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 CHRONICLES OF ENGLAND. 
 
 A METRICAL HISTORY.
 
 ' Hail, happy land, whose fertile grounds 
 The liquid fence of Neptune bounds : 
 By bounteous nature set apart, 
 The seat of industry and art ! 
 O Britain, chosen port of trade, 
 May luxury ne'er thy sons invade ; 
 May never minister (intent 
 His private treasures to augment) 
 Corrupt thy state." — Gay.
 
 ()l i:i:.\ ELIZABETH 
 
 OB L603 
 
 ;crcHKRO 
 
 hi MOST NOBLE INK MAUQL'IS OF SALISBURY
 
 CHRONICLES OF ENGLAND: 
 
 & Jfflftrtcal ^fetorn. 
 
 BY GEORGE RAYMOND. 
 
 sec notej in 
 
 SECOND EDITION 
 
 LUX DUN: 
 WILLIAM SMITH, 113, FLEET STREET. 
 
 MDCCCXLIIl
 
 LONDON : 
 BRADBURY AND RVANS, PRINTBB?, WHITBFRIARS.
 
 DA 
 
 TO 
 
 BISSET HAWKINS, M.D., F.R.S., &c. &c. &c. 
 
 My dear Dr. Hawkins, 
 
 Should it be the fortune of the present volume to meet 
 with any success, I shall have great satisfaction in feeling that I 
 have thereby had an opportunity for expressing in a more extended 
 manner than words admit of, my sense of the excellent qualities of 
 your character, and my obligations to instances of your friendship. 
 
 In my request for inscribing this little volume to you, I might 
 not have been altogether free from personal considerations ; but 
 these were rather resulting from such a desire, than the cause of 
 it. The experiment of the following few pages must await its fate : 
 but in addressing it to you, who have so justly acquired the respect 
 of those who have regard for the highest and most valuable branches 
 of literature, I at least secure it from abrupt dismissal ; and thus 
 taking a pledge for its fair trial, I shall have no room for complaint, 
 should my hopes be disappointed. 
 
 I am, 
 
 My dear Dr. Hawkins, 
 
 Your sincere and obliged Friend, 
 
 G. R. 
 
 London, 
 
 February, 1842.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ^HE present scheme for a Summary of English His- 
 tory, from the Conquest to the accession of William the 
 Fourth, is neither offered with the expectation nor the 
 desire that it should displace any of those numerous 
 forms under which a general view of the same events, 
 from time to time, has been presented to the youth 
 of this country. To supersede none, but to supply 
 co-operation in all, is the object. Mere variety of 
 design would scarcely have been deemed a justification for 
 hazarding public notice ; but it is hoped the following 
 new metrical arrangement will be found of practical 
 service, as far as any scheme of a mechanical kind can 
 be made so, or indeed permitted to the trial, in aid of 
 intellectual acquirements.
 
 viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 No fact in the world is better known than that metre, 
 or rhythmical construction, is that form of language 
 which is the first beloved of memory in its dawn, and the 
 latest which attends it in its journey to decline. It is 
 the earliest shoot and of the longest duration ; and there 
 is scarcely any intellect so ungenial, but will offer some 
 corner to the hardy vegetation of song. Take for 
 example, the bulk of that which the memory has 
 retained of school- day associations, and verse will be the 
 ally whose intimacy has encountered the least inter- 
 ruption ; and less, in all probability, in consequence of 
 its quality than its form. Nay — matter of a higher 
 quality may unfortunately have been long forgotten, 
 while the versification of inferior subjects is accurately 
 retained. Like bearded grass, it has crept up the 
 sleeve of fancy, whence no power can dislodge it — it has 
 attained its place with but little solicitation, and holds 
 it with obstinacy — indeed, such is the nature of metrical 
 language, that common experience proves to us, the 
 memory is frequently found in the possession of matter 
 of this description, which it can trace to no date, — no 
 effort in acquisition; and ahnostappearing of spontaneous 
 existence.
 
 INTRODUCTION. ix 
 
 A celebrated French writer has said, Rhyme was 
 probably invented to assist the memory, as well as 
 to regulate the song and the dance. The return of 
 the same sounds served to bring easily and readily to 
 the recollection the intermediate words between the two 
 rhymes ; and by way of example he relates — " A rabbi, 
 who gave me a general view of the Hebrew language, 
 which I was never able to learn, once recited to me a 
 number of rhymed psalms, of which I caught up two 
 verses, and still accurately remember them — they are 
 these : — 
 
 ' Hibbitu clare vena haru 
 Ulph nehem al jeck pharu.' " 
 
 It is quite evident that had it not been for the rhyming 
 termination of these lines, so flinty a combination of 
 syllables would not promptly have found a place in the 
 memory of the Frenchman, who did not understand one 
 word of the Hebrew language ; and for the same reason, 
 also, he could as easily have parted with his skin as 
 have forgotten them. 
 
 How desirable, therefore, will it appear, that a growth 
 which is so prolific as the faculty of memory by the 
 cultivation of verse, should be made as serviceable as
 
 x INTRODUCTION. 
 
 possible ; not to the prejudice of things which are better, 
 but to their assistance and support — not as a substitute 
 for the more intrinsic material, only because it is cheap 
 (and thereby composing a worse article for consumers, 
 who would be willing to purchase the best), but an 
 article which may come within the means of those who 
 cannot or will not afford the price of closer diligence 
 for acquiring information in its more exalted form. 
 Desirable, surely it will appear, to convert so available an 
 art to other purposes than merely works of imagina- 
 tion ; and to apply the machinery of poetry, which versi- 
 fication is, to other objects than the ideal — to the sterner 
 truths of history — and even to the classifications and 
 arrangements so extensively involved in the pursuit of 
 science itself. 
 
 That history was first transmitted by the charm of 
 poetry, would be arrogance to offer here as an apology 
 for poor versification — but had the early English 
 Chroniclers (Robert of Gloucester will suffice) not pre- 
 served their records in the cere-cloth of rhyme, much 
 of the tradition would have been lost. There can 
 be no doubt but that rhyme, before the discovery of
 
 INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 printing, was regarded, equally, for its utility as its or- 
 nament : of such quality, therefore, is it, that it may be 
 looked on as a kind of philological pitch. 
 
 At the same time a belief, so far, in the discreet 
 employment of metrical language, by no means shuts 
 out a conviction of the evil effects arising from its 
 unseasonable adoption : for 
 
 '* Nought is so good, but strain' d from its fair use, 
 Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse." 
 
 The desire of encouraging what is called a smattering 
 of knowledge, by idle and facile means, in those who 
 would otherwise devote their energies to its nobler pur- 
 suit, had no part in the present contemplation. As 
 "there is no royal way to mathematics," neither 
 is there any short cut for youth to the far countries 
 of solid learning. Nothing could be more prejudicial 
 than to offer a summary of history as a substitute 
 for such a study in its ampler and more venerable 
 garb. So far from taking the place of the sober 
 prose narration, the chief success humbly contem- 
 plated in this instance, must depend on that narrative 
 having first occupied due attention — to fix, as it were,
 
 xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 with size, the valuable delineations made by the pencil 
 of him who is the*"only true historian, and prevent an 
 untimely obliteration from the tablet of the young 
 memory. Or, if the expression may be permitted, by 
 means of this thread of rhyme to tie up the bulk of 
 the weighty historic yarn, which laborious hands have 
 woven, that the fibres may not unravel, and its continuity 
 and purpose perish together. 
 
 Respecting abridgments generally, the writer entirely 
 submits to the opinion expressed by Mr. Professor 
 Smyth, in his introductory remarks to his Lectures on 
 Modern History. Abridgments, he observes, have their 
 use, and summaries will serve to revive the knowledge 
 that has been before acquired : may throw it into proper 
 shapes and proportions, and leave it in this state upon the 
 memory, to supply materials for subsequent reflection. 
 But general histories, if they are read first and before 
 the particular history is known, are a sort of chain of 
 which the links seem not connected. " Were I to 
 look, 11 he continues, " from an eminence over a country 
 which 1 had never before seen, I should discover only the 
 principal objects — the villa, the stream, the lawn, or
 
 INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 the wood. But if the landscape before me had been 
 the scene of my childhood, or lately of my residence, 
 every object would bring along with it, all its attendant 
 associations, and the picture presented to the eye would 
 be the least part of the impression that was received by 
 the mind." Precisely in this way is the direction of this 
 scheme — not to teach, but to remind — not, by point- 
 ing out the " lawn " and the " wood " to induce the 
 mind to inquire no further, but by bringing to the eye 
 these leading features of the picture, to render at once 
 the component parts, an old familiar scene. Thus, 
 the summary will not have accomplished its end, 
 unless it secure something beyond a mere recognition 
 of itself — admissible as a means, but unsatisfactory 
 as an end. It is in the nature of a viceroy, who is 
 nothing of himself but by ichom the highest and the 
 greatest is recognised — a substitute, to whose individual 
 person, allegiance is misplaced, but through whom 
 the best test of loyalty may be manifested. 
 
 By way of example, the sketch before us, which can 
 only give Cranmer a niche, will naturally call up many 
 associated acts and participating agents in matters
 
 xiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 connected with him— Lambert's citation, though not 
 mentioned, will be at once suggested — the Pilgrimage of 
 Grace be recalled by the affinity of facts, and the 
 rebellion suppressed by the Duke of Norfolk be again 
 enacted. And when the summary arrives at the days 
 of Catherine Parr, it will not baldly commemorate the 
 sixth wife of Henry VIII., but will recal to the reader 
 the ferocity of Wriothesley and the heavenly resigna- 
 tion of Anne Askew. 
 
 Short as the present sketch is, endeavour has still 
 been to render it entire and connected. It will be found 
 a chronicle in miniature, rather than a larger history 
 in broken and dismembered parts : for the writer begs 
 also indulgence to his plan (as hinted in the commence- 
 ment), in favour of a mass of persons, who even in this 
 reading age, must yet be beguiled into whatever know- 
 ledge they may possess, from a natural repugnance they 
 have to any thing like mental exertion. For there are 
 some to whom the stream of letters is but a nauseous 
 draught at best; to whose palate it is therefore neces- 
 sary either to qualify its flavour, or reduce its strength. 
 To such, an entire history, however slender, is indis-
 
 INTRODUCTION. xv 
 
 pensable : — something more than a versified " index" 
 of events, (which to those better informed would suffice, 
 but which in this instance would be useless,) as all 
 natural connexion would be wanting. The observation 
 made by Dr. Johnson on the first appearance of the 
 " Tatler" and "Spectator" papers, is here ventured, 
 as the opinion may not be inapplicable to the imme- 
 diate enquiry, namely — that nothing is more useful 
 (that is, to some people) than short tracts, by which 
 study imperceptibly is pursued by the channels of amuse- 
 ment, and for which the busy may find time and the 
 idle patience. 
 
 In pursuance of this, the first question which arose 
 was respecting the quantity of historic matter that 
 would be most advisable for answering all purposes : for 
 as the principal view of a metrical sketch was its com- 
 mittal to memory, the least possible extent would be the 
 most preferable ; but as it was also necessary to 
 render it an entire history, this could not be accom- 
 plished in the brevity of a ballad or a legendary tale. 
 A complete chain, in fact, was absolutely necessary ; of 
 which, the links might be of the slightest possible fibre, 
 but still, a chain — unbroken and entire.
 
 xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 But with brevity, perspicuity has also been kept in 
 view, lest the traveller be whirled so rapidly over his 
 journey, as to throw all objects into one arrowy confu- 
 sion. In respect of omissions, which, of course, must 
 be numerous, none have still been allowed of events, which 
 should present a broad front to any one retracing the 
 highway course of our English chronicles ; none of events 
 on which an entire silence would destroy the continuity 
 of the historic narrative ; while on the other hand, inci- 
 dents apparently less considerable, have been retained, 
 of which a disregard would have led the reader into 
 perplexity, by removing some of the bearings of the 
 historic structure. 
 
 An attempt has also been made, whenever fit occa- 
 sions have offered, to raise the language somewhat above 
 the common-place of laboured verse, ever keeping in mind 
 fidelity in narrative. No incident which might well 
 have been omitted, has been retained merely for the 
 opportunity it afforded ' to build the lofty rhyme ;' nor, on 
 the other hand, have events been slighted owing to the 
 difficulty which may have arisen of throwing them into 
 metre. As to poetic imagery, the writer is quite aware 
 that any effort of that nature would not only be foreign
 
 INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 to his purpose, but prejudicial to it ; and as this is at least 
 a vice into which he feels there is little danger of his 
 falling, any vindication on that head would be altogether 
 unnecessary. 
 
 It must likewise be noticed that many historic facts 
 will occur of such peculiar kind, as not only to exclude 
 any attempt at poetical indulgence, but which in their 
 prosaic nature almost demand certain words, and these 
 only, for their faithful expression. In committing the 
 fibre of a material so raw to the metrical loom, a coarse 
 tissue must necessarily be worked out — coarse but 
 genuine — a greater regard having been paid to its dura- 
 bility than its appearance. In fact, the inextricable 
 position of prosaic lines and heavy versification will 
 occur, to which the writer trusts he may have the 
 credit for submitting, as much for propriety's sake as 
 from his own inability to become poetical. 
 
 In local or personal nomenclature, an example will 
 sometimes present itself 
 
 " Quem plane Hexametro versu non dicere possis." 
 
 In such cases, the reader will be directed through a bye 
 
 b
 
 win INTRODUCTION. 
 
 road, but leading him in equal certainty with the high- 
 way so suddenly obstructed. 
 
 Dates and chronologic references have demanded 
 careful attention ; for omissions in this particular would 
 have been faulty in the very vital part of the undertaking. 
 An application of the words of a celebrated writer on 
 mnemonics, may perhaps be made here. " Of all things, 1 ' 
 says he, " there is the greatest difficulty in retaining 
 numbers. They are like grains of sand, which will not 
 cohere in the order in which we place them, but by trans- 
 muting the figures into rhymes (" letters," is the original 
 word) which easily cohere, in every form of combination, 
 we'fix and retain numbers in the mind with the same ease 
 and certainty with which we remember words." There is 
 a tradition that Cyrus remembered the names of all 
 his soldiers ! — it is left to the reader to imagine by 
 what more artful means than any here suggested : such a 
 discovery would indeed throw this poor little volume 
 into the shade. It is better, perhaps, to receive it, 
 as it really is — a Persian tale. But dates are somewhat 
 ungainly figures in versification, and most awkward re- 
 cruits for marshalling into heroic lines. They will, how-
 
 INTRODUCTION. xix 
 
 ever, be found obedient to discipline — steady sentinels, 
 .and ever at their post- 
 Regarding the annotations, which are more numerous 
 than the object might appear immediately to require, the 
 additional desire of supplying concurrent matter, with- 
 out overloading the school department of the plan — 
 namely, the text — it is hoped will not be received with 
 disfavour. No new illustrations in English history 
 are by any means professed to have been made in so 
 humble a work as this, though some recent authorities 
 of the first order have been consulted : — the annotations 
 are chiefly repetitions of popular points incidental to the 
 narrative — but which from their nature could not be 
 embodied in the versification ; and in which, the more 
 advanced both in years and general information, might 
 find some little satisfaction. 
 
 The reader will, in one or two instances, encounter 
 specimens of Monkish Latin, which may not be most 
 acceptable to his sense of classical correctness ; but tra- 
 dition has done no better. 
 
 62
 
 xx INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A few anecdotes, it must be confessed, have been 
 added principally to amuse ; but in defence of which, 
 the writer ventures to borrow a passage from the learned 
 and delightful Dr. Fuller, who in the address to his 
 " History of the Worthies of England, 1 "' says, " the 
 bare skeleton of time, place and person, must be fleshed 
 with some pleasant passages ; and to this intent I have 
 purposely interlaced (not as meat but as condiment) 
 many stories, so that the reader, if he do not arise 
 religiosior or doctior, with more piety or learning, at least, 
 he may depart jucundior, with more pleasure and lawful 
 delight." 
 
 The writer, in conclusion, cannot but repeat that the 
 composition in question, is but little more than mecha- 
 nical, having but small claim to freshness in language, 
 and less to thought or reflection — an experiment which 
 has engaged some attention quite unworthy the name 
 of labour, but which he trusts will not bo pronounced 
 to have been injudiciously attempted, if but imperfectly 
 accomplished.
 
 Before entering on the History according to the purpose expressed 
 in the Introduction, a brief sketch of the regal succession in England, 
 from the dissolution of the Saxon Heptarchy, may be advisable*. 
 
 The seven English kingdoms, existing between the fifth and ninth cen- 
 turies, were those of Kent ; South Saxons or Sussex ; West Saxons, or 
 Wessex ; East Saxons or Essex ; Northumberland ; East Angleland, 
 and Mercia. In 827, Egbert, King of Wessex, by a combination of 
 events, was enabled to assume the title of King of England. During the 
 existence, however, of the Heptarchy, it appears, there was generally 
 one king, who, for a time, was supreme. But Egbert was solemnly 
 crowned at Winchester, with the concurrence of a general council of the 
 clergy and laity. — He died in 837. 
 
 Ethelwolf, who was bishop of Winchester, succeeded his father. In 
 this reign, the Danes poured into the country in such numbers, that they 
 threatened to subdue it. Though vigorously opposed, they fixed their 
 winter quarters in England, and the next year burnt Canterbury and 
 London. Ethelwolf visited Rome, confirming the grant of Peter pence, 
 
 * The following is a specimen of the Saxon, in a copy of the Lord's Prayer, 
 written by Eadfritb, about the year 700. " There is little in it," says a note 
 in a recent History of England, " unintelligible to an English reader." It 
 is preserved in the ancient copy of the Gospels, called the " Durham Book." — 
 Brit. Mus. 
 
 " Fader uren thu arth in heofuum sie gehalgud noma thin ; to cymeth ric 
 thin ; sie willo thin sucels inhcofne & in eortho ; hlaf usenne ofer wistlic sel us 
 todceg ; & forgef us scylda usna sua; uaa forgefon scyldgum usuni ; & ne inlctd 
 usih in eostunge uh gefrig usich from yfle."
 
 XX11 
 
 and agreed to pay Rome to the value of ,£'300 per annum. His son 
 Ethelbald compelled him to divide the sovereignty with him. Ethelwolf 
 died 857, and was buried at Winchester. 
 
 Ethelbald, (II.) eldest son of the late king, succeeded, and died 860. 
 He contrived to perpetrate many vices in a reign he found much 
 too short for the display of a single virtue. His body was ultimately 
 removed to Salisbury. 
 
 Ethelbert, (II.) second son of Ethelwolf, followed his brother. He 
 was greatly harassed by the Danes, who were repulsed. He died in 
 866, was buried at Sherborn, and was succeeded by 
 
 Ethelred, (I.) third son of Ethelwolf, when the Danes again distressed 
 his kingdom. In 870, they destroyed many monasteries, sparing neither 
 sex nor age. They seized Edmund, at Edmundsbury, and binding him 
 to a tree, shot him with arrow after arrow, so that, at last, no part of his 
 body was left unpierced — hence the poet's words, 
 
 " Jam loca vulneribu9 deaunt; nee dum furiosis 
 Tela, sed hyberna grandine plura volant." 
 
 One of the chieftains, named " Oliver," from his dislike to the favourite 
 amusement of his soldiers, that of tossing children on the points of their 
 spears, acquired the contemptuous appellation of " Burnacal," or the 
 Preserver of Children! Ethelred overthrew the Danes in 871, at 
 Assendon. He encountered them nine times in one year, and was 
 mortally wounded at Wittingham, 872. Buried at Wimborne, in 
 Dorsetshire. 
 
 Alfred, fourth son of Ethelwolf, was proclaimed in the 22d year of 
 his age, crowned at Winchester, and distinguished by the title of the 
 Great. Educated in Rome, he was anointed king by Leo — in auspicium 
 futuri regni. He encountered the Danes in seven battles in 876, when 
 another Danish succour arriving, Alfred was compelled to disguise him- 
 self in the habit of a shepherd, in the isle of Alderney, till collecting his 
 friends, he attacked and defeated his enemies in 879, obliging the greatest 
 part to quit the land. The anecdote respecting one of his retreats is 
 well remembered. Alfred was entertained in the cottage of a swine- 
 herd ; and his hostess, desiring him to watch the loaves baking on the 
 hearth, the bread was burnt, owing to his mental abstraction. The king 
 was severely chastened by the tongue of the woman. This incident was 
 thus sung : 
 
 " licre quos ccinia panes, gyrarc moraris, 
 
 Cum oimium gaudes hos manducare calentcs." — As9er. 
 
 1 1 is strange to observe, says Fuller, the alternations of success between
 
 XX11I 
 
 the English and the Danes. Of the temper of Alfred in reference to this 
 particular, it was said, 
 
 " Si modo victus erat, ad crastina bella parabat : 
 Si modo victor erat, ad crastina bella timebat." 
 
 He died 901. 
 
 Edward, (the Elder,) his son, succeeded, and was crowned at King- 
 ston upon Thames. In 911, Leolin, Prince of Wales, did homage to 
 Edward for his principality. He died in 924, and was buried at Win- 
 chester. 
 
 Athelstan, his eldest son, illegitimate, succeeded, and was crowned 
 with great magnificence at Kingston in 929. He defeated two Welsh 
 princes, but afterwards restored them to their estates. He escaped being 
 assassinated, 938 ; when attacking his enemy, five petty sovereigns, 
 twelve dukes, and an army who came to the assistance of Analf, King of 
 Ireland, were slain— this battle was fought near Dunbar in Scotland. 
 He made the princes of Wales tributary. A remarkable law was passed 
 in this reign for the encouragement of commerce : every merchant who 
 had made three voyages to sea, on his own account, was deemed a thane 
 or noble. Athelstan died 940, and was buried at Gloucester. 
 
 Edmund, (I.) fifth son of Edward the Elder, succeeded, and was 
 crowned 940. In 947, attempting to part two who were quarrelling, he 
 was stabbed by Leolf, an outlaw, of which he died, and was buried at 
 Glastonbury. 
 
 Edred, his brother, followed. His reign was an implicit submission to 
 Dunstan, the monk. Died in 955, and was buried at Winchester. 
 
 Edwy, eldest son of Edmund, succeeded. Lingard has these words : 
 " The king having called Dunstan to account for his share in the admin- 
 istration in the preceding reign, the latter refused to attend the summons; 
 and was in consequence banished. A rebellion was excited, and Edwy 
 driven from the throne. That his intrigue or marriage with Elgiva may 
 have given a pretence for his deposition is very probable, but there is 
 reason to believe, from his youth and other circumstances, that the story 
 of the fate of Elgiva, as related by Carte and Hume, is materially incor- 
 rect." The reader may hope so too ; but whether Lingard would defend 
 the monks against a charge of such barbarity, or there really was any- 
 thing in the "youth " and " other circumstances " of the king to throw 
 discredit on the received history, must be left to a more profound in- 
 quiry than this little volume. Edwy died of grief in 959, after a turbu- 
 lent reign of four years, and was buried at Winchester. 
 
 Edgar, at the age of sixteen, succeeded his brother, and was crowned 
 twice. He imposed on the princes of Wales a tribute of wolves' heads,
 
 XXIV 
 
 that for three years amounted to three hundred each year. He obliged 
 eight tributary princes to row him in a barge on the river Dee. There 
 is a tale of romance connected also with this reign, though not of equal 
 ferocity with the last — the reader will recall it to memory. On the death 
 of his queen Egelfrida, the king sent Athelwold to see whether the re- 
 port of the beauty of Elfrida, daughter of the Earl of DevoD, was true. 
 The Earl fell in love with her, and giving his master a false report, mar- 
 ried her himself. He was afterwards slain, and Elfrida became the wife 
 of Edgar. He died 975, and was buried at Glastonbury. 
 
 Edward, (the Martyr,) his eldest son, succeeded at sixteen years of 
 age, and was crowned by Dunstau, at Kingston. Edward was stabbed 
 by the instructions of his mother-in-law, as he was drinking at Corfe- 
 castle, in Dorsetshire, 979. He was first buried at Wareham, but re- 
 moved three years afterwards, in great pomp, to Shaftesbury. 
 
 Ethelred II. succeeded his half-brother. The following is taken 
 from Fuller : " The Danes were advantaged by the unactiveness of the 
 king, therefore surnamed ' The Unready.' The clock of his consulta- 
 tions was always set some hours too late, vainly striving with much in- 
 dustry to redress what a little providence might seasonably have 
 prevented. Now when the un-ready king met with the over-ready Dane, 
 no wonder if lamentable was the event thereof. Their swords made no 
 more difference betwixt the ages, sexes, and conditions of people, than 
 the fire which they cast on houses made distinction in the timber thereof, 
 whether it was elm, oak, or ash." In 0.09, the Danes received at one pay- 
 ment about 16,000/. raised by a land-tax, called Danegelt. In 1002, 
 there was a generai massacre of the Danes. Swein, the following year, 
 avenged the death of his countrymen, and did not quit the kingdom till 
 Ethelred had paid him 30,000/., which he demanded as an annual tribute. 
 In the space of twenty years they had received 469,687/. Swein, soon 
 after, returned once more, when Ethelred retired to the Isle of Wight, 
 and Swein took possession of the whole kingdom, 1013. 
 
 Swein was proclaimed King of England, 1013. His first act was a 
 tyrannous tax, which he did not live to see collected; he died 1014 at 
 Thetford, in Norfolk. 
 
 Canute, his son, endeavoured to gain the affections of his English 
 subjects, but without success. He retired to Denmark, when 
 
 Ethelred returned at the invitation of his people. In 1015, Canute 
 also returned, when Ethelred retired to the north, and by evading a 
 battle with the Danes, lost the good-will of his subjects. He died in 
 London, 10)6.
 
 XXV 
 
 Edmund Ironside, his son, was crowned at Kingston, 1016 ; but by 
 a disagreement amongst the nobility, Canute was likewise crowned at 
 Southampton. In the same year, Canute totally routed Edmund, when 
 concluding a peace, the kingdom was divided between them. Edmund, 
 however, did not survive above a month after, being murdered at Oxford. 
 He left two sons and two daughters ; from one of which daughters, 
 James I. of England descended, and from him George IV. 
 
 Canute was established, 1017. He made an alliance with Normandy, 
 and married Emma, Ethelred's widow, 1018. He attacked Norway and 
 took possession of the crown. Canute is represented, by some histo- 
 rians, as one of the first characters of these barbarous times. The story 
 of his rebuking his courtiers, is well known, which though probably a 
 fable, was yet preserved as a type of the king. He died 1036, and was 
 buried at Winchester. Canute left three sons — Sweyn, who was crowned 
 king of Norway — Hardicanute, who was put in possession of Denmark, 
 and Harold, who succeeded his father in England. 
 
 Harold I., his son, followed — died 1039, and was succeeded by his 
 younger brother, 
 
 Hardicanute, king of Denmark, who died 1041, and was buried at 
 New Winchester. His government in England was violent and cruel. 
 Hardicanute was succeeded by a son of queen Emma, by her first hus- 
 band, Ethelred II. 
 
 Edward, the Confessor, who was now forty years of age, was crowned 
 at Winchester, 1042. This restoration of the Saxon line was chiefly 
 owing to Godwin, the great Earl of Kent, whose daughter Editha, he 
 married — a wife in mind, but not in body — from whom he had no 
 legitimate issue. The chastity of Editha and the cruelty of her father 
 Godwin, gave rise to the proverb, 
 
 " Sicut spina rosara, genuit Godwinus Editham." 
 
 " King Edward," says Fuller, " was absolutely father-in-law-ridden. 
 This Godwin, like those sands in Kent which bear his name, never 
 spared what he could spoil, but swallowed all which came within his 
 compass to devour." The following is told of him. Desirous of pos- 
 sessing the rich manor of Boseham, in Sussex, he proceeds to the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, exclaiming, " Da mihi Basium" — give nic a kiss, 
 a usual favour from such a prelate. The Archbishop returns, " Do 
 tibi Basium," on which Godwin posts off to Boseham, and takes pos- 
 session of the same. A right and title the reader may conceive not 
 quite in accordance with the severity of more modern law ! — Edward 
 remitted the tax of Danegelt, and much oppression which had been laid
 
 XXVI 
 
 on the people. He died in 10G6, and was buried in Westminster Abbey- 
 He was succeeded by 
 
 Harold II., son of the Earl of Kent. He was defeated by his brother 
 Tosti and the King of Norway, who had invaded his dominions ; but 
 he was subsequently victorious, and Tosti slain. Harold was killed at 
 the battle of Hastings, in the October of tlie same year. 
 
 His pretensions to the crown in point of right, will not bear a mo- 
 ment's consideration. These were opposed by William, duke of Nor- 
 mandy, who insisted on his claim, as will presently appear in a note to 
 his reign. He besides claimed allegiance from Harold, as the latter, 
 when in Normandy, had been induced to swear he would support the 
 duke's claims. Harold, it appears, had taken the oath on a box of 
 relics, which was concealed, with this intent, under some tapestry ; 
 which circumstance, according to the superstition of the age, rendered 
 his subsequent attempt to seize the crown an act of monstrous impiety 
 as well as treason. This singular event is depicted on a piece of ancient 
 tapestry preserved atBayeux,in Normandy, supposed to have been worked 
 by the captive Saxon ladies for the queen of the Conqueror. 
 
 William made great preparations, and was aided in this age of romantic 
 enterprise by many princes, and a vast body of nobility from different 
 continental kingdoms. A Norwegian fleet of 300 sail entered the Huni- 
 ber, and after one successful engagement, were defeated by the English 
 army in the interest of Harold. William landed his army on the coast 
 of Sussex, to the amount of G0,000, and the English, under Harold, 
 flushed with their recent success, hastily advanced to meet him. The 
 total rout of the English ai-niy on the field of Hastings, and the death of 
 Harold, placed William Duke of Normandy on the throne of England. 
 
 The following extract is the conclusion of Thierry's l'emarks on the 
 Battle of Hastings, translated from the French, in which the reader 
 will probably feel an interest :
 
 XXV11 
 
 " The remnant of Harold's companions dispersed, and many remained 
 lying on the roads, in consequence of their wounds and the day's fatigue. 
 The Normans, in their exultation for the victory, leaped their horses over 
 the bodies of the vanquished. They passed the night on the field of 
 battle, and at sunrise, William drew up his troops, and all the men who 
 had followed him across the sea, were called over from the roll, which 
 had been prepared before his departure from St. Valery. But a great 
 many did not answer — many who had come with the hope of conquest, 
 lay dead or dying beside the Saxons. In turning over the bodies, there 
 were found thirteen, wearing under their arms, the monastic habit : 
 these were the Abbot of Hida and his twelve companions. 
 
 " The mothers, wives, and children of those who had repaired to the 
 field of battle to die with the king of their choice, came trembling to bury 
 the bodies stripped by the foreigners. That of Harold was humbly 
 begged of William, by two monks of the convent of Waltham. As they 
 approached the Conqueror, they offered him ten marks of gold for leave 
 to carry away the remains of him who had been their benefactor. Wil- 
 liam granted them permission. They then went to the heap of bodies, 
 and examined them one after the other ; but that which they sought 
 was so much disfigured by wounds that they could not recognise it. 
 Sorrowful and despairing, they applied to a woman whom Harold, before 
 he was king, had kept as his mistress, and entreated her to assist them. 
 She was called Edith, and surnamed the ' Swan-necked.' She consented 
 to follow the two monks, and succeeded in discovering the corpse of the 
 man whom she loved. 
 
 " These events are related by the chroniclers of the English in a tone 
 of dejection which it is difficult to transfuse. Long after the day of this 
 fatal conflict, patriotic superstition believed that its bloody traces were 
 still to be seen on the ground which had drunk the blood of the warriors 
 of their country. These traces are said to have been shown on the 
 heights to the N. W. of Hastings, when a little rain had moistened the 
 soil. The Conqueror made avow to erect on this happy ground for him, 
 as he himself expressed it, a convent dedicated to St. Martin, the patron 
 of the soldiers of Gaul. All the circumjacent land, on which the different 
 scenes of the battle had been acted, became the property of this abbey, 
 which was called Battle Abbey, ' Abbatia de Bello.' 
 
 " It is said when the first stone of the edifice was laid, the architects 
 discovered that there would be want of water. This news was carried 
 to William — < Work away,' replied the Norman ; 'if God grant me life, 
 there shall be more wine for the monks of the abbey to drink, than there 
 now is clear water in the best convent in Christendom.' " 
 
 Monast. Anglic. Dugdale.
 
 XXV111 
 
 For the satisfaction of the reader, a genealogy of William's descent 
 is subjoined : 
 
 Rollo— died 917. 
 
 I 
 William— 943. 
 
 I 
 Richard I. .096. 
 
 I 
 
 r i 
 
 Richard II— 1026. Erama=Ethelred— 1016. 
 
 I 1 I 1 
 
 Kirhard III.— 1026. Robert— 1035. Edmund— 1016. Edward— 1066. 
 
 without issue. 
 William, by Edward— 1057. 
 
 a Concubine. 
 
 Edgar Atheling.
 
 ENGLAND, 
 
 &c. &c. 
 
 " n6sse H-EC omnia, salus est adolescentulis." 
 
 Of Rollo"'s race, William the Norman* won 
 England by arms from Harold, Godwin's son — 
 Proclaim'd — one thousand six and sixty — king, 
 O'er the just heritance of Atheling f. 
 
 •1066-WlLLFAM I 1087. < 
 
 ( Queen — Matilda, daughter of Baldwin, Earl 
 of Flanders. 
 Children. — Robert, succeeding to the Duke- 
 dom of Normandy. 
 
 William, surnamed " the Miser," died 
 1128. 
 
 Richard — killed in the New Forest. 
 
 William " Rufus," succeeded in England. 
 
 Henry— succeeded his brother in England. 
 
 Cicely, a nun of the monastery of Caen. 
 
 Constantia, married to Alain, Duke of 
 Bretagne. 
 
 Alice, contracted to Harold, died un- 
 married. 
 
 Adela, married to Stephen Earl of Blois. 
 
 Agatha — died unmarried. 
 
 f Rollo of Norway acquired Normandy by conquest, under the title 
 of Robert, king. William, it will be recollected, was the natural son of 
 
 R
 
 2 ENGLAND. [1066-1087. 
 
 The Men of Kent salute him on his way, 
 And speak their terms, by Stigand, to obey — 
 " Faithful our lives, whilst thou our rights defend ; 
 Be thine the conquest, but the people's friend, — 
 So, subject henceforth we. Yet ere thy slaves, 
 Our sons will choose a refuge in their graves ; 
 Nor hope, though evVy onward knee were bent, 
 A base submission from the Men of Kent." 
 
 Thus fair, the onset of the Conqueror's reign, 
 To guard the laws, immunities maintain ; 
 Trial by jury firmly he upheld, 
 And the " Ordeal " from the land expell'd*. 
 
 But soon a visit to his Gallic realms 
 This sanguine hope of England overwhelms ; 
 His Norman delegates the land oppress, 
 Excite rebellion and provoke redress ; 
 The king returning quelFd th' intestine coil, 
 But henceforth ruled as o'er a conquer'd soil ; 
 Bow'd was the neck beneath his iron rod, 
 Another Attila, this " Scourge of God -f- ! " 
 
 Robert, sixth Duke of Normandy, and founded his claim to the English 
 
 crown on a pretended will of Edward the Confessor, in his favour. 
 
 " Sexngenus crat 8cxtns niillcsaimus annus 
 Cmn pcrcunt Angli, stclla monstrantc cometa." 
 
 * The Fiery Ordeal was still at the option of the native English, but 
 Wager of Battle was the appeal of William's Norman subjects. 
 
 f Before the end of this reign, there was scarcely one Englishman, 
 who was either earl, baron, bishop, or abbot. — W. of Malmsb.
 
 1066-1087.] WILLIAM I. 3 
 
 Th' aggressive Scots he timely countervails ; 
 Exacts a tribute from the King of Wales ; 
 And now acknowledged absolute at home, 
 Refuses homage to the See of Rome. 
 Nor crouches England's Caesar to the wand 
 Of the proud Gregory, vaunted Hildebrand *. 
 
 Between the Humber and the Tees' extent, 
 On native thousands desolation sent ; 
 Partition'd 'mongst his followers the lands, 
 And placed all offices in Norman hands ; 
 The " Danegelt" f was enforced — the curfew rung— 
 The " Doomsday" record — and the Gallic tongue. 
 
 For military service to the crown, 
 The barons here their first possessions own ; 
 
 * Lanfranc, au eminent and excellent prelate of these times, was 
 elevated to the archbishopric of Canterbury, by William, on the depo- 
 sition of Stigand. He resisted the encroachments of Gregory VI I. 
 whose citation to appear before him he refused to obey. Lanfranc was 
 an able politician and a munificent prelate. 
 
 f The " Danegelt" was an oppressive land-tax, instituted by Ethelred 
 II. — abolished afterwards by Stephen. 
 
 The " Doomsday Book" consists of two volumes, a greater and a less. 
 The first is a large folio, written in 382 double pages of vellum, each 
 page having a double column. This volume contains the description of 
 31 counties. The other volume is a quarto, written upon 450 double 
 pages of vellum, but in a single column. It contains the counties of 
 Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, part of Rutland, included in that of Northampton 
 and part of Lincolnshire, in the counties of York and Chester. 
 
 This book is in imitation of the roll of Winton, made by order of 
 King Alfred. 
 
 From this reign to that of Edward III., all the laws were written in 
 the Norman dialect. 
 
 b2
 
 4 ENGLAND. [106G-10K7. 
 
 To whom, in turn, their vassals fealty bring, 
 Feudal alike, as nobles to the king *. 
 
 Despite his monarch living, Robert claim'd 
 The Norman dukedom, which his sire had named 
 For his inheritance. At Gerberoy 
 Besieged, the king confronts the rebel boy, 
 Where, face to face, the son the father's foe, 
 Was haply spared the parricidal blow ; 
 But still at Mantz untimely was the chance 
 Of William's death upon the plains of France f. 
 
 * Their possessions, or Ji'pfs, were at first personal, and revocable at 
 the will of the sovereign, but afterwards became hereditary and perpetual. 
 Each one of the nobles holding fiefs under the crown, divided them into 
 lesser portions called subinfeudations, which were held on a similar 
 tenure to that by which he was himself bound, with the addition of 
 annual tribute. 
 
 f No sooner was the breath out of his body, than his attendants, pur- 
 loining what they could lay hands on, forsook him and fled, leaving his 
 body almost naked upon the ground. Afterwards, William, Ai'chbishop 
 of Roan, commanded his body should be conveyed to Caen ; but his 
 command was little regarded, till, at last, one llerlewyne, a country 
 knight, at his own charges, caused his body to be embalmed and 
 conveyed thither. 
 
 William I. commonly kept his Christmas at Gloucester, his Easter at 
 Winchester, and his Whitsuntide at Westminster, and once in the year, 
 at one of these places, would he be new crowned ; he thought it made it 
 sit the easier on his head. 
 
 We find that at Westminster was a palace, the ancient habitation of 
 the Kings of England, from the time of Edward the Confessor. The 
 Tower of London was anciently used by the Kings of England to lodge 
 in. Other houses, too, they had : one where Bridewell now standeth, 
 out of the ruins whereof the new Bridewell is built ; another called the 
 Tower Royal ; another in Bucklersbury, called Heme's Tower ; another 
 in Lime Street, called the Kind's Artrice, and others. As for arms,
 
 1037-1 100. J WILLIAM 11. 
 
 His son, in ten and eighty-seven, styled 
 Rufus, succeeds* ; the Conqueror's second child -j*. 
 
 A band of Norman lords in vain unite 
 To place on Robert's brow the sovereign might, 
 For these, the monarch humbling, many lands 
 Of Normandy submit to William's hands. 
 Then, on their younger Henry both unite, 
 And mount St. Michael's the fraternal fight. 
 But friendly soon, the arms of William seize 
 On Scottish Malcolm and the Cambrian Rees. 
 
 For mortgaged Normandy the monarch paid 
 A bounty, lavish'd on the wild crusade, — 
 Through Peter, Hermit, ten and ninety- nine, 
 The infidels are driven from Palestine ; 
 One million and three hundred thousand, led 
 By Godfrey, Brabant's duke, in crosses red. 
 Thus, when by Tyrrell in the forest slain, 
 The second Norman yields his mortal reign J. 
 
 William I. gave two lions passant, gold, in a field gules ; and Henry II. 
 added a third, which have ever since been used as peculiar to the 
 crown of England. — From William Carton. 
 
 * J 08 7— William II.— 1100. Unmarried. 
 
 f Then living. 
 
 X But Tyrrell always denied the charge, and alter his return, when he 
 had nothing to hope or fear, deposed on oath, in the presence of Suger, 
 Abbot of St. Denis, that he never saw the king on the day of his death, 
 nor entered that part of the forest. — Lingard. " Quern cum non timeret
 
 ENGLAND. [1100-1135. 
 
 And now, eleven centuries were flown, 
 When Henry First * ascended to the throne, 
 Snatch'd at the cost of elder Robert's claim, 
 AYho was then warring in religion's name ; 
 But learn'd and keen, the reinstated code 
 Of Edward the Confessor he bestow'd, 
 
 nee speraret, jurejurando seepius audivhnus quasi sacrosanctum asserere, 
 quod ea die nee in earn partem Bylvse, in qua rex venebatur, venerit, 
 nee eum in sylva omnino viderit." — Super. Vit. Lud. Gros. 
 
 An anecdote of Rufus, very characteristic of his vanity, is given by 
 the old metrical chronicler, Robert of Gloucester, which being modernized 
 in orthography, is as follows : 
 
 " As bis chamberlain him brought, as he arose one day, 
 The morrow for to wear a pair of hose of sey ; 
 He ask'd what they cost him ? Three shillings, the other said. 
 ' Fy a dibles !' quoth the king, ' who says so vile a deed ?' 
 A king wear any cloth, but what should cost him more ; 
 Buy a pair of a mark, or you shall rue it sore. 1 
 A worse pair full enough the other sith his bought, 
 And said they cost a mark, and therefore so were brought. 
 ' A bel Amy!' quoth the king, 'these are now well bought ; 
 In this manner serve thou me, or thou shalt serve me not.' " 
 
 William's tomb of grey marble is hi the middle of the choir of Win- 
 chester Cathedral. During the Civil Wars, in the reign of Charles I., 
 the parliamentarians broke open his monument ; but they found only the 
 dust of the king, some relics of cloth of gold, a large gold ring, and a 
 chalice of silver. 
 
 f Queens. — Matilda, daughter of Malcolm 
 III. of Scotland. 
 Adelais, daughter of Geoffrey Duke of 
 Louvain. 
 * Children.— William, drowned at sea. 
 
 Matilda, married to the Emperor Henry 
 IV., afterwards to Geoffrey Planta- 
 -■ net, Earl of Anjou.
 
 1100-1135.] HENRY I. 
 
 Dismiss'd the curfew and confirm'd the power 
 Of due inheritance and right of dower ; 
 The just and pious to the church secured, 
 And thus his people's loyalty insured. 
 
 The crown to strengthen by a wider aid, 
 With Malcolm's daughter he alliance made ; 
 Last of the Saxon blood ; by which cement 
 All national antipathies relent*. 
 
 But Robert now determined to secure 
 At home his claim of primogeniture, 
 Comes from Jerusalem in arms prepared, 
 When civil blood by covenant is spared, 
 For, prompt to battle, lay encamp'd for days 
 The adverse parties in each other's gaze. 
 Henry by treaty holds his English crown, 
 Robert retaining Normandy his own, 
 
 * The Queen died in 1118. The following written concerning her, 
 has been preserved by Camden : 
 
 " Prospera non laetam fecfire, nee aspera tristem, 
 
 Prospera terror ei, fcrria risus erant ; 
 Non decor effecit fragilem, non sceptra superbam, 
 
 Sola potens huniilis, sola pudica decen3." 
 
 Of Adelais, the king's second wife, Huntingdon has also the following 
 lines : 
 
 " Quid diadema tibi, pulcherrima, quid tibi gemmae \ 
 
 Pallet gemma tibi, nee diadema nitet : 
 Ornamenta cave : nee quidquam luminis inde 
 Accipis : ilia micant Limine clara tuo."
 
 ENGLAND. [1135-1154. 
 
 Taking moreover, as his annual dues, 
 
 Three thousand marks from Henry's revenues. 
 
 Strife still arising, on a subtle plea, 
 Henry retorts the war on Normandy ; 
 Robert is vanquish'd, and in Cardiff's keep 
 Closes his pilgrimage in mortal sleep *. 
 
 With various fortune, war was still pursued 
 Twixt France and England, on this Norman feud, 
 When peace was ratified. But Henry's joy 
 Expires untimely with his only boy ; 
 Lost is the youthful prince off Barfleurs shore, 
 Nor smile e'er lit the monarch's features moref . 
 
 * Attempting to make his escape, it is said, his eyes were put out by 
 command of his unnatural brother. But William of Malmesbury, who 
 was a contemporary, declares " to the day of his death he was held in 
 free custody by the laudable affection of his brother, suffering no evil but 
 solitude, where there was great attention on the part of his keepers, 
 and no want of amusements or of dainties." This writer, however, was 
 the panegyrist of Henry. 
 
 + " King Henry returning into England after his conquest of Nor- 
 mandy, left all his own family to follow him. This was the most unfor- 
 tunate shipwreck which ever happened in our seas ; for therein perished 
 Prince William, Duke of Normandy, the joy of his father, and the hope 
 of the nation ; Richard, his base brother ; his sister Aland, Countess of 
 Perche ; Richard, Earl of Chester, with his wife Lady Lucy, the King's 
 niece ; Otwell, the Earl's brother ; and most of the princes ; with Geof- 
 frey, Archdeacon of Hereford ; and very many others of prime note and 
 esteem ; none of their bodies being found, though great search was made 
 after them." — Account from Roger llovcden. 
 
 Hen- terminates the Norman line. Voltaire says of us, " Your nation 
 is like your language ; both a strange mixture. When I see one fond
 
 1135-1154.] STEPHEN. 
 
 Stephen *, third son of Stephen Earl of Blois, 
 And Adela, born of the Conqueror, 
 On the king's dying, interposed between 
 Matilda, Henry's child, now rightful queen. 
 
 Straightway at London, partisans arrive, 
 Hailing his throne, eleven thirty-five -j* ; 
 He deems it wise to sign a lib'ral clause, 
 Cancels restrictions and the forest laws, 
 Permits the nobles in their strength to thrive, 
 So many checks to his prerogative. 
 
 The Welsh now trespass on the frontier bounds, 
 And Scottish David o'er his northern grounds, 
 O'er whom, the " Battle of the Standard " won 
 Safety for Stephen at Northallerton. 
 
 of tricks, I say, There goes a Norman ; when 1 see another affable and 
 polite, There is a Plantagenet ; and when I notice a third brutal and 
 overbearing, I say, That man is a Dane !" 
 
 ' Queen. — Matilda, only daughter to Eustace 
 Earl of Bologne. 
 
 Children Baldwin, died young. 
 
 Eustace, succeeded to the county of Bo- 
 * 1225— Stephen — 1154. ■{ logne. 
 
 William, married daughter of William 
 
 Earl of Warrenne. 
 Matilda. 
 V. Mary — and two natural sons. 
 
 f William of Malmsbury describes Stephen as a man of great face- 
 tiousness, and seems to impute his success to the familiar pleasantry of 
 his conversation.
 
 10 ENGLAND. [1154-1189. 
 
 Supported still was young Matilda's cause, 
 And weal and woe the fluctuating pause *. 
 Repulsed one while, the king, in prison thrown, 
 To Maud recovering the fleeting crown. 
 But struggles still succeeding, fortune's tide 
 Bore the usurper in his early pride ; 
 Till at the last, a mutual treaty made, 
 This state of civil anarchy allay' d ; 
 The crown, for life, to Stephen they assign, 
 Reverting thenceforth to Matilda's line t. 
 
 * The following is a description of a baronial castle at this period : — 
 " The keep, the lord's residence, was surrounded by a wall about twelve 
 feet high, surmounted by a parapet and flanked with towers. Without 
 the wall was excavated a deep moat, over which a drawbridge was 
 thrown, protected by a tower, called the barbican, on the external 
 margin of the moat. This formed the outward defence. The keep was 
 a strong square building with walls about ten feet thick and five stories 
 high. Of these the lowermost consisted of dungeons for the confinement 
 of captives — the second contained the lord's stores — the next for the 
 accommodation of the garrison — in the fourth were the state-rooms of 
 the baron ; and the uppermost was divided into sleeping apartments for 
 his family. The only entrance was fixed in the second or third story, 
 and generally led through a small tower into the body of the keep. The 
 ascent was by a flight of steps fixed in the wall and carefully fortified. 
 About the middle stood a strong gate : on the landing-place was a draw- 
 bridge : and then came the door itself, protected by a herse, or portcul- 
 lis." — Du Cange ; Grose. 
 
 t During this reign, all England wore a face of desolation and wretch- 
 edness. Multitudes abandoned their beloved country ; others forsaking 
 their own houses, built wretched huts in the churchyards, hoping for 
 protection from the sacredness of the place. Whole families after sus- 
 taining life as long as they could, by eating roots and the flesh of dogs 
 and horses, at last died of hunger — you might see many villages without 
 a single inhabitant. — Ges. Reg. Steph.
 
 1154-1189.] HENRY II. 11 
 
 Born of Matilda and Plantagenet*, 
 On Second Henry f England's hope was set. 
 Heir by his sire to Anjou and Touraine, 
 But through his mother, the far wealthier gain 
 Of seven departments ; and to these unites 
 The fertile Brittany, his Gallic rights — 
 Nor mightier reign'd within the Christian ring 
 Than Henry Plantagenet, the king ! 
 
 By him the people wider rights acquired, 
 Whereat the proud, licentious clergy tired \. 
 
 * Count of Anjou, named Plante de genet, from wearing in his helmet 
 a bunch of flowering bloom. The marriage being contracted without the 
 consent of the estates of England and Normandy, had afforded Stephen 
 a pretext to usurpation. — W. of Malmsb. 
 
 Queen — Eleanor, heir of William Duke of 
 
 Aquitaine. 
 Children. — William, died 1156. 
 Henry, died without issue. 
 Richard, succeeded his father. 
 Geoffrey, married Constance, heir to the 
 Duke of Brittany — died, leaving a son, 
 Arthur. 
 Philip, died young. 
 John, succeeded his brother Richard. 
 Matilda, Eleanor, and Joan. 
 Two sons by Rosamond. 
 % As a proof of the licentious lives of the clergy, it is related that the 
 monks and prior of St. Swithin threw themselves prostrate before the 
 king, and complained that the Bishop of Winchester had cut off three 
 meals a day. "How many has he left?" asked the king. "Ten," 
 replied the disconsolate monks." " I, myself," said Henry, " have but 
 three, and I enjoin the bishop to reduce you to the like number." 
 
 The king then caused to be framed the famous Constitutions of Cla- 
 rendon, of which the most important were. " that ecclesiastics should 
 
 |1154-Henry II.-1189. <
 
 12 ENGLAND. [1154-1189. 
 
 To curb the craft by which he was oppress'd, 
 The Chancellor a Becket he possess'd 
 With the archbishop's see. Unmindful soon 
 Of Christian meekness and this double boon, 
 A 1 Becket openly the king defies, 
 Uniting with his ghostly enemies ; 
 And though success attended Henry's hope 
 To shame the traitor, he incensed the pope, 
 Coerced herein t' endure the prelate's yoke, 
 And the expatriate 'Becket to revoke. 
 
 Now more inflated, by his power regain'd, 
 Nor law nor loyalty the priest restrain'd. 
 Fired by the sight, th' adherents of the king 
 Consort to free him from the festering sting ; 
 Becket they sought, and with avenging blade 
 Dead at the altar's base the churchman laid.* 
 
 submit in all criminal cases to the decision of civil tribunals ; that no 
 vassal of the crown should be excommunicated without the royal consent ; 
 that no one, and especially no prelate, should leave the kingdom for the 
 purpose of appealing to the pope, without permission of the king ; and 
 that all matters relative to the property of the church should be deter- 
 mined in the royal courts." 
 
 * This act was iu consequence of certain words uttered by the king, 
 which, according to M. Berington, appear to have been these : "Is there 
 not one of the crew of lazy, cowardly knights, whom I maintain, that 
 will rid me of this turbulent priest, who came to court but the other day 
 on a lame horse, with nothing but his wallet I" 
 
 AN EPITAPH. 
 
 Quis moritur ? Praesul. Cur? Pro grege. Qualiter? Ense. 
 Quando? Natali. Quia locus? Ara Dei. 
 Hi u;t j killed on his birth-day.
 
 1154-1 139.] HENRY II. 13 
 
 But Henry was from imputation freed 
 Of guilty maintenance in such a deed, 
 To whom, the pope his condonation gave, 
 Thus closely holding him the church's slave ; 
 Whilst Becket's insolence found grace at Rome, 
 And scourged was Henry at the prelate's tomb. 
 
 Roderick and Dermont, Irish princes, yield 
 Their rival cause to Henry in the field, 
 Whose feuds, at length, Plantagenet beguile 
 To seize the lordship of the sister isle*. 
 
 Lord Lyttelton, by the varied colours in which he paints the character 
 of Becket, has left it a doubt whether we admire the able statesman or 
 detest the insolent prelate. Lyttelton quotes the following from J. of 
 Salisbury : 
 
 " Quaerendus regni tibi cancellarius Angli 
 
 Primus, solicita mente, petendus erit. 
 Hic!Jest qui regni leges cancellat iniquss, 
 
 Et mandata pii principis aqua facit. 
 Si quid obest populo, vel ruoribus est inimicum, 
 
 Quicquid id est, per eum desinit esse uocens." 
 
 Granger says, " Forty-eight years after his decease, a controversy was 
 started amongst the doctors of the Sorbonne, whether he was saved or 
 damned ; and in the reign of Henry VIII. he was cited to appear in 
 court, and tried and condemned as a traitor." 
 
 * Ireland was early iu a state of comparative civilization. Strangers 
 from Britain, Gaul, and Germany resorted to her schools, and Irish 
 missionaries established monasteries, and imparted instruction on the 
 banks of the Danube and amid the snows of the Apennines. — Lingard. 
 Henry had obtained, at the commencement of his reign, a warrant 
 from Pope Adrian (the only Englishman who had ever filled the papal chair) 
 to annex Ireland to his dominions. The bull was dated a.d. 1156, — one 
 of those curious documents, proving the claim of the Roman pontiffs to 
 dispose of crowns and kingdoms at their pleasure. Henry divided Ireland 
 into counties, appointed sheriffs in each, and introduced the laws of
 
 14 ENGLAND. [1154-1189. 
 
 And now the sovereign's declining years 
 Are much embitter 1 d by domestic tears. 
 Heated with jealousy, the royal wife 
 Resolves in secret Rosamunda's life ; 
 And Woodstock guilty of the stolen scene, 
 Records th" > unholier triumph of the queen*. 
 
 His first-born dying, Richard and base John 
 Vex'd with conspiracies their father's throne, 
 And Scotland having cherishVl the foul scenes 
 Of insurrection by aggressive means, 
 
 England into the territory of the Pale, the rest of the kingdom being 
 regulated by their ancient laws, till the reign of Edward I., when the 
 English laws were extended to the whole kingdom ; and in the first Irish 
 parliament, which was held in the same reign, Sir John Wogan presided 
 as deputy of the sovereign. From that time, for some centuries, there 
 was little intercourse between the kingdoms ; nor was the island con- 
 sidered as fully subdued till the reign of Elizabeth." — Ty tier's Gen. Hist. 
 The principal families in Ireland arc descended from Henry's companions 
 in arms. 
 
 * Rosamond was buried at Godstowe, near Oxford. Here is a monu- 
 ment bearing the well-known lines — 
 
 " Hicjacet in tumba Rosa niundi, non Rosa munda, 
 Non redolct, scd olet qua; rcdolcre solct." 
 
 From the dates in the Monasticon of benefactions in the nunnery of 
 Godstowe, from the family of Clifford, who speak of Rosamond as having 
 died there, it seems that her death must have preceded the rebellion : 
 " Huic puellaj spectatissimoe feccrat rex apud Wodstoke mirabilis archi- 
 tecture «anieram operi Da;dalino similem ne forsan a regina facile depre- 
 hcnderetur, sed ilia obiit." — Brompton, apud Dec. Script. 1151. In the 
 twenty-second year of his reign the king assembled a great council at 
 Northampton, and divided the kingdom into six districts, to each of 
 which he assigned three perambulatory judges, nearly coinciding with 
 the circuits of the present day.
 
 1189-1199.] RICHARD I. IS 
 
 Henry encounters William, and restores 
 The Scot, on ransom only, to his shores, 
 While the proud Highlanders to England cede 
 Their strongest fortresses beyond the Tweed. 
 
 So, the French Philip his assistance lends 
 To England's heir in these unfilial ends ; 
 But by his loved and favourite John beset, 
 Heart-stricken died the first Plantagenet*. 
 
 Richard the First t — eleven eighty-nine — 
 King, Cceur-de-Lion, Lord of Palestine, 
 Takes his inheritance in lineal course, 
 A thorny diadem of vain remorse. 
 
 Reckless of gold, he joins the holy clan 
 For Syria's rescue from the Saracen. 
 Hence into Cyprus, and from Cyprus thence, 
 He leads his armies to the Syrian tents. 
 
 * It is written of this king, that in his chamber at Windsor he had 
 painted an eagle with four young ones, whereof three picked the body of 
 the old eagle, and the fourth picked at his eyes. " The old eagle figureth 
 myself," said he, " and the four birds are my four sons, who cease not to 
 pursue my life, but most of all my son John." 
 
 Epitaphium in Henricum Secundum. — Mat. Paris. — 
 
 " Rex Henricus eram, rnihi plurima regna subegi, 
 
 Multiplieiquc uiodo duxque comesque fill, 
 Cui sati9 ad votum non esscnt omnia terra 
 
 Climata, terra modo snfficit octo pedum. 
 Qui legis'hoec, pensa diserimina mortis, et indc 
 
 Humanae specula conditionis babe. 
 Quod potes instanter operare bonuni, quia niundus 
 
 Transit, et incautos mors inopina rapit." 
 
 t 1189_RichardI._1199. j Q^ B 7^ gai ' ia ' daUghtei ' ° f SanCh ° 
 
 l King 01 Navarre.
 
 16 ENGLAND. [1189-11«.)9. 
 
 Philip with jealous eyes beholds the liege 
 Of Britain foremost in the federate siege. 
 To Coaur-de-Lion Ptolemais falls, 
 And mounts vain-glorious Leopold the walls. 
 Fired was the King of England at the sight, 
 Whose prowess chiefly had controird the fight ; 
 He tears the standard of his plumed ally, 
 And spurns the Austrian with indignity. 
 
 Defeating Saladin's array, he won 
 The towers of Joppa and of Ascalon — 
 The cross upraised upon the Moslem shrine, 
 And gave a Christian prince to Palestine* ! 
 
 Meanwhile, at home, the clergy's influence swelFd, 
 Which John, his brother, craftily upheld ; 
 And Bishops Hugh and Longchamp galFd the statet 
 In their own feuds and by their mutual hate. 
 
 * " Richard that robb'd the lion of his heart." 
 
 Granger observes, " The saint errantry of Richard, who sacrificed all 
 other views to the glory of the Crusade, was productive of much misery 
 to himself and his subjects, and is an instance that offensive and enter- 
 prising valour may be a worse quality than cowardice itself." Near 
 Joppa, he fell into an ambush of Saracens, as he was sleeping under a 
 tree. He defended himself with great valour, till, on the point of being 
 killed, William Desperaux, one of his company, cried out, " I am the 
 King of England !" giving Richard time to escape. Desperaux being 
 conducted to Saladin, he was charmed with the fidelity of the Christian 
 and treated him with respect. 
 
 + Constituted Regents during the king's absence.
 
 1189-1199.] RICHARD I. 17 
 
 Richard now turning homeward in disguise, 
 Strove to elude his European spies, 
 Philip of France and treach'rous Leopold, 
 Twixt whom and Henry* he was bought and sold ; 
 But BlondeFs art his secret cell explored, 
 And ransom'd Cceur-de~Lion is restoredf. 
 
 John, who at home had covertly essay'd 
 To seize the crown, now full submission made — 
 " Pardon I grant thee," 1 '' said the king, " and live ! 
 " Forgotten easily as I forgive." 
 
 War is renewed — the king again in steel, 
 To Chalons hastens with undrooping zeal. 
 As sovereign of Guienne, he claims the wealth 
 Therein discover'd and withheld by stealth — 
 
 * Henry VI., Emperor. 
 
 + An old traveller (Brown, 1677) says, "the ransom of the king- 
 beautified Vienna : the two walls round the city (the one old and 
 inward, little considerable at present) were built with the ransom of 
 Richard." 
 
 " Richard was a passionate lover of poetry, and bears a rank amongst 
 the Provencal poets or Troubadours " ( Hume) ; but the story of 
 Blondel, the minstrel, is regarded as fabulous. By Richard, chivalry 
 had in England its rise, and it was he who established the tilt and 
 tournament. 
 
 " Sternly to strike the quintin down, 
 Or fiercely storm some turf-form'd town ; 
 To rush with valour's doughty sway, 
 Against a Babylon of clay ; 
 A Memphis shake with furious shock, 
 Or raze some flower-built Antioch." — Grattun.
 
 18 ENGLAND. [1199-1216. 
 
 Besieges Vidomar ; and Richard's life, 
 To strife devoted, terminates in strife*. 
 
 Usurper Johnf — eleven ninety-nine- 
 Followed his brother in collateral line ; 
 For the crown, Arthur, son of Geoffre) r , claimed, 
 Whom Cceur-de-Lion his successor named. 
 Fortune in arms appeared one while to bless 
 His youthful ardour with deserved success ; 
 Till captive in the castle of Falaise, 
 Silenced by blood are Arthur's vernal daysj. 
 
 * Of the state of the Jews in this reign, Bracton writes, " Judseus nil 
 proprium habere potest, quicquid acquirit sibi acquiritur regi." 
 
 William Brito, a French poet, accuses Richard of introducing the 
 cross-bow to the wars in France, and thus exults in his death. 
 
 " Hac volo non alia Richardum morte perire, 
 Ut qui Francigenis balista? primitus usum 
 Tradidit," &c. 
 
 The celebrated Robin Hood, with his band, infested the forest of Shei*- 
 wood at this time. Some historians assert that this was only a name 
 assumed by the then Earl of Huntingdon, who had been disgraced and 
 banished the court by Richard. 
 
 f Queens A lice, daughter of Hugh, E. of Morton. 
 
 Avisa, daughter of the Earl of Gloucester, 
 
 divorced. 
 Isabella, daughter of the Earl of Angoulcmo. 
 Children.— Henry, who succeeded. 
 
 Richard, E. of Cornwall — Kingof theRoman«. 
 Joan, married to Alexander, King of Scotlam 1 . 
 Eleanor, married to the Earl of Leicester. 
 Isabella, married to Frederick II. 
 
 X Argentre in his " Hist, de Bretagne" says, that King John came 
 late one evening and took his nephew out of prison ; that ho rode with 
 
 t 1199— John— 1216. <
 
 1191M216.] JOHN. 19 
 
 Constance* to France appealing ; Anjou, Maine, 
 Are cess'd from John, with Poitou and Tourainc, 
 And all his heritage beyond the sea, 
 For contumation of the mother's plea. 
 
 Th' Augustan monks and suffragans dispute 
 The void Archbishop's chair ; whereon, the suit 
 To Rome being carried, Innocent dismiss'd 
 Both from succession on this double list, 
 And Langton sent, the chosen of his own, 
 To sit on England's spiritual throne. 
 On John's disdain of Innocent's decree, 
 He meets the vengeance of the Romish See : 
 Banish'd the holy pale ; the church expell'd ; 
 
 him to a cliff which overhung the sea, and there stabbed him, and draw- 
 ing his body by the heels threw it into the ocean. " Some affirm," says 
 Sir J. Mackintosh, " that Mauluc (who was the king's equerry) when 
 ordered by John to murder the boy, shrunk from the deed, and that John 
 seized his nephew by the hair, stabbed him with his own hands, and 
 threw his body into the Seine (as he had been then removed to Rouen). 
 The narrative of Hemingford, which describes Mauluc as the executioner, 
 proceeds to state that John bestowed on Mauluc the heiress of Mulgref 
 in marriage, as the assassin's fee : " Puerum occidit per manum armigeri 
 Petri de Malo Laco, cui dedit hseredem baronise de Mulgref in uxorem 
 loco mercedis iniqute." — Hemingford. 
 
 * " You arc as fond of grief as of your child. 
 Connt. Grief fills the room up of my absent child, 
 
 Lies in his bed ; walks up and down with me ; 
 
 Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, 
 
 Remembers me of all his gracious parts ; 
 
 Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form ; 
 
 Then, have I reason to be fond of grief.'' — Shakspeare. 
 
 c2
 
 20 ENGLAND. [1199-1216. 
 
 And under interdiction England held*. 
 No more the Norman barons interpose 
 To fence the king from his prevailing foes. 
 
 Seizing advantage from these social qualms, 
 The Gallic king on England turn'd his arms ; 
 But John, his threatenM diadem to save, 
 To subtle Innocent submission gave. 
 He, in the presence of Pandolpho kneels, 
 And thus with lifted hands his fealty seals ; — 
 wt By this, his legate, at the Pope's command, 
 I, John of England and of Ireland, 
 My sins to expiate, the crown resign 
 To Innocent and his succeeding line ; 
 So hold my power, as vassal of the pope — 
 To this be plighted my eternal hope !" 
 
 * The reader is here presented with an extract from a note by Lin- 
 gard : — " At first, indeed, the popes contented themselves with spiritual 
 censures, hut in an age when all notions of justice were modelled after 
 the feudal jurisprudence, it was soon admitted that princes by their 
 disobedience became traitors to God ; that as traitors they ought to 
 forfeit their kingdoms, the fees which they held of God ; and that to 
 pronounce such sentence belonged to the pontiff, the vicegerent of Christ 
 upon earth. By these means the servant of the servants of God became 
 the sovereign of the sovereigns, and assumed the right of judging them 
 in his court, and of transferring their crowns as he thought just." 
 
 John, besides confiscating the estates of all the ecclesiastics who obeyed 
 the Interdict, took a singular revenge upon them, by throwing into 
 prison all their concubines. These concubines were a sort of inferior 
 wives indulged to the clergy by civil magistrates, after the canons of 
 the church had enjoined them to celibacy. — M. Paris.
 
