemies. He had summoned by proclamation all his male subjects between the age of sixteen and sixty to join his standard. A few of the neighboring gentlemen with their tenants, not two hundred in number, obeyed the call ; and it was found that the whole amount of his force did not exceed twelve (or according to Cromwell, six- teen) thousand men, of whom one-sixth part only was composed of Englishmen. But, while a few straggling royalists thus stole into his quarters, as if it were to display by their paucity the hopelessness of his cause, the daily arrival of hostile reinforcements swelled the army in the neighbourhood to more than thirty thou- sand men. At length Cromwell arrived, and was received with enthusiasm. The royalists had broken down an arch of the bridge over the Severn at Upton ; but a few soldiers passed on a beam in the night; the breach was repaired, and Lambert crossed with ten thousand men to the right bank. A succession of partial but obstinate actions alternately raised and depressed the hopes of the two parties; the grand attempt was reserved by the lord general for his auspicious day, the 3d of September, on which, twelve months before, he had defeated the Scots at Dunbar. On that day, the memorable battle of Worcester took place, in which Charles was defeated with great loss, and with difficulty made his escape. Though the parliament offered a reward of one thousand pounds for his person, and denounced the penalties of treason agninst those who should afford him shelter ; though parties of horse and foot scoured the adjacent counties in search of so valuable a prize; though the magistrates received orders to arrest every unknown person, and to keep a strict watch on the seaports in their neighborhood, yet no trace of his flight, no clue to his retreat could be discovered. Week after week passed away ; of almost every other individual of note the fate was ascertained ; that of Charles Stuart remained an impenetrable mystery. At last, when a belief prevailed, both among his friends and foes, that he had met with death from the peasantry, ignorant of his person and quality, the intelligence ar- rived, that, on the 17th of October, forty-four days after the battle, he had landed in safety at Fecamp, on the coast of Normandy. Charles had been protected by four brothers, laboring men, of 550 • HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1651. the name of Penderell, and of Yates, his former guide, who had Adventures of carried a sister of the Penderells. He could not Charles. conceal from himself that their poverty might make them more accessible to temptation ; but his friends con- jured him to dismiss such thoughts; they were men of tried fidelity, who, born in the domain, and bred in the principles of a loyal and Catholic family, had long been successfully employed in screening priests and cavaliers from the searches of the civil ma- gistrates and military officers. By one of them, surnamed the trusty Richard, he was one day led into the thickest part of a wood near Boscobel House, while others posted themselves at convenient stations, to descry and announce the approach of the enemy. About nine in the evening they left the wood together for the house of Mr. Wolf, a Catholic recusant at Madeley, not far from the Severn ; but an accidental alarm lengthened their road, and added to the fatigue of the royal wanderer. They reached Madeley at midnight -, Wolf was roused from his bed, and the strangers obtained admission. But their host felt no small alarm for their safety. Troops were frequently quartered upon him ; two companies of militia actually kept watch in the village, and the places of concealment in his house had been re- cently discovered. All the bridges were guarded, and all the boats secured, which compelled the unfortunate prince to aban- don his design of going into Wales. On the next night he placed himself again under the care of his trusty guide, and, with a heavy and misboding heart, retraced his steps toward his original destination, the house of Boscobel. At Boscobel he found Colonel Careless, one of his devoted adherents ; and, by his persuasion, Charles consented to pass the day with him amid the branches of an old and lofty oak. This celebrated tree, which was after- ward destroyed to satisfy the veneration of the cavaliers, grew near to the common path in the meadow-field, which lay in the centre of the wood. It had been partially lopped a few years be- fore, and the new shoots had thrown round it a thick and luxu- riant foliage. Within this cover the king and his companion passed the day. Invisible themselves, they occasionally caught a glimpse of the soldiers passing among the trees, and sometimes saw them look into the meadow. A plan of escape was now sub- mitted to his approbation. The daughter of Colonel Lane, of 1651 A. D.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 551 Bentley, had obtained from the governor of Stafford a pass to visit Mrs. Norton, a relation near Bristol. Charles consented to assume the character of her servant, and Lord Wilmot departed on the following night to make arrangements for his reception. It took but little time to transform Charles into a domestic ser- vant. He departed on horseback with his supposed mistress be- hind him, accompanied by her cousin, Mr. Lassells ; and, after a journey of three days, reached Abbotsleigh, Mr. Norton's house, without interruption or danger. He soon afterward escaped to the coast of Sussex, and got across to France, where he was re- ceived with a warm welcome. In Ireland, Ireton, to whom Cromwell, with the title of lord deputy, had left the chief command, pursued with little interrup- tion the career of his victorious predecessor. Sir p r0 g ress f the Charles Coote met the men of Ulster and Letter- war in Ir eiand. kenny ; after a long and sanguinary action they were defeated ; and the next day their leader, Mac Mahon, the warrior bishop of Clogher, was made prisoner by a fresh corps of troops from Innis- killing. Lady Fitzgerald, a name as illustrious in the military annals of Ireland as that of Lady Derby in those of England, defended the fortress of Trecoghan, but neither the efforts of Sir Robert Talbot within, nor the gallant attempt of Lord Castlehaven without, could prevent its surrender. "Waterford, Carlow, and Charlemont accepted honorable conditions, and the garrison of Duncannon, reduced to a handful of men by the ravages of the plague, opened its gates to the enemy. For a time the Irish had cherished the expectation that the young monarch would, as he had repeatedly promised, come to Ireland and take the reins of government into his hands ; they now, to their disappointment, learned that he had accepted the invitation of the Scots, their sworn and inveterate enemies. In a short time, the conditions to which he had subscribed began to transpire ; that he had bound himself by oath, not only not to permit the exercise of the Catho- lic worship, but to root out the Catholic religion wherever it ex- isted in any of his dominions. This intelligence caused a general gloom and despondency. Charles's representative, Ormond, felt that it was time for him to leave Ireland ; but before his depar- ture, he called a general assembly, and selected the marquess of Clanricard, a Catholic nobleman, to command as his deputy. Ire- 552 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1651. ton, who anticipated nothing less than the entire reduction of the island, opened the campaign in the summer of 1651, with the siege of Limerick. The conditions which he offered were refused by the inhabitants, and, at their request, Hugh O'Neil, with three thousand men, undertook the defence of the city, but with an understanding that the keys of the gates and the government of the place should remain in the possession of the mayor. Both parties displayed a valor and obstinacy worthy of the prize for which they fought. But in October a reinforcement of .three thousand men from England arrived in the camp ; a battery was formed of the heavy cannon landed from the shipping in the har- bor ; and a wide breach in the wall admonished the inhabitants to prepare for an assault. In this moment of suspense, with the dreadM example of Drogheda and Wexford before their eyes, they met at the town-hall. It was in vain that O'Neil remon- strated j that the bishops of Limerick and Emly entreated and threatened; Stretch, the mayor, gave the keys to Colonel Fan- ning, who seized St. John's gate, turned the cannon on the city, and admitted two hundred of the besiegers. A treaty was now concluded; and, if the garrison and inhabitants preserved their lives and property, it was by abandoning twenty-two individuals to the mercy of the conquerors. Ireton died soon afterward of a pestilential disease which ravaged the West of Ireland. His death proved a severe loss to the commonwealth, not only on account of his abilities as an officer, but because it removed the principal check to the inordinate ambition of Cromwell. He was succeeded by General Ludlow. During the next winter the confederates had leisure to reflect on their forlorn condition. Charles indeed, a second time an exile, solicited them to persevere; but it was difficult to persuade men to hazard their lives and fortunes without the remotest pros- pect of benefit to themselves or to the royal cause. Lord Mus- kerry, indeed, collected five thousand men on the borders of Cork and Kerry, but was obliged to retire before his opponents : his strong fortress of Boss opened its gates ; and, after some hesita- tion, he made his submission. In the north, Clanricard reduced Ballyshannon and Donegal; but there his career ended; and Coote (one of Cromwell's generals) drove him into the isle of Carrick, where he was compelled to accept the usual conditions. 1652 A. D.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 553 The last chieftain of note who braved the arms of the common- wealth was Colonel Richard Grace : he, at last, capitulated, and the subjugation of Ireland was completed. It soon became a question how to dispose of the wives and families of those who had perished by the ravages of disease and the casualties of war, and of the multitudes, who, The inhabi t ail t s chased from their homes and employments, were sold as slaves, reduced to a state of utter destitution. These at different times, to the amount of several thousands, were collected in bodies, driven on shipboard, and conveyed to the West Indies, where they were sold as slaves. At first it was sought to exterminate the Catholics altogether; but when this failed, another project was adopted of confining the Catholic landholders to Connaught and Clare, beyond the river Shannon, and of di- Efforts to exter- viding the remainder of the island, Leinster, Mun- lies. The cruelties ster, and Ulster, among Protestant colonists. No them! Se agams Catholic was permitted to reside within any garrison or market- town, or to remove more than one mile from his own dwelling without a passport describing his person, age, and occupation; every meeting of four persons beside the family was pronounced an illegal and treasonable assembly; to carry arms, or to have arms at home, was made a capital offence ; and any " transplanted" Irishman, who was found on the left bank of the Shannon, might be put to death by the first person who met him, without the or- der of a magistrate. Seldom has any nation been reduced to a state of bondage more galling and oppressive. Under the pre- tence of the violation of these laws, their feelings were outraged, and their blood was shed with impunity. They held their pro- perty, their liberty, and their lives at the will of the petty des- pots around them, foreign planters, and the commanders of mili- tary posts, who were stimulated by revenge and interest to depress and exterminate the native population. The religion of the Irish proved an additional source of solicitude to their fanatical con- querors. All Catholic clergymen were ordered to quit Ireland within twenty days, under the penalties of high-treason, and all other persons were forbidden to harbor any such clergymen under the pain of death. Additional provisions tending to the same object followed in succession. Whoever knew of the concealment of a priest, and did not reveal it to the proper authorities, was 2K 47 554 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1652. made liable to the punishment of a public whipping and the am- putation of his ears ; to be absent on a Sunday from the service at the parish church, subjected the offender to a fine of thirty pence; and the magistrates were authorized to take away the children of Catholics and send them to England for education, and to tender the oath of abjuration to all persons of the age of one and twenty years, the refusal of which subjected them to im- prisonment during pleasure, and to the forfeiture of two-thirds of their estates real and personal. During this period the Catholic clergy were exposed to a persecution far more severe than had ever been previously experienced in the island. Of the many priests who still remained in the country, several were discovered, and forfeited their lives on the gallows ; those who escaped detection concealed themselves in the caverns of the mountains, or in lonely hovels raised in the midst of the morasses, whence they issued during the night to carry the consolations of religion to the huts of their oppressed and suffering countrymen. A proclamation was also issued ordering all nuns to marry or leave Ireland. They were successively transported to Belgium, France, and Spain, where they were hospitably received in the convents of their respective orders. In Scotland, the power of the commonwealth was as firmly esta- blished as in Ireland. All authority derived from any other source The condition of tnan tne parliament of England was abolished by Scotland. proclamation •; the different sheriffs, and civil of- ficers of doubtful fidelity, were removed for others attached to the commonwealth ; a yearly tax of one hundred and thirty thousand pounds was imposed in lieu of free quarters for the support of the army; and English judges, assisted by three or four natives, were appointed to go the circuits, and to supersede the courts of session. The parliament next resolved to incorporate the two countries into one commonwealth, without kingly government or the aristocratical influence of a house of peers. This was thought to fill up the measure of Scottish misery. For there is a pride in the independence of his country, of which even the peasant is conscious. But, before the plan could be amicably adjusted, the parliament itself, with all its projects, was overturned by the successful ambition of Cromwell. At this period, several naval engagements took place between 1653 A. D.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 555 Van Troinp, a distinguished Dutch admiral, and Blake, who com- manded the English fleet. Both displayed great talent. Our space does not permit us in this abridgment to dwell upon their actions. To return to Cromwell : when he resumed his seat in the house, in 1651, he had reminded the members of their indifference to two measures earnestly desired by the country, the Cromwell dis- _ . 1 ,/ . . . JJ solves the parlia- act ot amnesty and the termination ot the present meat, parliament. An act of oblivion was obtained, which, with some exceptions, pardoned all offences committed before the battle of Worcester, and relieved the minds of the royalists from the ap- prehension of additional forfeitures. On the question of the ex- piration of parliament, after several warm debates, the period was fixed for the 3d of November, 1654. Cromwell resolved on a plan to procure the dissolution of the parliament, and vest for a time the sovereign authority in a council of forty persons, with himself at their head. Finding he could not succeed without force, he ordered some soldiers to accompany him to the house, on the 20th April, 1653. Leaving the military in the lobby, he entered the house, and composedly seated himself on one of the outer benches. His dress was a plain suit of black cloth, with gray worsted stockings. For a while he seemed to listen with interest to the debate; but, when the speaker was going to put the question, he whispered to Harrison, " This is the time : I must do it ;" and rising, put off his hat to address the house. At first, his language was decorous and even laudatory. Gradually he be- came more warm and animated : at last he assumed all the vehe- mence of passion, and indulged in personal vituperation. He charged the members with self-seeking and profaneness; with the frequent denial of justice, and numerous acts of oppression. He then paced forward and backward, and then stamping on the floor, added, "You are no parliament. I say you are no parlia- ment: bring them in, bring them in." Instantly the door opened, and Colonel Worseley entered, followed by more than twenty musketeers. Colonel Harrison took the speaker by the hand, and led him from the chair ; Algernon Sidney was next compell- ed to quit his seat; and the other members, eighty in number, on the approach of the military, rose and moved toward the door. When all were gone, fixing his eye on the mace, "What/* 556 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1653. said he, " shall we do with this fool's bauble? Here, carry it away." Then, taking the act of dissolution from the clerk, he ordered the doors to be locked, and, accompanied by the military, returned to Whitehall. Thus, by the parricidal hands of its own children, perished the long parliament, which, under a variety of forms, had, for more than twelve years, defended and invaded the liberties of the nation. It fell without a struggle or a groan, unpitied and unregretted. It would, however, be unjust to the memory of those who exercised the supreme power after the death of the king, not to acknowledge that there existed among them men capable of wielding with energy the destinies of a great empire. It could not escape the sagacity of Cromwell that the fanatics, with whose aid he had subverted the late govern- ment, were not the men to be intrusted with the destinies of the three kingdoms; yet, he deemed it his interest to indulge them in their wild notions of civil and religious reformation, and to suffer himself for a while to be guided by their counsels. They soon proceeded to establish a council of state. With Cromwell, in the place of lord president, were joined four civilians and eight officers of high rank ; so that the army still retained its ascendency, and the council of state became in fact a military council. Without any election being allowed, Cromwell summoned one hundred and thirty-nine representatives for England, six for The Barebone Wales, six for Ireland, and five for Scotland. To Parliament. eac ] 1 f them was sent a writ of summons under the signature of Cromwell, requiring his personal attendance at Whitehall on a certain day, to take upon himself the trust, and to serve the office of member for some particular place. On the appointed day, the 4th of July, one hundred and twenty of these "faithful and godly" men attended in the council-chamber at Whitehall. They were seated on chairs round the table; and Cromwell took his station near the middle window, supported on each side by a numerous body of officers. He placed on the table an instrument under his own hand and seal, intrusting to them the supreme authority for the space of fifteen months from that day, then to be transmitted by them to another assembly, the members of which they should previously have chosen. Though not distinguished by their opulence, they were men of 1653 A. D.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 557 independent fortunes; during the late revolutions they had learned to think for themselves on the momentous questions which divided the nation; and their fanaticism, by converting their opinions into matters of conscience, had superadded an ob- stinacy of character not easily to be subdued. They have been gradually described as men in trade, and of no education; and because one of them, Praise-God Barebones, was a leather-dealer in Fleet street, the assembly is generally known by the denomi- nation of Barebones' Parliament. They established a system of the most rigid economy; the regulations of the excise were re- vised; the constitution of the treasury was simplified and im- proved; unnecessary offices were totally abolished, and the sala- ries of the others considerably reduced; the public accounts were subjected to the most rigorous scrutiny; new facilities were given to the sale of the lands now considered as national property. Provision was made for the future registration of marriages, births, and deaths. But the fanaticism of their language, and the extravagance of their notions, exposed them to ridicule. Some of their proceedings were very displeasing to Cromwell, and, accordingly, he soon dissolved the assembly. A new consti- tution was soon published, and Cromwell at last obtained the great object of his ambition — the office and authority, though without the title, of king. The title he received was that of lord protector. Cromwell soon published three ordinances, by which, of his supreme authority, he incorporated Scotland with England, ab- solved the natives from their allegiance to Charles The first acts of Stuart, abolished the kingly office and the Scottish the protector, parliament, with all tenures and superiorities importing servitude and vassalage, erected courts-baron to supply the place of the juris- dictions which he had taken away, and granted a free pardon to the nation, with the exception of numerous individuals whom he subjected to different degrees of punishment. Thus the whole frame of the Scottish constitution was subverted : yet no one ventured to remonstrate or oppose, for the spirit of the nation had been broken. By foreign powers the recent elevation of Cromwell was viewed without surprise. They were aware of his ambition, and had anticipated his success. All who had reason to hope from his 47* 558 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1654. friendship, or to fear from his enmity, offered their congratula- tions, and ambassadors and envoys from most of the princes of Europe crowded to the court of the protector. He received them with all the state of a sovereign. A treaty with the United Pro- vinces was the first which engaged the attention of the protector, and was not concluded till repeated victories, in one of which Van Tromp was killed, had proved the superiority of the English navy, and a protracted negotiation had exhausted the patience of the States. On the 5th of April, 1653, after a negotiation of ten months, the peace was definitively signed; A new parliament was called in September, 1654, in which Meeting of par- Cromwell found many who were opposed to his liament. sway. The leaders of the opposition were Brad- shaw, Hazlerig, and Scot, who contended that the existing govern- ment emanated from an incompetent authority, and stood in oppo- sition to the solemn determination of a legitimate parliament. A motion to limit the succession to Cromwell's family was ne- gatived by a division of two hundred against eighty voices ; and it was resolved that, on the death of the protector, his successor should be chosen by the parliament if it were sitting, and by the council in the absence of parliament. Cromwell soon dissolved the parliament. A rising of royalists took place at this time, but was without much difficulty suppressed. Cromwell now became thoroughly tyrannical, and the long and sanguinary struggle, which was originally undertaken to recover The tyranny of tne liberties of the country, terminated in the esta- Cromweii. blishment of a military despotism. The institutions which had acted as restraints on the power of preceding sovereigns were superseded or abolished ; the legislative, as well as the exe- cutive authority, fell into the grasp of the same individual ; and the best rights of the people were made to depend on the mere pleasure of an adventurer, who, under the mask of dissimulation, had seized, and by the power of the sword retained, the govern- ment of three kingdoms. Cromwell again called a parliament; but the result of the elections revealed to him the alarming secret, that the antipathy to his government was more deeply rooted, and more widely spread, than he had previously imagined. The whole nation was in a ferment ; and in several counties the court candidates were rejected. 1G5GA.D.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 559 Cromwell, however, gave orders to prevent the admission of his opponents into the house. Several members, to show their dis- approbation, voluntarily seceded, and those, who had been ex- cluded by force, published in bold and indignant language an ap- peal to the justice of the people. At this period the Society of Friends first appeared, the members of which suffered much per- secution. Cromwell next revolved in his own mind a secret project of the first importance to himself and the country. To Cromwe n aS pire8 his ambition, it was not sufficient that he actually to the title of king, possessed the supreme authority, and exercised it with more des- potic sway than any of his legitimate prodecessors \ he still sought to mount a step higher, to encircle his brows with a diadem, and to be addressed with the title of majesty. It chanced that a plot against the protector's life was, at this time, discovered and de- feated. The circumstance furnished an opportunity favorable to his views ; and the re-establishment of " kingship" was mentioned in the house, not as a project originating from him, but as the accidental and spontaneous suggestion of others. The detection of the conspiracy was followed by an address of congratulation to the protector, who, on his part, gave to the members a princely entertainment at Whitehall. At their next meeting, the question of kingship was regularly brought before them. Several officers instantly started from their seats, and the mover was violently borne down to the bar : the house debated each article in suc- cession, but the project was finally adopted. As long as the question was before parliament, Cromwell bore himself in public as if he were unconcerned in the result ; but his mind was secretly harassed by the reproaches of his friends and by the misgivings of his conscience. He saw, for the first time, marshalled against him the men who had stood by him in his different fortunes. The marked opposition of these men had given energy to the proceedings of the inferior officers, who formed themselves into a permanent council under the very eyes of Cromwell, passed votes in disapprobation of the proposed alteration, and to the number of one hundred waited on him to acquaint him with their senti- ments. He replied, that there was a time when they felt no ob- jection of the title of king; for the army had offered it to him with the original instrument of government. He had rejected it 560 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1657. then, and had no greater love for it now. In the mean while the new form of government had received the sanction of the house. Cromwell, when it was laid before him, had recourse to his usual arts, openly refusing that for which he ardently longed. At length it was whispered at court that the protector had resolved to accept the title ; and immediately Lambert, Fleetwood, and Des- borough made to him, in their own names and those of several others, the unpleasant declaration, that they must resign their commissions, and sever themselves from his councils and service for ever. This bold step subdued the protector. He abandoned the lofty hopes to which he had so long, so pertinaciously clung, despatched Fleetwood to the house to prevent a debate, and shortly afterward summoned the members to meet him at Whitehall. Addressing them with more than his usual embarrassment, he said, that neither his own reflections nor the reasoning of the committee had convinced him that he ought to accept the title of king ; and thus ended the mighty farce which for more than two months held in suspense the hopes and fears of three nations. Several changes were, however, now made. The supreme autho- rity was vested in the protector ; but, instead of rendering it hereditary in his family, the most which he could obtain was the power of nominating his immediate successor. The two houses of parliament were restored, and to Cromwell was given the power of nominating the members of the " other house," (he dared not yet term it the house of lords;) but, in the first instance, the persons so nominated were to be approved by the house of repre- sentatives, and afterward by the " other house" itself. In the eyes of the superficial observer, Cromwell might now ap- pear to have reached the zenith of power and greatness. At home he had discovered, defeated, and punished several conspiracies against him ; abroad, his army had gained laurels in the field ; his fleets swept the seas; and his friendship was sought by every power. The real fact however was, that his authority in England never rested on a more precarious footing than at the present mo- ment; while, on the other hand, the cares and anxieties of govern- ment, joined to his apprehensions of assassination, and the pressure of domestic affliction, were rapidly undermining his constitution, and hurrying him from the gay and glittering visions of ambition to the darkness and silence of the tomb. 1658 A. D.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 561 It is said that lie wore defensive armor under his clothes ; car- ried loaded pistols in his pockets ; sought to remain in privacy ; and, when he found it necessary to give audience, H is fears and sternly watched the eyes and gestures of those who anxiet y- addressed him. He had often faced death without flinching in the field ; but his spirit broke under the continual fear of unknown and invisible foes. He passed the nights in a state of feverish anxiety ; sleep fled from his pillow ', and for more than a year before his death, we always find the absence of rest assigned as either the cause which produced, or a circumstance which aggra- vated, his numerous ailments. The selfishness of ambition does not exclude the more kindly feel- ings of domestic affection. Cromwell was sincerely attached to his children ; but, among them, he gave the pre- The death of ference to his daughter Elizabeth Claypole. She Cromwe11 - was now dying. Cromwell abandoned the business of state that he might hasten to Hampton Court, to console his favorite daugh- ter. He frequently visited her, remained long in her apartment, and, whenever he quitted it, seemed to be absorbed in the deepest melancholy. She died. The protector was already confined to his bed with the gout, and, though he had anticipated the event, some days elapsed before he recovered from the shock. A slow fever still remained. For change of air he had removed to White- hall, till the palace of St. James should be ready for his reception. There his fever became a double tertian, his strength rapidly wasted away, and he died on the 3d September, 1658. It was his "for- tunate day," a circumstance from which his sorrowing relatives derived a new source of consolation. It was, they observed, on the 3d of September that he overcame the Scots at Dunbar ; on that day, he also overcame the royalists at Worcester j and on the same day, he was destined (they said) to overcome his spiritual enemies, and to receive the crown of victory in heaven. Till the commencement of the present century, when Bona- parte arose, who, by the splendor of his victories and the extent of his empire, cast all preceding adventurers into Reflections the shade, the name of Cromwell stood without a parallel in the history of civilized Europe. Men looked with a feeling of awe on the fortunate individual who, without the aid of birth, or wealth, or connections, was able to seize the govern- 562 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. [A. D. 1658. ment of three powerful kingdoms, and to impose the yoke of ser- vitude on the necks of the very men who had fought in his com- pany to emancipate themselves from the less arbitrary sway of their hereditary sovereign. That he who accomplished this was no ordinary personage, all must admit; and yet, on close investigation, we shall discover little that was sublime or dazzling in his charac- ter. Cromwell was not the meteor which surprises and astounds by the rapidity and brilliancy of its course. Cool, cautious, calcu- lating, he stole on with slow and measured pace ; and, while with secret pleasure he toiled up the ascent to greatness, labored to persuade the spectators that he was reluctantly borne foward by an exterior and resistless force, by the march of events, the neces- sities of the state, the will of the army, and even the decree of the Almighty. He seems to have looked upon dissimulation as the perfection of human wisdom, and to have made it the key-stone of the arch on which he built his fortunes. Cromwell left two sons, Richard and Henry. After the esta- blishment of the commonwealth, Richard married, and, retiring to the house of his father-in-law in Hampshire, devoted himself to the usual pursuits of a country gentleman. Henry accompanied his father in the reduction of Ireland, which country he afterward governed, first with the rank of major-general, afterward with that of lord deputy. The moment Oliver Cromwell expired, the council assembled, and the result of their deliberation was an order to proclaim Richard Richard Crom- Cromwell protector, on the ground that he had been tector. declared by his late highness his successor in that dignity. Not a murmur of opposition was heard ; the ceremony was performed in all places after the usual manner of announcing the accession of a new sovereign ; addresses poured in from the army and navy, from several churches, and from the cities and coun- ties. The royalists, who had persuaded themselves that the whole fabric of the protectorial power would fall in pieces on the death Richard Crom- of Cromwell, beheld with amazement the general well retires from . . . _. . , t i the government, acquiescence in the succession of Richard ; and the foreign princes, who had deemed it prudent to solicit the friend- ship of the father, now hastened to offer their congratulations to his son. Yet, fair and tranquil as the prospect appeared, an ex- 1659 A. D.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 563 perienced eye might easily detect the elements of an approaching storm ; for many said that to suffer the supreme power to devolve on Richard was to disgrace and to disinherit the men who had suffered so severely, and bled so profusely, in the contest. Be- tween Richard and the "long" parliament (which had reassem- bled) disputes arose, and the country was soon in a state of anarchy. The intentions of the armies in Scotland and Ireland remained uncertain ; and the royalists, both Presbyterians and Cavaliers, were exerting themselves to improve the general confu- sion to the advantage of the exiled king. Richard exercised no real authority, though he continued to occupy the state apartments at Whitehall. By repeated messages, he was ordered to retire ; and, on his promise to obey, the parliament granted him the pri- vilege of freedom from arrest during six months ; transferred his private debts to the account of the nation, gave him two thousand pounds as a relief to his present necessities, and voted that a yearly income of ten thousand pounds should be settled on him and his heirs, a grant easily made on paper, but never carried into execu- tion. The office of lord-general was abolished j no intermediate rank between the lieutenant-general and the colonels was admitted; Fleetwood was named lieutenant-general, with the chief command in England and Scotland, but limited in its duration to a short period, revocable at pleasure, and deprived of several of those powers which had hitherto been annexed to it. Ever since the death of Oliver Cromwell, the exiled king had watched with intense interest the course of events in England; and each day added a new stimulus to his hopes of a B^g j n f avor favorable issue. In Cheshire the royal standard of royalty. was unfurled by Sir George Booth, a person of considerable in- fluence in the county, and a recent convert to the cause of the Stuarts. At Chester, the parliamentary garrison retired into the castle, and the royalists took possession of the city. Each day brought to them a new accession of strength : and their apparent success taught them to augur equally well of other expected attempts throughout the kingdom. But the unwelcome truth could not long be concealed ; and when they learned that they stood alone, that the other risings had been either prevented or instantly sup- pressed, their confidence was exchanged for despair. The conduct of Monk now begins to claim a considerable share of our attention 564 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1659. Ever since the march of Cromwell in pursuit of the king, in 1649, to Worcester, he had commanded in Scotland ; where, instead of concerning himself with the intrigues and parties in England, he appeared to have no other occupation than the duties of his place, to preserve the discipline of his army, and enforce the obedience of the Scots. After the fall of the protector Bichard, he became an object of distrust. Lord Fairfax was also become a convert to the cause of monarchy ; to him the numerous royalists in York- shire looked up as leader ; and he, on the solemn assurance of Monk that he would join him within twelve days or perish in the attempt, undertook to call together his friends, and to surprise the city of York. On the first day of the new year, each performed his promise. The gates of York were thrown open to Fairfax by the Cavaliers confined within its walls ; and Monk, with his army, crossed the Tweed. In parliament, the Presbyterian party now ruled without opposition. They appointed Monk commander-in- chief of the forces in the three kingdoms, and joint commander of the fleet with Admiral Montague. Nineteen years and a half had now elapsed since the " long" The " long" par- parliament first assembled — years of revolution nated. and bloodshed, during which the nation had made the trial of almost every form of government : it was resolved to return at last to that form from which it had previously departed. On the 16th of March, [1660,] its existence, which had been ille- gally prolonged since the death of Charles I., was terminated by its own voluntary act. The reader is already acquainted with its history. For the glorious stand which it made against the en- croachments of the crown, it deserves both admiration and grati- tude; its subsequent proceedings assumed a more ambiguous character; ultimately they led to anarchy and military des- potism. Monk had now spent more than two months in England, and Monk sends a still his intentions were covered with a vail of mys- commissioner to . . . .. _. .. Charles. tery which n<* ingenuity, either or the royalists or of the republicans, could penetrate. He soon sent a message to Charles, who was at Brussels, advising him to promise a general or nearly general pardon, liberty of conscience, the confirmation of the national sales, and the payment of the arrears due to the army, and that he would aid in his restoration. By Charles the 1660 A. D.