THE UNIVERSITY 
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 LIBRARY 
 
 From the collection of 
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 Purchased, 1918. 
 
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 TITLE NO. I ACCOUNT NO. I LOT AND TICKET NO. 
 

 
 I 
 

lo kia Sons, William Richardson Robinson 
 and Matthew Wilkinson Robins )n. 
 
 % 
 
 THIS VOLUME OF ENGLISH HISTORY 
 
 l» SPECIALLY INSCRIBED, BY THEIR AFFECTIOH 
 
 ATE FATHER. 
 
 Clifton Rectory ; near P*%r%th 9 
 March 15, 1333. 
 

 PREFACE. 
 
 The following Work claims no high** 
 merit, than that of being a faithful abridg- 
 ment of Hume and Smollett’s Histories 
 of England, with a continuation from ac 
 thentic documents of events between tne 
 year 1760 and the coronation of George 
 the Fourth. The author hopes that the 
 whole will prove useful as a manual to 
 juvenile students, for whom it is chiefly 
 designed. 
 
 The necessity of acquiring knowledge 
 of the history of our own country, and of 
 public events in which Great Britain has 
 participated, is so obvious, as to render it 
 unnecessary to prove, that the history of 
 their own country is a study which no 
 British youth of either sex ought to neg- 
 lect. 
 
 The author has endeavoured to devest 
 himself of all party spirit, and, in record- 
 ing the successive facts, he has allowed 
 no prejudices of his own to intermingle 
 with the narration. Truth, and the prin- 
 ciples of the British Constitution, have 
 been the standards by which his labours 
 
1 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 and sentiments have uniformly been guid- 
 ed. 
 
 The History of Mr. Hume having ^ob- 
 tained an unrivalled degree of literary 
 precedency, and that of Dr. Smollett 
 having been generally recognised as a 
 worthy continuation from the Revolution 
 to the demise of George II., it is reasona- 
 ble that a succinct compression of these 
 standard national works should be pre- 
 ferred to all others for purposes of educa- 
 tion. But the design would have been 
 incomplete without a continuation to the 
 present age ; and, though the author is 
 aware of the delicate responsibility of be- 
 coming a contemporary historian, yet, as 
 the duty became necessary, he has en- 
 deavoured to perform it with care and 
 fidelity. 
 
 The Tables and Facts contained in the 
 Appendix form new features of such a 
 work as the present ; but they furnish 
 data, from which the student will be able 
 to draw many valuable conclusions, and 
 will tend to illustrate and corroborate 
 many details in the text of the History. 
 
THE 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Britons — Romans — Saxons — The Heptarchy. 
 
 All ancient writers agree in representing the first 
 inhabitants of Britain as a tribe of the Gauls or Celts, 
 who peopled that island from the neighbouring conti- 
 nent Their language was the same — their manners, 
 their government, their superstition j — varied only by 
 •“hose small differences, which time, ,r a communica- 
 tion with the bordering nations, must necessarily in 
 Produce. The inhabitants of Gaul, especially in those 
 parts which lie contiguous to Italy, had acquired, from 
 i commerce with their southern neighbours, some re- 
 finement in the arts, which gradually diffused them- 
 selves northwards, and spread only a very faint light 
 over this island. The Greek and Roman navigators 
 or merchants, gave the most shocking accounts of the 
 ferocity of the people, which they magnified, as usual, 
 in order to excite the admiration of their countrymen. 
 However, the south-east parts of Britain had already, 
 before the age of Caesar, made the first and most re- 
 quisite step towards a civil settlement j and the Brit- 
 ons, by tillage and agriculture, had there increased to 
 a great multitude. The other inhabitants of the isl- 
 and s 11 maintained* themselves by pasture. They 
 were c othed with skins of beasts. They dwelt in 
 huts that they reared in the forests and marshes, with 
 which the country was covered. They easily remov- 
 ed their habitation, when actuated either by the hopes 
 of plunder, or fhe fear of an enemy. The conveni 
 ence of feeding their cattle was even a sufficiert mo 
 
6 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 tiv< for removing their dwellings 3 and, as they were 
 ignorant of all the refinements of life, their wants and 
 their possessions were equally limited and scanty. 
 