 1199-1216.] JOHN. 21 
 
 And further vows the monarch to fulfil 
 A yearly tribute at the pontiff's will *. 
 
 Freed from his enemies, he now defies 
 All private virtue and all public ties, 
 And, twelve fifteen, the lords their Charter won, 
 By Langton aided, from degraded John f. 
 
 * Camden tells us that a scholar amused Pandulphus, the Pope's 
 legate, with this foolish allusion : 
 
 " Te totum dulcor ptrfundit, et inde vocaris 
 Pandulphus. Quid Pan nisi totum ? Did, nisi dulcor? 
 Phus, nisi fusus? Td est, totus dulcedine fusus." 
 
 f That part of" Magna Cliarta " principally affecting civil liberty is 
 thus worded : 
 
 " Nullus liber homo capiatur, vel imprisonetur, aut dissaisietur aut 
 utlugetur aut exuletur, aut alicpuo modo destruatur : nee super eum 
 ibimus, nee super eum mittimus nisi per legale judicium parium suorum, 
 vel per legem terrse. Nulli vendemus, uulli negabimus aut differemus 
 rectum aut judicium." 
 
 This recpuired no less than thirty-five successive ratifications to give 
 it in effect the full force of law : four times by Henry III. ; twice by 
 Edward I. ; fifteen times by Edward III. ; seven times by Richard II. ; 
 six times by Henry IV. ; and once by Henry V. 
 
 The arbitrary manner in which the barons treated the weak and 
 miserable John, may be collected from the original of M. Paris : " Ipsi 
 immenso gaudio recreati, slatuerunt regi diem, ut veniret contra eos ad 
 colloquium in pratum inter Staines et Windleshores situni, decimo 
 quinto die Junii." 
 
 John granted at the same time the " Charta de Foresta," which abo- 
 lished the royal privilege of killing game over all the kingdom, and 
 restored to the lawful proprietors their woods and forests, which they 
 were now allowed to enclose. 
 
 During the late reigns the king had been accustomed to exact arbi- 
 trary sums under the name of reliefs, among which it may not be an-
 
 22 ENGLAND. [1199-1216. 
 
 A bond, not only to emancipate 
 
 The lords and loftier orders of the state, 
 
 Their heritance not only to secure 
 
 Against oppressive fine and forfeiture, 
 
 But free were traffickers the realm to quit ; 
 
 Courts stationary made, and justice fit ; 
 
 Freemen adjudged but only by their peers, 
 
 While serfs themselves partook th' improving years. 
 
 No sooner seal'd the Charter, than the king 
 Back into bondage, England strives to bring ; 
 In secret, plots the statute to annul, 
 By foreign armies and the papal bull. 
 
 Then rose the barons on this fearful chance 
 And turnM for succour to the king of France : 
 Unwise such counsel, whereby Louis came 
 To measure England in a sovereign name. 
 Struck with remorse and viewing with dismay 
 Their deeper thraldom by a foreign sway, 
 They fain the craven monarch would replace, 
 As the less burden and the less disgrace ; 
 
 amusing to remark here, that Alicia, countess of Warwick, paid to John 
 a fine of 1000/. for permission to remain a widow as long as she chose. — 
 Mailox. And the Countess of Gloucester, whom he had repudiated for 
 Isabella, he gave in marriage to Geoffrey de Mandeville ; and though it 
 was a compulsory union, he exacted from the earl securities for the pay- 
 ment of 10,000 marks, as remuneration for the favour !
 
 1216-1272.] HENRY III. 23 
 
 But John's demise the French adventurer foils, 
 And Lackland's heir dispels his dreamy spoils *. 
 
 Henryf the Third, in — twelve sixteen-— ascend-. 
 To whose support Pembroke, the Regent, tends}; 
 For now, the Dauphin reinforced, renews 
 On England's diadem his baseless views ; 
 Whence intercepted and his fleet dispersed, 
 Retreat he sounded, though the land amerced. 
 
 The king advancing to maturer age, 
 Was yet unskilled the barons to engage ; 
 
 * John once demanded 10,000 marks from a Jew, at Bristol, and 
 on his refusal, ordered one of his teeth to be drawn every day till 
 he should comply. The Jew lost seven teeth, and then paid the sum 
 required. 
 
 Gold was made s-terlingin 1216 ; before which time rents were mostly 
 paid in kind, and money was found only in the coffers of the barons.— 
 Stow. 
 
 ral old authors assume, that the king was poisoned by a monk at 
 the abbey of Swinstead, but this is now generally regarded as a fiction. 
 
 ' Queen — Eleanor, daughter of the Earl 
 of Provence. 
 Children — Edward, who succeeded. 
 Margaret, married to Alexander III. 
 
 of Scotland. 
 Beatrix, married to the Duke of 
 
 Brittany. 
 Others, who died in infancy. 
 
 t 1216— Henri III.— 1272. < 
 
 X In 1219, the great Pembroke died, lamented by the whole kingdom. 
 
 His epitaph ran thus : — 
 
 " Sum qucin Saturnum sibi sensit Hibemia, Solem 
 Anclia, Meicuriura Normannia, Gallia Martem ! "
 
 24 ENGLAND. [1216-1272. 
 
 Leagued in a bond, their power his own excellM, 
 A thousand castles in defiance held. 
 
 In the king's councils foreigners confer, 
 By the keen prelate harbour'd, Winchester ; 
 From Poitou, Gascony, a swarming train 
 Who spurn the people and their fortunes drain. 
 Hubert de Burgh, the faithful and the just *, 
 Is stripp'd of favour and disrobed of trust ; 
 Roused are the barons from remotest parts, 
 But foil'd a period, by the prelate's arts ; 
 A fleeting period, — for approach' d the hour 
 Of retribution and his prostrate pow'r ! 
 
 Edmund, the primate, with a lordly list, 
 Freedom from Winchester demand — insist : 
 
 In the 13th year of this reiga died Frederick the Emperor, who had 
 married Isabel, the king's sister; and who for his contempt of the 
 Church of Home was accursed. On whom was made the following 
 halting distich : 
 
 l'RE-DE-RI-CUS. 
 
 " Fre: freuiit in mundo ; De : deprimit alta profundo ; 
 Hi : res rimatur ; Cus : cuspid e cuncta minatur." 
 
 * Hume says, that the ablest and most virtuous minister Henry ever 
 possessed was Hubert de Burgh. The only exceptionable part of his 
 conduct is that which is mentioned by M. Paris, namely, the annulling of 
 the Charta de Forcsta, that which had been so reasonable in itself and 
 passionately claimed both by the nobility and people. 
 
 About this time the death of Eleanor of Bretagnetook place, heiress to 
 the crown, in right of her father Geoffrey, elder brother of the late king. 
 She had endured imprisonment for nearly forty years.
 
 1216-1272.] HENRY III. 25 
 
 Henry submits, but still the country groans 
 By strangers trodden and extorted loans ; 
 Italians fatten on the native-born, 
 And eVry enterprise is brought to scorn. 
 
 The Count of Provence -1 child the monarch wed, 
 And on that house his sickly favour shed ; 
 Humbled in war by Lewis, he confirms 
 Stipends to France for amicable terms. 
 But from the turmoil of domestic throes, 
 Our first and earliest Court of Commons rose ; 
 The king concedes it, and the lords elect 
 Knights twenty-four, and thus that house erect *, 
 Which now round Montford, Earl of Leicester, press 
 By civil warfare to enforce redress : 
 At Lewes, great the royal overthrow, 
 And the young Edward "s captive to the foe. 
 
 With jealous eyes the startled council saw 
 The eaiTs advance and England's trampled law ; 
 Leicester thus timely warn'd, the fetters broke 
 Of the old king and loosen'd Edward's yoke, 
 
 * This distinct portion of the British Parliament commenced in 1264, 
 when the deputies of counties and boroughs were elected. It is not cer- 
 tain at what precise time the Commons began to sit in a separate house ; 
 at any rate it was prior to the year 1376, as Peter de le More was then 
 speaker. Members were remunerated for their attendance so late as the 
 reign of Elizabeth.
 
 26 ENGLAND. [1216-1272. 
 
 Yet gave them freedom only to recruit 
 Their damaged fortunes and the royal suit. 
 The Earl, who nearly had possess 1 d the state, 
 Found now the mutability of fate. 
 For, havoc raising soon the cry again, 
 Montford* at E'shem by the prince is slain ; 
 Nor discord more th 1 intestine nation stirr'd 
 In the protracted reign of Henry Third f. 
 
 * Simon de Montford had married Eleanor, sister of Henry, and widow 
 of the Earl of Pembroke. As this marriage was in danger of being 
 annulled, since the princess had received the ring of a devotee from the 
 primate, though she had not assumed the veil, he repaired to Rome to 
 solicit a confirmation of the match, which he procured by the present 
 of a large sum to the venal pontiff. — M. Paris. 
 
 De Montford's memory was long deservedly revered by the people, as 
 one who had died a martyr to the liberties of the realm. He was after- 
 wards called "Sir Simon the Righteous," and miracles were ascribed to 
 him. 
 
 " Sic labores finivit suos vir ille magnificus Simon comes, qui non 
 solum sua sed se impendit pro oppressione pauperum, assertione justitise 
 et regni jure." — Fabian. 
 
 t Hume enters on the reign of Henry III. by these words, "What 
 mortal could have patience to write or read a long detail of such frivolous 
 events as those with which it is filled, or attend to a tedious narrative 
 which would follow, through a series of fifty-six years, the caprices and 
 weaknesses of so mean a prince as Henry." 
 
 About 1229, Pope Honorius demanded and obtained the tenth of all 
 
 ecclesiastic revenues. Hence was written — 
 
 Non Pontifex scd potifcx, 
 Non potifex scd panifcx, 
 Non panifex scd caraifex 
 Est papa pater pontifex. 
 
 W retched indeed was the state of the police in Henry's time. Many 
 dI his household were public robbers; alleging in excuse, that as they 
 received no wages, tiny were compelled thus to requite themselves— a 
 plea, which appears to have been admits ■! '
 
 1272-1307. j EDWARD I. 27 
 
 Edward* the First from Palestine withdrew 
 To fill the throne in — twelve and seventy-two — 
 Saved to his country from the assassin's hand 
 In homeward course from the Sicilian strand-f- ; 
 The laws he cherish' d ; money — long debased ; 
 And venal judges from their courts displaced. 
 
 Early in this reign, the French and English monarchs united their 
 forces in a crusade (not against the Mahomedans and Saracens as afore- 
 time) but against the Waldenses and Albigenses ; christian sects amongst 
 whom the spirituality of religion was preserved in a degenerate age. 
 The cruelties practised by these professedly Christian princes on the 
 Waldenses scattered through the valleys of Piedmont and the adjacent 
 provinces would almost exceed belief. Pope Innocent, of infamous 
 memory, had founded the tribunal of the Inquisition, 1206. Within 
 twenty years after its institution, such multitudes of victims were 
 immured in its dungeons, that the persecutors were obliged to stay their 
 hands for the want of room to contain them, or means of defraying the 
 charges of their miserable subsistence. 
 
 " It is said that the croises, previous to their assault on Beziers, the 
 capital of the Count de Toulouse, chief of the Albigenses, consulted the 
 Abbot de Citeaux what they should do, as there was no distinguishing 
 the Catholics from the Heretics. 'Kill all,' answei-ed the monk, 'God 
 knows his own !' So true is it that no fire burns so fierce as that 
 kindled at God's altar."— Hist. AlUg. 
 
 Queens. — Eleanor, Princess of Castile. 
 
 Margaret, Princess of France. 
 Children. — Edward, who succeeded. 
 1272— Edward I. — 1307. Four sons, who died young. 
 
 Thomas, Earl of Norfolk, by the second 
 
 wife. 
 Edmond, Earl of Kent, &c, &c. 
 
 f Richard Barton tells the story in these words (Historical Remarks, 
 &c.) : " He was at this time in the Holy Land, and had been there above 
 a year when his father died, when, out of envy to his valour, a desperate 
 Saracen, being on pretence of a secret message admitted alone in his 
 chamber, gave him three wounds with a poisoned knife, two in the arm
 
 •28 ENGLAND. [1272-1307. 
 
 But on the royal side his blasours strive 
 To raise the structure of prerogative ; 
 Freeholds are question 1 d — heritances run 
 In due succession down from sire to son, 
 And inquisitions, which so stirr'd complaint, 
 That Warrenne deigii'd not to disprove attaint*. 
 
 Wales, which in Leicester's late revolt had shared, 
 Infuriate Edward now no longer spared : 
 War he proclaim'd ; — annex 1 d the conquer'd soil, 
 And fell Llewellyn in th 1 o'erwhelming coilf, 
 
 and one in the body, which were thought to he mortal, and perhaps had 
 been so, if, out of unspeakable love, the Lady Eleanor his wife had not 
 sucked out the poison of his wounds with her mouth, thereby effecting a 
 cure, which else had been incurable ; and it is no wonder that love should 
 do wonders, since it is itself a wonder !" 
 
 Mills, in his History of the Crusades, gives a still more romantic story. 
 Geoffrey Rudel, a Troubadour, died for the charms of an imaginary 
 mistress. He became fatally enamoured from fancy of the Countess of 
 Tripoli, whom he had never seen. She, having heard of his landing in 
 the East, hastened to him and took him by the hand, when he, opening 
 his eyes, had just strength to say he died satisfied ! The Countess was 
 seized with a deep melancholy and turned nun ! 
 
 * This inquisitorial spirit appears to have been carried to a great 
 pitch. Earl Warrenne being required to show his title, drew his sword, 
 and declared that William of Normandy had conquered the kingdom, 
 not for himself alone, but for his friends who had joined him ; and that 
 he was resolved to maintain what his ancestors had acquired. The king 
 took warning by the spirit of the barons, and pushed his inquiries no 
 further. 
 
 + Thus, says Rapin, the Welch, those small remains of the ancient 
 Britons, lost at length their liberty, after having maintained it in that 
 little corner of the island, during the space of above eight hundred years. 
 
 The tale of Edward's cruelty to the Welsh bards is much disputed.
 
 1272-1307.] EDWARD I. 29 
 
 While fixM on David* is a traitor's stain, 
 Though never subject to an Edward's reign. 
 Which to propitiate, the king prevails, 
 And Welshman cradled is the Prince of Wales ! 
 
 His force thence into Scotland he withdrew, 
 Where the void sceptre various claims pursue. 
 
 Andrews says, " It has little authority on its side, except an obscure 
 tradition and a hint in the Gwyder MS." 
 
 On this Llewellyn, a Welsh bard wrote the following epitaph. 
 
 Hie jacet Anglorum tortor, tutor Venedorum, 
 Princepa Wallorum, Lelelimis regula morura : 
 Gemma coaevoiurn, flos regum pneteritorum, 
 Forma futurorum, Dux, Laus, Lex, Lux populoium !" 
 
 To which an English poet of the time made this answer. 
 
 Hie jacet errorum princeps ac prscdo virorum, 
 Proditor Anglorum, fax lavida, secta reorum, 
 Numen Wallorum, Trux, Dux, Homicida piorum, 
 Fex Trojanorum, stirps mendax, causa malorum !" 
 
 * This Prince being arraigned was adjudged to be hanged, and his 
 quarters dispersed through the country. According to Hemingford, 
 there arose a ridiculous dispute between the cities of Winchester and 
 Yox-k for the possession of the right shoulder of the Prince. It was in 
 reality a point of precedency, and decided in favour of Winchester. 
 
 The dislike of the Welch to the English is not yet worn out. It is 
 related of Lord Chancellor Talbot that, during an excursion on horseback, 
 he had arrived on the bank of one of the rivers near Hensol ; probably 
 either Elivy or Toff. He here met with a countryman, of whom he 
 inquired whether the stream was fordable in that place. The rustic 
 nodded assent in a manner which did not precisely meet with his Lord- 
 ship's approbation, who repeated the question in Welch. The man with 
 much emotion then exclaimed, " Oh ! no — for heaven's sake do not 
 attempt it. It is very dangerous. — Come with me and I will show you 
 the ford. I beg your pardon, but I took you for a Saxon." 
 
 In 1279. The statute of Mortmain enacted. 
 
 In 1282. The Sicilian Vespers : or massacre of the French in Sicily, 
 through the conspiracy of John de Prochyta.
 
 30 ENGLAND. [1272-1307. 
 
 Baliol and Bruce to him their cause consign'd* ; 
 Baliol, his crown to him perforce resign' d ; 
 When, growing weary of this Southern rule, 
 — A king by sufferance, and Edward's tool, — 
 He risks his freedom by a feeble war, 
 And yields the hopeless struggle of Dunbar. 
 Warrenne is viceroy o'er the north expanse ; 
 And banish' d Baliol finds a grave in France. 
 
 * On the demise of Margaret no less than thirteen claims were 
 set up for the crown of Scotland, but the true heir was to he found 
 amongst the descendants of David, Earl of Huntingdon. From Mar- 
 garet, the eldest of his daughters, was sprung John Baliol. From 
 Isabella, the second, Robert Bruce ; and from Ada, the third, John 
 Hastings. 
 
 As to the latter, whilst the posterity of the other sisters was living, lie 
 could only pretend to a share in the succession, if it were divisible ; nor 
 could Bruce have opposed the claim of Baliol, had he not been the 
 grandson, whilst Baliol was only the great-grandson of David. 
 
 At the present day this would not bear a dispute, but in that age the 
 
 law of descents was not uniformly observed. — Lingard. 
 
 David I., King. 
 
 I 
 Henrv, Prince of Scotland. 
 
 r— 1 
 
 Malcolm, King. William, King. David, Earl ot Huntingdon. 
 
 I ' 
 
 Alexander II., King. 
 
 I 
 Alexander III., King. 
 
 I 
 Margaret=^=Eric, King of Norway. 
 
 I 
 Margaret, Maid of Norway. 
 
 , 1 
 
 !. Margarct=pAlan of Galloway. 2.Isabclla=^=R. Bruce. 3. Ada===H. Hastings. 
 
 I I I 
 
 Dervorgild=pJ. Baliol. Robert Bruce. Henrv Hastings. 
 
 T ' i 
 
 John Baliol. John Hastings.
 
 12/2-1307.] EDWARD I. 31 
 
 But less propitious is king Edward's scheme, 
 His lost Guienne from Philip to redeem ; 
 His means exhausted and resources low, 
 He stays reluctantly the threaten^ blow. 
 Forced loans are levied, and excessive rate 
 Urged on the clergy, his long cherished hate ; 
 The law's protection he denies their plaints, 
 And visits their resistance with attaints, 
 Till ground by misery they dole supplies, 
 Still insufficient to his enterprise*. 
 
 More arbitrary grown, the king at length 
 To rapine hurries and the law of strength ; 
 Stirr'd are the barons, and the king compelFd 
 To gain by compromise the grants withheld ; 
 The Charter he confirms by wider laws, 
 And gives it strength by an extended clause. 
 Peace the meanwhile, unaided by the sword, 
 Is signed by Philip, and Guienne restored. 
 
 And now th 1 aggression of the king excites 
 Wallace, the champion of his country's rights ! 
 
 1291, Ptolemais taken by the Turks, and thus terminate the Crusades! 
 
 * All the Jews in England were apprehended in one day ; their goods 
 and chattels confiscated to the king, and they, to the number of 15,660, 
 banished. Thus they remained till Oliver Cromwell restored them. Sir 
 Ed. Coke says they were not banished ; but usury being abolished by 
 statute, they left the kingdom of their own accord.
 
 32 ENGLAND. [1272-1307. 
 
 Fled to the woods, ho summon" d to his seat 
 All Scottish hearts which yet for freedom beat ; 
 Hatred to England was the bounden test, 
 Hatred responded many a Highland breast. 
 
 At Stirling 'vantages the Scot achieved, 
 As Regent haiTd, as guardian received ; 
 Ormsby, the English delegate, from Scone 
 To England flies for refuge in his own ; 
 Falkirk is lost, but Scotland not debased, 
 Commin combines, and glory is replaced ; 
 When called in person to the hardy bout 
 Plantagenet himself conducts the rout. 
 Eight years the patient, patriotic course, 
 Which yields at length to Edward's mightier force ; 
 And the proud Wallace bows his nock beneath 
 The Saxon headsman, by the base Monteith*. 
 
 * " On the day after the arrival of Wallace at London, he was 
 brought on horseback to Westminster, the mayor, sheriffs, and alder- 
 men accompanying him ; and in the great hall at Westminster, he being 
 placed upon the south bench, crowned with laurel, for that he had said 
 in times past he ought to wear a crown in that hall, and being appeached 
 for a traytor by Sir Peter Mallone, the king's justice, he answered that 
 he never was a traytor to the king of England, but for other things 
 whereof he was accused, he confessed them, and was afterwards headed 
 and quartered." — Stow. 
 
 His head was set up at London, his quarters were sent to Newcastle, 
 Berwick, Perth, and Aberdeen. 
 
 " When I was a youth," said Wallace, "and living under the care of
 
 1272-130/.] EDWARD I. 33 
 
 But Robert Bruce, o'er whom th' undying soul 
 Of Wallace hover 'd, chafing by controul, 
 ExpelPd the English strangers from the soil, 
 And wore the crown which he had made his spoil. 
 
 The king, now more determined to reduce 
 The stubborn country and detested Bruce, 
 Vows that the land shall ne'er again be free, 
 But ruin compass it from sea to sea ; 
 When dying, — to his son bequeath'd the field, 
 Never this purpose of his heart to yield*. 
 
 my uncle, I carried away from him a single proverb which seemed to 
 me above all price — it was this — 
 
 ' Dico tibi verum : Libertas optima rertim : 
 Nunquani servili sub nexu vivito, Fili !' " 
 
 * Edward brought from Scotland the celebrated stone, which had 
 been placed at Scone by the Scots after the slaughter of the Picts. It 
 was inclosed in a wooden chair, and thus superscribed : 
 
 " Ni fallat fatum, Scoti quocunque locatum 
 lavement lapidem, regnare tenentur ibidem." 
 
 The command of the dying king to his son is thus mentioned by Froissart : 
 " He called him to his side, and made him swear in the presence of all 
 his barons, by the saints, that as soon as he should be dead, he would 
 have his body boiled in a large caldron until the flesh should be separated 
 from the bones ; that he would have the flesh buried, and the bones 
 preserved ; and that evei-y time the Scots should rebel, he would 
 summon his people and carry against them the bones of his father, for 
 he believed that as long as the bones should be carried against the Scots 
 they never would be victorious." 
 
 In 1292 died Roger Bacon, styled " Doctor Mirabilis," for his 
 learning and genius. He discovered the telescope, burning-glasses, 
 camera obscura, gunpowder : and was persecuted by the barbarians 
 of the age. 
 
 D
 
 34 ENGLAND. [1307-1327. 
 
 Edward the Second*— thirteen hundred seven — 
 Succeeds ; — a king by mean advisers driven. 
 The cherish' d insolence of Gavestone 
 Incensed the peers against the tainted throne, 
 To whom the regency the monarch grants, 
 On his departure for the court of France ; 
 Whence he returns, to Isabel allied, 
 A queen despising him, whilst yet a bride. 
 
 Redress through Lancaster the nobles sought, 
 And Gavestone to fell destruction brought ; 
 Banish'd one while the minion at their voice, 
 Again recall'd; — again Caernarvon's choice; 
 Pembroke to Scai'b'rough cheers th 1 infuriate trains ; 
 And baited Gavestone is draggM in chainst. 
 
 ( Queen. — Isabella of France. 
 Children. — Edward, who succeeded. 
 John, Earl of Cornwall — died young. 
 Joan, married to David, Prince of 
 
 Scotland. 
 Eleanor, married to Reginald, Count 
 V. of Gueldres. 
 
 1308 — The scat of the Popes was transferred to Avignon for seventy 
 years. 
 
 t Amongst other insolences, Gavestone gave nicknames to the 
 principal nobility. Thus " the gcntil Count Thomas of Lancaster," 
 was sometimes " The Old Hog ;" at others, " The Stage-player :" the 
 Earl of Pembroke, "Joseph the Jew ;" the Earl of Gloucester, " The 
 Cuckold's Bird ;" and the Earl of Warwick, " The Black Dog of the 
 Wood." — From a note in Lingard. 
 
 But though unprincipled and profligate, Gavestone appears to have 
 been superior in spirit and talent to the rough and unpolished barons 
 
 • 1307— Edward II.— 1327.
 
 1307-1327.] EDWARD II. 35 
 
 On Scotland now the monarch turns his wrath, 
 And leads a numerous army to the north ; 
 But false the hope on this decisive turn, 
 When Bruce defeated him at Bannockburn. 
 
 Forgetful now of Gavestone's disgrace, 
 The king promotes De Spencer in his place. 
 Again Earls Lancaster and Hereford 
 Direct their arms on this fresh-favour , d lord ; 
 But less successful Lancaster than erst, 
 Pursued by Harcla fortune is reversed, 
 And meets his death at Pomfret, to atone 
 The mortal fate of murder 1 d Gavestone. 
 
 of the English court. When ultimately subdued, Guy, Earl of Warwick, 
 bore him to his castle, and his fate was speedily decided. He was 
 dragged to Blacklow-hill, in the neighbourhood, and there beheaded. 
 A few years ago, the possessor of Guy's Cliff erected a cross on the 
 above spot, which bears the following inscription : 
 
 " IN THE HOLLOW OF THIS ROCK 
 
 WAS BEHEADED, 
 
 ON THE 1ST DAY OF JULY, 1312, 
 
 BY BARONS LAWLESS AS HIMSELF, 
 
 PIERS GAVESTONE, EARL OF CORNWALL, 
 
 THE MINION OF A HATEFUL KING J 
 
 IN LIFE AND DEATH, 
 
 A MEMORABLE INSTANCE OF MISRULE." 
 
 It has been observed, and perhaps not without great justice, by a 
 modern writer, that Lancaster viewed the head, when struck off, with 
 tokens of the most brutal joy ; and the whole scene appears to have 
 been a mixture of perfidy and barbarity. It cannot be said Gavestone 
 was really guilty of those crimes of which he was accused, as he never 
 had been brought to any kind of trial. 
 
 D 2
 
 36 ENGLAND. [1307-1327. 
 
 Now Isabella, the adulterous queen, 
 Takes guilty part in this distracted scene ; 
 For while a guest in her own native Gaul, 
 She raised a party to her monarch's fall ; 
 With Roger Mortimer in sin allied, 
 For England sailM upon rebellious tide. 
 At Bristol, old De Spencer* they engage, 
 Who falls a victim to the people's rage ; 
 His son, the havoc but in vain evades, 
 Search'd by the fury of a thousand blades ; 
 While he, the king, beset on ev'ry shape, 
 Is seized, ere Ireland affords escape. 
 Deposed, — degraded ; pity yet would screen 
 That royal life, still thirsted by the queen, 
 But, captive to the regicidal twain, 
 In Berkley Castle savagely is slainf. 
 
 * Rapiu, speaking of the character of the elder De Spencer, says, 
 " Nothing could be laid to his charge unbecoming a man of honour and 
 honesty. In all the posts to which he had been promoted, he had 
 always behaved with great moderation and prudence. But a blind 
 foudness for his son, and ambition, which seized him in his old age, 
 made him fall into those excesses which rendered him and his son 
 odious to the nation." 
 
 t The deposed king being removed to Berkley Castle, under the 
 conduct of Sir T. Maltravers and Sir T. Gurney, they received from 
 Orleton, Bishop of Hereford, one of the queen's creatures, the following 
 ambiguous order respecting their royal captive : 
 
 " Edvardum occidere nolitc tiinerc bonum est."
 
 1327-1377.] EDWARD III. 37 
 
 To Edward Third*, in — thirteen twenty-seven — 
 A race-dishonoured diadem is given. 
 
 During his imprisonment, we are told by Fabian, that the monarch 
 composed the following lines : 
 
 " Damnum rnihi contulit 
 Tempore brumali, 
 Fortuna satis aspera 
 Vebementis mali. 
 Nullus est tam sapiens, 
 
 Mitis aut foimosus, 
 Tam prudens virtutibus, 
 
 Cajterisque famosus 
 Quin, stultus reputabiter 
 
 Et satis despectus, 
 Si Fortuna prosperos, 
 Avertat effectus I" 
 At the solicitation of the Pope and the King of France, Edward 
 dissolved the order of the Knights Templars. Their riches and pride 
 had rendered them odious, being possessed at this time of 16,000 lord- 
 ships. Edward assigned the effects of the Knights Templars in England 
 to the knights of St. John of Jerusalem, since called knights of Malta. 
 
 " The Knights Templars came into England in the beginning of 
 Stephen's reign. Their principal station was in Holborn, near South- 
 ampton Buildings. For their better conveniency, in the time of Henry 
 II., they built their house in Fleet-street. 
 
 " In memory of their primitive poverty, Hugh and Geoffrey had 
 engraven on their seal the figures of two men on one horse. In the 
 course of time this was changed for a device of a field argent, charged 
 with a cross gules, and upon the nombril thereof a holy lamb, with its 
 nimbus and banner. 
 
 " In England, when lawyers became Templars, their device was 
 assumed by the Society of the Inner Temple." — Mill's History. 
 
 f Queen. — Philippa of Hainault. 
 Children. — Edward the Black Prince, 
 married to Joan, heir to the Earl 
 of Kent : issue, Richard. 
 William. 
 
 Lionel, Duke of Clarence. 
 John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. 
 Edmund, Duke of York. 
 Thomas, Duke of Gloucester. 
 Isabel, Joan, Blanch, Mary, and 
 Margaret. 
 
 * 1327.— Edwsud III.— 1377. <
 
 38 ENGLAND. [1327-1377. 
 
 The queen and Mortimer, her base ally, 
 
 New schemes employ'd in the minority ; 
 
 But Robert Bruce, invading at the time, 
 
 TurnM from its course their deep concerted crime. 
 
 Here the young king first reap'd his warlike fame 
 
 In the old service, Robert BalioFs name, 
 
 And though victorious at Halidoun, 
 
 David*, in fine, succeeds to Scotland's crown. 
 
 At once the monarch is resolved to chase 
 The hated spy from his polluted place ; 
 Seized and condemnM, the traitor's life is paid, 
 And Isabel to solitude convey'd. 
 
 The crown of France, upon his mother's side, 
 Young Edward claims, to Charles the Fourth allied ; 
 That crown enjoy'd by Philip of Valois, 
 His right affirming by the Saliquo law ; 
 This Edward deems no inferential bar 
 To her male issue, — and prepares for war-f-. 
 
 * Of this David (son of Robert Bruce) much was vainly promised by 
 the muses of Scotland — one of whom sings thus — 
 
 " Filius hie regis ; post patrem, luniina legis 
 Dirigct, augebit ; populum probitatc fovebit ; 
 Istc manu fortis, Anglorum bidet in bortis." 
 
 t The common notion is, that this law concerns only the succession 
 to the crown and Salic lands ; but it is a collection of regulations on 
 matters of every kind. It assigns penalties for theft, sorceries, acts of 
 violence, &c. It prescribes rules for social order, public tranquillity, 
 &c. Of the seventy-one articles which it contains, one only has reference
 
 1327-137?.] EDWARD III. 39 
 
 Granting new charters and confirming old, 
 He raises armies and supplies of gold. 
 First on the ocean is the French defeat, 
 Where full two hundred sail destruction meet ; 
 Tournay bombarded next ; — the mutual foes, 
 England and France, their first adventure close. 
 
 Now the king, weaken'd by his spent supplies, 
 Seeks far and wide unwonted subsidies; 
 On Philip then repeated his alarms, 
 The Black Prince, Edward, his colleague in arms. 
 The onset rush, the prince himself sustains 
 In thirteen forty-six, on Cressy's plains ; 
 His march, the Genoese, with bended bows, 
 Led by Alencon, fruitlessly oppose ; 
 
 to inheritances ; and that is, in the Salic country no part of the inherit- 
 ance is to come to the females — it belongs solely to the males. The 
 following verses are said to have been interchanged between the two 
 monarchs. Edward first speaks — 
 
 " Rex sum regnorum, bina rationc, duorum — 
 Anglorum in regno, rex ego sum jure paterno. 
 Matris jure quidcu), Francorum nuncupor idem — 
 Hie est armorum, variatio facta meorum." 
 
 To which Philip, with equal pertness, replies — 
 
 " Prsedo regnorum, qui diceris esse duorum, 
 Francorum regno, privabcris atque paterno. 
 Succedunt mares boc regno, non mulieres, 
 Hinc est armorum, variatio stulta tuorum." 
 
 " In every point of view the claim of Edward was unjust ; for if the 
 Salic law was not valid, the claims of the daughters of the three last 
 monarchs were superior to his ; and if valid, all female claims were 
 alike extinguished."— {Note in Tytler's History). Edward now quar- 
 tered with the arms of England the Flcur de Lis of France.
 
 40 EDWARD III. [1327-1377. 
 
 Then scour the Gallic cavalry the ground, 
 
 And hem the English archers in their round ; 
 
 On whom still closing in, Northampton wheels, 
 
 And agile Arundel perdition deals ; 
 
 Which mortal strife, the monarch views afar, 
 
 And Edward's prowess in his maiden war. 
 
 The Earls of Flanders, Vaudemont, Annaul slain, 
 
 And nobler Dukes of Bourbon and Lorraine ; 
 
 So from Bohemia, England's heirs assume 
 
 Ich Dien — " I serve " — beneath the nodding plume ; 
 
 The field is Edward's, and dismantled lie 
 
 Full thirty thousand of the enemy. 
 
 Calais capitulates to Edward's zeal, 
 And while for clemency its children kneel, 
 The king, as quittance for their lives, decreed 
 They yield up six inhabitants to bleed ; 
 But saved is Eustace, with his staunch compeers, 
 By intercession of Philippa's tears*. 
 War meanwhile, David had on England waged, 
 Whom she, Philippa, had herself engaged, 
 
 * Lingard observes — "Froissart has dramatised this incident with 
 considerable effect, but I think with but little attention to truth. There 
 is nothing to prove that Edward designed to put these men to death ; 
 on the contrary, In- lakes notice that the king's refusal of mercy was 
 accompanied with a wink to his attendants, which, if it meant anything 
 must have meant that he was net actually serious."
 
 1327-1377.] EDWARD III. 41 
 
 And led him captive, to record the time 
 Since Edward parted for a foreign clime. 
 
 King Philip dying, John, his son, succeeds, 
 And again Edward forms aggressive deeds : 
 Himself to Calais leads a warlike host, 
 The prince another to the Gallic coast, 
 When Edward suddenly recall'd, — his son 
 Arms with twelve thousand to encounter John. 
 
 On Poictiers' plains the Gallic forces fix 
 Their iron stand, in thirteen fifty-six : 
 Three princes lead the French divisions on, 
 The Duke of Orleans, Dauphin*, and King John ; 
 Routed — disarmed, the King and Dauphin yield 
 As prisoners to the Black Prince in the field ; 
 Truce ratified thereon, in Edward's court 
 Two royal captives find constraint resort f- 
 
 * The province of Dauphine had heen left to the late King Philip by 
 its last prince, on condition of the heir-apparent to the throne of France 
 being thenceforth styled the Dauphin. 
 
 f Christopher Oklaud thus mentions the achievements of this reign : 
 " Plantageneta duos reges jam illustris habebat 
 Captivos, tenuit comites custodia ruitis 
 Multos ambabus claro regionibus ortos 
 Sanguine, quos saevo bello cepere Britannia 
 Attauien Edvardi viguit dementia regis 
 Tanta, ct tanta animo virtus innata Bedebat, 
 Ut pretio et pacto dimitterat aire redemptos 
 In patriam ad propria; consanguinitatis amicos." 
 
 In 1367, the translation of Simon Langham from Ely to Canterbury 
 occasioned an epigram not very flattering to the good prelate : 
 "Exultant c«li, quia Simon transit ab Ely 
 Ad cujus adventum, flent iu Kent millia ceutum."
 
 42 ENGLAND. [1327-1377. 
 
 The Spanish struggles of this time evince 
 The last achievement of this gallant prince* : 
 He dies — nor long the king-|- himself is spared, 
 While Charles of France his country's loss repairM. 
 
 * "His wife," says Fuller, "was Joane, Countess of Salisbury and 
 Kent. This is she whose garter hath lasted longer than all the ward- 
 robes of the kings and queens in England since the Conquest." 
 
 f Edward was sixty-two years old, when he was captivated by the 
 charms of Alice Pierce, styling her " The Lady of the Sun." Respecting 
 the order of the Garter instituted in this reign, Rastall, in his Chronicles, 
 s a y S — » Some do affirme that this order beganne fyrst by Richard Coeur 
 de Lion at the siege of the citie of Acres, where in his greate necessytie, 
 there were but five-and-twenty knights that firmlye and surelye abode 
 by him, where he caused all of them to wear thonges of blue ley there 
 aboute their legges, and afterwards they were called knights." 
 
 Christ. Okland dooth saie that after foure daies were expired in 
 exercises of Chivalrie, the king (Ed. III.), besides the rich garter 
 which he bestowed upon them that tried maisteries, did also give a 
 pretious collar of SS ; but whether this collar had its first institution 
 then with the garter he saith nothing ; belike it was an ornament of 
 greater antiquitie. His words are — 
 
 Cor.certatoribus ampla 
 Prarnia dat princeps, braccatas induit illis 
 Crura pcriscclidcs, quas unio mistus Eous 
 Commendat, flauimis interluccnte pyropo. 
 Praterea ex auro puro, quod orodifer Indus 
 Miserat, inserta donabat jaspede gemma, 
 Si formam spectcs duplicato ex sygmate torques. 
 
 The corpse of Edward III. was conveyed from Shecneby his four sons, 
 namely, Lionel, Duke of Clarence ; John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster ; 
 Edmond of Langlie, Duke of York ; and Thomas of Woodstoke, Earl of 
 Cambridge, and interred within Westminster church, with this epitaph : 
 
 " I lie deooa Anglorum, flos rcgum prateritorutn, 
 Forma futurorum, rex clemensj pax populorum, 
 Tertius Edward us, rcgni complens jubilcum, 
 [nvictUB pardus, pollens bellis MaebabaHirn."
 
 1377-1399.] RICHARD II. 43 
 
 The second Richard*, from the Black Prince sprung, 
 In thirteen seventy-seven ascended young : 
 And Gloucester, Lancaster, and York, proclaim 
 All public measures in the royal name-}-. 
 
 A poll-tax passing, partial as it fell, 
 Incited divers counties to rebel. 
 A clam'rous body at Wat Tyler's pow'r 
 Defied the king in his embattled TowV ; 
 Who, thence resolving to confront the throng, 
 Demanded dauntlessly to hear their wrong ; 
 Fell'd is their leader, the coarse rebel foe, 
 By Walworth's prompt, exasperated blow : 
 
 „,„„_ _ TT .„„. f Queen. — Anne of Luxemburg. 
 
 * 1377.— Richard II.— 1399. ] * T , „ „ „ 6 
 
 ( Isabella ol r ranee. 
 
 t The Dukes of Gloucester, Lancaster, and York were appointed 
 guardians to the realm. The first was the favourite of the people, 
 though enterprising and turbulent. The second was the celebrated 
 •John of Gaunt, who had had considerable share in the administration 
 during the late reign, but arbitrary and unpopular. The third was 
 indolent and weak. 
 
 On Richard's proclamation, " in the market of Cheapside was erected 
 a building in the form of a castle, out of which ran two streams of wine. 
 On its four turrets were placed four girls dressed in white, and of the 
 same age with the king. As he approached, they blew towards him 
 small shreds of gold leaf, then showering upon him florins made of paper, 
 and coming down, helped him to wine out of cups of gold. To conclude, 
 an angel descended from the summit of the castle and offered to the king 
 a golden crown. Every street exhibited some pageant, but the mer- 
 chants of Cheapside obtained the prize for superior ingenuity." — Wals.
 
 44 ENGLAND. [1377-1399. 
 
 Thus timely quell'd are Smitbiield's brief alarms, 
 Which gave " a dagger " to the City arms*. 
 
 Puff'd is the manhood of the king with pride, 
 And guiltier favourites the laws o'er-ride ]; 
 The Duke of Ireland assumes controul, 
 And public scorn pursues the raised La Pole ; 
 Till the weak Richard delegates his isle 
 To forced commissions and to Gloucester's guile. 
 
 His favourites recall'd ; once more he tries 
 To break his bondage and these guardian ties ; 
 Fled to the Tower, the barons still pursue 
 The king unworthy the descent he drew. 
 The Duke, by holding Richard in restraint, 
 Provokes the sentence of his own attaint, 
 
 * A foolish priest of Kent, says Froissart, called John Ball, had 
 preached to the peasants, that in the heginning of the world there were 
 no bondmen ; wherefore none ought to be bound without he did treason 
 to his lord, as Lucifer did to God. 
 
 l: Wlicn Adam delved and Eve span, 
 Where was then the gentleman?" 
 
 This priest, continues he, was three times thrown into the Archbishop's 
 prison at Canterbury, for his foolish words. 
 
 The following is Gower's metrical catalogue of Wat Tyler's men : 
 
 " Watte vocat, cui Tlioma venit, nequc Syinnic retardat ; 
 
 Batteque Gibbe simul Ilykkc venire subent. 
 Colic fm it, quern Bobbc juvat nocumenta parantes, 
 
 Cum quibus ad damnum Wille coirc volat. 
 Gribbe rapit, dum Davie strepit, conies est quibus Ilobbc, 
 
 Larkin et in medio non minor esse putat. 
 Hudde t'eiit, quern Judde terit, dum Tib be juvatur, 
 
 Jakke domosque viroe vcllit et ense necat."
 
 1377-1399] RICHARD II. 45 
 
 The leaders of his faction are impeach'd, 
 And base assassination Gloucester reach'd. 
 
 And now a single combat 'twixt the Duke 
 Of Norfolk and young Harry Bolingbroke, 
 Displays the devious temper of the king, 
 And points the way to future suffering. 
 A taunt on Norfolk by young Harry thrown 
 Of words disloyal to King Richard's throne, 
 By the proud duke disdainfully denied, 
 A single combat offers to decide. 
 Each to the issue being pledged, the day 
 Dawns on the waited verdict by the fray, 
 When fickle Richard from th' arena sent 
 The marshall'd champions to banishment. 
 Fired at his sentence, Bolingbroke resolved 
 On Richard's fall ; and in the cause involved 
 The proudest nobles in his clustering band, — 
 Young Harry Percy, and Northumberland. 
 
 The king, ere this, had left his English realm 
 Disloyal Ireland to overwhelm, 
 Wherein Earl March, his cousin, had been slain, 
 Roger, the heir-presumptive to his reign. 
 
 Unwary now relanding, on the coast 
 Of Milford Haven, with a scanty host, 
 He is deserted by that servile race
 
 46 ENGLAND. [1377-1399. 
 
 Of craven followers, — his first disgrace : 
 Thus yields the struggle, — while the voices ring 
 " Long live the Duke of Lancaster, our king* ! * 
 Deposed is Richard, and the new-made Duke, 
 Despising rivalry and vain rebuke, 
 
 * This event is thus described by Shakspeare : — 
 
 York. Then, as I said, the Duke, great Bolingbroke, 
 
 Mounted upon a hot and fiery steed, 
 
 Which his aspiring rider seem'd to know; 
 
 With slow, but steads' pace, kept on his course, 
 
 While all tongues cried — God save thee, Bolingbrokc ! 
 
 You would have thought the very windows 6pake, 
 
 So many greedy looks of young and old 
 
 Through casements darted their desiring eyes 
 
 Upon his visage ; 
 
 Whilst he from one side to the other turning, 
 
 Bareheaded, lower than his proud steed's neek, 
 
 Bespake them thus — I thank you, countrymen. 
 Duch. Alas, poor Richard ! where rides he the while? 
 York. As in a theatre, the eyes of men, 
 
 After a well-graced actor leaves the stage, 
 
 Are idly bent on him that enters next, 
 
 Thinking his prattle to be tedious, 
 
 Even so, or with much more contempt, men's eyes 
 
 Did scowl on Richard. No man cried, God save him ! — 
 
 In this reign Wickliffe maintained that the bread and wine in the 
 eucharist were not the real substance, but only the emblem of Christ's 
 
 body, that the church of Rome has not a supreme authority over 
 
 all other churches ; — that Christ did not give greater power to Peter 
 than to the rest of his apostles ; — that a lay patron may lawfully divest a 
 degenerate church of her temporalities ; — that the gospel is sufficient fin- 
 regulating the life of every Christian, and that all other rules of sanctity 
 add no more perfection to the gospel than the shadow adds to the sub- 
 stance. Wickliffe died 1385. He was burnt for heresy, but with 
 inglorious good fortune — forty years after his death. 
 
 The following is the Lord's Prayer, given by Bishop Wilkins, as used 
 in the 13th and 14 th centuries : — 
 
 Our Fathir that art in hevenes, hallowed be thy name, thy kyngdom come, 
 
 Be thy will done as in heven and in eryth too. 
 
 Gie us this day our breede, our daily substance, 
 
 And forgive to ous owr debtis, as we forgiven to our debtours ; 
 
 And lead ous not into temptation 
 
 But deliver ous from yvel. Amen '
 
 1399-1413.] HENRY IV. 17 
 
 Takes fortune at the flood, and, as the son 
 
 Of John of Gaunt, at once assumes the throne, 
 
 Boldly avouching his succession good, 
 
 In his descent from Henry's eldest blood, 
 
 Who should, displace of Edward, have obtainM 
 
 That crown and sceptre which the younger gain'd : 
 
 Though false the plea, admitted was the claim 
 
 Of Harry Fourth* and the Lancastrian name. 
 
 Richard by violence at Pomfret dies, 
 
 To quell reaction and conspiracies-)-. 
 
 Surry and Albemarle, with Exeter, 
 
 Gloucester and Salisbury, and Blount, confer 
 
 Against the sway of Bolingbroke, and feign 
 
 Maudlin, as Richard, of the voided reign ; 
 
 f Wife. — Mary de Bohun, daughter of 
 the Earl of Hereford — died before 
 Henry attained the crown. 
 Queen. — Joan, daughter of Charles I., 
 king of Navarre. 
 
 Children Henry, who succeeded. 
 
 Thomas, Duke of Clarence. 
 John, Duke of Bedford. 
 Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. 
 Blanche, married to the Duke of 
 
 Bavaria. 
 Philippa, married to the King of 
 
 Denmark. 
 Two daughters by the latter wife. 
 + Mr. Tytler, in his work on Scottish History, revives the notion of 
 Richard's escape into Scotland, whei'e he is said to have survived twenty 
 years. Sir James Mackintosh, however, still adheres to the popular 
 opinion of his death. 
 
 * 1399— Henry IV.— 1413. {
 
 48 ENGLAND. [1399-1413. 
 
 But Henry's vigilance the mask defied, 
 And the conspirators as traitors died. 
 
 A mandate to Northumberland convey'd, 
 To take no ransom for his pris'ners made 
 His right of battle by avouched record — 
 Turns now the Earl against his royal lord ; 
 For great had been Northumberland's renown 
 In Henry's interest at Halidoun. 
 
 Set up in Cambria, is a princely pow'r, 
 And gallantly supported by Glendour ; 
 While Earl Northumberland, whose sword so late 
 Had help'd King Henry to his regal state, 
 To favour Mortimer was now impell'd, 
 Whom Glendour* as yet a pris'ner held. 
 The king this rebel armament assails, 
 Join'd by his son, young Henry, Prince of Wales, 
 Near Shrewsbury's city, where Northumbrian host 
 Is scatterM, and the life of Percy lostf. 
 
 * The " Wallace of Wales."— He aided the rebellion of the Percys, 
 and was crowned at Machynloeth, in Montgomeryshire, " Sovereign of 
 Wales." The rashness of Henry Percy brought on the fatal battle of 
 Shrewsbury, before all his Welsh auxiliaries had come up. He died in 
 1415. "He appears to have been a man of considerable ability, and to 
 have united in no common degree the cpualities of a statesman and a 
 captain of banditti." — Thomas's Life. 
 
 + Hotspur. . . . . " I am on fire 
 
 To hear this rich reprisal is so nigh, 
 And yet not ours. Come, let mo take my horso,
 
 1399-1413.] HENRY IV. 49 
 
 Faction anew th' Archbishop York increased, 
 But death the fruitage, to the traitor priest ; 
 While Sautre s sentence and the Lollard * stake, 
 Are the first shame spots for religion's sake. 
 
 Who is to bear me, like a thunderbolt, 
 Against tbe bosom of the Prince of Wales. 
 Harry to Harry shall, hot horse to horse 
 Meet, and ne'er part, till one drop down a corse ! " 
 
 Shakspeare. 
 
 Di-ayton the poet, in describing the divisions of the Cheshire families 
 in this war, says, 
 
 " There Dutton, Dutton kills : a Done doth kill a Done : 
 A Booth a Booth, and Leigh by Leigh is overthrown. 
 A Venables against a Venables doth stand, 
 And Toutbeck fighteth with a Toutbeck hand in hand. 
 There Molineaux doth make a Molineaux to die, 
 And Egerton the strength of Egerton doth try. 
 Oh ! Cheshire, wert thou mad ? of thine own native gore 
 So much until this day thou never shed' 8 1 before.'' 
 
 * Supposed to have been derived from Walter Lollardus, one of the 
 first teachers of the truth in Germany ; or from a German word signi- 
 fying /wa/m singing : or from "lolium," tares amongst the Lord's wheat. 
 
 After the death of Wickliffe, his followers, the Lollards, were cruelly 
 persecuted, particularly in this reign ; but their preaching shook the 
 papal influence and prepared the way to the Reformation. 
 
 The following is a copy of the sentence under which the first English 
 martyr suffered. 
 
 " In the name of God, Amen. We, Thomas, by the grace of God 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, primate of England and legate of the See 
 apostolical, by the authority of God Almighty and blessed St. Peter and 
 Paul and of holy church, and by our own authority, sitting for tribunal 
 or chief judge, having God before our eyes, by the counsel and consent 
 of the whole clergy, our fellow brethren and suffragans, assistants to us, 
 in this present council provincial, by this our sentence definitive do pro- 
 nounce, decree, and declare, by these presents, thee William Sautre, other- 
 wise called Chautrey, parish priest pretensed, personally appearing 
 before us, in and upon the crime of heresy, judicially and lawfully 
 convict as a heretic, and as a heretic to be punished." 
 
 E
 
 50 ENGLAND. [1413-1422. 
 
 Peace now restored in England, Henry plann'd 
 An expedition to the Holy Land ; 
 But ere his armament or fleet supplied, 
 This first Lancastrian, and fourth Henry, died *. 
 
 In — fourteen thirteen — to the common joy, 
 As Henry Fifth t, ascends the princely boy. 
 Weaned of his follies]:, Henry now connects 
 In strong alliance all conflicting sects, 
 
 * An old prophecy, that " Jerusalem should be the place of Henry's 
 demise," made him, as it is said, hasten his preparations for the voyage, 
 for he thought that his salvation might be secured by the sacreduess of 
 the spot on which he should breathe his last; but finding that the room 
 in which he lay was called the "Jerusalem Chamber," he abandoned 
 the idea of a crusade, and expired. 
 
 There is a strange story told by Clement Maydestone, on the authority 
 of one of the persons employed to convey the king's body by water from 
 Westminster for interment at Canterbury. Finding themselves in 
 danger from a storm, they threw the dead body into the river, in imita- 
 tion of the mariners who had treated the prophet Jonah in that manner, 
 and proceeding to Canterbury, deposited the empty coffin hi the grave. 
 — {Peck). 
 
 Christ. Okland, for a funeral epigram, writes : 
 
 "Henricus quartus liis septan rexerat annos, 
 Anglorum gentem Bumma cum laude et amore, 
 Jamque senesccnti fatalis terminus aevi 
 Ingruerat, morbus fatalem accerserat horam." 
 
 Queen. — Catherine of France — On Henry's 
 death, married Sir Owen Tudor. 
 
 Child Henry, who succeeded. 
 
 In 111."), John lluss, and in 1416, Jerome of Prague, were condemned 
 by tin- council of Constance and burnt alive for heresy. 
 % Christ. Okland, of Henry's reformed character, says — 
 
 " Ille inter juvenee paulo lascivior ante, 
 Defuncto genitore gravis constansque repente, 
 Moribus ablegal corruptis regis ;il> aula 
 
 Assuutos socios," &c. &c. 
 
 T1413— Henbt V.— 1422. <^
 
 1413-1422.] HENRY V. 51 
 
 Nor did the Earl of March himself deny, 
 Spite his own claim, a test of loyalty. 
 Folly and mean associates banished hence, — 
 Gascoyne advanced, — and Henry's young offence 
 Teaching the noblest of the land to treat, 
 With knee-bent reverence, the judgment seat, — 
 Yet the dark record of Oldcastle's fate* 
 Attests the bigot spirit of the state. 
 
 * Sir John Oldcastle married the niece and heiress of Lord Cobham, 
 and assumed that title. He was the chief of the Lollards in this reign, 
 condemned and executed. 
 Granger observes — 
 
 " Sir J. Oldcastle was exposed as a buffoon character, by some Roman 
 Catholic poet, in an old play entitled ' The famous Victories of Henry V,' 
 in which the scene opens with the young Prince's robberies, and Sir J. 
 Oldcastle is mentioned as one of his gang. As Shakspeare appears to 
 have borrowed some hints from this play, it gave occasion to the mis- 
 take, that Sir J. Oldcastle was originally the droll of his historical play 
 of 'Henry IV,' and that he changed his name to Falstaff." 
 This, however, is an opinion which by no means prevails. 
 Sir J. Oldcastle's execution was attended with circumstances of unusual 
 barbarity. He was burned suspended by chains from a gallows. Till 
 burning became a more frequent punishment for heretics, the mode 
 appears to have varied. In one instance, in the reign of Henry IV., the 
 sufferer was inclosed in a cask. Prince Henry, afterwards Henry V., 
 was present at the execution, and hearing the wretched lowing of the 
 victim in the barrel, ordered the fire to be drawn away, and the cask to 
 be opened, offering the half dead sufferer his life and a daily allowance 
 of threepence from the Exchequer if he would recant. The heretic 
 refused. He was again inclosed in the cask and consumed. — Ellis's Letters. 
 " His memory hath ever been a strange suspense betwixt malefactour 
 and martyr. Papists charging him with treason against Henry V., and 
 heading an army of more than ten thousand men ; though it wanted nine 
 hundred and ninety-nine thereof." — Fuller's Worthies. 
 
 e2
 
 52 ENGLAND. [H13-1422. 
 
 Henry a hazard plays, no less than France, 
 To whose fair lands he claims inheritance 
 Through the third Edward ; which insulting plea 
 Provokes the Dauphin to indignity *. 
 
 Meanwhile, a deep conspiracy, composed 
 Of Scroop, and Grey, by Cambridge was disclosed, 
 Traitor, himself; — their object to declare 
 The Earl of March as England's rightful heir. 
 
 And now, with thirty thousand in the field, 
 t Harfleur to Henry is compell'd to yield ; 
 But sore distemper, thinning his array, 
 Clouded with sadness the auspicious day ; 
 And thus diverted from the Calais fort, 
 He plants his standard upon Agincourt j. 
 
 * He is said to have sent in derision to Henry a present of tennis balls. 
 The king promised to return the compliment, with English balls which 
 should batter to the ground the walls of Paris. But Hume and others 
 reject the anecdote as improbable. It is found in a ballad of that age. 
 
 + Henry V. was perhaps the first English monarch who had ships of 
 his own. Two of these which sailed against Harfleur, were called " The 
 King's Chamber," and " The King's Hall " — they had purple sails, and 
 were large and beautiful. We likewise read, that 
 
 "At Hampton lie made the great dromons 
 Which paBBed other great shippes of all the commons. 
 The Trinity, The Grace dc Dieu, The Holy Ghost, 
 And many more, which now he lost." 
 
 De Politia, £c, apud llakluyt. 
 
 Henry treated Harfleur as Edward III. had treated Calais. He 
 tinned out all the inhabitants ; and by giving away houses, &c, soon 
 filled the place with English families. — Note in Andrews' Hist.of G. Brit. 
 
 X III this situation Henry sent David Gam, a Welsh captain, to recou-
 
 1413-1422.] HENRY V. 53 
 
 By Orleans led, a hundred thousand strong 
 Destruction threaten to his weaken' d throng ; 
 When Erpingham in air his truncheon sends, 
 The onset signal to his steady friends : 
 Their lines advance, the sovereign their guide, 
 And York is clove contending at his side. 
 Deadly and sure the Saxon arrows flew, 
 And England's king the French Alenc,on slew ; 
 To him the ensign of the Dauphin stoops, 
 And panic seizes on the Bourbon troops ; 
 Vainly to flight betake the princely twain, 
 And yield to Henry with ten thousand slain. 
 Forni'd is a treaty * now, wherein for life 
 The Gallic king is pledged from foreign strife ; 
 
 noitre the enemy, who reported that " there were enow to be killed ; 
 enow to be taken prisoners ; and enow to run away." 
 
 Shakspeare thus makes Henry address his soldiers before the battle of 
 Agincourt : 
 
 " He that outlives this day and conies safe home 
 Will stand a tiptoe when this day is named, 
 And rouse him at the name of Crispian. 
 He, that shall live this day, and see old age, 
 Will yearly, on the vigil feast his friends, 
 And say — To-morrow is Saint Crispian. 
 Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, 
 And say — These wounds I had on Crispian's daj ! 
 Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, 
 But he'll remember, with advantages, 
 What feats he did that day. Then shall our names 
 Familiar in their mouths as household words, 
 Harry, the king, Bedford and Exeter, 
 Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloster, 
 Be in their flowing cups freshly rcmember'd." 
 
 * The treaty of Troyes, formed 1420.
 
 54 ENGLAND. [1422-1461. 
 
 Henry receives his royal daughter's hand, 
 And named successor to her father's land. 
 
 Yet spite the truce, the Dauphin stirs the war, 
 And Henry arras to meet him at the Loire, 
 When struck by sickness at Vincennes he dies, 
 And leaves unsatisfied his enterprise *. 
 
 Henry the Sixth -f-, in — fourteen twenty-two — 
 
 Begins in infancy his reign of rue ; 
 
 To Bedford's share, of England and of Gaul 
 
 The double duties of Frotector fall, 
 
 While to imperious Beaufort j is consigned 
 
 The early training of the royal mind. 
 
 * Henry's Authority in France — Anglorum prceliu. 
 
 " Rectorcm patriae postquam rex Gallus ct omnes 
 
 Unanimes proceres Henricum constituerunt ; 
 
 Plantageneta dabat princeps jam jura duabus 
 
 Gentibus, cffraones ductis cohibebat habcnis." 
 
 Holinshed, on Henry's death, says 
 
 " Ilenriri illustris properans mors occupat artus, 
 Ilk' Suae patriae decus imuiol'tale per EEVUm 
 Venturum, virtutis ct indelebile lumen," &c. 
 
 + 1 422.— Henry VI.— 1461. j Q»f*»-Margaret of Anjou. 
 
 t Child. — Edward, killed at Tewkesbury. 
 
 X Beaufort Bp. of Winchester (created a cardinal by Martin V.) 
 
 was a legitimated son of John of Gaunt. His perpetual disputes with 
 
 his nephew the Duke of Gloster, left Protector in England, disturbed 
 
 greatly the public peace, and ultimately were fatal to the Protector. 
 
 Beaufort performed the ceremony of Henry's coronation in the church 
 
 of Notre Dame at Paris. The murder of the Duke of Gloster (the 
 
 " good Duke Humphrey") is attributed to the queeu and Cardinal 
 
 Beaufort. The cardinal survived the duke but one month, whose dying 
 
 moments Shakspeare has thus recorded : 
 
 " Bring DHL- unto my trial when \m\ will. 
 Died he not in bis bed ' J where ebould he die '
 
 1422-1461. J HENRY VI. 
 
 Now from the brand of Bedford's slavish mark, 
 Springs from the very soil the Maid of Arc ! 
 Famed as Thalestris, whom the pagan shows, 
 This humble offspring of a serf arose ; 
 Firm and enduring, in whose untaught youth 
 O'er-blazing zeal appals like holy truth : 
 The land she wakes as from a lengthen'd trance, 
 And faith acknowledges the maid of France ! 
 
 Chequered are now the arms of England's liege, 
 And Salisbury is compell'd to raise the siege 
 Of Orleans 1 towers; — her honour France redeems, 
 And crowns her native sovereign at liheims. 
 
 Illustrious woman ! by whose wand alone 
 The prostrate soil had repossess'd its own, 
 Now rose superior to her earthly fate, — 
 Heroic Joan ! in martyrdom as great ! 
 
 Can I make men live, whe'r they will or no? 
 O, torture me no more, I will confess ! 
 Alive again ? — then show me where he is ; 
 I'll give a thousand pound to look upon him : 
 He hath no eyes, the dust hath blinded then). 
 Comb down his hair! look ! look ! it stands upright, 
 Like lime twigs set to catch my winged soul !'' 
 
 The above passages from Shakspeare, with various others, have been 
 introduced into this little volume as matter acceptable to the reader. 
 But the following observation of Lingard becomes, in the present instance 
 necessary. " That he (the cardinal) expired in the agonies of despair, 
 is a fiction, which we owe to the imagination of Shakspeare. From an 
 eye-witness we learn, that during a lingering illness, he devoted most 
 of his time to religious exercises." But the " eye-witness" appears to 
 have been John Baker, the cardinal's chaplain, according to Hall.
 
 56 ENGLAND. [1422-1461. 
 
 ImpelPd by Dunois to the toil again, 
 And ride the tempest of besieged Compiegne, 
 Once more in arms is the transcendent maid ; 
 When envy tracks her footsteps, till betrayM 
 To chains and insult ; where, to Bedford's shame, 
 She dies a victim in th' encircling flame ! 
 
 Save Calais, not a province now remains 
 Of all the hardly purchased Gallic gains ; 
 And threat'ning ills severer still pursue 
 The wedded king, by Margaret of Anjou. 
 
 A band in arms of Kentish men are sway'd 
 Onwards to London, by their leader, Cade *. 
 To him the citizens unlock their gates, — 
 Audacious Cade and his confederates ! 
 To gratify the rancour of the fray, 
 Cromer to death he sentences, and Say ; 
 The craven Londoners are roused at length, 
 And try by arms, at Rochester, their strength ; 
 Upon the rebel's life is fix'd a price, 
 Which falls at bay a timely sacrifice. 
 
 Of that long struggle, these forerunners are, 
 Which brutalised the land with civil war. 
 
 * Stow alone represents this leader's name to have been Cade. In a 
 contemporary record ho is called John Aylmere, physician. — Ellis's 
 
 Letters.
 
 1422-1461.] HENRY VI. 57 
 
 Red the Lancastrian Rose, and York the white *, 
 Which were to herald many a future fight. 
 From Lancaster, fourth son of Edward Third, 
 Was the king's claim, whilst York his own preferrM 
 Through Clarence, third. To violence he flies, 
 Foments disloyalty and gains supplies. 
 Th' opposing parties at St. Albans met 
 And York the issue joins with Somerset ; 
 
 * Descent of the houses of York and Lancaster, from the Sons of 
 Edward III. 
 
 1. Edward the Black Prince, whose son was Richard II. — died without issue. 
 
 2. William — died without issue. 
 
 3. Lionel, Duke of Clarence. 
 
 4. John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. 
 
 5. Edmund, Duke of York. 
 
 The House of York, from 
 Lionel, 3d son. 
 
 Roger, Earl of March. 
 
 Edmund, Earl of March. Ann===Earl of Cambridge, 
 
 Died without issue. 
 
 grandson of Ed. 
 Langley,Dukeof 
 York. 
 
 Richard, Duke of York. 
 
 I 
 
 Edward IV. of England. 
 
 The House of Lancaster, from 
 
 John of Gaunt, 4th son. 
 
 i 
 Henry IV. 
 
 I 
 Henry V. 
 
 I 
 Henry VI.
 
 5f$ ENGLAND. [1422-1461. 
 
 But bootless here, the brave Lancastrian dies, 
 
 And Henry's person is the Yorkist prize ; 
 
 Carried to London is the fallen king, 
 
 Where mock respect attends his suffering. 
 Still Margaret in arms, — a second cast 
 
 Is fatal at Northampton, as the last; 
 
 By Warwick beaten, the " king-maker " lord, 
 
 Who carried fate itself upon his sword. 
 Now to the diadem proud York aspires, 
 
 But England's councils traverse his desires, 
 At once refusing Henry to dethrone, 
 But granting York succession to the crown. 
 Still perseveres the bold impetuous queen, 
 Encountering York once more at Wakefield Green ; 
 Slain is the Duke : — Edward, his eldest son, 
 The rife hostility still carries on, 
 And thus compelling Margaret to the north, 
 In London* is proclaimed as Edward Fourth. 
 
 * Philip de Comincs says, that what contributed to his entering 
 London as soon as lie appeared at its gates, was the great debts this 
 prince had contracted, which made his creditors gladly assist him. 
 Many ladies and rich citizens' wives, of whom formerly he had great 
 privacies, gained over to him their husbands. 
 
 In 1453, Constantinople is taken, by Sultan Mahomet II. The 
 Romish empire vanishes, and the place passes under the name of 
 Stamboul.
 
 1461-1483.] EDWARD IV. 59 
 
 The House of York, in — fourteen sixty-one — 
 By the fourth Edward * was in blood begun. 
 The king and Warwick are at Towton crost 
 In strife by Margaret, but at Margaret's cost. 
 England beholds her in the hazard yet, 
 Till crush'd again at Hexham, Margaret : 
 Whilst death by savage executions close 
 On pris'ners who had cheered the crimson Rose. 
 
 But from that moment, when the monarch led 
 Elizabeth Woodville f to his nuptial bed ; 
 Warwick in Margaret's cause renewed the fight, 
 And into Holland Edward turned his flight. 
 
 Queen. — Elizabeth Woodville, widow 
 
 of Sir J. Grey. 
 Children. — Edward, who succeeded. 
 
 Richard, Duke of York. 
 
 George, died young. 
 
 Elizabeth, married to Henry VII. 
 
 Four other daughters. 
 
 * 1461.— Edward IV.— 1483-{ 
 
 f This beautiful widow was the daughter of Jaqueline, Duchess of 
 Bedford, by her second husband Lord Widville, and had been married 
 to Sir John Grey. She told Edward, that " Though too humble to be 
 his wife, she was too high to become his concubine." — Hall. 
 
 As her husband's estate was forfeited to the crown (Grey being of 
 the house of Lancaster), she appeared before the king as a suppliant. 
 Her beauty, heightened by distress, found a way to his heart. To whom 
 Granger applies the words of Virgil — 
 
 " lacrymsequc decora, 
 Gratior ct pulchro veniena in corpore virtus." 
 