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 565 messenger was received as an angel from heaven. But when he communicated the glad tidings to Ormond, Hyde, and Nicholas, these councillors discovered that the advice suggested by Monk was derogatory to the interests of the throne and the personal character of the monarch, and composed a royal declaration which, while it professed to make to the nation the promises re- commended by Monk, in reality neutralized their effect, by sub- jecting them to such limitations as might afterward be imposed by the wisdom of parliament. Notwithstanding the alterations made at Brussels, Monk professed himself satisfied with the de- claration. Though he still declared himself a friend to republican government, he now ventured to assume a bolder tone. The militia of the city, amounting to fourteen thousand men, was al- ready embodied under his command; he had in his pocket a commission from Charles, appointing him lord-general over all the military in the three kingdoms ) and he resolved, should cir- cumstances compel him suddenly to throw off the mask, to pro- claim the king, and to summon every faithful subject to repair to the royal standard. A new parliament met on the 25th of April. Charles's letter was delivered to the two houses, and was well re- ceived. Encouraged by the bursts of loyalty with which the king's letter had been received, his friends made it Charles is invited their great object to procure his return to England to return - before limitations could be put on the prerogative. The two houses voted, that by the ancient and fundamental laws of the realm the government was and ought to be by king, lords, and commons ; and they invited Charles to come and receive the crown to which he was born. Charles was as eager to accept, as the houses had been to vote, the address of invitation. As soon as the weather permitted, he set sail for Dover, where Monk, at the head of the nobility and gentry from the neighboring counties, waited to receive the new sovereign. From Dover to the capital the king's progress bore the appearance of a triumphal pro- cession. That the re-establishment of royalty was a blessing to the country will hardly be denied. It presented the best, perhaps the only, means of restoring public tranquillity. To Monk belongs the merit of having, by his foresight and caution, effected this desirable object without bloodshed or violence ; but, to his dia- 48 566 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A.D. 1660. praise, it must also be recorded, that he effected it without any previous stipulation on the part of the exiled monarch. Never had so fair an opportunity been offered of establishing a compact between the sovereign and the people; of determining, by mutual consent, the legal rights of the crown, and of securing from future encroachment the freedom of the people. By the negligence or perfidy of Monk, a door was left open to the recurrence of dis- sension between the crown and the people ; and that very circum- stance, namely, his untrammelled return, which Charles had hailed as the consummation of his good fortune, served only to prepare the way for a second revolution, which ended in the permanent exclusion of his family from the government of these kingdoms. CHAPTER XXXV Charles calls a new Parliament — Affairs in Ireland — War with the Dutch — Plague in London — The Great Fire — War with Holland — The " Test Act" — Oates's Plot — Bill of Exclusion — Rye-House Plot — Death, and Character of Charles.— From A.D. 1660 to 1685. The convention parliament was soon dissolved, and Charles called a new parliament after the ancient and legitimate form. The result of the elections showed that the fervid loyalty which blazed forth at his restoration, had, in the interval, suffered but Proceedings of little abatement. This parliament, at the com- Charles's first par- , \ . . liameut. mencement of its long career, passed several laws of the highest importance, both in regard to the pretensions of the crown and the civil and religious liberties of the people. The Solemn League and Covenant, with the acts for erecting a high court of justice for the trial of Charles Stuart, and others of the same nature, were ordered to be burnt in the midst of Westminster Hall by the hands of the common hangman. The 1663 A. D.] CHARLES THE SECOND. 56' Presbyterians met to consult and remonstrate; but their synods were everywhere dispersed by the government. In England, the demands of justice were satisfied with the blood of several regicides: to expiate the guilt of Scotland, a more illustrious victim was selected, the marquess of Argyle. Charles seemed inclined to save him, but his enemies were inex- orable. He was tried, and executed in May, 1661. In Ireland, a new race of proprietors had arisen — soldiers and adventurers of English birth, who, during the late revolutionary period, had shared among themselves the lands of Affairs in ire- the natives, whether royalists or Catholics. On landt the fall of Richard Cromwell, a council of officers was established in Dublin ; these summoned a convention of deputies from the Protestant proprietors ; and the convention tendered to Charles the obedience of his ancient kingdom of Ireland. The present was graciously accepted ; and the penal laws against the Irish Catholics were ordered to be strictly enforced. The first mea- sure recommended to him by his English advisers, with respect to Ireland, was the re-establishment of episcopacy. Charles ac- cordingly directed the surviving bishops to take possession of their respective dioceses, and nominated new prelates to the vacant sees. The settlement of landed property in Ireland fol- lowed. In 1660, James, duke of York, was married to Anne, the daughter of the chancellor Hyde. In 1661, Charles married Catherine, sister of the king of Spain. The prin- The marriage of cess brought a dower of five hundred thousand Charles - pounds, the possession of Tangier on the coast of Africa, and of Bombay in the East Indies, and a free trade to Portugal and the Portuguese colonies. Charles's conduct toward her at first was attentive, but he soon forgot his duty to God and his wife, by plunging into a life of licentiousness. Charles, who wanted money, sold Dunkirk, in 1663, to the king of France, by the advice of Clarendon. This sale of Dun- kirk had no small influence on the subsequent fortune of each. The possession of it had flattered the national pride; for it was looked on as a compensation for the loss of Calais. The public discontent began to be openly expressed; Charles saw a for- midable party growing up against him; and Clarendon, after a 568 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1665. protracted struggle, submitted to his fate, and fled to the conti- nent. In 1665, Charles entered on a war with the Dutch, on account of commercial disputes respecting the African trade. The most War with the formidable fleet that England had as yet witnessed Dutch ' sailed under James. The duke, despising the narrow prejudices of party, had called around him the seamen who fought and conquered in the last war; and, for more than a month, his armament insulted the coast of Holland, and rode tri- umphant in the German Ocean. At length an easterly wind drove the English to their own shores, and the Dutch fleet im- mediately put to sea under Admiral Opdam. Early in the morn- ing of the 3d June, the hostile fleets descried each other near Lowestoffe. A severe engagement took place, in which James displayed much valor. Opdam was killed; and the Dutch, alarmed at the loss of their commander, fled. In the depths of the previous winter, two or three isolated cases of plague had occurred in the outskirts of the metropolis ; Plague in Lon- and, about the end of May, under the influence of don * a warmer sun, and with the aid of a close and stagnant atmosphere, the evil burst forth in all its terrors. Pro- vision was made for the speedy interment of the dead. In the daytime, officers were always on the watch to withdraw from pub- lic view the bodies of those who expired in the streets; during the night, the tinkling of a bell, accompanied with the glare of links, announced the approach of the pest-cart, making its round to receive the victims of the last twenty-four hours. The cart proceeded to the nearest cemetery, and shot its burden into a large common grave. In September, the plague began to abate. In January, 1666, the French monarch, Louis, though with many expressions of regret, declared war against England, by virtue of a treaty which had linked France and Holland, in 1662. The French agent at Copenhagen 'prevailed on the king of Denmark to withdraw from his alliance with England, and to make common cause with the States. Charles, on his side, con- cluded a treaty with the king of Sweden, by which each party engaged not to furnish munitions of war to the enemies of the other. From the war which now raged in the British seas, our atten- 1667 A. D.] CHARLES THE SECOND. 569 tion must for a time be called to the great fire which, at this period, consumed a large portion of London. About two in the morning of Sunday, the 2d of September, 1666, G reat fire \ n a fire burst out in Pudding-lane, near Fish-street, London - one of the most crowded quarters of the metropolis. It origin- ated in a bakehouse; the buildings in the neighborhood, formed of wood, with pitched roofs, quickly caught the flames; and the stores with which they were filled, consisting of those combusti- ble articles used in the equipment of shipping, nourished the conflagration. During the day, the wind, which blew from the east, hourly augmented in violence; and the fire spread with as- tonishing velocity, leaping from roof to roof, and frequently ignit- ing houses at a distance, and in apparent security. The lurid glare of the sky, the oppressive heat of the atmosphere, the crackling of the flames, and the falling of the houses and churches, combined to fill every breast with astonishment and terror. Charles never appeared so deeply affected as at the sight of the conflagration. Wherever the danger appeared the great- est, the king was to be found with his brother James, mixing among the workmen, animating them by his example, and with his own hand rewarding their exertions. He divided the city into districts, and gave the command of each district to one of the privy council. He ordered biscuits and other necessaries to be brought from the royal stores for the relief of the families in the fields, and sent out strong patrols of his guards to prevent robbery. In many places houses were blown up or demolished ; but the ignited flakes were carried over the empty space, or the ruins again took fire, or the flames unexpectedly turned in a new direction. With the aid of gunpowder, large openings were made; Charles attended at the demolition of several houses; and the conflagration, being thus prohibited from extending its ra- vages, gradually died away, though months elapsed before the immense accumulation of ruins ceased to present appearances of internal heat and combustion. By this deplorable accident two- thirds of the metropolis, the whole space from the Tower to the Temple, had been reduced to ashes. The number of houses consumed amounted to 13,200; of churches, including old St. Paul's, to 89. In May, 16G7, the Dutch fleet appeared off" the coast of Eng- 2 " 48* 570 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1667. land, but the English government was not taken by surprise. The Dutch fleet The warnings of the duke of York had awakened appears off the . . 7 English coast. tnem to a sense ot the danger; and, three months before/ orders had been issued to raise a fort at Sheerness, to throw a boom across the Medway at the stakes, to mount the guns on the batteries, and to prepare a competent number of fire- ships. At the first alarm, Monk, by the royal order, hastened to the mouth of the Medway. He erected batteries, moored guard-ships for the protection of the boom, and sunk five ships before it in the narrowest part of the channel. He had not com- pleted these preparations, when the Dutch advanced with the wind and tide in their favor; but the obstruction in the passage opposed an insuperable bar to their progress, and they were com- pelled to fall back with the ebb. During the night, however, they discovered a new channel, sufficiently deep for large ships at high water, and in the morning worked their way without im- pedient. The Dutch fleet advanced triumphantly up the Thames; but the commander, whether he had fully executed his orders, or was intimidated by the warm reception which he experienced from the river forts, soon fell down the river. For six weeks De Ruyter, the Dutch admiral, continued to sweep the English coast. But his attempts to burn the ships at Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Torbay were successively defeated; and, though he twice threatened to remount the Thames, the spirited opposition with which he was received induced him to renounce the design. A treaty was soon afterward concluded between England and Hol- land. In 1668, Lord Chancellor Clarendon having, by haughty and overbearing conduct, created many enemies, was deprived of his office, and driven into exile having been accused of malpractices. In exile he spent most of his time relieving with literary compo- sition the tedium of banishment, and repeatedly soliciting per- mission to revisit his native country, that he might breathe his last in the company of his children. But Charles treated these prayers with neglect, and the unfortunate exile died, in 1674, at ftouen in Normandy. In 1668, Charles received an important communication from his brother James. Hitherto, that prince had been an obedient and zealous son of the Church of England; but Dr. Heylin's 1671 A. D.] CHARLES THE SECOND. 571 History of the Reformation had shaken his reli- James, the king's J _ brother declares gious credulity, and the result of the inquiry was himself a Catholic. a conviction that it became his duty to reconcile himself with the Church of Rome. He communicated to the king in private that he was determined to embrace the Catholic faith; and Charles, without hesitation, replied that he was of the same mind, and would consult with the duke on the subject in the presence of some peers. The meeting was held in the duke's closet. Charles, with tears in his eyes, lamented the hardship of being compelled to profess a religion which he did not approve, declared his deter- mination to emancipate himself from this restraint, and requested the opinion of those present, as to the most eligible means of ef- fecting his purpose with safety and success. They advised him to communicate his intention to Louis, and to solicit the powerful aid of that monarch. He was the most accomplished dissembler in his dominions; nor will it be any injustice to his character to suspect that his real object was to deceive both his brother and the king of France. The secret negotiation, however, proceeded with greater activity ; and Lord Arundel hastened to the French court. He solicited from Louis the present of a considerable sum, to enable the king to suppress any insurrection which might be provoked by his intended conversion, to which proposal no direct objection was made. James, with all the fervor of a proselyte, urged his brother to publish his conversion without delay, while Louis, on the contrary, represented to the English king that a premature declaration might endanger his crown and his person. Thus, time passed away without Charles avowing any change to his subjects. The subject of the succession now began to claim much atten- tion. A boy of the name of Crofts, the reputed son of the king by Lucy Barlow, had been placed for education ThedukeofMon- at the Oratory in Paris. Soon after the restora- mouth - tion he came to England : Charles ordered him to conform to the established church, created him duke of Monmouth, and gave to him in marriage the countess of Buccleugh, the most wealthy heiress in Scotland. Buckingham, observing the unbounded affection of the king for this young man, resolved to set him up as a competitor for the crown in opposition to the duke of York. In 1671, the duchess of York died at St. James's in her thirty- 572 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1671. fourth year, having been the mother of eight children, of whom only two daughters survived her, Mary and Anne, both after- ward queens of England. She became a Catholic a short time before her death. In 1672, Louis and Charles, as allies, made war on Holland. De Ruyter, with seventy-five men-of-war, and a considerable num- War with iioi- ^ er °^ fire-ships, stationed himself between Dover land - and Calais, to prevent the intended junction of the French and English fleets. The duke of York could muster no more than forty sail at the Nore ; but with these he contrived to join the French. The combined fleet now sailed in search of the enemy, whom they discovered lying before Ostend. But the prudence of De Ruyter refused to engage even on equal terms ; and the duke returned to Southwold Bay, on the coast of Suffolk, that his ships might take in their full complement of men and provisions. In a few days, De Ruyter learned, from the captain of a collier, the situation and employment of the English fleet. He suddenly resolved to become the aggressor, and sailed with his whole force for Southwold Bay, where James engaged him. Seldom has any battle in our naval annals been more stubbornly contested. The English had to struggle with a bold and expe- rienced enemy, and against the most fearful disparity of force. The duke's ship, the Prince, of one hundred guns, lost above one- third of her men, and lay a motionless wreck on the water. Having ordered her to be towed out of danger, he passed through the window of the cabin into his shallop, rowed through the enemy's fire, and unfurled the royal standard in the St. Michael of ninety guns. It was soon reported to the duke that the St. Michael could with difficulty be kept afloat, on account of an in- jury which she had received in her hull; and he transported his flag to the London. De Ruyter was the first to shrink from the conflict. He sailed away, and the duke, with five-and-twenty ships, remained to the windward of the enemy, and thus termi- nated this obstinate engagement. The war soon began to languish, for De Ruyter had the prudence to shun a second engagement. In 1673, the house of commons resolved that every individual refusing to take the oath of allegiance and supremacy, and to re- ceive the sacrament according to the rites of the The Test Act. Church of England, should be incapable of publio 1674 A. D.] CHARLES THE SECOND. 573 employment, military or civil; and a bill was passed into a statute known as the " Test Act/' requiring, not only that the oaths should be taken, and the sacrament received, but also that a declaration against transubstantiation should be subscribed by all persons holding office, under the penalty of a fine of five hun- dred pounds, and of being disabled to sue in any court of law or equity, to be guardian to any child, or executor to any person, or to take any legacy or deed of gift, or to bear any public office. James refused to take the test, and soon afterward voluntarily resigned all the offices which he held under the crown. By the retirement of James, the command of the combined fleet, amount- ing to ninety sail of the line, had devolved on Prince Rupert. With so formidable a force, it was expected that he would sweep the Dutch navy from the face of the ocean ; but he performed nothing worthy of his reputation; and, though he fought three actions with De Ruyter, neither received nor inflicted considerable injury. The religious antipathies of the people had been excited by the conversion of James to the Catholic faith, and they were now blown into a flame by the intelligence that he had recently mar- ried, by proxy, the sister to the reigning duke of Modena, Maria d'Este, a Catholic princess of the age of fifteen. The princess soon arrived in England. Ever since the fall of Clarendon, the violent opponents of that nobleman feared the resentment of the duke of York, and con- sidered their own safety to be intimately connected with his ex- clusion from the throne. The earl of Carlisle moved, in 1674, that, to a prince of the blood, the penalty for Attempts to ex- . >, , ,. , ,,, , o „. „,. elude the duke of marrying a Catholic should be the forfeiture of his York, right to the succession. Though this motion was lost, the duke of York had but a cheerless prospect before him. The opponents of James fixed their eyes on the young duke of Monmouth; nor was it unreasonable in them to hope that the king's partiality for his son would serve to reconcile him to the exclusion of his brother. A second, and in many respects a more formidable, rival was William, prince of Orange, the next in succession to the crown after the duke of York and his children. William was a Protestant; his exertions in defence of his country had ex- alted him in the eyes of all who dreaded the ambitious desigus 574 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1674. of the French monarch; and some of the popular leaders in England had not hesitated to pledge themselves to his service and to advocate his interests, even at a time when he was at war with their sovereign. About this time it was agreed that the king of France should pay a yearly pension to the king of England; that the two sovereigns should bind themselves to enter into no engagements with other powers unless by mutual consent; and that each should lend effectual aid to the other in the event of rebellion within their respective kingdoms. During the long prorogation, and with the aid of his foreign pension, Charles enjoyed a seasonable relief from the cares and agitation in which he had lived for several years. He retired to Windsor, where he spent his time in the superintendence of im- provements, the amusement of fishing, and the company and con- versation of his friends. In the year 1674, William, prince of Orange, had very unce- remoniously refused the hand of the princess Mary, daughter of James, duke of York ; but now he condescended to solicit that union which he had previously rejected. He was accepted, and the marriage gave satisfaction. The reader must now divert his attention to one of the most extraordinary occurrences in our domestic history, the imposture generally known by the appellation of Oates's plot. Its author and hero was Titus Oates, alias Am- brose, the son of a ribbon-weaver, who, exchanging the loom for the Bible, distinguished himself as an Anabaptist minister during the government of Cromwell, and became an orthodox clergyman on the restoration of the ancient dynasty. Titus was sent to Cambridge, took orders, and officiated as curate in several parishes, and as chaplain on board of a man-of-war ; but all these situations he successively forfeited in consequence of his misconduct. Several Jesuits, in the month of April, 1678, held a private meeting in London. On this foundation, however, frail and slender as it was, Oates contrived to build a huge superstructure Renewed efforts °f malice and fiction. The meeting was in to exclude James, reality the usual triennial congregation of the order. Oates said that it was a consultation on the most eligible means of assassinating the king, and of subverting by force the 1680 A. D.] CHARLES THE SECOND. 575 Protestant religion. A bill was soon introduced in the house of commons for the exclusion of all Catholics, and, consequently, of the duke of York, both from parliament and from the presence of the sovereign. The bill passed without opposition, when oppo- sition could lead only to the forfeiture of character, perhaps of liberty and life. Encouraged by the state of the public mind, the popular leaders determined to throw off the mask, and to commence a direct attack on the duke of York. An address to exclude him from the presence and the councils of the sovereign was moved by Lord Shaftesbury in the house of lords, by Lord Russell in the house of commons. Charles openly expressed his indignation at this motion, but he advised his brother to submit to a compromise. It cost James a violent struggle before he would yield; but he deemed it a duty to obey the will of the sovereign, and announced from his seat in the house of lords that he was no longer a member of the council. We will not detain the reader with a narrative of the partial trials and judicial murders of the unfortunate men whose names had been inserted by Oates in his pretended discoveries. So vio- lent was the excitement, so general the delusion created by the perjuries of the informer, that the voice of reason and the claims of justice were equally disregarded. Several innocent persons were executed on the perjured evidence of Oates and an accom- plice named Bedloe. A measure, called the bill of exclusion, was at this time brought into parliament, which provided that James should be incapable of inheriting the crowns of Eng- land and Ireland ; that, on the demise of Charles without heirs of his body, his dominions should devolve, as if the duke of York were also dead, on that person next in succession who had always professed the Protestant religion established by law. While the debates on the bill were progressing, Charles prorogued parlia- ment. It was at this time that the Habeas Corpus Act was In England, the executions on account of the pretended " Popish plot" continued. The bill for the exclusion of James from the succession was carried in the commons, but was defeated in the lords. The commons selected the Lord Stafford for trial, who, on account of his age and Lord Stafford. 576 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. [A. D. 1680, infirmities, appeared the least able to make a powerful defence. On the 13th of November, 1680, this venerable nobleman was placed at the bar to plead against the informers, and politicians, and zealots who thirsted for his blood. After a trial of several days, he was found guilty of treason, on perjured evidence, and sentenced to death. He suffered with fortitude on the 20th De- cember, 1680. In 1681, the succession bill was revived, but Charles suddenly dissolved the parliament. In the same year was executed Oliver Death of Oliver Piunket, the Catholic archbishop of Armagh, a piunket. prelate whose loyalty had been attested by four successive chief governors of Ireland. He had been thrown into prison on the usual charge of having received orders in the Church of Rome, when the promise of reward to informers induced some of the king's witnesses, as they were called, to select him for a principal conspirator in a pretended Irish plot. But they dared not face the man whom they had accused in their own country : at the trial it appeared that they were gone to England, and Piunket, instead of obtaining his discharge, was compelled to follow them. At this arraignment the chief-justice granted him a respite of five weeks to procure evidence from Ireland ; but his messenger was driven back by contrary winds ; and his means of defence did not reach the English coast till the third day after his condemnation. Piunket suffered, and was the last of the victims sacrificed to the imposture of the " popish plot." In May, 1682, James, who had for some time retired from Eng- land, returned and settled once more in the palace of St. James. The Eye-House By several discontented persons frequent consulta- P lot - tions were held in 1683, and measures were pro- posed by the more violent, not only for an insurrection in the city, but also for the assassination of the royal brothers at Whitehall, or in the theatre, or at a farm belonging to one of the conspirators, called the Rye House, and situate in a lonely spot near Hoddesdon, on the road by which the king usually returned from Newmarket to London. By means of Lord Howard an indirect communica- tion had all along been maintained between these men and the more discontented among the Whig leaders, the duke of Monmouth, the earl of Essex, the Lord Grey, Lord William Russell, Algernon Sydney, and Mr. Hampden, who, though they refused to hear 1G85A.D.] CHARLES THE SECOND. 577 any mention of assassination, were willing to employ the services of those among whom the notion originated. Information was given to the government, and Russell, Sydney, and others were arrested and committed to the Tower. The trial of Lord William Russell excited general interest, as it promised a solution of the important question, whether the Whig leaders were implicated or not in the plans of the minor conspirators. Lord Russell made but a feeble defence. H,e acknowledged that he was present at some of the meetings, but it was by mere accident. The jury re- turned a verdict of guilty. Lord Russell himself was drawn, by the earnest entreaties of his wife, to petition the king, and to solicit the intercession of the duke of York, but without success. He met his fate with resignation and fortitude. He said little on the scaffold, but delivered a written speech to the sheriffs. In it he stated that he died a Protestant; that, in the prosecution of the popish plot, he had acted on the conviction of its reality, which conviction he still retained, and that he knew nothing of any practices to suborn and instruct the witnesses; that he had taken an active part in favor of the bill for excluding James, because he thought that measure necessary to free the nation from the " pollution of popery." Posterity has long ago absolved Russell from seeking to dip his hands in the blood of the king. But there were other charges against him. He was a party to the design of compelling the king, by force, to banish and disinherit James, the presumptive heir to the crown, and concurred in the design of raising an insurrection in Scotland to co-operate with another in England for the same purpose. The succeeding trial, that of Algernon Sydney, soon took place before Sir George Jeffreys, of infamous memory. Sydney was found guilty. Monmouth was pardoned. To his father he protested on his knees that he was innocent of any design against the royal life, but confessed and condemned the part which he had The execut i on f taken in the disloyal plans and practices of the con- s y dne y- spirators; then turning to his uncle, he acknowledged himself guilty of many offences against him, solicited forgiveness, and promised that, if James should survive the king, he himself would be the first man to draw the sword in defence of his right whenever oc- casion might require. Sydney was soon led to the scaffold. Never did man face the terrors of death with less parade or greater indif • 49 578 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1685 ference. He suffered no friend to accompany him; he refused the aid of the minister of religion : and, when he was asked if he did not intend to address the spectators, he replied, that "he had made his peace with G-od, and had nothing to say to man/' Hav- ing made himself ready, he placed his neck upon the block, and bade the executioner perform his duty. On Monday, the 2d of February, 1G85, after a feverish and restless night, Charles rose at an early hour. To his attendants Last illness and he appeared drowsy and absent; his gait was un- death of Charles, steady, his speech embarrassed. Kemedies were ap- plied, and the royal patient gradually recovered his consciousness and the use of his speech. It soon, however, became evident that his dissolution was rapidly approaching. The duke of York, though aware of his brother's secret preference of the Catholic worship, had hitherto been silent on the subject of religion. By law, the reconciliation of any individual to the Church of Koine was an act of high-treason j no priest could be privately introduced to the king for that purpose, while the room was crowded with lords, bishops, and medical attendants ; and to remove them without a plausible reason could only provoke suspicion and inquiry. Having motioned to the company to withdraw to the other end of the apartment, James knelt down by the pillow of the sick monarch, and asked if he might send for a Catholic priest. "For God's sake do!" was the king's reply; "but," he immediately added, " will it not expose you to danger ?" James replied that he cared not for the danger; and, having despatched a trusty messenger in search of a priest, stated aloud that the king required all present to quit the apartment, with the exception of the earl of Bath, lord of the bed-chamber, and He dies in the the earl of Feversham, captain of the guard. In Catholic faith. a ghort time? Hudleston, a priest, was led through the queen's apartments to a private door on the right hand of the bed ; and James introduced him to the king with these words : " Sir, this worthy man comes to save your soul." The priest threw himself on his knees, and offered to the dying mo- narch the aid of his ministry. To his inquiries Charles replied that it was his desire to die in the communion of the Roman Catholic church ; that he heartly repented of all his sins, and, in particular, of having deferred his reconciliation to that hour; 1685 A. D.] CHARLES THE SECOND. 579 that he hoped for salvation from the merits of Christ his Saviour; that he pardoned all his enemies, asked pardon of all whom he had offended, and was in peace with all men ; and that he pur- posed, if G-od should spare him, to prove the sincerity of his repentance by a thorough amendment of life. Hudleston, having received his confession, anointed him, administered the eucharist, and withdrew. During that night the king suffered at times the most distressing pain ; but, in the intervals between the pa- roxysms, his mind was calm and collected, and he spoke of his approaching death with composure and resignation. About two o'clock, looking on the duke, who was kneeling at the bedside, and kissing his hand, he called him the best of friends and brothers, desired him to forgive the harsh treatment which he had sometimes received, and prayed that G-od might grant him a long and prosperous reign. About six, on the following morn- ing, he complained of pain in the side, accompained with a dif- ficulty of breathing : to remove which eight ounces of blood were taken from his arm. Three hours later he lost the faculty of speech, and about noon, 6th February, 1685, calmly expired. In person, Charles was tall and well-proportioned, with a swarthy complexion. He was kind, familiar, His character communicative. Parade and ceremony he held in aversion : to act the part of a king was to him a tiresome and odious task j and he would gladly burst from the trammels of official greatness, that he might escape to the ease and comfort of a colloquial familiarity. With talents, said to be of the highest order, he joined an insuperable antipathy to application; whence it happened that, to the scanty stock of knowledge which he had acquired in his youthful days, he made but few additions in a more advanced age. Impatient of trouble, and fearful of opposition, he looked upon the practice of dissimulation as the grand secret in the art of reigning. His example exercised the most pernicious influence on the morals of the higher classes of his subjects. His court became a school of vice, in which the restraints of decency were laughed to scorn. Of his pecuniary transactions with the king of France, no English- man can think without feelings of shame, or speak but in the language of reprobation. With respect to his religion, we may perhaps come to the conclusion that, for the greater part of his 580 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1685. reign, he looked on religion as a political question, and cared little to which of the two churches he might belong. In conclusion, it may be proper to remark that during his reign the arts improved, trade met with encouragement, and the wealth and comforts of the people increased. CHAPTER XXXYI. $am*s t\t Sitttti* The King succeeds to the Tbrone — His intentions regarding Religion — The Re- hellion of the Duke of Monmouth — The Revolt suppressed — Jeffreys com- missioned to try the Prisoners — James determines to grant liberty of con- science — The King's contest with the Bishops — Tho Prince of Orange lands in England — The King deserted even by his Children — He escapes to France — Meeting of the Convention — The Bill of Rights — William and Mary pro- claimed.