 The Britons were divided into many small rations 
 or tribes 3 and, being a military people, whose sole 
 property was their arms and their cattle, it was impos- 
 sible, after they had acquired a relish of liberty, lor 
 their princes or chieftains to establish any despotic au- 
 thority over them. Their governments, though mon- 
 archical, were free ; and the common people seem to 
 have enjoyed even more liberty afiaong them, than 
 among the nations of Gaul, from whom they .vere de- 
 scended. Each state was divided into factions within 
 itself. It was agitated with jealousy or animosi y 
 against the neighbouring states 3 and while the arts of 
 peace were yet unknown, wars were the chief occu- 
 pation, and formed the chief object of ambition among 
 the people. 
 
 The religion of the Britons was one of the most 
 considerable parts of their government; and the 
 Druids, who were their priests, possessed great au- 
 thority. They enjoyed an immunity from wars and 
 taxes. They possessed both the civil and criminal 
 jurisdiction. They decided all controversies among 
 states, as well as among private persons 3 and whoev- 
 er refused to submit to their decree, was exposed to 
 the most severe penalties. Thus, the bands of gov- 
 ernment, which were naturally loose among that rude 
 and turbulent people, were happily corroborated by the 
 terrors of their superstition. No species of supersti- 
 tion was ever more terrible than that of the Druids. 
 Besides the severe penalties which it was in their 
 power to inflict in this world, they inculcated the eter- 
 nal transmigration of souls, and thereby extended their 
 authority as far as the fears of their votaries. Human 
 sacrifices vere practised among them. The spoils of 
 war were often devoted to their divinities 3 and they 
 punished with the severest tortures those who dared 
 to secrete any part of the consecrated offering. These 
 treasures they kept in woods and forests, secured by 
 no other guard than the terrors of their religion ; and 
 this steady conquest over human cupidity may be re- 
 garded as more signal than their prompting men to the 
 onost extraordinary and most violent efforts. No idol 
 
THE BRITONS. 7 
 
 atrous worship ever attained sucli an ascendency ove» 
 mankind, as that of the ancient Gauls ar.d Britons. 
 
 The Britons had long remained in this rude and in- 
 dependent state, when Caesar, having overrun all Gaul 
 bv his victories, and being ambitious of carrying the 
 Roman arms into a new world, then mostly unknown, 
 took advantage of a short interval in his Gaulic wars, 
 and invaded Britain. The natives, informed of his 
 intention, were sensible of the unequal contest, and 
 endeavoured to appease him by submissions 3 but these 
 retarded not the execution of his design. After some 
 e r *1 resistance, Caesar landed, as is supposed, at Deal j 
 3 and having obtained several advantages over the 
 Britons, and obliged them to promise hostages for 
 their future obedience, he was constrained,, by the 
 necessity of his atfairs, and the approach of winter, to 
 withdraw his forces into Gaul. The Britons, relieved 
 from the terror of his arms, neglected the perform- 
 ance of their stipulations 3 and that haughty conquer- 
 or resolved next summer to chastise them for this 
 breach of treaty. He landed with a greater force 3 
 and though he found a more regular resistance from 
 the Britons who had united under Cassivelaunus. one 
 of their petty princes, he discomfited them in every 
 action. He advanced into the country 3 passed the 
 Thames in the face of the enemy 3 took and burned 
 the capital of Cassivelaunus 3 established his ally, 
 Mandubratius, in the sovereignty of the Trinobantes 3 
 and having obliged the inhabitants to make’him new 
 submissions, he again returned with his army’ into 
 Gaul, and left the authority of the Romans more nom- 
 inal than real in this island. 
 
 The civil wars which ensued saved the Britons from 
 that yoke which was ready to be imposed upon them. 
 Augustus, the successor of Caesar, content with the 
 victory obtained over the liberties of his own country, 
 was little ambitious of acquiring fame by foreign wars. 
 Tiberius, zealous of the fame which might be acquir- 
 ed by his generals, made this advice of Augustus a 
 pretence for his inactivity. The mad sallies of Cali- 
 gula, in which he menaced Britain with an invasion, 
 served only to expose himself and the empire to ridi- 
 cule 3 and the Britons, during almost a century, en- 
 