 In 147!), Ferdinand and Isabella unite the kingdoms of Aragon and 
 Castile.
 
 CO ENGLAND. [1461-1480. 
 
 Free of his bonds is Henry once again, 
 And re-enthroned in England's fair domain. 
 Yet Edward, trusting to his partisans, 
 Adventures battle, though with weaken'd clans. 
 At Barnet they contend, in which dread strife 
 Margaret's new cast is lost with Warwick's life *. 
 At Tewkesbury failing next, the hopeless queen 
 And son are taunted basely by the mean 
 And fresh-sunnM Edward, who in brutal sport 
 Struck the young prince amid his Yorkist court, 
 On which, the Duke of Gloucester and the rest 
 Bury their daggers in his gallant breast. 
 In such wise, silenced was the aged king f , 
 And Margaret closed in France her suffering. 
 
 * Warwick entered into a covenant with Margaret to restore Henry, 
 on condition that Prince Edward should marry Lady Anne Neville, liis 
 daughter, and that the regency of the kingdom should be given to him, 
 during the life of Henry and minority of Edward. 
 
 THE DYING WARWICK. 
 
 u These eyes, that now are dimm'd with death's black veil, 
 Have been as piercing as the mid-day sun, 
 To search the secret treasons of the world. 
 The wrinkles in my brows, now fill'd with blood, 
 Were liken 1 d oft to kingly sepulchres ; 
 For who lived king, but 1 could dig bis grave? 
 And who durst smile when Warwick bent bis brow P 
 Lo, now my glory smcar'd in dust and blood !/ 
 My parks, my walks, my manors that I had, 
 Even now forsake me ; and of all my lands 
 Is nothing left mo but my body's length!" — Shakspeare. 
 
 f Fabian says, from common fame, " Henry was killed by the Duke 
 of Gloucester ; " while Horace Walpole observes, " Mob stories or 
 Lancastrian forgeries ought to be rejected from sober history."
 
 1483.] EDWARD V. 61 
 
 Reok'd now the scaffolds with Lancastrian blood *, 
 While Clarence perished in the Malmsey flood -j-, 
 By royal craft unhappy Shore's j deceived, 
 And menaced France by Edward's death relieved. 
 
 Edward the Fifth §, in — fourteen eighty-three — 
 As youthful heir attempts the sovereignty. 
 
 * Granger observes, his heart was hardened against every movement 
 of compassion, but extremely susceptible J of love. His unrelenting 
 cruelty towards the Lancastrians was scarcely exceeded by that of 
 Sylla the Dictator towards the Marian faction. 
 
 f The prevalent rumour was that he was drowned in a butt of 
 Malmsey, a sort of murder not indeed substantiated by proof, but very 
 characteristic of that frolicsome and festive cruelty, which Edward 
 practised in common with other young and vicious tyrants. — Mackintosh. 
 " Factum est id, qualecunque erat, genus supplicii." — History of Cray- 
 land. A passage which, by mysterious allusion to an unusual sort of 
 death, seems favourable to the common narrative. 
 
 % On the death of Edward she lived with Lord Hastings, after whose 
 execution, by order of Richard, duke of Gloucester, she was tried for 
 witchcraft, and died in the reign of Henry VIII. 
 
 Glosl. " Look, how I am bewitch. 'd ; behold mine arm. 
 
 Is, like a blasted sapling, wither' d up." — Shakspeare. 
 
 In 1471, printing was introduced into England by W. Caxton. 
 
 This art was the invention of Faust, 1441, who carrying his edition of 
 the Bible to Paris, and offering it for sale as MS., was thrown into prison 
 on suspicion that he dealt with the devil : for the doctors of the Sor- 
 bonne could not conceive how so many books should so exactly agree, 
 unless his Satanic majesty had something to do with the affair. 
 
 The first book printed in England was a small Latin volume, called 
 the " Exposition of St. Jerome ;" and the first in the English language, 
 was on the game of Chess. 
 
 § 1483 — Edward V. — 1483. Reigned two mouths and twelve days. 
 
 " What's this 
 That rises like the issue of a king, 
 And bears upon his baby brow the round 
 And top of sovereignty ?" — Shakspeare.
 
 62 ENGLAND. [1483-1485. 
 
 Richard *, the late king's brother, being named 
 Protector, wilily at the sceptre aimed ; 
 Aided by Buckingham, affirms the late 
 And present monarch illegitimate. 
 With subtle Shaw and Penker he conspires, 
 Feigning reluctance to his veil'd desires, 
 But in th' event successful treason fraught, 
 And generous Hastings to the scaffold brought. 
 While darker deeds meek Edward intercept, 
 Who from the scene of life, with York is swept -f\ 
 But Buckingham, whose service and address 
 Had clothed the Regent in his mightiness, 
 
 {Queen. — Anne Neville, daughter of the 
 Earl of Warwick, and widow of 
 Edward, son of Henry VI. 
 
 t Historians have many doubts as to the alleged murder of Edward, 
 by his uncle Richard. One reason arises from a curious document, said 
 to be the Coronation Roll of Richard III., from which it would appear 
 that Prince Edward walked at his uncle's coronation. This was copied 
 from the original by Mr. Walpole. He, however, himself suggests that 
 the garments named in the said roll, might have been intended for 
 Edward V.'s coronation, before Richard disclosed his design. 
 
 In answer to these " historic doubts," it will be sufficient to reply in the 
 words of Hume that, by the singular probity and judgment of Sir Thomas 
 More, his narrative and evidence arc beyond all exception : and that he 
 may justly be esteemed a contemporary with regard to the murder of the 
 two princes. For although he was not five years of age when the event 
 happened, he was educated amongst the persons concerned in the trans- 
 action during the administration of Richard III. And it is plain from 
 his narrative that he had the particulars from eye-witnesses themselves. 
 
 More also Bays, " Very true it is, and well known, that at such time 
 as Sir James Tyrrel was in the Tower, for treason committed against 
 King Henry VII., both Dighton and he were examined, and confessed 
 the above murder."
 
 1483-1485.] RICHARD III. 63 
 
 Sought now his downfall, having ne'er been paid 
 Those certain wages promised for his aid. 
 
 With the prompt Tudor Richmond, he prepares 
 To meet the struggle, and on Richard bears. 
 The swollen Severn over-rides its banks, 
 Swamp'd is the glebe and scatter'd are his ranks ; 
 The hardy Welshmen to their mountains driven, 
 And Buckingham to execution given. 
 
 On death of Anne, the beauty and the worth 
 That graced Eliza, (child of Edward Fourth,) 
 Won on the king his passion to prefer, 
 But timely traversed by the battle-stir *. 
 For Richmond with two thousand strong, his band, 
 Sailing from Normandy, reached Milford strand ; 
 Here reinforcements better hopes afford, 
 By Bourchier strengthen'd and by Hungerford ; 
 With these he marches on the mightier train 
 Of Richard, waiting him on Bosworth plain. 
 
 At flood, no sooner was the warlike tide, 
 Than Stanley (secretly on Richmond's side 
 
 * According to Buc, the Princess Elizabeth, Richard's niece, appeared 
 a little dazzled by the prospects which he held out to her. In a letter 
 which she wrote to the Duke of Norfolk, she protested that the king was 
 "her joy in this world," and speaking of the queen's illness, expressed 
 her apprehensions " that she would never die." It is evident that 
 Richard had not only pi-oniised to marry her, but had told her the 
 queen would die in February. Heuce she observes that "the better part 
 of February is past, and the queen still alive."
 
 64 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 1.1485-1509. 
 
 Ere this devoted) wheels on Richard's might, 
 And turns his vaunted multitude to flight. 
 Pledged to the last, the king with fury led 
 His scant adherents on, and bravely bled *. 
 
 Earl Richmond, now King Henry, was the last 
 Of Lancasters, who'd 'scaped the perils past, 
 And when proclaimed, the York Eliza wed, 
 Thus the white Rose entwining with the red. 
 
 In — fourteen eighty- five — the Tudor race 
 From the Seventh Henry t chronicles its place. 
 
 * One William Collingborn was hanged on Tower-hill for the following 
 
 libel on this reign : 
 
 " The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell the Dog, 
 Rule all England under a Hog." 
 
 By the Cat meaning Catesby ; by the Rat, Ratcliffe ; and by Lovell the 
 Dog, the Lord Lovell ; all of whom ruled under the king, who carried 
 the white boar for his cognizance. The device of Henry VII. was a 
 dragon, which was the ensign of Cadwallader, from whom Henry was 
 supposed to be descended. 
 
 Queen. — Elizabeth, daughter of Edward 
 
 IV. 
 Children. — Arthur, married to Cathe- 
 rine of Spain. 
 Henry, who succeeded. 
 Edmund, died young. 
 Margaret, married to James IV., king 
 
 of Scotland. 
 Elizabeth, died young. 
 Mary, married to Louis XII., king 
 
 of France. 
 Catherine, died young. 
 
 In 1487, the Court of Star Chamber was instituted. 
 In 1492, the dominion of the Moors in Spain was at an end, by the 
 capture of Granada by Ferdinand. 
 
 f 1485— Henry VII.— 1509. <
 
 1485-1509.] HENRY VII. 65 
 
 The York descendants sorely are opprest, 
 * Warwick, the son of Clarence, and the rest; 
 Him, Simnel counterfeits, through Simon's guile, 
 And stands the hazard in the sister isle. 
 With Irish forces and Germanic aid, 
 A second cast at Nottingham is play'd ; 
 Simnel and Simon are decreed exempt f 
 From traitor deaths, and vanish in contempt. 
 
 So Perkin Warbeck, in as false a plea, 
 The murdered Prince of York assumes to be. 
 Margaret of Burgundy (of York descent,) 
 Th 1 imposture favours and the wild intent ; 
 The king of Scotland gives him his support, 
 And Huntley's child, the fairest of his court. 
 
 * This was Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, son of that Duke 
 of Clarence who was destroyed by Edward IV., and whom Henry VII. 
 had committed to close custody. Simnel was actually crowned at Dub- 
 lin with a diadem taken from an image of the Virgin Mary, by the Arch- 
 bishop of Armagh and Dublin. The young earl himself was brought from 
 his confinement in 14.99, and unwarrantably beheaded on Tower-hill. 
 He was the last of the Plantagenets, whose race had occupied the throne 
 for more than 330 years. 
 
 + A curious anecdote is on record respecting_Lord Lovell, who was en- 
 gaged in this conspiracy. After the defeat of Nottingham, he escaped, and 
 was no more heard of. In JVest's Fiu-ness appears the following : — " To- 
 wards the close of the 17th century, at his seat at Minster Lovel, in Oxford- 
 shire, was accidentally discovered a chamber under ground, in which 
 was the skeleton of a man seated in a chair, with his head reclined on a 
 table. Hence it is supposed that the fugitive had found an asylum in 
 this subterraneous chamber, where he was perhaps starved to death."
 
 66 ENGLAND. [1485-1509. 
 
 Lords, chiefs, and followers, the youth applaud, 
 And courtly Holyrood upholds the fraud. 
 
 Grown cold, the Flemings, to the haught behest 
 Of Perkin, he advances to the west ; 
 " Richard the Fourth," the Cornish men aver 
 His title, and press on to Exeter ; 
 Here, though his cause sev'n thousand followers broach, 
 He hears with sudden quail the king's approach, 
 Deserts his friends, pleads guilty to the cheat, 
 And falls for mercy at the royal feet. 
 In solemn mock'ry is " King Perkin " borne, 
 And held in London to the public scorn ; 
 A jail his sentence — when attempting thence 
 Escape, he suffers for his first offence. 
 
 Spies and informers, base extortions stain 
 The later chronicles of Henry's reign : 
 Ruin to many, Empson, Dudley brought : 
 Others by fines alone their quittance bought : 
 Goods, lands are seized upon in mean pretence, 
 To swell the coffers of the sordid prince *. 
 
 * Bacon, Lord Verulam, says he had seen a hook of accounts, kept 
 by Empson — amongst other precious articles was the following : 
 " Item — Received of such an one five marks for pardon, which if it 
 do not pass, the money to he repaid, or the party otherwise satisfied." 
 Opposite to the memorandum the king had written "Otherwise 
 satisfied."
 
 1485-1509.] HENRY VII. 67 
 
 To Scottish James he gives his daughter's hand, 
 And hence the Stuarts in the southern land *. 
 
 * The title of " Steward " was an appendage to the estate and office 
 of the Steward of Scotland, settled on this family. Robert II. was the 
 first Steward. 
 
 It is interesting to notice the result of two matrimonial alliances in 
 this reign — first, in the union of the Princess Margaret with James IV., 
 which was the direct cause also of the subsequent union of the two 
 crowns of England and Scotland ; and, secondly, in the marriage of 
 Prince Arthur with the Princess Catherine of Arragon (third daughter 
 of Isabella and Ferdinand), which was the remote cause of the Re- 
 formation. 
 
 Arthur died within five months after his marriage. 
 
 Singular articles of expense from the accounts of Honry VII., in the 
 Exchequer : — 
 
 7th year — Itm., a fello with a berde, a spye in rewarde 
 
 to my lorde Onvy Seal fole. in rewarde 
 8th year — Itni., to Pechie the fole in rewarde 
 
 to the Welshmen on St David's day 
 Itm., to Ric d Bedon for writing of hokes 
 to the young damoysell that daunceth 
 13th yr. — Itm., to Mast r Bray for rewardes to 
 brought cokkes at Shrovetide 
 to the Herytik at Canterbury 
 
 Showing the slow progress the art of printing had yet made, Bacon says 
 
 the king had (though no good schoolman) the honour to convert a 
 
 heretic at Canterbury. — Seivard's Anecdotes. 
 
 Of Henry VII., Holinshed says : 
 
 " Septimus Henricus factis est nomen adeptus 
 Prxclarum claris ventura in secula famae ; 
 Civibus illc suis fuerat charissimus, hostes 
 Omnes jure ipsum metuebant — numinis almi 
 Religiosus erat cultor, pictatis et a:qui, 
 Versutos hominesque malos vchemcntius odit. 
 Viginti totus chartis tresque amplius annos 
 Regions externis in summo vixit honore J 
 Magnanimus, Justus rex, prudens atque modestus, 
 Henrico hseredi moriens sua regna reliquit, 
 Divitiasque, inimensuuj argenti pondus et ami." 
 
 If no other right is to be allowed but what we call hereditary, in the 
 
 strict meaning, it is certain Henry VII. had none ; since he claimed 
 
 under his mother, who was then alive, and even outlived him without 
 
 
 £. s. 
 
 d. 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 , . 
 
 6 
 
 s 
 
 . 
 
 40 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 ) em that 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 , , 
 
 6 
 
 8
 
 68 ENGLAND. [1509-1547. 
 
 The great Columbus, Salvador descried ; 
 Cuba's extent, Hispaniola's tide ; 
 The rich Jamaica, tincl the dotted seas, 
 On which embedded lie the Caribees ; 
 Nearing Panama next — the wild, the vast, 
 The southern empire of Columbia, last*. 
 
 Henry the Eighth, in — fifteen hundred nine — 
 Succeeds ; the offspring of the double line t. 
 
 * In 1492 Columbus made his first voyage, under the protection of 
 Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. 
 
 The first ship that sailed round the earth, was Magellan's. He was 
 a native of Portugal, in the service of Spain, and by keeping a westerly 
 course, he returned to the same place from which he had set out, in 
 1519. The voyage was completed in three years and twenty-nine 
 days ; but Magellan was killed on his homeward passage at the Philip- 
 pines, 1521. 
 
 But on Columbus, we find the following epigram : 
 
 " Primus, ab infusis quod terra emcrscrat imdis, 
 Nuncius adveniens ipsa Columba fuit ; 
 Occiduis primus qui terrain invenit in undis 
 Nuncius adveniens ipse Columbus crat." 
 
 From the discovery of North America, by Sebastian Cabot (1499), 
 England derived her claim to her settlements therein ; but it was not 
 until a century afterwards that any colonization took place, when Sir 
 Walter Raleigh planted Virginia, so named in honour of Queen Eliza- 
 beth. Nova Scotia was planted under James I. ; New England, in 
 the reign of Charles I. ; and Maryland by British Catholics : New York 
 and Pennsylvania were in the hands of the Dutch, till conquered by the 
 English, in the time of Charles II. ; and the Carolinas were settled in 
 this reign : Georgia was not colonized till George II. ; and the Floridas 
 were ceded to Britain by Spain, at the peace of 1703. 
 
 f Mountjoy, at this time writing from the court at Greenwich to 
 Erasmus, thus expresses himself : 
 
 " mi Erasmc, si videas, ut mortalcs omnes hie hetitia gestiant, ut de 
 tanto Principe sibi gaudeant, ut nihil magis exoptaut quam ejus vitam,
 
 1509-1547.] HENRY VIII. 69 
 
 Empson and Dudley punished, lie confers 
 
 With Maximilian the French fight of Spurs ; 
 
 Thence following his fortunes in the north, 
 
 On Flodden-field, fell Scotland's James the Fourth *. 
 
 lachrymas prse gaudio continere non posses. Ridet mther, exullat 
 terra, omnia laclis, omnia mellis, omnia nectaris sunt plena. Exulat 
 longe gentium avaritia, larga manu spargit opes liberalitas. Noster 
 Rex non aurum, non gemmas, non metalla, sed virtutem, sed gloriam, 
 sed ceternitalem concupiscet." 
 
 The following was the description which Sebastiano Giustiniani, 
 the Venetian resident in England, in 1519, gave to the council of the 
 Pregati, of Henry. 
 
 " His Majesty is about 29 years of age, as handsome as nature could 
 form him, above any other Christian Prince ; handsomer by far than the 
 King of France. He is exceedingly fair, and as well proportioned as 
 is possible. He is an excellent musician and composer ; an admirable 
 horseman and wrestler. He possesses a good knowledge of the French, 
 Latin, and Spanish languages, and is very devout. On the days on 
 which he goes to the chase, he hears mass three times, but on other 
 days he goes as often as five times." 
 
 In later days, Erasmus has comprised the state of England under 
 Henry's dominion, thus : 
 
 " In Auglia onines aut mors sustulit aut metus contraxit." 
 
 Queens. — Catherine of Spain, divorced. 
 Anne Boleyn, beheaded. 
 Jane Seymour, died. 
 Anne of Cleves, divorced. 
 Catherine Howard, beheaded. 
 Catherine Parr ; survived him, and 
 
 married Lord Seymour. 
 
 Children Henry, died young, i By Ca- 
 
 Mary, afterwards queen. S therine. 
 Elizabethj'afterwards cpieen, by Anne 
 
 Boleyn. 
 Edward, who succeeded, by Jane 
 
 Seymour. 
 
 * 1509— Henry VIII.— 1547 \
 
 70 ENGLAND. [1509-1547 
 
 *Wolsey, whose subtle and ambitious soul 
 With eagle eye had mounted to controul, 
 Advanced by Henry's father, for his prompt 
 And zealous service on an oft account, 
 Through Fox of Winchester, as quickly won 
 The trust and favour of his reigning son. 
 
 To him the large gains of ambition flow, 
 Stern to his equals, gracious to the low ; 
 The plastic nation, moulded by his art, 
 Paid homage as unconscious of the smart ; 
 And Buckingham, first victim to his pride, 
 Feared by this prelate, on the scaffold died. 
 
 * In the opinion of Ant. Wood (Athense Oxonienses) the belief of 
 Wolsey's father being a butcher, originated with William Roy, the 
 author of a satire upon Wolsey, entitled " A Dialogue between two 
 Priests' servants, Watkius and Jeffrey," beginning 
 
 " Rede me, and be not wrothe, 
 For I s;iy no thvng but trothe." 
 
 The writers of Wolsey's time appear to have known little of his origin. 
 Bishop Godwin, in his Lives of the English Bishops, speaks of Wolsey, 
 as "the son of a poor man (or as I have often heard) a butcher." 
 Skelton, poet-laureate in the time of Henry VI II., satirizes Wolsey 
 under the appellation of the " butcher's dog." Hall mentions that the 
 populace abused him as the "butcher's son ;" a term also applied con- 
 temptuously to him by Luther in his Colloquia. Cavendish describes 
 him as " an honest poor man's son " — and Polydore Vergil says, " Pa- 
 rentem habuit virum probum at lanium." 
 
 It is however impossible to omit here, the well-known alliteral distich 
 on Wolsey : 
 
 " Begot by butchers, but by bishops bred, 
 How high liis. honour holds his haughty head !"
 
 1509-1547.] HENRY VIII. 71 
 
 Now on the parliament this lowly-born 
 Sets his defiance and pours out his scorn ; 
 Above the law, to him all votes submit, 
 And hard taxation at his lawless writ ; 
 Taxation press'd to safety's tottering verge, 
 Which the king checks and Wolsey fears to urge *. 
 
 With jealous ken the monarch now began 
 To mark the stretch of the Germanic span, 
 And terminates a treaty with his foe, 
 Francis the First, for Charles's overthrow : 
 Thus the swoln greatness of the Emperor brings 
 In amity the French and English kings. 
 
 On Calais ground, within the English pale, 
 The monarchs meet caparisoned in mail ; 
 
 * As an instance of the state of public justice at this period, Carew, 
 in his account of Cornwall, writes, that it was common for attorneys to 
 charge in their bills, sums "pro amicitia comitis," for the favour of 
 the sheriff ! 
 
 Pope Leo, about 151 3, gave great encouragement to the arts, of whom 
 our own Pope, says, 
 
 " But see ! each muse in Leo's golden days 
 
 Starts from her trance and trims her withered bays ; 
 Rome's ancient genius, o'er its ruins spread, 
 Shakes off the dust, and rears his rev'rcnd head. 
 Then Sculpture and her sister arts revive, 
 Stones leap to form, and rocks begin to live ; 
 With sweeter notes each rising temple rung, 
 A Raphael painted, and a Vida sung." 
 
 Bayle relates that one clay a poet presented him with some Latin 
 verses, but the Pope returning no other recompense than a similar effort 
 of Ins own, the poet retorted : 
 
 " Si tibi pro numeris numeros fortuna dedissit, 
 Non cssctcapiti tanta corona tuo."
 
 ENGLAND. [1509-1547. 
 
 Gallant the crested sovereigns advance, 
 Enter the lists and measure lance with lance : 
 Beauty and rank ; the young and courtly old, 
 All distant comers to the Cloth of Gold ; 
 And infant song is rocked in the event, 
 The winged record of the tournament ! 
 
 And now th' affections of the king decline 
 In wayward love from sinless Catherine, 
 On tender scruples which his thoughts evince 
 On her first marriage with the elder prince : 
 But Wolsey hesitates to raise his hope 
 T'wards Anna Boleyn, and incense the Pope *, 
 
 * Henry fancied he had some claim on the good services of the Pope 
 (Clement), who, with thirteen cardinals, having been impi'isoned in the 
 Castle of St. Angelo, by the emperor, the English king had undertaken 
 to negotiate a treaty in their favour ; hut his holiness, in the meantime, 
 contriving to make his escape, rendered the said treaty unnecessary. 
 
 A dispensation from the Pope was necessary to secure the marriage 
 with Anne Boleyn from two objections : 
 
 1st. A suspicion was entertained that she had been actually contracted 
 to Percy, and was therefore his lawful wife. Hence the dispensation 
 was framed to authorise the king's marriage with any woman, "etiamsi 
 talis sit, quie prius cum alio contraxerit, dummodo illud non fuerit 
 consummatum." 
 
 2ndly. Mary Boleyn had been Henry's mistress. Thus the relation- 
 ship between sister and Bister is as near as that between brother and 
 brother. Whence, if Henry, as he contended, could not marry Catharine, 
 on the supposition that she had been united to his brother Arthur, so 
 neither could Anne marry Henry, because of his concubinage with her 
 er Mary. The following clause was therefore introduced : — " Etiamsi 
 ilia tihi alias secundo ant rcmotiore consangiiinitatis aut pr'imo affinitutis 
 gradu, etiam ex quocuinque licito scu illicito coitu proveniente, invicem
 
 1509-1547.1 HENRY VIII. 73 
 
 Back'd by the weightier fears that Charles's frown 
 
 Might mar his footsteps to the triple crown : 
 
 Thus in a day th' imperious Wolsey sank 
 
 From church, from state, emolument, and rank. 
 
 Cromwell, upraised by Wolsey 's pristine pow'r, 
 
 Quits not his master in his adverse hour ; 
 
 And he alone of Hampton's bevy, spake 
 
 In open council for his dying sake. 
 
 Yet vain ; the cardinal is dispossessed, 
 
 And tainted by Northumberland's arrest. 
 
 " Leicester ! " he cries, " within thy hallowed trust, 
 
 I come to lay, in penitence, my dust ; 
 
 Had I been faithful to my God as king, 
 
 He ne'er had left me to this conscience sting * ! '' 
 
 conjuncta sit, dummodo relicta fratris tui non fuerit." (See the Dispen- 
 sation, in Herbert,) Thus the king was placed in a most awkward 
 situation, compelled to acknowledge in the Pope a power which he at 
 the same time denied, and to solicit a dispensation of the same nature as 
 that which he maintained to be invalid. 
 
 The above is the substance of a note from Lingard, which it is hoped 
 will be sufficiently clear, though certain omissions and some alterations 
 have been deemed advisable in the present work. 
 
 * " Wolsey held at once the bishoprics of York, Winchester, and 
 Durham ; the dignities of Lord Chancellor, Cardinal, Legate, the abbey 
 of St. Alban's, divers priories, and sundry great benefices in commen- 
 dam ; he-had also, as it were in farm, the bishoprics of Bath, Worcester, 
 and Hereford, which, having been given by Henry VII. to strangers, 
 that lived out of the realm, they suffered Wolsey to enjoy them, receiving 
 from him a pension only. The retinue of this prelate is scarce credible ; 
 a thousand persons daily in his household, of whom many knights and 
 some lords : all of which greatness, as it came by the king's favour, so by
 
 74 ENGLAND. [1509-1547. 
 
 Cranmer succeeds ; a priest of rigid life, 
 In conscience adverse to the reigning wife. 
 In Henry's name, for judgment he applies 
 At once to Europe's universities : 
 To serve the king, the Pope concedes his cause — 
 To please the Emperor he now withdraws. 
 The grave Sorbonne its " placitum " conveys, 
 And her, each minor institute obeys. 
 
 withdrawing of this favour was it overthrown, so true is that saying of 
 Solomon, ' The king's favour is as dew upon the grass, hut his wrath is 
 as the roaring of the lion, and as the messenger of death.' " — Sir Rd. 
 Baker's Chronicle. 
 
 Holinshed remarks that Wolsey " was never happy till his overthrow, 
 wherein he showed such moderation, and ended so perfectly, that the hour 
 of his death did him more honour than all the pomp of his past life.'' 
 
 " From his cradle 
 
 He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one ; 
 
 Exceeding wise, fair-spoken and persuading ; 
 
 Lofty and sour to them that loved him not, 
 
 But to those men that sought him, sweet as summer. 
 
 And though he were unsatisfied in getting 
 
 (Which was a sin) yet in bestowing, 
 
 lie was most princely. Ever witness for him 
 
 Those twins of learning that he raised in you, 
 
 [pswich and Oxford ! one of which fell with him ; 
 
 The other, though unfinished, yet so famous, 
 
 That Christendom shall ever speak his virtue." 
 
 Shakspeart 
 
 The following is an epigram of Grotius, on Wolsey's palace, Hampton 
 
 Court : 
 
 "Si quis opes nescit — sed quis tamen illc ? — Britannas, 
 Hamptencurta, tuos consulat illc Lares. 
 Contulerit toto cum sparsa palatia mundo, 
 Dicet " Ibi Rcgcs, hie habitarc Dcos !" 
 
 " In February, 1528, the Londoners were amused by a battle betweni 
 a Dutch and French vessel, fought close to London bridge, to which the 
 former had actually pursued the latter. Walsingham, lieutenant of the 
 Tower, boarded and seized both the combatants." — Holinshed.
 
 1509-154/.] 
 
 HENRY VIII. 
 
 75 
 
 Divorced is Catherine ; and despite the tone 
 Of Clement, Anne is placed upon the throne *. 
 Now in the teeth of Rome and papal wrath 
 The Reformation f rises in the North ; 
 Its banner — fifteen thirty-four — unfurled, 
 And Martin Luther suns the bigot world. 
 Henry, " Defender of the Faith,' -1 by Rome, 
 Is still " Defender of the Faith," at home j ; 
 
 * A distich of the time, on Anna's marriage : 
 
 " Regina Anna, paris regis de sanguine natani 
 Et paries populis aurea secla tuis." 
 
 Thomas Wiatt, an early poet, evidently intended, by the following 
 lines, to give an idea of her charming countenance : — 
 
 " A face that should content me wond'rous well, 
 Should not be fair, but lovely to behold ; 
 
 With gladsome cheer all grief for to expel 
 With sober looks ; so would I that it should 
 
 Speak without words, such words as none can tell.'' 
 
 t It has been said that the Reformation in England, at this time, was 
 owing to a jest made by Sir T. Wiatt, who, when Henry was waiting 
 for the Pope's assent to his divorce, said " Lord ! that a man cannot 
 repent him of his sins without leave from the Pope !" 
 
 The eras of the Reformation are as follow : 
 
 In Sweden (Petri) . .1530 
 In England (Henry VIII.) . 1534 
 In Ireland (Browne) . . 1535 
 In Scotland (Knox) . . 15G0 
 
 In Netherlands . . . 1562 
 
 In England (Wickliffe) . . 1360 
 
 In Bohemia (Huss) . . 1405 
 
 In Germany (Luther) . . 1517 
 
 In Switzerland (Zuinglius) . 1519 
 
 In Denmark . . .1521 
 
 In France (Calvin) . . .1529 
 
 In 1526 was printed the first English translation of the New Testa- 
 ment, made by Wm. Tyndale. 
 
 X The " little scepticism" which Horace Walpole alludes to respecting 
 his majesty's abilities to authorship, may be well entertained, as long as
 
 70 ENGLAND. [1509-1547. 
 
 Him, parliament declares the church's head, 
 And England's papal domination, dead ; 
 To him submissively it yields controul, 
 And to prerogative gives up the whole : 
 Dragg'd into light are now the relic gauds, 
 The mimic miracles and molten frauds ; 
 Razed are the monkish fabrics to the soil, 
 And their vast revenues the monarch's spoil*. 
 
 Fisher 's condemned, and Thomas More -f*, to die, 
 Who had denied the king's supremacy ; 
 
 the following specimen of his Latin, annexed to some MS. of Church 
 Discipline in his time, remains to show him to no great advantage : 
 
 " 1 11a est Ecclesia nostra Catholica, cum qua nee Pontifex maximus, 
 nee quisquis alius Prcelatus habet quiequam aqere, prteterquam in suos 
 diocesas." — Seward's A nee. 
 
 The hook, in fact, which procured Henry the title of " Defensor 
 Fidei," is supposed to have been written by Fisher, Bp. of Rochester. 
 
 It is still to be seen in the Vatican, and was sent to the Pope with 
 this distich : 
 
 " Anglorum Rex llemicus, Leo Deciroe, mittit 
 " Hoc opus, et fidei testcni el amicitiae." 
 
 * The number of monasteries abolished in Henry's and the following 
 reign amounted to 647, besides 90 colleges, 2^74 ehauntries and free 
 chapels, and 110 hospitals. The real value supposed to be £'1,000,000. 
 Out of the spoils Henry founded the bishoprics of Bristol, Oxford, 
 Gloucester, and Peterborough. 
 
 According to Speed, the first abbey in the world was founded at 
 Bangor, in Flintshire, about the end of the second century. 
 
 f Erasmus says of this excellent man — " More's general benevolence 
 hath imprinted his memory so deep in all men's hearts, that they bewail 
 his death as that of their own father. Nay, as I write, tears flow from 
 my eyes, whether I will or not. How many persons hath that axe 
 wounded which severed More's head from his body !"
 
 1509-1547.] HENRY VIII. 77 
 
 Whilst Bainham, Bilney, and their friends expire 
 For the new cause, in the avenging fire : 
 
 Sir Thomas More, when chancellor, having heard all the suits in 
 court, a rhymester wrote the following : 
 
 " When More some years had chancellor been, 
 No more suits did remain ; 
 The same shall never more be seen, 
 Till More be there again." 
 
 When confined in the Tower, the Lieutenant thereof observing to him 
 " he was sorry that the commons were no better" — " I like," said Sir 
 Thomas, " your diet very well ; and if I dislike it, I pray you turn me 
 out of doors." — Ftil/er's Worthies. 
 
 Erasmus had borrowed a horse of the chancellor, and took it over to 
 Holland, but instead of returning it, he sent the following epigram, 
 alluding to More's argument on the doctrine of Transubstantiation : 
 
 " Quod mihi dixisti, 
 
 De corpore Christi, 
 Crede quod edas, et edis : 
 
 Sic tibi rescribo, 
 
 De tuo pnlfrido, 
 Crede quod habeas, et babes." 
 
 The sincerity of More's case at his trial, is corroborated by the uni- 
 formity of his opinion respecting popular consent as a necessary condition 
 of the justice of all civil government, which appears by his writings 
 twenty years before his death. 
 
 POPULUS CONSENTIENS REGNUM DAT AUT AUFERT. 
 
 " Quicumque multis vir viris unus prseest, 
 Hoc debet hisquibus praest ; 
 Praesse debet neutiquam diutius 
 Hi quam volent quibus prseest." 
 
 Thorn. Mori Epigram. 
 
 Swift has classed Sir T. More with some of the greatest of ancient 
 Greece or Rome. In the Voyage to Laputa, he says, the two Brutuses, 
 Socrates, Epaminondas, Cato the younger, and Sir T. More, were 
 perpetually together— a sextumvirate, to which all the ages of the world 
 cannot add a seventh. It is not, however, necessary to observe here 
 that the reader is free to exercise his own discretion in this particular, 
 and on many other opinions quoted in the present volume. For instance, 
 Gibbon (Mis. Works) gives M. Brutus by no means an exemplary character.
 
 78 ENGLAND. [1509-1547. 
 
 Thus Smithfielcl flames, as equal victims mix, 
 Both martyred Lutherans and Catholics. 
 Now sacrificed is Anna Boleyn's life*, 
 That Seymour may become the tyrant's wife. 
 
 Borbonius (Nugoe) an author well known to Erasmus, Scaliger, Palin- 
 genius, and others, has the following singular and severe invective against 
 the unfortunate chancellor : 
 
 Et vidi et novi quendam cognomine Morum, 
 
 Kai Tovvifxaros jiaK 1 a^iov. 
 Is licet obsciuis plane natalibus ortus 
 
 Divitiis nuper magnis et honoribus auctus 
 
 Trjs ipev8oi.ievr)s natccos rvxys, 
 In populum regemque suum (qnis credcret ?) egit 
 
 ®eofxs(TTU>s Kal TvpavviK&s. 
 Audax usque adeo, quod ile se dicerc suetus 
 
 " Maipbs k<x) a/j.fxotpbs p.£vu>." 
 At mi])er misero cervix est icta securi : 
 
 'CI Moip' U>KVfXOp€ TTO/XCp6\vt. 
 
 Luther was of a most violent and most savage temper. The gentle 
 Melancthon used to say he had often received some pretty violent slaps 
 on the face from him, which tempted him to cry out — 
 
 " Itege anitnum Lutlicre tuum cui csctera parent." 
 
 His person was so imposing that, an assassin who had gained admit- 
 tance into his chamber to pistol him, declared ho was so terrified at the 
 dignity and sternness of his manner, that he was compelled to desist from 
 his purpose. — Seivard's Anec. 
 
 Erasmus, who ever appeared delighted with England, has the fol- 
 lowing, on a custom amongst the females at this time. The reader will 
 doubtless sympathise in his happiness. — Ex Anglid, 1449 : 
 
 " Sunt hie in Anglia nymphee divinis vultibus, blandse, faciles. Est 
 prseterea mos nunquam satis laudandus sive quo venias, omnium osculis 
 receperis, sive discedas aliquo, osculis dimitteris. lledis, redduntur 
 Buavia ; venitur ad te, propinantur suavia ; disceditur abs te, dividuntur 
 basia ; occurritur alicui, basiatur affatim ; denique quocunque te 
 moveas, suaviorum plena sunt omnia." 
 
 * There is a tradition that the king went from Richmond to a spot 
 where he could hear the guns, and discern the black flag, that announced 
 Anne's execution. — Miss Aihiris Life of A. lioleyn.
 
 1509-1547.] HENRY VIII. 79 
 
 Denounced disloyal to the marriage knot, 
 'Gainst whom, the Papist Norfolk stoops to plot. 
 Smeaton of favours — Rochford incest — charged, 
 And Anna's sinless levities enlarged, — 
 She, none accusing, by the headsman died, 
 And Seymour's hand to Henry is allied. 
 
 Cranmer and Cromwell vainly strive to stem 
 The tide of the tyrannic diadem ; 
 And Seymour dying # , Henry now receives 
 As queen, his fourth in marriage, Anne of Cleves f , 
 An union early hateful to his bed, 
 And teeming ruin upon Cromwell's head. 
 This, Norfolk viewing, with religious gall 
 Basely foments and triumphs in his fall, 
 Whilst to quell murm'rings, at an easy price, 
 Henry resolves on Cromwell's sacrifice. 
 
 * " Jane Seymour was the best beloved wife of Henry VIII., and had 
 indeed the best title to his affection. She died in childbed of Edward 
 VI., 1537. The king continued a widower two years after her decease." 
 — Granger. She was buried at Windsor, over whose tomb was inscribed, 
 
 " Phcenix Jana jacet nato Phcenicc; dolenduin, 
 Soccula Phcenices nulla tulisse duos." 
 
 1535. — The society of the Jesuits was instituted by Ignatius Loyola. 
 
 f Sister to the Duke of Cleves, a prince of great influence with the 
 German Protestants. 
 
 1515. — The Council of Trent — the eighteenth and last, which was 
 prolonged by intrigues for eighteen years. The decisions of this council 
 are implicitly received as the standard of faith and discipline in the 
 Romish church.
 
 80 ENGLAND. [1509-1547. 
 
 Anna, to Lorraine's Duke betrothed ere now, 
 Gains easy quittance from this Tudor vow, 
 And the king's plea no sooner is enforced 
 On convocation, than he stands divorced. 
 
 His fifth alliance, Catherine Howard, shares 
 The fate which curtained Anna Boleyn's cares, 
 But with more show of justice — the offence 
 To Cranmer tested, of incontinence ; 
 Dereham and others, partners in her shame, 
 With Lady Rochford, foe to Anna's fame. 
 
 Henry a warlike expedition frames 
 To mark his vengeance on the Scottish James, 
 Whose haughty nobles had refused to make 
 Alliance courted at the Tudor's sake. 
 The kilted troops by mutiny imbued, 
 Maddened the Stuart to the war renewed ; 
 Solway he fords ; — his main equipment flies, 
 Whilst those yet faithful, panic occupies : 
 Shame and defeat the arms of Scotland blot, 
 And hurry to his grave the stricken Scot. 
 
 Henry takes now in wedlock Catherine Parr, 
 His sixth yoke, widow of Lord Latimer, 
 Who, though affected to the Lutheran side, 
 Retained the king's protection till ho died.
 
 1509-1547.] HENRY VIII. 81 
 
 Leith, in his late hostilities, he won, 
 And gainM the French possession of Boulogne. 
 
 Of falsely sentenced, Surry was the last 
 Who trod the scaffold in the bloodshed past ; 
 The last and brightest in the suffering throng, 
 Accomplish^ Howard * — prince of early song ! 
 
 * " The great and shining talents of this accomplished nobleman," 
 says Granger, " excited the jealousy of Henry, who strongly suspected 
 . he aspired to the crown. He was condemned and executed for high- 
 treason. His father the Duke of Norfolk's head was upon the block, 
 but he was happily delivered by the death of the king." Horace 
 Walpole observes of him — " We now emerge from the twilight of learn- 
 ing to an almost classic author, that ornament of a boisterous but not 
 unpolished court, the Earl of Surry, — celebrated by Drayton, Dryden, 
 Fenton, Pope, — illustrated by his own muse, and lamented for his 
 unhappy death ; a man, as Sir Walter Raleigh says, no less valiant than 
 learned, and of excellent hopes." The Earl of Surry and Sir Thomas 
 Wyat may be called the reformers of our poetry. The works of the 
 former are " Songs and Sonnets," &c. They, with those of Sir T. Wyat, 
 were published with notes and memoirs, by Dr. Nott, 1816. 
 
 In this age also the arts had their rise. 1st, The Florentine school, 
 of which the most eminent was Michael Angelo. 2d, The Roman, 
 founded by Raphael d'Urbino. 3d, The Venetian, of which the most 
 distinguished were Titian, Giorgione, Coireggio, and Parmegiano. 
 
 Of Henry, Fuller remarks — " All the virtues and vices of his prede- 
 cessors may seem in him fully represented, both to their kind and 
 degree, learning, wisdom, valour, magnificence, cruelty, avarice, fury, 
 lust ; — following his pleasures whilst he was young, and making them 
 come to him when he was old : — 
 
 ' Three Kates, two Nans, and one dear Jane I wedded ; 
 One Spanish, one Dutch, and four English wives ! 
 From two I was divorced, two I beheaded, 
 
 One died in childbed, and one me survives.' " Fuller. 
 
 It is reported that Lord Dorset ventured to tell Henry, in his latter 
 days, that " No man could be truly merry, who had above one Wife in 
 his chamber, one Friend in his bosom, and one Faith in his heart."
 
 82 ENGLAND. [1547-1553. 
 
 In fifteen forty-seven, — Edward's ascent* 
 Is ratified by Henry's testament, 
 Whose sisters, the capricious king had still 
 Named as successors to his son, by will f, 
 
 If the reader will accept an apology for the following, he may see how 
 far a bitter truth can yet be made palatable to royal appetite. A certain 
 friar had exceedingly pleased Pedro the Cruel of Spam, by frequently 
 repeating in his discourses that few kings came to damnation. On the 
 king's death, and when the good friar believed himself tolerably safe 
 from his master's tyranny, he confessed that in sooth he had often 
 declared that few kings came to damnation. " Marry! the reason is," 
 quoth he, "that there are but few kitigs, but if there were ten thousand, 
 they would all go to the devil." 
 
 But as the object of the present volume is to record not one set of 
 opinions only, the reader may not be disinclined to hear what J. Leland 
 has written on Henry, in the form of an Epigrammatic Elegy ; Leland, 
 be it remembered, having been Royal Antiquary and Librarian to the 
 late king. 
 
 " Ante suos Phoebus radii9 ostendcre mundo 
 
 De»inct, et claras Cynthia pulchra faces ; 
 Ante fluct rapidum tacitis sine piscibus sequor, 
 
 Spinifer et mellarn sentis habebit avein. 
 Ante sacra; quercus cessabunt spargere ramos, 
 
 Floraquesollicita pingere prata manu, 
 Quatn rex dive tuum labatur pectore nostro 
 
 Noruen, quod studiis portus et aura tueis." 
 
 * 1547.— Edward VI.— 1553. Unmarried. 
 
 f The body of the late king lay in state in the chapel of Whitehall, 
 which was hung with black. Eighty large wax tapers were kept con- 
 tinually burning. Twelve lords mourners sat around, and every day 
 masses and a dirge were performed. At the commencement of the 
 service, Norroy king-at-arms called aloud, "Of your charity, pray for 
 the soul of the high ami mighty prince, our late sovereign lord, Henry 
 VIII." On the 14th of February, the body was removed to Sion 
 House, on the 15th to Windsor, and the next day was interred in the 
 midst of the choir, near the body of Jane Seymour. Gardiner, Bp. of 
 Winchester, preached the sermon and read the service. When he cast 
 the mould into the grave, saying, " Pulvis pulveri, cinis cineri," the
 
 1547-1553.] EDWARD VI. 83 
 
 Erecting guardians of his tender years, 
 
 Hertford, now Duke of Somerset, and peers. 
 
 A Lutheran he, the ritual he refers 
 
 To Cranmer, Ridley, as commissioners, 
 
 To whom the Reformation might appeal 
 
 From Gardner's hate and Mary's dangerous zeal*. 
 
 Anxious moreover, Somerset, to frame 
 The Scottish union, so much Henry's aim, 
 He urges ardently a match between 
 Edward and Mary, the fair northern queen : 
 
 lord great master, the lord chamberlain, the treasurer, comptroller, and 
 gentlemen ushers, broke their staves into three parts over their heads, 
 and threw the fragments upon the coffin. The psalm "De Profundis" 
 was then said : and Garter king-at-arms, attended by the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury and the Bishop of Durham, immediately proclaimed the 
 style of the new sovereign. — Strype. 
 
 * But persecution dishonoured also the Reformation. Joan Boucher 
 was accused of maintaining that our Saviour, though born of the Virgin, 
 partook of humanity only in appearance, and not by a real body. For 
 this she was condemned to die. " It is a goodly matter to consider your 
 ignorance," said the undaunted woman : " not long ago you burnt Anne 
 Askew for a piece of bread, and yet came yourselves soon after to 
 believe the same doctrine. And now, forsooth, you will burn me for a 
 piece of flesh — and in the end you will come to believe this also." This 
 was a speech, says Mr. Timpson (in his valuable little work, British 
 Ecclesiastical History), which, notwithstanding the error it contained, 
 ought to have struck Cranmer with compunction — but Joan Boucher was 
 burnt to death ! 
 
 In 1551, were drawn up the a Articles of Religion," in number forty- 
 two, nearly the same as the present thirty-nine, and the further correc- 
 tion of the Common Prayer. Burnet says, " they brought the whole 
 liturgy to the same form in which it is now, except some inconsiderable 
 variations that have since been made." 
 
 g2
 
 84 ENGLAND. T1547-1553. 
 
 Which she rejecting, in distemperM heed 
 War he declares and marches to the Tweed * ; 
 Warwick at Musselburgh, with scanty kernes, 
 His pledge redeems and conquering returns. 
 Whereon the queen, this mooted suit to close, 
 Pass'd into France and the young Dauphin chose f . 
 
 Surrounded now is Somerset by spies, 
 His brother, Seymour, chief of enemies, 
 Who, wedding Henry's widow, Catherine Parr J, 
 Attempts on the Protectorate a war ; 
 Whence, (though by marriage, to the king allied,) 
 His sentence met and for rebellion died. 
 
 But Somerset, elated by his pow'r, 
 Sees not the mischief of the future hour ; 
 Thus becomes harassed by a second band, 
 Headed by Warwick, (now Northumberland,) 
 
 » The war with the Scots, which was intended to enforce this match, 
 occasioned the Earl of Huntley to observe, " he disliked not the match, 
 but the manner of wooing." 
 
 f Afterwards Francis IT. He died seventeen months after his 
 accession to the crown, in 1560. 
 
 % To this, much of the trouble of the present reign appeal's to have 
 been owing. For (says Speed) " The Lord Protector had married Ann 
 Stanhope, a woman of a haughty stomach, and the Lord Admiral, his 
 brother, the Queen Dowager, a lady of great mildness. The duchess 
 would murmur, why she, being the wife of the elder brother and the 
 better man, should give place to her who was the wife of the younger 
 brother and the meaner man. ' '
 
 1547-1553.] 
 
 EDWARD VI. 
 
 85 
 
 Who, though defeated in his first attacks, 
 Id fine, brings the Protector to the axe : 
 A rending scene by weeping gazers view'd 
 And loud upbraidings of the multitude, 
 AVho by the love to Somerset they bore, 
 Made wet their napkins in his purple gore. 
 Wily Northumberland, on this despatch, 
 Forms with young Dudley and Jane Grey a match *, 
 Persuading Edward her to nominate, 
 And hold his sisters illegitimate ; 
 Scarce all achieved, Northumberland desired, 
 When gentle Edward, still a youth, expired f . 
 
 * Thus Dudley, his fourth son, was married to Lady Jane Grey, 
 daughter of the Duke of Suffolk. He also negotiated a marriage between 
 the Lady Catherine Grey, second daughter of Suffolk, and Lord Herbert 
 eldest son of the Earl of Pembroke. He likewise married his own 
 daughter to Lord Hastings, eldest son of the Earl of Huntingdon. 
 
 Henry VII. 
 
 IV.rpMargaret- 
 ts. 
 
 =J. V.: 
 
 r Mary 
 of 
 Lorraine. 
 
 :Douglas, Louis XII.=Mary=pBrandon, Duke of Suffolk. 
 Earl of of France. 
 
 Angus. 
 
 Marg.=p Stuart, 
 
 Earl of 
 
 Lennox. 
 
 Frances=p Gray, 
 D. of 
 Suffolk. 
 
 Eleanor— Clifford, E. 
 of Cumber- 
 land. 
 
 Mary, 
 Queen of Scots. 
 
 Henry. Charle6. Jane. Catherine. Mary. Margaret. 
 
 t " It is memorable what sport Sir W. Kingston, the provost martial, 
 made, by virtue of his office, upon men in misery. One Boyer, mayor
 
 86 ENGLAND. [1553-1558. 
 
 Bears record, fifteen fifty-three *, the reign 
 Of Mary t, child of Catherine of Spain ; 
 
 of Bodmin in Coi'nwall, had been amongst the rebels, not willingly, but 
 enforced ; to him the provost sent word he would come and dine with 
 him. A little before the dinner-hour, the provost took the mayor aside, 
 and whispered in his ear, that an execution must be done that day, and 
 therefore that a pair of gallows must be set up by then dinner should be 
 done. The mayor failed not. Presently after dinner, the provost, 
 taking the mayor by the hand, entreated him to lead him to the place 
 of the gallows, which when he beheld, he asked the mayor if he thought 
 them to be strong enough. ' Yes,' said the mayor, ' doubtless they 
 are.' — 'Well then,' said the provost, 'get up you speedily, for they 
 are provided for you.' — ' I hope,' answered the mayor, ' you mean 
 not as you say.' — ' In faith,' rejoined the provost, ' I do ; there is no 
 remedy, for you have been a busy rebel.' And so he was hanged to 
 death — a most uncourteous part for a guest to offer his host." — Sir Rd. 
 Baker's Chronicle. 
 
 F.PITAPHIC LINES ON EDWARD VI., BY JEROME CARDAN : 
 
 " Flete nefas magnum, sed toto flcbilis orbe 
 
 Mortalcs, ve'stcr conuit omuis honor : 
 Nam regum decus, et juvenum flos, spesquc bonorum, 
 
 Delicise secli, ct gloria gentis erat ; 
 Dignus Apollineis lacbrymis, dociseque Minervae ; 
 
 Flosculus hou misere concidit ante diem. 
 Te cumulo dabimus musse, suprcmaquo fientcs 
 
 Muncra, Melpomene tristia fata canet." 
 
 The famous Jerome Cardan, when in England, was introduced to 
 Edward, whose nativity he calculated ; but on this occasion his astrolo- 
 gical science deceived him ; for he predicted long life to that prince, 
 who died the next year. 
 
 * 1553. — Mary. — 1558. Consort, Philip King of Spain, son of Charles V. 
 
 t Mary occupies a place amongst the "Royal Authors;" wherein 
 Horace Walpole observes, " Bishop Tanner is so absurd as to ascribe 
 to her the history of her own life and death, and an account of ' martyrs ' 
 iu her reign." 
 
 " Mary Tudor is rather below the middle stature, thin and delicately 
 formed, with lively eyes, but short-sighted ; a strong, deep-toned voice,
 
 1553-1558] MARY. 87 
 
 Many were yet assembled at the stand 
 Of Lady Jane*, by Duke Northumberland. 
 She with unwilling gaze beheld the scene 
 Of her own pageant and herself the queen ; 
 Ten fleeting days th' existence of her throne, 
 The game of others rather than her own, — 
 A bootless game, which Mary's pow'r deters, 
 — A pow'r of forty thousand followers ; 
 Dudley is lost, and spite a nation's prayer, 
 Not long are respited the youthful pair. 
 
 Uprose again the papal church in pride f, 
 Whereto the parliament its aid supplied ; 
 Repeal'd at once all Edward's liberal acts, 
 Restored the mass; — enforced the Romish tracts. 
 Ulterior views the party entertain 
 
 like that of a man, so that she could be heard at some distance ; ex- 
 tremely industrious in sewing, embroidery, and other female employ- 
 ments ; and so accomplished a performer on the harpsichord, that her 
 masters are astonished." — Michele. {Note in Returner's Folit. History.) 
 
 * Jane Grey was the eldest daughter of Henry Duke of Suffolk, by 
 Frances, daughter to Mary, second sister of Henry VIII., which Frances 
 in Henry's will was placed next in succession after the princess Elizabeth, 
 to the exclusion of the Scottish line, the offspring of his eldest sister. 
 
 f It was observed that at this time the state of England was like 
 that of the Jews, who, upon the captivity, took a midway between 
 Hebrew and Ashdod, for on the same day that mass was sung in the 
 choir of Westminster the Reformed service was said in the body of the 
 church.
 
 88 ENGLAND. [1553-1558. 
 
 Of the queen's marriage with the King of Spain *, 
 To which the sovereign readily is brought, 
 And moody Philip visits England's court. 
 
 Wyat, meanwhile, rebellion stirs in Kent, 
 On this alliance and the queen's intent ; 
 Round Suffolk and Carew adherents flock, 
 But death awaits their treason by the block, 
 Such giving plea for fate's appointed day, 
 Till now reserved, on Dudley and Jane Grey ; 
 His headless trunk is borne within her view, 
 And sainted Jane invokes a meek adieu f. 
 
 * The Earl of Devonshire, and Cardinal Pole (who had never taken 
 priest's orders) were proposed first to the queen. 
 
 Lingard, in noticing the intrigues of France to prevent the marriage 
 with Philip, cpuotes from Holinshed, amongst other contrivances, the 
 following : — " The most extraordinary sounds were heard to issue from 
 a wall in Aldersgate Street, intermixed with words of an obscure mean- 
 ing, which were interpreted to the crowd by persons in the secret. The 
 voice was believed to be superhuman, the voice of the Holy Ghost, 
 warning a wicked generation. It inveighed against the marriage of the 
 queen, and the impiety of the mass, and threatened the citizens with 
 war, famine, and earthquakes. Multitudes assembled daily to listen to 
 the spirit, till workmen, by order of the magistrates, began to demolish 
 the wall ; when Elizabeth Crofts, a young woman, crept out of her 
 hiding-place, and confessed that she had been hired to act her part by a 
 person of the name of Drakes." She was put on the pillory. 
 
 f From Rd. Grafton is the following, on the execution of Lady Jane 
 Grey : — " Kneeling down, she said in English the 51st psalm, and again 
 standing up, gave her book to Master Bridges, then Lieutenant of the 
 Tower. Then untieing her gown, the executioner offered to help, whom 
 she desired to forbear, and so turning to her two gentlewomen, was
 
 1553-1558.] MARY. 89 
 
 Meanwhile Elizabeth, on her rebuke 
 Of marriage, at the hand of Savoy's Duke, 
 Is led to Woodstock, and encompass'd there 
 By priests who plot entanglements in prayer. 
 Cautious to Gardiner, the daily spy ; 
 On transubstantiation, her reply : 
 
 " Christ was the word that spake it ; 
 
 " He took the bread and brake it ; 
 
 " And what the Word did make it, 
 
 " That I believe, and take it." 
 
 Gard'ner, and Pole *, the legate of the Pope, 
 Give to intolerance a deadly scope ; 
 
 disrobed of that and her other attires ; this done, the headsman kneeled 
 down and asked her forgiveness, unto whom she said, ' The Lord forgive 
 thee — and I do — and I pray thee dispatch me quickly ! ' and kneeling 
 again, said — ' Will you take it off before I lie down V He answered, < No, 
 madam ;' then she tied a handkerchief over her eyes, and feeling for the 
 block, said, ' Where is it — where is it V Lastly, laying her neck upon 
 the same, stretched forth her body and said, 'Lord Jesus, into thy 
 hands I commend my spirit ! ' which was scarcely uttered before she 
 received the fatal stroke of the axe. 
 
 " But most especially grievous was the death of this virtuous lady 
 unto him who gave the sentence of the same, even Judge Morgan, who 
 thereupon presently fell raving mad, and in his rantings cried < Take 
 away the Lady Jane from me — take away the Lady Jane !' and in that 
 horror shortly ended his life."_Fox ("Acts and Monuments,") speaking 
 of this sad event, says he knows not how any one can read with dry 
 eyes that which made him weep to write. 
 
 " Nescio tu quibus cs, lector, lecturus occllis ; 
 Hoc scio, quod eiccis ecribere non potui." 
 
 * Reginald Pole, Cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury. He
 
 90 ENGLAND. [1553-1558. 
 
 GarcTner the baser, by his temporal soul, 
 Whilst erring conscience warp'd the bigot Pole. 
 
 * Philip the queen neglects, nor seeks her more, 
 Save, by her riches, to increase his store ; 
 Stung by the scornful prince, her bigot hand 
 Spreads hateful persecution o'er the land ; 
 Th' infuriate Bonner stirs the avenging fire, 
 And Hooper, Ridley, Latimer, expire. 
 On the meek Ridley, Latimer the blest, 
 His spirit pourVl, for that was still at rest. 
 
 opposed Henry's divorce from Catherine, and flying into Italy, a price 
 was set upon his head. His mother, Countess of Salisbury, and lineal 
 descendant of Edward III., suspected of exciting an insurrection in the 
 north of England, was condemned to death, and cruelly massacred, in 
 the seventieth year of her age, in the reign of Henry VIII. On Mary's 
 accession, the attainder of Pole was repealed. It is related in a note to 
 Granger's History, that on the demise of Paul III., Pole was elected 
 Pope. " He was chosen at midnight by the conclave, and sent for to 
 come and be admitted. He desired that his admission might be deferred 
 till the morning, as it was not a work of darkness. Upon this message, 
 the Cardinals, without any further ceremony, proceeded to another 
 election, and chose the Cardinal de Monte, who, before he left the con- 
 clave, bestowed his hat upon a servant who looked after his monkey." 
 
 * In Howell's Letters appears the following : " There is no cmestion 
 but Philip intended, if possible, to make himself master of the kingdom 
 by marrying Mary. When the cpueen was supposed to be advanced in preg- 
 nancy, Philip applied to the Parliament to be constituted regent during 
 the minority of the child, and offered ample security to surrender the 
 regency when he or she should be of an age to govern. The motion was 
 warmly debated in the House of Peers, and he was like to carry his 
 point, when Lord Paget stood up and said, ' Pray who slmll sue the 
 king's bowl V This laconic speech had its intended effect, and the 
 debate was soon concluded in the negative."
 
 1553-1558.] MARY. 91 
 
 " Courage ! this day a torch is lit," he cried, 
 " God grant, in England never may subside ! " 
 Next the mild Cranmer*, he whose weaker heart 
 Had quaiFd erewhile before the menaced smart. 
 " Perish, this hand ; this recreant hand ! " exclaims, 
 While mounts his soul unruffled through the flames. 
 Nor sex nor age her headlong purpose shake, 
 And near three hundred perish at the stake. 
 
 * Stockesley, Bishop of London, curiously observed to Cranmer, that, 
 " the reading of the Bible led to heresy, and that he would not parti- 
 cipate in the guilt of entangling the people in errors." Another said, 
 " As Adam was expelled from Paradise for tasting the fruit from the 
 tree of knowledge, so will those be who meddle with the Scriptures." 
 Soame. Mary's hatred against Cranmer appears to have been rendered 
 still more implacable, by the part he took in her mother's divorce. 
 After his whole body was reduced to ashes, his heart was found entire. 
 Fuller observes, " The like to this is reported of Zuinglius, ' quod cada- 
 vere flammis ab hostibus tradito, cor exuri non potuerit,' his foes making 
 this a sign of the hardness of his heart, his friends of the sincerity 
 thereof." 
 
 "Hue ubi ventum est, dextram projecit in ignem, 
 
 Projectatnque tenens talia dicta dedit, 
 Primuni peccasti, primiim et sentire dolorem 
 
 Debes, ah Christo dextra inimica meo !" 
 Immotamque tenet dum deflagaverat omnis, 
 
 Et cineres totam dum cecidisse videt. 
 Csetera dum pereant flamma (mirabile dictu) 
 
 Cor manet illaesum post ubi flamma peril. 
 Ecce, invicta fides cor inviolabile servat 
 
 Nee mediis flammis corda perire sinit. 
 
 By Ralph Skinner. 
 
 The reader should constantly bear in mind that Cranmer, Ridley, 
 Hooper, and Latimer no further died for the Anglican Church than 
 Huss or Jerome suffered for the congregation of Bohemia. They were 
 martyrs for the faith of Jesus Christ, as it existed then and exists now, 
 independently of its connexion with any human system.
 
 92 ENGLAND. [1558-1603. 
 
 Scorn and disgust pursue the King of Spain, 
 While levies press, his armies to maintain. 
 From England, hence eight thousand strong he draws, 
 And fleet equipments for the Gallic wars ; 
 Won is St. Quentin, — but ere long the town 
 Of Calais passes from the English crown*. 
 
 A sterile wife, Maria's only heed 
 Papists should scourge and protestants should bleed ; 
 Conscious of hate she sinks into the dust, 
 And views the veil'd Hereafter in mistrust t. 
 
 Queen Mary's sister — fifteen fifty-eight J — 
 Anne Boleyn's child, Elizabeth the Great §, 
 
 * A disastrous refutation of the lines — 
 
 " Turn dcmum Francus premet obsidione Caletum, 
 Cinn fcrrum, plumbumque natabat suberi9 instar.'' 
 
 Calais was in the hands of the English for 210 years. It was taken 
 by Edward III., after a siege of eleven months, in 1347, and replanted 
 with inhabitants chiefly from Kent. The English surrendered it to the 
 Duke of Guise, in 1557, after a siege of only eight days. 
 
 Holinshed, who lived in Queen Elizabeth's reign, gives a curious 
 account of the rude manner of living in the preceding generation. 
 Scarcely was there a chimney to the houses, even in considerable towns ; 
 the fire was kindled by the wall, and the smoke found its way out at the 
 roof, or door, or windows ! The houses were merely wattling, plastered 
 over with clay — the people slept on straw pallets, and had a log under 
 their heads for a pillow. 
 
 T Her body was interred in the Chapel of Henry VII. Her sister, 
 Queen Elizabeth, was afterwards buried in the same vault. Over both 
 James erected a sumptuous monument. 
 
 X 1558 — Elizabeth. — 1G03. Unmarried. 
 
 § Horace Walpole says, " This great princess applied much to lite-
 
 1558-1603.] ELIZABETH. 93 
 
 Her sceptre raised against the Romish see, 
 And cheer'd the protestant ascendancy ! 
 While her first parliament, by statutes framed, 
 The church's faith and ritual proclaimed. 
 
 The French and Spaniards having weigh'd their plots 
 For the destruction of the Hugonots, 
 The queen determines by her aid to free 
 The Provinces from Philip's tyranny *. 
 
 Early directed is her jealous spleen 
 'Gainst Mary Stuart, the young Scottish queen f ; 
 
 rature, and under the celebrated Roger Ascham made great progi'ess in 
 several languages." Elizabeth had so unconquerable an aversion to 
 ugly and ill-made men, that she could not endure their presence ; and 
 Disraeli professes to show that it was owing to the ill-shaped nose of 
 Francis, Duke of Anjou, that she refused him as a husband. 
 
 The following is a specimen of the fulsome panegyrics on this queen : 
 
 " Juno potens sceptris, et mentis acuminc Pailas, 
 Et roseo Veneris fulget in ore decor. 
 Adfuit Elizabeth, — Juno pereulsa refugit, 
 Obstupuit Pallas, crubuitque Venus !" 
 
 * Of the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands, seven only asserted 
 their independence, by a treaty formed at Utrecht, 1579. These were, 
 Guelderland, Holland, Zealand, Friesland, Utrecht, Overyssel, and 
 Groningen. William, Prince of Orange, was declared their chief, by 
 the title of " Stadtholder." This commonwealth existed till its subju- 
 gation to Napoleon. 
 
 It was to the wheels and gibbets of the Duke d'Alva that England 
 was now greatly indebted. Scared by his inhumanity, the Flemish 
 manufacturers fled thither in shoals, and were received with hospitality. 
 They repaid this, by peopling the decayed streets of Canterbury, Nor- 
 wich, Sandwich, Colchester, Maidstone, Southampton, and many other 
 towns, with industrious weavers, dyers, cloth-dressers, linen-makers, 
 silk-throwsters, &c. 
 
 f Mary's beauty has been almost as great a matter of dispute as her
 
 94 ENGLAND. [1558-1603. 
 
 For she, descended from the Tudor line, 
 
 Tudor suspects of dangerous design, 
 
 As claiming right to her imperial state, 
 
 (Eliza, once named illegitimate,) 
 
 While " King of England " on the Dauphin's side 
 
 Was claim' d as portion through his Scottish bride*. 
 
 Urged is the Reformation in the while 
 By Scotland's Morton, Glencairn, and Argyle ; 
 By furious Knox t excited, they o'errake 
 The prostrate altars and the idols break. 
 
 character. Granger, however, has the following somewhat remarkable 
 passage : " When Mary, in the full bloom of her beauty, was walking in 
 a procession at Paris, a woman forced her way through the crowd to 
 touch her. Upon being asked what she meant by her intrusion, she 
 said, it was only to satisfy herself whether so angelic a creature were 
 flesh and blood." 
 
 * There was something peculiar in Mary's mode of blazonry. She 
 bore Scotland and England quarterly, the former being first ; but over 
 all was a half scutcheon of pretence, with the arms of England, the 
 sinister half being as it were obscured, in order to intimate that she was 
 kept out of her right. — Strype. 
 
 The Despatches of Throckmorton, the English Ambassador in France, 
 bear continual testimony to the insulting and hostile manner in which 
 Francis II. and his queen displayed their pretensions to our crown. — 
 Forbes' s State Papers, vol. i., passim. The following is an instance : 
 At the entrance of the king and queen into Chatelherault, 23rd Nov., 
 1559, these lines formed the inscription over one of the gates: — 
 
 " Gallia pcrpctuis pugnaxque Britannia bcllis 
 Olini odio inter se dimicuere pari. 
 Nunc Gallos totoquc remotos orbe Biitannos 
 
 Unum dos Marioc cogit in imperium. 
 Ergo pace potes, Fiancisce, quod omnibus annis 
 Mille patres annis non potucrc tui." 
 