— From A. D. 1685 to 1689. Never did prince succeed more tranquilly to a throne than James II. to that of England. The first question which claimed the attention of the new monarch was the state of the revenue. A parliament was summoned to meet on the 19th of May, and a royal proclamation issued, which, alleging state necessity as the cause, ordered the usual duties to be levied on merchandise, till parliament should have settled the revenue of the crown. Of James's attachment to the Church of Rome, after the sacri- fices which he had made, every man must have been convinced; The king's views an( * a question now with him was whether, after his respecting religion, accession to the throne, he ought to be content with the clandestine exercise of the Catholic worship, or openly to attend a form of religious service still prohibited by law. The latter accorded better with that hatred of dissimulation which was believed to mark his character, and as early as the second Sunday after his brother's death, in opposition to the advice of the council, he ordered the folding-doors of the queen's chapel to be thrown open, that his presence at mass might be noticed by the attendants in the antechamber. It has been a subject of 1685 A. D.] JAMES THE SECOND. 581 dispute, whether, at this period of his reign, the king had formed an intention of restoring the Catholic religion to its ancient ascendency, by making it the religion of the state, or merely sought to relieve its professors from the galling restrictions and barbarous punishments to which they were still subject by law. It seems evident, from the perusal of his confidential let- ters, that he limited his views to the accomplishment of two ob- jects, which he called liberty of conscience and freedom of wor- ship, and which, had he been successful, would have benefited not the Catholics only, but every class of religionists. On the feast of St. George, 1685, the king and queen were crowned by the hands of archbishop Sancroft, in Westminster Abbey. During the short interval between the coronation and the opening of parliament, the public mind was . Trial and pun occupied with the trial and punishment of Titus oates. Oates, who had distinguished himself in the last reign, as arch- informer with respect to the pretended popish plot. His guilt was proved beyond the possibility of doubt, and he was condemn- ed to pay a fine of 2000 marks, to be stripped of his canonical habit, to be twice publicly whipped, and to stand every year of his life five times in the pillory. The parliament soon met, and James, when the necessary forms had been complied with, ad- dressed the two houses in a short speech which he read leisurely and distinctly from the throne. He found the parliament willing to accede to his demands. The duke of Monmouth landed on the coast of Dorsetshire, on the 15th June, 1685, in order to assert his right to the throne as son of Charles II., by a queen whom he asserted to Duke of Mon . , . „ ,, . mouth asserts his have been lawfully married. He was immediately right to the throne, attainted, and a price set upon his head. A proclamation had already ordered the kingdom to be put in a posture of defence against invasion. The earl of Argyle, who was appointed to a high command in the invading force, had sailed from Holland to Scotland, landed in Lorn and afterward in Cantire, and published in both places a declaration against James, which he brought with him from Holland. It would exhaust the patience of the reader to detail the subsequent particulars of this ill-concerted and ill- fated expedition. Each day was marked by new disappointments, and new causes of dissension between the carl and his associates. 49* 582 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1685 Argyle was soon defeated and taken prisoner. He was executed in Edinburgh, on the 30th June, 1685. Monmouth had engaged to follow Argyle in the course of six days ; yet three weeks elapsed before he left Amsterdam. With Monmouth lands an inconsiderable force the unfortunate adventurer mm^S titi d e a o S f undertook to win the crowns of three kingdoms; James ii. ] Dut jjjg h p es were buoyed up with the expectation that multitudes would hasten to his standard. He stole unobserved down the Channel, and on the 11th of June appeared in front of the small port of Lyme in Dorsetshire. The moment he landed on the beach, he offered on his knees a fervent prayer for the success of the enterprise, and then, drawing his sword, marched at the head of his followers, into the town. The mayor and principal inhabitants had fled ; but the lower classes were sum- moned round a blue flag planted in the market-place, where they listened to Monmouth's declaration against James. When Mon- mouth published this declaration, which was most intemperate in its language, and slanderous in its assertions, he must have been intoxicated with the assurance of success, or have made up his mind to conquer or die. From the king it is evident that, after such wanton and bitter provocation, he could expect no mercy. Neither was it calculated to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Not a nobleman, not a gentleman of interest or opulence openly ventured to declare in his favor. But the reli- gious and political prejudices of the populace were excited : they crowded to offer their services ; arms were distributed, companies formed, and officers appointed; and, on the fourth day, Monmouth marched from Lyme at the head of four regiments, amounting in all to more than three thousand men. From Lyme he hastened to Taunton, a rich and populous town, where he was received with loud acclamations, as the saviour of the country. He soon took on himself by solemn proclamation the title of King James II., and set a price on the head of the " usurper of the crown, James duke of York." The king, though cheered by the votes of parliament, was not without strong grounds of disquietude. He dared not trust the Monmouth is decision of the contest to the militia of the counties, defeated and taken , _ .. _ . ' prisoner. whose fidelity was doubtful as their inexperience was certain; and the regular force in the whole kingdom did not exceed 1685 A. D.] JAMES THE SECOND. 583 five thousand men. Unable for the moment to arrest the pro- gress of his opponent, he gave the command to Lord Feversharn, with instructions to secure Bristol. Monmouth reaped little benefit from the assumption of royalty. He wandered from place to place without any apparent object. No person of quality offered his services, and his friends in the capital and the country remained quiet. When he became acquainted with the fate of Argyle, his last hope was gone. He was soon defeated in the battle of Sedgemoor, and, having fled, was in a short time taken and conducted to London. By the act of attainder he was already condemned, and could have no hope of life but from the pity or generosity of the king. But what claim had he on that prince ? Twenty months had not elapsed since he had obtained the pardon of James on a solemn promise to be the first to draw the sword in defence of his rights ; and yet he had ungratefully levied an army against him, and set the crown on his own head, and publicly declared the king a murderer, a tyrant, and an usurper; and had announced to the world that, on account of his crimes, he would pursue him to the death. Still, in the face of this provocation, the love of life taught him not to despair, and he wrote to James a supplicatory letter, expressive of the deepest remorse for his ingratitude and rebellion, attributing the blame to the counsels of "false and horrid" companions; and soliciting the favor of a personal interview. The king received him in the presence of Sunderland and Middleton, the two secretaries of state. He threw himself on his knees, and implored forgiveness in the most passionate terms; but James replied, that, by usurp- ing the title of king, he had rendered himself incapable of pardon. The interview with Monmouth has subjected the king to much severe, but perhaps unmerited, censure. He has been accused of want of feeling, in consenting to behold a nephew on his knees with a predetermination not to grant him Monmouth is mercy, and of cruelty in adding to the sufferings exec uted. of his victim by exciting hopes which he was resolved to disap- point. But his predetermination to refuse the prayer of the criminal has been assumed without any proof ; and the interview itself was not of the king's seeking ; it was reluctantly granted by him as a favor to the prayers of Monmouth, (who, it is to be remembered, was not acknowledged by James as his nephew,) 584 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1686. and of Monmouth's intercessors, and on the representation that the disclosures to be made by the prisoner would, on account of their superior importance, cancel his crimes of treason and usurpa- tion. Monmouth was beheaded in two days after the interview with the king. A commission was soon aferward appointed, consisting of Judge Jeffreys, who three months before had been raised to the peerage, Jeffreys commis- Montague, the chief baron, and three puisne judges, rebels. to proceed to the trial of those who had aided Mon- mouth. On account of the danger to which they might be exposed in the revolted counties, they were accompanied by a strong mili- tary escort, the command of which, with the temporary rank of lieutenant-general, was intrusted to Jeffreys ; and it was probably this singular union of the military with the judicial character, that induced the wits to give to his progress during the circuit the nickname of " Jeffrey's campaign." A multitude of prisoners awaited their doom from the mouth of their stern and inexorable judge. That they had forfeited their lives by the laws of their country cannot be denied; and that many among them were in- corrigible enthusiasts, who publicly avowed the righteousness of their cause, and their readiness to renew the attempt, is also true; yet the demands of justice might surely have been satisfied, and a salutary example have been made, without that deluge of blood so unsparingly poured out by Jeffreys and his associates. As the time for the meeting of parliament approached, the minds of men became daily more and more agitated. During The meeting and the rebellion, the levy of forces and the appoint- liament. ment of Catholic officers created no great alarm — the urgency of the case supplied a sufficient justification — but months had now passed since the battle of Sedgemoor, and the army was still kept up to its former complement. By a strange fa- tality it chanced that, at this moment of suspense and disquietude, the king of France revoked the edict of Nantes, and numbers of French Protestants sought an asylum in England from the per- secution which they suffered in their own country. It was to no purpose that James labored to allay the ferment ; that he openly declared his disapprobation of every species of religious perse- cution, and that he promoted with all his influence the measures devised for the relief of the refugees. On the appointed day, 1687 A. D.] JAMES THE SECOND. 585 the king opened the session with a speech from the throne. He said, that he had deemed it necessary for the safety of the nation and the stability of the government to augment the regular army, and he now called on parliament to provide the means of defray- ing the additional expense, and also to sanction the employment of Catholic officers. The opposition being very powerful, James suddenly prorogued the parliament, with the secret resolution of accomplishing, by his dispensing power, that object which he was not permitted to effect constitutionally with the consent of the lords and commons. Several Protestant clergymen at this time adopted the Catholic creed, of whom were Obadiah Walker, master of University Col- lege, Oxford, and Boyce, Dean, and Bernard, fellows of different colleges. To these James granted dispensations, by which they were empowered to enjoy the benefits of their respective situations without taking the oaths, or attending the established worship. In defence of his conduct he maintained that it was incumbent on him to see that no man should suffer because he bad the cou- rage to follow the dictates of his conscience. Though the ancient worship was still proscribed by law under the penalties of impri- sonment, forfeiture, and death, the Catholics, for the last four years, had been permitted to practise it in private houses without mo- lestation. But James was not satisfied with mere connivance : he deemed it both his duty and his interest to give protection to the public exercise of his religion. He had prepared an effectual check to the ebullition of popular resentment by the presence of an army of about sixteen thousand men, consisting of twelve battalions of infantry and thirty-five squadrons of cavalry, en- camped on Hounslow Heath. It was remarked that several of the officers were Catholics ; the piety of all good Protestants was scandalized by the public celebration of mass in the tent of Lord Dunbarton, the second in command. James soon addressed the privy council. During the four last reigns, he said, law upon law had been passed to James determines enforce uniformity of doctrine. But experience conSnce! er J ° had shown the uselessness of such enactments. Under them dissent had increased ; they had led, in his father's time, to the destruction of the government in church and state ; they had perpetuated to the present hour division in the nation, and all 211 586 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1687. those evils which necessarily grew out of civil dissension. It was time to put an end to such a state of things. Conscience could not be forced ; persecution was incompatible with the doctrines of Christianity ■ and it was, therefore, his resolve to grant religious liberty to all his subjects. Before we proceed to the fourth and last year of this inauspi- cious reign, it will be proper to call the attention of the reader to the numerous causes of irritation and estrangement which pre- viously existed between the king and his nephew and son-in-law, the prince of Orange. William's advocacy of the bill of exclu- sion, and his reception of Monmouth during the life of Charles, were offences not easily forgotten. James persuaded himself that William of Orange, the husband of his daughter Mary, might be induced to approve of the general abolition of the penal laws on matters of religion now, and to pledge his word that he would maintain that abolition even after he should succeed to the throne. For this purpose, James despatched to Holland Sir William Penn, the celebrated Quaker, that he might read lectures on toleration, to the prince and princess. The prosecution and trial of the imprisonment of seven bishops soon followed. A year had elapsed the prelates. since his proclamation of liberty of conscience. James now ordered it to be republished, and appended to it an additional declaration, stating his unalterable resolution of se- curing to the subjects of the English crown " freedom of con- science for ever," and of rendering thenceforth merit and not oaths the qualification for office. Several prelates prayed to be excused from reading the declaration, not because they were wanting in duty to the sovereign, but because it was founded on the dispensing power, which had often been declared illegal in parliament; whereupon James ordered them into custody. While the public attention was absorbed by the proceedings against the bishops, the queen was unexpectedly taken in labor; and, in the course of an hour, the king was blessed with what he so ardently wished for, the birth of a son, the apparent heir to his crown. The disappointment and vexation of his opponents were marked. But they quickly rallied ; they had prepared the people to expect a supposititious birth, and they maintained that their predictions had been verified. On the appointed day the seven prelates were brought from the 1688 A. D.] JAMES THE SECOND. 587 Tower, accompanied by several peers and gentle- Trial and acquit- men ; on their approach to Westminster Hall the tal of the bishops. crowd divided ; and, as they passed through the lane of spectators, the bystanders begged their blessing, and kissed their hands and garments. After much time had been spent in arguing the ob- jections taken by their counsel, they pleaded not guilty, and were discharged on their own recognizances, the archbishop in two hundred pounds, the bishops in one hundred pounds each, to appear again for trial on that day fortnight. The expectation of the trial drew multitudes from the country to the metropolis. Their advocates entered into the real merits of the case, and con- tended that the bishops had only exercised their right of peti- tioning for the redress of grievances as British subjects, and their duty of supporting the Act of Uniformity as its legal guardians. The judges charged the jury separately. The jury (for it cannot be objected to James that he ever made an attempt to pervert the course of justice) had been fairly chosen. Differing in opinion among themselves, they left the court, and spent the night in loud and violent debate. In the morning they returned, and pro- nounced a verdict of not guilty. It was received with deafening shouts of applause; the enthusiasm communicated itself to the crowd without the hall; it was rapidly propagated to the ex- tremities of the metropolis; thence it reached the neighboring hamlets, and at length penetrated to the camp of Hounslow Heath, where it is said that the king himself, who chanced to be dining with the general, Lord Feversham, was surprised and alarmed at the loud acclamations of the soldiers. The prince of Orange had never lost sight of the great object of his ambition. A pamphlet was published in Holland, May 10th, 1688, to prove that James was a usurper, because, being a Ca- tholic, he could not inherit the English throne; and that the princess of Orange was the rightful sovereign, and ought to have succeeded on the death of her uncle, Charles II. James saw the danger with threatened him, in all its magnitude and proximity. The impolicy of his past misrule now flashed on his mind ; he hastened to repair his former errors, and hoped by retracing his steps to recover the confidence of his subjects. At the same time he made every exertion to augment his naval and mi- litary force. 588 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1688. William had originally fixed on March, 1688, for the sailing of the expedition, but he was much delayed. On the afternoon . wmiam sails but of the 19th of October, 1688, he sailed from Hel- a storm. voetsluys, the men-of-war in three divisions form- ing a line out at sea, and the transports taking their allotted stations between that line and the shore. It blew a steady breeze from the south-west ; scarcely a cloud obscured the heavens, and, as the fleet passed by Scheveling toward the north, the whole population of the Hague rushed to the shore, to view the proud and animating spectacle. Little did William anticipate the con- trast exhibited on the following day. It was his intention to proceed to a certain distance, and then alter his course for the coast of Yorkshire, where he was expected by the earl of Danby ; but, about ten in the evening, the wind suddenly changed to the west, and, by midnight, the storm had dispersed the fleet in every direction. The next morning the prince . regained his former anchorage with about sixty sail : of the others some rode out the tempest, while the rest sought shelter in the different roads and havens. When, however, the extent of the loss could be ascer- tained, it proved much less than had been expected, for only a few ships had foundered. William sailed again from Holland, on 1st November, 1688, in pursuit of the English crown. By friends and foes it was be- lie sails again, lieved that he intended to land on the coast of vonsnire. Yorkshire: but, having steered for twelve hours to the north, he changed his course ; and, availing himself of a favorable wind, passed, without opposition, the royal fleet in the Downs, and in two days reached Torbay, in Devonshire, his real destination. To oppose the prince by land, James resolved to collect his army in the neighborhood of Salisbury. The prince, though he had been permitted to land without opposition, did not meet with the reception which he had been taught to expect. At his approach to Exeter, the bishop and dean fled from the city; the clergy and corporation remained passive spectators of his entry; and, though the populace applauded, no addresses of congratulation, nor public demonstrations of joy, were made by the respectable citizens. William was disappointed; he com- plained that he had been deceived and betrayed; he threatened to re-embark, and to leave his recreant associates to the ven- 1688 A. D.] JAMES THE SECOND. 589 geance of their sovereign. Still, however, his hopes were kept alive by the successive arrival of a few stragglers from a dis- tance : in a short time they were raised almost to assurance of success by the perfidy of Lord Cornbury, son of the earl of Cla- rendon, who went over to him with part of the army. The king's advisers, in despair of success, conjured him to seek an accommodation with his nephew, and to prevent, at any price, the total subversion of his throne. But James refused to see what was evident to all besides himself, and still believed in the loyalty of the army. The princess Anne pri- James is de- serted by his chil- vately left London. On the receipt of the intelli- dren. gence James burst into tears, and exclaimed, " God help me ! my very children have forsaken me V The queen had hitherto refused to separate her lot from that of her husband; but when he had made up his mind to leave the kingdom, and that he so- lemnly promised to follow her within twenty-four hours, she con- sented to accompany her child. The time for their escape was fixed for two after midnight. A yacht, with Lord and Lady Powis and three Irish officers on board, was ready to receive them; and thence they pursued their course in safety to Calais. The king soon fled from London, and the news of his flight cre- ated surprise and consternation. About thirty spiritual and tem- poral peers joined the lord mayor and aldermen at the Guildhall, and, after some consultation, forming themselves into a separate council, assumed for a time the supreme authority. The lord chancellor Jeffreys was discovered at Wapping in a strange disguise. A party of the trained bands rescued him from the fury of the mob; but they still pursued him with whips and halters, and, as the lord mayor was too much alarmed to take his examination, he was, at his own desire, conducted under an escort of two regiments to the Tower. The lords in council soon afterward sent a warrant for his detention, and, in the course of a few months, he died in prison. James returned to London for a time, but again retired and fled to Ambleteuse, on the coast of France, which he reached on the 25th of December. Thence he hastened to join his wife and child at the castle of St. Germain's, where he was received by Louis with expressions of sympathy and proofs of munifi- cence which did honor to that monarch. 50 590 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1G88. The lords and commons continued to sit at Westminster, and by them an address was voted to the prince of Orange, begging An address to him to assume and exercise the government of the the prince of . ... , . . Orange. realm till the meeting of a national convention on the 22d of January, 1689; and, for the election of the members of that convention, to issue writs similar to those which the king was accustomed to issue for the election of members of parlia- ment j with this request the prince complied. Hitherto no mention has been made of Scotland. At the an- nouncement of the intended invasion, the council of state pro- claimed, in an address to James, their determination to peril their lives and fortunes in support of the throne of their rightful sov- ereign, but they soon abandoned his cause. Many of the lead- ing men in Scotland proceeded to the English metropolis, eager to pay their court to the prince of Orange, and to secure the the good-will of their future sovereign. By his direction they assembled in a room at Whitehall, and, after three days' delibera- tion, agreed to follow, in substance though not in form, the prece- dent which had been set by the two English houses. The English convention met on the appointed day, January 22d. The lower house was composed chiefly of the men who had Meeting of the distinguished themselves in their respective coun- convention. wii- ties ^y their opposition to the obnoxious measures ham and Mary J rr proclaimed. f James : from the upper the Catholic lords were excluded, not in virtue of any law — for the law knew nothing of conventions — but because care had been taken to direct writs to none but Protestant peers. It was contended in the commons, that the voluntary withdrawal of James without any provision for the government of the realm during his absence, was equiva- lent in law to a demise of the crown ; by others, that it was, in fact, an abdication of the sovereignty, and it was resolved that the throne was vacant. In the lords a protracted and angry debate took place, and the friends of James showed that they still pos- sessed considerable influence. When the prince saw the crown sliding from his grasp, he deemed it advisable to break that silence which he had hitherto maintained, and complained of the time which had been wasted in useless debate — not (he said) that he was interested in the result — but because it detained him in- active in England, when the events passing on the continent im- 1689 A. D.] JAMES THE SECOND. 591 periously demanded his presence in Holland. He added, that if any persons intended to appoint him regent, they might spare themselves the trouble, for the regency was an office which he would never accept; adding, in allusion to a plan to make his wife the sole sovereign, that, while he was her husband, he would never be her subject. It was then agreed on, in compliance with the alleged wish of the princess, that, though William and Mary were to be equal in rank as king and queen, yet the exercise of the royal authority should be vested in William exclusively during his life. An instrument known as the " Declaration of Right" was framed, which, after several conferences and amendments, ob- tained the approbation of both houses. It stated Declaration of that whereas the late king James II. had assumed ri s ht3 - and exercised a power of dispensing with and suspending laws without consent of parliament j and had committed other arbi- trary acts which were set forth, it was necessary to declare such conduct subversive of right. It was next resolved that William and Mary, prince and princess of Orange, should be declared king and queen of England, France, and Ireland, and of the dominions thereunto belonging, to hold the same during their lives, and the life of the survivor of them ; and that the sole and full exercise of the royal power should be only in, and executed by, the prince of Orange in both their names during their joint lives ; and that, after their decease, the said crown should descend to the heirs of the said princess, and, for default of such issue, to the princess Anne of Denmark and her heirs, and, in default of such issue, to the heirs of the prince of Orange. Hitherto, Mary had been suffered to remain unnoticed in Hol- land j but she now received directions to come to England, and reached St. James's in the eighth week after the M lamlg in expulsion of her father, by her husband's order, England, from the same palace, tier's was undoubtedly an extraordinary situation ; and curiosity was alive to watch her conduct, when she met the numerous and brilliant court which had assembled to greet her on her arrival. That conduct was not such as to do her honor. There was a levity in her manner which hurt the feel- ings of many even among her adherents ; an affectation of gaycty, which suited not a daughter taking possession of the spoils of an 592 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1689. exiled and affectionate father. The next morning. February 13, 1689, the two houses proceeded in state to wait on the prince and princess at Whitehall. The lords were placed on the right hand, the commons on the left, at the lower end of the banquet- ing-house. William and Mary, entering at the opposite end, stood under the canopy of state; and the speakers of the two houses, with the members following them, were conducted as far as the step by the usher of the black rod. The clerk then read the declaration of rights, and the marquess of Halifax made to the prince and princess the tender of the crowns of England, William and Ma- France, and Ireland, in the name of the conven- and queen. tion, " the representative of the nation." William replied for himself and his wife, that they thankfully accepted the offer. William and Mary were then proclaimed king and queen ; but three months elapsed before they acquired possession of the Scottish crown. In Scotland the estates declared the throne vacant, and drew up an enumeration of the grievances, fourteen in number, which they had suffered under the late monarch. They then passed the act of settlement, by which the crown was vested in William and Mary, and their heirs, in strict conformity with the English act. Immediately the pro- clamation of the two sovereigns took place with the usual solem- nities \ and a deputation was named to administer the coronation oath to the king and queen. The new sovereigns received the Scotch commissioners in the banqueting-house at Whitehall, and promised in the name of the eternal God to keep every clause of the oath, and from that moment became entitled to the full exer- cise of the regal authority in Scotland. Note. — Hitherto I have been guided completely by the text of Dr. Lingard. In the following pages I have endeavored, by a close examination of the works of those who have treated of the history of England from the period of the Revolution, to present a truthful narrative of events down to the pre- sent time. — James Burke. 1689 A. D.] WILLIAM AND MARY. 593 CHAPTER XXXVII. Insurrection in Scotland — James lands in Ireland — Battle of the Boyne — Treaty of Limerick — Death, and Character of the King. — From A. D. 1689 to 1702. The prince of Orange, having thus accomplished his ambi- tious designs, began soon to make every effort to consolidate his sway. In order to gratify the people of Scotland, the Presbyte- rian form of worship was established by law. In England, dissenters were freed from the necessity of taking the oath of su- premacy, except in language which was easily reconcilable with their views, and were permitted to meet in their respective places of worship. The declarations against Catholic tenets re- mained, however, unchanged, and still continued necessary in order to enable a person to qualify for any official post. At this period some alterations took place in the details of constitutional arrangements, among which the most important was, the com- mencement of the system of appointing judges for life or good behaviour, instead of their being removable at the royal pleasure. The attainders of Lord Russell and Algernon Sydney were re- versed soon after the Revolution. In Scotland, an act had been passed distinctly affirming that James had forfeited the crown. That unfortunate monarch had, however, a strong party still among the Scotch, yi scoun t nun- especially in the Highlands. Viscount Dundee dce - (formerly Graham of Claverhouse) raised an insurrection in his favor, and rallied round his standard a considerable force. At a place called Killiecrankie, a memorable battle took place in May, 1G90, in which the adherents of James gained the advantage. As, however, Dundee was killed in the moment of victory, the Highlanders were not in a position to follow up what they had 51* 594 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1689. begun; and, in a short time, the clans were induced to yield, at all events, a nominal obedience to William and Mary. Although not in the exact order of time, perhaps it may be as well to relate here (as we are narrating the Scottish affairs of the period) the particulars of the atrocious act known in history as The massacre of the massacre of Glencoe. The facts were these : — Giencoe. j^ proclamation was issued in 1691, commanding all the Highland chieftains to give in their submission before the last day of the year. One chief, Macdonald, of Grlencoe, .was ac- cidently prevented from observing the day. He started for In- verary, but was hindered by snow from reaching the presence of the government officer in time. He was a day or two late, but was allowed to take the required oaths, and returned home. His enemies alleged that he was disaffected, and William signed an order for the destruction of the whole clan. The soldiers who were ordered to carry out this ruthless mandate, came among the Macdonalds as pretended friends. They received the hospi- tality of the clan for a considerable time, and did not give any indication of their intentions till the morning of the 13th Febru- ary, 1692, when they attacked their unsuspecting hosts in their sleep, and slew all that came in their way. Thirty-eight per- sons, including Macdonald and his wife, were basely murdered. Some escaped from the glen • but many of these perished after- ward by cold and hunger. No more atrocious act stains the page of history, and though it may be admitted that William did not intend that the massacre of the Macdonalds should have been ac- companied by such treachery, yet his memory has never been cleared of the charge of his having signed the exterminating edict, and of his not having in any manner punished, or even condemned the conduct of, those who so barbarously violated the sacred laws of hospitality. It was destined that Ireland should be the battle-ground in which William and James were to contend for the crown. The king of France furnished James with a fleet, with which he sailed to Ireland, where he arrived on the 22d March, 1689, and landed at Kinsale. The lord deputy Tyrconnell was a devoted adherent of James, and received him with an army of nearly 40,000 men. All Ireland declared for James with the exception of Deny and Enniskillen. Derry was besieged, but the inhabit- 1691 A. D.] WILLIAM AND MARY. 595 ants held out tSl the city was relieved. In August, William sent an army of 16,000 men to Ireland, under Schombcrg, who kept James in check for some time. In the summer of 1690, William himself landed in Ireland with 36,000 men, and has- tened to take steps for giving battle to James. The hostile armies met on the 1st July, 1690, on the banks Battle of the of the Boyne near Drogheda. A sanguinary en- B °y ne - gagement took place, in which Schomberg was killed. The sol- diers on both sides fought with the most determined courage ; but the Irish army was not equal, in point of numbers, to that which William commanded. Fifteen hundred of James's troops were killed before victory declared for William. James, con- sidering his cause hopeless, fled to the south, and embarked for France, where he passed the remainder of his life. But the Irish army, though defeated at the Boyne, retreated in good order to the centre of the island. Dublin and the entire eastern coast yielded to William; but he soon sailed for Eng- land, as news had reached him that his fleet had been defeated by that of James. His generals, however, continued to prose- cute the war. In June, 1691, Athlone was taken by De Crin- kle, and shortly afterward the defeat at Aughrim, where James's general, St. Ruth, and a very large number of troops were killed, gave to his cause a still gloomier aspect. Limerick, however, re- mained still firm to the cause of the Stuarts. When William returned from England he besieged that city, but the bravery of Sarsfield having led to the destruction of a large part of his artillery, and to the repeated repulse of the besieging forces, he jfgain left Ireland, having abandoned the siege on the pretend- ed plea that the excessive rains had caused disease among his troops. But when almost all Ireland had yielded to William's generals, and the flower of the Irish army had fallen at Aughrim, Limerick was again besieged, and, after some time, capitulated, on the condition of honorable terms. According to the Trea t y f Lime- " Treaty of Limerick," memorable for its being rick - soon violated by act of parliament, the king undertook to obtain for the Irish Catholics the free exercise of their religion and the peaceable enjoyment of their estates. Permission was given to those who wished to retire to France to do so, and, it is said, 596 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1691. that 14,000 persons availed themselves of this privilege, and with Sarsfield embarked for the continent, where such as were soldiers formed themselves into a corps, which acquired fame under the title of the " Irish Brigade." James still indulged the hope of recovering his crown, and, having obtained a fleet from Louis, prepared to make a descent upon England. He was, however, anticipated, and his fleet was defeated with great loss in May, 1692, by Admiral Russell, off Cape La Hogue. This was the last attempt made by James to reinstate