 * Before Christ. 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 joyed their liberty unmolested. In the reign of Clau 
 dius, the Romans began to think seriously of reducing 
 them under their dominion. Without seeking any 
 justifiable reasons of hostility, they sent over an army 
 £2*-. under the command of Plautius, an able general 
 -* who gained some victories, and made a consider 
 able progress in subduing the inhabitants. Claudius 
 himself, finding matters sufficiently prepared for his 
 reception, made a journey into Britain, and received 
 the submission of several British states, the Cantii, 
 Atrebates, Regni, and Trinob^ntes, who inhabited the 
 south-east parts of the island. The other Britons, un- 
 der the command of Caractacus, still maintained an 
 obstinate resistance ; and the Romans made little pro- 
 gress against them, till Ostorius Scapula was sent over 
 tQi to command their armies. This general advanc- 
 * ed the Roman conquests over the Britons 5 pierc- 
 ed into the country of the Silures, a warlike nation 
 who inhabited the banks of the Severn 5 defeated Car 
 actacus in a great battle 5 took him prisoner, and ser.t 
 him to Rome, where his magnanimous behaviour pro- 
 cured him better treatment than the Romans usually 
 bestowed on captive princes. 
 
 Notwithstanding these misfortunes, the spirit of the 
 Britons was not subdued. In the reign of Nero, Sue- 
 tonius Paulinus was invested with the command, and 
 penetrated into the island of Mona, now Anglesey, the 
 chief seat of the Druids. He drove the Britons off 
 the field, burned the Druids in those fires which the 
 priests had prepared for their captive enemies, and 
 destroyed all the consecrated groves and altars. Hav- 
 ing thus triumphed over the religion of the Britons, 
 Suetonius expected that his future progress would be 
 easy, in reducing the people to subjection. But the 
 Britons, headed by Boadicea, queen of the lcena, who 
 had been treated in the most ignominious manner by 
 the Roman tribunes, attacked with success several 
 settlements of their insulting conquerors. London, 
 which was already a flourishing Roman colony, was 
 reduced to ashes ; and the Romans and all strangers, 
 to the number of seventy thousand, were massacred 
 by the exasperated natives. Their fate, however, was 
 toon after avenged by Suetonius, in a bloody and de- 
 
 * This and the following dates, after Chiist 
 
THE ROMANS. 9 
 
 eisive battle, in which eighty thousand Britons are 
 Baid to have perished j and Boadicea, rather than sub- 
 mit to the victor, put an end to her life by poison. 
 
 Julius Agricola, who governed Britain in the reigns 
 of Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian, formed a reg- 
 
 J ular plan for subduing this island, and rendering 
 the acquisition useful to the conquerors. He carried 
 his victorious arms northwards ; defeated the Britons 
 in every encounter ; pierced the forests and moun- 
 tains of Caledonia j and reduced every state to subjec- 
 tion in the southern parts of the island. Having fix- 
 ed a chain of forts between the friths of Clyde and 
 Forth, he secured the Roman province from the in 
 cursions of its ferocious neighbours. 
 
 During these military enterprises, Agricola did not 
 neglect the arts of peace. He introduced laws and 
 arts among the Britons ; taught them to value the con- 
 veniences of life ; reconciled them to the Roman lan- 
 guage and manners 5 instructed them in letters and 
 science ; and endeavoured to render their chains easy. 
 
 3 y this conduct, the inhabitants gradually acquiesced 
 n the dominion of their masters. 
 
 To secure the Roman province from the irruptions 
 of the Caledonians, Adrian built a rampart between 
 the river Tyne and tne frith of Solway ; this was 
 strengthened with new fortifications by Severus 5 and 
 during the reigns of the other Roman emperors, such 
 a profound tranquillity prevailed in Britain, that little 1 
 
 mention is made of the affairs of that island by any 
 historian. The natives, disarmed, dispirited, and sub- 
 missive, had lost even the idea of their former inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 But the Roman empire, which had diffused slavery 
 and oppression, together with a knowledge of the arts, 
 over a considerable part of the globe, approached its 
 dissolution. Italy, and the centre of the empirb, re- 
 moved, during so many ages, from all concern in the 
 wars, had entirely lost its military spirit, and were 
 peopled by an enervated race, equally ready to submit 
 to a foreign yoke, or to the tyranny of their own rul. 
 ers. The northern barbarians assailed all the fron- 
 tiers of the Roman empire. Instead of arming tha 
 people in their own defence, the emperors recalled all 
 the distant legions, in whom alone they could rc pose 
 