 Hallam's Const. Hist, of England. 
 
 f Jolin Knox, the Scottish reformer, born 1505 ; was greatly
 
 1558-1603.] ELIZABETH. 95 
 
 Mary of Guise, by aid of Gallic sloops, 
 Attempts to humble the Reformers' troops ; 
 But death assails the bigot on the storm, 
 And gives the Presbyt'ry as Scotland's form. 
 
 But brief the time : the Dauphin being dead, 
 Mary, her cousin Stuart Darnley, wed ; 
 And Murray plotting danger to her reign, 
 Is pardon'd only to conspire again. 
 
 Darnley, now stung with fury at the place 
 Which Rizzio held, abetted his disgrace ; 
 The courtly confidence in which he stood, 
 Whisper'd revenge, by the Italian's blood ; 
 Whereon prompt Morton following his retreat, 
 The minion slaughter'd at his mistress' feet *. 
 
 esteemed by Calvin, to whose doctrines he was attached. He wrote the 
 History of the Reformation in" Scotland, in which he defended all the 
 violent actions committed there, particularly the murder of Cardinal 
 Beaton. Knox died in Edinburgh, in 1572. 
 
 * Buchanan states that the queen had a stamp made with Darnley's 
 signature, which she committed to Rizzio, to affix to public instruments, 
 &c. &c. ; and as another fact, which the reader may not deem altogether 
 uninteresting, the same author speaks most unequivocally of David's 
 ugliness. After the murder of Rizzio, " the vengeance of the Queen of 
 Scots," says Hume, " was implacable against her husband alone, whose 
 person was before disagreeable to her, and who, by his violation of every 
 tie of gratitude and duty, had now drawn on him her highest resentment. 
 She engaged him to disown all connexion with the assassins, to deny 
 any concurrence in their ci'ime — even to publish a ' proclamation,' con- 
 taining a falsehood so notorious to the whole world ; and having thus 
 made him expose himself to universal contempt, and rendered it imprac- 
 ticable for him ever to acquire the confidence of any party, she threw 
 him off with disdain and indignation."
 
 96 ENGLAND. [1558-1603. 
 
 But dread the retribution which befel 
 Th' impetuous Darnley by some covert spell, 
 Veiling the royal fame in that same cloud, 
 Thoughts but in whispers murmurM, now are loud. 
 Dread through the courts of Holyrood resound 
 The cries of death, and throes of sulphYous ground, 
 Where on that shrouded night, from her away 
 In lonely habitation Darnley lay. 
 
 In the Anthologie Franchise is the following chanson, of Mary's com- 
 position, written on her quitting France, in 1561 : 
 
 " Adieu, plaisant pays de France, 
 
 O ma patiie la plus cherie, 
 Qui as nourri ma jeune enfance! 
 Adieu, France, adieu mes beaux jours : 
 La nef qui dejoint nos amours, 
 
 N'a cy de moi que la moitie ; 
 Une parte te reste, elle est tienne ; 
 
 Je la fie a ton amitie, 
 Pour que de l'autre il te souvienne." 
 
 In 1572, the massacre of the Protestants in France, on St. Bartho- 
 lomew's Day. Five hundred persons of rank, including Coligni, and ten 
 thousand inferior persons, perished in Paris alone ; and a like carnage 
 took place in other towns. Pope Gregory XIII. had no sooner notice of 
 this deed than he went in procession to the Church of St. Louis, in 
 Rome, to return thanks to God for it, as for a happy victory, and sent a 
 nuncio to France to congratulate the king ! On this anniversary, for 
 some years afterwards, the weather being rainy, the following was said, 
 alluding to the death of Admiral Coligni : 
 
 '' Bartholomeus flit, quia Gallicus occubat Atlas." 
 
 The first act for the relief of the impotent poor passed in 1535 (27 
 Hen. VIII. c. 25). By this statute no alms were allowed to be given to 
 beggars, on pain of forfeiting ten times the value ; but a collection was 
 to be made in every parish. The compulsory contributions, properly 
 Bpeaking, began in 1572, Eliz. c. 5. But by an earlier statute, 1 Ed. 
 VI. c. 3, the bishop was empowered to proceed in his court against such 
 as should refuse to contribute, or dissuade others from doing so.
 
 1558-1603.] ELIZABETH. <J7 
 
 Mischief obeys the covenanted sign, 
 Riv'n are the walls, and bursts the secret mine ; 
 Thus fate in full, by human guile unseen, 
 Cancels the debt and insults of the queen. 
 
 Too soon on Bothwell, Mary shows the breath 
 Of favour — him suspected of the death 
 Which Darnley met : espousing that base lord, 
 An outlaw soon, attainted and abhorr'd. 
 Audacious Bothwell ! — who by force waylaid 
 His mistress and her royal cavalcade 
 On route to Stirling — him, the queen exalts, 
 Kind to his suit, as tender to his faults; 
 Fatal alliance ! — new revolters rise, 
 Seize on the queen ; and hated Bothwell flies. 
 
 Hence to Lochleven Mary is conveyed, 
 And Murray in the Regency arrayed ; 
 But reinforced — with means again supplied, 
 She tries the desp'rate hazard at Langside : 
 Defeated hopelessly, — deserted — lost, 
 In fatal trust the southern boundary cross'd. 
 Enamoured Norfolk, with Rodolphi, plots 
 To win the English for the Queen of Scots ; 
 Accused of treason he resigns his breath, 
 And hope flies Mary in Elizabeth. 
 
 The Duke scarce sentenced, when designs anew
 
 93 ENGLAND. [1558-1603- 
 
 By Babington and fictions Fortescue 
 
 Against Elizabeth, are deeply lain 
 
 For restoration of the papal fane. 
 
 The Scottish queen 's entangled, their ally 
 
 In guilty knowledge of conspiracy. 
 
 They, the sole legal traitors to the crown, 
 
 At length, by Walsinghara exposed and known, 
 
 Suffer their sentence. For that same offence, 
 
 Queen Mary dies by venal evidence : 
 
 For treas'nous projects on the English throne, 
 
 Which they being subject could commit alone*. 
 
 * Sir Ed. Anderson presided at Mary's trial in 1580, and in the next 
 year at the trial of secretary Davison, in the Star Chamber, for signing 
 the warrant for the execution of the former. " His decision in that nice 
 point," says Granger, "was that he had done justum, now juste. Ex- 
 cellent logic for finding an innocent man guilty !" 
 
 Buchanan is the only Scottish historian who directly accuses Mary of 
 a criminal love for Rizzio. Knox only slightly insinuates that such a 
 suspicion was entertained. But the silence of Randolph, the English 
 resident, a man abundantly ready to mention Mary's faults, and who does 
 not once intimate that her confidence in Rizzio contained anything cri- 
 minal, is a sufficient vindication of her innocence. — Note in Russell ; 
 Mod. Hist. 
 
 Camden observes : " I am bound to own that it appears to me from a 
 passage in her (Mary's) letter to T. Morgan, dated 27th July, 1586, that 
 she had accepted Babington's offer to assassinate the English (pueen. ' As 
 to Babington,' says she, • he hath kindly and honestly offered himself and 
 all his means to be employed any way I would. Whereupon I hope to 
 have satisfied him by two of my several letters since I had his.' Wiser, 
 surely, would have been the counsel of Hadrian: — Testibus, non Tesli- 
 moniis credendum." 
 
 Hume, speaking of the sentence against Mary, says : " When Eliza
 
 1558-1G03.] ELIZABETH. 99 
 
 The widower! Philip, who again would share 
 With England's queen a kingdom's wedded care, 
 Stung by rejection, is prepared to urge 
 The great "Armada" for the nation's scourge : 
 To root the Reformation from the land, 
 And raise again th 1 abhorred papal wand. 
 
 beth thought that as many importunities had been used, and as much 
 delay interposed as decency required, she at last determined to carry 
 the sentence into execution ; but even in this final resolution, she could 
 not proceed without displaying a new scene of duplicity and artifice. In 
 order to alarm the vulgar, rumours were previously dispersed that the 
 Spanish fleet was arrived at Milford Haven — that the Scots had made 
 an irruption into England — that the Duke of Guise was landed in Eng- 
 land with a strong army — that the Queen of Scots was escaped from 
 prison and had raised an army — that the northern counties had begun 
 an insurrection — that there was a new conspiracy on foot to assassinate 
 the queen and set the city of London on fire — nay, that the queen was 
 actually assassinated." 
 
 Mary's dress at her execution is thus described by Jebb. 
 " Her head-dress was of fine lawn, edged with bone lace, with a veil 
 of the same, thrown back and reaching to the ground. She wore a 
 mantle of black printed satin, lined with black taffeta and faced with 
 sables, with a long train, and sleeves hanging to the ground. The 
 buttons were of jet in the form of acorns and set round with pearls ; the 
 collar ii-1'italienne. Her purpoint was of black figured satin, with the 
 skirts of crimson velvet. A pomander chain with a cross of gold was 
 suspended from her neck, a pair of beads from her waist. The execu- 
 tioner claimed all these as his right, but surrendered them for a sum of 
 money." 
 
 Just before her execution, Mary repeated the following, composed by 
 herself. 
 
 O Doiuinc, Dcus, speravi in te. 
 
 O care mi Jesu, nunc libera me ; 
 
 In dura catena, in misera poena, desidero to : 
 
 Langucndo, gemendo, el genuflectendo, 
 
 Adoro, imploro ut liberes me." 
 
 h 2
 
 
 100 ENGLAND. [1558-1603. 
 
 Still more inflamed, this bigot of Castile, 
 At England's sanction in the Belgic zeal, 
 Aiding the Prince of Orange to disdain 
 The longer weight of his despotic reign*. 
 
 On Calais roads is drawn his vaunted fleet f, 
 The Duke of Parma's subsidy to meet; 
 When Howard, Drake, and Frobisher set sail, 
 With gallant Hawkins, on the fav'ring gale, 
 To try the issue of that mighty plea 
 To England's crown, dominion of the sea ! 
 Meanwhile on steed, amid th' admiring court, 
 The queen her army marshals at the fort : — 
 Of startled Thames she rides th' embattled edge, 
 Herself the foremost, though to die the pledge ! 
 
 * Houssaie says : " After the death of Mary, Philip sought Elizabeth 
 in marriage ; and she who was yet unfixed at the beginning of her reign, 
 amused him at first with hopes. But as soon as she unmasked herself 
 to the Pope, she laughed at Philip, telling the Duke of Feria, his ambas- 
 sador, that her conscience would not permit her to marry the husband 
 of her sister." 
 
 It is recorded that at the siege of Leyden, the place was saved by the 
 means of carrier-pigeons, on which account the Prince of Orange 
 ordered they should be maintained at the public expense, and at their 
 death embalmed and preserved in the Town-house as a perpetual token 
 of gratitude. 
 
 t It was at this time that the eai'liest gazette was printed, and called 
 " The English Mercury," published for the purpose of allaying the 
 alarm occasioned while the Spanish Armada was in the Channel. The 
 "Mercuries" were probably first printed in April 1588, when the 
 Armada first approached the shores of England. One, dated July 26 
 158JJ , is preserved in the British Museum.
 
 1558-1603.] ELIZABETH. 101 
 
 * Scarce from the harbour, when the onset stroke 
 In awful accents o'er the Channel broke ; 
 Again, off Portland, is renewed the fight, 
 And still again each morn to closing night ; 
 f Sidonia's frigates suddenly retire, 
 By panic stricken and the ships of fire : 
 Pursued by Howard to the Zealand coast, 
 Captured are many, — many gulf d and lost ; 
 Still, still are chased the scattered to the north, 
 And falls th' " Armada's" remnant at the Forth ! 
 
 Thus Philip, king of Sicily, of Spain, 
 Of Naples, taints the glory of his reign ; 
 Dims the wide splendour of a mighty crown, 
 And lays a third of his dominion down ! 
 
 Alliance now with Henry Fourth is made 
 By England's sov'reign, but for Henry's aid : 
 
 * Before the attack the Spanish commander, with a consciousness of 
 victor}', addressed Elizabeth in the following terms : 
 
 " Te veto ne pergas bello defendere Belgas 
 " Qua; Dracus eripuit nunc restituentur opoitet ; 
 " Quos pater evertit jubeo te condere cellar, 
 " Religio Papa: fac restituatur ad ungueui." 
 
 To which the queen gallantly replied, 
 
 "Ad Grcecas, bone rex,fient mandata calcndas !" 
 
 Philip, on his death-bed, did every thing he could for salvation. The 
 following " morceau" he sent to his confessor a few days before he died : 
 
 " Father Confessor ! as you occupy the place of God, 1 protest to you 
 
 that I will do every thing you shall say to be necessary for my being 
 saved ; so that what I omit doing will be placed to your account." 
 
 f The Duke of Medina Sidonia, the Spanish admiral.
 
 102 ENGLAND. [1558-1603. 
 
 And arms and succour to his coasts repair 
 To fence the monarch from dissension there. 
 
 Raleigh, meanwhile, Britannia's flag unfurled : 
 Drake ploughs with Cavendish * the wat'ry world : 
 Hence England's annals date her young renown, 
 And hand her mistress of the ocean down. 
 
 Amongst th 1 illustrious suitors who pursue 
 The virgin monarch, is dismissed Anjou. 
 Erewhile, the Lord of Leicester f had possess'd 
 The queen's affections to her deep unrest : 
 Too much the queen, her sov'reignty to share ; 
 Too much the woman, to deride her care ! 
 
 The- youthful Essex X now her thoughts enslave, 
 Gay, witty, gallant, generous and brave. 
 
 * Soon after the commencement of hostilities between England and 
 Spain, Cavendish undertook to annoy the Spaniards in the West Indies. 
 lie burnt and destroyed nineteen of their shins, and took the 
 Admiral of the South Seas, valued at 4!>,800/. In this expedition he 
 encompassed the globe and returned in great triumph. His soldiers 
 ii ml sailors were clothed in silk, his sails were damask, and his topmast 
 covered with eloth-of-gold. In his second expedition he suffered almost 
 all the miseries that could attend a disastrous voyage. His men 
 mutinied, and lie was thought to have died of a broken heart in 
 America, 1.592. 
 
 t Leicester appears to have been a man little eminent for either 
 virtue or abilities, but of much personal recommendation. It is said 
 that he sent a priest to Walsingham to assure him of the lawfulness of 
 poisoning the Queen of Scots before her trial. 
 
 J Essex was accomplished, generouB, and beloved by the people ; his 
 adversaries took seen t advantage of bis warmth of temper for his over-
 
 1558-1603.] ELIZABETH. 103 
 
 To quell revolt in Ireland, she sent 
 
 Her minion with a powerful armament 
 
 Against Tyrone, who swayed Hibornia's race, 
 
 Which scarce, as yet, confess'd its subject place 
 
 To Tudors' crown ; — when Essex, here enthrall'd, 
 
 Bespeaks his mistress to be thence recall'd. 
 
 Soured and impatient at the foiled event, — 
 
 His army baffled, — his resources spent, — 
 
 He quits, unbidden, the distracted scene 
 
 To pour his vain complainings to the queen. 
 
 Indignant majesty no more surveys 
 
 This slighted duty with indulgent gaze ; — 
 
 Essex no longer is the welcome guest ; 
 
 But changed are place and favour for arrest. 
 
 To madness driv'n, he now resolves to shake 
 The throne itself, and play the traitor's stake ; 
 To arms, in vain, the city he impels, 
 
 throw. " Elizabeth, like all despots, was not only jealous of sharing her 
 power, but would persuade herself that she was immortal. She would 
 neither marry when young, nor name a successor when old." 
 
 When joint commander with Lord Howard, against Spain, Essex 
 contributed so far to the capture of Cadiz, that the following anagram 
 was written : 
 
 " Deureux. 
 Vere Dux. 
 Virc Dux Deureux, ct verior Herculc. Gades 
 Nam semel hie vidit, vicit ct illc simul."
 
 104 ENGLAND. [1558-1603- 
 
 For Raleigh's * vigilance the ferment quells : 
 Essex condemned, for life's remission pleads, 
 But lost to favour, by the headsman bleeds. 
 
 And now the queen from ev'ry duty flies, 
 All state avoids, all intercourse denies; 
 In deep remorse for Essex 1 sentence, pass'd 
 Her wintry age; and slumbering, breathed her last. 
 
 In arms, such England's glory : and her trade 
 Through Russia, Turkey, Indiaf, convey'd : 
 
 * Sir Walter Raleigh is said to have first attracted Elizabeth's notice 
 by an act of gallantry. When the queen in one of her walks hesitated 
 on passing a miry spot, he, then but an adventurer, threw his cloak 
 before her as a carpet. He was thereupon invited to court. 
 
 On one occasion he wrote with a diamond on a window : 
 
 " Fain would I climb but that I fear to fall." 
 Which the queen having noticed, added, 
 
 " If thy heart fail thee do not climb at all." 
 
 t The first charter of the East India Company was dated the 31st Dec. 
 1C00. In 1612 they obtained permission of the court of Delhi to 
 i stahlish a factory at Surat. In 1640, permission was obtained from 
 the native authorities to build Fort St. George. In 1658, Madras was 
 raised to the station of a presidency. In 1698 they obtained a grant of 
 Calcutta and two adjoining villages, with leave to exercise judiciary 
 power over the inhabitants, and to erect fortifications. These were 
 soon after constructed, and received the name of Fort William, and the 
 district was raised to the rank of a presidency. In 1717 they obtained 
 further important grants and privileges, which were regarded as consti- 
 tuting the great charter of the English in India. Since that period the 
 British Empire in India has been rapidly extended, and at this time it 
 < mhraces a population of upwards of one hundred millions. — Tythr.
 
 1558-1603.] ELIZABETH. 105 
 
 Whilst o'er her name a moral sunlight broke 
 Through Raleigh, Sidney *, Bacon, Cecil f, Coke ; 
 With Parker ; Hooker, Walsingham unite, — 
 And Spenser's melody and Shakspeare's X might ! 
 
 * In 1586 perished at the battle of Zutphen, Sir Philip Sidney, the 
 flower of England, the ornament of the university and court — viewed 
 with equal admiration on the field of battle and in the tournament. 
 
 His occasional motto, " Vix ea nostra voco," inspired the following : 
 
 " Cum Btirpem referas ilhistrem, die Philippe, 
 
 Et magnos atavos conspicuamque douium, 
 Cum sint nobilium tibi clara insignia avorum 
 
 Antiquumque genus, ' vix ea nostra' vocas? 
 Insignis quibus ergo studes insignibus esse? 
 
 Unde tuos titulos, stemmataque unde trains? 
 An studium, mores, pietatem, fortia facta, 
 
 Virtutem et mentis munera ' nostra' vocas? 
 Quae tu ' nostra' vocas, ea sunt divina, Philippe, 
 
 Nee meliora illis dicere ' nostra' potes." 
 
 f This great and indefatigable statesman had the principal share in 
 the administration for forty years. 
 
 J " Ingenio Pylium, genio Socratem, arte Maronem, 
 Terra tegit, populus mceret, Olympus habet!" 
 
 Inscription at Stratford. 
 
 The occasional anecdotes with which the reader has been presented, 
 not immediately incidental to English history, it is hoped will not be 
 altogether found unacceptable. It may be permitted, therefore, to 
 mention here, that the notion of Sir Wm. Davenant being more than a 
 poetical child of Shakspeare was common, and Sir W. himself seemed 
 fond of having it taken for truth. When yet a boy, being met by the 
 head of a certain college, and asked by him whither he was going, the 
 lad said, " To my godfather Shakspeare, Sir." " Fie ! child," says the 
 old gentleman, "have you not learned that you should not use the 
 name of God in vain ?" — Spcnce's Anec. Many and various tributary 
 lines, both of prose and verse, from Ben Jonson to the present day, the 
 reader will suggest at the name of Shakspeare. The following from 
 Milton, being perhaps the least familiar, are here chosen : 
 
 " What needs my Shakspeare for his honour'd bones, 
 The labour of an age in piled stones?
 
 10G ENGLAND. ("1558-1GU3. 
 
 Yet true, Eliza, to the Tudor school, 
 Her sway despotic, — unabashed her rule. 
 Scarce was the senate's privilege confest; 
 Rights and immunities, a name at best ; 
 Nor did the glory of her days supply 
 One promise, yet unvouched, to liberty*. 
 
 Or that his hallow'd rcliques should be hid 
 
 Under a star-ypointing pyramid ? 
 
 Dear son of memory ! great heir of fame ! 
 
 What nced'st thou such weak witness of thy name? — 
 
 Thou, in our wonder and astonishment, 
 
 Hast built thyself a live-long monument." &c. &c. 
 
 There were now seven theatres, viz. — "The Globe," Banksido, 
 " The Curiam," Shoreditch, " The Red Bull," St. John's-street ; 
 " The Fortune," Whitecross-strcet ; another, Whitefriars ; another, 
 Blackfriars ; " The Cock Pit," Drury-lane. 
 
 * There is a curious letter of the queen's, written to a bishop of Ely, 
 and preserved in the register of that see, in these words : 
 
 " Proud Prelate, — I understand you are backward in complying with 
 your agreement ; but I would have you know, that I who made you 
 what you are can unmake you ; and if you do not forthwith fulfil your 
 engagement, by God I will unfrock you. 
 
 " Yours, as you demean yourself, " Elizabeth." 
 
 The bishop, it seems, had promised to exchange some part of the 
 land belonging to the see for an equivalent : and did so, but it was in 
 consequence — of the above letter. 
 
 According to Granger, the following summary of Elizabeth's history 
 is under several of her portraits : 
 
 " Having reformed religion, established peace, reduced coin to its 
 just value, delivered Scotland from the French, revenged domestic 
 rebellion, saved France from headlong ruin by civil war, supported 
 Belgia, overthrown the Spanish invincible navy, expelled the Spaniards 
 out of Ireland, received the Irish into mercy, enriched England by the 
 most prudent government for twenty-five years ; Elizabeth, a virtuous 
 and triumphant queen, in the seventieth year of lur age, departed this 
 life, leaving her mortal parts., until] by the last trump she shall ria 
 immortal."
 
 1603-1625.1 JAMES I. 107 
 
 In — sixteen hundred three — ascended James*, 
 Named by Elizabeth ; of Tudor claims ; — 
 
 After the above rhapsody, the following sober extract from Dr. 
 Warner's Ecclesiastical History is earnestly offered to the reader, without 
 apology for its length : 
 
 "The sevei-ity with which she (Elizabeth) treated her Protestant 
 subjects by her High Commission Court, was against law, against 
 liberty, and against the rights of human nature — she understood her 
 prerogative, which was as dear to her as her crown and life ; but she 
 understood nothing of the rights of conscience in matters of religion, 
 and, like the absurd king her father, she would have no opinion in 
 religion, acknowledged at least, but her own. She restored the Refor- 
 mation, it is true, and I believe restored it upon principle ; but where 
 her interest called upon her to neglect the reformed religion, she did it 
 without scruple. She differed from her sister in this, that she would 
 not part with her supremacy upon any terms ; and as she had much 
 greater abilities for governing, so she applied herself more to promote 
 the strength and glory of her dominion, than Mary did ; but she had as 
 much of the bigot and tyrant in her as her sister, though the object of 
 that bigotry was prerogative and not religion." 
 
 Hear also what Lingard says : " Whoever will compare the powers 
 given to this tribunal (the High Com. Court), with those of the 
 Inquisition, which Philip II. endeavoured to establish in the Low 
 Countries, will find that the chief difference between them consisted 
 in their names. One was the Court of Inquisition, the other of Com- 
 mission — in this latter, the power of interrogating persons accused on 
 their oath was not expressly inserted, yet the judges always attempted 
 it, because they were ordered to inquire by all ways and means they 
 could devise." 
 
 Chief Ministers during this reign — Sir Nicholas Bacon ; Lord Bur- 
 leigh, during almost the whole reign ; Earl of Leicester ; Earl of Essex ; 
 Lord Buckhurst. 
 
 f Queen. — Anne of Denmark. 
 
 Children. — Henry, died in his seven- 
 
 » km t i ,.■>- / teenth year. 
 
 * ICO,}— James I. — 1625. S ~, , , 
 
 I Charles, who succeeded. 
 Elizabeth, married to the Elector 
 V Palatine.
 
 108 ENGLAND. [1603-1625. 
 
 Sixth James of Scotland ; first of England's throne ; 
 The kingdoms sep'rate, but the monarch one *. 
 
 * Within six weeks after his entrance into London, James is said to 
 have bestowed knighthood on 237 persons ; a ceremony of no slight dan- 
 ger, as will appear by Sir Kenelm Digby's account, who says that when 
 King James, who had an antipathy to a sword, dubbed him a knight, 
 had not Buckingham guided his hand, he had certainly thrust the point 
 of it into his eye. 
 
 The dignity of baronet was founded by this king in Kill, as a means 
 of raising money for the defence of the province of Ulster, then harassed 
 by the rebels. Those who aspired to this rank were required to pay 
 into the Exchequer a sum sufficient to maintain thirty soldiers for 
 three years. 
 
 James's book "Basilicon Doron" contains precepts relative to the art of 
 government, addressed to his son, Prince Henry, whose early death has 
 been a question of much curious inquiry. " If he," says Lord Dart- 
 mouth, in a note to Burnet's History, " was poisoned by Somerset, it 
 was not upon the account of religion, (the reader will bear in mind 
 the young prince was supposed to favour the puritans), but for making 
 love to the Countess of Essex ; and that was what Chief Justice Coke 
 meant when he said at Somerset's trial, ' God knows what went with the 
 good Prince Henry, but I have heard something.' " 
 
 Prince Henry was a youth of great promise. The king once asking 
 him, when a boy, what were the best verses of Virgil, he readily 
 replied : 
 
 " Rex erat iEncas nobis quo justior alter 
 Ncc pietate fuit, nee hello major ut armis." 
 
 Amongst many adulations was a " Triumph," written by Dekker, 
 and recited before the King at London. Part of it was as follows : 
 
 " Behold ! where .love and all the states 
 Of Ilcav'n, through Heaven's seven silver gates, 
 
 All in glory riding, 
 
 Backs of clouds bestriding ; 
 Rumour, thou doest lose thine aims — 
 This is not Jove, but mightier — King James!" 
 
 The following character of Janus, drawn by Bishop Williams, lord- 
 kee per, is far too curious to be omitted here. Jt is offered also to the 
 n ader in this place, as connected with the accompanying notes, though it
 
 1603-1625.] JAMES I. 109 
 
 Foiled is the king attempting to combine 
 
 His twofold empire by his right divine ; — 
 
 To wealthy knights are new distinctions sold, 
 
 And James grows rich though parliaments withhold. 
 
 formed part of a funeral oration preached by the pious bishop, on James's 
 death. The extract is long, but the reader will be fully rewarded for 
 his trouble : it is a perfect gem ! 
 
 " I dare presume to say, you never read in your lives of two kings 
 more fully parallel'd amongst themselves, and better distinguished from 
 all other kings besides themselves. King Solomon is said to be uni- 
 genitus coram matre sua, the only son of his mother, Prov. xiii. : so 
 was King James. Solomon was of a complexion white and ruddy, Cant, 
 v. 10 : so was King James. Solomon was an infant king, puer par- 
 vulus, 1 Chron. xxii. 5 : so was King James. Solomon began his reign 
 in the life of his predecessor, 1 Kings, i. xxxii. : so, by the compulsion 
 of that state, did our late sovereign, King James. Solomon was twice 
 crowned and anointed a king, 1 Chron. xxix. 22 : so was King James. 
 Solomon was learned above all princes of the East, 1 Kings, iv. 20 : so 
 was King James above all the princes in the universal world ! Solomon 
 was a writer in prose and verse, 1 Kings, iv. 32 : so, in a very pure and 
 exquisite manner, was our sweet sovereign King James ! Solomon 
 was the greatest patron we ever read of to the church ; and yet no 
 greater than King James. Solomon was honoured with ambassadors 
 from all the kings of the earth, 1 Kings, iv. ult. : and so, you know, 
 was King James. Solomon was a main improver of his home com- 
 modities, as you may read of in his trading with Hiram, 1 Kings, v. 9 ; 
 and, God knows, it was the daily study of King James. Solomon was a 
 great maintainer of shipping, 1 Kings, x. 14 : a most proper attribute to 
 King James. Solomon beautified his city with building and water- 
 works, 1 Kings, ix. 15 : so did King James. Every man lived in peace 
 under his vine and his fig-tree in the days of Solomon, 1 Kings, iv. 25 : 
 and so they did in the blessed days of King James ! .'" 
 
 Henry I V. had frequently designated James the English Solomon, — 
 but it was " Solomon, the son of David." Is it necessary to remind the 
 reader that no two kings, in fact, had been more dissimilar, unless indeed 
 it was in their children, liehoboam and Charles ? Let him turn to the 
 letters of this exemplary king in the Harleian Collection.
 
 110 ENGLAND. [1603-1625. 
 
 The papists, who had hugg'd the sanguine hope 
 That James the church would humble to the Pope, 
 Resolve at once the Lutheran cause to blot, 
 And scheme with Fawkes the deadly Powder-plot. 
 Flushed with terrific hope in this assault 
 On the thronged senate, through the pregnant vault ; 
 They wait their liege, his consort, and his son, 
 For havoc many, yet the blow but one : 
 Prompt to the issue 'mid the madd^ring scene, 
 To snatch Eliza and proclaim her queen : — 
 But fate and Henry Percy interpose, 
 And timely stifled are a nation's woes ; 
 His secret letter to Monteagle saves 
 The city threatened as a bed of graves*. 
 
 * " It was said that Henry IV. gave James warning of the plot, and 
 that the Jesuits avenged themselves by the poniard of Ravaillac. — 
 Carte has shown the falsehood of the premise, which was doubtless 
 invented for the sake of the consequence." — Mackintosh. There is 
 strong reason to believe that this letter was sent by Mary, eldest daughter 
 of Lord Morley, sister to lord Monteagle, and wife of Thomas Ahington, 
 of Henslip, Worcester. Affection for her brother prompted the warning, 
 while love for her husband, who was privy to the conspiracy, suggested 
 sucli means as were best calculated to prevent his detection. But 
 Catesby and Winter believed Tresham, a confederate, to have been the 
 writer ; for they were convinced that he had no sooner given his consent to 
 the plot than he repented of it, and sought to break it up, without 
 betraying his associates. His first expedient was to persuade them to 
 retire to Flanders, in a ship which he had hired. He next wrote the 
 letter, and took care to inform them on the following morning that it 
 had been carried to the secretary, in hope that the danger of discovery 
 would induce them to escape. In this he would have succeeded, but
 
 1603-1625.] JAMES I. Ill 
 
 Kingcraft, by James, a loved and boasted lore, 
 He makes the test, and parasites adore ; 
 Around the throne the precious incense deal ; 
 And sceptred folly lifts the servile Neale *. 
 
 Cecil allowed no search to be then made in the cellar. From that moment 
 Tresham avoided all participation in then* counsels, and when they fled, 
 he remained in London. He was afterwards apprehended on the con- 
 fession of some of the prisoners, and died in the Tower before the end of 
 the month. Bishop Goodman, in his Answer to Weldon's Court of King 
 James, says that Tresham sent the letter. — Somers' Tracts. 
 
 When Fawkes was committed to the Tower, James's Instructions 
 (State Paper Office) were, " The gentler tortures are to be first used 
 unto him, et sic per gradus ad ima tendatur." 
 
 * Waller relates the following court anecdote. James was at dinner 
 whilst Dr. Neale, Bishop of Durham, and Selden's friend, Dr. Andrews, 
 Bishop of Winchester, stood behind his chair. " My lords," said the 
 king, " cannot I take my subjects' money when I want it, without 
 all this formality in parliament?" The sycophantic Neale replied, 
 "God forbid, Sir, but that you should — you are the breath of our 
 nostrils." Upon which the king turned to Dr. Andrews, with, " Well, 
 my lord, what say you ?" — " Sir," replied the bishop, " I have no skill 
 to judge of parliamentary cases." — "No puts off, my lord," retorted 
 the king; "answer me presently." — "Then, Sir," said the bishop, 
 " I think it lawful for you to take my brother Neale's money, for he 
 offers it .'" 
 
 Neither must the speech of James to both Houses, before him at 
 Whitehall (1G10) be omitted. This is another gem. " Kings," says 
 this sceptred sage, "are justly called Gods, for that they exercise a 
 manner or resemblance of divine power upon earth ; for if you will 
 consider the attributes of God, you shall sec how they agree in the 
 person of a king. God hath power to create or destroy — to make or 
 unmake — to give life or send death — to judge all, and be judged by 
 none — to raise low things, and to make high things low at his pleasure ; 
 and to God both soul and body are due. And the like power have kings 
 — they make and unmake their subjects — they have power of raising 
 and casting down, of life and of death — judges over all their subjects, 
 and in all causes, and yet .accountable to none but God only. They havo
 
 112 ENGLAND. [1603-1625. 
 
 So the weak king, by keen adventurers led, 
 His royal favour profligately shed : 
 On Carr, the Earldom Somerset devolves, 
 And camp and court submit to his resolves; 
 Till crimson guilt himself and countess stained * — 
 Of Overbury's blood, accused, arraigned : 
 Tried and condemned, — these votaries of lust 
 Drag out their age in mutual disgust. 
 
 The haughty Villiers next, no less inflames 
 T1V unkingly frailties of besotted James ; 
 Beyond the flight of Somerset he soars ; 
 Place, honor, power, emolument, and stores, • 
 All, all combining to unwieldy might, 
 In Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, unite t. 
 
 power to make of their subjects like men of chess — ' a pawn to take a 
 bishop or a knight ; and to cry up or down any of their subjects as they 
 do their money. And to the king is both due the affection of the soul 
 and the service of the body of his subjects.' " — WinwoocTs Mems. 
 What chance, reader, had poor Charles in such a school ? 
 
 * Sir T. Overbury, though he had assisted the Earl to an amour 
 with this delectable lady, opposed his marriage with her, for which he 
 incurred the hatred of both. On a frivolous charge, he was sent to the 
 Tower, where, by the contrivance of Somerset and his wife, he was 
 poisoned. 
 
 f The following is a list of Buckingham's titles — a number, as Granger 
 says, to make him the butt of envy : 
 
 " The right high and right mighty prince, George Villiers, Duke, 
 Marquis, and Earl of Buckingham ; earl of Coventry ; viscount Villiers ; 
 baron of Waddon ; lord high admiral of England, Ireland, and the 
 Principality of Wales ; governor of all the castles and seaports, and of 
 the royal navy ; master of the horse of his majesty ; lord warden, chan-
 
 1603-1625.] JAMES I. 113 
 
 A plot in Arabella Stuart's * cause, 
 A traitor's sentence upon Raleigh draws. 
 The royal pardon Grey and Cobham win, 
 Accomplice favourers of James's kin ; 
 Reprieved alone is Raleigh — he, who ne'er 
 Partook, by evidence, a guilty share : 
 Still, as reprieved is Raleigh ; and again 
 Commissioned sails for Transatlantic Spain, 
 To try the fortunes of Guiana's shore, 
 And test the promise of its secret ore : 
 
 cellor, and admiral of the Cinque Ports, and the members thereof ; 
 constable of the castle of Dover ; justice in the eyre of all his Majesty's 
 forests, parks, and chases on this side the river Trent ; constable of the 
 royal castle of Windsor ; gentleman of the king's bedchamber ; coun- 
 sellor of state of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland ; knight 
 of the most noble order of the garter ; lord president of the council of 
 war ; chancellor of the university of Cambridge ; steward of the city 
 and college of Westminster ; and lord general of his Majesty forces 
 in the Isle of Rhee." 
 
 As an instance of the Duke's familiarity, the Marshal de Bassompierre 
 in the journal of his embassy says, "the king gave me a long and dis- 
 putatious audience. The duke, when he observed the king and myself 
 very warm, leapt suddenly betwixt his Majesty and me, exclaiming : 
 I am come to set all to rights betwixt you, which I think is high 
 time.' " — Disraeli. 
 
 * She was the daughter of Charles Stuart, Earl of Lennox, youngest 
 brother of Henry Darnley, husband of Mary Queen of Scots. She was 
 kept in confinement during the reign of Elizabeth : and was again impri- 
 soned by James, on discovery of her secret marriage with young Beau- 
 champ (son of Lord Beauchamp, and grandson to the Earl of Hertford). 
 When he was conveyed to the Tower, Melvin, the minister, also a 
 prisoner, welcomed him with this distich : 
 
 " Communis tecum mihi causa et carccris ; Ara- 
 Bella tibi causa est, araque sacra mihi."
 
 114 ENGLAND. [1603-1625. 
 
 But by the natives to resistance spurrM, 
 Disgrace, by wily Gondomar incurr'd *; 
 Who claims his punishment for Spanish blood 
 Unduly shed on Oronoko's flood. 
 And thus to death is gallant Raleigh cast 
 On a forced sentence, thirteen winters past. 
 The admiral, the statesman, and the sage, 
 Th' historian, bard, and censor of the age ; 
 A light in all : in some, the leading star : 
 The guide in science and the chief in war ; . 
 The new world's chart to Europe he unrolFd, 
 And dying, left a record of the old f ! 
 
 1610. Henry IV. of Fiance was assassinated by Ravaillac, a Jesuit — 
 three times before which, his life had been attempted; by Pierre Burriere, 
 1593 ; by Pierre Oiiin, 151)7 ; by Jean de L'Isle, a maniac, 1(105. 
 
 * Granger writes : " Gondomar, who became ' all things to all men,' 
 for political purposes, might have been represented with a looking-glass 
 in his hand, as St. Paul is, at Versailles. He spoke Latin with King 
 James ; drank with the King of Denmark ; and assured the Earl of 
 Bristol, when he was ambassador at Madrid, that he was an Englishman 
 in his heart. He was also very gallant to the ladies. There was per- 
 haps never a man who had so much art as Gondomar, with so little 
 appearance of it." 
 
 t There is reason to suspect that Raleigh's return to England was 
 forced by his crew. It was imagined that when he went out, had he 
 been successful, he would have taken refuge with his booty in France ; 
 and that he had indeed made such arrangements with the French 
 ambassador Desmarests. Ilowel tells the following facetious story as 
 applicable to Raleigh and King James : 
 
 "This return of Sir Walter from Guiana puts me in mind of a tale 
 I read lately in Italian, how Alphonso, King of Naples, sent a Moor, who 
 had been his captive a long time, to Barbary, with a considerable sum 
 of money to buy horses, and return by such a time. Now there was about
 
 1G03-1625.] JAMES I. 115 
 
 Corruption taints the grave judicial gown, 
 And casts on Verulam * a nation's frown : 
 
 the king a kind of jester, who had a table-book or journal, wherein he was 
 used to register any absurdity or merry passage that happened upon the 
 court. The day the Moor was despatched for Bai-bary, the said jester 
 waited upon the king at supper ; the king called for his journal, and 
 asked what he had observed that day ; thereupon he produced his 
 table-book, and amongst other things he read, how Alphonso King of 
 Naples had sent Beltram the Moor, who had been a long time his pri- 
 soner, to Morocco, his own country, with so many thousand crowns to 
 buy horses. The king asked him why he inserted that ; ' Because,' said 
 he, ' I think he will never come back to be a prisoner again, and so you 
 have lost both man and money.' — ' But if he do come, then your jest is 
 marred,' quoth the king. ' No, sir — for if he return, I will blot out your 
 name and put him in for a fool.' " " He (Sir Walter Raleigh) was a 
 tall, handsome, and brave man : but his bane was that he was damnably 
 proud. Old Sir Robert Harley, of Brampton Bryan Castle, would say, 
 ' 'Twas a great question which was the prouder, Sir W. Raleigh or Sir 
 T. Overbury.' " — From Aubrey's Biographical Notes in the Ashmolean 
 Library. 
 
 Tobacco was imported by Sir Walter's settlers in Virginia. He him- 
 self was one of its great admirers ; and, as the story is related, was 
 enjoying his pipe on an occasion, as he deemed, in secret, when his ser- 
 vant entered his study. The faithful domestic thought his master's 
 brains were on fire, evaporating in smoke and flame through his nostrils, 
 and he did his utmost to extinguish the conflagration by emptying a 
 goblet of ale on Sir Walter's head. 
 
 In an age when judges smoked on the bench, and criminals on the 
 scaffold, one curious instance of martyrdom to the habit is recorded. 
 Richard Fletcher, Bishop of London, died from an immoderate use of 
 tobacco, which he took, says Camden, "to smother his matrimonial cares." 
 
 At the "Mermaid" Tavern, Raleigh, in 1603, had established a club, 
 the members of which were, Shakspeare, Jouson, Beaumont, Fletcher, 
 Cotton, Carew, Martin, Donne, and Selden. 
 
 " What things have we seen 
 Done at the ' Mermaid !' — Heard words that have been 
 So nimble, and so full of subtle flame 
 As if that every one from whom they came 
 Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest." — J orison's Works. 
 
 * An expression of Bacon, in a letter to the king, is sufficiently 
 
 i 2
 
 116 ENGLAND. [1G03-1625. 
 
 Death and disgrace discharge the erring clay. 
 But left his spirit an immortal day ! 
 
 Th' unwilling king beholds his son depart * 
 In the soft siege of the Infanta's heart. 
 Adventures wild the careless twain inspire, 
 Knight-errant Charles and Buckingham his squire ; 
 The masque, the dance, the banquet, and intrigue, — 
 All in fruition, but the Spanish league ; 
 A match abhorrent to the English pride : 
 Nor was the child of Philip, Charles's bride ; 
 For the fair Henrietta, maid of France, 
 Charles had encountered in the bygone dance. 
 Fatal to her — to him, ill-fated more, 
 The stipulations which that contract bore ; 
 Ceding to her prcceptral pow'r alone. 
 O'er Stuart's issue— heirs to England's throne. 
 
 curious : " I hope I shall not be found to have the troubled fountain of 
 a corrupt heart, in a depraved habit of taking rewards to pervert justice, 
 however I may be frail and partake of the abuse of the times !" Bacon 
 is justly styled the " Father of Experimental Philosophy." 
 
 * An epigram written at Cambridge, while James was there, during 
 the absence of Prince Charles from England : 
 
 " Dum petit Infantera Princeps, Grantamquc Jacobus 
 Cujusnam major sit dubitatur Amor? 
 Vicit more suo noster; nam niillibus Infans 
 Non tot abest, quot nos Regis ab Ingcnio ;" 
 
 the king, there fore, descended a greater distance to visit us at Cam- 
 bridge, than the prince is gone to see the Infanta !
 
 1603-1625.] JAMES I. 117 
 
 Meanwhile th' Elector* weds the monarch's child, 
 Elizabeth — to misery beguiled : 
 (From whom the Brunswick dynasty hath place 
 Hereafter, by Sophia; of its race). 
 
 Defeat at Prague, by mightier Ferdinand, 
 Expell'd the prince from his Bohemian land ; 
 Fred'rick, — whose marriage and whose foremost lead 
 In the new cause of the Reformer's creed, 
 InspirM the Commons to petition James 
 To speed the Palatine's Germanic claims ; 
 To turn on Romish Philip ; and despatch 
 At once all threat'ning of this Spanish match: 
 On which, the king invalidates their rights, 
 Cancels the journals and arrests the knights. 
 But when at length, by Buckingham involved, 
 This marriage treaty is in sooth dissolved, 
 And James avows concurrence with the state, 
 To aid by measures the Palatinate, 
 Led by Prince Maurice, a devoted band 
 Makes sail on Philip and on Ferdinand ; 
 But, ill concerted, the endeavour fails, 
 And death off Zealand, new distress entails : 
 
 * The Protestant Elector Palatine was dispossessed of his Electorate 
 by the Emperor Ferdinand II., for accepting the crown of Bohemia, till 
 then an appendage to the empire. Elizabeth was reduced to the utmost 
 beggai'y, and wandered frequently in disguise as a mere vagrant.
 
 118 ENGLAND. [1603-1625. 
 
 In fetid transports die th' accoutred sick, 
 Whilst heavier woes encircle Frederick *. 
 
 * When James expressed himself with great warmth on the Spaniards 
 under Spinola taking the first town in the Palatinate, uiider the eyes 
 of our ambassador, Gondomar, with Cervantic humour, attempted to 
 give a new turn to the discussion : wishing that Spinola had taken the 
 whole Palatinate at once, for " then the generosity of my master would 
 be shown in all its lustre, by restoring it all again to the English ambas- 
 sador, who had witnessed the whole operations." — Disraeli. 
 
 The introduction of royal portraits and others, in this little work, it 
 is hoped, will not be felt unacceptable. That of James I., by Sir Ant. 
 Weldon, clerk of the Board of Green Cloth in this reign, and printed 
 1651, appeal's the most accurate : 
 
 " He was of middle stature, more corpulent through his clothes than 
 in his body, yet fat enough, his clothes ever being made large and easy ; 
 the doublets quilted for stiletto proof ; his breeches in great plaits, and 
 full stuffed ; he was naturally of a timorous disposition ; his eye large, 
 ever rolling after any stranger that came into his presence, insomuch 
 that many for shame have left the room, as being out of countenance ; 
 his beard was very thin ; his tongue too large for his mouth, which made 
 him drink very uncomely, as if eating his drink, which came out into the 
 cup of each side of his mouth ; his skin was as soft as taffeta sarsnet, 
 which felt so because he never washed his hands, only rubbed his fingers' 
 ends slightly with the wet end of a napkin ; his legs were very weak, 
 having had (as some thought) some foul play in his youth, or rather 
 before he was born, that he was not able to stand at seven years of age ; 
 that weakness made him for ever leaning on other men's shoulders ; his 
 walk was circular." 
 
 This great prince was the first who assumed the title of Sacred 
 Majesty, which his loyal clergy transferred from God to him. " The 
 principles of passive obedience and non-resistance (says the author of 
 the Dissertation on Parties, Letter 8), which before his time had skulked 
 perhaps in some old homily, were talked, written, and preached into 
 vogue, in this inglorious reign." 
 
 " Oli ! (cried tlic Goddess +) for some pedant reign, 
 Some gentle .funics, to bless the land again ; 
 To stick the doctor's chair into the throne, 
 Give law to words, or war with words alone ; 
 
 t Dulncss.
 
 1625-1649.] CHARLES I. 119 
 
 'Midst joyless glare and intellectual gloom, 
 The pedant Stuart passes to the tomb -f\ 
 
 Senates and courts with Greek and Latin rule 
 
 And turn the council to a grammar-school ! 
 
 For sure if Dulness see3 a grateful day, 
 
 'Tis in the shade of arbitrary sway. 
 
 O ! if my sons may learn one earthly thing, 
 
 Teach but that one, sufficient for a king ; 
 
 That which my priests, and mine alone, maintain, 
 
 Which as it dies, or lives, we fall or reign ; 
 
 May you, my Cam and Isis, preach it long, 
 
 ' The Right Divine of Kings to govern wrong.' " — Dunciad. 
 
 Many entertaining anecdotes are to be found in the pages of Weldon, 
 amongst which is the following of Queen Elizabeth : 
 
 " Sir Roger Aston, a courtier of James, related that he did never 
 come to deliver any letters from his master (from Scotland) but he was 
 placed in the lobby, where he might see the queen dancing to a fiddle, 
 which was to no other end than that he should tell his master, by her 
 youthful disposition, how likely he was to come to the possession of the 
 crown he so much thirsted for." 
 
 In this reign lived the eccentric Robert Burton. He wrote his book, 
 " Anatomy of Melancholy," with a view of relieving his own melancholy ; 
 but it increased to such a degree, that nothing could make him laugh 
 but going to the bridge-foot and hearing the ribaldry of the bargemen, 
 which rarely failed to throw him into a violent fit of laughter. His 
 epitaph at Christ Church, Oxford, intimates that excessive application 
 to his celebrated work was the occasion of his death : 
 
 " Paucis notus, paucioribus ignotus, hie jacet Democritus Junior, cui 
 vitam dedit et mortem melancholia." — Granger. 
 
 The name of Sir Hugh Middleton is well worthy a place here. This 
 enterprising benefactor first supplied London with water by uniting two 
 springs, one in the parish of Amwell, near Hertford, and the other near 
 Ware, and conveyed them through a winding course of sixty miles to 
 London. King James had some shares in this adventure, and incorpo- 
 rated the proprietor's by the name of the New River Company. The 
 circumstances of Sir Hugh were completely exhausted in the scheme. 
 
 The enormous head-dress of this time is thus noticed in an epigram 
 
 by Owen : 
 
 " Hoc magis est in star tccti quam tegminis : hoc uon 
 Ornare est ; hoc est aedificare caput." 
 
 Chief ministers during this reign : Lord Buckhurst (Earl of Dorset) ; 
 Earls of Suffolk, Salisbury, and Northampton ; Carr, Earl of Somerset i 
 Villiers, Duke of Buckingham.
 
 120 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 [1625-1649. 
 
 Reigned Charles the First, in sixteen twenty- five* — 
 That fateful nursling of prerogative t. 
 
 * 1625— Charles I.— 1649. < 
 
 f Queen. — Henrietta, daughter of Henry 
 
 IV., and sister of Louis XIII. 
 Children. — Charles, died very young. 
 Charles, who succeeded. 
 Henry, Duke of Gloucester, died. 
 James, Duke of York, afterwards king. 
 Mary, married to Prince of Orange, 
 
 by whom she had William III. 
 Elizabeth, died a prisoner at Caris- 
 
 broke. 
 Anne, died young. 
 Henrietta, married to Philip, Duke of 
 
 Anjou ; afterwards to the Duke of 
 
 Orleans. 
 
 f The author of the book " Eikon Basilike " appears not to have been 
 the king, but Bishop Gauden. Granger is of a contrary opinion. 
 
 " This prince, like his father," says Horace Walpole, " did not confine 
 himself to prose. Bishop Burnet has given a pathetic elegy, said to 
 have been written by Charles in Carisbroke Castle. The poetry is most 
 uncouth and inharmonious ; but there are strong thoughts in it, good 
 sense, and a strain of majestic piety." 
 
 The following account of the first meeting of Charles and Henrietta is 
 given in a letter of her day : 
 
 " She (the queen) arrived at Dover, Sunday, about 8 in the evening, 
 lay there in the castle that night, whither the king rode on Monday 
 morning from Canterbury ; came thither after 10 of the clock, which she 
 advertised of, made short work, rose, went unto him, kneeled down at his 
 feet, took and kissed his hand. The king took her up in his aims, kissed 
 her, and talking with her, cast down his eyes towards her feet (she seem- 
 ing higher than report was, reaching to his shoulders) ; which she soon 
 perceiving, showed him her shoes, saying to this effect — ' Sir, I stand 
 upon mine own feet. I have no help by art ; thus high I am, and I am 
 neither higher nor lower.' She is nimble and quiet, black-eyed, brown- 
 haired, and, in a word, a brave lady." — Ellin's Oriyinal Letters. 
 
 Bishop Kennet considers," the king's match with this lady was a greater 
 judgment to the nation than the plague which then raged ; for consider- 
 ing the malignity of the popish religion, the imperiousncss of the French
 
 1625-1C49.] CHARLES I. 121 
 
 England at war with Austria and Spain, 
 He seeks support from parliament in vain ; 
 And they themselves, who did at first promote 
 This very strife, desert it by their vote : 
 Lending to Charles the plausible pretence 
 For the old usage of " benevolence." 
 
 The parliament dissolved, another grants 
 Supplies still insufficient to his wants ; 
 Ship-money hence— a forced and vicious tax, 
 The king, by writ, on sea-port towns exacts : 
 Ships to supply, or adequate avail ; 
 And London's impost named at twenty sail *. 
 
 government, the influence of a stately queen over an affectionate husband, 
 and the share she must needs have in the education of her children (till 
 13 years of age), it was then easy to foresee it would prove fatal to our 
 English prince and people." 
 
 * Of the general forced loan which followed, Mr. Forster, in his Life 
 of Sir John Eliot, says, " He (the king) issued an elaborate proclama- 
 tion excusing these new counsels (the defeat of his ally, the King of 
 Denmark) by the exigence of the moment ; and in private instructions 
 to the clergy ordered them to use the pulpit in advancement of his 
 monstrous projects (Laud drew these instructions up in the name of the 
 king). Reverend doctors, with an obedient start, straightway preached 
 passive obedience on pain of eternal damnation. Imprisonment com- 
 pensated for the iuefficacy of religious anathemas. The poor who could 
 not, or would not pay, were pressed into the army or navy ; substantial 
 tradesmen were dragged from their families ; men of rank even were 
 ordered into the Palatinate ; large batches of country gentlemen were 
 lodged in custody ; and the remains of the disgraced and infamous troops 
 that had survived the affair at Cadiz" (a fleet which had been sent thither 
 under Lord Wimbleton, and brought back only disgrace and the 
 plague) " were quartered upon their houses, in the midst of their wives 
 and children ! "
 
 122 ENGLAND. [1625-1649. 
 
 The Hugonot Soubise, and Rohan, sought, 
 Through Buckingham, the aid of Charles's court ; 
 For the proud fav'rite was o'erwrought with spleen 
 At Richelieu's vigilance on Lewis 1 queen, 
 To whom the Duke, with more than duteous zeal, 
 And less than honour, had presumed to kneel, 
 Now upon France excites the smouldering flame, 
 And feeds his vengeance in religion's name. 
 'Twas thus, dismay the enterprise befell 
 By Buckingham, for freedom at Rochelle ; 
 They, the Rochellers, protestants by creed, 
 Trusting herein, from Louis to be freed. 
 But, in the lieu of Oleron, on Rhee 
 (An isle protected and supplied by sea), 
 The Duke advances, and, by vain conceit, 
 Destruction brings upon his master's fleet. 
 
 Sterner in will, the adverse parties strive — 
 The Commons House and the Prerogative : 
 The Duke's removal they petition hence, 
 Which Charles, ill-counsellM, scornfully resents, 
 And Digges and Eliot to confinement sent ; 
 Their only crime their plea of parliament *. 
 
 * " It was, however, too late to dispute the right of impeachment after 
 the precedents of Bacon and Middlesex ; and the Commons, after 
 addressing the king in decorous language, impeached Buckingham on 
 twelve articles. To Pym, llerhcrt, Selden, Glanvillc, Sherland, and
 
 1625-16-19.] CHARLES I. 123 
 
 Again the Duke is reinforced, to quell 
 The rankling grievance of oppress'd Rochelle ; 
 To punish those refusing to submit 
 To such assessments at the royal writ ; 
 But slain by Felton, fatal was the chance, 
 And lost, the Lutheran interest in France*. 
 
 Wandesford, was entrusted the duty of dilating upon the facts ; to Sir 
 Dudley Digges the task of opening the proceedings in a prologue was 
 committed ; and for Sir John Eliot the arduous duty was reserved of 
 winding up the whole proceedings by one of his impressive perorations, 
 that should serve as an epilogue to this mighty drama 
 
 " He (Eliot) was that day committed close prisoner to the Tower, and, 
 by an odd kind of chance, was flung into the dungeon which, after a few 
 short months, received Felton, Buckingham's assassin." — Forsler's Lives. 
 
 * A short time before the assassination of the duke, a libel was taken 
 down from a post in Coleman-street, which was as follows : 
 
 " Who rules the kingdom? — The King! 
 Who rules the King ? — The Duke ! 
 Who rules the Duke?— The Devil! 
 
 Let the duke look to it, for they intend shortly to use him worse than 
 they did the doctor:" Dr. Lamb — an infamous dealer in magical arts — 
 torn to pieces by the mob. — Disraeli. 
 
 Buckingham's epitaph at the time. 
 " If idle trav'llers ask who lieth here, 
 Let the duke's tomb this for inscription hear, 
 Paint Cales and Rliee, make French and Spanish laugh, 
 Mix England's shame — and thci - e's his epitaph." 
 
 The opinion of Lord Clarendon, however, respecting Buckingham, 
 should not, in justice, be omitted here. 
 
 " Had the duke been blessed with a faithful friend, qualified with 
 wisdom and integrity, he would have committed as few faults, and done 
 as worthy actions, as any man in that age in Europe." Clarendon 
 notices that Felton was of a gentleman's family in Suffolk, of good 
 fortune. During his confinement, the Earl and Countess of Arundel, 
 and Lord Mai tra vers, their son, "he being of their blood," continually 
 visited him, gave many proofs of their friendship, and brought his
 
 124 ENGLAND. [1625-1649. 
 
 Again is called a senate, which concedes 
 Scanty availraents to the royal needs ; 
 And further, on the king restriction lays 
 To urge no tax — no contribution raise ; 
 Neither imprison subjects at his will ; 
 Nor martial law, more arbitrary still. 
 Encouraged now by this well-fought success, 
 Still parliament proceeds the king to press, 
 Which he, again dissolving in his fears, 
 No more invokes for full eleven years. 
 
 " winding-sheet ;" for to the last they attempted to save him from heing 
 hanged in chains — they did not succeed. — Disraeli. 
 
 Nor should notice he omitted here of the death of the great Gustavus 
 Adolphus, King of Sweden, who rendered his fame immortal hy his 
 achievements in the war he carried on at the head of the German pro- 
 testauts against the house of Austria. He penetrated from the Vistula 
 to the Danube, and twice defeated the celebrated Tilly. He fell at the 
 battle of Lutzen, said to have been treacherously slain by the intrigues 
 of Richelieu. 
 
 Prynne, a lawyer of uncommon ei-udition, and a zealous puritan, 
 had printed a bulky volume called " Ilistriomastix" full of invectives 
 against the theatre. In the course of this, he adverted to the appear- 
 ance of courtesans on the Roman stage ; and by a satirical reference in 
 his index, seemed to range all female actors in the class. The queen, 
 unfortunately, six weeks after the publication of Prynne's book, had 
 performed a part in a mask at court. Prynne was adjudged by the Star 
 Chamber to stand twice in the pillory, to be branded in the forehead, to 
 lose both his ears, to pay a fine of 5000/., and to suffer perpetual impri- 
 sonment. He employed the leisure of gaol in writing afresh libel against 
 the hierarchy. Prynne lost the remainder of his ears in the pillory : 
 when thus brought up again before the Star Chamber, some of the lords 
 turned up his hah' and expressed great indignation that his ears had not 
 
 been better cropped State Trials, 717. " It is to be observed that the 
 
 Star Chamber was almost as infamous for its partiality as its cruelty." — 
 Hallam's History,
 
 1625-1649] CHARLES T. 125 
 
 Charles now commits himself to the accord 
 Of Strafford's guidance with Archbishop Laud ; 
 With France and Spain concluding peace, essays 
 Despite the senate, to conduct his days ; 
 And thus still more despotic : the event 
 Augments the murmurs and the discontent. 
 
 Tonnage and poundage are extorted yet, 
 And the king's officers enforce the debt ; 
 E'en compositions with the papists made, 
 And their own church converted to his aid. 
 Thus daily on the law his steps intrench : 
 And this, in blind defiance of the bench. 
 Cromwell and Hampden *, who had boldly stood 
 The legal question for their country's good, 
 On eve of passing the Atlantic sea, 
 Are held restricted at the king's decree. 
 
 Now Scotland, by her " Covenant," withstands 
 The English liturgy the king demands ; 
 
 * Tonnage, was an impost upon every ton of merchandize exported or 
 imported. Poundage, was a similar impost upon all exports and 
 imports of twelve pence out of every pound of the value. Hampden, on 
 being asked why he would not contribute to the king's necessities, 
 startled the querist with these memorable words : — " That he could be 
 content to lend as well as others, but feared to draw upon himself that 
 curse in Magna Charta, which should be read twice a year against those 
 who infringe it." — Forster's Lives. At this period " fell the great court 
 of Star Chamber, and with it that of the High Commission, a younger 
 birth of tyranny, but perhaps even more hateful, from the peculiar irri- 
 tation of the times." — Hallums History.
 
 126 ENGLAND. [1625-1649. 
 
 While to enforce this ritual* in the north, 
 New levies rise — monopolies go forth. 
 In sixteen forty, once again he meets 
 His parliament, which still again defeats 
 His measures : and enforces his consent 
 To make it positive and permanent. 
 
 The zealous Strafford is impeachM, and pleads 
 Before the houses ; on aggressive deeds ; 
 Aiding — abetting the tyrannic yoke : 
 And bows his neck before the headsman's stroke f. 
 
 * Sparrow's Collection of Articles, &c. It is a melancholy fact, that 
 every religious sect, when allowed to have political power, seems to 
 acquire a persecuting spirit. It is needless to more than mention the 
 Roman Catholics. Even the Presbyterians and Independents are not 
 exempt. When ascendant during the Interregnum, their Assembly of 
 Divines were equally intolerant. " They taught," says Milton, " com- 
 pulsion without conviction, which not long before they complained of as 
 executed unchristianly against themselves." 
 
 f The king had made a pitiable show for saving the life of Strafford. 
 Mr. Forster concludes his history by these words : — " For when we have 
 convinced ourselves that this 'unthankful king' never really loved 
 Strafford ; that as much as in him lay, he kept the dead Buckingham in 
 his old privilege of mischief, by adopting his aversions and abiding by 
 his spleenful purposes ; that in his refusals to award those increased 
 honours for which his minister was a petitioner, on the avowed ground 
 of the royal interest, may be discerned the petty triumph of one who 
 dares not dispense with the services thrust upon him, but revenges 
 himself by withholding their well-earned reward ; still does the black- 
 ness accumulate to baffle our efforts. The paltry tears he is said to 
 have shed only burn that blackness in. That the man who, in a few 
 short months, proved he could make so resolute a stand somewhere, 
 should have judged this event no occasion for attempting it, is either a 
 crowning infamy or an infinite consolation, according as we may judge 
 wickedness or weakness to have preponderated in the constitution of
 
 1625-1649.] CHARLES I. 127 
 
 In papal Ireland, a day of gore 
 Terrific rose upon her northern shore ; 
 Revolt fomented by the crafty brood 
 Of men commission'd to their country's good. 
 Four hostile parties — each a desperate band — 
 With fire and sword uproot the bleeding land : 
 The native Irish — the descendant clans 
 Of settlers — royalists — and puritans : 
 Till they, the last, alone outlived the blaze 
 Which wicked rulers had conspired to raise. 
 Such, to the parliament became pretence 
 For raising troops for Ireland's defence ; 
 But sooth, to settle by the sword alone 
 The cause between the people and the throne *. 
 
 Charles I." It is, to this opinion, only because so unqualified, and so 
 forcibly expressed, that the reader can demur ; there can be no doubt 
 that Strafford was both meanly and treacherously sacrificed. 
 
 Denham, who was probably an eye-witness, has left this memorial of 
 Strafford's pleading : 
 
 " Such was liis force of eloquence, to make 
 The hearers more concern'd than he that spake, 
 Ench seem'd to act the part he came to see, 
 And none was more a looker-on than he : 
 So did he move our passions, some were known 
 To wish, for the defence, the crime their own ; 
 Now private pity strove with public hate, 
 Reason with rage, and eloquence with fate." 
 
 * About 40,000 Protestants are supposed to have been murdered at 
 this period — neither sex, nor age, nor condition, was spared. 1641. 
 
 In 1642, died Cardinal Richelieu, whose administration, though 
 turbulent from faction and civil war, was, on the whole, glorious for 
 France and preparatory to the splendour of the monarchy in the age
 
 128 ENGLAND. [1625-1649. 
 
 By the late power to parliament defined, 
 The king, substantially, had all resigned ; 
 Whereby the Commons' subsequent records 
 Were framed to bring destruction on the Lords : 
 The prelates sharing popular disgrace, 
 Deprived in parliament of power and place. 
 
 Tired of concession, Charles with erring haste 
 All public rights and privilege effaced ; 
 Urged by the queen and Digby's frail advice, 
 The erring monarch pays a traitor's price : 
 Writs on Kimbolton issue — others goad 
 Pym, Hampden, Hollis, Haselrig, and Strode : 
 Thence to the Commons'' House the king proceeds, 
 Demanding members and denouncing deeds, 
 While shouts of " Privilege ! ,1 too late enforce 
 A wholesome lesson on his fatal course. 
 
 Stirr'd are the Roundheads 'gainst the Cavaliers, 
 And civil war its blighted ensign rears : 
 Ere this, to Holland Henrietta # flown, 
 To monied means had turn'd the jewcll'd crown. 
 
 of Louis XIV. The death of Richelieu was followed by that of the 
 French king in the next year, 1G13. 
 
 * Hume says that afterwards the Queen of England had a moderate 
 pension assigned her, but it was so ill paid, that one morning when 
 Cardinal de Retz waited, she informed him that her daughter, the 
 Princess Henrietta, was obliged to lie abed for want of a fire to warm 
 her. To such a condition was reduced, in the midst of Paris, a Queen 
 of England ami daughter of Henry IV. of France.
 
 lo'25-1649.] CHARLES I. 129 
 
 The first embodied opposition waits 
 
 The king at Hull, before its guarded gates ; 
 
 Hotham its stores refuses to unbar, 
 
 And Charles at York procrastinates the war. 
 
 On Edgohill's brow is lit the early flame 
 
 Of unblest strife and victory's doubtful claim ; 
 
 Still under Rupert (the Elector's son), 
 
 A transient flush the royal party won : 
 
 Bristol is gainVl — invested, Gloucester town — 
 
 And Newbury swells the progress of the crown ; 
 
 But the loved champions on either side — 
 
 * Hampden and Falkland t — at the onset died. 
 
 It may not be out of place to remind the reader of the favoured 
 position held by Harry Jermyn at the queen's court, during the reign 
 of Charles. There was a private play acted at this time by a certain 
 party of wits, representing the arrival of a number of guests at a tavern. 
 One of them accosts the drawer with these words — " Your house looks 
 full — who is in the queen's arms ?" — " A German there," is the reply. 
 " Who is in the King's Head I" " That is empty," answers the drawer. 
 It is believed that the queen eventually married Jermyn (Earl of St. 
 Albans). Clarendon says he lived in greater splendour with her at Paris 
 than the king her son; nor must it be omitted that Charles II., after 
 his restoration, when in his cups, would sometimes drink to the earl, 
 saying " Here's to you, Father Saint Albans /" 
 
 * In a skirmish with Rupert's troops, near Thame, Hampden received 
 a shot, which in a few days terminated his life. Mr. Forster makes no 
 allusion to ungenerous insinuations of suicide, which have been else- 
 where cast upon his memory. Clarendon sums up his character by a 
 sentence implying that, like Catiline, " He had a head to contrive, a 
 tongue to pei-suade, and a heart to execute any mischief." 
 
 t Charles, on one occasion, entering the Bodleian Lil rary at Oxford 
 with Lord Falkland, the latter proposed that the king should try bis 
 fortune by the " Sortes Virgilianse." On which, Charles dipping into 
 
 K
 
 130 ENGLAND, [1625-1649. 
 
 Now o'er the meads of the devoted clime 
 Unslumbering battle fills the span of time : 
 
 * Archbishop Laud was hurried from his cell, 
 Received his sentence, and beheaded fell : 
 CancellM is now the Liturgy by vote, 
 
 And Puritanical the church's note. 
 
 the iEneid, drew his lot as follows. The imprecation of Dido against 
 
 iEneas : 
 
 " At bello audacis populi vexatus et armis, 
 Finibus extorris, complexu avulsus liili, 
 Auxilium irnploret, videatque indigna suoruni 
 Funera : nee cum se sub leges pacis iniquse 
 Tradiderit, regno aut optata luce fruatur; 
 Sed cadat ante diem, mediaque inbumatus arena." 
 