himself in the throne of his ancestors. It was not, however, till 1697, that Louis acknowledged, by the treaty of Byswick, William as king of England. William had frequent disputes with his parliament, on the subject of money; and at last threatened to return to Holland unless his applications for taxes were more generously met. There was also much jealousy entertained by the English re- specting the foreign troops maintained by William — a feeling to which he was, after some time, obliged to yield. It was in this reign, in the year 1693, that some merchants subscribed £1,200,000 to establish the Bank of England. It so happened that, shortly after the incorporation of the company, old coin was called in to be exchanged for new, and the rapid demand nearly broke the bank. It was, however, saved by par- liamentary interference. Queen Mary died in 1694. She possessed some good quali- ties; but her conduct in 1688, when she seemed totally insensi- Death of Queen We to the misfortunes of her father, has left a Mary - deep stain upon her memory. Her death revived the hopes of the friends of James, as many considered that Wil- liam was only a king-consort, and that the death of his queen terminated his right to sovereignty. Several conspiracies were formed against him, but they were discovered. The act of set- tlement, which limited the crown to Protestants, was passed at this period. In 1701, James II. died, having passed several years in reli- gious retirement. He had spent a portion of each year with the Death of James, monks of La Trappe, and had adopted a demeanor and of wmiam. ' wllich s h owe( j t h afc ]ie ^ at ] ast rec0 nciled to his fall from worldly greatness. His last advice to his son was an 1702 A. L\] WILLIAM AND MARY. 597 injunction to forgive his enemies. On his death, Louis XIV. proclaimed his son king of England; for though he had acknow- ledged William, events had occurred which caused a renewal of hostilities between France and England. Charles of Spain hav- ing died leaving no children, bequeathed his crown to Philip, the grandson of Louis. William formed an alliance with the States of Holland and the emperor of Germany, to prevent this union of the monarchies of France and Spain, and to obtain Spain for the emperor. But the king of England did not live to carry on the war, for he soon afterward broke his collar-bone by a fall from his horse, and died, 8th March, 1702, in the 58th year of his age. William was very unpopular with the people of Scotland, upon whom the massacre of Glencoe made a deep impression. These feelings were still more imbittered by his conduct respecting the Darien expedition. This was a project for colonizing the Isth- mus of Darien, into which the people of Scotland had warmly entered about the close of the eighteenth century, and which at first received the approbation of the king and the sanction of parliament. Commercial jealousies intervened, and William was induced not only to withdraw his favor from the plan, but to as- sist the Spaniards in their opposition to the colonists who ven- tured their lives and properties in making the attempt to carry it into execution. Some of the colonists, after suffering great pri- vations, succeded in reaching their country, where their account of all they endured roused a feeling of resentment against Eng- land to which many writers trace the growth of the strong feel- ing in favor of the Stuarts which so long prevailed in Scotland. It was in the reign of William that the standing army of England was first established by act of parliament, and under the same monarch the national debt commenced. Several distin- guished literary men flourished at the period, among whom the names of Newton, Locke, and Dryden hold the highest rank. In the delineation of the character of William, panegyric and censure have both been unsparingly used, and, as is generally the case in such circumstances, without much dis- -William's cha- crimination. Had the great author, of whose truly ™cter. impartial history these pages are the continuation, carried his labors to a later period, it is likely that he would, in his fair and 598 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1702. honest mode of dealing with character, have allotted to the prince of Orange (as to Cromwell) some good qualities, and many bad ones. He would, no doubt, have given him credit for being to a certain extent tolerant, while his powerful pen would have lashed William's feeble, if not pretended defence of the articles, of Limerick from a parliamentary abrogation which fettered the Catholics of Ireland. And, while on national grounds he would have praised William's opposition to the virtual junction of the crowns of France and Spain, he would have in strong language denounced his share in the Grlencoe massacre, and his duplicity respecting the Darien project. William's manner was cold and distant, but he is said to have grown animated in battle. He was a Calvinist in creed, and therefore by no means a favorite with the Protestant clergy of England. Ambition was his ruling passion, to gratify which, instead of endeavoring to promote peace between his uncle and father-in-law, James, and the subjects of that monarch, he employed years in fomenting English discord, and at last drove into exile a king to whom he ought to have felt that he was linked by the tenderest ties of nature. CHAPTEK XXXIII. %UUL Anne succeeds to tbe throne — England joins the Grand Alliance — Victories of Marlborough — The Union of England and Scotland — Impeachment of Sacheverell — Treaty of Utrecht — Death of Anne — Her Character. — Erom A. D. 1702 to 1714. Anne, the second daughter of James II., and wife of Prince George of Denmark, succeeded William on the throne of Eng- land, in accordance with the arrangements which had been made at the time of the revolution. She was at the period of her ac- cession thirty-eight years of age, and a member of the Church of England. She was not friendly to the policy of the whig party, 1707 A. D.] ANNE. 599 and appointed her ministers from among the tories. In her first address to parliament, she declared that her foreign policy would be guided by the same principles which had actuated her predecessor, and that she would maintain her place in the " grand alliance" — as the combination of England, Germany, and Holland against Louis XIV. was termed. Marl- Marlborough's borough was sent with a large force to the con- victories, tinent, and entered on that career which has rendered his name so distinguished in the military annals of England. Marlborough commenced operations in the Netherlands, and soon succeeded in taking Liege, where he found a large amount of treasure. In 1704, he gained the memorable victory of Blenheim, in which a large portion of the French army was slain ; and, having returned to England, he received the thanks of parliament, and an estate on which the queen ordered Blenheim House to be built. Marl- borough soon returned to the continent, and, in 1706, defeated the French under Marshal Villeroy, at Bamillies, in a battle which was hotly contested, and in which both armies displayed considerable valor. It is said that the French lost 8000 men, and the allies 3000 in this engagement; which gave a heavy blow to French influence in the North of Europe. In Spain, Lord Peterborough, aided by Portugal, gained some important advantages, and even drove Philip from the capital. The important fortress of Gibraltar was, in 1704, taken by Booke and Shovel, who commanded the English fleet on the Spanish coast. This place has remained ever since in the hands of the English. Louis, finding that he could not resist the allies, notwithstand- ing the ability of his generals and the bravery of his troops, made overtures, in 1706, for peace. Such, however, was the desire, on the part of England, to humble France, that the war was uni- versally popular, and negotiation distasteful to the national mind. Hostilities were protracted, and as a consequence, the national debt received a very large increase. In 1707, the union between England and Scotland took place. This measure principally owed its origin to the course which the Scottish parliament had begun to adopt on the sub- Union of Enrr . ject of the succession. That body had passed a land and Scotland, measure, the "act of security," by which it was enacted that the 600 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1707. successor of Anne should not, as regarded Scotland, be the same person whom England might accept, unless Scotland obtained certain commercial privileges which were then withheld. An act for arming Scotland was passed at the same time. These steps alarmed the English ministers, and commissioners were appointed to draw up articles of union. The articles were presented to the Scottish parliament, and led to very warm debates. By these ar- ticles the two nations were declared to be united under the one government and legislature, but each was to retain its own legal forms. The Presbyterian Church was to be guaranteed to Scot- land, which country was to send forty-five representatives to the British house of commons, and sixteen to the house of lords. The union was very unpopular in Scotland, (for the people re- gretted to see their legislature passing away from them,) but, by threats and bribery, the measure was carried, and from the 1st May, 1707, the two countries were united under the title of Great Britain. The discontent which prevailed in Scotland was carefully ob- served in France, and roused the hopes of the son of James II., Chevalier de st. wno ; under the name of James III., resided at the George. French court. He was known also by the title of the Chevalier de St. George, and was by the English termed the Pretender. Louis assisted him with an armament, and in 1707 he sailed for Scotland, to which country many of the Scottish. no- bility invited him. " I hope I shall never see you again/' were the parting words of the ^ing of France, who expected that, by giving England some military affairs to attend to in Scotland, he would divert her armies from his own territories. The Stuart squadron was, however, attacked by some English ships of war under admiral Byng. Several of the French vessels were captured, and the others with difficulty got back to Dunkirk. The Chevalier escaped, and made no further attempt till 1715. In the year 1708, Prince George of Denmark died, having been for twenty-five years married to the queen. He possessed no abilities, but his mild and unambitious temperament won for him many friends, and he passed his life without interfering with any of the political intrigues of the time. To a man of ambi- tious views, the period offered many temptations, and in such hands the act of settlement (to which Anne was by no means 1709 A. D.] ANNE. 601 partial) might have been altered to enable him to succeed the queen should he survive her. About the close of the year 1709, intense popular excitement prevailed in England, in consequence of the impeachment of a clerovman named Sacheverell, who had preached The impeach- GJ ... . . r ment of Sacheve- a sermon containing language so violent against reii. the whig party, then in office, that ministers resolved on a prose- cution. In order to account for the great interest which this trial caused, we must first explain the state of religious feeling at that period in England. The whig party had now been predominant from the time of the Revolution, but after the death of William III., their power began to decline, for the sentiments of Anne leaned toward the tories. By degrees the political errors into which James had* fallen were passing from the minds of the people, and toryism became the popular creed. A very strong sentiment in favor of the Protestant religion gained ground throughout the kingdom, and a hostile feeling toward dissenters, to whom the whigs were inclined to be tolerant. The people and the queen held one set of opinions, while the ministers (whom the queen was anxious to have some plausible reason for dismissing) professed another. While these clashing views were tending in no small degree to disturb public tranquillity, the flame of discord was kindled into a glow by Dr. Sacheverell, who, at St. Saviour's church in London, preached a sermon in which he plainly conveyed that the time was come when the tolerators of dissent had endangered the church, and that the people should take up arms in its defence. He was tried and found guilty, but such was his popularity that the whig ministers were afraid to punish him severely, and he shortly afterwards made a species of triumphal progress through a large portion of the kingdom. Shortly after the trial of Dr. Sacheverell, two tories were, through court influence, introduced into the ministry. These were Harley, afterward Earl of Oxford, and St. John, afterward Lord Bolingbroke. Disputes having arisen between these two statesmen and the prime-minister Godolphin, he dismissed them, which course gave such displeasure to the queen, that she soon afterward recalled them to power, and directed them to form a ministry. At the general election which shortly took place, the 2N 51 C02 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1709. whigs were left in a considerable minority. Marlborough, about this time, was recalled through the influence of court enemies. Negotiations for peace were soon commenced by the tory ad- ministration, who were by no means so hostile to France as their The treaty of whig predecessors in office. After some resistance Utrecht. } n ^ e nouse f lords, these negotiations were sup- ported by parliament; and, in 1713, Great Britain and Holland, without the concurrence of Germany, concluded the peace of Utrecht. The principal article in this treaty was, that Philip should be king of Spain, but neither he nor any of his descend- ants king of France, and that no king of France should ever in- herit the crown of Spain. England was to retain Minorca and Gibraltar. Thus, after a lavish waste of life and treasure, a war was brought to an end, by which, although England added to her military name, she largely increased her national debt and ob- tained very inadequate advantages. Shortly after the peace of Utrecht, Queen Anne died suddenly, (1st August, 1714,) and with her terminated the main Stuart Death of the ^ me ' ^ ne Hanoverian descendants of James I., , The Accession of the King — "War between England and France continued — Treaty of Paris — John Wilkes — Policy of England toward her American Colonies — Stamp Act — Hostilities commenced between England and the Colonies — Declaration of American Independence — Peace between England and the United States declared — Efforts to repeal the Penal Laws — Riots in consequence — The Impeachment of Hastings — England joins the war against France — The success of the British Arms in Spain — "War with the United States — England again joins the Allies against Napoleon — Battle of "Water- loo— Death, and Character of George the Third.— From A. D.1760 to 1820. George in. ascended the throne under circumstances which promised a long and popular reign. He was only twenty-two years of age, and was the first English king of the line of Bruns- wick who had been born in England. Shortly after his acces- sion he married the Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburgh Strelitz. In the first speech which he delivered to his parliament, he said, that having been " born and educated in England, he gloried in the name of Briton/' and promised " that he would make it his constant study to guard the welfare of the people, over whom he was called upon to reign." He professed an anxiety for peace, but hoped that such supplies would be granted as would enable the crown to prosecute the war in a manner which would lead to its being brought to a close on honorable conditions. Parliament voted a large sum, and, to meet the interest on a new loan, an ad- 616 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1762 ditional tax was placed upon beer, which had the effect of causing a great amount of popular discontent. The king had been educated under the care of Lord Bute, a Scotch nobleman of tory, and even of Jacobite, tendencies. He possessed a great influence over the mind of his pupil, who, when he became monarch, appointed him joint secretary of state with Mr. Pitt. That statesman, however, held very different views from those of his colleague on many important subjects. Lord The war con- Bute was in favor of peace, but Pitt considered France and Bnj£ * na * a warlike policy was demanded by the inte- land - rests of Britain. On learning that France was about to receive aid from Spain, Pitt advocated a declaration of war against the latter country, but, being overruled in his opi- nion, he resigned. The king conferred on him a pension of £3000 a year, and created his wife a peeress, under the title of baroness of Chatham. It was not till some years afterward that Pitt, as earl of Chatham, became a peer. Negotiations soon commenced, but they were unsuccessful, and not only did war continue between France and England, but Spain commenced hostilities, as Pitt had foretold. England, however, proved a match for the new combination, as her navy was in first-rate con- dition, and she took from Spain Havana, Manilla, and the Phi- lippine Islands. In Portugal, also, which had been invaded by Spain, England triumphed over the Spanish troops, and drove them into their own country. In Germany, the marquis of Granby commanded the British troops, and succeeded in gaining many advantages. Notwithstanding the success which had at- tended British arms, both at sea and on land, ministers found it so difficult to provide the supplies necessary for the support of so many armaments, that negotiations were again entered upon, and a peace, known as the " Treaty of Paris," was concluded in 1763. By this treaty, England surrendered many of the con- quests which she had made during the war, among which Mar- tinique, Guadaloupe, Havana, and other places of importance. She retained Canada, Louisiana, Cape Breton, Senegal, Grenada, Dominica, St. Vincent's, Tobago, numerous large tracts of the Coro- mandel coast in the East Indies, Minorca, (in the Mediterranean,) and East and West Florida. This war (called by historians the " Seven Years' War") had caused an addition of sixty millions 1763 A. D.] GEORGE THE THIRD. 617 sterling to the national debt, which was now almost one hundred and forty millions. In England, at this period, the whigs were now beginning to lose the power they had possessed under the successive adminis- trations of Walpole, Pelham, Newcastle, and Pitt. The decline of As long as the Stuart claims were likely to be re- the whi s P° wer - vived, the tories could not gain much influence with the people ; but as no attempt was made by the exiled family after that in 1745, which terminated in a manner so disastrous to their cause, the lapse of time effaced from the popular mind those feelings which had given strength to the whig party. It is also to be ob- served that as Greorge II. and the prince of Wales had very serious differences and became totally estranged from each other, the family of the latter were not likely to be on terms of close intimacy with the party from which the king's advisers were chosen. Lord Bute had instilled into the mind of his royal pu- pil high prerogative notions, and thus we will find that George III. showed, throughout his lengthened reign, a marked tendency in favor of the views respecting the power of the crown, which form the principal element in the opinions of tory statesmen. But Lord Bute was personally unpopular, and the peace of 1763 was disliked by the nation because England thereby surrendered so much which her armies and fleets had won. A change, there- fore, took place in the administration, Mr. Grenville succeeding to the post of prime-minister; but there was no alteration in policy. At this period the writers who discussed national affairs in newspapers and other periodical publications, began to assume a tone which gave great offence to ministers. Among those who dealt most severely with the administration, was John Wilkes, member for Ailesbury, and editor of a paper called the North Briton. Wilkes, in the 45th number of his periodical, went so far as to impeach the veracity of the king. A The prosecution general warrant was issued against the editor, prin- of John was- ters, and publishers of the " North Briton," and by force of this, a king's messenger entered the house of Wilkes and apprehended him. He was examined, his papers were seized, and he was com- mitted to the Tower, but was soon released on the ground of his privilege as a member of parliament. The paper complained of 20 52* 618 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1665 was burned by the hands of the hangman ; and a riot took place on the occasion, for Wilkes was very popular. He brought an action against the secretary of state for seizing his person, and obtained damages — the judge, Chief-justice Pratt, laying it down as law that general warrants were illegal. Wilkes was, however, soon afterward expelled from the house of commons, as he was outlawed for not appearing to an indictment, and retired to France. In the year 1765, Mr. Grenville, prime-minister, brought in a bill to impose a tax on the North American colonies, in the form of a stamp duty, and from this circumstance arose that discontent which (though partly allayed for a time in 1766) increased, till in a few years afterward the colonies declared themselves independent. We now, therefore, find ourselves entering on that period when one of the most im- portant struggles in history occurred, and it will be necessary to examine with care the progress of the contest. The stamp act was founded on the principle that as the expenses of the war had been increased by the defence of the American colonies, the colo- nists ought to pay portion of the national debt. The bill was passed into law, and caused great dissatisfaction in America, the colonists contending that, as they were not represented in the British parliament, and thus had no share in voting the supplies, they should not be called upon to contribute to the British re- venue. Their indignation rose to such a height, that they re- solved to resist the operation of the act, especially as they observed that their cause was advocated by Pitt, and other distin- guished members of the British legislature. Several of the colonial states assembled, and passed resolutions in which they protested against the assumed right of England to tax them. Those who were sent out with the stamped paper received such treatment that the act could not be enforced. In the following session the act was repealed, but unfortunately the germ of dis- cord was left, for a reservation (afterward acted upon) was made of the right of England to tax her colonies. The repeal of the stamp act was one of the measures of Lord Rockingham, a whig nobleman, who had become minister, Mr. Grenville having resigned in consequence of a personal difference with the king, which arose from the omission of the name of the king's mother in a bill for appointing a regency in the case 1770 A. D.] GEORGE THE THIRD. G19 of any serious illness of the sovereign. Lord Rockingham, however, did not remain long in power, and was Taxes on ten succeeded by the duke of Grafton as premier, and £ laas > &c - im Po*cd. Pitt (who was now created earl of Chatham) as lord privy seal ; but the popularity of Pitt was somewhat on the wane, and, his health having declined, he retired from office. It was during his last administration that Mr. Townsend, one of the ministers, pro- posed the imposition of taxes on tea, glass, and some other ar- ticles imported into America from Great Britain, which measure kindled afresh a flame of indignation throughout the North American colonies. In 1768, Wilkes returned to England, though he was still an outlaw, and, having surrendered, was fined and imprisoned. Such was his popularity, that he was elected member of Wilkes finally v Vl Vr Ttr* m tt i admitted to a seat parliament ior Middlessex. He was, however, ex- in parliament, pelled from the house, on the ground that having been solemnly censured by the preceding parliament, he was disqualified for life. Wilkes was repeatedly elected ; but as the house would not let him sit, violent tumults took place, and Wilkes, though a very immoral writer, became the idol of the people, on account of the representative principle with which he was identified. He was elected alderman, and even became lord mayor of London. In 1776 he was allowed to take his seat in the house, and soon afterward a motion was carried to erase from the journals of par- liament the record of the various decisions against his being per- mitted to act as a member. Though by no means of an estimable character, he was, through his boldness, the cause of some im- portant principles of civil liberty being preserved. In 1769, the famous letters of ^Jimias" appeared in the columns of one of the newspapers. These productions have al- ways been ranked among the finest compositions in the English language. They were levelled against ministers, and were so se- vere that for one of them (a letter to the king) the printer was prosecuted. The authorship of these remarkable letters has never been ascertained, but there are very strong proofs that they were written by Sir Philip Francis. In 1770, Lord North, son of the earl of Guilford, (but not himself a peer,) became prime-minister, which position he occu- pied for twelve years. It was during his administration that the 620 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1770. contest took place which made the North American colonies an independent power — the rise, progress, and termination of which it now becomes our duty to relate. We have already stated that when, in 1766, the stamp act was repealed, the British legislature declared that they possessed the right to impose taxes on the North American colonies, and that in 1767, this principle was sought to be carried into operation by Taxes repealed, taxes on tea > glass, and other commodities. The except that on tea. indignation to which this course of action gave rise among the colonists was so great that England again yielded, but unfortunately again only yielded partially. All the taxes were repealed, in 1769, except that on tea, which was retained in order to carry out the principle of the right to tax. The amount of the duty (three pence per pound) was a mere trifle, but the colonies resolved to resist the principle of taxation, and in their minds the exact sum to be paid was of no importance. In fact, it so happened that, on account of a certain trade regu- lation which at this time came into operation, in the nature of a drawback, the duty did not affect the price to be paid by the American consumer. But the resentment felt by the Americans was so deep that in many of the states a resolution was adopted of not using any commodities imported from England. * From 1770 to 1773, the anti-British feeling gained ground in America. The principal scene of discontent was Boston, in the state of Massachusetts ; and, in order to overcome the growing The destruction sentiment against England, the East India Com- of tea at Boston, pany shipped several cargoes of tea principally for Boston, to be sold there at a very low price. But so intense was the feeling of the Americans that when the ships, laden with tea, arrived in Boston harbor, they were boarded and the tea was thrown into the water. When the tidings of this proceeding reached England, an act was passed which prohibited all com- mercial intercourse with the port of Boston, and by another mea- sure the legislative assembly of the state of Massachusetts was declared to be abolished. These acts were passed in the spring of 1774, and had the effect of rousing those who hitherto had not been so prominent as the inhabitants of Boston in opposition to England; and, in the autumn of 1774, a congress of representa- tives from several states assembled in Philadelphia, passed reso- 1776 A. D.] GEORGE THE THIRD. 621 lutions against the course adopted by Great Britain, and declared against commercial intercourse with England until the statutes complained of should be repealed. England might now have conciliated the colonies by repealing the three-penny tea-duty act, and the statutes which had been aimed at Boston. Her most distinguished senators ° The eommence- advised such a policy, and foremost among them ment of hostilities was Edmund Burke, an Irishman, who had now and the American risen to eminence, and who delivered, in 1774 and °° omes " 1775, some of his greatest orations. But ministers could not submit to the humiliation of yielding; and, having resolved on attempting to gain their object by force of arms, refused to hearken to any proposal short of American subjection. As the colonists were equally resolved not to concede, there was of course no alternative but war, and accordingly in spring, 1775, hostilities commenced. The first military encounter between the royalists and the Americans took place at Lexington, near Boston, in April, 1775, on which occasion the latter gained the advantage. A much more important engagement took place on the 7th June, in the same year, at Bunker's Hill, also near Boston. The Americans inflicted severe injury on the British army; but the latter main- tained their position. The war soon spread, and even Canada was invaded, but without success, by the Americans, who in an attack on Quebec, lost Montgomery, an Irish soldier, one of the ablest of the American generals. George Washington was appointed in June, 1775, to command the American forces, and the war began to assume an aspect which caused the British ministers to offer pardon to those who would lay down their arms. As, however, the Americans wanted some- thing more than mere pardon, the offer was rejected Declaration of with ridicule. The deputies from the states con- independence, tinued to meet, and, having abandoned all hope of peace on honor- able terms, that body, in a solemn address known in history as the " Declaration of Independence'' announced to the world, on the 4th July, 1776, that the North American colonies were free and separate states, and were absolved from all allegiance to the British crown. The war was now prosecuted with vigor on both sides. Boston 622 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1777. was evacuated by the British soldiers, who sailed thence to Halifax in Nova Scotia. Fresh troops were sent out from England, and the British generals, Howe, Clinton, and others, gained several important advantages. It was of course a considerable time be- fore the Americans could become so disciplined as to be on an equality with the well-trained troops from England. But the colonists, or, as historians term them after the declaration of in- dependence, the republicans, patiently endured many hardships and sufferings rather than yield. On several occasions they suc- ceeded in obtaining some very decided advantages over the Eng- lish; and, in December, 1777, they compelled a considerable force under general Burgoyne to surrender at Saratoga. In England the progress of the American war was of course watched with anxious interest, and the parliamentary debates dis- played a growing strength on the part of the opposition. Chatham Death of chat- was now dead; having, to his last breath, recommend- ham - ed peace and conciliation. He did not, however, advocate the principle that America should be an independent power. The last time he spoke in parliament he fainted, and, being carried home, died in a few weeks. Fox and Burke were now the leading members of the opposition, and when the news of the defeat at Saratoga reached England, the former proposed that the war should be discontinued. The motion was unsuccess- ful, but received the support of 165 members. The cause of the Americans continued to succeed, and, in 1778, ministers sent out commissioners to treat of peace. But the republicans were now conscious of their strength, and refused to entertain any proposals which were not based on the acknow- ledgment of their independence and the withdrawal of the British Peace between tr °ops. The English government would not then England and Ame- consen t to these terms, and the commissioners re- ncan colonies de- ^ dared, turned, having been treated by the Americans with the same haughtiness which, in 1775, had been shown by Eng- land toward the American commissioners, who in that year had come to England to endeavor to prevent war. In 1778, Franklin, the American philosopher, was sent to France, which country soon acknowledged the independence of America, and sent out troops under La Fayette to assist the republicans. Soon after- ward, Spain and Holland adopted the same course, so that Eng- 1780 A. D.] GEORGE THE THIRD. 623 land had to contend with determined enemies, both in the Old and in the New World, and it was now apparent that the Americans must succeed. In 1781, Lord Cornwallis was defeated at York- town, in Virginia, by Washington, which event terminated active hostilities. A motion for peace was carried in the English house of commons early in 1782. Lord North resigned, and the mar- quis of Rockingham became prime-minister, with Fox as one of the secretaries of state. Preparations for peace were made without delay; but in April, 1782, Admiral Rodney engaged the French fleet near Dominica, and gained a complete victory. This action had the effect of enabling ministers to obtain peace on terms somewhat consistent with national honor. In February of 1783, Lord Shelbourne being prime-minister, a treaty was con- cluded at Paris, between England and the United States of Ame- rica, which henceforth ranked as one of the independent powers of the world. There was one event during the war which caused a very deep feeling of resentment on the part of the English. This was the execution of Major Andre, a young British officer, who was taken within the American lines, and, not being in his uniform, he was tried on the charge of being a spy, and was hung. In order to complete the narrative of the contest with America, we have brought the reader down to the year 1783, and, there- fore, must now retrace our steps a little to examine some im- portant events of an earlier date. In 1778, some mitigation took place in the severity of the laws against Catholics in England, but the feelings of Efforts to repeal the Scottish people were so strong against Catho- ^^"cathoiics*" licity, that riots occurred in Edinburgh on the sub- riots » Re- ject of religion, and the relaxation of the penal code was not ex- tended to Scotland. A society, called the Protestant Association, was formed in England, for the purpose of endeavoring to cause the repeal of the recent act in favor of the Catholics. At the head of this confederacy was Lord G-eorge Gordon, a son of the duke of Gordon, and a member of the house of commons. A large mob assembled in St. George's Fields, near London, in June, 1780, to accompany Lord George Gordon to the house of com. mons with a petition for the repeal of the tolerating statute, which 624 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1780 in their bigotry they condemned. The petition was rejected, and the mob proceeded to destroy the Catholic churches in the metro- polis, and the houses not only of Catholics, but of those who were friendly to toleration. On this occasion the library of Lord Chief-justice Mansfield was sacrificed to the fury of the mob, who proceeded to attack Newgate and other prisons, to liberate those who were confined in them. For several days the rioters had possession of the greater portion of London, but at length they were put down by the military, whom the king had ordered out, and several were killed. Many were tried and executed. Lord George Gordon was tried for high-treason, but was acquitted on the ground of insanity. He was afterward, however, imprisoned for libel, and died in jail. The events which occurred in Ireland, during the period of which we have been writing, were of great national importance. Affsirs in ire- l n 1779, by the exertions of Flood, Grattan, and land - other popular leaders, the commercial restrictions which had interfered with the trade of Ireland were removed. A powerful military association, the Irish Volunteers, had been formed, under the command of the duke of Leinster, for the de- fence of the kingdom from the threatened invasion of the French. The Volunteers soon turned their attention to the questions which had long been the sources of difference between their country and Great Britain. They first obtained free trade, and in 1782 they gained the recognition by England of the parliamentary in- dependence of Ireland. The details of this great national move- ment belong to the history of Ireland, and would be unsuited to the pages of this volume, even did our allotted limits permit. During the early part of the reign of George III., manufactures began to excite much national attention. James Watt, a Scotch- man, so much improved the steam-engine that he is almost en- titled to the honor of the discovery of this great instrument of social amelioration. The spinning-jenny was invented by James Hargreaves, and afterward the spinning-frame by Arkright. At this period, Captain Cook, the navigator, made several geographi- cal discoveries. Many of the best authors in the English lan- guage wrote at this period, among whom were Edmund Burke, Johnson, Goldsmith, Cowper, and others. Several painters of 1783 A. D.] GEORGE THE THIRD. 