k 
 
 (0 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 confidence. Britain being a remote province, and not 
 much valued by the Romans, the legions that defend- 
 ed it were employed in the protection of Italy and 
 Gaul 5 and that island, secured by the sea against the 
 inroads of the greater tribes of barbarians, found ene- 
 * mies on its frontiers, ready to take advantage of its 
 defenceless situation. The Piets, who were a tribe 
 of the British race driven northwards by the arms of 
 Agricola, and the Scots, who were supposed to have 
 migrated from Ireland, pierced the rampart of Adrian, 
 no longer defended by the Roman arms, and extended 
 their ravages over the fairest part of the country. The 
 R.omans, reduced to extremities at home, and fatigued 
 with distant expeditions, informed the Britons that 
 they must no longer look to them for succour ; ex- 
 ported them to arm in their own defence 3 and urged 
 them to protect by their valour their ancient indepen- 
 dence. Accordingly, the Romans took a final adieu 
 of Britain, after having been masters of the best por- 
 tion of it nearly four centuries. 
 
 The abject Britons of the south, unaccustomed to 
 i the perils of war and the cares of civil govern- 
 -* ment, found themselves incapable of resisting 
 the incursions of their fierce and savage neighbours. 
 The Piets and Scots now regarded the whole of Brit- 
 ain as their prey j and the ramparts of the northern 
 wall proved only a weak defence against the attacks 
 of those barbarians. The Britons in vain implored the 
 assistance of the Romans, in an epistle to ^Etius the 
 patrician, which was inscribed 11 The Groans of the 
 Britons. 77 The tenor of the epistle was suitable to 
 the superscription : “ The barbarians, 77 say they, “ on 
 the one hand drive us into the sea, the sea, on the 
 other, throws us back on the barbarians 3 and we have 
 only the hard choice left us of perishing by the sword 
 or by* the waves. 77 The Romans, however, at this 
 time pressed by Attila, the most terrible enemy^that 
 ever assailed the empire, were unable to attend to the 
 complaints of their allies. The Britons, reduced to 
 despair, and attending only to the suggestions of their 
 own fears, and to the counsels of Vortigern, the pow- 
 erful prince of Dumnonium, rashly invited the protec- 
 tion of the Saxons. 
 
 The Saions had been for some time regarded as one 
 
fp 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 11 
 
 4.Q-. of the most warlike tribes of Germany, and had 
 * become the terror of the neighbouring nations. 
 They had spread themselves from the northern parts 
 of Germany, and had taken possession of all the sea- 
 coast from the mouth of the Rhine to Jutland. Hen- 
 gist and Horsa, two brothers, who were the reputed de- 
 scendants of the god Woden, commanded the Saxons 
 at this period. These leaders easily persuaded their 
 countrymen to accept of the invitation of the Britons, 
 and to embrace an enterprise in which they might 
 display their valour and gratify their desire of plunder. 
 They embarked their troops in three vessels, and 
 transported to the shores of Britain sixteen hundred 
 men, who landed in the isle of Thanet, and attacked 
 with confidence and success the northern invaders. 
 
 Hengist and Horsa, perceiving, from their easy vic- 
 tory over the Scots and Piets, with what facility they 
 might subdue the Britons themselves, determined to 
 fight and conquer for their own grandeur, and not for 
 the defence of their allies. They sent intelligence 
 to Saxony of the riches and fertility of Britain ; and 
 their representations procured for them a reinforce- 
 ment of five thousand men. The Saxons formed an 
 alliance with the Piets and Scots, whom they had 
 been invited to resist, and proceeded to open hostility 
 against the Britons, whom they had engaged to pro- 
 tect. 
 
 The Britons, roused to indignation against their 
 treacherous allies, took up arms ; and having deposed 
 Vortigern, who had become odious for his vices, and 
 for the bad success of his counsels, they put them 
 selves under the command of his son Vortimer. They 
 ventured to meet their perfidious enemies, and though 
 generally defeated, one battle was distinguished by 
 the death of Horsa, who left thfe sole command In the 
 hands of his brother Hengist. This active general, 
 reinforced by his countrymen, still advanced to victo- 
 ry ) and being chiefly anxious to spread the terror of 
 h ; s arms, he spared neither age, sex, nor condition 
 Great numbers of Britons, to avoid his cruelty or ava- 
 rice, deserted their native country, and passed over 
 to the continent, where, in the province of Armorica, 
 they were received by a people of the same language 
 and manners, and gave to the country the name of 
 Brittany. 
 