 Mneid. iv. 615. 
 
 Falkland observing the king was struck, took up the volume, and to 
 divert the attention of Charles, drew for himself a passage, still more 
 applicable to his own history. The lament of Evander on the untimely 
 death of his son Pallas : 
 
 " Non ba?c, Palla, dederas promissa parecti: 
 Cautius ut sEevo velles te credere Marti. 
 Hand ignarua cram, quantum nova gloria in armis, 
 Et pradulce decus priiuo ccrtamine posset. 
 Priuiitias juvenia miserse, bellique propinqui 
 Dura rudimenta . . . . " JEneid. xi. 152. 
 
 1 ii 1643, to supply the charges of the war, the first Excise was imposed 
 by Parliament. 
 
 * A comparison has sometimes been instituted between Laud and 
 Wolscy, but never was a more unfortunate comparison made. True, 
 both rose from a very humble rank in life to the first station in the 
 kingdom ; both were churchmen ; both were ambitious ; both unfor- 
 tunate. But Wolsey seems to have been a man of talents ecpual to 
 hi* fortunes — talents to which Laud could make no pretension ; while 
 on the other hand, Laud was the undoubted possessor of virtues, to 
 which Wolscy appeal's to have been an utter stranger. — Retrospective 
 Review. 
 
 Aivliy Armstrong, the king's jester, begged leave once, when the 
 bishop was present, to say grace, whereupon he pronounced, "Great 
 praise be given to God, but little Laud to the devil !"
 
 1625-1649.] CHARLES I. 131 
 
 On Marston Moor, th' opposing armies know 
 To each, how vital the impending blow — 
 In the tough hazard Rupert is o'erthrown, 
 Nor Cromwell halts until the day 's his own : 
 Newbury again becomes the battle seat, 
 But changed her fortune to the king's defeat. 
 
 In the next winter, a projected deed 
 Of treaty, by commissioners agreed 
 (But only waiting for the royal will), 
 The ill-starr'd Charles refuses to fulfill ; 
 Transient success in Scotland, by Montrose, 
 Induced the frailty, and belied his vows ! 
 
 Hope of all treaty failing, — Naseby lost *, — 
 The Stuart fortunes are severely crost. 
 Bristol and Bath and Chester — and to those 
 Bridgewater, Sherborn, humble to his foes ; 
 Their conquering forces, Cromwell f, Fairfax j, led, 
 And hapless Charles to Oxford's fortress fled : 
 
 * " The first civil war," writes Mr. Forster, " was decided by this 
 victory. Two thousand men were left dead upon the field. The royalists 
 who were made prisoners were five thousand foot and three thousand 
 horse. There were also captured the whole of Charles's artillery, eight 
 thousand stand of arms, above one hundred pair of colours, the royal 
 standard, the king's cabinet of letters, his coaches, and the whole spoil 
 of his camp." 
 
 f " Who," says Dr. South with some severity, " that had beheld such 
 a bankrupt, beggarly fellow as Cromwell, first entering the Parliament- 
 house, with a threadbare torn cloak and a grey hat (perhaps neither of 
 
 k 2
 
 132 ENGLAND. [1625-1649. 
 
 Resolved the army of the Scots to court, 
 Though organised for popular support. 
 Seized is the royal fugitive, and sold 
 On payment made of their arrears of gold §. 
 
 The monarch now a prisoner confined 
 In Holdenby, the parliament designed 
 The army to disband ; but Cromwell's skill 
 Secured its service to his future will. 
 Bent on possession of the hands and voice 
 Of all the forces, he empowers Joyce 
 To lead the captive king to Hampton Court, 
 And thus the Commons to submission brought. 
 
 Hope, the last friend of misery, forsook 
 Charles, once again immured at Carisbroke || ; 
 
 them paid for), could have suspected that in the course of so few years 
 he should, by the murder of one king and the banishment of another, 
 ascend the throne, be invested in the royal robes, and want nothing of 
 the state of a king but the changing of his hat into a crown." His most 
 signal exploit in tins reign was at the battle of Naseby, where he 
 completely turned the fortunes of Charles. 
 
 X Sir Horace Vcre, his master in the art of war, was remarkable for 
 doing great things with few men, Fairfax with the loss of a few. — 
 Granger. 
 
 § The infamy of this transaction had such an effect on the Scotch 
 Parliament that they voted the king should be protected and his liberty 
 insisted on ; but the General Assembly interposed, and declared that as 
 lie bad refused to take the covenant, it became not the yodly to concern 
 themselves about bis future welfare. 
 
 || Mr. Jesse, in his Memoirs of the Stuarts, observes — "It was the 
 custom of Charles at this period to insert mottoes, or remarkable verses,
 
 1G25-1649.] CHARLES I. 133 
 
 Fruitless the parliament's attempts to bring 
 
 A treaty to conclusion with the king. 
 
 In the mean while a sympathy of thought 
 
 For Charles (with England and with Scotland) wrought 
 
 New struggles for the king ; — and southward on 
 
 Marches an army led by Hamilton. 
 
 in the blank pages of his favourite authors. He had inscribed the 
 following, probably from Boethius : 
 
 ' Rebus in adversis facile est contemnere vitam ; 
 Fortiter ille facit, qui raiser esse potest.' " 
 
 And again, says Mr. Jesse, from Claudian : 
 
 ' Fallitur egrcgio quisquis sub principe credit 
 Servitium : nunquarn libertas gratior extat, 
 Quam sub rege pio." 
 
 This, the reader will confess, may be all very true, but Charles might 
 have left the above to be said of him by others, and not have taken it 
 to himself. Truth was, perhaps, better developed by the Sortes 
 VirgiliansB. 
 
 On a second attempt of Charles to escape from Carisbroke Castle, 
 Ashburnham in his narrative says — " He (the king) having discovered 
 he could pass his body between the bars of the window of his chamber, 
 because he found there was room enough for his head (the rule being 
 that where the head can pass the body may), but most unhappily he 
 mistook the way of measure, for instead of putting forth his head side- 
 ways, he did it right forward ; by which error, when all things were 
 adjusted for his escape the second time, and that he thought to put in 
 execution what he deemed to be sure (his passage through the window), 
 he stuck so fast in it, and did strain so much in the attempt, as he was 
 in great extremity, though with long and painful struggling he got 
 back again." 
 
 It was reported that Hammond attempted not only to examine the 
 king's papers, but to search his pockets, which his Majesty resisted and 
 gave him a box on the ear ; and it is also said he struck the king again. — 
 Clarendon State Papers. A sturdy republican of this time declared 
 that he would believe in the intentions of nature to create different ranks 
 amongst mankind, when ho saw one class born with a crown upon their 
 heads like the peacock, and another with a mark of servitude across 
 their shoulders like the ass.
 
 134 ENGLAND. [1625-1649. 
 
 But again Cromwell intercepts the route 
 Of troopers gathering at this common suit ; 
 Prompt to decide, their progress he resists ; 
 And Preston 's fatal to the royalists. 
 
 Cromwell with Pride the Commons house surrounds, 
 And all, save sixty of his friends, confounds ; 
 Pass'd by the " Independents " is a law 
 Declaring Charles's treason in the war. 
 A court is voted : Cooke the pleading guides, 
 And Bradshaw * as the judge supreme presides : 
 Sentence, the delegates appointed, sign, 
 Death, on Charles Stuart — sixteen forty-nine ! 
 
 Kingly he rose o'er all the frailty past, 
 In life infirm, how patient at the last ! 
 
 * Bi-adshaw, says Granger, " had the peculiar infamy of being the only 
 man that ever sat in judgment upon his sovereign. His reward for 
 presiding at the trial was as extraordinary as his crime. The Parlia- 
 ment soon after made him a present of Summer Hill, a seat of the Earl 
 of St. Albans." 
 
 The following inscription is on a copper-plate attached to Bradshaw's 
 
 bat in Ashmole's museum : 
 
 " Galerua illc ipse, quo tectus cr.it 
 
 Johannes Bradshaw, arehi-regicida, 
 
 Dum cxccrahili regicidarum couvcntui 
 
 Prajsideret. 
 
 Dignus ut in codern loco, 
 
 Quo Kauxi laterna 
 
 Collocctur ; 
 
 Ilia papistical, hie fanaticcc 
 
 Ncquitiai nionnmentuni. 
 
 In hoc dispares ; 
 
 Scilicet id nefas, 
 
 Quod ilia in tenehiis machinata est, 
 
 Hie But Hid perfecit."
 
 1649-1GG0.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 135 
 
 Forgiving all, his sceptred troubles cease, 
 And Time's Affliction in Eternal Peace * ! 
 
 * The warrant for Charles's execution, called the " Bloody Warrant," 
 was signed by 59 commissioners. It was addressed to Cols. Hacker, 
 Huncks, and Phray, and ordered execution of the king's sentence at 
 Whitehall on the 30th January, being the following day. 
 
 The warrant was as follows : 
 
 "Whereas Charles Stuart, King of England, is and standeth con- 
 victed, attainted, and condemned of high treason and other crimes ; and 
 sentence upon Saturday last was pronounced against him by this court, 
 to be put to death by the severing of his head from his body, of which 
 sentence execution yet remaineth to be done. These are therefore to 
 will and require you to see the said sentence executed in the open street, 
 before Whitehall, upon the morrow, being the 30th day of this instant 
 month of January, between the hours of ten in the morning and five in 
 the afternoon of the same day with full effect ; and for so doing this shall 
 be your sufficient warrant. And these are to require all officers, soldiers 
 aud others, the good people of this nation of England, to be assisting 
 unto you in this service. 
 
 To Col. Francis Hacker, 
 Col. Huncks, 
 Lieut.-Col. Phray, 
 
 and to every of them. 
 
 Given under our hands and seals. 
 
 —Here follow the signatures of 59 commissioners, headed by John 
 Bradshaw, Oliver Cromwell, &c, &c, &c. 
 
 It is mentioned in Spence's Anecdotes, that a few nights after the 
 execution of the king, a man covered with a cloak and with his face 
 muffled, supposed to have been Cromwell, marched slowly round the 
 coffin, covered by a pall, which contained the body of Charles, and 
 exclaimed, "Dreadful necessity!" Having done this two or three 
 times he marched out of the room, in the same slow and solemn manner 
 in which he came into it. Cromwell and Ireton saw the execution of 
 Charles from a small window of the Banqueting House of Whitehall. — 
 Seivard's A nee. Hugh Peters, who was truly and really Charles's 
 jailor, bore a Colonel's commission in the civil war, and was strongly 
 suspected of being one of the masked executioners ; one Hulet, the other.
 
 136 ENGLAND. [1649-1660. 
 
 The Commons now proceed to abrogate 
 The House of Peers, as noxious to the state ; 
 For they in council had, with one assent, 
 Denounced as " regicide" the Parliament. 
 All acts and statutes bear the public seal 
 Of " England's Keepers," for the commonweal ; 
 
 Hugh Peters had been a member of Jesus College, Cambridge, whence he 
 was expelled. He afterwards went upon the stage. He was admitted 
 also into holy orders by Dr. Mountaine, bishop of London, and was for a 
 time lecturer of St. Sepulchre's in that city. Ellis, however, says : " the 
 idle fiction that the executioner and his attendant, both masked, were 
 Joyce and Peters, scarcely deserves mention." 
 
 Granger observes, " If we consider Charles as a monarch we must give 
 him up to censure ; if as an accomplished person, we admire him ; if as 
 a master, a father, and as a husband, we esteem and love him ; if as a 
 man who bore his misfortunes with magnanimity, we pity and respect 
 him. He would have made a much better figure in private life than 
 he did upon a throne." 
 
 More deserving attention, perhaps, is the admonition of Hume, who 
 says, " From the memorable revolutions which passed in England during 
 this period we may naturally deduce the same useful lesson which 
 Charles himself, in his latter years, inferred — that it is very dangerous 
 for princes to assume more authority than the laws have allowed them. 
 But it must be confessed that these events furnish us with another 
 instruction, no less natural and no less useful, concerning the madness 
 of the people, the furies of fanaticism, and the danger of mercenary 
 armies." 
 
 In conclusion the reader is offered the following golden principle of 
 law : " Rex ipse non debet esse sub Homine, sed sub Deo et Lege, quia 
 Lex facit Regem. Attribuat igitur Rex Legi quod Lex attribuit ei — 
 Dominationem ct Imperium. Non est enim Rex ubi dominatur 
 Voluntas et non. Lex !" — Coke. 
 
 Chief ministers during the reign — Duke of Buckingham, Earl of 
 Portland, Archbishop Laud, Earl of Strafford, Earl of Essex, Lord 
 Falkland, Lord Digby.
 
 1649-1660.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 137 
 
 'Gainst which offending, Hamilton is tried, 
 And the lords Holland, Capel, sternly died *. 
 
 Now swell the views of Cromwell with the hour 
 Which closed on monarchy and Stuart's pow'r ; 
 Weal and success unveil the erring man, 
 And frailty ends what fortitude began. 
 
 Thank'd, and invested with a high command, 
 He tames the rebel blood of Ireland ; 
 The troops of Ormond and the brave O'Neal 
 But yield new victories to the commonweal ; 
 Still Cromwell triumphs — Tredah's fort is won, 
 With savage slaughter on the garrison. 
 When Scotland, still to monarchy attached, 
 With jealous caution the republic watched ; 
 The son of Charles is thereupon declared : 
 Who northward now exultingly repaired. 
 
 * All symbols of monarchy were now destroyed, and in their places 
 inscribed, " Exit Tyrannus, Anno Libertatis Anglise restitutse primo, 
 Anno Dom. 1G48, Jan. 30" (old style). 
 
 SPECIMEN OF A PURITANIC PRAYER OF THE TIME. 
 
 " O God, it is so long that thou hast not let us have a victory notwith- 
 standing our much fasting. What dost thou mean, O, Lord, by throw- 
 ing us into the ditch and letting us lie there ? O Lord, wilt thou take a 
 chair and sit in the House of Peers, or wilt thou vote in the honourable 
 House of the Commons, who are so jealous for their honor ? Many hands 
 are lifted up against us, but there is a God, and thou art he ; but thou 
 doest us more harm than they all." — Disraeli.
 
 138 ENGLAND. [1649-1660. 
 
 Montrose had perish' d in his youthful prime, 
 A felon's sentence in his native clime ; 
 Loyal and true the latest breath he draws, 
 Worthy a better than the Stuarts' cause. 
 Charles takes the covenant and pays the meed 
 Of hard conditions for their aid in need ; 
 But Cromwell's vigilance renews the war, 
 And great the Scottish slaughter at Dunbar. 
 
 Such was the strife — but on the conquering side 
 Internal jealousies their aims divide : 
 For Independent is the army's bent, 
 And Presbyterian, the parliament ; 
 Which now no longer could its vigour hold — 
 The newer power arrayed against the old : 
 Cromwell its chief, who in the present reads 
 The unborn fortune of his coming deeds. 
 Vainly at Westminster the councils match 
 The abler projects of his great despatch; 
 London ho finds submissive on his way, 
 The few arc exiled, but the mass obey. 
 
 Charles, at the head of his remaining force, 
 Now into England bends his fearful course. 
 The Scots and English loyalists, spell-bound 
 At Cromwell's ensign, scarce retain their ground ; 
 Thus greater still at Worcester their defeat —
 
 164.9-16G0.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 139 
 
 And Charles in Normandy secures retreat. 
 Yet, in this pilgrimage, what terrors broke 
 O'er Charles and Careless in the spreading oak ! 
 Six months a wanderer in various guise, 
 Eluding to the last his enemies *. 
 
 Fairfax from Presbyterian blood recoils, 
 Thus Cromwell arms again for Scottish toils ; 
 Ambition yields the conqueror pretext, — 
 And humbled Caledonia is annex'd : 
 While England rose in glory to a height 
 Yet unaccomplish'd in her pristine might. 
 
 A vote for rupture with the Dutch is pass'd, 
 For insult on the English envoy cast ; 
 Blake now victorious ; now Van Tromp o'er him ; 
 Whose " broom " top-gallant tells Batavia's whim : 
 With Monk allied, Blake follows the dispute, 
 And peace is ratified at Holland's suit t. 
 
 * He fled the first night to Kidderminster, and disguised as a peasant 
 put himself under a guide, who conducted him to the house of Mr. 
 Penderel, on the confines of Staffordshire. Here he was joined by Col, 
 Careless, concealing themselves in the day-time in a thick wood near 
 the house. He afterwards rode before a lady in the disguise of a serving- 
 man, and at length got on board a bark at Shoreham. 
 
 f The peace was thus celebrated in a panegyric to Cromwell, by John 
 Locke : 
 
 '• Pax regit Augusli, quern vicit Julius orbem, 
 Illc sago factua clarior, ille toga. 
 IIos sua Roma vocat magnos ct minima credit, 
 Hk quod sit inundi victor, ct illcquies.
 
 140 ENGLAND. [1649-1660. 
 
 Determined now, in — sixteen fifty-three — 
 Is the Lord Cromwell to be wholly free. 
 Deep in design, he speedily obtains 
 A rupture with the Commons he disdains 
 A plea he sends for payment of arrears — 
 For dissolution of their session years — 
 Pleas, which at once th* > assembled Commons fire, 
 And speed the object of his best desire. 
 Arm'd by his followers he makes his way 
 Straight to the house and mingles the array ; 
 And they who talked of freedom from the sword, 
 Lighter than chaff were scatter'd at a word. 
 
 'Twas thus the rising liberties of Greece 
 In her armed legions found their first increase ; 
 But doomed to see their energies betrayed 
 By those who once their confidence had swayed. 
 So, grown degenerate, the Praetorian bands 
 Destroyed Rome's freedom and estranged her lands. 
 
 Tu bellum et pacem populis des, unu9 utrisquo 
 Major es ; ipse orbcm vincis, ct ipse regis. 
 
 Non hominem ccodIo missum tc credimus ; unus 
 Sic potcras binos qui superarc Deos I " 
 
 To this a flight of Waller should bo appended. Montague having 
 captured and sent homo a rich Spanish prize, the poet sings : 
 
 " Lot tbc rich ore be forthwith melted down, 
 And the state ftx'd, by making him a crown ; 
 With ermine clad and purple, let him hold 
 A royul sceptre mado of Spanish gold."
 
 1(;49-1660.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 141 
 
 But still a show of justice Cromwell bears, 
 
 And calls a parliament for state affairs ; 
 
 A motley crew obedient to his rule, 
 
 Th' acknowledged senate, but the master's tool* : 
 
 * One of the most noted of these was a leather-seller, whose name was 
 " Praise God Barcbone." I have been informed that there were three 
 brothers of this family ; viz., " Praise God Barebone," " Christ came 
 into the tvorld to save Barebone" and " // Christ had not died, thou 
 hadsl been damned Barebone ;" the latter, familiarly called, " Damned 
 Barebone." In Montfaucon's "Diarium Italicum," is a sepulchral in- 
 scription of the year 396, upon Quodvultdeus, with the following note : 
 " Hoc sevo non pauci erant qui piis sententiolis nomina propria concin- 
 narent, Quodvultdeus, Deogratias, Habetdeum," &c. — Note to Granger. 
 
 In respect to the titles by which Cromwell was now to be acknow- 
 ledged by Spain and France, Mr. Forster says: "No objection was 
 offered by Spain to the regal claims of the Lord Protector ; but France 
 showed a slight restiveness. Louis's first letter was thus addressed : — 
 " To his most Serene Highness Oliver, Lord Protector," &c. &c. This 
 was rejected. Then " Mon Cousin," was offered. This also was re- 
 fused. The ordinary address between sovereigns ; " To our dear Bro- 
 ther Oliver," &c, was at last formally adopted. " What ! " said Louis 
 to Mazarin, " Shall I call such a fellow my brother ? " " Ay !" rejoined 
 the crafty Italian, " or your father, to gain your ends." 
 
 The republication of the theological opinions of J. Biddle, who may 
 be styled the father of the English Unitarians, attracted the attention of 
 the parliament (1G55). He had been thrice imprisoned by the Long 
 Parliament. To the cpaestions put to him by the Speaker, he replied 
 that he could nowhere find in Scripture that Christ, or the Holy Ghost, 
 was called God ; and it was resolved he should be committed to the Gate- 
 house, and that a bill to punish him should be prepared. The dissolu- 
 tion saved his life, and he recovei'ed his liberty ; but was again arrested 
 in 1655, and sent to the Isle of Scilly, to remain for life in the Castle of 
 St. Mary. Cromwell discharged him in 1658 ; but he was again sent to 
 Newgate in 1662, where he died the same year. — Vita Bidelli. 
 
 Baxter's testimony on the subject of church government deserves 
 the highest regard. He says, " I do not believe that ever England had 
 so able and faithful a ministry since it was a nation, as it hath at this 
 day ; and I fear that few nations on earth, if any, have the like ;" &c. &c.
 
 I 
 
 142 ENGLAND. [1649-1660. 
 
 Proclaimed " Protector" o'er the British realm, 
 Rejects the crown, though mightiest at the helm 
 
 Cromwell, through Mazarin' s * intrigue, allied 
 With Louis, subjugates Iberia's pride ; 
 To great Turenne f th' embattled Dunkirk falls, 
 And England's forces garrison the walls ; 
 Jamaica captured, is a new increase ; 
 And humbled Algiers stipulates for peace. 
 
 Now by the Commons the Protector rears 
 The trampled fabric of the House of Peers, 
 Which, 'mongst the old encountering only scorn, 
 He fills with nobles from the lowly born. 
 
 Yet Cromwell's spirit was reserved to share 
 The humbler burden of domestic care ; 
 
 The sect of Quakers had their origin during the civil wars. Its founder 
 was George Fox, born at Drayton, Lancashire, 162-1. 
 
 * The following is a graphic distich on the two ministers, Richelieu 
 and Mazarin : 
 
 " Magnus uterque fuit — dignos scd vindicc nodos 
 Richelius sccuit, Julius explicuit ! " 
 
 t Mareschal Turenne was not only one of the greatest generals, but 
 one of the best-natured men. As for example ; lie used to have a pair 
 of new stockings every week ; his gentleman, whose fee the old ones 
 were, had taken them away in the evening, and forgot to place new ones 
 in their stead. The next morning the Mareschal was to ride out ; and 
 the servant, whose business it was to dress him, was in great confusion 
 at not finding any stockings. " 'Tis very hard to be allowed no stock- 
 LngB," said the general, " but give me my boots ; no one will have the 
 curiosity to look under them." — Spence's Anec.
 
 1649-1660.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 143 
 
 His children, faithless to the pomp he wore, 
 Shunning the " Cromwell " but the Parent more. 
 Changed was the man — his fearless spirit fled — 
 His thoughts beset with unaccustomed dread ; 
 And Cromwell the undaunted, who had shown 
 The Lord Protector dreadlier than the throne, 
 Is mock'd by visions : airily betray'd : 
 The testy victim of a pasquinade * ! 
 Thus passes Cromwell — sixteen fifty-eight — 
 But leaves a frugal and triumphant state. 
 
 * Cromwell was said never to have smiled again after reading a book, 
 entitled "Killing no Murder," written by Silas Titus in 1657. 
 
 It has been disputed which Cromwell the rather deserved, a halter or 
 a crown. Colonel Lindsey affirmed, that he saw him enter into a formal 
 contract with the devil ; and Dawbeny has drawn " A Parallel betwixt 
 Moses and Oliver." The French court went into mourning for him at 
 his death. 
 
 Cromwell's wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir James Bourchier, a 
 woman of enlarged understanding and great domestic virtue ; she sur- 
 vived her husband fourteen years. 
 
 His children were — 
 
 Richard, acknowledged "Protector," died 1712. 
 
 Henry, received the government of Ireland, under his father, died 
 1674. 
 
 Bridget, his eldest daughter, was married first to Fleetwood, then to 
 Iretou. 
 
 Elizabeth, Mrs. Claypole, distinguished for her intellectual qualities. 
 
 Maria, married to Lord Falconberg, and contributed to the Restora- 
 tion. 
 
 Frances, married first to the Earl of Warwick, then to Sir John 
 Russel. 
 
 Cromwell was buried with royal pomp ; and his chaplain Sterry said, 
 in his funeral oration, " O Lord ! thy servant is now at thy right hand, 
 interceding for the sins of England." Evelyn, on the other hand, re-
 
 144 ENGLAND. [1649-1660. 
 
 *Richard, his eldest-born, but ill inclined 
 To govern, the protectorate resigned ; 
 And Henry abdicates his vice-command 
 Till now administered in Ireland. 
 
 'Twas thus, when chance was taken at its flood 
 For restoration of the royal blood. 
 The Commons, with the soldiery involved 
 In jealousy, were speedily dissolved ; 
 f Monk with his Scottish forces southward press'd, 
 Raising in London Charles's interest ; 
 
 lates ; " This was the merriest funeral that I ever saw, for no one 
 howled but the dogs, with which the soldiers made sport, parading 
 through the streets, drinking and smoking." Ludlow adds, " The peo- 
 ple were so indignant at the prodigality of the funeral, that during the 
 night they covered with mud Cromwell's arms, over the gate at Somerset 
 House." 
 
 * When Richard Cromwell was on his travels under an assumed 
 name, he was introduced to the Prince of Conti ; who, after speaking of 
 Cromwell's courage and capacity, went on to say, " But as for that poor 
 pitiful fellow, Richard, what has become of him?" Richard's cha- 
 racter was not then understood. When on assuming the Protector- 
 ship, he was pressed to exert vigour against the royalists, he said, " I 
 positively forbid shedding the blood of a single man in my cause. 1 
 would rather relinquish the post I hold, than proceed to such extre- 
 mities." 
 
 t George Monk, in the civil war, at first adhered to the king ; but 
 having suffered imprisonment for his loyalty, he took the covenant, and 
 entered into the service of the parliament. He was afterwards em- 
 ployed by Cromwell in reducing Scotland ; but his lurking frailty 
 towards the exiled family, did not escape the penetrating eye of his 
 master. In the postscript of a letter addressed to Monk himself, a little 
 before the Protector's death, are these words : — "There be some that 
 tell me thero be a certain cunning fellow in Scotland, called George
 
 1660-1685.] CHARLES II. 145 
 
 The living members of that house, which Pride 
 Had lately scared, he summon'd on his side ; 
 The army he reforms, and council board ; 
 And — sixteen sixty — Stuart is restored*. 
 
 Monkf, Duke of Albemarle the king creates, — 
 And Hyde with government participates. 
 
 Monk, who is said to be in wait there to introduce Charles Stuart. I 
 pray you use your diligence to apprehend him, and send him up to me." 
 
 Tea, or Chaa ; or as it was called, Tcha, being the Chinese name, is 
 supposed to have been brought into England from Holland, by Lord 
 Arlington, in 16G0. It was sold at a still later date at 60s. per lb. 
 
 Sir J. Greenvill now arrived in London with Charles's celebrated 
 Breda Declaration, in which it would appear that either in his master's 
 great anxiety to gain the throne, or his natural loose notions of a pledge, 
 he promised much more than he ever intended to fulfil. 
 
 Queen Catherine of Portugal. 
 (Charles had no issue of the queen ; his 
 
 illegitimate children were) 
 James, Duke of Monmouth. 
 Charles Fitzroy, Duke of Southampton. 
 Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton. 
 Charles Beauclair, Duke of St. Albans. 
 Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond. 
 And others, with several daughters. 
 
 Howell was the first who wrote in favour of Charles I. ; he says, 
 
 " So fell the royal oak by a wild crew 
 
 Of mongrel shrubs which underneath him grew ; 
 
 So fell the lion by a pack of curs, 
 
 So the rose wither'd 'twixt a knot of burrs ; 
 
 So fell the eagle by a swarm of gnats, 
 
 So the whale perish'd by a shoal of sprats." 
 
 t Burnet observes, " Monk was ravenous as well as his wife, who was 
 a mean, contemptible creature. They both asked for and sold all that 
 was within their reach, nothing being denied to them for some time ; 
 till he became so useless, that little personal regard could be paid him." 
 
 L 
 
 * 1660.— Charles II.— 1685. <
 
 146 ENGLAND. [1660-1685. 
 
 The leaders in the late republic cause 
 Are doomed to perish by convenient laws ; 
 And Cromwell, Bradshaw, Ireton, are torn 
 From out their cerements, and in fetters borne. 
 
 Now o'er the north, as through his English court, 
 Charles gives alone to prelacy support ; 
 Thus the first instance of contempt, displays, 
 To pledge and promise in his cloudier days *. 
 
 Scarce had the king accomplished his design 
 Of marriage with th' Infanta Catherine -f- — 
 Scarce had the nation ratified the task 
 Of Restoration, than he spurned the mask : — 
 
 * The following are lines by Mr. Wordsworth on the persecution of 
 the Scotch Covenanters : 
 
 " When Alpine vales threw forth a suppliant cry, 
 The majesty of England interposed 
 
 And the sword stopped : the bleeding wounds were closed, 
 And faith preserved her ancient purity. 
 How little boots that precedent of good, 
 Scorned or forgotten, thou canst testify 
 For England's shame, O sister realm, from wood, 
 Mountain, and moor, and crowded street, where lie 
 The headless martyrs of the covenant, 
 Slain by compatriot Protestants, that draw 
 From councils senseless as intolerant 
 Their warrant. Bodies fall by wild sword law : 
 But who would force the soul tilts with a straw 
 Against a champion cased in adamant !" 
 
 Ecclesiastical Sketches. 
 
 + Charles received with his queen, the Infanta of Portugal, about 
 £300,000 sterling ; the settlement of Bombay, and the fortress of 
 Tangier in Africa. 
 
 Stage plays, which had been opposed by the Puritans in 1633, were 
 now renewed : when Charles licensed two companies, Killigrew's and 
 Davenant's — the first at Drury-lane, the other in Dorset-gardens.
 
 1660-1G85.] CHARLES II. 147 
 
 His early partisans no more he cheers, 
 
 And pine in need his faithful Cavaliers *. 
 
 Recurrent loyalty at flood, supplied 
 
 Wealth, power, and trust upon its dangerous tide ; 
 
 And some there were, Southampton 'midst the rest, 
 
 Who would have raised this scarcely England's guest — 
 
 This new-made king — above the public weal, 
 
 And grant him revenues beyond appeal. 
 
 Crushed is the sturdy virtue of the clans, 
 
 The " Independents" and the " Puritans," 
 
 And England scarcely hesitates to give 
 
 Unmeasured sway to the prerogative. 
 
 Waked from the death of these degenerate days, 
 On death itself the stricken people gaze : 
 The unclean bird in air, with mortal stoop 
 Covers the city and its cowering coop ; 
 The plague-spot blisters like an ambient fire, 
 And mortal taint ten thousand breasts respire ; 
 Drained are the haunts of man to swell the wave, 
 As tributary to one common grave t. 
 
 - * Burnet says, " He had been obliged to so many who had been faith- 
 ful to him, that he seemed afterwards resolved to make an equal return to 
 them all ; and finding it not easy to reward them all, he forgot them all." 
 " The Pendrels and Mrs. Lane were among the small number of 
 loyalists who were rewarded after the Restoration. " — Granger. 
 
 f A passage in Pepys's Diary is as follows : — " The circumstance of a 
 man being induced to dig his own grave, from the conviction that the 
 slender and sickly remnant of lu's household were unable to provide him 
 
 l2
 
 148 ENGLAND. [1660-1685. 
 
 Unchastened yet, the vicious king beholds 
 The coming scenes, which misery still unfolds : 
 Shrieks on the quays resound ; devouring flames 
 In red destruction dress the shores of Thames ; 
 In forked fury riding on the blast, 
 Dart their dread record o'er the black'ning waste ; 
 And the bright city of Eliza's isle, 
 Trade, mast, and pennant, one funereal pile* ! 
 
 with the rites of sepulture, presents that dreadful calamity to our 
 imagination in a more awful and horrific view than any of the many 
 distressing particulars we remember to have met with concerning it." 
 
 " Nee requies erat ulla mali : defessa jacebant 
 Corpora : mussabat tacito medicina timore 
 Quippe patcntia quuru totiens, ardentia morbis, 
 Lumina versarent oculorum, expertia somno ; 
 Multaque praeterea mortis turn signa dabantur. 
 Perturbata animi mens, in moerore, metuque 
 Triste supercilium, furiosus vultus, et acer ; 
 Solicits porro, plenaeque sonoribus, aures : 
 Creber spiritus, aut ingens, raroque coortus, 
 Sudorisque madens per collum splendidus humor: 
 Tenuia sputa, miuuta, croci contacta colore, 
 Salsaque, per fauces rauca vix edita tussi. 
 In manibus vero nervi trainer, tremere artus ; 
 A pedibusque minutatim subcedere frigus 
 Non dubitabat: item, ad supremum denique tempu9 
 Compressa; nares, nasi piimoris acumen 
 Tenue, cavati oculi, cava tempora : frigida pellis 
 Duraque, inliorrebat rictum : frons tenta meabat : 
 Nee nimio rigida. post strati mortc jacebant ; 
 Octavoquc fere candenti lurnine solis 
 Aut etiam nona reddebant lampade vitam." 
 
 Lucretius vi. 
 
 Dr. Spratt (Bishop of Rochester) in his *' Plague of Athens," says — 
 
 " Upon the head first the disease 
 As a bold conqueror doth seize, 
 Begins with man's metropolis; 
 Secured the capital, and then it knew 
 It could at pleasure weaker parts subdue.'' 
 
 * Some placed the guilt of this conflagration to the Republicans
 
 1660-1685.] CHARLES II. 149 
 
 Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened ; and the noise 
 Of hollow pastime every thought employs ; 
 By France infected in life's careless morn, 
 To France is now but her maturer scorn ! 
 
 At war with Holland, doubtful are the claims 
 For victory, 'twixt her and royal James * ; 
 Anon, the hostile fleets the Channel touch, 
 Of Beaufort and De Ruyter, — French and Dutch : 
 Rupert and Albemarle their line oppose, — 
 Glory and valour equal, — foes with foes : 
 On knotted shrouds th' entangled seamen fought, 
 And breathless England dear successes bought ; 
 Keen in retort, the Dutch the Medway traced, 
 And Charles's navy, in her ports disgraced. 
 
 others to the Catholics ; still the Papists were the chief objects of sus- 
 picion. But not even a presumption of guilt, after the strictest inquiry 
 by a committee of Parliament, appeared. Yet to give countenance to 
 the prejudice, the inscription engraven on the Monument ascribed the 
 calamity to this hated party. This was erased by James II., but was 
 restored after the Revolution. Hence Pope — 
 
 " Where London's column, pointing to the skies, 
 Like a tall bully, lifts its head and lies." 
 
 On the settlement of the Catholic question in 1829, a resolution to 
 obliterate this false and wilful accusation passed the Common Council of 
 London. 
 
 * The Duke of York (" the tennis ball of fortune," as Granger 
 expresses him), when young, was said to have been very like his father. 
 " So like is he," says Sir Francis Wortley (" Characters and Elegies"), 
 " that we may invert the royal epithet given to his father ' Jacobissimus 
 Carolus ' to ' Carolissimus Jacobus.' ' '
 
 150 ENGLAND. [1660-1685. 
 
 For Dunkirk's sale and war ignobly done, 
 Sentenced to banishment is Clarendon * ; 
 Him, Shaftesbury soon succeeds ; and measures fall 
 Under the guidance of the famed " Cabal f." 
 
 In plea of strengthening the triple league j, 
 In baseness Charles engages, and intrigue ; 
 
 * A great number of satirical pieces were published just before his 
 dismissal. Clarendon had built a house at a vast expense, and beyond 
 the support of his slender means : and it acquired the nickname of 
 "Dunkirk House," or "Holland Hall." Its erection was ascribed 
 to French and Dutch gold. 
 
 " Here lies the Cavalier's debenture wall, 
 
 Fixed on an eccentric basis ; 
 Here's Dunkirk Town and Tangier Hall, 
 The marriage of the queen and all, 
 
 The Dutchman's Templum Pacis." 
 
 Clarendon died in exile 1674. " His religion as well as his policy 
 was clouded with prejudices, but while we lament a weakness insepar- 
 able from humanity, we honour the uncontaminated rectitude of his inten- 
 tions. His chief failing seems to have been too entire devotion to a prince 
 who did not deserve his generous attachment." — MacdiarmicVs Lives. 
 
 f Viz. — Clifford, Ashley (Cooper), Buckingham, Arlington, Lauder- 
 dale. " The great talents of Shaftesbury, and the exact knowledge of 
 men and things, contributed to render him one of the first characters 
 of his age. But the violence of his passions, and the flexibility of his 
 principles, prompted him to act very different and even contrary parts." 
 — Granger. His friend, Mr. Locke, who differs from other writers in 
 bis character, tells us that " the good of his country was what he steered 
 his counsels and actions by, through the whole course of his life." 
 
 % England, Holland, and Sweden — a league wisely negotiated by Sir 
 William Temple, and interrupted by the artifices of the Cabal ; but 
 chiefly of Shaftesbury. Thus, Mr. Forster, speaking of him during the 
 sway of the Protector, observes — " He who now cants for tyranny under 
 Cromwell, with pious breath, will soon practise it under Charles II. 
 with iron heel." 
 
 " Of these the false Achitophel was first, 
 A name to all succeeding ages curst.
 
 1660-1685.] CHARLES II. 151 
 
 Raises supplies upon his credit stake, 
 He then, in secret, had resolved to break. 
 The Treasurer's place he stipulates to grant 
 To any aiding his immediate want. 
 Clifford the hint obeys, and lays the scheme 
 In shame, the king's finances to redeem ; 
 A scheme, no less than seizing to his aid 
 All public moneys in th' Exchequer paid*. 
 
 For close designs and crooked counsels fit, 
 Sagacious, bold, and turbulent of wit; 
 Restless, unfixed in principles and place, 
 In power unpleased, impatient of disgrace : 
 A fiery soul, which, working out its way, 
 Fretted the pigmy body to decay, 
 And o'er-informed the tenement of clay. 
 ******* 
 
 In friendship false, implacable of hate, 
 
 Resolved to ruin or to rule the state : 
 
 To compass this, the triple bond he broke, 
 
 The pillars of the public safety shook, 
 
 And fitted Israel for a foreign yoke ; 
 
 Then seized with fear, yet still affecting fame, 
 
 Usurped a patriot's all-atoning name." 
 
 It is only fair to add the following : 
 
 " In Israel's courts ne'er sat an Abethdin 
 With more discerning eyes, or hands more clean ; 
 Unbribed, unbought, the wretched to redress ; 
 Swift of despatch, and easy of access." 
 
 Dryden: Abs. and Achit. 
 
 * Bankers used to carry their money to the Exchequer, and advance 
 it upon the security of the fuuds, by which they were afterwards reim- 
 bursed when the money was levied on the public. The bankers by this 
 got eight per cent., or more, for sums which had either been assigned 
 to them without interest, or which they had borrowed at six per cent., 
 profits which they dearly paid for by this breach of public faith. A 
 general confusion prevailed in the city, followed by the ruin of many ; 
 and some, full of the most dismal apprehensions, were at a loss to 
 account for such iniquitous counsels by which credit was destroyed.
 
 J 52 ENGLAND. [1660-1685. 
 
 But England's terrors were no less to find 
 The king himself to popery inclined ; 
 A faith, the duke, his brother, had professM, 
 Ere this a papist, and by priests confess'd. 
 
 Now far and wide the discontents are loud, 
 And secret agents track the murmuring crowd. 
 A court abandoned ; and a Popish bent ; 
 A seventeen sessions of the Parliament ; 
 France in mock amity (a foe concealed, 
 To England's fame and England's creed revealed) ; 
 A war with Holland, burdened by its debt : — 
 All, all conspired to wake the slumbering threat. 
 
 Dark is the history of Godfrey's fate*, 
 The vulgar charge of Jesuitic hate ; 
 Hence false reports by Titus Oates*f- arose, 
 Denouncing many as the church's foes ; 
 
 * Sir Edmundbury Godfrey had been an active magistrate in the 
 discovery of the popish plot. He was found murdered — his body 
 pierced by his own sword, and with many marks of violence. His 
 death was imputed to the papists. 
 
 t Gross as was the imposture, Dryden thus represents it, with some 
 foundation of truth : 
 
 that plot, the nation's curse, 
 
 Bad in itself, but represented worse ; 
 Raised in extremes, and in extremes decried, 
 With oaths affirmed, with dying vows denied : 
 Not weighed nor winnowed by the multitude, 
 But swallowed in the mass, unchewed and crude." 
 
 Absalom and Achitophel. 
 
 Titus Gates is described (Hon. Roger North) as "A low man, of
 
 1660-1685.] CHARLES II. 153 
 
 The Duke he points, and e'en the royal wife, 
 As gendering plots against the monarch's life : 
 Stirr'd is the Parliament with new alarm, 
 And Jesuits feel the strong judicial arm : 
 Coleman, the duke's adherent, is accused ; 
 Grove, Pickling, Ireland, alike abused ; 
 Unproved, yet sentenced — unconvicted, all 
 As Papists perish, not as traitors fall. 
 Brought to the scaffold are suspected lords, 
 And venal Oates receives his base rewards. 
 
 And now the Papists, by a counter art, 
 Accuse of schemes the Presbyterian part * ; 
 Through chosen Dangerfield set up a cry 
 Of treason and a dark conspiracy. 
 But when suborned the evidence is shown, 
 And the vile agent into prison thrown, 
 Powis, he implicates and Castlemain, 
 As chief abettors of this perjured train. 
 
 The treasurer Danby is impeached on crimes 
 Harmonious only with discordant times : 
 
 an ill cut, very short neck, and his visage and features most particular. 
 His mouth was the centre of his face, and a compass therein would 
 sweep his nose, forehead, and chin, within the diameter. Cave quos 
 ipse Deus notavit." 
 
 * The Meal Tub plot. The king himself was suspected of encou- 
 raging this imposture.
 
 154 ENGLAND. [1660-1685. 
 
 In league with Louis, he had framed a deed 
 In Charles's name, wherein the Gaul agreed 
 To pay a stated stipend, for the space 
 Of three successive years : as quittance base 
 For his Nimeguen treachery : the price 
 Of the Quadruple Treaty's sacrifice*. 
 
 * The quadruple treaty of Nimeguen, between England, Holland, 
 Spain, and the Emperor, which gave peace to Europe. 
 
 It would be beyond the limits of this small work to enter on the detail 
 of treaties — the great object here is but to chronicle them — yet the pre- 
 sent (that of Nimeguen) had given birth to transactions of so infamous 
 a character and so disgraceful to all parties concerned, that it cannot be 
 so slightly dismissed. As to the treaty itself, the reader may consult Sir 
 W. Temple : concerning the accusation of Dauby, an extract from Hume 
 will be sufficient. " Montague, the king's ambassador at Paris, had 
 procured a seat in the lower house, and without obtaining or asking the 
 king's leave, suddenly came over to England. Charles, suspecting his 
 intention, ordered his papers to be seized ; but Montague, who foresaw 
 this measure, had taken care to secrete one paper, which he immediately 
 laid before the House of Commons. It was a letter from the treasurer 
 Danby, wrote at the beginning of the year, during the negotiations at 
 Nimeguen, for the general peace. Montague was there directed to make 
 a demand of money ; or, in other words, the king was willing secretly 
 to sell his good offices in France, contrary to the general interests of the 
 confederates, and even to those of his oivn kingdoms ! The letter contains 
 these woi'ds : { In case the conditions of peace shall be accepted, the 
 king expects to have six millions of livres a year for three years, from 
 the time that this agreement shall be signed between his Majesty and 
 the King of France : because it will probably be two or three years before 
 the Parliament will be in humour to give him any supplies after the 
 making of any peace with France ; and the ambassador here has always 
 agreed to that sum, but not for so long a time.' Danby was so unwil- 
 ling to engage in this negotiation, that the king, to satisfy him, subjoined 
 with his own hand: ' This letter is writ by my order — C. R.' ' Such 
 are the words (if Hume, by which the reader will be at once convinced 
 that whilst the tyranny of a Stuart may find a parallel in the house of
 
 1660-1685.] CHARLES II. 155 
 
 But the king's secret wish was plain at length, 
 To give to popery availing strength, 
 Whereon the Commons introduce the " Test," 
 The papal growth in office to arrest. 
 By Shaftesbury's art, the lower chamber frames 
 An act, excluding, as successor, James ; 
 But this the Peers opposing, public heat 
 In words and deeds is kindled by defeat : 
 Whereby the Commons, Halifax accuse, 
 And aged Stafford, of seditious views; 
 Led from his prison on a charge, he dies, 
 Begot in perj'ry and conspiracies. 
 
 At Oxford now the new assembly met, 
 True to a man against the popish threat ; 
 The duke's exclusion is again the cry, 
 And banners propagate " No Popery !" 
 
 Tudor, the meanness of Charles has no equal instance in the " line 
 of kings." 
 
 In 1672, John de Witt had become Pensionary of Holland. He 
 conducted affairs with great wisdom, and placed the marine in an 
 excellent state. He opposed the elevation of William III. to the 
 Stadtholderate, the source of all his misfortunes. An attempt was 
 made to assassinate him, which failed. His brother, Cornelius de Witt, 
 was apprehended on a charge of conspiring the death of the Prince of 
 Orange, and sent to prison ; but though the accusation was unsupported, 
 he was sentenced to be banished. John was about to accompany him, 
 and as they were leaving the Hague, the irritated populace tore them 
 to pieces. Thus these patriots fell, one of whom had served his country 
 as a statesman nineteen years, and the other as a soldier. — Life of De 
 Witt, 1709.
 
 156 ENGLAND. [1660-1685. 
 
 'Midst which, a boon, the " Habeas" Act, is pass'd, 
 In this, of Charles's parliaments, the last. 
 
 Charles now from place the Presbyterians threw, 
 And friends to non-resistance placed in lieu ; 
 The charter of the city he abates, 
 And awes th 1 election of its magistrates. 
 
 * Monmouth, of Stuart's spurious descent, 
 Inflames the Duke with jealous discontent, 
 And both upheld by many friends in arms, 
 Awake at length the monarch to alarms. 
 
 * James, Duke of Monmouth, was a natural son of Charles, hy Mrs. 
 Lucy Walters, of whom the pretended secret history was published 
 under borrowed names, in the " Perplexed Prince," written in the 
 manner of a novel, and dedicated to William Lord Russell. The king 
 is there said to have been married to her. Charles's love for the Duke 
 of Monmouth seems to have been invariable. " I observed," says Sir 
 W. Temple, "the great affection his Majesty had to the Duke of Mon- 
 mouth, and saw plainly the use his Grace intended to make of it." Mrs. 
 Walters (who assumed the name of Barlow) travelled to the Hague, 
 when Charles was first there, for the sole purpose of becoming his mis- 
 tress ; in which design, as she was very handsome, Charles was not at 
 all likely to disappoint her. She lived for some years in this intimacy : 
 but having lost his affection, she was left at Paris, under the care of a 
 clergyman, described by Kennet as " late master of the Charter House," 
 who said she led but an ill life, and who filially buried her in that city. 
 
 The two daring acts of Colonel Blood at this period are thus noticed 
 by Rochester in his " History of Insipids :" 
 
 " Blood, who wears treason in his face, 
 
 Villain complete in parson's gown, [his disguise] 
 
 How much is he at court in grace 
 For stealing Ormond and the crown ! 
 
 Since loyalty docs no man good, 
 
 Let's steal tho King and outdo Blood !"
 
 1660-1685.] CHARLES II. 157 
 
 To grasp the Diadem is Monmouth's scheme ; 
 To bar the Dickers Accession, Russell's dream : 
 In the ripe purpose Grey and Shaftesbury blend, 
 And Sidney, mostly the Republics friend. 
 
 Meanwhile about the arbitrary king 
 The " Rye-house plot*" new apprehensions fling. 
 In Holland, Shaftesbury had closed his days, 
 To glory lost, to fame of brightest blaze. 
 Monmouth escaped ; — to refuge others cross'd ; — 
 But Russell f, Sidney]:, are condemned and lost. 
 
 Killigrew used the following expedient to admonish the king of his 
 extreme negligence in regard to the kingdom. He dressed himself m 
 a pilgrim's habit, went into the king's chamber and told him that he 
 was resolved immediately to leave the world, and was then entering 
 upon a pilgrimage to the lower regions. The king asked him what he 
 purposed doing there. He said, " To speak to his Satanic Majesty to 
 send Oliver Cromwell to take care of the English government, as he had 
 observed with regret that his successor was always employed on other 
 business." 
 
 * The design for assassinating Charles and the Duke of York on their 
 return from Newmarket to London, was frustrated by the king's house 
 at the former place taking fire, which hastened the royal party away 
 eight days earlier than had been appointed. The plot was discovered 
 on the following June. 
 
 f Russell was the third son of William, first Duke of Bedford. He 
 entered into various schemes for the exclusion of the Duke of York 
 from the succession, which being held treasonable, he w r as tried and 
 beheaded, 1083. After the Revolution, the parliament passed an act 
 to consider who were the advisers of the murder (so called then) of 
 Russell. 
 
 % Sidney was tried and condemned for conspiring the king's death, 
 by a packed jury and an infamous judge, Jefferies. One only witness
 
 158 ENGLAND. [1660-1685. 
 
 In which attaint, the noblest blood was spilt, 
 On forced and partial evidence of guilt. 
 
 Louis revokes King Henry's act of Nantz, 
 And England shelters Gallic Protestants ; 
 Their arts and mysteries follow in their train, 
 And grace with knowledge a despotic reign * : 
 While Newton f, Tillotson, Hale, Burnet, taught; 
 
 appeared against him, but his papers were deemed equivalent to another. 
 Beheaded 1683. 
 
 The following was a sentiment ever nearest his heart : 
 
 " Manus hsec inimica tyrannis 
 
 Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem." 
 
 * This policy of the " Grand Monarque" lost to France 800,000 Pro- 
 testants, and gave to England 50,000 industrious artisans ! 
 
 f To Newton the following lines of Lucretius have been well applied : 
 
 Qui genus humanum ingenio superavit, et ornnes 
 Perstrinxit Stellas, exortus ut aetherius sol. 
 
 Charles's character is well drawn by Gi-anger : — " In appearance, 
 without propensity to tyranny, he made no scruple of embracing such 
 measures as were destructive to civil and religious liberty. He chose 
 rather to be a pensioner of France than the arbiter of Europe ; and to 
 sacrifice the independence of his kingdom, and the happiness of his 
 subjects, than to remit his attachment to indolence and pleasure." 
 
 When love was all the easy monarch's care, 
 Seldom at council, never in a war. 
 
 " On the king's death, his body," says Bp. Burnet, "was indecently ne- 
 glected ; his funeral was very mean ; he did not lie in state ; no mourning 
 was given, and the expense of it was not equal to what an ordinai'y noble- 
 man's funeral would be." Respecting Charles's person, Andrew 
 Marvell sings — 
 
 " Of a tall stature, and of sable hue, 
 
 Much like the son of Kish, that lofty Jew." 
 
 Evelyn says, " his countenance was fierce, his voice great ; proper of 
 person, every motion became him." "He was," says Sheffield, "an
 
 16C0-1GS5.] CHARLES II. 159 
 
 And poets — Milton*, Dryden, Cowley, wrote. 
 
 illustrious exception to all the common rules of physiognomy ; for, with 
 a most saturnine harsh sort of countenance, he was both of a merry and 
 merciful disposition." 
 
 It is by no means the part of so humble a work as the present to 
 question an authority so weighty as the above ; but certainly the 
 "merciful disposition" of Charles still appears problematical. Some 
 few instances of generosity we find respecting him, such as occasionally 
 are amongst the impulses of even worse men than Charles ; but of a 
 " merciful disposition" he can hardly be considered. There is one 
 anecdote, however, which should not be suppressed. We have heard how 
 the king, in a progress he once made to Winchester, wished to quarter 
 Nell Gwyn upon Dr. Ken ; but the doctor resolutely refused to admit 
 her, and she was obliged to seek other lodgings. When, not long after- 
 wards, the see of Bath and Wells became vacant, Charles asked what 
 was the name of the little man at Winchester, who would not let Nell 
 lie in his house. They told him ; and to the astonishment of the whole 
 court, Ken was appointed to the bishopric. 
 
 Burnet has a story perhaps not quite so nattering: — A gentleman of 
 noble family had the misfortune in a quarrel to kill another. As no 
 evidence of malice appeared, the crime did not extend beyond man- 
 slaughter; yet he was prevailed on to confess to an indictment for 
 murder, a pardon being promised on condition that he did so. " After 
 sentence had passed, it appeared with what design he had been prac- 
 tised upon. It was a rich family, and not well affected to the court ; 
 so he was told that he must pay well for his pardon ; and it cost him 
 16,000/., of which the king had one-half the other half being divided 
 between two ladies that were great in favour." 
 
 * The life of Milton appears to have been in no small jeopardy at the 
 Restoration, as he was excepted out of the act of indemnity. It is 
 believed that he owed his safety to Sir W. Davenant, the dramatist, who 
 interceded for him, as he had been indebted for a like favour to the poet, 
 at the time monarchy was abolished. A story very characteristic of 
 Stuart feeling and delicacy prevailed at the time above alluded to. It 
 was said the Duke of York had importuned the king to remove this 
 Radical, in the usual way. " In what condition is this John Milton ? " 
 asked the king. " Truly— he is blind, old, and poor," replied the duke. 
 " Then let him live," rejoined the good-natured monarch, " for if he be 
 blind, old, and poor, his death will be a mercy ! " 
 
 Chief ministers during this reign : — Earl of Clarendon, Dukes of
 
 160 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 [1685-1688. 
 
 In — sixteen, eighty-five — the Second James* 
 A clear succession to his brother claims ; 
 And Anne, the child of Clarendon, entomb'd, — 
 ■j-Mary of Modena the throne assum'd. 
 
 Oates, the false witness in the late intent, 
 Is doomed, in turn, to bitterest punishment ; 
 And fearless Baxter J, upon holier scenes, 
 A prison suffers by perverted means. 
 
 Buckingham and Lauderdale, Lord Ashley, Lord Arlington, Lord 
 Clifford, Sir T. Osborne, Earl of Essex, Duke of Ormond, Marquis of 
 Halifax, Sir W. Temple, Duke of York, and his friends. 
 
 f Duchess — Anne Hyde, daughter of the 
 Earl of Clarendon. 
 Queen — Mary D'Este, Princess of Mo- 
 dena. 
 Children — Mai'y, married to "" 
 William of Nassau, who 
 jointly succeeded to the 
 crown. 
 Anne, afterwards queen, 
 married to George of 
 Denmark. 
 And several others, who 
 
 died young. 
 James, excluded from the 
 
 throne. 
 And several others, who 
 died young. 
 
 f She was called the Queen of Tears. " Her eyes became eternal 
 fountains of sorrow for that crown her own ill policy contributed to 
 lose." — Mark Noble. 
 
 X Richard Baxter was a man famous for weakness of body and 
 strength of mind ; for having the strongest sense of religion himself, 
 ;iml exciting a sense of it in others ; for preaching more sermons, 
 engaging in more controversies, and writing more books, than any other 
 
 1685.— James II.— 1688. < 
 
 By 
 
 Anne 
 Hyde. 
 
 By 
 
 Mary 
 D'Este.
 
 1685-1(588.] JAMES IT. 16! 
 
 The king s advisers of the Romish class 
 Meet the pope's legate, and observe the mass 
 And murmurs hence arising o'er the land, 
 Encourage Monmouth to a second stand*. 
 Relanding with few followers, ere long 
 His force redoubles by six thousand strong ; 
 But chance gives Feversham the conquering throw, 
 And struck at Sedgmore is the final blow. 
 
 non- conformist of his age. Baxter was tried before Jefferies for his 
 " Paraphrase on the New Testament." On his attempting to address the 
 court, the judge exclaimed — " Richard, Richard ! dost thou think we 
 will hear thee poison the court. Richard, thou art an old fellow, an 
 old knave ; thou hast written books enough to load a cart ; every one is 
 as full of sedition, as an egg is full of meat ; hadst thou been whipt out 
 of thy writing trade forty years ago, it had been happy : but by the 
 grace of God I will look after thee. I know thou hast a mighty party, 
 and I see a great many of the brotherhood in corners, waiting to see 
 what will become of their mighty Don ; and a doctor of the party (look- 
 ing at Dr. Bates) at your elbow, but by the grace of Almighty God 1 
 will crush you all." — State Trials. 
 
 * Monmouth's Public Declaration " charged James, Duke of York (for 
 so it styled the king), with the burning of the city, the death of Sir 
 Edmundbury Godfrey, the murder of Sidney and Lord Russell, with 
 the poisoning of the late king, and tearing his crown from his head : it 
 charged him also with being a slave to popish counsels, and with packing 
 the present parliament ; and that therefore he was come to revenge all 
 these things on the pretended king ; that ho would never hearken to 
 any terms until his work was completed, and that he was resolved to 
 give no quarter to those that opposed him. To this he subjoined, that 
 he had a just title to the crown, and that he would lay no claim to it 
 until he had called a free parliament ; that parliaments should sit every 
 year, nor be dismissed until all grievances were redressed ; and that he 
 would grant liberty of conscience to all manner of people, not excluding 
 even the Papists — and much more in the same strain." — Sir J. Reresby's 
 Memoirs. 
 
 \i
 
 162 ENGLAND. [1685-1688. 
 
 Captured is Monmouth — but his sorrows wring 
 No show of pity from the taunting king. 
 Stung by contempt, his wakened spirit rose, 
 And bore him yet a hero to the close ! 
 Thus Monmouth follows on the lost Argyle, 
 And seals his treason by the scaffold pile*. 
 
 Unsated Feversham and baser Kirke 
 Speed, in revenge, their half-accomplished work ; 
 With fire and sword the fugitives pursue, 
 And slaughter savagely the helpless few ! 
 Still incomplete the measures of the time, 
 And Jefferies sums the complement of crime f . 
 
 * Bp. Kennet, in the only account of the interview between Janus 
 and Monmouth, previous to his execution, which is considered as 
 authentic, says, " The king asked him several questions, and made him 
 sign a declaration that his father told him he was never married to his 
 mother." 
 
 Touched by pity, or unmanned by terror, at the noble presence of 
 Monmouth, the executioner struck him three times without effect, and 
 then threw aside the axe. declaring that he was unable to finish the 
 office. The sheriff obliged him to renew the attempt, and the duke's 
 head was severed from his body. 
 
 t The number of persons who suffered the sentence of the law, in tlie 
 famous Western assize of Jefferies, according to a list in the Harleian 
 Collection, is as follows : — At Winchester, 1 (Mrs. Lisle) executed. 
 At Salisbury, none. At Dorchester, 74 executed, 171 transported. At 
 Taunton, 144 executed, 284 transported. At Wells, 97 executed, 393 
 transported. In all, 330 executed, 855 transported. 
 
 An attorney seeing Jefferies in a cellar in the disguise of a sailor at 
 Wapping (as be was attempting to quit the kingdom) laid hold of him 
 and took him before the Lord Mayor, who was so frightened on Beeing 
 his old acquaintance, that lie Cell into a fit. Jefferies, it appears, was
 
 1685-1688.] JAMES II. 163 
 
 James toleration uses as a plea 
 To hopes ulterior in the Romish see. 
 Thus to dissenters he, at first, concedes 
 Freedom of prayer and liberty of creeds ; 
 Whilst they with benisons a king requite, 
 At once a tyrant and a hypocrite. 
 
 To Popery the Parliament opposed, 
 The King dissolved it, and their councils closed. 
 As James's fall was Louis'" secret hope, 
 As much as England's thraldom to the Pope, 
 He wilily incites him to pursue 
 His headlong object, with this double view. 
 
 The royal conscience bends to Peters' sway* — 
 Tyrconnel 's raised, and Ormond's swept away; 
 And Rochester and Clarendon -f displaced ; 
 
 While Papists with professorships are graced 
 
 never regularly called to the bar, but " having, by some means or other, 
 got a bar gown on his back," he began to practise with considerable 
 success. He even braved the plague for the sake of briefs, and in 1660 
 came into notice at the Kingston assizes, at which, on account of the 
 pestilence, very few counsel made their appearance.- — SeivarcVs Anec. 
 
 * The person called " Father Peters," was Edward Petre, the king's 
 confessor, who was at the head of the Jesuits, and whom James was 
 absurd enough to make a member of his privy council. He greatly 
 accelerated the downfall of the kins'. — Ellis. 
 
 + The second Lord Clarendon — son to the chancellor. 
 
 J The Pope Innocent XI. advised the king not to be too precipitate, 
 nor rashly attempt what repeated experience might convince him was 
 impracticable. The Spanish Ambassador Ronquillo, deeming the tran- 
 
 m 2
 
 164 ENGLAND. [1685-1688. 
 
 Nobly the Seven Churchmen take their stand. 
 Firm to the faith and ritual of the land ; 
 Charged with sedition, they await the doom 
 Of James's menace and the brand of Rome ; 
 Acquitted, free, they vindicate the cause, 
 And raise the mightier triumph of the laws *. 
 
 quillity of England necessary for the support of Spain, made similar 
 remonstrances. He observed to the king how busy the priests appeared 
 at court. " Is it not the custom in Spain," said James, " for the king to 
 consult with his confessor?" "Yes," replied the Ambassador, " and it 
 is for that very reason our affairs succeed so ill." 
 
 Cartwright, Bp. of Chester, has the following delectable passage in a 
 sermon published in this reign : 
 
 " Though the king should rend off the mantle from our bodies, as 
 Saul did from Samuel ; nay, though he should sentence us to death, of 
 which, blessed be God and the king, there is no danger ; yet if we are 
 living members of the Church of England, we must neither open our 
 mouths nor lift up our hands against him, but honour him before the 
 people and elders of Israel — neither must wc question his religious or 
 civil policy, for he is made our king by God's law, of which the law of 
 the land is only declarative." — Somers' Tracts. 
 
 * The king had even assumed the power of issuing a declaration of 
 indulgences. Finding the first was submitted to, he issued a second, 
 with an order that immediately after divine service, it should be read by 
 the clergy in all churches ; and hence arose the famous trial of the 
 seven bishops, on their refusal. Mr. Somers, one of the counsel for the 
 bishops, " displayed," says Granger, " an eloquence on that occasion 
 worthy of Athens or Rome, and an honest zeal for liberty no less worthy 
 those republics." Of Somers (afterwards Chancellor), Horace Walpole 
 says, he " was one of those divine men who, like a chapel in a palace, 
 remains unprofaned, whilst all the rest is tyranny, corruption, and folly." 
 
 The acquittal of the bishops was marked by the strongest demonstra- 
 tion of public joy. " Bonfires, illuminations, and other tokens of satis- 
 faction, were resorted to in the Metropolis. The church bells were set in 
 motion, and the churches were crowded by persons eager to testify their 
 gratitude. Portraits of the prelates were exhibited in the print-shops,
 
 1685-I688.] JAMES II. 165 
 
 By Churchill led, defection once began, 
 James is at home deserted, man by man ; 
 He, who his children-subjects had deceived, 
 Is now, of children of his blood bereaved ; 
 Him, his beloved — his fav'rite Anne — forsakes ; 
 And Danish George the common fear partakes. 
 In secret flight, the Queen to Calais past; 
 The King, himself, uninterrupted, last. 
 The English crown he subjects to attaint, 
 To be by Louis canonised a saint * ! 
 
 and they were grouped together in spiritual caricatures as the seven stars 
 and the seven golden candlesticks of the Protestant Churches." — Wil- 
 son's Memoirs of De Foe. 
 
 * "James being extremely restless (Oct. 23, 1688) ordered a weather- 
 cock to be placed where he might see it from his apartment, that he 
 might learn by his own eyes whether the wind was protestant or popish. 
 The E. wind was called Protestant, and the W. Popish." Seward's Anec. 
 " God help me," cried he, " my own children have deserted me." As 
 he was going to meet a council of peers for the last time, he was 
 met by the Earl of Bedford, father to Lord Russell, who had suffered 
 death in the late reign, at the instigation of James. When the King 
 saw him, he said, " My lord, you are a good man — you have much interest 
 with the peers ; you can do me service with them to-day." " I had 
 a son," returned the venerable earl, " who could have served your majesty 
 on this occasion." The king could return no answer. James survived 
 his dethronement ten years. With the exception of two attempts to 
 recover the crown, his time was spent in complete inactivity — hunting, 
 his amusement ; and an occasional visit to the monastery of La Trappe. 
 
 " And kings, when they descend to tyranny, 
 Dissolve the bond and leave the subject free !" 
 
 In this year was born James, afterwards known as the " Pretender ;" 
 on which occasion Dryden produced one of those panegyrics, adding 
 little to his renown as a poet, but detracting considerably from his
 
 166 ENGLAND. [1685-1688. 
 
 He flies to French protection : and the state 
 Becomes a void in — sixteen, eighty-eight. 
 
 character as a man. In the present small work, attempt has been made 
 not to give offence to any denomination of readers ; but an opinion is now 
 ventured, which will probably meet with the censure of some, namely, 
 that it would perhaps be difficult to point out, in the long descent of the 
 venal muse, one who has left so many examples of her besetting frailty 
 as Dryden. Religion, politics, or the claims of confidence, none were too 
 solemn, none so entitled to honour, as not to be reduced to the time- 
 service of the poet's pen : and though admiration for some of these dis- 
 plays as literary compositions has been sanctioned by custom, yet the 
 principal strain of these " occasional " efforts will be found nearly as 
 dull as the provocations themselves were ignoble. 
 