625 eminence gave an impetus to the fine arts, the principal of whom were Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Barry, the latter a native of Cork. Lord Shelbourne was prime-minister at the time when the independence of America was acknowledged; he having been called to that post on the death of Lord Rocking- Lord sheibourno ham. As, however, his views on some subjects P rime - mimster - differed widely from those of several members of the whig party, Fox and others resigned; and it was on this occasion that the younger Pitt first entered official life, being appointed chancellor of the exchequer, (though only twenty-two,) on account of the talents which he had displayed in the house of commons. Lord Shelbourne was censured by parliament for having made peace with France and Spain on worse terms than were neces- sary, and he resigned. In the April of 1783, the Coalition minis- try was formed, of which the duke of Portland was the head. Fox and North, though for a long time so violently opposed, had joined their forces in opposition, and now they became colleagues in office, each taking the place of one of the secretaries of state. Pitt was succeeded in the post of chancellor of the exchequer by Lord George Cavendish; the first lord of the admiralty being Keppel, an admiral, who, some years before this, had been tried by court-martial for not having with sufficient boldness encoun- tered the French at sea, of which charge, however, he was ho- norably acquitted. It was in 1782 that the French and Spaniards besieged Gi- braltar. The attack was made from the sea by forty-eight ships of the line, and by several floating batteries; while D efence of Gi _ at the same time a large force — which had long ^aitar. besieged the place — assailed the fortress from the land. The place was defended with great courage by General Elliott, the governor, and the troops under his command, and the enemy was repulsed. The Coalition ministry was destined to be but of short dura- tion. In the November of 1783, Fox introduced a bill placing the government of India under the control of seven directors, chosen by the house of commons. This measure was much dis- liked by the king, who even interfered personally, by promises and threats, to prevent it from passing into a law. The bill, 53 626 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1783. however, passed the house of commons, but was lost in the house of lords, and the king sent orders to the ministers to deliver up the seals of office, and added, that he did not wish for a personal interview. He immediately appointed Pitt prime-minister, in which position he continued, without intermission, for eighteen years. Pitt commenced his administration under the disadvantage of being opposed in parliament by a considerable majority, composed Pitt prime-min- °f tne followers of Pox and North. The minister ister - was frequently defeated, but as he possessed the favor of the king, and was popular with the nation, he remained in office. At last, the strength of the opposition began to de- crease, and the king dissolved parliament. The new house proved favorable to ministers, who thenceforth possessed considerable power. They now proposed, and carried, an India bill, and a bill to restore the Scotch estates forfeited by the transactions of 1745. In 1785, Pitt introduced a measure for parliamentary reform, but it was defeated. In 1786 the sinking-fund was established, which was a plan for laying aside any surplus revenue which there might be each year, and, placing the same out at interest, the entire to be afterward applied toward the reduction of the na- tional debt. This course was adopted for several years, but was ultimately abandoned as being financially unsound. In the same year, an insane woman, named Margaret Nicholson, made an un- successful attempt to assassinate the king. She was sent to Beth- lehem lunatic asylum, to be kept in restraint. At this period the personal affairs of the prince of Wales, now twenty-four years of age, excited much attention. His extrava- gance caused him to incur a large amount of debt, Prince of Wales. n . . . ... .. , TT • i n which was paid by parliament. He married a Ca- tholic lady, named Pitzherbert, which was contrary to the royal marriage act. He stooped to the denial (through Fox, who was ignorant of the truth) of the marriage, but there is no doubt that it took place. A work recently published by Lord Holland, places the matter beyond any question. The prince of Wales attached himself in politics to the party of which Pox was the leader. Certain subjects respecting the trade between England and 1788 A. D.] GEORGE THE THIRD. 627 Ireland occupied the attention of both kingdoms at this time. Pitt introduced a measure, purporting to establish commercial re- ciprocity between the countries. The plan did not meet with the approbation of the popular leaders in Ireland. Flood and Grattan opposed it as being injurious to their country, and it was abandoned. Having mentioned the name of Flood again, it may be proper here to state that he was, from 1783 to his death, 1791, a member of the British house of commons as well as of the Irish. He spoke, however, very seldom in England. In 1786, Warren Hastings was impeached by the house of commons for "high crimes and misdemeanors," alleged to have been committed by him as governor-general of In- warren Hast- dia. The leader in the prosecution was Edmund in s s impeached. Burke, with whom were associated Fox, Sheridan, and other dis- tinguished members of the house. Pitt was at first inclined to defend Hastings, but was forced by public opinion to join in the impeachment. The speeches delivered by the managers in open- ing the charges are among the most eloquent in the English lan- guage. The trial took place before the peers, in Westminster Hall, and was conducted with great pomp and solemnity. The proceedings lasted for seven years, and terminated in the acquit- tal of Hastings. In 1787 the first attempt was made to mitigate the horrors of the slave trade. The act, which was passed during this session, only went so far as to prevent the overcrowding of slave-ships. Strange to say, even this partial alleviation of human suffering met with opposition. The bill was, however, passed into law, and forms the first chapter of that code which the exertions of Clarkson, Wilberforce, and other friends of the rights of the negro, placed upon the statute-book. It is pleasing to reflect, that on this great topic (though differing somewhat in its details) Pitt and Fox merged the disputes of party, and ,. I,-,! i , r* . -i The slave trade. joined in reprobating the slave system. Consider- able impetus was given to the agitation of the subject by a trial which took place in Westminster Hall, in which a negro, who had come to England, was claimed as property, and the claim was disallowed. In 1788, George III. became deranged in his intellects, and it became necessary that some other person should exercise royal 628 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 17: George becomes authority. Tile course most consistent with the deranged. constitution seeined, that the prince of Wales should be invested with the regency; but Pitt feared that such a step would cause his own expulsion from office, as Fox was the friend and companion of the prince. Accordingly, when the subject came became parliament, violent debates took place; and, as the Irish parliament adopted Fox's view, which was, that the prince (to whom Pitt would only give a limited regency) should have supreme power, the difficulty of the question was getting very complicated, when the king suddenly recovered, and the consideration of the subject was postponed to a period twenty- two years later. Most constitutional writers agree that the course proposed by Fox, Burke, and by the Irish parliament, and which was adopted in 1811, was the more correct. The French revolution, the war in India, and the trou- bled state of Ireland must occupy our attention in examin- ing the close of the last century; and we will endeavor in the next section to place before the reader the most prominent points, as far as these subjects are connected with the history of Eng- land. The French revolution commenced in 1789; but that event, though from the beginning the subject of close attention in Great Britain, did not involve England till 1792. In that year, the feeling became very general in England that France should be restrained in her revolutionary career, especially as she offered aid to all the discontented nations. Edmund Burke was promi- nent in the expression of these sentiments, both in pamphlets and in speeches; and it was a difference of opinion on the French revolution which caused a separation between him and Fox. The latter statesman and Sheridan were opposed to war; but the general voice of the nation seems to have been against them. Early in 1793 the execution of the French king hurried England joins matters forward, and Pitt soon announced that France. England had formed alliances with the leading powers of Northern Europe, and was about to enter on war with France. In England, some parties showed an anxiety to avail them- selves of the interest which the French revolution had given to the question of parliamentary reform, and several motions were 1795 A. D.] GEORGE THE THIRD. 629 made in parliament on the subject. But Pitt was now opposed to any measure of the kind, and the reformers made no progress in the house. A prosecution was set on foot against a person named Hardy, and some other members of one of the reform so- cieties ; but they were defended with great eloquence by Erskine, and acquitted. In Scotland, however, the government obtained verdicts against Mr. Muir, a barrister, and Mr. Palmer, an Uni- tarian clergyman, and they were banished. In Birmingham, the feeling against French principles was so strong that the mob destroyed the library of Dr. Priestley, who had written in defence of the revolution. The cruelty shown by the French to the clergy, many of whom fled for refuge to England, added consi- derably to the general feeling. In India, war had been prosecuted for several years against Tippoo Saib, (son of the well-known Hyder Aly,) one of the principal of the native princes. About this period a treaty was concluded by Lord Cornwallis at Seringapatam, the capital of My- sore. The war against France began in Holland, the duke of York taking the command. At first the French sustained some re- verses; but they subsequently succeeded in driving the English army out of the Netherlands. The allies gave by J . . Progress of war no means that co-operation which England had against France, expected, though she paid a large portion of their expenses. At sea, England maintained her supremacy. Lord Howe de- feated the French fleet near Brest, several of the colonial posses- sions of France were taken, and the French commercial shipping sustained severe losses. In 1795 the people of England began to show symptoms of an inclination for peace, and displayed a strong feeling against the ministers who continued to prosecute the war. The king became less popular, and, on one occasion, his carriage was attacked. Negotiations were entered on, but they were broken off, because France insisted on retaining Belgium. It was Napoleon Bona . about this period that Napoleon Bonaparte, a na- P arte - tive of Corsica, began to be distinguished. In 1793 he had served at the siege of Toulon, a French city, which, for a considerable time, resisted the republican arms. His abilities soon made him conspicuous, and, in 179G, he led the army of the republic into 630 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1795. Northern Italy, which he conquered from Austria; with which power he entered into a treaty known as the treaty of Campo Formio. Austria was thus drawn from the alliance with England, whose difficulties were at the same time increased by a declara- tion of war against her by Spain. In 1795 the prince of Wales married his cousin, the Princess Caroline, daughter of the duke of Brunswick, which marriage afterward led to unhappiness between the parties themselves, and to long-continued public excitement. An addition was made to the income of the prince of Wales, and an arrangement entered into for the payment of his debts. The Princess Charlotte, daughter of the prince and princess of Wales, was born in 1796. Early in 1797 the opinion rapidly gained ground that France would invade England, and every political feeling was for the invasion of Eng- ^ me merged in the determination to defend the land anticipated, country. A run on the bank of England took place; cash payments were, by leave of the privy council, sus- pended, and were not resumed for many years. To add to the excitement of the public mind, mutiny took place on board the fleet in the channel. Government granted the requests of the sailors. The seamen at the Nore then made demands as to pay and other matters, which were refused as being deemed unreason- able, whereupon they moored their vessels across the Thames in order to check commerce. Government did not yield, but took strong measures. In a short time the mutineers submitted; and Parker and several other ringleaders were executed. The English obtained numerous victories at sea in 1797. It was in this year that Admiral Jervis and Commodore Nelson de- feated the Spanish fleet off Cape St. Vincent, and that Admiral Duncan attacked with success the Dutch fleet near Camperdown, on the coast of Holland, and took many of the enemy's ships. In 1798 the French Directory (anxious to be rid of the pre- sence of a popular general) sent Napoleon at the head of an ex- pedition to Egypt, for the purpose of commencing an attack on Napoleon sent to British power in the East Indies. Napoleon pro- Egypt- ceeded through the Mediterranean, and, having taken Malta, he passed over to Egypt, where he landed his troops. Nelson, however, attacked the fleet on the 1st August, at one of GEORGE THE THIRD. 631 the mouths of the Nile, and gained one of the most complete naval victories on record. Napoleon was stopped in his eastern career by Sir Sydney Smith, who forced the French to retreat from St. Jean d'Acre. Napoleon soon left his army, and returned to France; for he considered that the time had come for a change in the form of the government of that country, as the Directory had begun to show considerable incapacity. He soon placed himself at the head of affairs under the title of First Consul, and offered to make peace with England ; but, as she demanded the restoration of the French monarchy, the negotiations did not succeed. He then turned his attention to win back from the northern powers several conquests which they had made in Italy during his absence from Europe. In 1799, the duke of York again commanded an army which landed in Holland to oppose the French, but was again unsuccess- ful in his military operations, and soon returned to Battle of Alex- England. In Egypt, Sir Sydney Smith made a andria - treaty with the French generals, agreeing that the French army should leave Egypt without being molested. Ministers, however, refused to ratify this treaty and hostilities were resumed in Egypt, in which France gained the advantage. In the following year, General Abercromby was sent out with an army, and gained an important battle near Alexandria. Abercromby, however, was killed, and his successor in command, General Hutchinson, soon entered into a treaty with the French, who were permitted to re- turn to France. While the French were in Egypt, Napoleon communicated his plans to Tippoo Saib, who prepared to attack the English in India. General Harris besieged Seringapatam, which was taken by storm. Tippoo Saib was killed during the assault, and his vast treasures fell into the hands of the English. Lord Mornington (afterwards marquis of Welles- ley) was at this time governor of India, and his younger brother, afterwards the duke of Wellington, fought at the siege of Serin- gapatam. Napoleon, having by military successes, unsurpassed in history, not only regained what France had lost, but added largely to her conquests, England found that French influence was becoming so formidable in the north of Europe that some step should be taken 632 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1801. to protect English commerce. A fleet was accordingly sent ; under Sir Hyde Parker and Nelson, to attack the Danes, and s severe contest took place off Copenhagen. After a battle of seve- ral hours' duration an armistice was agreed upon. On the death of Paul, emperor of Russia, who was assassinated in 1801, Eng- land entered into a treaty with several of the northern powers. At this time Napoleon was making great preparations for the invasion of England, and collected a large fleet at Boulogne. Napoleon pre- Lord Nelson was sent to attack this fleet, but England. having destroyed several vessels he desisted, as his loss was becoming considerable. Discontent at the con- tinuation of hostilities was now very general in both countries, and preparations for peace were commenced. Pitt was not in- clined to be a party to the treaty, and he resigned. The king refused to grant emancipation, which Pitt had promised to the Catholics of Ireland, and this was the alleged cause of his resig- nation ; but the real cause was his aversion to being the medium of making peace with France. Mr. Addington became minister, and, in 1801, a treaty recognising Napoleon as First Consul was entered upon, which was definitively signed at Amiens in March, 1802. In 1801, a man named Hatfield shot at George III. in the theatre. Being insane, he was not put to death, but placed in a madhouse. In Ireland, during the period we have been describing, events of considerable national importance occurred. It had unfortu- ireiand at this nate ly happened, that the settlement of the politi- P eriod - cal affairs of that country, in 1782, did not include Catholic emancipation or parliamentary reform ; and accordingly a great deal of popular discontent arose. The French revolution, by causing a wide spread feeling in favor of extensive changes in political arrangements, aroused in Ireland the hope of a speedy ad- justment of grievances. In 1791, a society was formed, called " The United Irishmen," for the purpose of seeking to obtain a reform of the legislature, and for a time this society (though strong language was spoken at its meetings) kept within the limits of the law. In 1793, several concessions were made to the Catho- lics, the most important of which were, the right to vote at parlia- mentary elections, to practise at the bar, and to take the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the University of Dublin. 1801 A. D.] GEORGE THE THIRD. 633 In 1794, an active correspondence took place between the French government and the United Irishmen, which, as France had been victorious wherever she could land her troops, caused so much alarm in England, that Lord Fitzwilliam was sent over as viceroy with instructions to make further concessions to the Catholics. So great, however, was the influence of the Irish Protestants over Pitt, that they persuaded him to recall Lord Fitzwilliam and to appoint Lord Camden, a nobleman of very different views. The United Irishmen exasperated by this course of action, prosecuted with vigor their correspondence with France, and, in December, 1796, a French fleet having troops on board, commanded by General Hoche, arrived in Ban try Bay in the south of Ireland. There was not, however, any co-operation on the part of the Irish people, preparations not having been made, and the French fleet returned to France. In 1797, no forces were sent by the French to Ireland, as their fleet met with so severe a defeat at Camperdown. The Irish peo- ple suffered great hardships during this period, from the circum- stance of soldiers being sent to various districts, and quartered on the inhabitants without payment. Any murmur against this treatment was visited with the most cruel punish- The Irish lead . ments, and in many cases with death. The en- ers betrayed, rolling of members of the society of United Irishmen went on with activity until March, 1798, when several of the leaders were arrested in Dublin, having been betrayed by one of their own sworn confederates named Thomas Reynolds. Several were exe- cuted, but the United Irishmen did not abandon their intention of rising, and a general insurrection took place on the 23d May, 1798. Lord Cornwallis was now viceroy ; for, when the state of the country assumed a warlike aspect, Lord Camden (a civilian) sug- gested that a nobleman accustomed to military affairs should be sent over. Lord Edward Fitzgerald was arrested, and, being mortally wounded in the attempt to take him prisoner, soon died in jail. Still, such was the confidence of the United Irishmen in their resources that they rose in various parts of the The insurrec ti n country, and in some counties with considerable breaks out. temporary success. Their principal advantages were obtained in Wexford : on the 20th June, they were defeated at a place called 2P 634 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1801. Vinegar Hill, in that county, by General Lake, and the insur rection was soon considered to be at an end. In the August of the same year, General Humbert landed with 900 French soldiers at Killala, on the west coast of Ireland, and obtained the superiority in an engagement with General Lake, near Castlebar. They advanced into the country, but, at a place called Ballinamuck, they were met by a very large force under Lord Cornwallis, and surrendered. The French were treated as prisoners of war, but many of the Irish who joined them were executed. An amnesty was, however, soon proclaimed, and the country saw the termination of one of the most sanguinary strug- gles in the history of these islands. There is no doubt that it sprang from misgovernment; but it is the painful duty of an im- partial writer to state, that, during the insurrection, both sides perpetrated fearful cruelties, with the details of which we shall not stain these pages. In 1799, ministers proposed a Legislative Union with Ireland; but, such was the force of popular feeling in the latter country, The Legislative that the measure was defeated. It was, however, Umon - passed into law in 1800, by the extensive use of the open and undisguised bribery of the members of the Irish parliament. The bill was opposed in Ireland by Grattan, Plunket, Bushe, and many other eloquent men ; and in England by Fox, Sheridan, Grey, and other leading senators. The opposition, however, to the measure failed, and on the 1st January, 1801, the act came into operation, by force of which the Irish parlia- ment ceased to exist, and the two islands acquired the name of " The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland/' The peace between France and England was of very short duration. The resumption of hostilities was caused by the refusal of England to give up Malta, which she had taken in 1800, and which by the treaty was to have been surrendered to the Knights of St. John. England objected to carry out this part of the treaty because, in her opinion, it would be dangerous to abandon Malta till France had complied with certain disputed demands. War was therefore resumed in May, 1803. In 1802, a conspiracy against the life of the king had been discovered in London, the principal conspirator being a captain 1804. A. D.] GEORGE THE THIRD. 635 Despard, who with six associates was tried on the charge of high treason, found guilty, and executed. In 1803, an insurrection was planned in Ireland under the leadership of Robert Emmett. It broke out in a new insurrec- the streets of Dublin in July, and the chief jus- Emmett. tice, Lord Kil warden, was murdered. His nephew and daughter were with him, of whom the former was killed, but the latter was permitted to escape. The military dispersed the insurgents, and Emmett, with the other leaders, was tried and executed. Emmett was a young man of talent, and possessed many good qualities, so that the early death to which his fatal rashness led, excited the regret even of many who were opposed to his views. He was not a party to the murder of Lord Kilwarden (those who perpetrated that act being beyond his control) ; but he did not deny that he had conspired against the government. The war recommenced in 1803, England as usual obtaining important advantages at sea, and France on land. Napoleon made extensive preparations for the invasion of England, which roused the nation to such a state of excitement that all classes united their efforts to prepare for the defence of the country. The fleet under Nelson guarded the coasts, and Napoleon did not carry his designs into execution. In 1804, Napoleon became emperor of the French. His suc- cesses on the continent are not equalled in history ; but the detail of them does not belong to these pages. It is sufficient for our purpose to state, that possessing a wonderful military genius he overthrew the armies of Austria and Prussia, dictated terms to Russia, and, in short, placed all Europe, with the exception of England, at his feet. Pitt returned to office in 1804, and remained minister till his death, in 1806. His efforts to check the progress „ ' „ , , ,. . , £ i n Death of Pitt of Napoleon led to a coalition between England and several of the continental powers. But the arms of France triumphed throughout Europe. The defeat of the Austrians at Ulm, of the Prussians at Jena, and of the combined forces of Russia and Austria at Austerlitz, broke up the coalition, made Napoleon dictator of Europe, and preyed so much on the mind of Pitt that his health gave way, and he died in January, 1806. He was only forty-seven years of age, but his frame was exhausted 636 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1807 by the toils of official life, lie having been a minister for nearly the entire of his adult years. In 1805, Lord Melville (formerly Mr. Dundas,) one of the ministers, was impeached for malpractices in his office at the Ad- miralty. He was acquitted of the charge of appropriating the public money, but was not cleared of that of conniving with some of his subordinates in temporarily falsifying the public accounts. While throughout the continent of Europe the arms of France were triumphant, she sustained some severe reverses at sea. On Battle of Trafai- tne 21st October, 1805, Nelson fought the cele- s ar - brated battle of Trafalgar, off the Spanish coast, and defeated the combined fleets of France and Spain. In this battle Nelson was killed. His remains were brought to England, and honored with a public funeral at St. Paul's. The navies of France and Spain were almost completely destroyed in this memorable action. Pitt's administration was succeeded by a ministry of which Lord Grenville was the head, and Fox and Sheridan members. It also contained several other eminent men, and was called the ministry of " All the Talents." During this administration, the slave trade was abolished, and a measure friendly to the Catholic claims was introduced. The king would not consent to the latter; and as the ministry, though they withdrew the bill, refused to comply with the request of the sovereign that they would promise never to propose it again, they were obliged to resign and were succeeded [25th March, 1807,] by the duke of Portland at the head of a tory administration. Fox had died in the previous autumn, having, like his distinguished rival Pitt, sunk under the toil and anxiety of party conflicts. In the north of Europe, Napoleon continued to prosecute war' and to subjugate any nation which sought to oppose his sway. In 1807, he entered into a treaty, at a place called Tilsit with Russia, by which that country agreed to become his ally and to act on certain proclamations known as the " Berlin Decrees," which Napoleon, when in Prussia, had issued from the capital of that kingdom, and which had for their object the exclusion of British commerce from the continental ports. The treaty of Tilsit caused England to fear that all the northern nations would be drawn into a similar acquiescence in the Berlin 1809. A. D.] GEORGE THE THIRD. 637 Decrees, and, accordingly, ministers resolved to deprive one at least of those nations of the power of doing injury. The tr , of With this view a fleet was sent to Copenhagen to Tilsit - seize and bring to England the Danish fleet (though Denmark was neutral), lest it should be engaged to forward at sea the de- signs of France. This event had the effect of injuring the character of England on the continent, and of thus lessening her moral power. In 1808, the Peninsular war commenced, and from this year, may, therefore, be dated the commencement of Napoleon's fall. His insatiable ambition had roused against him the anger of humbled nations ; and in Spain that spark was first struck which, being kindled into a flame, finally con- sumed his power. Having compelled the Spanish royal family to abdicate, he placed his brother Joseph upon their throne, which so incensed the people of Spain that they rose against the new king, and he fled from Madrid. England saw that an opportunity had at length arisen on the continent which might be turned to profitable account, and accordingly a treaty was entered into, in consequence of which an army was sent to the Peninsula, in 1808, under Sir Arthur Wellesley, afterwards duke of Wellington. The first battle which Wellesley fought was with Marshal Junot, whom he repulsed on the 21st August, 1808, at Vimiera, in Portugal, of which country the French were masters. A con- vention took place, at a place called Cintra, and the French were permitted to sail for France in British ships. This convention was most unpopular in England, where it was considered that no time should have been lost in pushing on into the country after the success at Vimiera, and the English generals were recalled. As Wellesley had advised the prompt course, his recall has always been considered unfair ; but he had enemies who influenced those who recalled him. Sir John Moore was sent out to take the command of the army, but the French now had time to pour fresh troops into Spain. Napoleon came from Paris without delay, and Death of Sir John Moore learning that the emperor was advancing Moore - against him with 40,000 men, retreated with difficulty from Sala- manca to Corunna, on the north-west coast. Marshal Soult with the French followed him, and after a severe battle, 16th January, 51 638 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1810. 1809, in which Moore was killed, the British troops succeeded in embarking, and thus terminated the first act of the eventful drama of which the Peninsula was the scene. In 1809, the English government being anxious to secure the navigation of the river Scheldt, sent 100,000 men to Holland, under the command of the earl of Chatham (elder brother of the deceased "William Pitt), who was quite unacquainted with war. The expedition was attended with disaster, for the troops were landed on a most unhealthy island, Walcheren, where great numbers perished by disease. The remainder returned to Eng- land without accomplishing their object, and the entire matter became the subject of much angry discussion in parliament. A duel took place in this year between Lord Castlereagh and Mr. Canning, in consequence of some ministerial disputes. Neither party was wounded, but both resigned office. Mr. Perce- val became prime minister, and the Marquis of Wellesley secre- tary for foreign affairs. In 1810, a Mr. Jones was imprisoned for publishing an attack on the House of Commons, which course was condemned by Sir Francis Burdett as illegal, for which he was committed to the tower for the session. His arrest had to be accomplished by mili- tary force. Great excitement took place in London in consequence of these events, which caused political animosities to become very violent. Towards the end of 1810, the king lost his reason, an event which was hastened by grief for the death of his favorite daughter The King loses Amelia. The prince of Wales was appointed his reason. regent with limited powers, which limitation was to cease if the king did not recover in 1812. As the monarch's recovery did not take place, the prince became regent with full sovereign power; and, therefore, though the king lived till 1820, yet, as far as relates to his personal responsibility, with the year 1810 terminated the reign of George III. We must retrace a little, in order to record the progress of affairs in the Peninsula, whither an army under Sir Arthur Wel- The success of lesley was sent in 1809, in order to make another Wellington in „ . pxtt Spain. enort against the power or Napoleon, who was at that time in Austria, making arrangements for a marriage with the daughter of the emperor, for he had divorced his wife 1811. A. D.] GEORGE THE THIRD. 639 Josephine. The French army under Soult was driven out of Portugal by Wellesley, who rapidly advanced towards Madrid. He was attacked by King Joseph and Marshal Victor at Talavera, in July, 1809, and gained the advantage. His loss, however, was so great that he retreated into Portugal. England welcomed with enthusiasm the intelligence of the success of Wellesley, who was elevated to the peerage by the title of Wellington. In 1810, Marshal Massena led the French troops against Wel- lington. Several important places fell before the army of France ; but in September, Massena received a severe repulse on the heights of Busaco, where he attacked Wellington. After this engagement the English retired to a strongly fortified position at Torres Vedras, and the French retreated to winter quarters. In 1811, hostilities continued with vigour and with varied suc- cess. G-eneral Beresford gained an important victory over Soult, at Albuera; but Wellington failed in his attack on Badajos. In 1812, Wellington took by storm Ciudad Roderigo and Badajos, and having gained a hard fought battle over Marshal Marmont, at Salamanea, he took possession of Madrid. Hearing, however, that an immense force was approaching, he retired for the winter towards Portugal. In 1813, Wellington continued to triumph in Spain. On the 27th June he gained an important victory over Marshal Jourdan, at Vittoria; and, after a few months more of hard fighting, he led his victorious army over the Pyrenees, and planted the standard of the United Kingdom in France. While Wellington was overthrowing the power of Napoleon in the south of Europe, events were occurring in the north which tended to the same result. In 1812, Alexander, emperor of Russia, began to act in opposition to the decrees Napoleon inTadea against British merchandise, and thus provoked Eussia - Napoleon to hostilities. He advanced against Russia with half a million of troops, and, having gained some important advantages, he entered Moscow. The Russians, however, destroyed that city by fire in order to deprive the French army of shelter, and Napo- leon was compelled, in October, to commence his march to the south. During this march, nearly three-quarters of his army perished in the snow. Resolved, however, still to try to keep Europe in subjugation to 640 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1814 him, lie hastened to Paris ; and, having reinforced his army, he advanced again to the north in order to oppose the emperor of Russia, who, being now joined by the king of Prussia, threatened to invade France. Such, however, was still the dread which the northern powers entertained of Napoleon's power, that they offered to conclude a treaty with him if he would consent to re- store, what he had conquered since 1805. He refused, and his father-in-law, the emperor of Austria, joined the allies, whose army was now nearly half a million, while that of Napoleon did not exceed three hundred thousand. Several engagements took place, but the most important was the battle of Leipsic (18th October, 1813), in which Napoleon was defeated with the loss of nearly 40,000 men. Napoleon again recruited his army, but he could not withstand the overwhelming numbers of the allies, who, with an immense force, entered France in January, 1814. They still offered to allow Napoleon to re- main sovereign of France, as it was before the Revolution, but he refused, and the allies soon entered Paris. No time was lost in making arrangements for the government of France. Napoleon was declared to be no longer sovereign of that country. The Sovereignty of the island of Elba in the Mediterranean was granted him with a large annual allowance. He soon left France for his little kingdom, and the Bourbons again mounted the French throne. It was in 1814, just before peace, that the battle of Toulouse was fought between the French and English, but without important result to either army. While in the old world Napoleon was hastening to his fall, the new world was the scene of a war between England and America, War -with. Ame- which arose from a claim put forward by the rica - former, to search the ships of the latter to find English sailors, and also from certain " Orders in Council" by which England sought to compensate for the Berlin Decrees to the injury of the trade of neutral nations. These orders were revoked, but America persisted through a sense of having suffered wrong. Several engagements took place with different success, in the last of which (that near New Orleans) the Americans ob- tained a complete victory. A sea-fight took place during this war off Boston, in which the American ship Chesapeake was beaten and taken by an English ship, the Shannon. In 1814, peace 1814 A. D.] GEORGE THE THIRD. 