 The " Ode on the Death of Cromwell " and the " Astrsea Redux " 
 rather demonstrate the versatility of principle than poetry — of the man 
 than the bard — but at the same time prove that this distinguished per- 
 sonage could turn his mind to anything. Preferable to the " Annus 
 Mirabilis " only because not so tedious, the above odes represent, with 
 the " Britannia Rediviva," not indeed the pure stream of poetic imagery, 
 but a stagnant deposite of the Heliconic waters — or in other words, the 
 composition of Fancy becomes almost as offensive as the decomposition 
 of matter. As to the " Thrcnodia Augustalis" — it being a far more 
 melancholy affair than the " inconsolable event " the Pindaric elegises — 
 we may at least say in this respect, " materiem superabat opus :" the 
 poem must have weighed more heavily than the death of Charles. But 
 real and unaffected grief will follow the bard and the dramatist, the 
 writer of " Alexander's Feast," and the author of " All for Love " — 
 the great Dryden ! The mean adulation of the poet, which no poverty 
 could ever palliate, nor should any gratitude have exhibited, is incom- 
 parably worse than the flattery of the painter ; for while the limner but 
 gratifies the lesser of human vanities, the poet acting also the part of the 
 historian, Ids matter is of a higher nature, in which truth and fidelity 
 should be held inviolable. 
 
 The miserable pittance which such crooked policy produced this other- 
 wise great man and poet, could scarcely have made amends for the 
 obloquy he must have well known he was laying up against his good name : 
 nor even that scanty boon was lie suffered long to enjoy. 
 
 It remains only to submit to the reader a short extract from the 
 Pindaric which had its rise in the birth of Prince James.
 
 1685-1688.] JAMES II. 167 
 
 In the mean while, the Prince of Orange — he 
 Of Stuart blood and its affinity — 
 Takes with this double trust, a surer still, 
 The King of England at the people's will ! 
 
 " Last solemn sabbath saw the church attend, 
 The Paraclete in fiery pomp descend ; 
 But when his wondrous octave roll'd again, 
 He brought a royal infant in his train. 
 So great a blessing to so good a king, 
 None but th' Eternal Comforter could bring. 
 
 Or did the mighty Trinity conspire, 
 At once in council to create our sire ? 
 It seems as if they sent the new-born guest 
 To wait on the procession of their feast *, 
 And on their sacred anniverse decreed 
 To stamp their image on his promised seed.'' 
 
 But hear another extract : 
 
 The sacred cradle to your charge receive, 
 Ye seraphs, and by turns the guard relieve, 
 Thy father's angel and thy father join 
 To keep possession, and secure the line. 
 
 Another : 
 
 When humbly on the royal babe we gaze, 
 
 The manly lines of a majestic face 
 
 Give awful joy : 'tis paradise to look 
 
 On the fair frontispiece of Nature's book. 
 
 If the first opening page so charms the sight, 
 
 Think how the unfolded volume will delight. 
 
 See how the venerable infant lies 
 
 In early pomp — how through the mother's eyes 
 
 The father's soul, with an undaunted view, 
 
 Looks out and takes our homage as his due. 
 
 Not great j^Eneas " 
 
 But the reader will have seen enough to lament the kind of reputation 
 this mingles with the renown of Dryden. 
 
 Chief ministers during this reign — Earls of Sunderland and Tyrconnel 
 — Lord Jefferies — Lords Bellasis and Arundel — Earl of Middleton, 
 Viscount Preston. 
 
 * It appears that the young saint was born about the festival of the Holv 
 Trinity, 1688.
 
 168 ENGLAND. [1688-1702. 
 
 * William and Maryf. on the flight of James, 
 Are now invested in their mutual names + : 
 The "Bill of Rights §"— the Constitution fix'd, 
 Of the three parts, King, Lords, and Commons, mix'd. 
 
 Yet cold his onset ; unsure the result ; 
 Cautious and few the voices which exult — 
 Held are the royal followers by doubt 
 And recollection of the Monmouth rout. 
 
 < Queen Mary, the kind's cousin, daughter 
 M688.-W. a ™M.-1702.{ ofJame8 ? L 
 
 t The character of Queen Mary, by Burnet, is a delineation of every 
 female grace and virtue. 
 
 J A formal tender of the crown was made to William and Mary by 
 George Savile Marquis of Halifax, Speaker of the House of Lords in 
 the Convention Parliament. 
 
 § De Foe has these words, which at the present day become well 
 worthy remark : — " The Declaration of Rights of the people of England 
 has stabbed all sort of civil tyranny to the heart, and the English 
 monarchy is purged from all the dissenters complained of. I know but 
 one thing left that we have to ask of the government — the abolition of 
 tests, sacraments, and religious obligations at our admission to trusts in 
 the government." — Review. 
 
 The most important articles in the Declaration of Rights are the fol- 
 lowing : — The king cannot suspend the laws or their execution — he can- 
 not levy money without consent of parliament — the subjects have aright 
 to petition the crown — a standing army cannot be kept up in time of 
 peace but by consent of parliament— elections must be free, and parliaments 
 frequently assembled, &c. &c. 
 
 In 1703, the honour of the British flag had been much invaded, and 
 the only attempt made to retrieve was by Commodore Benbow — the 
 rough and brave old Benbow, whose name is still venerated by British 
 sailors. He appeared off St. Malo's with an insignificant squadron, 
 destroyed some privateers, and bombarded the town for three days.
 
 1688-1702.] WILLIAM AND MARY. 169 
 
 Allegiance still the Jacobites reject, 
 But the base Titus Oates regains respect. 
 Gordon surrendering, Scotland yields consent, 
 "Great Britain" owning William's government. 
 Still fealty, certain Highland chiefs forego, 
 And in the roll, Macdonald of Glencoe, 
 Whose savage murder, by the king's decree, 
 Records Glenlyon's inarch of infamy * ! " 
 
 * William, at the instigation of Sir J. Dalrymple, secretary for Scot- 
 land, signed a warrant of military execution against Macdonald and his 
 whole clan. It was put in force by his countryman, Campbell of Glenlyon, 
 who with the most savage barbarity accompanied it by a breach of hospita- 
 lity. Macdonald himself was shot with two bullets in the back part of the 
 head by one Lindsay, an officer whom he had entertained as his guest. 
 His tenants were murdered by the soldiers, to whom they had given free 
 quarters ; women were killed in defending their tender offspring ; and 
 boys in imploring mercy were butchered by the officers to whose knees 
 they clung. Inquiry into the Massacre of Glencoe. — Ralph. 
 
 " Glenlyon, 
 
 I pray you may have life stretch'd out beyond 
 The common span of mortals, to endure 
 The curse of Glencoe cleaving to your soul." 
 
 Serjt. Talfourd's " Glencoe." 
 William's hatred to the Scotch nation was as inveterate as Cromwell's. 
 He was judiciously called King of Holland and Stadtholder of England ; 
 adored at the Hague, he was disliked at Hampton Court. 
 
 De Foe — contra — " None are so forward," says he, " to clamour at the 
 cruelty of Glencoe, as those very men who have escaped justice in Scot- 
 laud and in England, for the far more barbarous massacres and cold- 
 blooded executions practised upon innocent subjects in the reigns of 
 Charles II. and James II. As the king was not further concerned in 
 Glencoe than as being the original of every commission given out to 
 execute necessary justice, he, or any other prince, may, when abused, in- 
 cur the blame of other men's actions. There are no other arguments to 
 clear up the reputation of Charles I. from being guilty of the Irish mas-
 
 170 ENGLAND. [1C88-1702. 
 
 By Louis back'd, infatuated James 
 In arms attempts reprisal of his claims ; 
 Tyrconnel, by Hibernia's flattering test, 
 Cheers his late master from the port of Brest ; 
 Straight from Kinsale to Dublin gates he tends : 
 The town receives him and the shouts of friends ; 
 Mingling the troops, the priesthood at his heels, 
 Borne is the host, and bigot Stuart kneels. 
 But 'gainst his march the Protestants support 
 With noble patience Londonderry fort ; 
 Raised is the siege ; disheart'ning, James's loss ; 
 Whilst William's subsidies the Channel cross. 
 
 sacre, than what will hold good to clear up the innocence of King Wil- 
 liam in the affair of Glencoe ; and when they will answer for the one, 
 I will answer for the other." 
 
 In the reign of King William, the Calves' Head Club was avowedly 
 suppoi'ted, which during the Restoration had been only privately ob- 
 served. Ward's account of it is this : " The place in which they met 
 was a blind alley in Moorfields, where an axe was hung up in the room 
 and was reverenced as a principal symbol in this diabolical sacrament. 
 Their bill of fare was a dish of calves' heads, dressed several ways, by 
 which they represented the king and his friends ; a large pike with a 
 small one in his mouth, as an emblem of tyranny — a large cod's head, by 
 which they pretended to represent the person of the king as bestial. 
 After the repast, one of the elders presented an ' Icon Basilike,' which 
 was with great solemnity burnt upon the table, whilst the anthems were 
 singing. After this was produced Milton's ' Defensio Populi Anglicani,' 
 upon which all laid their hands, and made protestation to maintain the 
 same. After the cloth was removed, the anniversary anthem, as they 
 called it, was sung, and a calf's skull filled with wine went round to the 
 pious memory of those patriots who had threatened the tyrant."
 
 1688-1702.] WILLIAM AND MARY. 171 
 
 Louis again his armament refits, 
 Which, Schomberg* scattering, James again submits ; 
 When — sixteen, ninety — William's forces join 
 The Duke's, to meet the Stuart on the Boynef . 
 The Irish regiments their adroitness miss, 
 Desert their federates, the French and Swiss ; 
 The King of England, leading the assault, 
 Seizes the moment of his foes at fault — 
 
 * Schomberg was descended of a noble family in the Palatinate. His 
 mother was an English woman, daughter of Lord Dudley. He had 
 served in Holland, England, France, Portugal, and Brandenburgh. He 
 obtained the dignities of Mareschal of France, Grandee in Portugal, 
 Generalissimo in Prussia, and Duke in England. 
 
 De Foe, to satirise his countrymen for their ingratitude in abusing 
 King William as a foreigner, and for their pride in despising the new 
 nobility, the Schombergs, the Keppels, and Bentincks, thus writes : 
 
 " These are the heroes who despise the Dutch, 
 And rail at new-come foreigners so much, 
 Forgetting that themselves are all derived 
 From the most scoundrel race that ever lived : 
 A horrid crowd of rambling thieves and drones 
 Who r.insack'd kingdoms and dispeopled towns — 
 The Pict and painted Briton, treach'rous Scot, 
 By hunger, theft, and rapine hither brought, 
 Norwegian pirates, buccaneering Danes, 
 Whose red-haired offspring everywhere remains, 
 Who, joined with Norman-French, composed the breed 
 From whence your ' True-Born Englishmen ' proceed." 
 
 (" True-Born Englishman.") 
 
 f William, the day before the battle of the Boyne, while reconnoi- 
 tring, was wounded by a ball from a field-piece, which having grazed on 
 the bank of the river, slanted upon his right shoulder and tore the flesh. 
 Some soldiers observing disorder among those who attended him, set 
 up a shout through their camp. The report of William's death flew 
 presently to Dublin, and thence spread not only to Paris, where the 
 people expressed their joy by bonfires and illuminations, but through 
 the whole of Europe.
 
 172 ENGLAND. [1688-1702. 
 
 Fortune he plucks : while ill-starr'd James discerns, 
 Aloof, from Dunmore's hill, his slaughter^ kernes. 
 Great was the havoc, and dear-bought the gain 
 To William's camp, with gallant Schomberg slain. 
 
 As vain, five thousand of the rebel youth 
 Hold out at Lim'rick, on the fall of Ruth*. 
 Stuart escapes, — whereon the king requites 
 The suff ring Papists with their former rights ; 
 James's scant followers are to France betray'd, 
 And form therein the " Irish Brigade." 
 
 With hope, once more, the fugitive was flushed, 
 Which Russell at La Hogue for ever crushed f; 
 Beaten were James and Tourville on the waste, 
 And Stuart pensioner on France replaced. 
 
 William, now Captain-General o'er allies, 
 The haughty monarch of the French defies. 
 Various his fortunes in the Netherlands, 
 Till Namur falls into the conqueror's hands ; 
 But bred in camps, — on glory too intent, — 
 He wakes the jealousy of Parliament. 
 
 * St. Ruth ; who had been sent over from France to take the com- 
 mand of tlie Irish forces. 
 
 f The French in 1 G92, two years before Russell's victory of La Ilogue, 
 had assumed the motto, " Imperium pelagi," in consequence of their 
 success off Beaehy Head, which was now Hung back upon them, in the 
 following : 
 
 " Maturate fugam, regiquc liscc dicite vestro, 
 Nun illi Emporium pelagi."
 
 1688-1702.] WILLIAM AND MARY. 173 
 
 Regard, the denizen to England bore, 
 
 But hate and jealousy to Louis, more : 
 
 The subjects' good his heart but sickly vvarni'd ; 
 
 But valour, arms, and French invasion charm'd : 
 
 Means he extorted ; appetent of gold, 
 
 A military system to uphold : 
 
 The Whig or Tory his alternate friend, 
 
 As each compliance to his hope might lend : 
 
 Mart, commerce, tillage ; to one purpose, all 
 
 Were coveted : destruction to the Gaul ! 
 
 Wide through the land the devastation made 
 By coin debased, embarrass'd port and trade ; 
 To this, the revenue's resources low, 
 But gave to credit a severer blow. 
 
 Closed is the war, and sued-for treaty given, 
 Confirm'd at Ryswick, — sixteen, ninety-seven : — 
 A war in slender policy begun, 
 And slenderer still in acquisition, spun ! 
 But the proud Louis undertakes to own 
 William's just title to the English crown. 
 
 In 1694 the Bank of England was established at the suggestion of a 
 Mr. Pattison, and incorporated the next year, upon advancing the govern- 
 ment the sum of 1,200,000/. 
 
 In this year also died the queen. The reader is here offered a 
 passage from De Foe (Review). "Ever since the French match of 
 Charles I., the policy of that court has always too much influenced ours. 
 To the alliance with the French, we owe many of the misfortunes of the
 
 174 ENGLAND. [1688-1702. 
 
 And now that Act of Parliament is framed 
 By which succession to the crown is named ; 
 
 royal family — the introduction of popery into the Chapel Royal, where it 
 raised feuds between the king and his consort. To this we owe the 
 custom of marrying papists, and the misfortunes of England in three 
 papist queens successively, Englandn ever having had but one protestant 
 queen consort from the time of Henry VIII. to the late Queen Mary, 
 being above 150 years. To this French influence we owe Irish mas- 
 sacres, English plots, counterplots, and court intrigues. To this we owe 
 the loss of Dunkirk— to this, the debauching our court by French 
 example. In the French court James sucked in the unhappy principles 
 of popery and arbitrary power. It is hardly fit for me to express how 
 they turned Charles II. round in his affairs,— how they prompted him 
 to clash with his people,— kept him dependent on them, — always taking 
 care to make it dear enough to England. This to the eternal shame of 
 this nation, the intolerable interruption of our trade, and the ruin of our 
 merchants." 
 
 There were at this time four conspicuous monarchs in Europe — Louis 
 XIV., Peter I., Charles XII., and William II J. 
 
 Peter and William met at Utrecht ; and the czar having expressed an 
 earnest desire to pass into England, the Icing ordered three men-of-war 
 and a yacht, under the command of an admiral, to conduct him to the 
 Thames. Evelyn, in his Diary, dated 30th January, 1 698, enters " The 
 Czar of Muscovy being come to England, and having a mind to see the 
 building of ships, hired my house at Say's Court, and made it his court." 
 Evelyn had made this house, which was close to the dock-yard at Dept- 
 ford, a beautiful place, and had bestowed great pains ou the gardens, &c. 
 The hard-drinking, half-civilised Muscovites made a said havoc, not 
 even respecting a magnificent hedge-row of hollies, which was very dear 
 tn the old owner's heart. Whilst the czar was in his house, one of 
 Evelyn's servants writes to him : — " There is a house full of people, and 
 right nasty. The czar lies next your library, and dines in the parlour 
 next your study. He dines at ten o'clock and six at night ; is very sel- 
 dom at home a whole day : very often in the king's yard, or by water, 
 dressed in several dresses. The king is expected there this day : the 
 best parlour is pretty clean for him to be entertained in. The king pays 
 f'nr all he has." After the departure of Fetor, Evelyn himself deplores 
 the miserable condition in which the czar had left his house. 
 
 In 1701 Prussin was erected into a kingdom. Frederick, in an assem-
 
 1688-1702.] WILLIAM AND MARY. 175 
 
 Such to Sophia the Electress grants, 
 And her descendants — being Protestants. 
 
 In — seventeen, two — by an untimely chance 
 Dies William*, on the eve of war with France — 
 
 bly of the states of the empire, and by the emperor's (Leopold) consent, 
 placed a crown on his head and was acknowledged King of Prussia by 
 all other potentates of Europe. 
 
 * It is said that William even agreed to the request of Louis to obtain 
 a repeal of the Act of Settlement, and to obtain another act declaring the 
 pretended Prince of Wales his successor ; but James indignantly rejected 
 the offer of rendering elective an hereditary crown. — Depot des Affaires 
 Etrangeres a Versailles. 
 
 The death of John Sobieski taking place in 1696, the throne of Poland 
 became vacant, and James was mentioned as a candidate. Louis also, 
 in this instance, offered to promote his election ; but James alleged that 
 his acceptance of such an offer would be an abdication of the English 
 sovereignty. 
 
 Smollett thus sums up William's character : — " He was a fatalist in 
 religion, enterprising in politics, dead to all the warm and generous emo- 
 tions of the human heart, a cold relation, an indifferent husband, a dis- 
 agreeable man, an ungrateful prince, and an imperious sovereign." But 
 Smollett having held the deposition of King James an unpardonable 
 crime, is perhaps induced to be too severe. How he could merit the 
 character of an indifferent husband is not easily to be understood. We 
 have many proofs to the contrary. 
 
 " William III.," says a modern writer, " was the first of our rulers 
 that really solved the problem of constitutional monarchy ; and since this 
 solution, the duties of our princes have been easy and natural." And 
 it is only justice to insert here the following lines, forming part of a 
 description of William's character. 
 
 " He was, 
 Rut is no more — 
 J'he Head, Heart, and Hand 
 
 Of the Confederacy! 
 
 The Assertor of Liberty ! 
 
 The Deliverer of Nations ! 
 
 The Bulwark of Holland ! 
 
 The Preserver of Britain ! 
 
 The Reducer of Ireland! 
 
 And the Tenor of Prance ! "
 
 176 ENGLAND. [! 702-1 714. 
 
 War, for the diadem's descent in Spain, 
 On termination of th' existing reign. 
 
 *Anna succeeds ; and this same war proclaims 
 On Spain and France, who join the son of James ; 
 Unpopular her council f, though the " States" 
 And Emperor formed the queen's confederates. 
 
 Chief ministers during this reign. — Lord Somers — Lord Godolphin — 
 Duke of Leeds — Earl of Sunderland — Montague, Earl of Halifax — Earl 
 of Pembroke — Viscount Lonsdale — Earl of Oxford, &c. &c. 
 
 r Consort, Prince George of Denmark. — Anne 
 
 | had many children, but they were all born 
 
 J sickly. Of thi'ee daughters and two sons, only 
 
 * 1702.— Anne.— 1714. { Qne ( the D uke of Gloucester) lived to be 
 
 I eleven years old. Of others, some were 
 ^ still-born, and the rest died iu infancy. 
 
 Prince George had remained for a time with James II., who, com- 
 plaining of the desertion of his nobility, the prince constantly replied, 
 " Est-il possible ? " At length he joined the rest and left the unhappy 
 monarch, who, when told of it, said, " What ! is Est-il possible gone 
 too ? " 
 
 Prince George died 1708, Lord High Admiral. The first who held 
 this office in England was John De Vcre, Earl of Oxford, 1485. 
 
 According to the bitter and malicious Duchess of Marlborough, Anne 
 was not quite inconsolable at her husband's death. Her grace observes, 
 " The queen's friendships were flames of extravagant passion, ending in 
 indifference or aversion. Her love to the prince seemed in the eyes of 
 the world to be prodigiously great. But if the passion of grief were, 
 great, her stomach was much greater ; for that very day ho died, she 
 eat three very large and hearty meals ; so that one might think, that as 
 grief takes away the appetite of others, her appetite might have an equal 
 effect over her grief." — (Coxe's Cojiies of Marlb. Pap. in Brit. 
 Museum.) 
 
 f The leading members of the administration, during the early pari 
 of this reign, were the Whig Lords Godolphin, Somers, Sunderland, Cow- 
 per, Halifax, and the Duke of Marlborough. The most distinguished of 
 the opposition Tories, were the Dukes of Ormond and Buckingham, the
 
 1702-1714.] ANNE. 177 
 
 For, on ambitious Louis, England drew 
 The Dutch and Germans in one common view. 
 Fired was the monarch of the French to find 
 Against his sceptre these in arms combined : 
 Mostly, the Dutch — on whom he casts his jibe, 
 " Unworthy Louis' ire, the ' pedlar 1 tribe ! "' 
 Impatient now for vengeance, he descries 
 On William's death a kindlier prospect rise. 
 William was feared ; — but heavier far the sum 
 Of French discomfort in the days to come. 
 
 Taught byTurenne,accomplish'd Marlborough leads 
 The early struggle by the Flemish meads* ; 
 
 Earls of Rochester, Wharton, and Dartmouth, Sir Simon Harcourt, Mr. 
 St. John (afterwards Lord Bolingbroke), and Harley (afterwards Earl 
 of Oxford). 
 
 " What was a matter of hope to them (the Whigs, says Cunningham) 
 seemed to the Tories a dangerous tempest ready to break upon the 
 church. To such a height did they carry their frenzy as to burst out 
 in all manner of indecencies against the queen. Of whom it was said, 
 
 " When she was the church's daughter, 
 She acted as her mother taught her ; 
 But, now she's mother to the church 
 She has left her daughter in the lurch." 
 
 * For his success on Liege, &c. in this year (1702), John Churchill 
 was created Duke of Marlborough. 
 
 In 170;5 died the prisoner with the Iron Mask, in the Bastille at 
 Paris. The identity of this unfortunate man is not yet clearly deter- 
 mined. By some he is said to have been the twin brother of Louis XIV., 
 by others, the son of Cardinal Mazarin, by Louis's mother, Anne of 
 Austria. By some he is said to have been Foucquet, a statesman in the 
 time of Louis, and according to Mr. Agar Ellis, he was Count Matthioli, 
 Secretary of State to Charles III., Duke of Mantua. 
 
 N
 
 178 ENGLAND. [1702-1/14. 
 
 Reaps his green laurel, from the Gallic ranks 
 By Villeroy marshall'd on the Rhenish banks. 
 
 Next on the Danube, with the Prince Eugene, 
 He stirs the battle — that unslumbering scene : 
 Bavaria's troops augment the French account, 
 And sixty thousand crowd on Blenheim's mount ; 
 Firm the battalia, and the veteran nerve 
 Of brave Tallard, till now unused to swerve ; 
 But by the trial, brighter still the beam 
 Which sunnM the hero on the Danube stream* ! 
 
 In the meanwhile, in Charles of Austria's name-f- 
 The arms of England purchase Spanish fame, 
 
 * This was one of the completest victories ever obtained by any 
 general ; but was not purchased without considerable loss on the part 
 of the allies. " Such," says Voltaire, " was the celebrated battle which 
 the French call the battle of Ilochstet, the Germans Plentheim, and the 
 English Blenheim. The conquerors had about 5000 killed and 8000 
 wounded, the greater part being on the side of Prince Eugene. The 
 French army was almost entirely destroyed ; of (i0,000 men so long 
 victorious, there never re-assembled more than 20,000 effective. About 
 12,000 killed, 14,000 prisoners, all the cannon, a prodigious number of 
 colours and standards, all the tents and equipages, the general of the 
 army, and 1200 officers of mark, in the power of the conqueror, signa- 
 lised that day. The fugitives dispersed in all directions — more than 
 100 leagues of country were lost in less than one month. The news of 
 the defeat arrived at Versailles 'in the midst of the rejoicings for the 
 birth of a great-grandson of Louis XIV. Nobody dared inform the 
 king of so cruel a truth. Madame do Maintenon was obliged to tell his 
 majesty that he was no longer invincible." 
 
 + A great part of the kingdom of Spain had declared in favour of 
 Philip IV., grandson of Louis XIV., who had been nominated successor 
 by the late King of Spain's will ; but by a former treaty amongst the
 
 1702-1714.] ANNE. 179 
 
 Where the transcendent Peterborough* treads, 
 And new renown o'er old Iberus sheds. 
 
 powers of Europe, Charles of Austria was appointed heir to that crown, 
 and this treaty had been guaranteed by France herself. 
 
 * No apology has been thought necessary for the length of the following 
 spirited sketch by Noble, of this extraordinary man, Charles Mordaunt, 
 Earl of Peterborough. " He was one of the strangest compounds that 
 nature ever produced. Of great ancestry, a peer by creation, as well as 
 afterwards by descent, yet in his youth he seemed to disregard decency and 
 the greatest of moral obligations. Graceful and elegant in his manners 
 and person, and a favourite with the muses, he seemed emulous to mix 
 only with the rough, brave tars of the ocean. Leaving the navy, he 
 charmed the senate with his oratory. Disgusted with James II. 's 
 government, he obtained a command of part of the Dutch fleet : but 
 William III. brought him back to England, where he became a military 
 officer, yet a councillor to his majesty. Under Anne he was a con- 
 queror, and Spain would have been transferred from the Bourbon to 
 the Austrian family, if Charles had attended as much to fighting as to 
 bull feasting. Never was a braver or more skilful general. He 
 astonished the proud Spaniards — the patient German — and the sprightly 
 French saw themselves excelled in courage, celerity, and stratagem. 
 Even at home his pen vindicated his sword ; and at the change of the 
 queen's ministry, he blazed forth a knight of the garter, and as nego- 
 tiator in all the Italian courts. ' He saw moi*e kings and postilions 
 than any man in Europe.' Under the two first Georges, he became a 
 conspicuous Whig. In these reigns he employed his time more as a 
 wit than a politician. He was insufferably haughty and loved popularity. 
 A correspondent of Pope and Swift, and gifted in all that learning and 
 genius could bestow, yet he delighted to declaim in coffee-houses, where 
 the stupid stare of astonishment was all his reward. They who blamed 
 could not but admire him. Even the cynic Swift, after remarking that 
 at sixty he was more spirited than the young, adds — ' I love the hang- 
 dog dearly.' An avowed atheist, he gained the admiration of the friends 
 of revealed religion. He was like no other human being, yet all human 
 beings admired his sense, his wit, and his courage. He died at Lisbon, 
 aged 77, 1735. His second wife was the accomplished Anastasia 
 Robinson, the daughter of an artist. She was an opera-singer and 
 teacher of music, yet she resisted all the earl's advances towards an 
 illicit connexion." 
 
 n 2
 
 130 ENGLAND. [1702-1714. 
 
 Illustrious captain ! — he, whose youthful hands 
 Had strippVl the Moor upon his Afric sands : 
 He, who was foremost of that zealous sect, 
 The Glorious Revolution, to effect ! 
 Valentia's gained and Barcelona won, 
 Granada, Carthagena, Aragon ! 
 Noble as brave, the war was his alone, 
 And Charles his debtor for the Spanish throne. 
 But Galway now succeeding to the post 
 Of him recalled, these early trophies lost ; 
 Fierce at Almanza is the new-born fray — 
 Berwick attacks — the Portuguese give way — 
 And to King Philip's rule, the whole of Spain, 
 Save Catalonia, is reduced again. 
 
 A prize, six galleons, Rooke* and Ormond reap, 
 Of Spanish craft on the Biscayan deep. 
 Thence, on Gibraltar's precipice (the key 
 To the rich countries, by the midland sea) 
 
 * The following is an anecdote of Captain Rooke. When lie was 
 stationed on the Essex coast, the ague proved fatal to many of his crew, 
 whose bodies were sent ashore and interred by the clergyman of a 
 contiguous parish for some time without tin payment of the burial fees. 
 These were at length peremptorily demanded, and accompanied by a 
 declaration that no more could be granted Christian burial unless the 
 dues were discharged. Rooke, exasperated, ordered the body of the 
 next man who died to be placed upon the tabic of the clergyman's kitchen. 
 Alarmed and disgusted, the priest sent a messenger to inform the naval 
 officer that if he would convey away the lifeless inmate, " He would 
 readily bury him and the whole ship's crew for nothing." — Noble.
 
 1702-1714.] ANNE. 181 
 
 The admiral thunders : on the signal shout 
 The British seamen master the redoubt, 
 Their vital object, 'twixt the mole and town, 
 And conquering tear the Spanish ensign down : 
 Hesse *, the meanwhile, disarms the inland gates, 
 And the whole garrison capitulates : 
 A gem more lasting though of milder blaze 
 Than lit the chronicles of A nna's days. 
 
 Villeroy next yielding Ramilies, the lands 
 Of Brabant are reduced to Marlborough's hands : 
 Fertile as vast : and in the Belgic train 
 Of princely cities, Brussels and Louvain. 
 
 In — seventeen, seven — the " Union," long discuss'd, 
 Scotland concedes, but in no cordial trust : 
 In England's parliament is merged her own ; 
 Her laws untouched, but subject to the throne t. 
 
 Marlborough, Vendome at Oudenarde subdued ; 
 Malplaquet following, — that field of blood ! 
 
 * The Prince of Hesse. 
 
 f Swift thus commences his satirical lines on the Union : 
 
 " The queen has lately lost a part 
 Of her entirely English heart ; 
 For want of which, by way of botch, 
 
 She pieced it up again with Scotch." 
 
 This union was long unpopular, and many pretend to trace the 
 rebellions of 1715 and 1745 up to this measure — arguments, when the 
 reader may meet with them, which will appear perhaps more dexterous 
 than direct.
 
 182 ENGLAND. [1702-1714. 
 
 Stoops the French king again to England's queen, — 
 Villars again, to Marlborough and Eugene ! 
 
 Pursuing thus successes to the close 
 The Duke is tented by his jealous foes. 
 Tired of the strife, — its burden, — its applause, 
 The people murmur and condemn the cause. 
 The Duke, a Whig*, since first the reign began, 
 Urging the late hostilities of Anne, 
 Returns victorious from the foreign broil, 
 To be defeated on his native soil. 
 For, on his fall, the Tory party prone, 
 Their opportunity but wait alone, 
 Lest by vexatious charges they offend 
 The States of Holland, chiefly England's friend. 
 Too soon th' occasion rises on the wing, 
 And 'gainst the Duke their accusations bring, 
 
 * Whig and Tory. " Two creatures who are born with a secret 
 antipathy to each other, and engage as naturally when they meet, as the 
 elephant and rhinoceros." — See the Spectator, No. 50. 
 
 In 1707, the ahle and distinguished Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovel 
 was lost on the Scilly rocks, and all on board his ship perished. In the 
 prayer prepared by Archbishop Tennison, in the April of this year, 
 imploring a blessing on our arms, was an unguarded expression, beseech- 
 ing God to be "the rock of our might." This gave occasion to the 
 following vez^ses, said to have been laid on Sir Cloudesley's tomb : 
 
 " As Lambeth pray'd, so was the dire event, 
 Else we bad wanted hero a monument, 
 That to our fleet kind Heaven would be a rock; 
 Nor did kind Heaven the meek petition mock. 
 To what the metropolitan did pen, 
 The bishop and Ins clerks replied, Amen !"
 
 1702-1714.] ANNE. 183 
 
 Of gains ill gotten — speculations base — 
 
 And Marlborough* yields his patronage and place : 
 
 * The great influence which the duke obtained under Queen Anne, 
 arose in part from the intrigues of his wife, Sarah Jennings. She is 
 described as a woman of little knowledge, but of clear apprehension and 
 sound judgment; a warm and hearty friend, but violent and sudden in 
 her resolutions. This temper made Swift remark, that the duke was 
 indebted to her both for his rise and downfall. Pope's character of 
 Atossa was designed for her. When these lines were shown to her 
 Grace, as if intended for the Duchess of Buckingham, she abruptly 
 stopped the reader and said, " I cannot be so imposed on ; I see plainly 
 enough for whom they are designed." Like her husband, she was ex- 
 tremely avaricious. Her rapacity having rendered her unpopular, she 
 gave Hooke, the historian, a large sum of money to write a book in her 
 defence, containing an account of her connexion with the cpieen. She 
 died in 1 744, quite worn out with age and infirmities. 
 
 The duke, with the exception of some frailties, was undoubtedly the 
 greatest man of his age. His person was lofty, his features manly, and 
 his deportment gracious. In the varied equalities of a soldier he wag 
 without a parallel. As a statesman, he conducted business with dex- 
 terity, ease, and eufficiency. To sum up the character of this great man, 
 Kiuff William said of him, that he had the coolest head and the warmest 
 heart of any man he ever knew. Lord Chesterfield, after admitting 
 that his manner was irresistible either by man or woman, says that 
 he was extremely illiterate ; wrote bad English and spelled it worse. 
 Swift, to whom he was opposed in politics, and who pursued him with 
 a terrific satire after his death, says that he was as covetous as hell, 
 and as ambitious as the prince of it. Indeed his avarice was insatiable. 
 
 Voltaire says, that when he was in England, such was the violence of 
 party, that he heard people call Marlborough a coward, and Pope a block- 
 head. In the course of the debate on the Marlborough achievements, 
 Lord Paulet, a member of the Tory cabinet, hinted that the duke never 
 exposed himself in bailie, while he exposed his njficers in order to benefit 
 by their death. " No one," said Paulet, " can doubt the courage of the 
 Duke of Ormond—he is not like a certain general who led troops to the 
 slaughter, and got officers knocked on the head, in order to fill his pockets 
 by the sale of their commissions." Which does the reader admire most, 
 the elegance of the attack or the truth of it ? However, the duke sent 
 the lord a challenge, and Paulet, who could talk of courage, took care
 
 184 ENGLAND. [1702-1714. 
 
 Ten his campaigns— as oft his glory great — 
 And Ormond* occupies his voided state. 
 
 Keen to the growing confidence between 
 Th' expectant Tories and the wavering queen, 
 
 to let his wife know ho was about to fight a duel. The consequence 
 was, Lord Dartmouth placed two sentinels at his door, and told his lord- 
 ship he was under arrest, and so the affair ended. 
 
 But in conclusion, the reader is offered the following lines from 
 Claudian (de Laud. Stilic), which had been long applied to the great 
 Duke of Marlborough, and in which he may find some satisfaction for 
 the length of the above annotations. 
 
 " Omnia in hoc uno variis discordia cessit 
 Ordiuibus : lsetatur eques, plauditque senator, 
 Votaquc patricio certant plebeia favori." 
 
 At the accession of George I., Marlborough was restored to favour, 
 and took part in the defeat of the rebellion in 1715. He died at Wind- 
 sor Lodge in 1722. 
 
 Amongst the affronts to the queen at this time, (1710), the old cavalier 
 song, composed during the exile of Charles II. was revived, viz : 
 
 " Now the Tories reign, 
 Our hopes revive again, 
 And the revolution rogueries shall conic down ; 
 Awn, ye Whigs, awa ! 
 For we hope to see the day, 
 When Jemmy, bonny Jemmy shall regain his crown." 
 
 De Foe says, that the version at the more private parties was this : 
 
 ' l For we hope to see the day, 
 When the queen shall run away, 
 And Jemmy, bonny Jemmy, shall regain his crown." 
 
 * Ormond is thus described (1700) by Macky : " He is certainly one 
 of the most generous, princely, brave men, that ever was, but good- 
 naturcd to a fault : loves glory, and is consequently beset by flatterers : 
 never knew how to refuse anybody, which was the reason why he ob- 
 tained so little from King William, asking for everybody. He bath all 
 the qualities of a great man, except that one of a statesman, hating busi- 
 ness : l<>\ ■ .-. and is beloved by the ladies: of a low stature, but well 
 ihaped : a good mien andaddress : a fair complexion and very beautiful 
 
 face
 
 1702-1714. J ANNE. 185 
 
 Harley* to Mashamf gives the subtle clew, 
 And SachVrell's J farce the cabinet overthrew. 
 
 * The character of Robert Harley is thus described by Macky. " He 
 is a gentleman of good family in Herefordshire, who hath taken a great 
 deal of paius to understand the constitution of this country. He was 
 active for the Revolution, but being misunderstood at court, and in the 
 House of Commons, he openly voted against the principles he had always 
 professed, when he said the court did not gratify him so well as he thought 
 he deserved. He is skilled in most things and very eloquent— was bred a 
 presbyterian, yet joins with the church parly in everything. He never 
 fails to have a clergyman of each sort at his table on Sunday. His 
 family go generally to the meeting. He is of low stature and slender — 
 turned of forty." The reader will observe, that Macky speaks of affairs 
 in 1 708. 
 
 + Abigail Mashani was the daughter of Mr. Hill, a rich merchant, 
 who married the sister of Mr. Jennings, father of the Duchess of Marl- 
 borough. 
 
 X Henry Sacheverell, in a sermon preached at St. Paul's, took occasion 
 to inveigh against the ministry, the dissenters, and low church. He de- 
 fended the doctrine of non-resistance, declaring the established religion to 
 be in danger. Sacheverell was impeached — the trial continued for three 
 weeks, when he was found guilty. He was prohibited from preaching 
 for three years, and his sermon was burnt. The reader may find some 
 amusement in the account given of him by the Duchess of Marlborough 
 — she says, in nearly the following terms, but somewhat more at length : 
 " It must be owned, that a person more fitted for a tool could not have 
 been picked out of the whole nation. For he had not learning enough to 
 write or speak true English, but a heap of bombast, which would do ex- 
 ceedingly well with such as he was to move. He had a haughty, inso- 
 lent air, which made his presence more imposing in public. His person 
 was framed well for the purpose, and he dressed well. A good assurance, 
 clean gloves, white handkerchief well managed, with othersuitableaccom- 
 plishnients, moved the hearts of many at his appearance, and the solemnity 
 of a trial added much to a pity, which had nothing in reason or justice 
 to support it. The weaker part of the ladies were more like mad or be- 
 witched than like persons in their senses. Several eminent clergymen, 
 who despised the man in their hearts, were engaged to stand publicly by 
 him in the face of the world, as if the poor Church of England were now 
 tried in him."
 
 18G ENGLAND. [1702-1714. 
 
 Harley and St. John in its place combine, 
 
 And — seventeen, thirteen — peace at Utrecht* sign. 
 
 No sooner sealed this treaty, than disdain, 
 Each for each other, seized the Tory twain 
 Oxford and Bolingbroke ; whose mutual doubt 
 More danger brought them than assaults without. 
 Thus vexed by factions upon ev'ry side, 
 This, last of Stuarts — seventeen, fourteen — died-f* . 
 
 * By this treaty, peace was made with France and Spain. It was 
 stipulated that Philip (who, by the forces of the Duke of Vendorae, had 
 been restored to the throne of Spain) should renounce all eventual right 
 to the crown of France, as his brother should to the crown of Spain — the 
 Dutch obtained an extension of frontier — the emperor, a great part of 
 Spanish Flanders — the English gained from Spain, Gibraltar and 
 Minorca ; and from France, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Hudson's 
 Bay ; with one term most humbling to the latter — the demolition of the 
 harbour of Dunkirk. 
 
 f The violent Whigs said, " High Church Anne died, like an old 
 Roman, to pave her people ;" meaning that had she survived, her measures 
 would have been fatal to the Protestant succession. The Elector had 
 in his youth, not very honourably, left the British shore to marry the ill- 
 fated Dorothea, his cousin, when he had expressly visited England to 
 marry her majesty, then the Lady Anne. 
 
 A new vault had been made in Henry VII. 's Chapel to receive the 
 body of Charles 1 1., in which were placed also the bodies of Queen Mary, 
 King William HI., and George Prince of Denmark. Here also the 
 remains of Queen Anne were deposited, and the vault was closed on the 
 last of the Stuarts. 
 
 Misfortunes of the Stuarts, comprehending 390 years : 
 
 Robert III. broke bis heart because his eldest sou Robert was starved 
 to death, and his youngest James made captive. 
 
 James L, after having beheaded three of his nearest kindred, was 
 nnated by his own uncle, who was tortured to death for it. 
 
 James i I. was killed by the bursting of a cannon. 
 
 .James III. when flying from battle was thrown from his horse, and 
 murdered in ;i cottage, into which he had been carried for assistance.
 
 1702-1714.] 
 
 ANNE. 
 
 187 
 
 James IV. fell in Flodden Field. 
 
 James V. died of grief for the wilful ruin of his army at Solway Moss. 
 Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was blown up in his lodging. 
 Mary Stuart was beheaded. 
 
 James VI. died, with suspicion of being poisoned. 
 Charles I. was beheaded. 
 Charles II. exiled. 
 James II. lost his crown. 
 Anne died of a broken spirit. 
 And the posterity of James have died, wanderers in a foreign land. 
 The following is a list of the principal illustrious persons who flourished 
 
 in this reign : 
 
 
 
 Duke of Marlborough 
 
 Sir W. Temple 
 
 Young 
 
 Lord Peterborough 
 
 Dryden 
 
 Parnell 
 
 Lord Oxford 
 
 Swift * 
 
 Arbuthnot 
 
 Lord Bolingbroke 
 
 Addison 
 
 Otway 
 
 Lord Bathurst 
 
 Pope 
 
 Rowe 
 
 Lord Carteret 
 
 Prior 
 
 Newton f 
 
 Duke of Argyle 
 
 Congreve 
 
 Locke 
 
 Lord Anglesea 
 
 Gay 
 
 Boyle 
 
 Earl of Dorset 
 
 Garth 
 
 Berkeley 
 
 Lord Roscommon 
 
 Steele 
 
 Atterbury 
 
 Lord Halifax 
 
 Wycherley 
 
 ■ Tillotson 
 
 Sir W. Wyndham 
 
 Vanbrugh 
 
 &c. &c. 
 
 Sir T. Hanmer 
 
 Southerne 
 
 
 * " O thou ! whatever title please thine ear, 
 Dean, Drapier, Bickerstaft', or Gulliver ! 
 Whether thou choose Cervantes' serious air, 
 Or laugh and shake in Rabelais' easy chair, 
 Or praise the court, or magnify mankind, 
 Or thy grieved country's copper chains unbind." 
 
 t Newton established by demonstration that system of the universe 
 which bad been reproduced by Copernicus. He demonstrated the great 
 law of nature, by which every particle of matter tends towards the centre 
 and the planets are retained in their course : 
 
 Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night — 
 God said " Let Newton he !" and all was light. 
 
 His Principles of the Mathematics are founded on the discovery of what 
 
 is called the calculation of infinities, or the infinitesimal calculus. This 
 
 occasioned the observation of Halley, " That it will never be permitted 
 
 any mortal to approach nearer to the Deity."
 
 188 ENGLAND. [1702-1714. 
 
 The above list of names, illustrious chiefly in literature, as connected 
 with this age, suggests the propriety of taking a short review of the 
 history of English poetry from its early dawn down to the period of Queen 
 Anne. Robert of Gloucester appears to have been amongst the very 
 earliest rhymesters — he is quoted by Camden and Selden &c, and lived 
 in the time of Henry II. As a specimen of his writing, the reader is 
 referred to a note subjoined to the reign of William II. in the present 
 volume. The first poet, however, of any considerable fame was Robert 
 de Langland (Edward III). He was the author of a Satire, called 
 " The Vision of Piers the Plowman." Selden, in his notes on Drayton's 
 " Polgolbiou," quotes him with respect. Sir John Gower follows, 
 (Richard II.) a man of family and learning. The reader will perhaps 
 not forget his Latin lines on Wat Tyler's men, mentioned in the present 
 history. Chaucer, " the morning star of English poetry," as denomi- 
 nated by Denham, was born (Edward III.) : by marriage, he was said to 
 have become the brother-in-law of John of Gaunt. " The Canterbury 
 Tales " form his chief production. John Lidgate,the Monk of Bury, wasof 
 the same period, and disciple of the above. Then follow : Thomas Oc- 
 cleve or Okeleafe (Henry V.), John Harding (Edward IV.), Alexander 
 Barclay (Henry VII.): the principal work of ihe latter was a satirical 
 piece entitled " The Ship of Fools," exposing the vices and follies of all 
 degrees of men : and Robert Fabian (Henry VIII). John Skelton was 
 poet laureat to Henry. He indulged his power of satire unwisely 
 against the great Cardinal, and was compelled to secrete himself. Another 
 poet, William Roy, appears to have committed the same offence (vide 
 Henry VIII. of the present volume). To him, succeeds the illustrious 
 Earl of Surrey — illustrious, brave, and accomplished ! The beautiful 
 Geraldine, maid of honour to Queen Catherine, first inspired his muse. 
 Nor was he less brilliant in the field of Mais, which the glory he 
 acquired at Flodden commemorates. His fate, it will be recollected, 
 is noticed in this volume. Sir Thomas Wyat, almost equally celebrated, 
 was of tlic same time, ami his style of writing of a similar character. 
 T. Sackville (Lord Buckhurst) (Eliz ) introduced Allegory and Fable, 
 leading greatness to the love of humanity, and making power the servant 
 of justice. Sir Philip Sidney, by the assent of Europe, was the most 
 perfect gentleman of his day — but as a poet he is here mentioned, in con- 
 tinuation of the lino, according to the purpose of this hasty sketch. Fulk 
 Greville (Lord Brook) is next in the descent of poets, "the servant to 
 Queen Elizabeth, counsellor to King James, and friend to Sir Philip Sid- 
 ney." He was stabbed by his own domestic. Next comes: Edmund Spen- 
 overflo wing with tenderness and bcnevolcncc,reconciling magnificence
 
 1714-1727 ] GEORGE T. 189 
 
 Prince George * of Hanover, the first descent 
 Of Brunswick, reigns by Act of Settlement. 
 
 and decorum, love and fidelity, and displaying with Fairfax a new world of 
 ornament, elegance and taste. Sir Walter Raleigh has been already 
 noticed in the metrical part of this volume. Sir John Harington and 
 Sir John Davis follow. Davis corrected the luxuriance of fable and 
 enriched the minds of men with knowledge apart from ostentation, and 
 learning from pedantry (James I). Donne and Corbet added wit to 
 satire, and restored the art of making reproof itself agreeable. Carew 
 and Waller taught panegyric to be delicate, — passion to be courtly, — and 
 on the Pegasus of Fancy fixed the curb of good manners. D'Avenant 
 blended address and politeness with the severest lessons of temperance 
 and morality ; and the divine Milton reconciled the graces of them all, 
 adding a strength and majesty of his own. Such appear to have been 
 the leading English poets to the days of Dryden. 
 
 Chief ministers during this reign — Lord Godolphin, R. Harley, Lord 
 Pembroke, Duke of Buckingham, Duke of Marlborough, 1705. Earl 
 Godolphin, Lord Cowper, Dukes of Marlborough and Newcastle, 1707. 
 R. Harley (Earl of Oxford), Earl of Rochester, Lord Dartmouth, and 
 Henry St. John (Lord Bolingbroke), Lord Harcourt, Charles Duke of 
 Shrewsbury, 1714. 
 
 Queen. — Sophia Dorothea, of Zell — di- 
 vorced. 
 
 * 1714. — George I.— 1727. ■{ Children George, who succeeded. 
 
 Sophia, mar. to Frederick, King of 
 V_ Prussia. 
 
 This prince understood English so ill, that the only method of 
 communication between himself and Walpole, who could not speak 
 French, was in bad Latin. 
 
 " With Dr. Younger, Dean of Salisbury, his majesty often talked in 
 German, during the service. Lord Townshend, then one of the secretaries 
 of state, ventured to acquaint him that the circumstance was a cause of 
 regret to many of his attached subjects. Far from resenting the 
 freedom taken with him, his majesty promised amendment. Finding, 
 however, he continued the same practice, Lord Townshend sent Younger 
 a positive order to repair immediately to his deanery. Dr. Youngrr 
 conceiving the injunction to proceed from the king, obeyed, and the 
 secretary, waiting on his majesty, informed him that the dean had 
 received a kick from a horse, which fractured his skull, of which he was 
 
 \
 
 100 ENGLAND. [1714-1727. 
 
 A manifesto the " Pretender*" sends, 
 On the accession, to his English friends ; 
 
 dead. The king thereon expressed the deepest concern ; but several 
 years afterwards, going down to review some regiments encamped on 
 Salisbury plain, the bishop and the chapter of that city had the honour 
 of being presented to him. But when Younger approached, for the 
 purpose of kissing his majesty's hand, the king, overcome with amaze- 
 ment at beholding a man whom he had long considered in his grave, 
 could scarcely restrain his emotions. When, however, an explanation 
 had taken place, the king expressed no sentiment of anger, but con- 
 tented himself with promising Younger a mitre, as soon as an occasion 
 should present itself, an assurance which doubtless he would have 
 realised, had not the dean shortly afterwards been carried off by death 
 in good earnest." — WraxalVs Memoirs. 
 
 * James Edward, whose birth was the object of that Pindaric by 
 Dryden, which has been already noticed. 
 
 In 1715, died Louis XIV., the heartless and vain-glorious monarch of 
 the French — the capricious and cruel Louis the Great ! From the 
 following may be learnt the nature of offences which crowded the 
 Bastille with its unhappy victims : 
 
 " The Jesuits' College at Paris had always, from its founder, borne the 
 name of the College de Clermont, and over its gateway appeared the 
 following : 
 
 ' Collegium Claromontanum Societatis Jesu.' 
 
 In 1G74 Louis was present at the representation of a tragedy, per- 
 formed by the scholars of the college, which was much applauded. One 
 of the courtiers said something to the king respecting its success. ' Faut- 
 il s'en etonner V replied Louis, ' e'est mon college.' The rector 
 having heard the monarch say this, gave orders to take down the old 
 inscription, and substitute 
 
 ' Collegium Ludovici Magni.' 
 The change was executed that very night, upon which the following 
 epigram was written : 
 
 'Sustulit hinc Jesum, posuitque insignia rccis 
 Inipin gens, alium neBcit habere Deum.' 
 
 The author was discovered to be a scholar of the college, aged only 16. 
 lie was immediately thrown into the Bastille, and for tins one offence 
 remained in prison fur thirty-one years.'''' — (Dulaure's Hist, of Paris ,• 
 Ellis' History of the Iron Mush.)
 
 1714-1727.] GEORGE I. 191 
 
 Declares his sister's, the late queen's design, 
 Was restoration of the Stuart line ; 
 Impugns their thraldom to a foreign rod, 
 And claims their homage at the will of God ! 
 
 The king, a Whig, the Utrecht grievance reached 
 The adverse party ; Oxford is impeached : 
 Strafford and Matthew Prior* : but the Duke 
 Of Ormond flies, and classic Bolingbroket. 
 
 In this year, also, died Gilbert Burnet, Bp. of Salisbury. Soon 
 after his decease, some Tory witling proposed the following for bis 
 monumeut : 
 
 " Here Sanim lies, of late so wise, 
 And learn'd as great Aquinas ; 
 Lawn sleeves he wore, but was no more 
 A Christian than Socinus. 
 
 Should such a soul escape the goal 
 
 Of Satan and his clutches ; 
 We then presume as mild a doom 
 
 For Marlb'rough and his duchess." 
 
 The Septennial Act took place in 1716. It was at first proposed only to 
 suspend the Triennial Act for once, whereby the parliament would have 
 continued three years beyond the time it was to determine, but it was 
 afterwards deemed fit to enlarge the continuance of it accordingly. 
 
 * The poet. He was taken from the bar of a tavern by Lord Dorset 
 and sent to the University of Cambridge. He joined with Lord 
 Halifax in writing the satire against Dryden, called The Hind and Pan- 
 ther transversed, to the story of the " City Mouse and Country Mouse." 
 
 f The following extract from a letter, written by Bolingbroke at Dover, 
 excusing his sudden flight, is offered to the reader without prejudice or 
 observation. " I had certain and repeated information from some who 
 are in the secret of affairs, that a resolution was taken by those who liu\ e 
 power to execute it, to pursue me to the scaffold. My blood was to have 
 been the cement of a new alliance. Had there been the least reason to 
 hope for a fair and open trial, after having been already prejudged, un- 
 heard by the two houses of Parliament, I should not have declined the 
 strictest examination. 1 challenge the most inveterate of my enemies to
 
 192 ENGLAND. [1714-1727. 
 
 In Scotland, Mar upholds the rebel scheme 
 In the bold enterprise, James Edward's dream ; 
 'Gainst whom Argyle directs the prosp'rous war, — 
 Lost, beyond hope, at Sheriffmuir, to Mar. 
 Meanwhile in England, Derwentwater tries 
 His friendly sword, till the Pretender flies* : 
 The Preston f rout, the royal hope fulfills, 
 And Forster yields to Carpenter and Wills. 
 
 produce any one instance of criminal correspondence, or the least cor- 
 ruption in any part of the administration in which I was concerned, &c. 
 
 &c I have always heen too much an Englishman to 
 
 sacrifice the interests of my country to any foreign ally whatsoever." 
 
 * This was the last personal effort of James, (hereafter the old Pre- 
 tender), for the recovery of the English crown. In 1 720, he married 
 Mary Clementina, grand-daughter of John Sobieski, king of Poland, and 
 died 1766. He left two sons, viz. — 1st, Charles Edward (commonly called 
 the Chevalier St. George), who married the Princess Stohlberg, but died 
 without issue, 1788. — 2nd, Henry Benedict (called the Cardinal York), 
 elevated to the purple by Pope Benedict XIV., died 1807, when the whole 
 issue of king James became extinct. At his brother's decease, the Car- 
 dinal York caused medals to be struck, bearing his own portrait, with the 
 inscription " Henricus nonus Anglia; Rex," on the obverse ; and a city, 
 with the words " Gratia Dei sed non voluntate hominum," on the 
 reverse. During this rebellion the loyalty of Cambridge was rewarded 
 by a present of books, whilst the disorders of Oxford were visited by a 
 military force. Sir W. Browne is said to have written the following 
 
 thereon : 
 
 "The king to Oxford sent a troop of horse, 
 For Tories know no argument but force ; 
 W i'h equal cure to Cambridge books he sent, 
 For Whigs allow no force hut argument." 
 
 t The battle of Preston terminated this rebellion, an enterprise 
 which had been supported by the spirit of clanship, and fostered by 
 the intemperance of high church bigotry, but was happily defeated by 
 the steadiness of the Whigs, backed by the good sense of the Scotch 
 Presbyterians and the middle class of the English nation.
 
 1714-1727.] GEORGE I. 193 
 
 The Lords Kenmurc and Derwentwater die, — 
 The rest being sentenced to captivity. 
 
 As now, 'twas doubtless, Swedish Charles had play'd 
 His part, by stealth, in the Pretender's aid, 
 Detain'd is Gyllenberg by prompt arrest — 
 A partisan, th' ambassador confest * ; 
 Byng puts to sea an arm'd, efficient fleet, 
 And holds the Baltic, to the Swede's defeat. 
 
 Britain and Holland, Germany and Gaul, 
 Form a quadruple league to Philip's fall. 
 His power in Sicily submits to Byng, 
 And stoops the navy of the Spanish king. 
 He, also aiding Stuart James, equips 
 Ormond for England ; other hostile ships 
 For Scotland, under Tullibardine sail, 
 Which Whiteman scatters to the Csecian gale : 
 
 An epigram was written on the course Dr. Sherlock, Bp. of London, 
 had pursued on this occasion, which was similar to that of his father in 
 the time of King William ; each having a weakness towards the 
 ascendant power. 
 
 " As Sherlock the First, with his jure divine, 
 Did not comply till the battle of Boyne, 
 So Sherlock the Younger still made it a question, 
 Which side he should take till the battle of l'reston." 
 
 * This project was concerted between Gortz, minister to Charles, and 
 Alberoni, minister of Philip V. The czar joined in the scheme and made 
 peace with Sweden ; but an unforeseen accident interrupted all their 
 measures. At the siege of Frederickshall (1718) Charles was killed. 
 
 o
 
 194 ENGLAND. [1714-1727. 
 
 Brought to repentance is the Spaniard's pride, 
 And Alberoni, his imperious guide. 
 
 Lost is the nation in illusive dream, 
 And ruin follows up the South Sea scheme * ; 
 Hoards are refunded which the cheat amassM, 
 And guilty parties from all office cast. 
 
 * This scheme was set on foot by Sir J. Blunt. He communicated 
 the same to Mr. Aislabie, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and others. 
 The pretence for it was to discharge the national debt by reducing all 
 the funds into one, and an act was passed for this purpose. Blunt then 
 circulated a report that Gibraltar and Port Mahon would be exchanged 
 for some places in Peru, by which means the East trade to the S. Sea 
 would be greatly advanced. In five days the direction received a sub- 
 scription of one million, at the rate of 300/. for every 100/. capital. In 
 a few days the stock advanced to 340/., and the subscriptions were sold 
 for double the price of the first payment. The stock was then ad- 
 vanced to 1000/., and the whole country became victim to the grossest 
 delusion. A committee of the House of Commons was appointed to in- 
 vestigate the whole matter. Five members were expelled the house. 
 Mr. Aislabie resigned, and all directors of the South Sea Company were 
 removed from places they held under government. 
 
 In 1720 (the previous year) the Mississippi scheme, in France. 
 
 In recording the above event, the propriety here suggests itself for 
 saying a word or two on the nature of the National Debt. This is the 
 residue of those sums which government has raised by loan, beyond what 
 the annual revenue of the crown could supply, and which the state has 
 not hitherto paid off. The Funds consist of certain ideal masses of 
 money thus deposited in the hands of government, together with the 
 general produce of the taxes appropriated by parliament to the payment 
 of the interest of that money ; and the surplus of these taxes, which 
 has always been more than sufficient to answer the charge upon them, 
 composes the Sinking Fund. The Stocks are the whole of this public 
 and funded debt, and being divided into a multiplicity of shares, bear- 
 ing a known interest, but different in the different funds, may be readily 
 transferred from one person to another. 
 
 In 1725, the Earl of Macclesfield (Lord Chancellor) was tried on a
 
 1714-1727.] GEORGE I. 195 
 
 Treasons are stirring, and Walpole suspends 
 The " Habeas Corpus" — thus, he apprehends 
 North, Atterbury, Orrery, and Grey, — 
 The Duke of Norfolk mingling the array : 
 Plots still arising, some to death are sent, 
 And Atterbury* into banishment. 
 
 Against the convoys of Columbian Spain, 
 The British projects terminate in vain ; 
 But in a brighter expedition, foil 
 Her native efforts on Gibraltar's soil. 
 
 And now o'er Brunswick — the allied of Zell*f- — 
 The First of England, rolls the mortal knell : 
 
 charge of corruption, and being found guilty was sentenced to pay a fine 
 of 30,000?. 
 
 * When Atterbury (Bishop of Rochester) arrived at Calais, he met 
 Bolingbroke on his return from exile, and observed to him, smiling, that 
 they were exchanged. 
 
 f George, when electoral prince, had married his cousin, Princess 
 Sophia Dorothea. He had several mistresses, and in his absence in the 
 army of the confederates, arrived at Hanover the famous Count 
 Kbnigsmark. The beauty of the princess, and the neglect under which 
 he found her, encouraged him to make his addresses to her. The old 
 elector ordered him to quit his dominions the next day. The princess, 
 surrounded by malicious spies, was known to have suffered the count to 
 kiss her hand before his departure. " From that moment," says Horace 
 Walpole, " he disappeared, nor was it known what became of him till at 
 the death of George I., on his son, the new king's first journey to 
 Hanover, some alterations in the palace being ordered, the body of 
 Konigsmark was discovered under the floor of the electoral princess's 
 dressing-room ; the count probably having been strangled there the 
 instant he left her, and his body secreted. The discovery was hushed 
 up : George II. entrusted the secret to his wife, Queen Caroline, who 
 told it to my father ; but the king was too tender of the honour of his 
 
 o 2
 
 196 ENGLAND. [1727-1760. 
 
 And — twenty-sev , n — his long- disfavored son, 
 The second George* is seated on the throne. 
 
 Walpole, chief leader in the latter reign, 
 Appoints the official cabinet again ; 
 Him, the " Court" party constitute their guide, — 
 The " Country" ranging on the adverse side : 
 
 mother to utter it to his mistress, nor did Lady Suffolk even hear of it 
 till I informed her of it several years afterwards." 
 
 It has been narrated that on being congratulated by a German noble 
 on his sovereignty of Great Britain and Hanover, George replied, 
 " Rather congratulate me on having such a subject as Newton in the 
 one and Leibnitz in the other," but the king's want both of taste and 
 knowledge of arts and literature leaves the anecdote rather remarkable 
 for its neatness than probability of truth. 
 
 Chief ministers during this reign— Lord Cowpei', Duke of Shrewsbury, 
 Marquess of Wharton, Earl of Oxford, Duke of Marlborough, Viscount 
 Townshend, &c, 1714 ; Robert Walpole, 1715 ; James, afterwards Earl 
 Stanhope, 1717 ; Charles, Earl of Sunderland, &c , 1718 ; Robert Wal- 
 pole, afterwards Earl of Orford, 1721. 
 
 Queen — Caroline of Brandenburgh 
 
 Anspach. 
 Children — Frederick Louis, married 
 Augusta, daughter of Frederick 
 II., Duke of Saxe Gotha, died 1 751. 
 
 William, Duke of Cumberland. 
 
 Anne, mar. to the Prince of Orange. 
 
 Mary, Landgravine of Hesse Cassel. 
 
 Louisa, Queen of Denmark. 
 
 Amelia and Caroline. 
 
 The king's figure was so small as to incur the ridicule of the satirist 
 in a certain ballad. 
 
 " When Edgecumhe spoke, the prince in sport 
 
 Laughed at the merry elf; 
 Rejoiced to see within his court 
 
 One shorter than himself. 
 I'm glad (cried out the quibbling squire) 
 My /otvness make9 your highness hiijhcr." 
 
 * 1727.— George II.— 1760. <
 
 1727-1760.] GEORGE II. 197 
 
 Many and oft the struggles in their day 
 Of debt increased and soldiers kept in pay, 
 Yet the commencement of the reign displayed 
 Peace to its arms and fortune to its trade*. 
 
 Walpole, to thwart the merchants' daily guise, 
 Attempts to fix a General Excise. 
 In lieu of custom on tobacco lain, 
 Such imports, for the future, to remain 
 In the crown warehouse — and be reconveyed 
 When purchasers were found and duty paid. 
 A bill obnoxious to the public mart, 
 Whose prompt defeat is ministerial smartf. 
 
 * The Jews offered Lord Godolplun to pay £ J 500,000 (and they 
 would have made it a million), if the government would allow them to 
 purchase the town of Brentford, with leave of settling there, and full 
 privileges of trade, hut it was not acceded to. 
 
 In 1729, the sect called Methodists first appeared at Oxford. It soon 
 divided into two parties — one under the direction of the two hrothers, 
 John and Charles Wesley, and the other under George Whitfield ; the 
 former professing the doctrines of Arminius, and the latter of Calvin. 
 
 f Dr. King {Lit. and Polit. Anec. of own Times) relates the following 
 little incident. There is a nonchalance in the manner of telling it quite 
 in character with the scene itself. The reader will also notice, by one 
 example, how things were conducted in these days : — 
 
 " He (Walpole) wanted to carry a question in the House of Commons, 
 in which he knew there would be a great opposition, and which was dis- 
 liked by some of his own dependants. As he was passing through the 
 Court of Requests, he met a member of the contrary party whose ava- 
 rice he imagined would not reject a large bribe. Taking him aside, he 
 said, ' Such a question comes on this day — give me your vote, and here 
 is a bank-bill for ^OOO,' which he put into his hand. The member 
 replied, ' Sir Robert, you have lately served some of my particular
 
 198 ENGLAND. [1727-1760. 
 
 In — seventeen, thirty-nine — again as foes 
 Britain and Spain ! — a rupture which arose 
 By England's claim for landing on the shore 
 Of Spain's Campeachy bay, for logwood store. 
 
 On Darien's isthmus, Porto Bello fort 
 Submits to Vernon — and the Spanish port ; 
 An act of daring which his native ire 
 Pledged in the open senate to acquire. 
 But upon Carthagena, his attack 
 Is driv'n repulsed, and whole equipment, back : 
 More fatal still by the retortive plea 
 Of the two leaders of the land and sea*. 
 England again on Spanish Cuba fails, 
 And weightier debt the enterprise entails. 
 
 But Anson, terror of the Southern main, 
 Prompt retribution follows upon Spain ; 
 Paita is won, — and the " Manilla 1 '' prize 
 Five hundred thousand sterling wealth supplies t ! 
 
 friends, and when my wife was last at court, the king was very gracious 
 to her, which must have happened at your instance. I should, there- 
 fore, think myself very ungrateful (putting the bank-bill into his pocket) 
 if I were to refuse the favour you are now pleased to ask me.' ' 
 
 ■ General Wentworth commanded the land forces. A mutual accu- 
 sation took place between the two leaders respecting the above failure. 
 
 f Afterburning Paita (a sea-port of Peru), Anson continued on the 
 American coast in expectation of falling in with the annual Acapulco 
 ship, which, with his own frigate (the Centurion, 64 guns), he captured 
 after a smart action.
 
 1727-1760.] GEORGE II. 199 
 
 By Cuba's stain and Carthagena's sting, 
 The power of Walpole trembles on the wing ; 
 By fleets neglected; — seamen unemployed ; — 
 By Spanish outrage and by trade destroyed. 
 By the disunion also, long begun 
 Between the monarch and his royal son, 
 Against the " Court" and ministerial plans 
 Frederick, to boot, arrays his partisans ; 
 Thus with success, the adverse power combines, 
 And " Orford" raised, — the minister resigns*. 
 
 And now the monarch interferes between 
 The foreign struggles of Theresa queen 
 Of Hungary, opposed in arms by France 
 To her Germanic claims of heritance f. 
 
 * The policy of Sir Robert Walpole appeared to be that of preserving 
 peace both abroad and at home. An able financier and a zealous sup- 
 porter of the Protestant succession, and to which end he did not hesitate 
 to use the means of corruption. If he were not really the author of 
 the words " All men have their price," he certainly acted up to this 
 impression. 
 
 Pope says of Sir Robert — 
 
 "Seen him 1 have, but in his happier hour, 
 Of social pleasure ill-exchanged for pow'r; 
 Seen him, uncumbered with the venal tribe, 
 Smile without art, and win without a hrihe ! " 
 
 On Walpole's resignation, Lord Carteret became secretary of state. 
 
 + She was the daughter of Charles VI., who was scarcely buried, when 
 she lost Silesia, by an irruption of the young King of Prussia, of which 
 territory his ancestors had been unjustly deprived. France, Saxony, 
 and Bavaria attacked the rest of her dominions. At the time of her 
 flight from Vienna, she was advanced in pregnancy, and writing to her 
 mother-in-law, the Duchess-Dowager of Lorraine, she says : " I do not
 
 200 ENGLAND. [1727-1760. 
 
 In her behalf, to Belgium are sent 
 
 Enforcements by the British government ; 
 
 The which, cut off by Noailles, in supplies, 
 
 Ere reaching their Hungarian allies, 
 
 Are brought, with Stair, abruptly to a stand, 
 
 Till joined by George himself and Cumberland : 
 
 Fierce then the contest — seventeen, forty-three — 
 
 And Dettingen to George is victory. 
 