641 was signed between America and England, a peace which, though sometimes threatened to be interrupted, has now remained un- broken for forty years. In May, 1812, Mr. Perceval,, the prime minister, was shot in the lobby of the House of Commons by a man Deatll of the named Bellingham, who was executed in a few prime minister, days, but of whose insanity the clearest proofs were afterwards brought forward. Lord Liverpool became prime minister' soon after this event. Great discontent prevailed throughout the nation at this period, for a considerable depression in manufactures had been caused by the obstruction of the commerce of neutral states. The aristocratic constitution of parliament excited much discus- sion, and a reform bill was loudly demanded. The prince regent was unpopular for his conduct in seeking to fasten a charge of criminal conduct upon his consort, from whom he was separated, which was the theme of the disapprobation of all but the mere flatterers of the court. In Ireland, the Catholics were organizing committees for the purpose of strengthening their cause. Prose- cutions took place against certain parties who had been elected as delegates to central Catholic boards. In the first of these the government failed; but succeeded in the second, principally, as has been proved, by the packing of the jury who tried the case. We must now return to the continent and glance at the start- ling events of 1815, when Napoleon re-appeared in France, and, having for a moment remounted the imperial throne, sank to the condition of being for the rest of his life a captive exile. When Napoleon left France for Elba, several of the European sovereigns visited England, where they met with a very enthusi- astic reception. A grant of £400,000 was voted to Wellington, who had already received £100,000. A dukedom and the thanks of parliament also rewarded his services. Preparations were then made for a congress of the representatives of the cbngress at vi- various states of Europe, and they accordingly as- enna - sembled at Vienna, in October, 1814, Great Britain being repre- sented by Lord Londonderry. The arrangment of the several international questions respecting boundaries in Europe and the possession of colonies, progressed at Vienna till March, 1815, when the congress was thrown into confusion by the startling intelligence that Napoleon had escaped 54* 642 HISTORY TO ENGLAND. [A. D. 1815. Napoleon returns f rom Elba. Such was still the popularity of the from Elba. . ri J name of Napoleon in France, that in a few clays he entered Paris in triumph, Louis XVIII. having fled to Ghent. Napoleon caused the votes of the nation to be taken by ballot on the question of his restoration, and had a million and a half of votes, the number against him being less than half a million. He raised an immense army -with wonderful rapidity and in a month was at the head of more than half a million of soldiers. No time was lost by England and her continental allies in tak- ing steps to prevent Napoleon from maintaining himself in his position. Wellington and the Prussian general Blucher, with their Russian and Austrian allies, assembled in Belgium and on the Upper Rhine a force amounting to nearly a million, and pro- claimed war against Napoleon. He appeared in Belgium with amazing celerity and, on the 16th June, 1815, compelled the Prussians under Blucher to retire before him at Ligny. On the same day Marshal Ney encountered, at Quatre Bras, Wellington and the duke of Brunswick, in which engagement the latter lost his life. The battle, however, did not result in a decisive victory for either army. On Sunday the 18th June, 1815, was fought the memorable battle of Waterloo (twelve miles from Brussels), which decided the con- Battie of Water- * es ^ Napoleon was anxious to attack Wellington lo °- before he was joined by Blucher, and made several charges on the British lines which were met with undaunted courage. For several hours the British soldiers resisted all the efforts of French valor to drive them from their position. At two points, Le Haye Sainte and Hougoumont, the slaughter on both sides was awful. For some time it seemed doubtful whether the French army, or the army of the United Kingdom would succeed ; but toward evening uncertainty was terminated by the arrival of Blucher, who poured a terrible cannonade on the right flank of the French, while the charge of the guards harassed them in front, so that they were totally overthrown. The Prussians pursued them, and during the flight the French loss was very great. Napoleon hastened to Paris but could not maintain himself on his throne. The French parliament refused even to agree to his resigning in favor of his son (since dead), and he fled to the coast and prepared to escape to America. The British men-of- 1815 A. D.] GEORGE THE THIRD. 643 war, however, watched him closely, and he surrendered to Captain Maitland of the Bcllerophon. He was conducted to the coast of England, and when he learned that he was to be sent to St. Helena as a prisoner for life, he remonstrated against this treatment, for he declared that as he had thrown himself on the protection of British laws he should not be treated so harshly. His protest however, was unavailing, and he was sent to St. Helena, where he died in 1821. Thus fell Napoleon, one of the most remarkable characters in the history of the world. His conduct on several occasions must be condemned; but there is much in his career character of which calls for praise. He certainly saved France Napoleon, from a renewal of the " Reign of Terror," to which the weakness of the Directory was manifestly leading in 1799. He was a mu- nificient patron of arts and sciences, and promulgated an excellent code of laws. Had his offers of peace been met in the proper spirit he would have turned to social ameliorations. But every attempt at negotiation was repulsed ; so the world was visited with protracted wars, which terminated in placing an enormous national debt on England. And yet Napoleon's ashes have been borne from their island grave and placed in a French mausoloem. Napoleon's dynasty occupies the imperial throne of France, and the armies and fleets of France, and of the United Kingdom are joined in opposition to that power from which Napoleon first received the blow which eventually prostrated him. Such are the fluctuations of human affairs. When the allied armies entered Paris, they stained their victory by the execution of some of Napoleon's generals, and amongst them of Marshall Ney whose safety was guaranteed by treaty. A statute to Ney has lately been erected in Paris. In 1816, a British armament under Lord Exmouth bombarded Algiers, and compelled the Dey to enter into a treaty, binding himself to avoid the repetition of his cruelties toward prisoners taken by his ships. In 1817, the Princess Charlotte died, after having given birth to a still-born son. She was daughter of the prince of Wales, and possessed beauty, virtue, and accomplishments. She had been married in 1817 to Prince Leopard, uncle to the. present queen 644 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1819. and now king of the Belgians. The princess was universally re- gretted. During the closing years of the reign of George III., great discontent prevailed throughout England. The corn laws were Discontent in enacted, and parliamentary reform was resisted ; England. so that tumults took place, in one of which, at Peterloo near Manchester, several persons were killed by the military. In 1819, the bank of England resumed cash payments by act of parliament; but, as a great run on the bank took place, the payments in gold were suspended again for four years. George III. died on the 29th of January, 1820. His queen had died in 1819, and his son the duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria, on the 23d January, 1820. The character of George III. was strictly moral in all domestic relations, but in public af- Character and ^ rs ne committed many faults. His obstinate reign of Geo. in. a dh er ence to the laws which excluded Catholics from their rights, proves how deeply his mind was tinged with intolerant doctrines. His reign was marked with many important changes in social life, especially the application of the wonderful agencies of steam. In literature, this reign produced many of the greatest ornaments in all departments. Byron, Moore, Camp- bell, Scott, Southey, Wordsworth, and others in poetry ; Burke, Pitt, Fox, Sheridan, O'Connel, Curran, Grattan, Canning, Plun- kefc, Bushe, and others in oratory; Davy and others in physical science; Dugald Stewart and others in philosophy; Scott in prose fiction : all gave a great impetus to the development of mind. Painting and sculpture found able representatives in Reynolds, Chantrey, Lawrence, Flaxman, and other eminent men. We cannot dwell longer on the great names which adorned this reign ; but the student will find them more fully set forth in another part of our volume. 1820 A. D.] GEORGE THE FOURTH. 645 CHAPTER XLII. imp t\t |jtrttrt|. Accession of George IV — Proceedings against Queen Caroline — Corona- tion of the king — He visits Ireland — Revolt in Greece — Catholic Emancipation— Death of the king.— From A. D. 1820 to 1830. George IV. ascended the throne at a time when intense poli- tical excitement pervaded the community. The anxiety of the people on the subject of parliamentary reform had led to a wide- spread feeling against the aristocracy. The course, however, which some who were opposed to ministers adopted, tended rather to strengthen than to weaken the government. Shortly after the king's accession, a plot to assassinate the ministers was discovered, The conspirators, of whom one Thistlewood was the leader, were arrested at a house in Cato street, near the Regent's Park, Lon- don ; and five, having been convicted of treason, were executed. An insurrection took place about the same time near Glasgow, but it was soon put down by the military, and some of the insurgents suffered the penalty of the law. At this period, public attention became absorbed by the differ- ences which existed between the king and his consort, Queen Caroline. For many years they had lived sepa- Proceedings rate ; and she had, in 1816, obtained permission Caroline, to travel on the continent. Rumors against her honor were cir- culated, and her name was erased from the liturgy. She resolved to return to England and confront her accusers, and accordingly in June, 1820, she arrived in London, and demanded to be treated as queen consort. This was refused by his majesty, who laid before parliament documents which related to her conduct abroad, and requested the legislature to consider them with care. Lord Liverpool, the prime minister, brought forward a "Bill of Pains and Penalties," having for its object, to deprive the queen of her rights as such, and also to divorce her from the king 646 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1821. Witnesses were examined in support of the measure, but such was the ability displayed by the counsel for the queen, Messrs. (since lords) Brougham and Penman, and so great was the popular feel- ing in her favor, that ministers withdrew the bill, a course which expediency also pointed out as prudent, for the supporters of the measure in parliament decreased at each division. The abandon- ment of the bill was of course hailed with exultation by the queen's friends, and was approved of by the public in general. In 1820, Henry Grattan, who for more than forty years had occupied the foremost position as advocate of the emancipation of the Catholics and of the rights of his countrymen, died in London, whither he had travelled at a very advanced period of life for the purpose of recording another vote in favor of religious liberty. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. As an orator, and as a pure-minded statesman, this dis- tinguished Irishman will always be remembered with honor. The session of 1821 opened with a motion by another eloquent Irishman, the late lord Plunket, in favor of the Catholic claims. A bill on this subject passed the Commons, but was lost in the Lords. The details, however, of this measure did not please the Catholics, as it contained some clauses of a compromising cha- racter. The coronation of G-eorge IV. took place with great spendor in July, 1821. The queen made an attempt to enter Westminster coronation of the Abbey during the ceremony, but her entrance was kin s- prevented by orders of the king. This circum- stance preyed deeply upon her mind, her health sank, and she soon died. A great riot took place at her funeral, the people in- sisting that it should pass through London. Caroline of Bruns- wick has been described by some as a suffering angel, by others as a degraded woman who did not receive sufficient punishment. The truth, as in most cases, lies between these extremes, and the fairest verdict, founded on an examination of the evidence of her friends and foes, seems to be, that she was not guilty of the crime laid to her charge; but that, partly on account of the customs of her country, and partly on account of her natural disposition, to which we may add a wish to annoy her persecuting husband, she allowed herself to be betrayed on some occasions into conduct the levity of which strict morality must in justice blame. 1824. A. D.] GEORGE THE FOURTH. 647 On the 5th May, 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte died at St. Helena, where he had been a prisoner for five years. In August, 1821, George IV. visited Ireland, where he was well received, being the first English monarch who landed in that island as a peaceful visitor. Soon afterwards the George iv. visits king went for a time to Hanover, and in the fol- Ireland - lowing year visited Scotland, where his reception was of a very enthusiastic character. While the king was in Scotland, Lord Londonderry (formerly Lord Castlereagh) committed suicide at his residence in Kent, and was succeeded as foreign secretary by George Canning, a great parliamentary orator and a statesman of enlightened views. This was a period of distress and of much agrarian disturbance in Ireland. The people of England showed, by large subscrip- tions, a generous sympathy for the suffering Irish, but the severe measures which (instead of trying conciliation) parliament, guided by Lord Londonderry, had adopted, tended much to increase the discontent which prevailed in Ireland. In 1822, Mr. Canning, seconded by Mr. Plunket, proposed that Catholic peers should sit in parliament. This measure was not opposed by Lord Londonderry and passed the Commons, but it was rejected by the Lords. A good deal of attention was directed at this period to Spain, where a struggle took place between the people and the king. The latter was aided by France. England, as a govern- ment, took no part in the contest, but many Englishmen proceed- ed to Spain, as private individuals- and fought on the side of the people. This course was, however, soon checked by a proclama- tion. The Spanish colonies in South America revolted at this time, and their independence was acknowledged by England. In 1824, Greece revolted against Turkey, and the contest excited considerable attention in England. A committee was formed in London to aid the Greeks with money. Revolt of Greece. Lord Byron, the poet, then abroad, proceeded to Battle of Navarino. Greece to render personal assistance, but he was shortly afterwards attacked with a fever, and died at Missolonghi. The cause of the Greeks met with varied success. It was not till 1827, that the European powers interfered to stop the war which raged fiercely between the Turks and Greeks. At length it became ap« 648 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1827. parent that the latter could not, alone, succeed in effecting their liberation, and a communication was addressed by England, France, and Russia to Turkey, advising a cessation of hostilities. This advice was disregarded, and a combined Turkish and Egyp- tian fleet assembled in the harbor of Navarino, the intent being to sail from that to the Morea, and subdue the Greeks with a large force. The English, French, and Russian fleets (the first under Admiral Codrington) blockaded that of the Turks at 'Navarino, but did not commence any attack (for war had not been pro- claimed against Turkey) until the Turks fired first. A fierce battle then took place (18th October, 1827), which, in a few hours, ended in the total destruction of the Turkish fleet. Con- siderable discussion took place in England about the battle of Navarino, which even the next royal speech termed an " untoward event j" but there was a good deal of party spirit involved in the dispute. The victory at Navarino, however, saved Greece; for war immediately broke out between Russia and Turkey, and to confront her northern enemy, the latter had to withdraw her troops from Greece, which soon became, and has since continued to be, an independent state. During the time of which we have been writing, England was the scene of great mercantile speculations, followed by considera- ble embarrassments. The duties on almost all goods passing be- tween England and Ireland was repealed, and the currency of the two countries assimilated. Mr. Huskisson, president of the Board of Trade, originated several important mercantile measures. Several joint-stock companies were formed, trade was brisk and seemed safe. But, in 1825 and 1826, a reaction took place; several banks stopped payment, and bankruptcy became very general. After some time, however, confidence was restored, and the monetary embarrassments of the country passed away. In 1826, a treaty was signed between the British in India and the Burmese, which terminated a war that had for some time been waged in the East. A short time before this, a treaty had been concluded between England and the Ashantees, a powerful tribe on the coast of Africa. In January, 1827, the duke of York died, and the duke of Clarence, afterwards William IV. became heir to the throne. Lord Liverpool fell ill in the spring of the same year, and soon 1828 A. D.] GEORGE THE FOURTH. 649 died. Canning became prime minister, but Wellington, Peel, Eldon, and other tories refused to act with him, and, though he formed a ministry by the aid of Lords Anglesey, t> t J T JL i. X.- j. i • 1 Death of Canning. Palmerston, and Lyndhurst, his mental anxiety was so great that his health gave way, and he died in September, 1827. Catholics owe much to the memory of Canning, for though his views on Emancipation by no means went far enough, yet he pioneered the way for the great constitutional victory of 1829. He began life as a tory, but gradually shook off partisan views, and this liberal tendency alienated those in 1827, who in 1829 followed his example. He was a classical and elegant orator. Lord Goderich (formerly Mr. Kobinson) succeeded Canning, but his administration, though including the duke of Wellington, was so weak that he resigned, and the latter became prime minister in January, 1828, with Mr. (afterwards Sir Kobert) Peel as Home Secretary. During this administration numerous important changes, respecting police and the punishment of offences, were brought forward by Mr. Peel. The great glory, however, of this administration was the Emancipation of the Catholics ; the con- sideration of which subject we have hitherto avoided, in order that we might together narrate the agitation of the question and the victory with which that agitation was crowned. From the commencement of the century the subject of Catholic Emancipation had been frequently brought before parliament; but, though introduced with the eloquence with catholic emanci- which Grattan, Plunket, and other friends of P ation - liberty of conscience adorned the topic, and though frequently seeming to be nearly won, as the majorities against it became very small; and though the most gifted writers of the age advo- cated the measure in newspapers, reviews, and pamphlets, still the obstinacy of the crown prevented success. An insidious half- measure could have been obtained, but it would have been clogged with conditions, giving the English government a veto, or prohi- bitory power, in the appointment of Catholic bishops. Some Catholics advocated the veto, but the more manly section opposed it. The Catholics in Ireland had " boards" and " committees," but they could not make a sufficient impression on English opinion, and above all on that of the ministry, to effect the de- sired change. There was a hope that George IV. would repay 2Q 55 650 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1829. with religious liberty that too enthusiastic welcome with which Ireland greeted him, when his personal safety could not be guaranteed in the streets of London. This hope was encouraged by the appointment of the marquis of Wellesley to the viceroyalty, in 1822, as that nobleman was friendly to the Catholics. Liberty of conscience, however, was still obstinately withheld, and in 1823-4, the Catholic Association began to develop the strength of the Catholics of Ireland. This body was under the guidance of Daniel O'Connell, who had long, at the bar, displayed first-rate abilities, and who was a practical patriot, the eloquent champion of the principles of civil and religious liberty. Richard Sheil, also a barrister and a distinguished orator, was likewise an active member of the association, which numbered in its ranks many other able men. In 1825, an act was passed to suppress the association ; but, by a dexterous evasion of the statute, the most important functions of the body were continued (though the detail of its history is not suited to our limits), and, in 1828, the association gained a great victory, by causing the election of O'Connell to the seat in the House of Commons for Clare, which had been vacated by Mr. Fitzgerald, on being appointed president of the Board of Trade. In this year the Test and Corporation Acts were repealed, on the motion of Lord John Russell. The session of 1829 opened with a speech recommending the settlement of the Catholic claims, and this, though the marquis of Anglesey, who had succeeded Lord Wellesley, had been recalled because he had written to the most Rev. Dr. Curtis, the Catholic primate, advising the continuance of the agitation. The Emanci- pation bill was soon brought in by ministers, and passe . having k een carr j e( j a fter m any stormy debates, re- ceived the signature of the reluctant sovereign on the 13 th April, 1829. The Catholic Association had been voluntarily dissolved soon after the arrival in Ireland of the king's speech, which threatened its suppression by an act which, as it was coupled with the promise of emancipation, was rapidly passed. O'Connell re- fused, of course, to take the old oaths, and the House of Commons would not let him sit on taking the new ones. He was, however, returned for Clare without opposition, and soon entered parlia- ment, the doors of which his own untiring energy had opened to the Catholics of the United Kingdom. 1830 A. D.] WILLIAM THE FOURTH. 651 The session of 1830 was marked by many angry debates, princi- pally on the subject of parliamentary reform. This r / , t n i • ii. Death of the king. topic, however, belongs to the next reign, and this we now approach; for, on the 26th June, 1830, the king died of ossification of the heart. George IV. possessed talent, but not virtue. His life was profligate, and his treatment of his wife (even before there was any excuse for suspicion) cruel and unkind. In power he abandoned the lofty principles of Fox, which he had formerly professed. His conduct to the Catholics was most insincere. It must be admitted that he had a taste for literature and the fine arts, and that many social improvements took place while he oc- cupied the throne. CHAPTER XLIII. William \\t $mti% His accession to the Throne — Affairs in France — The state of Ireland — Death of the King — Chief events of his Reign. — From A. D. 1830 to 1837. The duke of Clarence ascended the throne as William IV. He did not dismiss the ministers, although they were be- coming very unpopular and were losing much of their parliament- ary strength. Parliament was soon, according to constitutional custom, dissolved, and the usual excitement which attends a gene- ral election was greatly increased in consequence of the effect which was produced in England by the startling events in France. In that country the people had arisen against Charles X., who had issued proclamations which interfered with national freedom. The king was dethroned and proceeded to England, and afterwards to Bohemia, where after some years he died. The duke of Orleans was made king, and took the title of Louis Philippe. The details of the " Revolution of the Three Days" belong of course to the history of France, but 652 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1831. the event exercised a marked influence on the political affairs of Europe. The first effect of the French Revolution on the conti- nent was displayed in Belgium, which separated from Holland, and became an independent state under King Leopold, the same prince who had been the husband of the princess Charlotte of England. The result of the general election of 1830 was favorable to ministers, and when parliament assembled in November, their un- popularity was still further developed in consequence of a decla- ration of the duke of Wellington against reform. So great was the excitement in London on the subject, that the king did not venture to go into the city to dine with the lord mayor, as fears were entertained of an attack on the ministers, who would, of course, be expected to accompany him. Shortly afterwards, ministers were defeated in the House of Commons, on a ques- tion of finance, and resigned. Earl Grey became prime minister. Mr. Brougham was made lord chancellor, and the other offices of the state were also filled by advocates of parliamentary re- form. After passing a bill, which appointed the duchess of Kent regent, should the king die before the princess Victoria became eighteen years of age, the parliament adjourned till Feb- ruary, 1831. It was in 1830 that the first English railway, that between Liverpool and Manchester, was opened. The event was hailed as First railway in * ne commencement of a new era in the commercial England. history of the nation ; but the ceremony of the opening was saddened by the accidental death of Mr. Huskisson, who, having incautiously placed himself in the way of one of the trains, was run over, and so severely injured that he died in a few hours. At this period the Poles made an attempt to shake off the yoke of Russia, and in the struggle which took place they gave evidence of possessing the most heroic courage. They were, however, overwhelmed by the immense armies of the emperor Nicholas. Many of them afterwards took refuge in England, and were treated with much kindness and attention. When parliament assembled in February, 1831, both parties prepared for a great struggle on the question of reform, and it so happened that at the same time the public mind was considerably 1832 A. D.] WILLIAM THE FOURTH. 653 excited by a systematic destruction of agricultural produce and machinery in the south of England by fire. In Agitation on tha March, Lord John Russell introduced the Reform subject of reform. Bill, which disfranchised a large number of the boroughs whose members were returned by the influence of private individuals, and enfranchised several large towns which hitherto had been unrepresented. The tories (who now took the name of conserva- tives) opposed the measure with all their energies; and, after a very lengthened discussion, they succeeded in defeating it by a majority of eight. The ministers advised the king to dissolve parliament, which he accordingly did; and by this step greatly pleased the people. Parliament reassembled in a few weeks, when it appeared that the elections had added largely to the strength of the reformers. Ministers introduced the Reform Bill without delay; but though it now passed the House of Commons, it was defeated in the House of Lords. Popular discontent rose to a pitch of great ex- citement. In London the houses of Wellington and other oppo- nents of reform were attacked, and disturbances of a very serious nature took place in Derby, Nottingham, and other places. In Bristol, the rioters set fire to the town, and for a time overcame the civil and military forces, but were finally put down after many lives had been lost on both sides. Parliament having been prorogued, met again in December, and Xhe bill was introduced for the third time and passed through the House of Commons. The Lords also read the measure twice, but the majority on the second reading was so small that ministers feared a defeat on the third reading, and prayed the king to create new peers. He refused, and Earl Grey resigned. An attempt was made to form a tory administration but without success, and the whigs returned to office in a few days. The king wrote letters to the opposition peers urging the cessation of hos- tility to the measure. This course prevented the necessity of creating peers ; the bill passed, and received the royal assent on the 7th June, 1832. Reform bills for Ireland and Scotland were also soon passed. In this year the cholera, having ravaged Europe, attacked the United Kingdom and carried off a large number of the inhabit- ants. It was the first time that the disease, in the Asiatic form, 55* 654 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1834, had invaded England, and the greatest alarm pervaded the popu- lation during the prevalence of the plague, which began to disap- pear as the year advanced towards winter. In 1833, the state of Ireland occupied a large portion of pub- lic attention. That country had been the scenes of several dis- The state of ire- turbances, and many conflicts had taken place in land - the attempt to continue the collection of tithes, which the people considered it unjust that they, being Catholics, should pay to the clergy of another religion. There was also at this period a very strong feeling displayed in favor of the repeal of the Union of 1800. O'Connell had organized several political associations, and some state prosecutions had taken place. The government brought in a bill which empowered the lord lieutenant to place disturbed districts under martial law. The bill passed after many angry debates, O'Connell calling on ministers to deal with the Protestant church instead of suspending the constitution. After the Coercion Bill had passed, a measure was carried for lessening by ten the number of Irish Protestant bishops, and a million sterling was voted for the relief of those clergymen who had been unable to collect their tithes. O'Connell brought forward the subject of the repeal of the Union in parliament early in 1834, on which occasion a length- Bepeai of the ene( ^ debate took place. The mo'tion was negatived Union - by a very large majority, and an address to the king in favor of the Union was adopted by parliament, with a pledge that measures tending to benefit Ireland would be brought forward. The Protestant church establishment was the next Irish question discussed, but ministers were divided on this subject; some advocated the appropriation of a portion of the revenues of that church to national purposes, others opposed that proposition. Amongst the latter were Lord Stanley, Sir James Graham, the duke of Richmond, and Lord Ripon, and these ministers resigned. The " Appropriation Clause" of a measure respecting the Irish church, brought forward by Mr. Ward, was, however, not supported by the remaining ministers until a committee should examine and report, and the proposition failed. Ministers soon found themselves in a difficulty respecting the renewal of the Irish Coercion Act, which had been only passed for one year, and their dissensions on this subject led to the re- 1834 A. D.] WILLIAM THE FOURTH. 655 signation of Earl Gray, Lord Althorp, and others. The tories, however, did not yet come in, for a whig administration was again formed, of which Lord Melbourne was the head, under whom Lord Althorp returned to office, and a modified Coercion Bill was proposed and carried. On the 1st of August, 1834, the act which had been proposed and carried by Lord Stanley in 1833, having for its object the abolition of slavery in the British colonies, came into operation. Those who at that time were slaves were subjected to an appren- ticeship for ten years. In 1834 an important statute was passed on the subject of poor laws, by which a government commission was established in order to exercise a supervision over the local boards throughout the country. The measure also rendered it necessary for paupers to enter the poor-houses and put an end to the system of out-door relief, which had caused the poor-rates to rise in 1833 to the enormous amount of seven millions sterling. The charter of the East India Company was renewed in 1834, but without continuing the commercial monopoly which that com- pany had hitherto enjoyed. The trade to the East was conse- quently from this time thrown open to the entire mercantile com- munity. Both houses of parliament were destroyed by an accidental fire on the 16th October, 1834. It was with great difficulty that Westminster Hall and the Abbey were saved from the confla- gration. In November, 1834, the death of Earl Spenser caused the ele- vation of his son, Lord Althorp, to the House of Lords, and thus ministers lost their leader in the House of Commons. The king, whose inclinations now tended much toward the Pnol _ . .Peel made prime tories, took this opportunity of informing Lord minister. Melbourne that he intended to call the duke of Wellington to his councils, as he did not feel pleased at the policy which Lord Mel- bourne and his colleagues were inclined to adopt, especially on the subjects of the Protestant church in Ireland. This step is generally supposed to have resulted from the advice of the queen- consort. The duke declined the post of premier, but advised the appointment of Sir Robert Peel, under whom he consented to take office. Sir Robert, who was then in Italy, was sent for, and 656 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1835. immediately on- his arrival in London formed an administration. Finding the majority in the House of Commons too great to cope with, Sir Robert advised a dissolution of parliament. When the legislature reassembled, ministers found that though they had gained some votes by the general election, they were Proceedings in st iH i Q a minority. The first trial of strength took parliament. place on the election of a speaker, when the go- vernment candidate was defeated. The great question of the time was, however, that of the Protestant church in Ireland; a subject to which painful interest had been imparted by a fearful event that had occurred in December, 1834, at Rathcormac, in the south of Ireland. A civil and military force attempted to enforce the payment of tithes due by a certain widow, whose neighbors de- fended her cabin. They were fired on by the soldiers, and twelve were killed. This melancholy circumstance greatly embittered the feelings of the people against tithes, and consequently against an administration which was opposed to any alteration in the Protestant church establishment. This feeling extended to par- liament, and accordingly an amendment on the address was car- ried, and ministers having been defeated in resisting a motion to appropriate a portion of the Irish church revenues to education, Sir Robert Peel and his colleagues resigned, (8th April, 1835,) and Lord Melbourne again became prime minister, which position he continued to hold for six years. In 1835 a measure was passed which effected considerable altera- tions in the English corporations, on a plan of extensive popular The Orange so representation, similar to that which had already cieties dissolved, k een adopted by an act of 1833, relating to Scot- land. The Orange societies in Ireland also came under parlia- mentary discussion, and a committee having been appointed to examine the subject, it was found that these clubs were connected with the army, and that some members had evinced an inclination that the duke of Cumberland should precede the Princess Vic- toria in the succession. The suppression of these societies by law was, therefore, about to take place, but they were voluntarily dissolved in the beginning of 1836. Several debates took place on the subject of the Irish Protestant church, although, as the op- position was strong, no change in the law took place. Ireland, however, enjoyed at this period some years of repose, as Lord 1837 A. D.] WILLIAM THE FOURTH. 657 Mul grave, the viceroy, was of a conciliatory disposition. Catholics were appointed to high judicial and other public offices, and the people began to feel confident that extensive alterations would take place respecting the Protestant establishment. In 1836 and 1837 political excitement had much diminished in the United Kingdom, and ministers proposed and carried several statutes relating to the commutation of tithes in England to a payment of money based on a corn-rent charge, the marriage of dissenters by their own ministers, a national registry of births, marriages, and deaths, the reduction of the stamp duty on news- papers, and other important subjects. Respecting Ireland the principal debates arose respecting tithes, corporation reform, and the system of national education which had been adopted by gov- ernment in 1833. On these topics some very angry discussions took place. In 1837, (20th June,) the king died of ossification of the heart, and was succeeded by his niece, her present majesty, who as she had completed her eighteenth year, became sove- .* ° , . J ' Death of the king. reign without any regency being necessary. William IV. was better suited by nature for the position of a private gentleman than to rule over a great empire, especially during a period (such as 1831-32) of political excitement. He possessed many good qualities, but was deficient in mental powers. His easy and affable manners pleased those who had intercourse with him, and his having been in the navy tended in no small degree to increase his popularity with the people. Queen Ade- laide, by whom he had no issue, survived the king some years. During the reigns of George IV. and William IV. the public mind tended more to the development of social improvements than to great literary achievements. Scott, who Events of Ms died in 1832, held the first place as a writer, but rei s n - his beautiful productions were unfortunately defaced by much bitterness toward the Catholic religion. Moore continued to write much, but he had already produced his greatest works. Several other distinguished authors adorned this period, for whose names the student is referred to our literary chapter. Periodical litera- ture acquired great popularity at this period, the best writers contributing to the current publications. The London University was established in 1825. In all the departments of practical 658 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1837 knowledge great progress was made, and, both on land and sea, locomotion by steam was rapidly superseding former modes of travelling. During the reign of William IV. the continent was much dis- turbed, but as England avoided foreign war, the disputes through- out Europe do not call for a detailed notice at our hands. It will be well, however, to glance at the leading points. France, after the revolution of 1830, was for a long time the scene of civil commotions, partly arising from the attempt of the duchess de Berri to obtain the crown for her son, the grandchild of Charles X., and partly from the discontent of the republican party, who could not but feel, as they beheld Louis Philippe assum- ing very large powers, that as far as their principles were con- cerned, the blood which flowed during the " three days " had been shed in vain. Several attempts were made to assassinate the king of the French, but they were unsuccessful, and those who made these attempts were put to death. Spain was the theatre of a fierce contest between Isabella, daughter of Ferdinand VII. who died in 1833, and Don Carlos, the nearest male heir to the throne, who would have been king had not the Salic law, which excluded females from the throne, been repealed, as it had recently been by Ferdinand. England sent no army to either party, but per- mitted private individuals as such to take part in the contest, and accordingly a force called the British Legion was equipped and fought on the side of Donna Isabella, under the command of Col. De Lacy Evans. The war continued for some years, and ended in the defeat of Don Carlos. In Portugal, civil war raged between Don Pedro's daughter, Donna Maria (in whose favor her father had abdicated), and Don Miguel, her uncle, who had usurped the throne. Admiral Na- pier, who was allowed by the English government to command Donna Maria's fleet, overcame that of Don Miguel, in July, 1833, and shortly afterwards Donna Maria was proclaimed queen. The war, however, continued on land till 1834, when Don Miguel was defeated and expelled from Portugal. No other events occurred on the continent in which the people of the United Kingdom took any important part. 1837 A. D.] QUEEN VICTORIA. 659 CHAPTER XLIV. (finm Wutexm. The accession of the Queen — Her marriage and coronation — "War in the East Indies — Famine in Ireland — Literature. The princess Alexandrina Victoria, daughter of the duke of Kent, and, therefore, grand-daughter of George III. succeeded to the throne at the death of William IV. on the 20th June, 1837. It is not our intention to enter into any detailed narrative of the events of her majesty's reign, but simply to glance at the leading historical facts. The coronation of her majesty took place with great splendor on the 28th June, 1838. Her majesty was married on the 10th February, 1840, to her cousin, Prince Albert of Coronation and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. There are eight children of Queen, this marriage, of whom the eldest son, Albert Edward, prince of Wales, born 9th November, 1841, is heir to the throne. During the seventeen years which have now elapsed of her majesty's reign, England has not been at war with any European state until the present year, in which hostilities have commenced against Russia for encroachments on Turkey. Large armies and fleets have been sent out by England and by France. The first important action between the allies and the Russians took place at Alma in the Crimea (a peninsula in the north-east of the Black Sea), on the 20th September, in which the Russians were de- feated, but not until the allies had suffered severely. In the East Indies, England was engaged in war with some of the native races, and much loss of life took place both in the con- test with the Affghans, whom the late Sir Charles war in the East Napier defeated, and also in the two struggles Indies - (1846 and 1849) against the Sikhs, over whom Lord Gough and Lord Hardinge, in 1846, and Lord Gough, singly, in 1849, ob 660 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. ?846 tained the notable victories which have connected the history of our army with the hard-won fields of Moodkee, Feroshah, Aliwal, Sobraon, and Goojerat. India has been tranquil for some years. In 1840, England joined several of the European powers in as- sisting Turkey against Mehemet Ali, the Turkish viceroy in Egypt. Admirals Napier and Stopford added fresh glory to our navy in this war, at Acre, on the coast of Syria. An arrangement between the sultan and Mehemet Ali soon took place, and peace ensued. In the internal affairs of these countries the leading facts have been the struggle for the reform of corporations in Ireland, ter- Leading events ruinating in 1840 ; the agitation, under O'Connell, of this period. f or ^he repeal of the Legislative Union ; the Irish State Trials of 1844, the repeal of the Corn Laws, in 1846; the disturbed state of the public mind both in England and Ireland, consequent on the French Revolution of 1848 ; and the restora- tion of the English Catholic Hierarchy, in 1850, which led to the enactment of the Ecclesiastical Titles' Act of 1851, forbidding any except Protestant prelates to assume territorial titles as bishops. Political parties have been rather evenly balanced since her majesty's accession. Lord Melbourne (whig) remained in office till 1841. Sir Robert Peel (conservative) was minister from 1841 to 1846. Lord John Russell (whig) was in power from 1846 to 1852. Lord Derby (extreme tory) next held the reins for a short time, but was obliged to yield to the combined forces of whigs and moderate conservatives who, under Lord Aberdeen, form the present coalition administration. Several public characters have died during her majesty's reign, of whom the most distinguished were Daniel O'Connell, who died at Genoa in 1847, Sir Robert Peel, who died in London in 1850, and the duke of Wellington, who died at Walmer Castle in 1852. The famine in Ireland, which, commencing with the partial loss of the potato crop in 1845, increased fearfully in 1846, and spread Famine in ire- sucn m isery throughout that country, and which land - (combined with emigration) threw back the popu- lation more than two millions, is the gloomiest chapter in the annals of the present reign. During the last few years, however, the condition of Ireland has been improving. The Incumbered Estates Act has transferred a large portion of the land from those 1854 A. D.] QUEEN VICTORIA. 661 who had not the power to improve it to those who have. The competition for small holdings, which often led to such fearful crimes, has diminished. A better mode of agriculture has gained ground ; and the soil, fertile by nature, has been rendered even more productive by skill. In literature, her majesty's reign has not yet added any very distinguished name to the roll of classical authors. Books have indeed been published in great number, and nearly every department of letters has been respectably represented. In history the most voluminous author has been Alison, whose work, " Europe from 1789 to 1815/' has been much and deservedly admired. It is, however, a good deal dis- figured by sectarian partiality. Macaulay's History, being in- complete, ought not yet to be judged ; the style is beautiful, but there will be much to amend in future volumes before the work can be accepted (especially by Catholics) as an accurate delineation of the period described. Works of fiction have poured from the press by the thousand each year, but very few standard novels have been produced. Several poetical volumes of considerable merit have appeared, but the sublimity of a Byron, the gorgeous brilliancy of a Moore, or the terse vigor of a Campbell have not as yet adorned the poetry of Victoria's reign. In all the arrangements of social life there has been great pro- gress. The Exhibition of 1851 in London and that which the liberality of Mr. Dargan originated in Ireland, in Social improve- 10 _ J ., ° " *? » . . } ments in England 1853, gave great impetus to manufacturing indus- and Ireland, try. Science has won great victories. The Electric Telegraph conveys intelligence hundred of miles in a few seconds. Popular education has spread extensively, and literary societies have arisen among the people in all directions, the success of which was considerably increased by the Temperance movement, which especially in Ireland under Father Matthew, made such progress. The reduction of postage in 1840 to one penny, also exercised a most important effect on education. In 1845, Sir Kobert Peel established three new colleges in Ireland, but as their system was condemed by the pope and the Catholic bishops, a new collegiate institution, " The Catholic University of Ireland" has been founded by subscriptions among Catholics, and is now commenc- 56 662 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [A. D. 1854. ing a career which will, no doubt, advance the interests of Catho- licity, and increase the diffusion of sound literature. Let us, in conclusion, hope that the Russian ambition being soon effectually checked, peace based on just and honorable terms may soon return, and that the sword being sheathed, and the can- non silent, the people may go forward to win those social tri- umphs which bring no sorrow in their train, and which, if less dazzling, are more enduring than the most brilliant achievements of arms. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. CHAPTER I.— Page 25. To what historian do we owe our first acquaintance with the history of Britian ? In what year did the Romans invade Britain ? Upon what part of the island did they first land? Were they vigorously opposed by the natives ? Did Caesar remain long in Britain ? Why did he leave the island ? When did he return to Britain ? What was the result of his second invasion of the island ? What British chief principally resisted the Romans ? Was he supported by his fellow-countrymen? Was he defeated ? Did Caesar succeed in establishing the Roman power in Britain ? How many tribes are there supposed to have been in Britain at the time of the Christian era ? From what country did the British tribes first come ? Was the north or south of Britain the more civilized ? Describe the dress of the southern Britons. Describe their houses. Had they any skill in husbandry ? From what country did merchants first come to Britain for purposes of trade ? What metals did these merchants find in Britain ? What did the Britons receive from these merchants in exchange ? What did Britain export at the time of the Christian era ? What did the Britons paint their persons with ? How was the process performed ? What name was given to the British priests ? Describe their religion. What sacrifices did they offer ? What were the duties of the bards ? What was the constitution of the ancient British tribes? What .custom prevailed as to succession? How long did the Britons retain independence of Rome after Caesar's departure ? Did Augustus invade Britain ? What steps did Caligula take respecting Britain? Did Claudius invade Britain? What British chief principally opposed him, and with what result ? To what place did the Druids retire ? Who attacked them, and with what success? 664 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Who was Boadicea ? State the principal facts of her history. What Roman general established the Roman sway in Britain ? Describe his progress in Britain. In what did the successors of Agricola employ their attention ? Who first fortified the north of Britain against the Caledonians? What other fortifications were afterward constructed ? How long was Britain tranquil after the death of Severus? What nations then began to harass the coast ? Describe the career of Carausius. Describe the acts of Constantius in Britain. State the principal facts respecting the introduction of Christianity into Britain. What emperors persecuted the British Christians ? What was the conduct of Constantius toward them? Who was Helena ? Who was her son? Describe the history of Constantine. What caused the decay of Roman power in Britain ? Who were the Picts and Scots ? From what country did the latter come ? What British chieftain asked the aid of the Saxons ? What were the names of the two Saxon commanders ? Where did they land ? In what year did this event take place ? CHAPTER II.— Page 38. How long did Hengist and Horsa continue friendly with Vortigern ? What occasioned the first dispute between them ? When did Hengist die ? What account do British writers give of the causes of the success of the Saxons ? Is their account deserving of credit? Who was iElla? — Who was Cerdic? — Who was Erkenwin? What kingdoms did these chieftains found ? How many Saxon kingdoms were there ? How did they correspond with the modern geography of England ? How many kings were called Bretwalda ? What were their names ? In whose reign were the Saxons converted to Christianity ? Who was pope at that time ? Relate some of the leading events connected with the conversion of the Saxons. What differences in discipline existed between Rome and Britain? Were there any differences in doctrine ? What public department did Ethelbert principally endeavor to reform ? What is the meaning of the words were and mund ? What is the general character of Saxon history for several centuries ? Who was Bede ? Mention the principal facts connected with his ca- reer. What was his greatest work ? Who was Alcuin ? Where did he pass most of his life ? What were the subjects of which he principally wrote? What king united the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms into one monarchy ? When was this ? When did the Danes begin to make incursions into England ? What was the result of the battle between the Danes and Egbert ? What was the character of the reign of Egbert ? QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 665 CHAPTER III.— Page 43. When and where was Alfred born? At what age was he sent to Rome ? How did his mother encourage his taste for learning ? When was he called to the throne ? What enemy had he to contend with ? How did he oppose the Danes ? What was his success ? Whither did he retire when defeated ? What led to his taking the field again ? Did he overcome Guthrun ? How did Alfred employ the time which peace gave him ? What measures did he take to establish a navy ? What reforms did he introduce into jurisprudence ? What works did Alfred translate ? How did he divide his time ? How did he appropriate his revenues ? When did Hastings invade England? With what success did Alfred oppose him ? When did Alfred die ? How many children did he leave ? How did he divide his property ? What direction did he give respecting the persons whom he had freed ? CHAPTER IV.— Page 52. Who succeeded Alfred ? By whom was Edward's claim opposed ? What two objects did Edward principally endeavor to accomplish? Did he succeed? When did he die? Who succeeded Edward? Who is considered the first monarch of England ? What Danish prince opposed Athelstan ? Where was the principal battle fought between them ? When did Athelstan die ? What was his character ? Who succeeded Athelstan ? How long did Edmund reign ? How did he die ? Who succeeded Edmund ? How long did Edred reign ? For what was his reign principally distinguished? Who were Turketul and Dunstan ? Who succeeded Edred? What is related of Edwy's conduct on the day of his coronation ? What province revolted against Edwy, and what arrangement was come to ? Who succeeded Edwy ? Why was Edgar named " Peaceful?" What story is told respecting his second wife, Elgiva? Who succeeded Edgar? How did Edward the Martyr die ? Who succeeded Edward the Martyr ? 56* CG6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. What were the principal events of the reign of Ethelred? What was the success of Sweyn the Dane ? Who succeeded Ethelred ? What arrangement took place between Edmund and Canute the Dane ? How long did Edmund reign ? Who then became sole king ? CHAPTER V.— Page. 57. What rivals for the throne did Canute fear ? How did he dispose of them ? Whom did Canute marry ? Relate the anecdote respecting his rebuke of his flatterers. Who succeeded Canute ? How was civil war prevented between Harold and Hardicanute ? How was Alfred, Emma's son, treated ? How long did Harold reign ? Who succeeded Harold? How long did Hardicanute reign ? How did he die ? CHAPTER VI.— Page 59. Who succeeded Hardicanute ? Was he the rightful heir ? How did Edward act toward the Danes ? How was Emma treated ? Whom did Edward marry ? When did William of Normandy first visit England ? How did Earl Godwin die ? What Scottish usurper did Edward attack ? Did he oppose the Welsh, and with what success ? On what occasion did Harold promise to assist William of Normandy to mount the throne of England? What building did Edward complete shortly before his death ? What were the principal points in the character of Edward ? Who succeeded Edward ? Who claimed the crown from Harold ? What was Harold's reply ? Between whom was the battle of Stamford Bridge fought, and who gained the victory ? When, and between whom, was the battle of Hastings fought ? Who was victorious ? What was the great historical result of the battle of Hastings ? What became of the dead body of Harold ? CHAPTER VII.— Page 67. What were the duties of the chiefs of the state under the Saxons ? What nation introduced into England the first germs of the feudal system ? What nation brought it into England in a more mature form? What was the leading feature of the feudal doctrine ? What was the principal distinction of ranks among the Saxons ? QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 667 What were the privileges of the king ? Who were the ealdormen? — The thanes? — The reeves? How was a trial conducted in civil actions ? How was a trial conducted in criminal actions ? How was the ordeal by water performed ? How was the ordeal by fire performed ? What crimes prevailed most among the Saxons ? How was a murderer punished ? Had the Saxons slaves ? What bishop preached with particular zeal against the traffic in slaves ? With what success ? What were the principal features in the government of the towns ? What title did the chief magistrate of a town bear among the Saxons? CHAPTER VIII.— Page 74. Who were the parents of William the Conqueror ? Whom did he marry ? What steps did he take to obtain London ? What particular circumstance occurred at his coronation? What policy did he at first adopt toward the English? How did he reward the Norman barons ? What caused a revolt in England during William's visit to Normandy ? Who led the Danes to England in 1069 ? What city did they take ? What course did William adopt toward the northern English ? What caused William to invade Scotland ? What occurred to Edgar on leaving Scotland? Who prepared to attack William in 1085 ? Did the expected invasion take place? What caused the disputes between Robert, William's son, and the king ? How, when, and where did William die ? What arrangement of his possessions did he make on his deathbed ? What was his character ? CHAPTER IX.— Page 80. What was the principal obligation imposed upon the vassal under the feudal system ? What were the other duties he had to perform ? Upon what four occasions did the lord levy a pecuniary aid from the vassal ? What were reliefs ? What arrangement took place when the successor to a fee was a female ? What was contained in Domesday-Book? What were the principal sources of the royal revenue under the feudal system ? CHAPTER X.— Page 86. How many sons did William the Conqueror leave ? What arc the principal circumstances of Robert's history ? 668 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Which of the Conqueror's sons became king of England? What legacy did Henry receive ? Who conspired against William ? What was the success of the conspiracy ? What country did William invade ? What took place between William and the king of France ? What was the origin of the Crusades ? What course did the pope take respecting the Crusades ? How did William obtain possession of Normandy ? What wars was William obliged to engage in ? Who was Anslem ? How did William act toward Anslem ? When and how did the king die ? What was his character ? What public buildings did he erect ? CHAPTER XL— Page 91. Where was Robert when the Conqueror died? Who succeeded to the throne ? How did Henry commence his reign ? Whom did he marry ? What course did Robert take on his return to Normandy ? At what English harbor did his invading army land ? What arrangement was made between the two brothers ? What caused a fresh rupture between Robert and Henry ? Who was successful at the battle of Tenchebrai? What became of Robert ? What was the nature of Henry's disputes with Primate Anslem ? What were the conditions of reconciliation between them ? What war resulted from Henry's possession of Normandy ? By whose mediation, and on what terms, was peace made ? What happened when Henry and his family were returning to England ? What effect had this event on the mind of the king? What steps did Henry take to keep the crown of England in his own family ? To whom was Matilda, Henry's daughter, married? Where and how did William, Robert's son, die ? Where, at what age, and after how long an imprisonment, did Robert die? Where, and how did Henry die ? What was his character ? Who were Henry's principal ministers ? What was the character of the bishop of Salisbury ? How did Henry treat Englishmen with respect to public offices? Did Henry die rich ? What system of reasoning did logicians use a good deal at this period ? What foreign nation had made great proficiency in logic ? What is supposed to have been the origin of the University of Cam- bridge ? In what language did scholars generally write at this period ? What other language began at this time to be used in literature ? QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 669 What were the principal works which were published during the reign of Henry ? What was the origin of the term Romance ? CHAPTER XIL— Page 110. Who succeeded to Henry I.? How was Stephen received when he landed in England ? How did Stephen act toward the remains of the late king ? How did Stephen behave toward the church ? Who in Britain first espoused the cause of Matilda ? Upon what terms did Stephen and the king of Scotland conclude peace ? What caused the renewal of hostilities between them ? Where, and between whom, was the " Battle of the Standard" fought? Who was victorious in this engagement? In what engagement was Stephen defeated and taken prisoner ? How did Matilda lose possession of London? How did Stephen regain his freedom? How did Matilda escape from Oxford ? What caused disputes between Stephen and the church ? What territories was Henry, the son of Matilda, possessed of during Stephen's reign ? Whom did Henry marry ? What arrangement took place between Henry and Stephen ? Where and when did Stephen die ? What was the condition of the country during Stephen's reign ? What was Stephen's character ? CHAPTER XIII.— Page 118. What territories did Henry II. possess in France ? How old was he at the time of Stephen's death ? What steps did he take after being crowned ? What course did he compel the Scotch king to adopt ? Who was pope at the time? What was the early history of the pontiff? What ecclesiastic became eminent about this period in England ? State the leading facts in the early history of Thomas a Becket. What disputes arose respecting the papacy ? To what dignity in the church was Becket promoted ? What subjects caused disputes between the primate and the king? What took place at the Council of Clarendon? What were the articles of the "Constitutions of Clarendon ?" What were Becket's feelings after leaving the Council of Clarendon? What course did the king take respecting Becket ? Whither did Becket go from his persecutors ? What was the pope's decision respecting the " Constitutions of Cla- rendon ?" Against what people did Henry next turn his arms, and with what success ? How did he obtain Bretagne? What led to reconciliation between Henry and Becket ? 670 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. What was the cause of Becket's finding some of the English prelates hostile ? What course did these prelates adopt ? What exclamation of Henry's is supposed to have led to Becket's being assassinated? Where, and in what manner was Becket murdered ? How did Henry act on hearing of the murder of Becket ? What was his real motive in first visiting Ireland ? Was the gospel preached in Ireland before St. Patrick ? When did St. Patrick commence his mission in Ireland ? What circumstances retarded the progress of civilization in Ireland ? What was tanistry ? What was gavelkind? Into how many kingdoms was Ireland divided at the time of the English invasion ? When and from whom did Edward solicit permission to invade Ireland ? What circumstance was the immediate cause of the invasion? When did Henry land in Ireland ? What was the nature of the treaty between Henry and Roderick O'Connor ? Whom did Henry appoint "lord of Ireland?" How did John succeed in Ireland? How did Henry become reconciled to the church ? What disputes disturbed his latter years ? Whose cause did the French monarch espouse ? What were the principal circumstances attending Henry's public repentance ? What turn did his affairs take after his repentance ? Did Henry resolve to join the Crusaders? What circumstance prevented him ? What caused war to recommence between Philip and Henry ? What discovery affected Henry deeply ? When and where did he die ? What were the principal features of Henry's character ? CHAPTER XIV.— Page 145. What was Richard's conduct on the death of his father ? What people were persecuted at the beginning of Richard's reign? Where did the French and English armies meet before proceeding to the Holy Land ? What caused a rupture between Richard and the king of Sicily ? What caused a difference between Richard and the king of France ? What important siege were the Crusaders at this time conducting ? What detained Richard from joining the Crusaders ? How was he received by the Crusaders ? On what conditions was Acre surrendered ? What monarch retired from the Crusade ? How did Richard treat the hostages he held ? What success had he during the remainder of the Crusade ? What length of peace was agreed on between Richard and Saladin ? What happened to Richard on his journey home? What was John's conduct during Richard's absence ? How did Richard obtain his freedom ? QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 671 What were Richard's first measures on his return ? Where and from what cause did Richard die ? What was Richard's character ? In what departments of public affairs did Richard make alterations? CHAPTER XV.— Page 153. Who should, in due course, have succeeded Richard on the throne? Whom did Richard appoint as his successor ? Who supported the claims of Arthur? Did England acknowledge John ? What foreign king waged war against John ? Whom did John marry after becoming king ? Where was Arthur taken prisoner ? What became of him ? When was Normandy reannexed to the possessions of the king of France ? What cause of difference arose between John and the pope ? What course did the pope take ? To whom did John apply for aid ? What terms were agreed on between John and the pope ? Between whom, and with what result was fought the battle of Bou- vines ? What course did the English barons take to bring John to their terms ? Where was Magna Charta signed ? What did this document principally refer to ? On what grounds did the pope declare Magna Charta void? To whom did the barons (civil war being renewed) offer the crown of England ? What course did the king of France take? What caused the death of John ? What was the character of John ? CHAPTER XVI.— Page 1G6. How old was Henry at his accession ? Who was appointed "Guardian of the kingdom?" Where did the English troops overcome the French ? When Henry required supplies, on what conditions were they granted ? What cause principally disturbed friendly relations between England and Scotland ? What caused disputes between England and Wales, and what was the result ? Why did Henry make war upon France? What was the result of this war ? What was the nature of the disputes in this reign between England and Rome ? What was the occasion of disputes between Henry and his barons? Whom did the king marry ? What public man led the barons in their contest with Henry ? Where was the "mad parliament" held? What principal changes did Leicester cause in the arrangement of public affairs ? 672 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. When, between whom, and with what result was the battle of Lewes fought ? How did Prince Edward escape from custody? Between whom, and with what result, was fought the battle of Evesham ? "What distinguished man was killed in that battle ? What was resolved on by Henry's parliament at Winchester ? What advice did the pope give Henry ? Where did Prince Edward go shortly before Henry's death ? When and where did Henry die ? How long did Henry reign ? What was Henry's character ? CHAPTER XVIL— Page 178. Where was Edward when his father died ? What attempt was made on his life when in the East? What length of truce was agreed on between the sultan and the Christians ? What detained Edward on his journey home ? When was Edward crowned ? Against whom did he first engage in war? What success had Edward in his contest with Llewellyn ? What Welsh prince renewed hostilities with the English ? What was the result of the second contest ? What became of Llewellyn ? — What of Prince David ? What event happened in Edward's family during his stay in Wales ? Who has always since borne the title of " Prince of Wales ?" What first turned Edward's attention to Scotland ? Who were the two principal claimants for the Scottish crown ? Who was appointed judge? What position did Edward claim to possess respecting Scotland ? In whose favor was the question respecting the Scottish crown decided ? What circumstance caused a dispute between Edward and Baliol ? What caused differences to recommence between England and France ? What was the conduct of Philip of France on this occasion ? What prevented Edward from going to France to endeavor to enforce the treaty ? How did he act toward the Welsh ? What fresh contest was Edward engaged in ? What was his success ? What became of Baliol ? Where and when did he die ? Who was William Wallace ? Who joined him? Where was Edward at this time engaged ? Who led the troops against Scotland ? What success had Wallace ? What title did he take ? Who won the battle of Falkirk ? What became of Wallace ? Who were appointed to govern Scotland ? Who was appointed umpire between Scotland and England ? QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 673 What course did the pope take ? "Who gave up Wallace to Edward ? How and where did Wallace die ? What is his character ? What arrangements took place respecting the government of Scotland after Wallace's death ? What caused disputes between Edward and his people ? What took place between Edward, and Bohun and Bigod ? How were they reconciled ? How did he endeavor to conciliate the people ? What is said of the national remonstrance ? What did Bohun and Bigod do ? What took place after the meeting of parliament ? What is related of Scotland ? Why has Edward been called the " English Justinian ?" What caused fresh disputes respecting Scotland ? Who killed Comyn? Under what circumstances ? Whither did Bruce retire after his first defeat ? Where and when did Edward die ? What was his character ? CHAPTER XVIII.— Page 195. Who succeeded Edward L? What advice did Edward I. give to his successor when dying? Who was the favorite friend of the new king ? Whom did Edward II. marry ? What course did Gaveston take ? Whither did he go ? Did he return to England ? What new ordinances did the barons insist on ? What became finally of Gaveston ? Between whom, and with what result, was fought the battle of Ban- nockburn ? What course did Bruce adopt after the battle ? What was the conduct of the Scotch at this time respecting Ireland? What success had the Scotch in Ireland ? Where was Edward Bruce killed ? Who advised Edward to make peace with Scotland ? What new favorite had Edward ? What course did the barons take respecting the Spensers ? What became of the earl of Lancaster ? Did Edward make any other attempt on Scotland, and with, what result ? Who was Lord Mortimer ? What dispute had Edward with France ? Who was sent to negotiate, and what was the result ? Whom did the young Prince Edward marry ? Who invaded England ? Whither did Edward fly ? What became of Spenser ? Who was declared king ? What became of Edward II.? What was his character ? 57 674 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. What took place in this reign respecting the Knights Templars ? What had been the origin of this body ? CHAPTER XIX.— Page 211. What title did Mortimer acquire at the accession of Edward III.? What course did the Scotch take ? What did Edward agree to respecting Scotland ? What became of the earl of Kent ? Under what circumstances was Mortimer seized ? What became of Isabella? Who succeeded Robert Bruce in Scotland ? What caused fresh disputes with Scotland ? What are the principal events which mark the career of the younger Baliol ? Between whom, and with what result, was the battle of Halidon-hill fought ? What caused Edward's war with France ? Between whom and with what result was the battle of Creci fought ? What course did the pope take respecting the war ? What royal prisoners had Edward ? What visitation took place in England ? Who fought the battle of Nevill's Cross ? Who gained the victory ? What important siege was Edward now conducting ? What means did he depend on for the reduction of Calais ? State the principal particulars connected with the surrender of Calais. Who endeavored to make peace between Edward and Philip ? What calamity occurred in England soon after the siege of Calais ? Who was the " Black Prince," and why was he so called? Between whom, and with what result, was the battle of Poitiers fought ? What king was taken prisoner on this occasion ? When did the Black Prince die ? Bid France regain much of the lost territory ? Where did Edward III. spend his latter years ? When did he die ? What were the principal features of his character ? Who began in this reign to preach against the church ? CHAPTER XX.— Page. 235. Who succeeded Edward III.? What form of administration was adopted ? What caused renewed war with France ? What was the result of this war ? What excitement took place about this period in the minds of the people of England ? Who were their principal leaders in the insurrection ? What became of Wat Tyler ? How did Richard act when Tyler was killed ? Did the king keep his promise to the people ? Whom did Richard marry ? What was his queen's character ? QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 675 What dispute occurred at this time in the church ? What happened respecting Wickliffe ? What nobleman now began to be at enmity with Richard? What nation joined France against England ? What success had the allies ? Whom did Richard declare heir-presumptive to the throne ? To what country did Lancaster lead an army ? What disputes had Richard with his parliament? What course did he adopt ? What course did the king take on coming of age? By what nobleman was he opposed? By what steps did they proceed? How did the king regain his power ? What dispute took place at this time in the church ? Why did the king go to Ireland ? What was the result of Richard's visit to Ireland ? Who was Richard's second wife ? How did he act toward the duke of Gloucester ? What circumstance caused the revolt against Richard? Whither did Richard fly ? Who led the movement against the king ? By what means was Richard taken prisoner ? What took place when the king was brought to London? When was Richard deposed? What was his character ? CHAPTER XXL— Page 258. How soon was Henry IV. crowned ? Who was declared heir-apparent to the throne ? How were the noblemen punished who had impeached Gloucester ? What important statutes were at this time enacted ? What sentence was pronounced on Richard ? What conspiracy was formed against Henry, and with what success ? AVhat treatment did Henry receive from France, and why did that nation abandon the intended war ? How is it supposed that Richard died ? What was the king's reason for attacking Scotland ? How did his Scotch expedition result ? What engaged him in a contest with Wales? What report was spread respecting King Richard ? Between whom, and with what result, was fought the battle of Homil- don Hill ? What caused disputes between Henry and the Percies ? What course did that family adopt? Between whom, and with what result, was the battle of Shrewsbury fought ? In what battle was the earl of Northumberland killed? How many years did Wales resist? What became of Owen Glendower ? What circumstance caused dissension in France ? What course did the French take on hearing the rumor that Richard still lived? 