 Hostilities renewed, the gallant Saxe * 
 
 Directs on Tournay his well planiVd attacks ; 
 
 Under whose patient fortitude, the French 
 
 Again in arms at Fontenoy intrench : 
 
 Impetuous Cumberland the onset guides, 
 
 And fate awhile the enterprise divides ; 
 
 Spent by the rush, in vain the English line 
 
 Attempts to rally, or in form combine, 
 
 know whether a single town will remain to me, in which I may be 
 brought to bed." Voltaire's Twelfth Night verses for 1743, describe 
 the Stuart, driven out by the English, telling his beads in Italy ; Sta- 
 nislaus, ex-king of Poland, smoking his pipe in Austrasia ; the emperor, 
 beloved by the French, living at an inn in Franconia ; and the beautiful 
 Queen of the Hungarians laughing at this Epiphany. 
 
 Tlic pasquinade tells better in French, particularly as the Epiphany is 
 called " le jour des Jiois." 
 
 " .Marshal Saxe, one of the best officers in the French service, was a 
 natural son of Frederick Augustus II., king of Poland, by the Countess 
 Maria Aurora of Konigsmark, sister of the count who was murdered at 
 Hanover, as the Buspected lover of the wife of George I., and also sister 
 to the other Count Kbnigsmark, who had murdered Mr. Thynne in the 
 Greets of London, by means of three hired assassins.
 
 1727-1760.] GEORGE It. 201 
 
 And victory, though the hard-earned Gallic right, 
 Divides, at least, the valour of the fight. 
 
 The Stuart menaces, in forty-five, 
 By Charles, the old Pretender's son, revive *. 
 Aided by France, to Scotland he repairs, 
 And on to Edinburgh his standard bears ; 
 With youthful ardour he convokes the clans, 
 And leads triumphantly at Preston Pans : 
 A victory, which if taken at the Hood, 
 Had gained the crown to his ancestrei blood. 
 Carlisle he enters ; — Manchester he gains, — 
 And Falkirk yields new victory to his pains, 
 Which Charles, in lieu of following with address, 
 Basks in the moon-beam of half-won success. 
 
 Thus, — when from Flanders, Cumberland returns, 
 And England's state of anarchy discerns ; 
 
 * An anecdote is told of Lord Chesterfield at this period, who was 
 lord-lieutenant in Ireland, which will show the coolness with which he 
 resisted the fears of the alarmists. One of these arriving in Dublin 
 booted and spurred, and covered with dust, rushed into the presence of 
 the viceroy and informed him that the people were rising in the West. 
 " Well," replied his lordship, looking at his watch, " it is time they should, 
 for it is past nine o'clock." 
 
 During this rebellion, a considerable run having been made upon the 
 bank by the Jacobites, the Bank refused to issue gold, which was the 
 most easy of carriage, but directed the payments to be made hi silver ; 
 at the same time, the merchants of London agreed to take the notes of 
 the Bank instead of cash, and to this may be traced the origin of bank- 
 notes.
 
 202 ENGLAND. [1727-1760. 
 
 On which an army to the north he sends, 
 Where meet anew the young Pretender's friends : 
 Here, at Culloden, Stuart takes his halt, 
 Awaiting patiently the duke's assault ; 
 Equal the rush, — reciprocal the rout, 
 Too sure the havoc, — still the issue doubt ; 
 Till near three thousand of the Stuart host, 
 Are strewn in slaughter and the hazard lost *. 
 
 For months, a wand'rer in the Highland wild, 
 Charles his pursuers narrowly beguiled : 
 Though rich rewards were set upon his blood, 
 Yet all who sheltered him, the bribe withstood! ; 
 
 * The Chevalier fled straight from the field of Culloden to Lovat's 
 house, where they met for the first and last time. Walter Scott has 
 preserved the picture drawn of this meeting by an eye-witness : " A 
 lady, who when a girl was residing in Lord Lovat's family, described to 
 us the unexpected appearance of Prince Charles and his flying attend- 
 ants at Castle Dounic. The wild desolate vale on which she was gazing 
 with indolent composure was at once so suddenly filled with horsemen, 
 riding furiously towards the castle, that, impressed with the belief that 
 they were fairies, who according to Highland tradition, are visible to 
 men only from one twinkle of the eyelid to another, she strove to 
 refrain from the vibration which she believed would occasion the strange 
 and magnificent apparition to become invisible. To Lord Lovat it 
 brought a certainty more dreadful than the presence of fairies or even 
 demons' 1 ." Lovat was then so old and infirm that he could neither ride 
 nor walk. Left soon after to shift for himself, he was put into a sort 
 of hammock and carried away for the present to a hiding-place, on the 
 shoulders of some of his clan. 
 
 t One poor gentleman, whose humanity had been led to administer to 
 'In' necessities of Charles, being apprehended and carried before a court 
 
 * Article in the Quarterly Review.
 
 1727-1760.] GEORGE II. 203 
 
 And fortune favouring his remnant chance, 
 Bore him in safety to the shores of France. 
 
 Not so the rebel lords ; their heavier fate 
 Lovat, Balmerino *, Kilmarnock, wait ; 
 Brought to the scaffold, with them Ratcliff pass'd, 
 And friends less guilty into exile cast. 
 
 Anson and Warren mutual glory share 
 In the French captured fleet off Finisterre ; 
 A million sterling, the computed store, 
 The laden axle to the Treasury bore. 
 
 Again in Flanders, Cumberland employed, 
 War still sustained, but of advantage void : 
 
 of justice, was asked how he dared to assist the king's enemy, and why 
 he did not deliver him up and claim - the reward. " I only gave him," 
 replied the prisoner, "what nature seemed to require — a night's lodging 
 and an humble repast — and who, amongst my judges, though poor as I 
 am, would have sought to acquire riches by violating the rights of hos- 
 pitality, in order to earn the price of blood ?" The court was filled with 
 amazement at the simple eloquence of this untutored orator — and the 
 prisoner was set at liberty. 
 
 " The king," says Horace Walpole, " is much inclined to some mercy, 
 but the Duke (of Cumberland), who has not so much of Csesar after a 
 victory as in gaining it, is for the utmost severity. It was lately pro- 
 posed in the city to present him with the freedom of some company — 
 one of the aldermen said aloud, ' Then let it be the Butchers'. ' " (Letter 
 to Mann). 
 
 * " He," (Balmerino) says Walpole, "is the most natural brave old 
 fellow I ever saw. At the bar he behaved like a soldier and a man — 
 in the intervals of form with carelessness and humour. He plays with 
 his fingers upon the axe, while he talks to the gentleman gaoler ; and 
 one day somebody coming up to listen, lie took the blade and held it like 
 a fan between their faces. During the trial a little boy was near him, 
 but not tall enough to see ; he made room for the child and placed him
 
 204 ENGLAND. [1727-1760. 
 
 Weary all parties of the hostile state, 
 Peace at Chapelle conclude in fokty-eight. 
 
 Seven years of calm ; and war again declared, 
 Byng to Minorca with a fleet repaired, 
 When failing the French squadron to attack, 
 Which sailed in safety to its harbour back ; 
 Neglecting too, with succour to restore 
 The spent defenders of St. Philip's tow'r, 
 His naval peers, the charged defection try, 
 And Byng his penalty, awaits — to die* ! 
 
 near himself." While the Peers were withdrawn previous to delivering 
 their verdict, Murray, the solicitor-general, (afterwards Lord Mansfield) 
 asked Balmerino why he had put in a plea which his solicitor had pre- 
 viously informed him could be of no use ? The old Scot, who was witty 
 as well as brave, asked the bystanders who this person was, and being 
 told, he said in a tone which must have chilled the heart of his hearer, 
 " Oh ! Mr. Murray ! I am extremely glad to see you — I have been with 
 several of your relations — the good lady, your mother, was of great use 
 to us at Perth !" — {Pictorial Hist, of England.) 
 
 It should be noticed, also, that the axe in these cases, was always 
 brought from the Tower with the prisoners, and held by the executioner 
 near to them during the trial. On the morning when the three lords 
 were to be brought from the Tower in separate coaches, there was some 
 dispute in which the axe should go ; old Balmerino cried out, " Come, 
 come, put it in with me !" 
 
 * Even Smollett, his warm advocate, has the candour to admit that 
 " the character of Admiral Byng, in point of personal courage, will, with 
 many people, remain problematical ; they will still be of opinion, that if 
 the spirit of a British Admiral had been properly exerted, the French 
 fleet would have been defeated and Minorca saved. A man's opinion 
 of danger," continues he, "varies at different times in consequence of an 
 irregular tide of animal spirits. And after an officer, thus influenced, has 
 hesitated or kept aloof in the hour of trial, the mind, eager for its own
 
 1727-1760.] GEORGE II. 205 
 
 Forced by the Soubah, fair Calcutta * feels 
 What bitterer scourge in war the Heathen deals ; 
 For whom, the hand of Victory alone 
 Leaves still, in blood, unsatisfied, his own; 
 For him, unpaid there is a guerdon still — 
 Deliberate vengeance at the tyrant will ! 
 
 justification, assembles with surprising industry every favourable cir- 
 cumstance of excuse, and broods over them with parental partiality, 
 until it becomes not only satisfied, but enamoured of their beauty ; like 
 a doting mother, blind to the deformity of her offspring." 
 
 Byng was the son of the distinguished George Byng, Viscount Tor- 
 rington. " His rigorous sentence," says another authority, " was at 
 length universally looked upon as the heartless policy of a weak adminis- 
 tration." And an anonymous poet observes — 
 
 u How many traitors to their God and King 
 Escape that death which was reserved for Byng !" 
 
 In 1752, as several nations had reformed their calendar according to 
 the computation of Pope Gregory XIII , the parliament decreed that the 
 new year should begin on the first day of January, and that eleven inter- 
 mediate nominal days between the second and fourteenth of September 
 should this year be omitted, so that the day succeeding the second should 
 be accounted the fourteenth. 
 
 * In 1693 Prince Azeen Ooshan granted a lease to the agents of the 
 English company of certain villages in perpetuity in the East. In 1756 
 Calcutta was attacked by the soubah of Bengal with an army of 70,000 
 horse and foot, and 400 elephants, when the enemy entered the town 
 and plundered it in 24 hours. An order was then given for attacking 
 the fort, the garrison of which defended themselves bravely for some 
 time ; but many of them being killed and wounded, and their ammuni- 
 tion almost exhausted, they were obliged to surrender, and were all, to 
 the number of 146, crammed into the Black Hole prison, a dungeon about 
 18 feet square, and whence only 23 came out alive in the morning ; the 
 rest were suffocated. Calcutta was retaken the next year, and after the 
 victory of Plassey, the inhuman soubah was deposed and put to death 
 by his successor, and the whole of the province of Bengal transferred to 
 the English East India Company.
 
 206 ENGLAND. [1727-1760. 
 
 Hushed is the ravager in perfumed sleep, 
 Whilst fetid death piles up th 1 imprisoned heap ! 
 
 But Clive meanwhile, attaining Balasore, 
 Brought retribution to our Indian shore ; 
 Won on the Ganges, Hooghly's bastion'd wall, 
 And raised the wealth and splendour of Bengal. 
 
 Th 1 Atlantic states of Britain oft perplex'd 
 On boundary outposts, by the French annex'd 
 In right of Canada, — the English crown 
 Prepares a hazard for their planted town. 
 Proud is the roll, for unsurpass'd the scheme ! 
 Starless the night — precipitate the stream — 
 Shelving the shore ; whose lofty rising banks 
 Were thickly studded with accoutred ranks — 
 Narrow the landing, which at fav'ring day 
 Scarce gave a tracing of the covert way — 
 Such was the hazard — such the hard account 
 Which British valour could alone surmount. 
 Undaunted Wolfe directs his vig'rous mind 
 T'wards the proud city and the task assigned, 
 And — fifty-nine — o'ertrampling Abraham's height, 
 Victorious falls in the Canadian fight ! 
 Quebec's surprised — the Bourbon city sack'd, 
 And yields to George tho whole Canadian tract *. 
 
 * The following is extracted from a prologue spoken at Westminster 
 in this year —
 
 1727-1760.] GEORGE II. 207 
 
 Flush'd with success, the court of Britain lends 
 Arras and assistance to her fed'rate friends, 
 The King of Prussia and the German stand, 
 Advanced by royal Brunswick, Ferdinand ; 
 And, spite the Sackville * frailty and mischance, 
 Still reaps new glory from aspiring France. 
 Great upon Minden's plain the Gallic loss, 
 Her might submitting to inferior force. 
 
 Fort Louis — and in Africa, Goree, 
 With Western Guadaloupe, are victory : 
 While floats triumphantly the British prow 
 By Anson, Rodney, Hawke + Boscawen, Howe ! 
 
 " Si fatuse generosa sitis, si bellica virtus, 
 
 Ingeniurrj felix, intemerata fides, 
 Difficiles laurus, ipsoque in florejuventae 
 
 Heu ! lethi nimium preecipitata dies ; 
 Si quid habent pulchrum hsec, vel si quid amabile, jure 
 
 Esto tua baee, "Wolfi, laus propriumqne decus. 
 Non moriere otunis — quin usque corona vigebit 
 
 Unanimis Britonuui quam tibi nectit amor !" 
 
 The French established a settlement in Canada, and founded Quebec 
 in 1608. Canada has been repeatedly taken by the English and restored 
 by different treaties to the French. It is now a British settlement — 
 may it so continue ! 
 
 * It appears that, either from misapprehension or cowardice, Sackville 
 disobeyed the orders of Ferdinand at the battle of Minden. He was tried 
 by a court-martial and dismissed the service ; but under the administra- 
 tion of Lord Bute he was restored to favour. He was subsequently 
 raised to the peerage. To him has been attributed the composition of the 
 " Letters of Junius," but the fact of being accused by Junius of want 
 of courage must go far to shake the probability of such a surmise. For a 
 considerable part of his life this nobleman was called Lord George Ger* 
 maine, having taken this name on succeeding to an estate left him by 
 Lady Elizabeth Germaine. 
 
 t An epigrammatic distich prevailed at this time, of which, if the fob
 
 208 ENGLAND. [1727-1760. 
 
 Though fair, not cloudless were Britannia's skies, 
 And fail at Corbach her well-tried allies ; 
 But their renown at Exdorf they reclaim — 
 The like at Warburg ; but at Compen, shame. 
 Yet great the sum, in this adventurous year. 
 Of England's fame in either hemisphere. 
 Such Britain's record, at the setting ray 
 Of George the Second, of the Brunswick sway*. 
 
 lowing be not a literal transcription, it contains at least the spirit of the 
 original : — 
 
 " While the Gaul claps his wings as the Cock of the walk, 
 Let him keep a look out for the Wolfe and the Ilawke." 
 
 * Smollett, who was a witness to the national folly portrayed at the 
 king's death, thus expresses it. " A thousand pens were drawn to paint 
 the beauties and sublimities of his character in poetry as well as prose. 
 They extolled him above Alexander in courage and heroism, above 
 Augustus in liberality, Titus in clemency, Antoninus in piety and bene- 
 volence, Solomon in wisdom, and St. Edward in devotion. The two 
 universities vied with each other in lamenting his death, and each pub- 
 lished a huge collection of elegies on the subject." Queen Caroline is 
 described as a woman of much sagacity, and maintained so great an ascen- 
 dency over her husband, that Walpolc was enabled to manage matters 
 most adroitly. It is related that by watching and other signs she kept 
 up a secret understanding with the minister, while the king was present in 
 his drawing-room. According to the king's temper, the queen signified 
 to Walpole to proceed, stand still, or retrograde on that particular day. 
 " Her levees," says Archdeacon Coxc, " were a strange picture of the 
 motley manners of a queen and a learned woman. She received com- 
 pany whilst she was at her toilet — prayers, and sometimes a sermon were 
 read, learned men and divines were intermixed with courtiers and 
 ladies — the conversation turned on metaphysical subjects, blended with 
 repartees, sallies of mirth, and the tittle-tattle of a drawing-room." " On 
 the table," says Lord Malion, "perhaps lay heaped together the newest 
 ode by Stephen Duck upon her beauty, her last letter from Leibnitz upon
 
 1760—181 1-20.] 
 
 GEORGE 111. 
 
 209 
 
 In — seventeen, sixty — George the Third*, the heir 
 
 To England's throne, invests the regal chair f ; 
 
 free-will, and a high-wrought panegyric of Dr. Clarke on her ' inimitable 
 sweetness of temper.' " 
 
 The Duke of Newcastle, minister in 1757, was an exceedingly vain 
 man, whose failing gave rise to the following incident, which will be no 
 considerable interruption to the reader, should it fail to amuse him. 
 " His Grace kept the most princely table and the greatest number of 
 domestics of any nobleman of the three kingdoms ; nor would he suffer 
 any of them during a series of years to dispose of any part of their old 
 liveries, but made the usual perquisite up to them by douceurs, and the 
 cast clothes were carefully deposited in a large store-room, where they 
 remained until his Grace's decease, when they were sold ; at which time 
 the number of suits was so great that for a year or two after, scarcely a 
 carter, hackney- coachman, drayman, chairman, porter, or even scavenger 
 in London but wore the Newcastle livery." 
 
 Chief ministers during this reign :— Lords Carteret, Wilmington, Bath, 
 Mr. Sandys, &c, 1742 ; Hon. H.Pelham, Lord Carteret, Earl of Har- 
 rington, Duke of Newcastle, 1 743 ; Mr. Pelham, Earl of Chesterfield, 
 Duke of Bedford, &c, 1746 ; Duke of Newcastle, Sir T. Robinson, Henry 
 Fox, Lord Anson, &c, 1754 ; Duke of Devonshire, Mr. W. Pitt, Earl 
 Temple, Hon. H. B. Legge, 1756 (dismissed April 1757, and restored June 
 same year) ; W. Pitt, Mr. Legge, Earl Temple, Duke of Newcastle, 
 &c, 1757. 
 
 Queen — Charlotte, of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. 
 Children — George Augustus, who succeeded. 
 
 Fi-ederic, Duke of York. 
 
 Charlotte Augusta, Princess Royal. 
 
 William Henry, Duke of Clarence. 
 
 Edward, Duke of Kent. 
 
 Augusta. 
 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. 
 
 Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex. 
 
 Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge. 
 
 Mary. 
 
 Sophia. 
 
 Octavius, died 1 783. 
 
 Alfred, died 1782. 
 
 Amelia, died 1810. 
 t Incredible as the following curious anecdote may appear, it is 
 
 1760.— George III.— 
 
 1811-20.
 
 210 ENGLAND. [1760 — 1811-20. 
 
 For nearly flown, were ten revolving springs 
 Since Frederick dying *, fail'd the line of kings. 
 
 Pitt, for a time, conducts the public weal, 
 And war sustains with unabating zeal. 
 Stevens and Coote hold Pondicherry, — while 
 To Keppel and to Hodgson, yields Belleisle. 
 
 Pitt, urging new hostilities on Spain, 
 Which with the French was federate again, 
 ResigiVd his office ; as the king's assent 
 Was cold and froward to his government : 
 The upper house, by " Chatham 11 he ascends f, 
 And Bute]: directs the ministerial ends. 
 
 generally believed to be a fact, being told by the Lord Marshal to David 
 Hume, who communicated it, in a letter to Sir John Pringle : — That 
 the Chevalier de St. George was actually present at the coronation 
 of George III. That beiug met in Westminster Hall and recognised by 
 a certain gentleman, was thus addressed by him : " Your Royal High- 
 ness was the last of all mortals I expected to have seen here on this 
 occasion." " It was curiosity," replied the other, " that brought me 
 here ; but I assure you, that the person who is the object of all this 
 pomp and magnificence is the man I envy the least." 
 
 * Frederick Prince of Wales, father to George III., died in March 
 17. r >l. He had married Augusta, Princess of Saxe-Gotha. 
 
 f On Lord Chatham's resignation in 1761, the following epigramma- 
 tic lines appeared : 
 
 "Ne'er yet in v:iin did Heaven its omens send, 
 And dreadful ills unusual signs portend : 
 Win ii Pitt resign'd, a nation's tears will own, 
 I hen fell tho brightest jewel of the crown." 
 
 This was in allusion to the largest jewel falling out of tho king's crown 
 at his coronation. 
 
 Thomas Pitt, grandfather of the Earl, was governor of Madras, where 
 he realised a considerable fortune, a great part of which was produced by
 
 1760—1811-20.] GEORGE I1F. 211 
 
 Expedient still was Chatham's counselVl war, — 
 A glorious year in England's calendar I 
 
 the purchase of a large diamond for 20,400/., which he sold to the King of 
 
 France for more than five times that sum. A rumour prevailed in 
 
 England that he had acquired this jewel unfairly — on which Pope says, 
 
 " Asleep and naked as an Indian lay, 
 An honest factor stole a gem away." 
 
 Mr. Pitt afterwards composed a narrative of the manner in which he 
 really became possessed of this treasure, commonly called the "Pitt 
 Diamond." 
 
 On the 8th September of the same year (1761), the marriage of the 
 King with the Princess Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz took 
 place — the joint coronation followed, 22d of the same month. 
 
 X " Lord Bute's first personal introduction to the Prince of Wales 
 (father of George III.) originated in a very singular accident. That 
 nobleman married the only daughter of the celebrated Lady Mary 
 Wortley Montagu, by whom he had a very numerous family. She 
 brought him eventually likewise a large landed property ; but as her 
 father, Mr. Wortley, did not die till the year 1761, and as her brother, 
 the eccentric Edward Wortley Montagu, lived to a much later period, 
 Lord Bute, encumbered with a number of children, found his fortune 
 unequal to maintain his rank in life. During his residence on the banks 
 of the Thames, he visited Egham Races, about the year 174 7. But as 
 he either did not at that time keep a carriage, or did not use it to convey 
 him to the race-ground, he accompanied the apothecary who attended 
 his family. Frederick Prince of Wales was present this day at the races. 
 The weather being rainy, it was proposed to amuse his Royal Highness 
 by cards ; but a difficulty occurred about finding persons of sufficient 
 rank to sit down with him. Some one observed that Lord Bute had 
 been seen on the race-ground : he was soon found, and being informed 
 of the occasion which demanded his attendance, was brought to the 
 tent, and presented to Frederick. When the party broke up, Lord Bute 
 thought of returning back to his own house ; but his friend the apothe- 
 cary had disappeared, and with him the chariot. The Prince was no 
 sooner made acquainted with the circumstance, than he insisted on 
 Lord Bute accompanying him to Cliefden. He thus rendered himself 
 extremely acceptable to their Royal Highnesses, and laid the founda- 
 tion, under the succeeding reign, of his political elevation." — Wravul/'s 
 
 Memoirs. 
 
 p2
 
 •212 ENGLAND. [1/60 — 1811-20. 
 
 The Grenadillas fell — that clustering clique ; 
 With them— Grenada, Vincent, Martinique; 
 Which Western thread th' Havannah still increased; 
 And conquest twined Manilla in the East *. 
 In — sixty-three — a treaty with the foe 
 Is duly ratified at Fontainebleau ; 
 Great Britain still retaining as her own 
 Much of the fortune she had lately won f. 
 
 Wilkes, with a mind audacious as acute, 
 Hastens the downfal of the Premier, Bute : 
 
 * The English took this city by storm, from the Spanish, and suffered 
 the archbishop to ransom it for a million sterling, a great part of which 
 never was paid. The reader is referred for this, and much of public 
 affairs for the ensuing ten years, to the celebrated letters and corre- 
 spondence of " Junius." 
 
 Two treasure ships also, containing about a million sterling, were at 
 this time captured by British cruisers ; and while the waggons which 
 conveyed the wealth from the Spanish vessels to the Tower were passing 
 in front of the Palace, the cannon announced the birth of the Prince of 
 Wales, Aug. 12, 1762. 
 
 t By tliis treaty, England was left in possession of Canada, Newfound- 
 land, Florida, aud other extensive acquisitions in North America and 
 the West Indies; also of the settlement of Senegal in Africa, and large 
 territories in India. 
 
 Dr. Taylor says, in a note to his edition of English History, that " this 
 bad been one of the most glorious and successful wars for Great Britain 
 thai bad ever been carried on in any age. In the space of seven years 
 Bhe bad made herself mistress of the whole continent of North America 
 — she had conquered twenty-five islands, all of them remarkable for 
 their magnitude, their produce, or the importance of their situation ; 
 she had won, by seaand land, twelve great battles; she had reduced nine 
 fortified cities and towns, and nearly forty forts and castles ; she had 
 destroyed or taken above a hundred ships of war from her enemies, and 
 acquired, as it is supposed, above twelve millions in spoil."
 
 ] 760—1811-20.] GEORGE III. 213 
 
 Between the ministry and him, a feud 
 Vital to liberty, and long pursued, 
 Cover'd the public champion with applause, — 
 And " general warrants *" are expunged the laws. 
 Oppressive acts proceeding from the Crown, 
 Gain'd him undue reliance and renown; 
 Large civic sums his shattered means repair, 
 Award him honours and the city's chair. 
 
 Sprung of the Sepoy, now a Sov'reign head, 
 Hyder alarm o'er British India spread : 
 But dreadlier far, the prospects of unrest, 
 Which now were widening in the troubled West. 
 
 Columbia's citizens a brand resist 
 By Grenville fixed upon the Colonist "f" ; 
 
 * In 1761, Mr. Wilkes, then member for Aylesbury, became a violent 
 opponent to the Bute administration by the publication of a periodical 
 paper, called "The North Briton" the \bth number of which was so 
 offensive, that a "general warrant" was issued by the Earl of Halifax, 
 secretary of state, to seize Mr. Wilkes and his papers. He brought his 
 action in the Court of K.B., where he obtained a verdict, by which 
 general warrants were declared illegal. — In the words of Blackstoue, 
 "void for their uncertainty ; for it is the duty of the magistrate, and 
 ought not to be left to the officer, to judge of the grounds of suspicion." 
 
 A party in Ireland was formed at this time for passing the Octennial 
 Act, which they gained, limiting the duration of parliaments to eight 
 years. These had been previously dissolved only on the demise of the 
 Crown. 
 
 f The fatal project of taxing America had many years since been 
 proposed to Sir R. Walpole ; but that cautious statesman replied " that 
 it was a measure too hazardous for him to venture upon, he should 
 therefore leave it to some more daring successor." For Mr. Grenville 
 therefore the experiment was reserved, 1704.
 
 •214 ENGLAND. [1769—1811-20. 
 
 A tax imposed with unbecoming grace 
 On those who held in parliament no place, 
 North abrogates ; on being call'd to fill 
 His high appointment, at the monarch's will. 
 
 But short the satisfaction which awaits, 
 By this repeal, the Transatlantic States : 
 Still, upon paper, glass and tea, remain 
 Taxations, which provoke them to complain ; 
 Of which, by vote, they are acquitted free, 
 And eased of imposts, save the claim on tea. 
 
 Twas now, Conspiracy, — till now, a throw, 
 The serf's — the slave's — the hazard of the low — 
 Against authorities, a game pursued 
 But only by the vassals on the feud : 
 But to the booty which on Poland clings, 
 Tempts now the frailty of accomplice Kings *. 
 
 * Coxe {History of House of Austria) observes, "I have little hesi- 
 tation in asserting that the plan of this partition originated with the 
 King of Prussia ; but so infamous was the transaction, that each of the 
 three Powers endeavoured to fix the blame on the others." Subsequently, 
 as will be seen, this iniquitous project was accomplished, and Poland is 
 now nowhere to be found in the map of Europe. 
 
 In this year also, (177"2,) an extraordinary revolution took place at 
 D< mnark — the reigning queen, Caroline Matilda, (sister of George III.,) 
 was seized in her apartment and sent prisoner to the Castle of Cronen- 
 burgh. Struensee and Brandt, and several other officers of state, were 
 also imprisoned. All power seemed lodged in the hands of the queeu- 
 dowager. The queen di d at Zell, 177">. 
 
 The marriage of George the Third's brothers, the Dukes of Cumberland 
 and Gloucester, with subjects of the realm, led to the enactment of the
 
 1 TOO— 1811-20.] GEORGE III. 2)5 
 
 Meanwhile oppressive measures have their rise 
 For quartering troops upon the colonies ; 
 Halting the laws ; establishing the choice 
 To all appointments at the royal voice. 
 
 With freighted tea some vessels touch the land, 
 Which the Bostonians scatter o'er the strand ; 
 Whereat the government at home declares 
 Their harbour closed ; new penalties prepares ; 
 And fills up all chief offices, the while, 
 In Massachusetts, Hampshire, and Rhode Isle*. 
 
 At this the Colonists resolve no more 
 To speed the common trade from shore to shore, 
 Until requited ; and with this intent, 
 (First urging plea,) await the worst event. 
 
 Royal Marriage Act, which prohibited any of the descendants of 
 George II. from marrying before the age of twenty -five without the con- 
 sent of the king in council. This gave rise to many jeux-d' esprit, one 
 of which is annexed : 
 
 Quoth A. to B. " This act appears absurd, as I'm alive ; 
 To hike the Crown at eighteen years, the Wife at twenty-five ! 
 The myst'ry, how shall we explain ? For sure, as well 'twas said, 
 Thus early if they're fit to reign, they must ho fit to wed." 
 Said B. to A. " thou art a dolt, and little know'st of lift- 
 Alas ! 'tis easier far to rule a kingdom than a wife! " 
 
 * Throe new bills in parliament were now introduced by Lord North : 
 1st. Inflicting a penalty ecpual to the value of the cargoes destroyed, and 
 shutting up the port of Boston. 2d. Annihilating the charter of King 
 William, by investing the Crown with the nomination of all offices, &c. 
 3d. Giving power to send persons accused of political offences to 
 England for trial.
 
 216 ENGLAND. [1760—1811-20. 
 
 Now certain letters, secretly address 1 d 
 By Hutchinson (in office in the West) 
 To the home government, advising means 
 At once coercive in these troubled scenes, 
 Falling to Franklin's hands, are straightway set 
 Before his friends at Massachusetts met. 
 On which oppression, he is named to treat 
 For restitution at the royal feet : 
 England's award but irritates complaint, 
 And Franklin finds dismissal and attaint*. 
 
 In congress met, all fervently beseech 
 The king, by means to heal th 1 unhappy breach : 
 The prayer by Penn, before Great Britain lain, 
 Is heard in silence and dismiss' d again. 
 Thus do the votes of Parliament despise 
 All chance of concord with the colonies; 
 
 * "Franklin had hitherto endeavoured to maintain the connexion 
 between America and Great Britain ; but from this time forward he 
 exerted all his abilities to effect a separation. Though he kept an 
 unchanged countenance in the presence of the Council, the bitter sar- 
 casms of Wedderburne sank deeply into his soul. In quitting the 
 room, he declared to his friend, Dr. Priestley, that he would never again 
 put on his clothes which he then wore, until he had received satisfac- 
 tion. Nearly nine years after, he dressed himself in his 'well-saved' 
 suit, when he went to sign the Treaty of Paris, which for ever deprived 
 the Crown of Great Britain of its authority over the United States." — 
 Note, Taylor's Edit, of JCiujland. 
 
 Alluding both to his political and scientific exertions (Franklin having 
 explained the theory of lightning), Turgot said of him : 
 " Eripuit coclo fulmon, mox sccptra tyiannis. "
 
 1760—1811-20.] GEORGE III. 217 
 
 And vain, the eloquence of Burke * declares 
 The fatal end their stubbornness prepares. 
 
 A German force of mercenary arms 
 Provokes new anger and renews alarms : 
 Urged by Virginian Lee, a vote is pass'd 
 To stand by " Independence" to the last. 
 
 The Congress, form'd in seventy-four, unites 
 At Philadelphia to maintain their rights : 
 Quickly in arms, — supplies as quickly flow, 
 And struck at Lexington's the earliest blow : 
 To this succeeds, in cost severer still, 
 The British victory at Bunker's-hill : 
 Meanwhile an adverse policy pursue 
 Scotia and Canada, — to Britain true. 
 
 'Twas now that Washington, Columbia's star f, 
 Yet rich in glory from the Gallic war, 
 
 * The reader may not be displeased to be reminded of Goldsmith's 
 delightful description of some features of Burke's character— 
 
 " Who, bora for the universe, narrow'd his mind, 
 Aud to party gave up what was meant for mankind. 
 # * * » * 
 
 Though equal in all things, for all tilings unfit ; 
 Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit ; 
 For a patriot too cool, for a drudge disobedient, 
 Too fond of the right to pursue the expedient." 
 
 In 1773, the society of Jesuits was suppressed by the Pope's bull, 
 f " To his latest breath did this great patriot maintain the noble 
 character of a Captain, the patron of peace, and a Statesman, the friend
 
 218 ENGLAND. [17(50-1811-20. 
 
 Is named in arms their leader, to await 
 Howe and Cornwallis from the mother state. 
 His forces, Howe on Philadelphia leads; — 
 And on the Delaware again succeeds ; 
 But fleeting both, th' advantage and renown ; 
 In fine, abandoned is the captured town : 
 Meanwhile at Saratoga, Burgoyne's aid 
 Is routed by the enemy's brigade. 
 
 Now with America, in seventy-eight, 
 France against England is confederate ; 
 And ships and troops the Gallic monarch sends, 
 To reinforce his Transatlantic friends. 
 
 of justice. A triumphant warrior where the most sanguine had a right 
 to despair ; a successful ruler in all the difficulties of a course wholly 
 untried ; but a warrior whose sword only left its sheath when the first 
 law of our nature commanded it to be drawn ; and a ruler, who having 
 tasted of supreme power, gently and unostentatiously desired that the 
 cup might pass from him, nor would suffer more to wet his lips than the 
 most solemn and sacred duty to his country and his God required." — 
 Edinb. Review, No. cxxxvn. 
 
 At this period Admiral Keppel attacked a French squadron under 
 the command of D'Orvilliers, but not being sufficiently supported by Sir 
 Hugh Palliser, the second in command, obtained no decisive success — 
 on which Palliser preferred a charge against his commander. But 
 Keppel was honourably acquitted, and Palliser being subsequently 
 brought to trial for disobedience of orders, was partially condemned. 
 
 In this year also, the adventurer Paul Jones kept all the western 
 coast in alarm. He landed at White haven, where he burned a ship in 
 the harbour, and even attempted to destroy the town. lie, some time 
 alter, fuught a battle with Captain Pearson, of the ' Serapis,' whom he 
 compelled to submit.
 
 17C0— 1811-20.] GEORGE III. 219 
 
 Through the whole nation stirring discontents 
 A ssail the council at the late events : 
 Attempt, by motion in the lords is made 
 For war's suspense and forces reconvey'd ; 
 But Chatham, he who firmly had denied * 
 Our right of quarrel with the " States" allied, 
 As firmly now opposed all middle course, — 
 Force long begun must be maintain'd by force. 
 
 * " When he rose to speak," says the historian Belsham, " all was 
 silence and profound attention ; animated and almost inspired by his 
 subject, he seemed to feel his own unrivalled superiority. His venerable 
 figure, dignified and graceful in decay— his language, his voice, his ges- 
 ture, were such as might at this important crisis, big with the fate of 
 Britain, seem to characterise him as the guardian genius of his country." 
 
 A note affixed to this passage of the above work, is the following : — 
 
 " Such extraordinary powers of mind as were in this nobleman, com- 
 bined with so much corporeal infirmity, recall to recollection the anec- 
 dote of Voltaire, who, on a visit to the famous M. Turgot, found the 
 minister wrapt up in gouty flannels and uuable to move. « You remind 
 me,' said the philosopher to the statesman, ' of the image seen in Nebu- 
 chadnezzar's dream.' ' Ah,' said M. Turgot, ' the feet of clay.' ' Yes 
 —but the head of gold— the head of gold !' replied Voltaire." 
 
 Byron, who was commissioned in 1764 to explore the Atlantic and 
 Pacific Ocean, corrected the errors of former charts, &c. &c. Wallis 
 in 1767 discovered Otaheite in the South Pacific, &c. : Carteret also tra- 
 versed the Pacific. Cook in 1 770 discovered the Society Islands ; deter- 
 mined the insularity of New Zealand, and explored the east coast of New 
 Holland. Next in 17 73, he discovered New Caledonia, the Isle of Georgia, 
 and the Sandwich coast. In 1 7 76, the 'Resolution ' and 'Discovery ' were 
 fitted out, and Captains Cook and Clarke were appointed to them. Besides 
 several small islands in the South Pacific, Cook discovered the group of 
 islands called the Sandwich Islands, explored the west coast of America 
 from lat. 43 to 70 N., and ascertained the proximity of the two continents 
 of Asia and America. In 1780, Cook was unfortunately killed by 
 the natives of Owhyhee, one of the Sandwich Islands.
 
 220 ENGLAND. [1760—1811-20. 
 
 Fearful, in eighty, through the city spread 
 Rebellion, by fanatic Gordon led : 
 Insane complainings at the liberal meed 
 Lately conceded to the papal creed. 
 Awful the pillage for successive days, — 
 Chapels are lain in ruins ;— prisons blaze ; 
 Nor quieted, the general alarms, 
 Till Gordon's capture by the force of arms *. 
 
 By French example, Holland now awaits 
 An apt occasion to assist the " States , '' — 
 Thus a fourth foe is added to the file 
 Against the American parental isle. 
 
 * The excesses of this period arose from indulgences granted to the 
 Catholics by the repeal of the 10th and 11th Will. III., for preventing 
 the growth of Popery. The benefits procured to the papists by this re- 
 peal, were an exemption of bishops, priests, and instructors of youth from 
 prosecution and imprisonment, a security of the rights of inheritance, 
 and permission to purchase lands in fee simple ; but these privileges were 
 granted only on condition of taking the oaths of allegiance, of renuncia- 
 tion of the Stuart family, and abjuration of the position that it is lawful 
 to murder heretics, and that no faith should be kept with them, and of 
 that position which legalises the deposition or murder of princes excom- 
 municated by the Pope. They were also, on oath, to deny the Pope's 
 authority, spiritual or civil, within the realm. 
 
 In these riots the Fleet Prison was destroyed by fire. An evil had 
 here scandalously prevailed, namely, that of celebrating illicit marriages. 
 Between the 19th of October, 1 704, and February 12th, 1 705, there were 
 celebrated 2954 within this prison, without licence or certificate of banns. 
 Pennant, at a later period, describes the daring manner in which this 
 traffic was carried on. He says, he has often been accosted with " Sir, 
 will you please to walk hi and be married ?" and he states, that signs 
 were common along the building, with this inscription, " Marriages per- 
 formed within." This glaring abuse was only put an end to by the 
 Marriage Act, 1753.
 
 1760—1811-20.] GEORGE III. 221 
 
 With renew' d vigour, war is carried on 
 Against the " Settlements" in eighty-one : 
 Forced is Cornwallis to capitulate 
 To patriot Washington and French Fayette ; 
 Cornwallis yields;— and with the English troops, 
 Subdued are Britain's Transatlantic hopes. 
 
 Coote, in the mean, a gleam of sun displays 
 To gild the aspect of these lowering days : 
 Humbled is Hyder in the fervid zone, 
 And India's gains Columbia's loss atone. 
 
 And cheering too, the exploits which arose 
 O'er Spain and Holland, siding with our foes : 
 Successes and defeats alternate pass, 
 Till Rodney's mightier triumph o'er De Grasse *. 
 
 In eighty-two, the federate advance 
 On famed Gibraltar's steep -f- by Spain and France, 
 
 * In this battle Rodney defeated the French when about to attack 
 Jamaica — he took 10 ships of the line (1 sunk and 3 blown up), and sent 
 the French Admiral, Count de Grasse, prisoner to England, April 12, 
 1782. 
 
 T The reader is offered a fuller account of this memorable siege in 
 the more available shape of a note — its detail scarcely admitting a 
 metrical construction. The combined armies of Franco and Spain 
 amounted to 40,000 men. The Duke of Crillon commanded 12,000 of 
 the finest French troops. A thousand pieces of artillery were brought 
 to bear against the fortress ; besides which, there were 47 sail of the line, 
 all three-deckers ; 10 great floating batteries, esteemed invincible, car- 
 rying 212 guns — innumerable frigates, xebequcs, bomb-ketches, cutters, 
 and gun and mortar boats ; while small craft for disembarking the
 
 2_>2 ENGLAND. [1760 — 1811-20. 
 
 On Elliot fixed perennial renown, 
 
 And saved, was Calpe to the British Crown. 
 
 Columbia's aspect and the fatal course 
 There still insisted by the British force, 
 Cast on the ministry a deep disgrace, 
 And North to Rockingham and Fox gave place. 
 But short their measures, ere again a change, — 
 And Pitt and Shelburne on the treasury range. 
 
 In the mean season, Fox and his allies 
 With the North party form a compromise ; 
 Which double strength the Shelburne power o'er- 
 
 threw, — 
 This " Coalition " of th' opponent two *. 
 
 By England, peace with France and Spain is signed, 
 And Holland and America combined ; 
 
 forces covered the bay. For weeks together 6000 shells were daily 
 thrown into the town ! and on a single occasion 8000 barrels of gun- 
 powder were expended by the enemy. Yet in one night their floating 
 batteries were destroyed by red-hot balls, and their whole line of works 
 annihilated by a sortie from the garrison, commanded by General 
 Elliot. The enemies' loss in munitions of war, on this night alone, 
 was estimated at upwards of 2,000,000/. sterling. 
 
 * The Coalition consisted of the Duke of Portland, Lord North, Mr. 
 Fox, &c. ; formed April 5th, 1783 ; dissolved Dec. 19th, same year. 
 Mr. Fox now introduced his East India Bill, which proposed to deprive 
 tlie directors and proprietors of the entire administration not only of 
 their territorial but also their commercial affairs, and to vest the manage- 
 ment of them in seven commissioners, irremovable by the Crown, except 
 in consequence of an address of either house of parliament. The bill 
 passed through the lower house by a great majority, but was lost in the 
 upper.
 
 17(10— 1811-20.] GEORGE III. 223 
 
 Peace with Great Britain ; — and in eighty-tiit!!^: 
 The " States United " are acknowledged free * ! 
 
 But brief, this startling Coalition framed, 
 And William Pitt chief minister is named t : 
 The Whigs o'erthrown upon their " India Bill," 
 The Premier's model meets the royal will : 
 With this, is pass'd his motion to revive 
 The Scotch estates, attaint in forty-five : 
 
 * Even Lord Chatham, who had favoured the colonists in their resist- 
 ance to taxation, spurned the idea of granting them independence. There 
 was only one man who ventured on such a proposal, and that was Dr. 
 Tucker, Dean of Gloucester, who argued on a principle which no doubt 
 the reader will acknowledge both wise and equitable, namely, that when 
 colonists have attained such a condition of power and population as to 
 support themselves, the course pointed out by nature, is that of their 
 becoming a distinct state. This doctrine, however, was treated as the 
 dream of a visionary. But after the peace, the king said to the doctoi", 
 " Mr. Dean, you were in the right, and we were all wrong." 
 
 Thirteen States were now by the British Parliament declared free. 
 Every denomination of religion is here equally under the protection of 
 the law. In a few of the States, however, certain modes of belief are 
 required as qualifications for office. In Massachusetts and Maryland 
 the declaration of a belief in the Christian religion is required to qualify 
 for office. In New Jersey no Protestant can be denied any civil right 
 on account of his religious principles. In Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and 
 Tennessee, the belief in a God and a future state of rewards and punish- 
 ments is required as a qualification. In North Carolina, no person who 
 denies the truth of the Protestant religion, or the divine authority of the 
 Old or New Testament, is capable of holding any civil office. In 
 Massachusetts the governor must be of the Christian religion. In the 
 other states no religious test is required. 
 
 f Mr. Pitt was the second son of the great Earl of Chatham. On (he 
 dissolution of the Rockingham administration in 1782, he became 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, and before the close of the following year 
 he was Prime Minister. Mr. Pitt's India Bill was passed, and an Act
 
 224 ENGLAND. [1760—1811-20. 
 
 Added to these, that " Fund" which Walpole drew, 
 Pitt, still more sanguine, constitutes anew*. 
 
 Faction in Holland, but of France the tool, 
 Subversion threatens the Stadtholder's rule : 
 Spurning remonstrance on the Orange side 
 By George of England, as his friend allied. 
 Prussia's proud king, in equal angry tone, 
 Assumes his sister's insult as his own, 
 And straightway sends upon Batavia's shores 
 A force which speedily its liege restores. 
 
 Now Hastings by the Commons is arraignM, 
 For stated malversation, which had stain'd 
 His Indian government ; — which lingering plea 
 At length acquitted the defendant free+. 
 
 for restoring the Scotch estates forfeited in 1 745, went through botli 
 houses, and l-eceived the royal assent, as mentioned in this text. 
 
 " Called by the circumstances of the times beyond human control to 
 the highest public station, he (Pitt) passed at once to the innermost of 
 the temple without treading the vestibule. In the bloom and vigour of 
 his faculties (for he bore the blossom and the fruit at once), and in the 
 prime of life, when everything can charm, that which can charm the 
 most, Power, was offered to him and confirmed by his king. The low 
 passion of avarice has no root in his mind ; but the sin by which the 
 angels fell rages in him without measure and without control." — 
 Extracted from a note to " The Pursuits of Literature." 
 
 » The " Sinking Fund." A then-estimated surplus of £900,000 
 in the revenue was augmented by new taxes to one million, which was 
 to be applied to the reduction of the National Debt. 
 
 f This trial lasted seven years and three months, and Mr. Hastings 
 was acquitted on the Begum charge (1795). 
 
 Mr. Sheridan summed up the evidence against the defendant on this
 
 1760^1811-20.] GEORGE HI. 225 
 
 Now, was that first great struggle, which endears 
 The rule of George, through long-protracted years — 
 
 memorable event. The testimony of Mr. Burke to the ability displayed 
 therein, is here introduced, as a tribute of eloquence to the claims of 
 eloquence. 
 
 " He has this day," said Mr. Burke, " surprised the thousands who 
 hung with rapture on his accents, by such an array of talents, such an 
 exhibition of capacity, such a display of powers, as are unparalleled in 
 the annals of oratory — a display that reflected the highest honour upon 
 himself, lustre upon letters, renown upon Parliament, and glory upon the 
 country ! Of all species of rhetoric, of every kind of eloquence that has 
 been witnessed or recorded , either in ancient or modern times; what- 
 ever the acuteness of the bar, the dignity of the senate, the solidity of the 
 judgment-seat, and the sacred morality of the pulpit, have hitherto fur- 
 nished, — nothing has surpassed — nothing has equalled, what we have 
 this day heard in Westminster Hall. No holy seer of religion — no 
 sage — no statesman — no orator — no man of any description whatever, 
 has come up in any one instance to the pure sentiments of morality, or 
 in the other, to that variety of knowledge, force of imagination, pro- 
 priety and vivacity of allusion, beauty and elegance of diction, strength 
 and copiousness of style, pathos and sublimity of conception, to which 
 we have this day listened with ardour and admiration. From poetry up 
 to eloquence, there is not a species of composition, of which a complete 
 and perfect specimen might not, from that single speech, be culled and 
 selected." — Hansard's Pari. Hist., June 6th, 1788. 
 
 In 1786 died Frederick the Great, of Prussia. " This monarch was 
 equal to any of the princes of his time in sagacity and abilities, and 
 superior to most of them in the arts of war and government. Like 
 Antteus, he seemed to rise strengthened by every fall ; but he did not, 
 like that fabled hero, suffer his enemies to strangle or destroy him when 
 he had risen. His ambition and rapacity may justly be blamed ; but he 
 afterwards endeavoured to repair the evils which his fondness for war 
 had occasioned ; and in the case of Poland, to atone for the injustice of 
 territorial seizure, by introducing a more settled government than that 
 which had subsisted before the partition. He appears to have derided 
 Christianity, and his court was at once a school of philosophy and a 
 seat of impiety." — Continuation of Russell's Mod. Europe. 
 
 " To be a king" once observed Frederick to his nephew and successor, 
 " is an adventitious distinction — never forget you are a man."
 
 226 ENGLAND. [1760—1811-20. 
 
 For, British, that same struggle, which withstood 
 The hated merchandise in human blood ! 
 Ere this, with equal purity and thought, 
 Clarkson and Sharpe the fearful truth had taught : 
 Had told the story of the reeking thongs ; 
 Of task-spent Afric, least of Gambia's wrongs ; 
 Of sunder 1 d hearts athwart the slave-ship span ; 
 Of gory bales — the family of man ! 
 But the sweet guerdon and delicious meed 
 Of waking England to her noblest deed, 
 Was left for one, who in his wav-worn course 
 Witness' d alone its triumph — Wilberforce* ! 
 
 * The Portuguese were the first Europeans (1442) who embarked in 
 this infamous traffic ; which example was soon followed by the Dutch, 
 and afterwards, in the reign of Elizabeth, by no other than Sir J. 
 Hawkins ! Mr. Wilberforce lived to witness the happy result of his 
 endeavours in 1807. The trade was abolished by Austria in 1782 ; by 
 the French Convention, in 1794 ; by England, in 1807. The Allies at 
 Vienna declared against it in 1815. Napoleon in the " Hundred Bays" 
 abolished the trade, March 29, 1815. Treaty with Spain, 1817— with 
 the Netherlands, 1818— with Brazil, 1826. But this inhuman traffic 
 still continues to be encouraged in several states. 
 
 The following passage is from Cooper's Letters on the Slave Trade : 
 
 " European avarice has been glutted with the murder of 180,000,000 
 of our fellow-creatures ! recollecting that for every one slave procured, 
 ten are slaughtered in their own land in war, and that a fifth die in the 
 passage, and a third in the seasoning !" 
 
 But, may the lesson of every Briton inculcate, and the energy at his 
 heart repeat, 
 
 " Slaves cannot breathe in England ; if their lungs 
 Receivo our air, that moment they are trie — 
 They touch our country and their shackles fall !"
 
 1760— 1811-20. J GEORGE III. 227 
 
 The monarch now by malady assail'd * — 
 Tedious, the party difference which prevaifd, 
 
 It was about this time, at the commencement of the year 1789, that the 
 workmen employed in the choir of St. George's chapel, Windsor, dis- 
 covered the entrance into the vault where Edward IV. had been deposited ; 
 the skeleton body was found inclosed in a leaden and wooden coffin, on 
 which lay another coffin of wood, much decayed, which contained the 
 skeleton of a woman, supposed to be his queen, Elizabeth Woodville. 
 
 * The following curious and interesting statement is from Wraxall's 
 Posthumous Memoirs. The reader will find matter in it to recompense 
 his attention : — 
 
 "George III. is the seventh prince whom Europe had beheld, 
 during the last four centuries, seated on a throne, and alienated in mind. 
 Of the seven, two have been females, and three have reigned in our own 
 days. Germany, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, and 
 England, have each in turn exhibited this painful spectacle. 
 
 The first in order of time, Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, Emperor of 
 Germany and King of Bohemia, ascended the throne in 1378, and, like 
 Nero, at first gave hopes of many virtues. In him, insanity was produced 
 by the combination of an understanding naturally feeble, with furious 
 passions and ungovernable appetites. Deposed and degraded, he was 
 nevertheless permitted to retain the title of king, and died in 1419 at 
 Prague. The second instance was nearly about the same period, in 
 the person of Charles VI. of France ; a prince on whom, with more 
 reason than on Louis XV., was bestowed the epithet of " Le Bien- 
 aime." A constitutional tendency to mental alienation seems to have 
 been inflamed by a coup de soleil, and terminated in madness. 
 He laboured during thirty years under this affliction, with intervals 
 of reason, and terminated his fife and reign three years after 
 Wenceslaus, amidst scenes of national distress the most deplorable. 
 Jane, sumamed « La Folk,' or the Mad ; daughter of Ferdinand 
 and Isabella, sister to Catherine of Arragon (Henry the Eighth's wife), 
 Queen of Spain and the Indies, forms the third example, and remained 
 in a state of lunacy nearly fifty years. In her, it resulted from original 
 weakness of intellect, aggravated by the untimely death of her husband, 
 Philip ' le Bel.' Immured in the castle of Tordesillas on the Douro, 
 by her son, the Emperor Charles V., from the age of twenty-four to 
 seventy-three ; neglected, forgotten, sleeping on straw, which she some- 
 times wanted, though her apartments were hung with tapestry ; she
 
 228 ENGLAND. [1/60—1811-20. 
 
 Touching a Regency ; — still undefined, 
 When to new vigour sprang the royal mind. 
 
 Warfare ' the Indian Company' began 
 With Tippoo Sultan, who had overran 
 The rajah Travancore* ; whose wrested fee 
 By Abercrombie was again set free. 
 Once more, is Tippoo by Cornwallis driven, 
 And half his empire to the victor given — 
 
 expired in 1555. Sweden offers the fourth instance, in the person of 
 Eric XIV., son and successor of Gustavus Vasa. He probably inherited 
 his malady from his mother, who had been confined on a similar account. 
 Eric, who was deposed in 1568, was transfex*red from one prison to 
 another, and over the precise nature of whose death a veil is drawn. 
 Eric, ferocious and cruel as he ultimately became, seems when not under 
 the dominion of frenzy to have been tractable and humane. We now 
 arrive at the present times. Christian VII., King of Denmark, fur- 
 nishes the fifth example. Excesses, followed by diseases and the im- 
 prudent use of remedies, deprived him of understanding before he had 
 well accomplished his twenty-third year. Widely different were the 
 causes which deprived of intellect, Maria, Queen of Portugal, a princess 
 endowed with many virtues. Superstition, combining with a melancholy 
 temperament, overturned her mind. She forms the sixth on this list. 
 Sir Sydney Smith said that towards the close of 1807, when she was seventy- 
 three years old, she perfectly recovered her reason, during about twenty- 
 four hours, after which she relapsed into her former state. It is an extra- 
 ordinary fact, that the two last-mentioned sovereigns should have been 
 driven out of their respective capitals about the same time — one by the 
 English, the other by the French. Christian was conveyed into Hol- 
 stein, previous to the siege of Copenhagen. Maria, expelled from Lis- 
 bon, crossed the equinoctial line and found an asylum in the southern 
 hemisphere. George III. supplies the seventh example of this 
 inquiry." 
 
 * Travancore, a province in the peninsula of Ilindostan, extending 
 along the coast of Malabar, subject to a rajah, who is under British 
 protection.
 
 1760—1811-20.] GEORGE III. 229 
 
 His children, hostages for faith, convey'd, 
 For the fulfilment of conditions made. 
 
 France, which had aided the Columbian soil, 
 To seek redress and break oppression's coil ; 
 France, which had sympathised in others' woe, 
 An equal tyranny was doom'd to know: 
 And her wak'd energies found equal vent 
 For restitution and enfranchisement. 
 Too soon, alas ! this patriotic state 
 Swells into guilty, democratic hate ; 
 And they who first applauded, now detest 
 Th' unholy measures of the once oppressM. 
 
 Expedients fail — the king resolves to call 
 Th 1 abeyant chamber of States-General * : 
 
 * Some account of the several stages of the French Revolution, is here 
 deemed indispensable, but shall be offered to the reader in as concise 
 a form as perspicuity will admit. 
 
 The commencement of this event is usually dated from the capture of 
 the Bastille, on the 14th of July, 1789; but the causes which produced 
 this terrible convulsion had been accumulating for ages, and may be 
 enumerated as follows : 
 
 The extravagance and profligacy of the court ; the feudal oppressions 
 of the nobility, and their exemption from taxes ; the rapacity of the 
 clergy; the power of arbitrary imprisonment by " lettres de cachet;" 
 the restrictions on the freedom of the press ; the general corruption in 
 the administration of justice ; the embarrassments of the finances ; and 
 the unequal distribution of the public burdens. 
 
 The " Slates General," previously to the Revolution, had not met since 
 1614. They consisted of three orders, the Nobility, Clergy, and Com- 
 mons, and were convened by Louis XVI. at Versailles, May 5, 1789. 
 Here a contest arose whether the three orders should make three dis-
 
 •230 ENGLAND. [1760—1811-20. 
 
 In fierce debate— in turbulent resolves, 
 All power to popular control devolves ; 
 
 tinct houses, or but one assembly. The Commons insisted on the latter, 
 and assuming the title of the " National Assembly," declared they were 
 competent to proceed without the concurrence of the other two. The 
 Nobility and Clergy found it expedient to concede the point, and they all 
 met accordingly in one hall ; and thus constituted, under the propo- 
 sition of the Abbe Sieyes, the " National Assembly,"— 16th June, 1789. 
 On the 20th, the hall of this new assembly was shut up by order of the 
 king : upon which the deputies of the " Tiers Etat " repaired to the Jeu 
 de Paume, or "Tennis Court," and swore not to dissolve until they had 
 digested a constitution for France. On the 22d they met, at the church 
 of St. Louis. This Assembly dissolved itself, Sept. 21, 1792. The 
 National Convention was formally opened on the above date, when M. 
 Gregoire, at the head of the " National Assembly," repaired thither and 
 announced that that assembly had ceased. It was then decreed, " That 
 the citizens named by the people to form the ' National Convention,' 
 being met to the number of 371, after having verified their powers, de- 
 clare, that the 'National Convention' is constituted." This convention 
 continued until a new constitution was organised, and the ' Executive 
 Directory ' was installed at the Little Luxembourg, Nov. 1, 1795. The 
 ' Directory' held its executive power for four years. It was composed 
 of five members, and ruled in connexion with two chambers, the 
 'Council of Ancients,' and the • Council of Five Hundred.' This was 
 deposed by Buonaparte, who, with Cambace'res and Le Brun, became 
 the ruling power of France — the Three Consuls — and the first as chief, 
 Nov. 9, 1799. 
 
 After the Jacobins in France had triumphed over the " Girondists," 
 they were themselves divided into two parties. Those called the "Cor- 
 deliers" being opposed to Robespierre, were arrested by his orders and 
 put to death. A powerful party was thence formed against him, and his 
 tall put an end to the " Reign of Terror ;" but, under every successive 
 faction, the arms of the Republic prevailed oh the Continent, in Germany, 
 Spain, and Italy. The United Provinces were overrun by the French, 
 and the Stadtholder sought refuge in England. 
 
 It has been observed, and not without much apparent truth, by a 
 writer of the present 'lay, that the death of Mirabeau was a great 
 national misfortune. In him the king might have enjoyed a servant — 
 the violent aristocrats a balance — and the monarchists, a shield. Marat
 
 17G0— 1811-20.] GEORGE III. 231 
 
 The Clergy, Peers, and Commons — these combined, 
 Form the one only legislative mind. 
 Feuds are abolish'd — boundaries set aside, 
 And new Departments in their place divide: 
 The law of Jury marks the new events, 
 Displacing the Provincial Parliaments. 
 
 D'Artois and Conde's unexpected flight, 
 Inflame Parisian fury to its height : 
 Storm'd is the fortress of the dread Bastille, — 
 Choalc'd is the moat : the mighty bastions reel : 
 Chief of the " National new Guard," Fayette, 
 (A guard of citizens incorporate,) 
 Directs it onward — and from Versailles torn, 
 Away, the king and family are borne. 
 
 Still more was France excited by th 1 unwise 
 And interposing arms of the allies, 
 Austria and Prussia ; threat'ning their recourse 
 To ready violence and foreign force, 
 Unless she pledged her measures to revoke 
 And bow again before the feudal yoke : 
 
 would have died perhaps in exile, and Robespierre, Roland, and Louis, 
 calmly in their beds. 
 
 In conclusion, the reader may remember, thus fulminates a note to the 
 " Pursuits of Literature " — on the " Monstrous Republic : " 
 
 Iustat terribilis vivis, morientibus lucres, 
 Nulla quies : oritur prseda cessantc libido, 
 Divitibusque dies, et nox metuenda oiaritis ; 
 Emicat ad nutimi, s trie to mucronc minister.
 
 232 ENGLAND. [1760—1811-20. 
 
 Which proclamation, — Brunswick's wild decree, — 
 Seal'd the destruction of the monarchy; 
 Forced were all factions in one common tie, 
 And " blood to France " the universal cry ! 
 
 To such, the sov'reign is compell'd to plead — 
 By such, the sovVeign is condemn'd to bleed. 
 A " Reign of Terror" sways the prostrate clime, — 
 That lingering scene of anarchy and crime ! 
 
 Britain here first prepares to take up arms, 
 Passive till now, amid these wild alarms — 
 Chauvelin* departs — and "battle" fills the breeze, 
 From the south Channel to the Hebrides. 
 York is cmployM, his tactics to propound 
 Against the foe upon their native ground. 
 Inspiring scenes the federate forces cheer : 
 Dumouriez yields, Miranda and Dampierre ; 
 And the fair cities, Valenciennes and Mentz, 
 Quesnoy and Conde, to the English tents. 
 But royal York encounters total rout 
 At Dunkirk, and abandons the redoubt: 
 And Toulon harbour, still in English hands, 
 Stirs the Republic to reprise its lands — 
 
 • On news of the execution of Louis XVI. reaching England, Chau- 
 velin was ordered to quit the British dominions within eight days. 
 In 1791, the trial and acquittal of Hardy, Home Tooke, and Thelwall, 
 charge of high treason.
 
 1760—1811-20.] GEORGE III. 233 
 
 Driv'n are the British from the port and main, 
 In this, the young Napoleon's first campaign. 
 
 But veteran Howe atones this dark event, 
 And scenes still threat'ning on the Continent : 
 Six goodly captures, his adventurous test ; 
 " The glorious first of June," in sight of Brest. 
 
 And now, as England's grievances increase, 
 Sov'reigns and states with France effect a peace : 
 First is the Tuscan — then, the Regent Swede — 
 Spain, Prussia and the Swiss — the Dutch succeed — 
 And thus, save Austria, England, friendless now, 
 Prepares alone, to meet the monster blow ! 
 Forthwith, alone, in ninety-seven, resists 
 The onward progress of the anarchists ; 
 While Spain and Holland add to her renown, — 
 St. Vincent, Jervis — Duncan, Camperdown : 
 But in the mean, oppressions raise, ashore, 
 Spithead alarms, and treason at the Nore. 
 
 In guilty concert with the French, a band 
 Of wild insurgents stir the sister-land * ; 
 
 In 1 79.5, Poland, overwhelmed by a foreign despotism, was blotted out 
 from the number of European kingdoms, and divided between Prussia, 
 Austria, and Russia. Russia seized Lithuania, and all that part to the 
 eastward which suited her. Austria took Gallicia, lying contiguous to 
 her own dominions ; and Prussia secured the maritime districts. 
 
 * The United Irishmen were called " Croppies," because, after the 
 French Jacobins, they cut oft' their long hair. A nobleman derived the 
 horrible name of " Pitch Cap," from the invention of a new mode of tor-
 
 234 ENGLAND. [1760-1811-20. 
 
 Their hold, in Wexford and in Wicklow form'd, 
 With good success is vigorously storm'd ; 
 And their chief leaders, by the block, atone 
 The blood of insurrection by their own. 
 
 Flush'd with success, Napoleon now commands 
 A vaunted fleet to the Egyptian sands ; 
 Gaining, in almost bloodless strife, the heights 
 Of Malta's * isle and its dishonour^ knights. 
 
 ture. As it was the custom of the soldiers to administer the pitch cap 
 to every cropped head they might happen to meet, the "Croppies" often 
 seized on such obnoxious Protestants as were in their power, and cutting 
 off their hair, left them to the barbarity of the soldiers, who thus fre- 
 quently applied the pitch cap to their warmest advocates. 
 
 On the great increase of peerages under this administration, the fol- 
 lowing was written : 
 
 Quoth the first William Pitt, with his wonted emotion, 
 " The Peers are no more than a drop in the ocean ;" 
 But so far from this point, his successor now veers, 
 That himself 's but a drop in an ocean of Peers. 
 * Malta was blockaded from this time by the British, and was taken 
 by Major-General Pigot, 1800. At the peace of Amiens, it was stipu- 
 lated that it should be restored to the Knights — which will presently be 
 alluded to in the above text. 
 
 It will not be deemed perhaps altogether foreign to the purpose of the 
 present volume, to remind the reader that in 1722, Lady Wortley Mon- 
 tagu had introduced the system of inoculation for the small-pox into this 
 country from Constantinople, with great success ; but it nevertheless was 
 in many instances fatal. The introduction of the virus of the cow-pox, 
 an eruption discovered on the udder of that animal, next followed ; for 
 it bad been observed, that most of the milkers attached to the dairies in 
 England, whose hands had been affected with this virus, were never 
 afterwards infected with the small-pox, either by inoculation or long 
 exposure to the contagion of that disease. This induced Dr. Jenner to 
 examine the subject, and having successfully tried the experiment of 
 inoculation by this virus, he published his observations thereon at the 
 time we are now discussing, namely, 17!)8,-aud hence the invaluable 
 discovery of Vaccination.
 
 1760—1811-20.] GEORGE III. 235 
 
 Prostrate the land of Pharaoh, he surveys ; 
 The crested Mameluke and crouching Beys * : 
 Thus, fortune-favour'd, he had toucli'd the coast, 
 Ere Nelson's sail could intercept his boast. 
 But on his frigates, in Rosetta bay, 
 The Admiral opens at declining day; 
 Nor till the morn, is the encounter done, 
 And France dismantled and the conflict won : 
 Nine of the line and ammunition pile 
 Commemorate the glory of the Nile-f- ! 
 
 India again, hostilities possess, 
 In ninety-nine, by Tippoo's faithlessness : 
 Slain in the fight, — capitulates Mysore 
 To Baird and Harris, with its gorgeous store J. 
 
 Austria untamed, again the gauntlet throws, 
 And dares the plumed consul to the close : 
 
 * The Arabs called Buonaparte the " Sultan of fire." But he sought to 
 obtain a still higher hold on their imagination, by passing for a prophet 
 — a similar idea had inspired Robespierre. Madame de Stael designated 
 Buoi.aparte as "Robespierre on horseback. 7 ' 
 
 f Sometimes called the battle of Aboukir ; fought, Aug. 1, 1798. 
 
 X Thus fell Seringapatam, and " thus ended," says Mr. Hughes, " the 
 sliM't-lived dynasty, founded by a daring adventurer on the ruins of the 
 Hin. loo house of Mysore. Tippoo fell in his 47th year : from his earliest 
 youth, deceitful,"eruel, and intractable. * If he had qualities fitted for 
 empire,' says Colonel Wilks, ' they were strangely equivocal: ilic dis- 
 qualifications were obvious and unquestionable ; nor will the decision of 
 history be far removed from the observation, almost proverbial in My- 
 sore, that Hyder was born to create an empire, Tippoo to lose one.' ' '
 
 23G ENGLAND. [1760—1811-20. 
 