676 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. How did they act on being certain of his death ? What part of England did the French attack ? What challenge did Henry receive from the duke of Orleans ? What correspondence took place between them ? What became of the duke of Orleans ? What policy did Henry adopt respecting France ? Who was Henry's wife ? What arrangement was made respecting the order of succession ? What was the character of Henry, prince of Wales ? What is related on the subject of his being on one occasion impri- soned? What is told respecting the prince one day removing his father's crown ? Who was Henry's second wife ? When and where did Henry die ? What branch of the legislature increased in power during Henry's reign, and from what did this result ? W r hat laws were made in this reign respecting the Lollards ? Who first suffered death under these laws ? CHAPTER XXII. —Page 270. Was Henry IV. regretted ? Who succeeded to the throne ? What change occurred in the young king's disposition ? What were his first acts ? What sect became active now ? Who was tried as their leader ? What became of him ? What course did Henry take respecting France ? What relation joined in a conspiracy against Henry's life ? What French fortress did Henry invest ? — With what success ? Between whom, and with what result, was the battle of Azincourt fought ? How was Henry received on his return to England ? What sovereigns endeavored to mediate between France and England, and with what result ? What success attended Henry's subsequent campaigns in France ? What enemies became active in Britain when Henry was in France ? What important city in Normandy was taken by the English ? Upon what conditions was peace made ? What caused war to be resumed? When and where did Henry die ? What was his character ? CHAPTER XXIII.— Page 282. How old was the young king when his father died? Who was appointed president of the governing council? Who was named regent of France ? What important city of France was besieged, and by whom ? Who was Joan of Arc, and what was her early history ? What success attended her efforts for France ? what other object did Joan pursue? QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 677 Did she succeed in this undertaking? Where was she taken prisoner, and under what circumstances did she die, and where ? When and where was Henry crowned king of France ? For what purpose was the congress of Arras held? What was its success ? Whom did Henry marry? Why did war between France and England recommence ? What success had the French ? How was the English minister, Suffolk, treated ? Who, at this time, raised the standard of insurrection ? What was the result of the contest which ensued ? How did Guienne become incorporated with France ? Who was appointed protector when the king was declared incapable of transacting business ? Between whom, and with what result, was the battle of St. Alban's fought ? What nobleman was principally influential in effecting political changes at this time ? Under what circumstances did the duke of York die ? When and where did Henry die ? What was his character ? CHAPTER XXIV.— Page 295. Who fought the battle of Towton, and what was its effect on the contending parties ? What emblem did each party wear ? What course did Queen Margaret adopt on the defeat of Henry VI.? What success had she ? What instance has been narrated of her intrepidity ? What became of Henry VI.? Whom did Edward IV. marry, and under what circumstances ? What caused disputes between Edward IV. and his brother, the duke of Clarence? What nobleman conspired with Clarence against Edward? What success attended the insurrection which ensued ? What did England exhibit ? What course did he adopt on being set free? Where did a second insurrection take place, and with what result ? Whither did Clarence and Warwick fly ? Whom did the son of Henry VI. marry ? Who invaded England, and with what success ? Who became king ? Who assisted Edward IV.? Who won the battle of Barnet, and what important nobleman was killed there ? Who won the battle of Tewksbury ? What prince was killed after the battle, and by whom ? How did Henry VI. die? What became of Queen Margaret ? What country did Edward invade, and with what result? Why was Clarence put to death? 67* 678 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. What war was Edward next engaged in, and with what result ? What disappointment did Edward meet with toward the end of his life? When did Edward die ? What was his character? What children survived him ? CHAPTER XXV.— Page 305. What steps were taken by the governing council on the death of Ed- ward IV.? Where was Prince Edward when his father died ? What course did the Duke of Gloucester adopt? Whither did the Queen-mother retire ? Where was the young king placed ? Who was appointed protector ? What were the circumstances of the death of Lord Hastings ? Who was placed with the king in the tower? How was Jane Shore treated ? By whom was the duke of Gloucester requested to assume the crown ? How did he at first act on receiving the request ? What was the result? CHAPTER XXVL— Page 309. When and where was Richard III. crowned ? Who was his wife ? How did he begin his reign ? On what subject was public opinion first raised against him ? How did he act toward his nephews ? To whom did Richard's enemies offer the crown? What condition was annexed to the offer ? What caused the insurrection at first to fail ? What became of Buckingham ? How is it supposed Richard's queen died ? Whom did he wish to marry ? Did he persist in his intention ? When and where did Henry, earl of Richmond, land ? Where did the two armies fight ? What was the result of the battle ? What was the character of Richard ? CHAPTER XXVIL— Page 313. How was Henry received in London ? What circumstance damped the public joy? What legislative enactment respecting the settlement of the crown was passed? Whom did Henry marry ? How did he conduct himself toward his wife ? What pretender appeared at this time ? What was the final result of the imposture ? What new court arose in this reign ? QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 679 Why did Henry engage in war with France? What new pretender arose ? What success had he at first ? What course did he ultimately adopt ? How was he treated by Henry ? What became of the real earl of Warwick ? Whom did Henry's daughter, Margaret, marry ? Whom did the prince of Wales marry? Whom did the king select as a second husband for Catherine ? Who were the king's agents in oppressive taxation ? Where, and of what disease, did Henry die ? What was his character ? What important maritime expedition took place in this reign ? CHAPTER XXVIII.— Page 325. How old was Henry when he ascended the throne? Whom did he first marry ? Was his conduct good at this time ? What became of Empson and Dudley ? What wars was Henry soon engaged in ? What great battle was fought with the Scotch at this period, and with what result ? Where was Henry at this time ? What distinguished monarch now ascended the throne of France ? What was the early history of Wolsey ? To what dignities did he rise ? What place did he build, and to whom did he give it ? What were the principal features of his character ? Who was elected emperor of Germany ? Where did a celebrated meeting take place between Henry VIII. and Francis I., and what name did the place acquire? What caused war to be renewed ? Who went to France as mediator, and with what result ? To what honor did Wolsey aspire? What monarch joined Henry against Francis? In what countries did Francis endeavor to stir up enemies against Henry ? What took place when Wolsey endeavored to raise money for the war? What caused the commencement of the proceedings of Luther against the church ? State the principal steps taken by Luther. W r hat circumstances conspired to assist Luther's proceedings ? Who was pope at this time ? What did Luther do after being condemned by Rome ? What course did Henry adopt? What title was conferred on Henry? What new preachers arose in opposition to Luther ? What steps did the the Protestant princes in Germany take ? Why did Henry seek to be divorced from Catherine? What was his pretended reason ? What advice did Wolsey give at first ? What coarse did the pope take? 680 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. What advice did the Roman legate give Catherine ? How did she receive it? How did she act in the assembly which was to investigate the question of the divorce ? How did the legate act ? What was the cause of Wolsey's fall ? How was he treated? Where did he die ? What was the substance of his last speech? Who was appointed successor to Wolsey as chancellor? What was More's character ? Who was Thomas Cromwell ? What advice did he give Henry ? What next took place respecting Catherine ? When did Henry marry Anne Boleyn? What steps did archbishop Cranmer take ? What course did the pope adopt? In what year was the Church of England established by law ? What act was passed respecting the succession to the crown ? Why was bishop Fisher put to death ? Why was Sir Thomas More put to death ? What course did the pope adopt ? What office was conferred upon Cromwell ? What step were the prelates obliged to take ? What course was adopted toward the monasteries ? What became of the monks of the abolished monasteries ? How long did Catherine live in retirement ? When did she die ? How did Henry and Anne act on the occasion of Catherine's death ? Why was Anne Boleyn put to death ? Whom did Henry next marry ? On what condition was the princess Mary reconciled to Henry ? What caused an insurrection in the north of England ? What was its success ? What act was passed respecting the remaining monasteries ? What occurred between Henry and the German Protestant prince ? What book did Henry compile ? What did this book teach ? When was a new edition of the Bible published in English ? Who were the principal victims of the persecution by Henry ? What steps did the pope next take, and with what result ? What did the statute known as the "Six Articles" contain ? What despotic statute was passed in 1539 ? What triumphal exhibition did Henry display in London ? Whom did Henry marry after Jane Seymour's death ? Why was this marriage unhappy? What caused the death of Cromwell ? Whom did Henry next marry ? What became of this wife ? What next took place respecting religious matters? When was Wales uuited to England ? What progress did the Reformation make in Ireland ? What were the principal events in Scotland at this period ? QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 681 Who was Henry's sixth wife ? What was her character ? How did she prevent a threatened prosecution ? When did Henry die ? What was his character ? CHAPTER XXIX.— Page 370. To whom was the government confided during the minority of the king? Who was appointed protector of the realm ? What event took place in France at this time ? What steps did Somerset take to establish the Protestant religion? What important changes took place in the laws? What statute was passed respecting beggars ? By whom was the English Liturgy compiled ? What caused the death of Thomas Seymour ? What took place at this time in Scotland ? To whom was the young queen of Scotland affianced ? What caused an insurrection of the people ? Why and at what time was Somerset deposed from power? What treatment did Bonner and some other Catholic bishops receive ? What course was adopted toward the princess Mary ? Who were put to death for their religious opinions ? When was Somerset put to death ? What took place respecting religion in Ireland ? What two new books did Cranmer compile ? What will did Edward make ? When did he die ? What was his character ? What was the condition of the people during this reign ? CHAPTER XXX.— Page 386. What steps did Mary take on hearing of Edward's death ? Who was set up against Mary ? What was the character of Lady Jane Grey ? What success had Mary ? How long was Lady Jane queen ? How did Elizabeth act on this occasion? What were Mary's first public acts ? Who became her principal adviser ? How many were executed for the treasonable plot of Northumberland? How did Mary commence the restoration of the Catholic religion in England ? What course did Elizabeth adopt on this subject? What bill was passed respecting Mary's mother ? Whom did Mary marry ? Was the marriage pleasing to the people ? What caused the execution of Lady Jane Grey and her husband ? What course was now adopted toward Elizabeth ? When did Philip come to England ? Who was appointed Roman legate to England ? 682 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. What law was next passed respecting religion ? "What change took place at this time in the legal description of the title of Ireland ? When did Mary commence to persecute those who differed from her in religion ? Who were the first victims? What preacher caused a temporary suspension of the persecution? What message was sent by Mary and Philip to Bonner ? Who were the next victims ? What were the principal circumstances attending the last days of Cranmer ? Who succeeded Cranmer as archbishop of Canterbury ? How many suffered death at this period for religion? What circumstances exasperated Mary ? Why did Philip leave England ? AVhat course did Mary adopt respecting the property which had been taken from the church ? What conspiracy was formed next against Mary ? Who was accused of being a party to it ? How was Elizabeth saved from being prosecuted ? With what country did war at this time break out ? What important possession in France did England lose ? What effect had this event on the queen ? When did Mary die ? What is the great disgrace of her reign ? In other respects what was her character ? What important commercial treaty was made in Mary's reign? What were the principal events in Ireland at this period ? CHAPTER XXXL— Page 412. Was Elizabeth's accession to the throne opposed? Who was appointed secretary? How did Elizabeth commence to introduce the Protestant religion? What act respecting religion was passed? What arrangement was made respecting Calais ? To whom was Mary Stuart first married ? Whither did she go on the death of her husband ? How was she received in Scotland ? Who were the principal suitors for Elizabeth's hand? What steps did Elizabeth take respecting French affairs ? What severe act was passed against Catholics ? Was Calais restored to England ? Who first proposed for Mary after her arrival in Scotland ? What course did Elizabeth adopt on this occasion ? When did Mary marry Darnley ? Who was he ? What caused disputes to arise between Mary and Darnley ? Who was Riccio ? Under what circumstances was he assassinated? How did Elizabeth receive the news of the birth of Mary's child ? What took place between Elizabeth and the parliament ? How was Darnley killed ? QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 683 Who was the principal among his murderers? How did Mary act after Darnley's death ? How did Bothwell get Mary into his hands? How soon were they married ? What took place at Carberry Hill ? Where was Mary imprisoned ? How did Elizabeth act? Who was appointed regent of Scotland? What became of Bothwell? How did the queen act when she escaped ? Where did she take refuge ? What course did Elizabeth adopt? In what form did an investigation take place ? With what result ? Where did an insurrection take place in 1569, and how did it end ? How did Murray die, and who succeeded him ? What bull was published against Elizabeth ? What occurred in London on the subject? Where was Mary next imprisoned ? With whom was a treaty of marriage entered into on behalf of Eliza- beth? What court did Elizabeth establish for the trial of religious questions? Why was the intended marriage with the duke of Anjou broken off? What was the duke of Norfolk tried for, and with what result? What was done in parliament respecting Mary, and what course did Elizabeth take on the occasion? When, and from what cause, did the St. Bartholomew massacre take place ? What events occurred at this time in the Netherlands ? What were the principal occurrences at this period in Ireland? What people did Elizabeth persecute beside the Catholics ? Where on the continent did the English Catholics establish a college ? What became of Morton, the Scottish regent ? How old was James of Scotland at this time ? What plan was proposed as to the government of Scotland ? What happened to James, the son of Mary ? What treaty was made between Elizabeth and James ? What circumstances led to the death of Mary ? What was Mary accused of? What was the result of her trial ? Did Elizabeth suggest that Mary should be assassinated What was the reply of Mary's jailers ? When was Mary executed ? What became of her remains ? How did Elizabeth act on hearing of Mary's execution? What did James of Scotland do ? Did the king of France avenge the death of Mary ? What great navigators became known at this period ? What caused hostilities between Spain and England ? When did the Armada leave Spain ? What defensive preparations did Elizabeth adopt? What success had the Armada ? How did the English Catholics act on this occasion? 684 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. When did Leicester die ? What was his character ? Did Elizabeth recommence the persecution of the Catholics? Did this persecution cease during her reign? What other creed was persecuted ? Why did the persecution of the Puritans cease ? What expedition took place in 1596, and with what result? What were the principal events in Ireland during Elizabeth's reign ? What caused the downfall of Essex? What became of him ? What was his character ? When did Elizabeth die ? What were the principal features of her character ? CHAPTER XXXIL— Page 470. How old was James I. on his accession to the English throne ? How was he received in London ? What conspiracy took place at this time in England, and with what result ? Who were the principal conspirators ? How did James behave at first toward the Catholics ? "With whom did he enter into controversy ? What sentiments began to appear now in parliament ? What steps were taken toward the Catholics ? To what conspiracy did this persecution lead? Who were the principal conspirators ? How did they propose to act ? How was the plot discovered ? What became of Fawkes ? What Catholic priest was arrested and executed ? What course was taken to divide the Catholics ? Whom did James marry ? What insurrection next took place ? What project was James anxious to forward? When did Cecil die ? Relate the circumstances connected with Arabella Stuart. What circumstances were connected with the rise of Robert Carr and George Villiers ? What is told respecting Sir Thomas Overbury ? What took place in Ireland at this time ? Did James persecute the Catholics ? What were the facts connected with the death of Raleigh? How did Lord Bacon fall ? To what court did James look for a consort for his son Charles? With what success ? When did James die ? What was his character ? CHAPTER XXXIIL— Page 498. How old was Charles I. at his accession ? What was the first important step he took ? QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 685 Whom did he marry ? What feelings began to gain ground in parliament? How were the Catholics treated at this time ? Upon what subjects did disputes arise between the king and the parliament ? What illegal course did he adopt ? On what expedition was Buckingham sent ? What success had he ? What were the principal points in the " Petition of Right ?" How did Buckingham die ? When did Charles visit Scotland ? How was he received ? What was " Ship-money ?" Who tried the question with the king ? With what result ? What was the character of. Charles's government in Ireland? Who at this time was deputy in Ireland ? What was his character ? How did he obtain lands for the crown ? Where was open force first offered to Charles ? What subject was the occasion of the outbreak? What name did the national vow of Scotland obtain ? What was the result of the war between Charles and the Scotch ? When did Charles summon the parliament ? Had it been long dissolved ? Did its conduct please the king ? How did he treat the Catholics ? What became of Strafford ? What next took place in Ireland ? What course did the king take with the House of Commons ? With what success ? What national declaration was at this time made in Ireland ? What demand did parliament next make ? What answer did the king give ? When did the civil war commence ? Where and when did Charles raise the royal standard ? What names did the royalists and parliamentarians respectively acquire ? Where did the first battle take place ? With what result ? State the principal circumstances connected with the rise of Cromwell. What took place at this time in Ireland ? Where did Charles summon parliament? Between whom, and with what result, was the battle of Marston Moor ? What became of Archbishop Laud? Who were the " Clubmen?" Between whom, and with what result, was the battle of Naseby fought ? What step did the king next adopt? How did the Scottish army act toward him? To what place was Charles brought ? Whither did he make his escape ? Where was the army of Hamilton, who rose in defence of Charles, defeated, and by whom ? 58 686 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. "Where was the prince of Wales at this time? Did any practical result follow the negotiations at Carisbrook ? "What course was next adopted respecting Charles ? "When was he tried, and where ? How did he pass the time between his trial and execution ? State the principal facts respecting his execution. What was the character of Charles? CHAPTER XXXIV.— Page 541. What proclamation was issued after the king's death? What took place in Scotland ? What events occurred in Ireland ? State the particulars of the sieges of Drogheda and Wexford. Who raised the royal standard in Scotland, and with what result ? What treaty did Charles enter into with the Scotch ? What important victory did Cromwell obtain over Charles in Scotland ? What course did Charles take ? Where was he defeated in England ? How did he escape, and whither ? Who succeeded Cromwell in the chief command of the army in Ireland ? Relate the particulars of the siege of Limerick. Was Ireland subjugated by the republican generals? How were the natives treated ? What took place in Scotland ? How did Cromwell treat the parliament ? How did he summon a new parliament? Did foreign princes acknowledge Cromwell ? Relate the circumstance connected with Cromwell's ambition to be named king ? What were his feelings in his latter years ? When did he die ? What was his character Who succeeded him ? What became of Richard Cromwell ? Who principally arranged the restoration of Charles ? When was he restored to the throne ? How was he received in England ? CHAPTER XXXV.— Page 566. What was done by the first parliament ? What nobleman was executed in Scotland for having opposed Charles I.? What took place in Ireland ? Whom did James, duke of York, marry ? What town in France did Charles sell to the king of France ? What scourge at this time took place in England? What naval war broke out at this time ? Who commanded the English navy ? What occurred to destroy a great part of London at this period ? How near did the Dutch fleet approach to London? What became of Clarendon ? When did James become a Catholic ? QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 687 How did Charles act? "What steps were taken against James? Whom did William, prince of Orange, marry ? What was the pretended "popish plot?" What Irish Catholic prelate was put to death at this time ? Why were Russell and Sydney executed? Did Charles die a Catholic ? What was his character ? CHAPTER XXXVI.— Page 580. What course did James II. adopt respecting religion on his accession ? When did the duke of Monmouth invade England ? With what result ? Where was the decisive battle against him fought ? Relate the particulars of Monmouth's interview with James. How did Monmouth die? What judge was sent to try the insurgents? What were the seven bishops tried for ? What verdict was pronounced ? What circumstances attended William's first sailing from Holland ? When did William sail again for England ? What success had he ? What became of Jeffreys ? Whither did James proceed ? What were the principal contents of the " Declaration of Rights ?" What settlement took place respecting the crown ? CHAPTER XXXVIL— Page 593. What form of worship was established in Scotland ? What change took place respecting the judges? What attainders were reversed ? Who supported the cause of James in Scotland ? With what success ? What were the facts of the massacre of Glencoe ? When did James land in Ireland ? When did William arrive in that country ? When was the battle of the Boyne fought ? Who gained the victory ? Whither did James fly ? When and by whom was Athlone taken ? What city still held out ? What was guaranteed by the treaty of Limerick ? Was the treaty observed ? When did James prepare to make another attempt ? How was he prevented ? When was the Bank of England established ? When did queen Mary die ? What act respecting the crown was passed at this time ? When did James II. die ? How had he passed his last years ? What caused war to recommence between France and England ? 688 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. When and from what cause did William die ? What was the Darien project? What was its success ? What two important national changes took their rise in William's reign ? Who were the greatest literary men of the period? What was the character of William III.? CHAPTER XXXVIIL— Page 598, Who was queen Anne ? Whom did she marry ? How old was she at her accession ? What party did she support ? What general was sent to command the troops abroad ? Name his two greatest victories ? When and by what English admirals was Gibralter taken ? What led to the union with Scotland ? How was that measure carried ? Who was the " Chevalier ?" When did he make his first attempt to obtain the throne of England? With what success ? When did prince George of Denmark die ? What was his character ? What trial of interest took place in 1709 ? What was its result ? What two important characters rose to power in 1710 ? When was the peace of Utrecht concluded, and what was its principal article ? When did Anne die ? * What was her character ? By what was her reign distinguished ? What system of laws commenced in Ireland at this time ? CHAPTER XXXIX.— Page 603. From what English king was George I. descended ? By what right did he come to the throne ? What was his age at his accession ? Which political party did he prefer ? What attempt was made upon the throne in 1715? > What nobleman took the field in Scotland ? Who led the Stuart forces in England ? When did the Chevalier come over? What was the success of the movement ? When was the Septennial Act passed ? What took place respecting the Swedish ambassador? What caused war in 1719? What was the "South Sea Bubble?" How did it terminate ? Who was prime minister during the latter years of this reign ? When, where, and from what cause did George I. die ? What literary characters in England and Ireland were conspicuous during this reign ? QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 689 CHAPTER XL.— Page 606. Who succeeded George I.? Who was minister at this time ? "When did the coronation take place ? What war principally occupied this reign ? What important place did admiral Vernon take in Spanish America ? Whither did Anson sail, and what success did he meet with ? Who first circumnavigated the world ? What caused war to break out on the continent? Why did England join in it? When and why did Walpole resign ? Who commanded the British at the battle of Dettingen? How did that battle result ? Who won the battle of Fontenoy ? Who attempted to obtain the British throne in 1745 ? What success had the Stuarts at first? How far did Charles Edward advance into England ? Why did he return to Scotland? What general followed him from England ? When and where was he defeated ? What became of him ? In what great naval action were the English victorious about this time ? When and on what terms was the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle concluded ? When did the prince of Wales die? What is the "New Style," and when was it adopted in England? What great political character now rose in the English parliament? From what cause, and between what nations did Avar break out in 1765 ? When and by whom was Quebec taken ? What general was killed on this occasion ? What progress did England make at this time in India .' When, by whom, and with what result, was the battle of Plassy fought ? What remarkable act of cruelty happened in the East at this time ? To what result did it lead? Who were engaged in the war on the continent? What distinguished English admirals lived at this time ? What English admiral was put to death in 1757, and why? Where did Commodore Thurot land, and with what result ? When did George III. die ? Who were the principal writers in his reign? What new sect arose at this time ? How did the Irish act in 1745 ? What occured in Ireland in 1753? What remarkable event took place in Lisbon in 1755 What family had George II.? CHAPTER XLL— Page 615. How old was George III. at his accession? Whom did he marry ? Who was the king's tutor? What post did he obtain ? Why did Pitt resign? 58* 690 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. What new enemy had England to contend "with ? With what success ? "When was peace concluded ? On what terms ? What did the war cost ? What circumstances caused the Tories to regain power? What minister succeeded Lord Bute ? State the facts respecting the disputes between Wilkes and the crown. When and on what subject did the contest between England and the American colonies commence ? How and under whose ministry did the first dispute end? How did the subsequent contest arise ? What took place in 1768, between Wilkes and parliament? What remarkable letters appeared at this period ? Who became prime minister in 1770 ? What American tax was still retained ? What course did the colonists take ? What act was passed against Boston ? Where was the first military encounter between the English and the Americans ? Who was appointed general of the American troops ? When did the Americans declare their independence ? What were Lord Chatham's opinions ? What nations assisted America ? When was peace made with America, and on what principles? Who was prime minister at this time ? What took place respecting Major Andre ? What riots occurred in London in 1780 ? What became of Lord George Gordon ? What took place in Ireland in 1779 and 1782 ? What important engine was improved in the early part of the reign of George III.? and by whom ? Mention some of the principal authors who wrote at this time. What distinguished painters were there at this period ? Who was prime minister when American independence was acknow- ledged? What changes had taken place in the administration? Why did Lord Shelbourne resign ? Who formed the coalition ministry ? What admiral was tried at this time, and with what result ? What important fortress was besieged in 1782, and with what success ? What caused the fall of the coalition ministry ? Who became prime minister ? What were the principal measures passed by Pitt in the early years of his ministry ? What took place respecting the prince of Wales at this time ? What occurred respecting Ireland at this period ? What important trial began in 1786? How long did it last, and how did it terminate ? What change took place respecting the slave trade in 1787 ? What happened to George III. in 1788? What disputes did this lead to ? How did they end ? When did the French Revolution commence ? QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 691 What statesmen advised England to go to war -with France ? Who opposed this view ? What question was much agitated in England in 1790 ? What trials took place ? What events occurred at this time in India ? What success attended the commencement of the war with France ? What great soldier now began to rise to distinction in France ? When and to whom was the prince of Wales married? What mutiny occurred in 1797 ? What naval victories did England gain at this period ? Where did Napoleon go in 1798, and with what result? What general was killed at Alexandria ? What occurred in India at this time ? When was peace made with Napoleon ? Who was minister ? What attempt was made on the king's life ? What events took place in Ireland from 1791 to 1800? State what occurred there in 1796, 1798, and 1800. When did the Union come into operation ? Did peace last long between England and France ? What caused war to be resumed ? What conspiracy was discovered at this time in London ? What insurrection took place in Ireland ? What steps was Napoleon taking at this time ? When did Pitt return to office ? When did he die ? What impeachment took place in 1805 ? What great naval battle took place in 1805 ? What admiral was killed? What ministerial changes took place in 1806? What second great statesman died in this year? What trade was at this time abolished ? What foreign treaty affected England in 1807 ? What occurred at Copenhagen ? When did the Peninsular war commence ? Who commanded the English army in Portugal? What battle did he gain ? What took place next in Portugal ? What general was next sent out? What success had he ? What expedition was sent out in 1809, and with what success? What event caused a change in the administration at this period? What caused riots in London in 1810? What event led to the king's madness? Who was sent in 1809 to the Peninsula? What success had the English ? What are some of the particulars of the campaigns of 1810, 1811, 1812, and 1813? What took place in Russia in 1812 ? When and with what result was the battle of Leipsic fought? What arrangements were entered into with Napoleon? What ministerial changes took place in 1812 ? What attempt was made by Napoleon in 1815 ? 692 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. When and with what result was the battle of Waterloo fought ? What became of Napoleon ? What took place in 1816 at Algiers ? When did the Princess Charlotte die ? What were the principal events during the late year3 of the reign of George III.? When did George III. die ? What was his character? What distinguished men flourished in his reign ? CHAPTER .XLIL— Page 645. What conspiracy was detected soon after the accession of George IV.? What took place respecting Queen Caroline ? What great statesman died in 1820? What took place in parliament in 1821 respecting the Catholics ? What remarkable circumstance occurred at the coronation of the king ? When did Queen Caroline die ? What great warrior died in 1821 ? What countries did George IV. visit in 1821-22? What statesman committed suicide in 1822 ? What was proposed, and by whom, in 1822, respecting the Catholics, and with what result? What took place in Spain in 1823 ? What in Greece in 1824? What poet died at this time in Greece ? State the circumstances of the battle of Navarino. What took place in England in 1825-6 in mercantile affairs? What foreign treaties were made at this period ? What royal duke died in 1827 ? — What great statesman? Who became prime minister in January, 1828? State the principal steps which led to Catholic emancipation? When did George IV. die ? What was his character ? CHAPTER XLIII.— Page 651. Who succeeded George IV.? What important event took place at this time in France ? What occurred in Belgium ? What ministerial changes took place in 1830 ? When was the first railway opened in England ? When was the Reform Bill introduced ? What success had the measure at first ? What success had the measure afterward ? What disease ravaged the British islands in 1831-2? What public events took place in 1833? What political changes occurred in 1834 ? What great fire occurred in this year ? Who succeeded Sir Robert Peel in 1835 ? What were the principal alterations in the law in 1835-6 ? When did William IV. die ? What was his character? • By whom was he succeeded? QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 693 CHAPTER XLIV.— Page 659. Who succeeded William IV.? When did her coronation take place ? Whom did she marry ? What is said of her reign ? Where did the first important action take place between the Allies and the Russians ? What is said of the war in the East Indies ? In 1840, what did England do? What were the leading facts in the internal affairs of these countries ? What is said of the famine in Ireland ? What is said of literature in her majesty's reign? In the arrangements of social life, what has been done ? What has been said of the Exhibition? — The Electric Telegraph? — Popular Education? — The Temperance movement, &c? THE END. MUKPHY & CO.'S EECENT PUBLICATIONS. Just published, in 1 vol. 12mo., cloth, 75 cts. A NEW WOEK BY ARCHBISHOP KENRICK. A VINDICATION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, in a series of Letters to the Right Rev. John Henry Hopkins, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Vermont. By Francis Patrick Eenrick, Archbishop of Baltimore. " Tacere ultra non oportet, ne jam non vere cundise, sed diffidentise esse incipiat quod tacemus, et dum criminationes falsas contemnimus refutare, vide amur crimin agnoscere."— S. Cyprian L. ad Demetrianum. 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