 Matchless, as yet, Napoleons forces sweep 
 The pathless wilds and scale the Alpine steep : 
 Fought is Marengo — and Marengo's sun 
 Ripens the blossom which his youth had won*. 
 
 Form'd is the " Union" (mooted in the while, 
 In eighteen hundred) with the Sister Islef . 
 
 At Alexandria, Abercrombie lands, 
 To test the struggle on the Eastern strands : 
 Conquering Menou, the gallant hero dies, 
 And ardent Hutchinson the void supplies. 
 
 Treach'rous to England, the Imperial Paul 
 In secret triumphs at the march of Gaul ; 
 Urging the Northern Powers to renew 
 The " arm'd neutrality" to Britain's rue : 
 
 * Rapp and Savary were aides-de-camp to Desaix, who was killed on 
 the field of Marengo. Savary soon made progress, with Buonaparte, by 
 his suppleness, Rapp was a blunt Alsacian, and became neither duke nor 
 marshal. He once ushered a dark-looking Corsican to the presence of 
 Buonaparte, and took care to hold the door open whilst the interview 
 lasted. When questioned by Buonaparte why he did this, " Because," 
 replied Rapp, "I don't put much trust in your Corsicans." — This blunt 
 remark caused much amusement. — Note in Crowe's Hist, of France. 
 
 t It was determined that from the 1st of January, 1801, there should 
 be but one Imperial Parliament for the British Islands, in which Ireland 
 should be represented by four spiritual and twenty-eight temporal peers, 
 and one hundred commoners. 
 
 The Irish bishops only sit in parliament one session in rotation, accord- 
 ing to a fixed cycle, which always includes one archbishop and three 
 bishops. (The Scotch peers are elected for every new parliament ; but 
 the Irish peers arc elected for life.) — The cross of St. Patrick was added 
 to those of St. George and St. Andrew on the national banner — thence 
 di nominated the ■' Union Flag."
 
 1760—1811-20.] GEORGE III. 237 
 
 On which, attempt at amity is tried, 
 
 Yet vainly proffer'd, on the British side. 
 
 Thus then, the feud — 'twixt her, the Dane and Swede — 
 
 Commissions Parker to the Baltic lead : 
 
 The tocsin sounds, and Nelson rides the main 
 
 Against the sea-girt city of the Dane : 
 
 Off Copenhagen he destroys his vaunt, 
 
 And leaves the Northman to repent his taunt. 
 
 On the demise of murder'd Paul, his son 
 Treaty with England sign'd ; — the like begun, 
 Was now concluded by the Swede and Dane : 
 And Pitt resigns his ministerial reign. 
 The peace of Amiens — eighteen two — is framed, 
 And Addington chief minister proclaimM. 
 
 Short was the tranquil pause *. The very truce 
 Supplied to new hostilities excuse. 
 The Corsic Consul of the French complains 
 That England, spite her covenant, detains 
 The midsea Malta ; which by late resolve 
 To the old knights should now again devolve. 
 Recaird is Whitworth ; — Addington recedes; 
 And Pitt, a second time, as Premier leads -f-. 
 
 * " Mors gravior sub pace latet " was the common mistrust. 
 
 t Mr. Hughes observes, in his Annals of George III., "As .Mr. Pitt 
 resigned office professedly because he could not force the king's conscience 
 to grant the claims of the British Catholics, and resumed it with an
 
 238 ENGLAND. [1760-1811-20. 
 
 War is renewed*. Domingo's slaves arise 
 And wake rebellion in the Western skies ; 
 Which England, aiding on the Carib sea — 
 As " Haytl," welcomes French Domingo, free ! 
 
 Spain joins the foe, when her rich-freighted store, 
 In sight of Cadiz, is secured by Moore. 
 But far transcends the enterprise designM, 
 In eighteen five, upon the fleet combinM : 
 Nelson, the word, off Cape Trafalgar gave, — 
 Nelson, " to battle," — matchless on the wave ! 
 'Twas at meridian day, the onset roar 
 Of storied engines waked the slumbering shore : 
 Villeneuve has struck ! The " Victory" floats 'longside 
 The vast "Redoubt able "—they grappling ride — 
 When from the shrouds, by deadly level'd aim, 
 The mortal hero pass'd to deathless fame-)-! 
 
 acquiescence in their disabilities, his character has been vehemently 
 attacked on the score of sacrificing principle to ambition." 
 
 Many of the above disabilities were at this time most grievous. A 
 Roman Catholic might rise to a lieutenant-colonelcy in the Irish army, 
 but in that of England he could hold no commission. In the navy, a 
 young man could rise no higher than the rank of midshipman: hence 
 the youth of Ireland, who had a taste for the naval profession, were 
 induced to go to America, and add strength to those who were soon to 
 become our enemies. 
 
 * In 1804, by a decree of the Tribunate and the Senate, Buonaparte 
 was constituted Emperor, and the office hereditary in his male de- 
 scendants. 
 
 f On receiving news of the annihilation of his fleet at Trafalgar, 
 Buonaparte is reported to have said, " I cannot be everywhere !" — It
 
 J760—1811-20.] GEORGE III. 239 
 
 But the bright glory which her armies reap 
 Atone, for France, reverses on the deep. 
 Austria, in check, on ev'ry turn, is held ; 
 And Arch-Duke Charles from Italy expell'd. 
 *Ulm, to Napoleon falls, a shameless prey — 
 And yields, in fine, Vienna to his sway. 
 Hope, — flatting hope, still cheers the Austrian tents, 
 When hardy Prussia common cause cements : 
 
 has thereon been well remarked, that his presence at Trafalgar would 
 have had about as much influence as Nelson on horseback at Marengo 
 or Austerlitz. The enemy's force, was 18 French and 15 Spanish 
 vessels of the line — that of the British 27. Villeneuve was taken, and 
 19 ships captured, sunk, or destroyed. 
 
 Nelson ! There is a simple anecdote which portrays the character of the 
 man, as forcibly as the record of his whole brilliant career. Little that is 
 new can be offered to the reader in respect of the history of Nelson, with 
 which all persons feel naturally so strong a desire to become familiar, while 
 Mr. Southey has left nothing undone to promote that praiseworthy 
 inclination — but the following will bear repetition : Nelson, before goim* 
 on a certain expedition, had ordered some stores to be sent on board his 
 ship by a fixed hour; that being the positive time required. "No," 
 added he, after a moment's reflection — " a quarter of an hour earlier, if 
 you please : to that quarter of an hour beforehand, I owe all my suc- 
 cesses in life." 
 
 " Offspring of Freedom and of Valour's land, 
 Majestic Oak, victorious tree of Jove ! 
 Where'er the ocean flows, thy sons command 
 With eagle standard or the olived dove. 
 
 " High conquest crowns resistless Jervis' prow, 
 
 And mourning cypress circles Duncan's name ; 
 A vet'ran's honours mantle valiant Howe, 
 
 And wrap great Nelson in the robes of Fame !" 
 
 From an Ode at the time. 
 
 * The Austrians under General Mack were defeated in this battle witli 
 dreadful loss, by Marshal Ney. Ulm was surrendered to Napoleon, 
 under strong suspicion of treachery.
 
 240 ENGLAND. [1760—1811-20. 
 
 Triumphant still the Gallic eagle sits, 
 
 And grasps, unruffled, cowering Austerlitz*! 
 
 The Premier dies : — the Whigs to power advance, 
 And Fox, f in vain, attempts a truce with France : 
 His death, the new-form'd ministry dissolves ; 
 And the chief trust on Perceval devolves. 
 
 i 
 
 Austria scarce humbled, when against the foe 
 The heart of Prussia beat with fresh'ning glow : 
 Disasters yet her new-born struggle bore, 
 And Jena yields to France a laurel more : 
 What Jena proffers, Friedland still confirms, 
 And trampled Prussia signs the Tilsit I terms. 
 
 * 1805. Prussia and Austria had now entered into a confederacy 
 with England against France ; a coalition disastrous to the Allies. The 
 Emperor of Austria was obliged to leave his capital, which was entered 
 by the French 13th Nov. ; and at Austerlitz on 2d Dec. the French 
 obtained a decisive victory, which dissolved the confederacy. The 
 battle is remarkable for the presence of three Emperors, namely, Alex- 
 ander, Francis, and Napoleon. 
 
 In the course of this year, also, Lord Melville was accused by the 
 Commons of malversation in his office of treasurer of the navy. The 
 impeachment was postponed till the session 180G, when he was acquitted, 
 
 t Of Mr. Fox, " his views," says a recent writer with much truth and 
 some elocpience, " always noble, were often sublime. His love of country 
 was a passion rather than a principle, but his philanthropy extended to the 
 whole human race. He was at once the advocate of the oppressed 
 Catholic, the suffering Hindoo, and the enslaved African. Peace was 
 his goddess — he sighed with benevolent ardour for her advent, and 
 wrought warmly for the universal diffusion of freedom, knowledge, and 
 happiness." 
 
 J The treaty of Tilsit ( 1 807) was formed between France, Prussia, and 
 Russia.
 
 1760 — 181 1-20.] GEORGE III. 241 
 
 Popham and Baird, their course to Afric shape, 
 And plant the British standard at the Capo : 
 The Dutch, their settlement to England cede, 
 And modern treaties ratify the deed*. 
 
 While Maida, in unequal fight redounds 
 To Stuart's glory, on Calabrian grounds ; 
 Schemed by Napoleon, certain States combine 
 The famed " Confederation of the Rhine -f-. 1 ' 
 
 Great Britain, jealous that the Turk might use 
 His power in secret, to Napoleon's views, 
 Her hostile ships the Dardanelles surprise, 
 But fly the thunder of their batteries. 
 A second scheme, the Turk to disposses 
 Of Egypt, terminates in like distress : 
 Taken is Alexandria; — but the price, 
 Our ultimate Egyptian sacrifice. 
 
 By the stern hatred in Napoleon's breast, 
 To Britain's welfare and internal rest, 
 
 * This extensive territory was taken from the Dutch by the English, 
 first in 1795, but restored at the peace of Amiens. It was retaken in 
 1806, and confirmed to Great Britain by the Congress of Vienna, 1815, 
 and now forms part of the British dominions. 
 
 f The members of the " Confederation" were, the Emperor of the 
 French, the Kings of Bavaria and Wirtemberg, and several other German 
 princes. Separating themselves from the German Empire, they chose 
 Buonaparte for their protector, and established a federal alliance, by 
 which they engaged to furnish a certain contingent of troops in case of 
 a war. Francis resigned his office of Emperor of Germany, and annexed 
 his German provinces to the Empire of Austria. Dissolved in 1813. 
 
 B
 
 242 ENGLAND. [1760—1811-20. 
 
 FoilM in attempts her floating bales to seize, 
 He vents in fury his " Berlin Decrees ;" 
 And Denmark, though in long alliance bound 
 To England's flag, is in the compact wound. 
 England, moreover, jealous in the while 
 Of French intrigue and efforts to beguile 
 The Danish armament, — the British treat 
 To hold in custody the Zealand fleet, 
 Offering in turn their maritime defence : 
 A profferM interchange the Dane resents : 
 Great Britain thence, upon this only plea, 
 His city occupies by land and sea *. 
 
 La Plata, gallantly, to Britain's cost, 
 Reprises Buenos Ayrest — won, but lost ! 
 What Popham schemed, the vig'rous foe eludes, 
 And Britain's boast in Whitelock's shame concludes. 
 
 The port of Lisbon, now the only vent 
 For England, on the spell-bound Continent, 
 The French usurper is resolved to close, 
 Against the ventures of his British foes. 
 
 * Under the plea of stern necessity, the British Government sheltered 
 itself in this act of aggression. But the reader will perhaps be inclined 
 to think it a lesson too hastily adopted from Napoleon's grammar. He 
 is also referred to the Letters of Peter Plymlcy, for a most amusing 
 comment on the events of this period. The passage is much too long 
 to be inserted in the present volume, and far too entertaining to be 
 abridged. 
 
 t Treaty of the Independence of this province was signed 1822.
 
 ) 760— 1811-20.] GEORGE III. 243 
 
 Braganza's Regent, too infirm to cope 
 With French aggression and Napoleon's hope, 
 Rests his last refuge upon British skill, 
 And shielded thus, attains the far Brazil : 
 The French, his capital and home invest — 
 The Tagus' banks, and Lusitanian West. 
 
 So the weak King of Spain, in wav'ring mind. 
 His sway despotic had in part consign'd 
 To Godoy ; whom the erring queen had made 
 The star ascendant, from the lowliest grade. 
 Unequal to the favour he had earn'd, 
 He meets disdain — by Spanish nobles spurnM — 
 And Spain herself suspecting his essay 
 To speed the ancient family away, 
 Godoy, by insurrection, is bereft 
 Of all his glories and dismantled left. 
 On this, the king, in weakness and despair, 
 His crown resigns to Ferdinand, his heir — 
 A deed, too late, he struggles to retrace, 
 And mount again his abdicated place. 
 Napoleon takes his fortune at the tide, 
 Professing faithfulness on either side ; 
 And thus bctray'd, the Spanish sire and son 
 The frontier pass — Napoleon's game is won : —
 
 244 ENGLAND. [17C0— 1811-20. 
 
 Environ'd both ; they abdicate again, 
 And Joseph grasps the diadem of Spain * ! 
 
 Waked is the land to patriotic glow, 
 And supplicated Britain aids the blow..! 
 To Portugal, an army Wellesley leads ; 
 And Junot yields on Vimiero's meads : 
 But by the covenant at Cintra made, 
 Th' advantage by Dalrymple is belay'd, 
 Who, in the lieu of full surrender, grants 
 His prisoners reconveyance into France. 
 
 A nother federate army under Moore, 
 Supplied by Britain, reachVl the Spanish shore : 
 CompelPd to shun Napoleon's attack, : 
 He falls discreetly on Corunna back ; 
 Closely, the foe pursues him, with the hope 
 Of intercepting his embarking troop. 
 The general now his forced position views, 
 Inspires his soldiers and their zeal renews ; 
 Soult, he sustains in fierce, unequal strife, 
 And pays for victory his gallant life f. 
 
 * In 1808 the Inquisition was suppressed in Spain by a decree of 
 Napoleon, and this suppression was confirmed by the Cortes in 1813. It 
 was, however, re-established by Ferdinand VII. Pius VII. abolished 
 the use of torture in all the tribunals of the Holy Office, a resolution 
 officially communicated to the ambassadors of Spain and Portugal. The 
 last person burnt by the Inquisition was a female accused of having made 
 a compact with the devil. She suffered at Toledo on the 7th Nov., 1781. 
 
 t " Thus ended the career of Sir John Moore, a man whose uncommon
 
 1700—1811-20.] GEORGE III. _' 13 
 
 Austria, the while, determines to recruit 
 Her fallen fortunes and her old repute : 
 But still disasters on her arms await ; 
 Still — still, reverses are the Austrian fate : 
 At Wagram *, fallen is her warlike bust 
 Before Napoleon — prostrate in the dust. 
 
 capacity was sustained by the purest virtue, and governed by a disin- 
 terested patriotism more in keeping with the primitive than the luxurious 
 age of a great nation. His tall, graceful person, his dark searching eyes, 
 strongly defined forehead and singularly expressive mouth, indicated a 
 noble disposition and a refined understanding. The lofty sentiments of 
 honour habitual to his mind, adorned by a subtle playful wit, gave him in 
 conversation an ascendancy that he could well preserve by the decisive 
 vigour of his actions. He maintained the right with a vehemence 
 bordering upon fierceness, and every important transaction in which he 
 was engaged increased his reputation for talent and confirmed his 
 chai'acter as a stern enemy to vice, a steadfast friend to merit — a just 
 
 and faithful servant to his country Neither the shock 
 
 of the mortal blow, nor the lingering hours of acute pain which preceded 
 his dissolution, could quell the pride of his gallant heart, or lower the 
 dignified feeling with which he asserted his right to the gratitude of the 
 country he had served so truly." — Napier's History of the Peninsular 
 War. 
 
 * The battle of Wagram between the French and Austrians (1809) 
 raised Napoleon to the highest pitch of glory. " The military exploits," 
 observes Charles- Butler {Reminiscences) "of Zengis, Tamerlane, 
 Aurungzebe, and other Eastern conquerors, carried their victories over 
 a much larger portion of the globe. Trajan and Charlemagne reigned 
 over more ample territories, and the geographical size of the kingdoms 
 subject to Napoleon was far inferior to the size of those over which the 
 autocrat of Russia sways his sceptre ; but if we consider what constitutes 
 the strength and splendour of a state, its civilization, power, wealth, 
 energy, and particularly the intellectual stock of its subjects, all empires 
 which have hitherto been subject to one man incontestibly yield to that 
 of Napoleon."
 
 246 ENGLAND. [1760—1811-20. 
 
 The self-same season, with a re- supply, 
 Wellesley upholds Cuesta, his ally * : 
 The hostile arms at Talavera-f- meet, 
 And Victor flies — ten thousand, his defeat ! 
 
 The willing Swedes, French Bernadotte affect ; 
 " Crown Prince 11 proclaim him, and their king-elect. 
 
 In the mean while, Napoleon's thwarted pride 
 In blood's descent, by Josephine allied, 
 
 * How far this general is entitled to the distinction of ally to Lord 
 Wellesley, or the Spanish nation worthy the aid it received from Great 
 Britain, may be well collected from Napier's History. 
 
 In this year also (1809), with a view to the destruction of the French 
 vessels lying in the Scheldt, a British force was landed on the isle of 
 Walcheren ; but so much time elapsed previously to the reduction of 
 Flushing, that the enemy were enabled to convey their ships up the river. 
 Walcheren fell, but was ultimately evacuated. The following is " A 
 mutual recrimination" of General and Admiral, on this event — 
 
 " Tlie Earl of Chatham with his sword drawn 
 Was waiting for Sir Richard Strachan ; — 
 Sir Richard, longing to be at 'em, 
 Was looking for the Earl of Chatham !" 
 
 f In consequence of this victory Sir Arthur Wellesley was elevated 
 to the peerage, by the title of Viscount Wellington. 
 
 In tins year likewise (1809) a French squadron lying in the Basque 
 Roads was attacked by Lords Gambier and Cochrane — four ships of the 
 line and three frigates were burned, and several others destroyed. 
 
 2. Lord Colling wood destroyed in the bay of Rosas three sail of the 
 line, two frigates, and twenty transports. 
 
 3. Sir James Saumarez captured a Russian convoy in the Baltic, and 
 several important islands were wrested from the French in the West 
 Indies. 
 
 On the 25th of October, in the same year, a jubilee took place, in 
 celebration of his Majesty's entrance on the 50th anniversary of his 
 reign,
 
 1/tiO— 1811-20.] GEORGE III. 247 
 
 His wedded hand and facile conscience frees, 
 And elevates the Austrian Louise *. 
 
 Now Wellington on the defensive plants 
 His stand, opposing Massena's advance 
 Through Portugal. The British force combines 
 At Torres Vedras 1 adamantine lines : 
 Thus, on the enemy he throws distress, 
 Who daily droop, by want and watchfulness ; 
 Till, in the issue, by exhaustion worn, 
 The lustier drag beyond the Spanish bourn. 
 
 At home, ere this, the venerable king 
 Had linger'd long in mental suffering : 
 And in eleven, the parliament entails 
 The Regent functions on the Prince of Wales. 
 
 Beneath the threshold of the Senate's hall, 
 The Premier fell — the rnurderM Perceval ! 
 New measures form ; the Cabinet is freed ; 
 And Liverpool and Harrowby succeed. 
 
 In Eastern Spain, successes cheer the Gauls ; 
 But in the West, calamity befals : 
 
 * ON THE MARRIAGE OF NAPOLEON WITH THE ARCHDUCHESS OF AUSTRIA. 
 
 " Maria, Bourbon's widow, bled ; 
 Louisa shares th' invader's bed ; 
 Which is the Martyr — she that died, 
 Or she that lives, Napoleon's bride ?" 
 The issue of this marriage was a son, born March, 1811, and created by 
 his father " King of Rome." At the abdication of Napoleon, he was 
 placed under his maternal grandfather, and his kingly title exchanged 
 for that of Duke of Reichstadt. He died at Schoenbrunn, July 1832.
 
 248 ENGLAND. [1760—1811-20. 
 
 Ciudad Rodrigo — Badajoz — unite, 
 To ennoble still the hero of the fight. 
 
 Barrosa's eagle stoops to Graham's sword ; — 
 Soult, Albuera yields to Beresford ; — 
 Quick in their train is Salamanca won, 
 And Marmont fugitive to Wellington * ! 
 
 That fitful project — that disastrous force, 
 Led by Napoleon, in twelve, across 
 The Niemen — had occasionM him to drain 
 Part from his forces militant in Spain. 
 Wise was the Russian policy to foil 
 Four hundred thousand on theijr desert soil ; 
 To shun a battle, but cut off supplies 
 From the forced progress of their enemies. 
 
 Smolensk affords him but its crackling beams, 
 Viazma burns, and purple carnage streams : 
 Of French and Russians, sixty thousand slain, 
 The ravaged paths of Borodino stain : 
 Vainly at Moscow, shelter from their toils 
 The invaders find, or refuge in their spoils ; 
 
 * This memorable victory was purchased at the severe loss of 6000 
 men, killed, wounded, and missing ; but Marmont left in the victors' 
 hands 7141 prisoners, 11 pieces of cannon, 6 stand of colours, and 2 
 eagles. Eight thousand men are supposed to have been killed and 
 wounded. Marmont lost an arm in the battle, and was the seventh 
 French Marshal whom Wellington had defeated in the course of four 
 years.
 
 1760—1811-20.] GEORGE III. 249 
 
 The city flames ; with dearth and labour spent 
 Legions are stiffen'd in the element : 
 Frenzy each party occupies, in turn ; 
 The plunderers ravage, and the plunder'd burn : 
 Equal the famine ; common the despair ; 
 And secret murder their alternate share. 
 Retreat, is sounded to the arms of France — 
 Retreat — still more terrific than advance ; 
 Nor fifty thousand of that vast array, 
 Live to retrace their lamentable way*. 
 
 Meanwhile the children of the Spanish clime, — 
 Unworthy England and her gallant prime, 
 With base ingratitude their debt repay, 
 And mar their benefactor on his way. 
 But soon, the Cortes undeceived, enrol 
 Their failing gen'rals to the Earl's control : 
 Whence, from the Ebro and the Douro, press'd, 
 The French prepare one last — decisive test. 
 Near to Vittoria, Joseph draws his train, 
 (The Imperial depot in the North of Spain) ; 
 
 * When Moscow was entered by the French, the Russian governor, 
 Rostopchin, ordered that it should be set on fire in five hundred places at 
 once. Eleven thousand eight hundred houses, besides palaces and 
 churches, were burnt . The city has been rebuilt, and no traces of the 
 fire remain ! The dreadful sufferings of the French army in its retreat 
 from Russia may be inferred from the statement that, in the three 
 governments of Moscow, Witepsk, and Mohilow, 253,000 bodies, and 
 in the city of Wilna and its environs 53,000, had been burnt so early 
 as the 27th of March.
 
 250 ENGLAND. [1760—1811-20. 
 
 Glorious, as wont, Vittoria's * days shall trace 
 The countless deeds to Wellesley's future race : 
 Sebastian next, and Pampeluna bleed — 
 Fame adds to fame, as deeds to deeds succeed ! 
 
 And thus the tale, on Europe's northern bounds, — 
 CVei'thrown was France on all succeeding grounds : 
 Prussia and Sweden join the Muscovite, 
 And lastly Austria her prevailing might. 
 United thus, they pour upon the foe, 
 And Leipsicf deals the deadliest — latest blow. 
 Pursued by Germany across the Rhine, 
 Disaster bows the vast Napoleon line ; 
 And the new fortune which appear'd to rise 
 Laid open France herself to enemies. 
 
 But in South Eastern provinces, the cause 
 By Murray's frailty meets dishonour^! pause ; 
 Who rashly first on Tarragona ran, 
 And left to fortune his distracted plan. 
 
 Meanwhile the vigour of the mightier chief, 
 More than affords atonement, by relief: 
 
 * In this memorable engagement, Wellington defeated Jerome Buona- 
 parte and Marshal Jourdan. Jourdan lost everything but one piece of 
 artillery — and Wellington, continuing his pursuit, took that. 
 
 f This great battle between the French on one side, and the Aus- 
 trian, Russian, and Prussian armies on the other, was lost by the former 
 chiefly owing to 1 7 German battalions, their Saxon allies, turning upon 
 them in the heat of the engagement. The King of Saxony and his family 
 were also made prisoners.
 
 17G0— 1811-20.] CKORGE HI. 251 
 
 Again is Soult defeated — and again 
 From Orthes driven ; and Bordeaux 1 gothic fane 
 Entered by British troops ; — Toulouse * is won ; 
 And captive in his own — Napoleon ! 
 
 So, by the new-raised Majesty of Swede t, 
 The Dutch are now from French dominion freed : 
 The exiled Prince of Orange J they recall : 
 And Germany 's unfetterM of the Gaul ! 
 
 Repulse, repulse succeeded ; — till the hand 
 Which had establish 'd an imperial stand 
 In Naples, Prussia, Austria, Holland, Spain, 
 Is vanquished, captive, destitute again ! 
 Louis returns ; and by the Powers Allied, 
 In fourteen, amity is ratified : 
 So with America § the struggles cease ; 
 • And England seals a universal peace. 
 
 * Toulouse was the final battle of the Peninsular War, and one of the 
 most desperate fought from the time Wellington had received the com- 
 mand in Portugal. The French, under Soult, were forced to retreat 
 after twelve hours' fighting — from seven in the morning until seven at 
 night — the British forcing the French intrenched position before 
 Toulouse. At this period Napoleon had abdicated the throne of France ; 
 but neither of the commanders was aware of the fact, or the close of 
 the war at Paris.— Fought, April 10, 1814. 
 
 T Bernadotte. 
 
 $ On the 1st of February, the Prince of Orange made his public entry 
 into Amsterdam, and assumed the reins of government, not under the 
 ancient title of " Stadtholder," but as "Sovereign Prince of the United 
 Netherlands." 
 
 § In the unavoidable interval between the signature of peace by the 
 British and American plenipotentiaries, and the conveyance of therequi-
 
 252 ENGLAND. [1760—181 1-20. 
 
 Great, the next year, th' excitement which o'erspread 
 The states of Europe ; when Napoleon fled 
 * His Elba bondage, and once more the choice 
 Of France, acknowledged by the general voice ! 
 
 site information to the commanders on distant stations, some actions 
 took place which cannot but excite regret. At the conclusion of 1814, a 
 British force had been collected in the vicinity of New Orleans, which, 
 on the 23d of December, repulsed the assault of an American detach- 
 ment, with loss to the latter. It then advanced to within six miles of 
 the town, where the main body of the Americans appeared, and on the 
 8th and 9th of January, 1815, a smart action ensued in which the British 
 were worsted, with the loss of about 2000 killed, wounded, and prisoners, 
 including Generals Pakenham and Keane. 
 
 In Canada, the concluding action of this war was the capture of Fort 
 Mobile, by Admiral Cochrane and General Lambert ; and on the ocean, 
 by the capture of the U. S. ship " President" by the " Endymion," 
 British frigate. 
 
 * By the treaty of Fontainebleau, concluded 4th April, 1814, Buona- 
 parte abdicated, for himself and his heirs, the thrones of France and 
 Italy. The isle of Elba to be possessed by him in full sovereignty, and 
 an annual revenue of two millions of francs charged on Fx'ance. And to 
 his consort, Maria Louise, were assigned the Duchies of Parma, Placen- 
 tia, and Guastalla. 
 
 When, however, Buonaparte escaped from Elba and returned to 
 France, a French journal announced the event, by the following 
 curious Politicians' Gamut : 
 
 1st Announcement — March 1815. The monster has escaped from 
 his place of banishment ; he has run away from Elba. 
 
 2d. The Corsican dragon has landed at Cape Juan. 
 
 3d. The tiger has shown himself at Gap ; the troops are advancing 
 from all sides ; he will conclude his miserable adventure by becoming a 
 wanderer among the mountains ; he cannot possibly escape. 
 
 4th. The monster has really advanced as far as Grenoble. 
 
 5th. The tyrant is actually at Lyons ; terror seizes all at his ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 6th. Tlie usurper has ventured to approach the capital within sixty 
 hours' march.
 
 1760— 1811-20.1 GEORGE III. 253 
 
 Quickly to arms the friendly nations sped, — 
 Quickly a mighty force Napoleon led 
 Into the Netherlands. New hopes inspire 
 The loved of France ; — the Prussian ranks retire : 
 Thence, on the British armament he drew, 
 Exulting, to the plains of Waterloo ; 
 Great was the mutual valour to the last, 
 But the die greater in that issue cast. 
 To the mid-day, th' imperial horse of France 
 Scour o'er the plain, and cheer the Polish lance ; 
 Frayed is the hostile torrent, which entwines, 
 In spray, the granite of the British lines. 
 
 7th. Buonaparte is advancing by forced marches ; but it is impossible 
 he should reach Paris. 
 
 8th. Napoleon will reach the walls of Paris to-morrow. 
 
 9th. The Emperor is at Fontainebleau. 
 
 10th. Yesterday evening his Majesty the Emperor made his public 
 entry, and arrived at the palace of the Tuileries ; nothing can exceed 
 the universal joy ! 
 
 There seems to have been something of a prophetic nature in one of 
 Lord Byron's stanzas, in his Ode to Napoleon at Elba, of which the poet 
 was perhaps not fully conscious himself. 
 
 The desolator, desolate ! 
 
 The victor, overthrown ! 
 The arbiter of others' fate 
 
 A suppliant for his own ! 
 Is it some yet imperial hope 
 That with such change can calmly cope, 
 
 Or dread of death alone ? 
 To die a prince — or live a slave — 
 Thy choice is most ignobly brave. 
 
 The " imperial hope" certainly appears to have had, however short- 
 lived, its realization.
 
 054 ENGLAND. [1760—1811-20. 
 
 Calm, the Great Captain, 'mid the deaf'ning roar, 
 
 The crash of arms and intermingling gore ; 
 
 Calm in suspense, — an equal mind he shows 
 
 At Blucher's bugle, — and the issue knows. 
 
 The setting sun is signal of defeat ; — 
 
 The Gauls are routed and Napoleon beat : 
 
 Back to his capital the emperor flies, 
 
 France is o'erthrown ! — triumphant, the Allies ! 
 
 And plant the Bourbon dynasty again 
 
 On the recovered throne of Charlemagne *. 
 
 * Blucher proposed that the battle should bear the denomination of 
 " La Belle Alliance." The French borrow, from Mount St. Jean, its 
 appellation. But we have no objection to remember it as Waterloo. 
 
 A modern tourist has pleasantly observed of this most memorable 
 event — " Napoleon's object was to carry the English army by storm, 
 and thus gain Brussels before the arrival of the Prussians ; he pointed 
 out the road to his soldiers with exultation — he triumphed by antici- 
 pation in the idea that, at last, he had got the English within his gripe. 
 ' Ah ! pourle coup jo lea tiens done, ces Anglais' — and so confident was 
 he of success, that he had prepared printed proclamations, dated from 
 the royal palace at Brussels. The Duke of Wellington's object was to 
 prevent this, and this he did, proprio marte." 
 
 " Selfishness," this writer goes on to say, " seems to have been the 
 foundation of his system. Everything was right to him that conduced 
 to his own interest, by any means, however wrong ; and as his mind 
 seems to have had the power of expanding with his situation, so it had 
 an equal power of contracting again ; and he could at once descend 
 from the elevation of his throne, to the pettiest considerations connected 
 witli his altered condition. In a word, he was the Garrick of the great 
 stage of the world, who could play the leading part in imperial tragedy — 
 carrying terror and pity into all bosoms — and reappearing in the part 
 of Scrub' in the afterpiece, with equal truth and fidelity." 
 
 Aided by her allies, the reader is aware of the fortunate termination 
 of this battle to the British nation ; but he will also confess that
 
 17G0— 1811-20.] GEORGE III. 255 
 
 it was British vigour alone which had accomplished the ultimate over- 
 throw of Napoleon. As the war was glorious beyond all question, so let 
 it he hoped we may believe it to have been the salvation of the country, 
 for nothing less than this can satisfy us for the price it has cost. A recent 
 writer has quoted the words of Mr. Sydney Smith on a similar inquiry — 
 they are offered here to the reader with perfect confidence of their accep- 
 tableness. " The Englishman," says he, " is taxed for everything that 
 enters his mouth, covers his back, or is placed under his feet. Taxes are 
 imposed upon all things that are pleasant to see, hear, feel, taste, or 
 smell. Taxes upon warmth, light, and locomotion. Taxes upon everything 
 on the earth, in the waters, and under the earth — upon everything that 
 comes from abroad or is grown at home. Taxes upon the raw material, 
 and upon every value that is added to it by the ingenuity and industry of 
 man. Taxes upon the sauce that pampers man's appetite, and on the 
 drugs that may restore him to health — on the ermine that decorates the 
 judge, and on the rope that hangs the criminal — on the brass nails of the 
 coffin, and on the ribands of the bride : at bed or at board — couchant ou 
 levant, we must pay. The schoolboy whips his taxed top, with a taxed 
 thong — the beardless youth manages his taxed horse by a taxed bridle, 
 on a taxed road — and the dying Englishman, pouring his medicine, 
 which has paid 7 per cent., into a spoon which has paid 30 per cent., 
 throws himself back upon his chintz bed, which has paid 22 per cent. — 
 and having made his will, the seals of which are also taxed, expires in 
 the arms of his apothecary, who has paid ,£100 for the privilege of 
 hastening his death. His whole property is then taxed from 2 to 10 
 per cent. ; and besides the expenses of probate, he pays large fees for 
 being buried in the chancel, and his virtues are handed down to pos- 
 terity on taxed marble ! " 
 
 Such has been the price — yet, should it have purchased experience 
 with glory, and peace with both, the reader may still be congratulated on 
 the position occupied by England, among the civilized states of the 
 woxdd ; and think it time to exclaim 
 
 that these contending kingdoms, 
 
 England and France, whose very shores look pale 
 With envy at each other's happiness, 
 May lose their hatred ! " 
 
 On the 2Gth of September of this year (1815) a league was ratified 
 at Paris, between the Emperors of Russia and Austria, and the King of 
 Prussia, entitled the " Holy Alliance," by which the contracting parties 
 professed to bind themselves, amongst other things, to be governed by 
 Christian principles, in all their political transactions— a league, be it
 
 256 ENGLAND. [1760—1811-20. 
 
 Th' Ionian* Islands, by these treaties made, 
 To tutelary England are convey'd : 
 And articles, to Britain's crown confer, 
 The appended title, " Kiny of Hanover -\" 
 
 The power of Britain, in the Indian seas, 
 Being now at variance with the Nepaulese, 
 The natives stake their fortune on the sword, 
 And Hastings moves against the hardy horde ; 
 Till the whole country, issue of the feud, 
 Falls to our Indian government, subdued. 
 
 The Barbary states, but chiefly of Algiers, 
 Had long ere this, like lawless Buccaneers, 
 Plunder'd the Christian flag in midland sea, 
 And sold its prisoners to slavery %. 
 
 known to the reader, which at the time was held a piece of profane 
 Quixotism, and which succeeding events have proved without one parti- 
 cle of honesty. 
 
 * A constitution was ratified by the Prince Regent of England for 
 these islands in 1818. The Ionian Islands are now amongst the free 
 states of Europe, and Corfu is the seat of government. 
 
 t This country had no great rank, although a duchy, until George I. 
 got possession of Zell, Saxe Bremen, Verden, and other principalities. 
 Hanover became the ninth electorate, 1G92. It was seized by Prussia 
 1801 — was occupied by the French 1803, and annexed to Westphalia 
 1)310. Hanover was regained to England by the Crown Prince of 
 Sweden 181.1, and erected into a kingdom, as noticed in the above text, 
 1814. 
 
 + It was stated in the House of Commons, that in one case, fifty out 
 of three hundred prisoners died of ill-treatment at Algiers, on the first 
 day of their arrival ; the rest were kept in the most miserable condition, 
 being allowed only a small <iuautity of bread a day, and subject to the lash
 
 1760—1811-20.] GEORGE III. 257 
 
 Britain resolves the plunderer to stay, 
 And seeks a bootless treaty with the Dey: 
 By Exmouth led, her naval arms surprise 
 The Moslem arsenal and batteries ; 
 In vain, the African defenders ply 
 A thousand pieces of artillery : 
 Our ships receive th 1 exulting Christian slaves, — 
 Hearts now as free as the sustaining waves ; 
 Nor quit the Dey, but with his pledged domain 
 To break for ever the detested chain. 
 
 Fearful, at home, the whirlwind of affairs, 
 And cold mistrust th' internal country wears ! 
 In grain, unfruitful — paralysed in trade, 
 The famish' d land seeks succour by the blade. 
 To which distress, is added yet, the gloom 
 Of Charlotte — early tenant of the tomb — 
 Of her, on whom had been impress'd the gaze 
 Of watchful England for auspicious days — 
 Brunswick's best gift ! most, most untimely died, 
 Not yet a monarch, and but scarce a bride*. 
 
 from morning to night, — no sex, no age was spared. A Neapolitan lady 
 of distinction, carried off with eight children, six of whom survived, 
 was seen by a British officer in the 13th year of her captivity. 
 
 * To supply the succession, now broken, to the crown, several of 
 the royal family formed matrimonial alliances. The Dukes of Cam- 
 bridge, Kent, and Clarence, and Princess Elizabeth, were united to 
 branches of different princely families of Germany. 
 
 On the 17th November, 1818, died the queen. 
 
 s
 
 258 ENGLAND. [1760—1811-20. 
 
 In the next season, in the north, alarms 
 Of tumults popular, and men in arms, 
 Provoke rash councils *, — the untimely course 
 Of civil blood and military force. 
 
 The Colonies of South Columbia, torn 
 By the fierce yoke of Spain, through ages, worn ; 
 Wake to a sense of freedom ; and the slave 
 Regenerate now, has station with the brave : 
 The trampled serf, a citizen is freed. 
 And Ferdinand himself attests the deed.t 
 
 In this year also (1818) Sir Samuel Romilly, the enlightened states- 
 man and philosophical lawyer, lately returned triumphantly memher for 
 Westminster, overcome by a severe domestic calamity, which unsettled 
 his reason, died by suicide. 
 
 * On the question of the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, at 
 this period, Mr. Brougham very pointedly spoke on the absurdity of 
 suspending an act of legislation at one of those very moments when its 
 beauty and perfection would be rendered more apparent by its operation. 
 The reader has here his own words. "It is said by those who now call 
 for a suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, that in times of danger, the 
 Constitution requires support. I beg leave to protest against this doc- 
 trine. The Constitution of England is not made merely for fair weather, 
 and if it cannot defy and outlive the storm, it is not worth preserving. 
 What does the suspension of this act prove, but that the Constitution of 
 England is of no use, and that the liberties of Englishmen are of no 
 value J" 
 
 t The consummation of these events did not immediately result, but 
 is mentioned here to preserve the continuity of the few lines. 
 
 X " On the 21st of January" (1820), says Mr. Hughes, " died, after a 
 short illness, the Duke of Kent, leaving behind him an infant daughter, 
 Alexandi'ina Victoria, since heiress presumptive to the throne. Eight 
 days had scarcely elapsed before his venerable father expired, without a 
 struggle, on the 29th of January, in the 82nd year of his age, and the 
 COth of his reign. Happily for him, ho was not, as sometimes happens to
 
 1760— 1811-20. J GEORGE III. 259 
 
 His mortal sway, in twenty, Brunswick ends ; 
 And on the Regent, now full power descends % ! 
 
 those who labour under similar disorders, visited by a ray of returning 
 reason, which would have served to make him conscious of the desolation 
 of his last moments ; yet though the latter part of his life had been a 
 blank, his people over whom he so long swayed a sceptre unstained by 
 cruelty or crime, never lost sight of him : their interest had not been 
 weaned by his long seclusion, nor had their love expired in the flood of 
 victories that distinguished the regency. The influence of his virtuous 
 character, in preserving this nation from the contagion of French prin- 
 ciples ; the desire which he had ever evinced to improve the moral and 
 intellectual condition of his people, still lived in their memory, and taught 
 them to feel, when he descended into the grave, that a benefactor and a 
 father had departed." 
 
 In conclusion, the reader is offered the following lines from a poetic 
 tribute to the memory of George III., by the Rev. George Croly : — 
 
 " Raise we his monument ! — what giant pile 
 
 Shall honour him to far posterity ? 
 
 His monument shall be his ocean-isle, 
 
 The voice of his redeeming thunders be 
 
 His epitaph upon the silver sea. 
 
 And million spirits, from whose neck he tore 
 
 The fetter, and made soul and body free ; 
 
 And unborn millions from earth's farthest shore, 
 Shall bless the Christian King, till the last sun is o'er." 
 
 Chief ministers during this reign : — Earls Bute and Egremont ; Duke 
 of Bedford, 1761. Earl of Bute, Hon. G. Grenville, Sir F. Dashwood, 
 &c, 1762. Right Hon. G. Grenville, Earls of Halifax and Sandwich, 
 Duke of Bedford, &c, 1763. Marquess of Rockingham, Duke of Grafton, 
 Earl Shelburne, &c, 1765. Duke of Grafton, Hon. C. Townshend, Earl 
 of Chatham, &c, 1766. Duke of Grafton, Lord North, &c, 1767. 
 Lord North, Lord Halifax, &c, 1770. Lord North, Lord Dartmouth, 
 Lord Stormont, Lord Hillsborough, Lord St. Germain, &c, 1779. 
 Marquess of Rockingham, lit. Hon. C. J. Fox, &c, 1782. Duke of 
 Portland, Lord North, Mr. Fox, &c, ("The Coalition") 1783. Rt. 
 Hon. W. Pitt, Lord Gower, Lords Sidney, Carmarthen, and Thurlow ; 
 Right Hon. W. Grenville, Henry Dundas, Lord Mulgrave, Duke of 
 Richmond, &c, 1783. Mr. Pitt, Lord Camden, Marquess of Stafford, 
 Lord Hawkesbury, &c, 1786. Mr. Pitt, Lord Grenville, Duke of Leeds, 
 &c, 1790. Mr. Pitt, Lord Grenville, Earl of Chatham, Lord Lough - 
 
 s 2
 
 260 ENGLAND. [1820-1830. 
 
 Th' accession scarce proclaimed *, when far and near 
 The voice of treason wakes the public ear : 
 Of desp'rate guilt, but hollow in design, 
 Spawn'd of the worst, the " Cato" band combine. 
 Back'd by no abler, nor protecting friends, 
 Th' obscure fanatic dreams his senseless ends : 
 Murder the price, and nought beyond, the lure ; 
 Not e'en the short-lived gain of crime secure : 
 Justly they die ! But now, attempts are made 
 To fix the project on some nobler grade ; 
 To place the stain of turpitude and blood 
 On those who struggled for their country's good : 
 Base was the hope — by lineage, baser they 
 Who dealt the largess of the impure pay ! 
 
 borough, &c. 1793. Mr. Pitt, Duke of Portland, Lord Greuville, Mr. 
 Dundas, &c, 1 795. Mr. Pitt, Earl of Westmorland, Earl of Chatham, 
 Lord Greuville, &c, 171)8. Rt. Hon. H. Addington, Duke of Portland, 
 Lord Hawkesbury, Lord Hobart, Lord Eldon, &c., 1801. Mr. Pitt, Lord 
 Melville, Rt. Hon. G. Canning, Lord Harrowby, Lord Westmorland, 
 Duke of Portland, Mr. Dundas, &c, 1804. Lord Grenville, Lord H. 
 Petty, Earl Spencer, Rt. Hon. W. Windham, Mr. Fox, Lord Erskine, 
 Right Hon. C. Grey, 1806. Duke of Portland, Mr. Canning, Lord 
 Hawkesbury, Earl Camden, Rt. Hon. Spencer Perceval, &c, 1807. 
 Duke of Portland, Earl Bathurst, Viscount Castlereagh, Lord Granville 
 Gower, &c, 1808. Mr. Perceval, Earl of Liverpool, Marquess Welles- 
 ley, Viscount Pahnerston, Mr. Ryder, &c, 1801). Earl of Liverpool, 
 Earl Bathurst, Viscount Sidmouth, Viscount Castlereagh, Mr. Ryder, 
 Earl of Harrowby, Rt. Hon. N. Vansittart, &c, 1812. 
 
 Queen — Caroline, 2d daughter of Charles 
 — GkorokIV.- J Duke of Brunswick. 
 
 * Child— Charlotte, mar. Prince Leopold 
 of Saxe C'oburg Saalfield, died 1817.
 
 1820-1830.] GEORGE IV. 261 
 
 Soon into factions, was the country roused 
 Through Brunswick, Caroline — the queen, espoused 
 In ninety-five : that lamentable date 
 Of sudden discord and enduring hate*! 
 
 To scorn succeeds disunion : — for a time, 
 The princess sojourns in a foreign clime ; 
 Of frailties charged ; and on the charge disgraced ; 
 Her name dishonour'd, and in form erased ; 
 Now on the king's accession, she demands 
 A vindication at the nation's hands. 
 By " Bill of Pains," the queen of England hears 
 Her marshall'd charges mid th' assembled peers ; 
 Where bland assent awaits Italian troth, 
 And ready courtesy a Milan oath +. 
 
 " Iu a letter written in the year 1796, the Prince says, " Our inclina- 
 tions are not in our power, nor should either of us be held answerable to 
 the other, because nature has not made us suitable to each other." As 
 he did not pretend to assign a reason for his want of affection, he 
 might have said in the language of Martial, 
 
 " Non amo te, nee possum dicere quare." 
 
 Napoleon Bonaparte died at St. Helena, May 5, 1821. Was born at 
 Ajaccio, in Corsica, l/(>9. 
 
 f The reader will recollect, with what effect Mr. Brougham quoted the 
 following lines from Shakspeare's " Cymbeline," in replying upon the 
 evidence of the delectable Pietro Cuchi, the waiter from Trieste : — 
 
 T have belied a lady, 
 The princess of this country, and the air on't 
 Revengingly enfeebles me — 
 
 mine Italian brain 
 'Gan in your duller Britain operate 
 Most vilely ; for my vantage, excellent. 
 And, to be brief, my practice so prevail'd, 
 That I return'd with similar proof, enough 
 To make the noble Leonatus mad."
 
 262 ENGLAND. [1820-1830. 
 
 Long the deliberations which divide 
 Their judgment equally on either side ; 
 Till taint, so doubtful, by a verdict shown, 
 That ultimate proceedings are o'erthrown. 
 
 The fatal policy of pensioned spies 
 Recoils on government its native lies : 
 Fictitious charges irritate the minds 
 Of desp'rate men to more than feign'd designs ; 
 And timely aid the threaten'd country saves 
 From the last purpose of ensanguine knaves. 
 
 Lit by an honest, though a transient smile, 
 Is the whole surface of the Sister Isle : 
 The king, in gorgeous majesty, her guest, 
 Cheers the void hut and lifts the labouring breast : 
 Her woes are silent — voiceless are her wrongs, 
 But " George" is echoed by ten thousand tongues ! 
 
 So, Hanover, in turn, her welcome rings 
 To him, the founder, of her line of kings. 
 
 In rival strains of loyalty, the Tweed 
 Swells o'er its bounds and bears the welcome meed : 
 The bourne he treads, and for a day 'a renew'd 
 The antique glories of past Holyrood* f 
 
 On the 7th of August of the same year (1821,) the queen died. " We 
 forbear to speak of her funeral," says a late historian, " though there is 
 nothing more wild nor exciting in all the legends of Germany." 
 
 * During the king's visit to Scotland, the foreign secretary, Marquess
 
 1820-1830.] GEORGE IV. 263 
 
 A Congress form'd of European states, 
 England's concurrence, at Verona waits ; 
 And Wellington accredited, is sent 
 On part of the Britannic government. 
 Too soon apparent was their common view, 
 Grecian and Spanish freedom to subdue ; 
 And France, who had determined, by the sword 
 Despotic Spain should be again restored, 
 Herein is aided by her proud allies ; 
 A right which England's delegate denies : 
 Yet spite the plea, her object she effects, 
 And a dominion absolute erects *. 
 
 Londonderry, died by suicide. A recent writer has the following vex*y 
 just remark : — " This distinguished man had no personal enemies, though 
 very many bitter political adversaries — he certainly was not a great man. 
 It was perhaps wrong to have ascribed to him individually those strata- 
 gems of state, by which delinquents were allowed to ripen into criminals, 
 instead of being arrested in their guilty intentions — but, at least, he did 
 not resist them, and must therefore be regarded as a ' parliceps crimi- 
 nis.' His integrity as a man was unquestioned ; but his magnanimity as 
 a statesman was more than equivocal — much more. England was not 
 the place in which a man of his kind and moderate amount of talents, 
 could ever deserve to obtain general respect. But in a more despotic 
 state he would undoubtedly have been in his proper element." 
 
 * Congress of Verona, 1822. 
 
 The generous stand which England made against the still unenlightened 
 councils of her allies, is thus expressed by Mr. Hughes : " The cabinet 
 of the Tuileries directed its representative at Verona to demand cate- 
 gorically of all other powers, whether they would support its armed in- 
 terposition in the affairs of Spain ; but the British government, totally 
 unprepared for such a proposal, instructed their ambassador not only 
 to decline a participation in any measure of that kind, but to renew, in 
 the strongest terms, their former protestation against the principle of
 
 264 ENCxLAND. [1820-1830. 
 
 Long had the planters, with foreboding dread 
 Beheld the Christian dispensation spread ; 
 The sun of Truth fast journeying to the West, 
 Kindling the Man within the negro breast, 
 Spread 'mongst the lords of slavery, dismay 
 Of sudden downfall to their hated sway. 
 Thus the new teachers they conspire to crush, — 
 To taint their motives and their doctrines hush : 
 Falsely, the missionary school accuse 
 Of acts disloyal and seditious views ; 
 And Demerara, by inhuman zeal, 
 But aids the truth it plotted to conceal : 
 Reform enlightens the colonial laws, 
 And justifies at home the negro cause. 
 
 In twenty-four hostilities take place 
 Beyond the Ganges, with the Burmese race * : 
 
 such interference. Tlie proposition, however, was readily accepted by 
 the despots ; and Spain was ordered, by notes from the four powers of 
 Austria, Russia, Prussia, and France, to alter her constitutional system, 
 unless she chose to abide by the consequences of such a refusal. The 
 British ministers could only endeavour to avert this aggression by nego- 
 tiations ; while the French government, amusing them until its prepara- 
 tions were complete, finally directed the march of a large army under 
 the hero d'Angouleme, to act in concert with the ' army of the faith,' 
 and restore Ferdinand VII. to the plenitude of arbitrary power." 
 
 * Hostilities were commenced in 1!!'-' I, when the British took Rangoon. 
 In 1825 the fort and pagoda of Syriam were taken. Successive victories 
 of the British led to the cession of Arracan, and to the treaty of peace, 
 182G. The Burmese were to pay 1,000,000/. sterling, and cede a great 
 extent of territory.
 
 # 
 
 1820-1830.] GEORGE IV. 265 
 
 For wild irruptions, by this warlike clan, 
 Had harassed long colonial Hindostan. 
 Campbell an army leads to the attack, 
 And follows ardently the Indian track : 
 Five hundred miles into the Emperor's land, 
 Near to Rangoon, he takes his conquering stand ; 
 The Indian yields, and covenants to pay 
 Awarded sums, and peaceful terms obey. 
 
 Again, the people in a dream of pelf, 
 Forget the annals of the early Guelph 
 Again are hurried on, the young, the old, 
 The great, the mean, to realms of phantom gold. 
 Imagined gain, in South Columbian ore, 
 The nation agitates, from shore to shore : 
 Schemes are abroad — fictitious tests display \1 — 
 Thousands to sudden misery betray 'd. 
 Too soon, alas !— but unavailing grief 
 Stands the sole record of the wild belief; 
 While they, the template, witness in disgust 
 An El Dorado, worthy of the lust. 
 
 The recognition by Great Britain of the South American States, which 
 had formerly been Spanish colonies, took place also in this year, 1824/ 
 
 * The South Sea Scheme (Geo. I.) 
 
 In the parliamentary session 1826, Mr. Peel introduced a bill for con- 
 solidating the various criminal statutes, with deserved success. The 
 penal laws had been dispersed through 92 acts of parliament, many of 
 which in their titles and general bearings were foreign from the subjects 
 of criminal justice and jurisprudence.
 
 266 ENGLAND. [1820-1830. 
 
 In twenty-six, her part Great Britain bears 
 Invoked to aid, in Portugal affairs. 
 John dies — Pedro his son, proceeds to fill 
 His honours in Imperial Brazil, 
 Conferring first his European share 
 Upon Maria, his immediate heir. 
 
 Form'd is a party to subvert her state 
 With whom the arms of Spain participate : 
 Herein, Maria's ministers apply 
 At once to Britain, as their old ally ; 
 The plea is granted, and th' insurgent horde 
 Back into Spain is driven by the sword : 
 Anon, Don Miguel asserts his claim 
 As Regent in his niece Maria's name ; 
 When (to the Constitution having sworn 
 And England's troops effected their return) 
 He takes possession of the feeble court, — 
 An usurpation meeting with support. 
 
 Repeated turns in George's wane beset 
 The public functions and the cabinet : 
 *Canning succeeds on Liverpool's demise ; 
 And Canning — he, yet fresh in office, dies. 
 
 * Tlie following is the style in which Mr. Hughes speaks of Mr. 
 fanning, and is worthy attention both from the valuable example it 
 instils and the truth with which it notices that minister. " He,"
 
 1820-1830.] GEORGE IV. 2(i7 
 
 Goderich, from him takes up the public weight, — 
 And Wellington directs, in twenty-eight. 
 
 France, England, Russia, now resolved that peace 
 Should interpose between the Porte and Greece, 
 Proposed that, for the covenanted truce, 
 Greece should pay tribute to the Turkish use; 
 A treaty which, rejected by the Porte, 
 Provoked in Hellas' aid combined support. 
 
 The Turkish fleet off Navarino*, lies 
 On eve of an aggressive enterprise ; 
 
 (Mr. Canning,) "exhibited a splendid contrast to certain characters of 
 the day, who, having entered on public life as the advocates of liberal 
 and patriotic sentiments, have degenerated into bigoted defenders of 
 anticpuated opinions and selfish supporters of intolerable abuses. Mr. 
 Canning, on the contrary, though party introduced him into the senate, 
 and Tory principles long secured to him a place in the administration, 
 gradually imbibed the free spirit of the British constitution ; until at 
 length, enlightened by experience, he cast off the trammels of that 
 oligarchy, with which early ambition had associated him, but to which 
 he owed no natural allegiance. Being determined to uphold the noble 
 fabric reared by our forefathers, he contemplated with horror any 
 attempt to endanger its foundation, or to alter its character ; but when 
 he found that the principles which he once professed began to threaten 
 its safety, he abandoned them as far as he thought expedient, and con- 
 ciliating his political opponents without submitting to their dictation, he 
 availed himself of their assistance to carry on his measures of regeneration ." 
 
 In January 1827, died Frederick Duke of York. 
 
 * The combined fleets of England, France, and Russia, were under 
 the command of Admiral Codrington. The Turkish navy was almost 
 wholly annihilated. More than 30 ships, many of them four-deckers, 
 were blown up or burnt, chiefly by the Turks themselves, to prevent 
 their falling into the hands of their enemies, October 20, 1827. In 1830 
 the Porte acknowledged the independence of Greece — and in 1833, Otho 
 was elected king.
 
 268 ENGLAND. [1820-1830. 
 
 Whereon, the friendly powers with countervail, 
 Their ships in harbour vig'rously assail : 
 Great was the slaughter upon either side ; 
 And force obtained the settlement denied. 
 
 In twenty-nine, the ministers resist 
 No longer freedom to the Romanist : 
 For now, the cabinet, in timely awe, 
 The certain fruits of stubbornness foresaw : 
 Thus wisely on their own enactments fix 
 Th 1 emancipation of the Catholics * ! 
 Henceforth the papist, by a law so just, 
 Proceeds to place and ministerial trust, 
 The Church excepting ; while to her, succeed 
 Those only holding the establishM creed. 
 
 Great in internal benefit, the train 
 Of laws which signalise this closing reign -f- : 
 George blends, in thirty, with ancestrel dust ; 
 And royal Clarence holds the sov'reign trust. 
 
 * Passed April 13, 1829. Mr. O'Connell, as member fop Clare, took 
 his seat, as the first Irish Catholic representative since the Revolution. 
 The first English member was the Karl of Surrey, elected for Horsham ; 
 ami the Duke of Norfolk, and Lords Dormer and Clifford, were the first 
 Catholic Peers who took their seats. 
 
 f The great act for the relief of Dissenters from civil and religious 
 disabilities was Stat. 9 Geo. IV. c. 17. By this act, so much of the 
 several acts of the preceding reigns as imposed the necessity of receiving 
 the sacrament of the Lord's Supper as a qualification for certain offices, 
 &c., had been repealed May 9, 1828. Several other liberal acts have 
 been since passed.
 
 1820-1830.] GEORGE IV. 269 
 
 THUS in our record have we nearly ran 
 Through half the era of the Christian span ; 
 Attested kings and kingdoms in their range — 
 Dearth, in the proudest — in the happiest, change ; 
 Have watched their rise, the progress, and the wane — 
 The " Imperial," trodden— and th' " Eternal" vain : 
 
 The principal countries, at this time composing the British Empire, are 
 as follow : 
 
 1. In Europe — Great Britain, Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey, Man, Gibral- 
 tar, Malta, and the Ionian Islands. 
 
 2. In Asia — Bengal, Bahar, Orissa, Allahabad, Oude, Agra, Delhi, 
 Berar, Assam, the Carnatic, Circars and Mysore, Bombay and Guzerat, 
 with the islands of Ceylon and Pulo Penang, and the city of Aden in 
 Arabia. 
 
 3. In Africa — Sierra Leone, St. Helena, Cape Coast Castle, Algoa, 
 Mauritius (the Isle of France), and the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 4. In America — Canada, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Bruns- 
 wick, Guiana, Honduras, Jamaica and many other islands. 
 
 5. In Australia — New Holland, Van Diemen's Land, and New 
 Zealand. 
 
 The following short extract is here subjoined, as a temperate 
 and just view of the character of the late king: — "His majesty 
 founded the ' Royal Society of Literature,' and presented to the 
 nation a library collected by his father comprising 65,250 volumes, 
 besides pamphlets, &c. &c. &c, deposited iu the British Museum. As a 
 sovereign, looking to the events of his regency and reign, George IV. 
 will appear to some advantage, but as respects his personal character 
 and conduct, less indulgence will probably be conceded. A life so abso- 
 lutely dedicated to pleasure, is the more to be regretted, as the intellect 
 of George IV. was very respectable, his information tolerably extensive,
 
 270 ENGLAND. [1820-1880. 
 
 Vain for that cause which still shall overthrow 
 Systems to come, as those already low ; 
 Till it be felt, and ownM, and understood, 
 The " Social Contract" is the Common Good. 
 For mark how little of the labour spent, — 
 Of sunder'd hearts and best affections rent, — 
 Of battle, spoliation, insult, chains, 
 Protracted agony, — devised pains, 
 
 and his powers of memory and conversation of a very superior order ; so 
 that had he escaped the influence of the Circean cup, he might have 
 taken his station amongst intellectual princes of the second order. As 
 it is, he will, in a few years, be little known, except by the events of his 
 period, which, however it may be with biography, will always ensure 
 him a place of considerable eminence in the pages of history." 
 
 Chief ministers during this reign : — Earl of Liverpool, &c, continued. 
 Right Hon. G. Canning, Mr. Sturges Bourne, Lord Goderich, Lord 
 Lyndhurst, &c, 1827 ; Viscount Goderich, Duke of Portland, Mr. Hus- 
 kisson, Mr. Herries, &c, 1827 ; Duke of Wellington, Earl of Aberdeen, 
 Sir G. Murray, Lord Lowther, &c, (Mr. Huskisson, Earl of Dudley, 
 Mr. Grant, &c, retiring) 1828. 
 
 LINEAL DESCENT OF GEOKGE IV. I'KOM WILLIAM 1. 
 
 1461. Edward IV. 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen of Henry VII 
 Margaret, Queen of James 
 
 IV. of Scotland 
 James V. of Scotland 
 Mary, Queen of Scots 
 1603. James I. 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia 
 Sophia, Electress of Hanover 
 1714. George 1. 
 Philippa, Countess of March 1727- George II. 
 Roger, Earl of March Frederick, Prince of Wales 
 
 Anne, Countess of Cambridge 1760. George III. 
 Richard, Duke of York 1820. George IV. 
 
 1066. William 1. 
 1100. Henry I. 
 
 Matilda,Empress of Germany 
 1154. Henry II. 
 1199. John 
 1216. Henry III. 
 1272. Edward I 
 1307. Edward II. 
 1327. Edward III. 
 
 Lionel, Duke of Clarence
 
 1820-1830.] GEORGE IV. 271 
 
 How little spent of that appalling price 
 
 But still to fasten bigotry and vice ! 
 
 How little pledged, since strife with strife began 
 
 To benefit the Family of Man ! 
 
 How much, to flatter fierce, unhallowM sway, 
 
 Or gild the despot for a single day ! 
 
 Such yet, hath Glory been — false glory, such ! 
 But the true orb, corruption ne'er shall touch : 
 That most ethereal, which is yet to rise 
 In new effulgence o'er our moral skies ; 
 High above time or perishable worth — 
 The promised dynasty of Peace on Earth ! 
 
 For blest alone, when broken be the spear, 
 And stopp'd by fire, the chariot's wild career : — 
 Scattered, the prow, which cleaves the common good, 
 And casts her anchor in a people's blood. 
 
 So to the fullness of maturest time, 
 May Thought go rip'ning on its moral prime ; 
 That truth may occupy th' unsetting day, 
 And guilt alone be subject to decay ; 
 That nought be good, which Virtue doth not win ; 
 Nor any Victory but the death of Sin. 
 
 And hast'ning, truly is, that blest repose 
 Which, all that's passing — all recorded, shows :
 
 272 ENGLAND. [1820-1830. 
 
 Rapine and fraud, and tyranny and rage, 
 Have playM their greatest on the moral stage; 
 Past, the impurest — passing, the impure; 
 And all which fades, for all which shall endure. 
 And thus, as through a convex, may we view 
 The gone still less'ning, as we still pursue ; 
 Till reaching in our course, th 1 unshifting scene, 
 Look back and wonder on what once hath been. 
 
 Then shall one only faith the world reveal ; 
 The new-born Persian and the Christian kneel : 
 Truth in one heart conflicting passions bind, 
 And hold the sphere, one undivided mind ! 
 
 So, youth, be cautioned — ' Tis the part of loi-e 
 To make men better, happier than before ; 
 Not charm\l alone, — but wise as they discern : 
 Nor wise alone, — but holier as they learn. 
 Else why pursue the visions of the past ? 
 Why on the perish'd one memorial cast ? 
 Why dig the records of forgotten time, 
 And mix the mouldering with rip'ning prime? 
 Better 'twere far, to trust the careless tide 
 Of toilless hours, and let the hours provide, 
 Than merely learn how once the world was new, 
 And, old in folly, ignorance yet pursue.
 
 1820-1830.] GEORGE IV. 273 
 
 Nor, is to read, to pander to the sense 
 Of mere delight, or curious indolence ; 
 To soothe the pangs of leisure ; or to cheer 
 An ailing solitude — " the end all, here !" 
 To give to time an unrequiting haste ; 
 To steal from interest and pay in waste : 
 Perversion this, more foul than disrespect ; 
 Misuse, by far more hurtful, than neglect. 
 
 As man alone, of all created clay, 
 Is bless 1 d by reason, which all else obey, 
 So stands he debtor in the sure event 
 For gifts improved or heritance misspent. 
 As children in their generations share 
 The well-saved profits of anterior care, 
 So are they bound to justify the store, 
 And still increased, transmit it, more and more. 
 
 Then, let not youth be careless of the day, 
 As soulless insects in the sunbeams play ; 
 Let him be wary how he would misuse 
 Time, as allotted, only to amuse ; 
 Wary its loss — the treachery, the pow'r, 
 The thankless dalliance of one single hour. 
 
 As St. John counsels, History should be, 
 Taught by experience — Philosophy :
 
 274 ENGLAND. [1820-1830. 
 
 That, from the erring yesterday be scann'd 
 The wisdom which the morrow may demand. 
 Lest error soon assume a dreadlier name ; 
 As sparks are fann'd into a monster flame. 
 'Tis not enough the sons of time to trace, 
 The East first peopled, or succeeding race : 
 To hear of him, whose monumental stone * 
 Outshone the glory of the Persian throne : 
 That, pass'd, the blaze of Pericles, away ; 
 And rose the mightier Macedonian day. 
 'Tis not enough Vespasian's march to tell, 
 Or how the Temple of Judea fell : 
 To read of Christian purity betray 'd : 
 TK ' imperious Hildebrand : ' the wild Crusade : 
 That, first in Wickliffe, that great spirit ran, 
 Ordain' d to cleanse the intellectual man. 
 These not enough : for these, a worthless sum, 
 Unless to elevate the days to come ! 
 
 * The reader will bring to mind that, near Thermopylae, was erected 
 a monument to the glory of Leonidas with this inscription, supplied by the 
 poet Simonides : 
 
 "O stranger, tell it at liacedicnion, that we died here in obedience to her 
 lawB." 
 
 LONDON : 
 BRADBURY AND BVAN8, PRINTERS, W'HJTBKRIARB.
 
 ■■ 
 
 11 
 
 (notes) 
 
 29 
 
 9» 
 
 
 37 
 
 91 
 
 
 41 
 
 » 
 
 
 82 
 101 
 
 11 
 
 
 148 
 
 
 
 CORRIGENDA. 
 
 liue 30th, for Alderney, read Atheluey. 
 „ 2d, for bloom, read broom. 
 
 ,, 10th, for lavida, read livida. 
 
 „ 11th, for reputabiter, read reputabitur. 
 
 16th, for ad cujus, read cnjus ad. 
 
 1 5th, for radiis, read radios. 
 
 1 8th, for iriellam, read nullum. 
 
 5th, for quos, read quas. 
 
 15th,/o7' tussi, read tusse. 
 
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