12 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The British writers say, that the love of Vortigern 
 for Rowena, the daughter of Hengist, was one cause 
 that facilitated the entrance of the Saxons into this 
 island, and that Vortigern, who had been restored to 
 the throne, accepted of a banquet from Hengist at 
 Stonehenge, where three hundred of his nobility were 
 treacherously slaughtered ; and himself detained a 
 captive. But these accounts are not sufficiently cor- 
 roborated. 
 
 After the death of Vortimer, Ambrosius was invest- 
 ed with the supreme command over the Britons, and 
 united them in their resistance to the Saxons. Hen- 
 gist, however, maintained his ground in Britain. He 
 invited into this island another tribe of Saxons, under 
 the command of his brother Octa, and of Ebissa, the 
 son of Octa, whom he settled in Northumberland 3 
 and he founded the kingdom of Kent, comprehending 
 Kent, Middlesex, Essex, and part of Surry, which he 
 bequeathed to his posterity. 
 
 The success of Hengist allured new swarms from 
 the northern coasts of Germany. The southern Brit- • 
 ons gradually receded before the invaders into Corn- 
 wall and Wales ; and iElla, a Saxon chief, founded 
 the kingdom of South Saxony, comprising Sussex and 
 that portion of Surry which Hengist had not occu- 
 pied. 
 
 The kingdom of the West Saxons, or of Wessex, 
 was founded by Cerdic, and hjs son Kenric, in Hamp- 
 shire, Dorsetshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, and the Isle 
 of Wight; but it was not till after many a bloody con- 
 flict, that these adventurers enjoyed in peace the har- 
 vest of their toils. They were opposed by Arthur, 
 prince of the Silures, whose heroic valour suspended 
 the declining fate of his country, and whose name has 
 been celebrated by T'aliesin and the other British 
 bards. The military achievements of this prince have 
 been blended with fiction ; but it appears from incon 
 testible evidence, that both in personal and mental 
 powers, he excelled the generality of mankind. 
 
 Whilst the Saxons thus established themselves in 
 the south, great numbers of their countrymen, under 
 several leaders, landed on the east coast of Britain, la 
 the year 575 , Uffa assumed the title of king ol the 
 East Angles ; in 585, Crida, that of Mercia ; and 
 
THE HEPTARCHY. 13 
 
 about the same time, Erkenwint, that of the East Sax- 
 ons. This latter kingdom was dismembered from that 
 of Kent, and comprehended Essex, Middlesex , and 
 part of Hertfordshire 3 that of the East Angles, Cam- 
 bridgeshire, Suffolk, and Norfolk 3 Mercia was extend- 
 ed over all the middle counties, from the banks of the 
 Severn to the frontiers of those two kingdoms. 
 
 Though the Saxons had been settled in Northum- 
 berland soon after the landing of Hengist, yet they 
 met with so much opposition from the inhabitants, that 
 none of their princes for a long time assumed the ap- 
 pellation of king. In 547, Ida, a Saxon prince, who 
 boasted his descent from Woden, and who had brought 
 other reinforcements from Germany, subdued all Nor- 
 thumberland, the bishopric of Durham, and some of 
 the south-east counties of Scotland. About the same 
 time, iElla, another Saxon prince, having conquered 
 Lancashire, and the greater part of Yorkshire, receiv- 
 ed the appellation of king of Deira. These two king- 
 doms were united in the person of Ethelfrid, grandson 
 of Ida, who married Acca, the daughter of ./Ella 5 and 
 expelling his brother-in-law Edwin, he assumed the 
 title of king of Northumberland. 
 
 Thus was established, after a violent contest of 
 nearly a hundred and fifty years, the Heptarchy, or 
 seven Saxon kingdoms, in Britain 3 under which the 
 whole southern part of the island, except Wales and 
 Cornwall, in a great measure mixed its inhabitants, 
 and changed its language, customs, and political insti- 
 tutions. The Britons, under the Roman dominion 
 had made such progress in the arts and civilization, 
 that they had built twenty-eight considerable cities : 
 besides a great number of villages and country-seats 3 
 but the Saxons, by whom they were subdued, restored 
 the ancient barbarity, and reduced to the most abject 
 slavery those few natives who were not either massa- 
 cred, or expelled their habitations. 
 
 After the Britons were confined to Cornwall and 
 Wales, and no longer disturbed the conquerors, the 
 alliance between the princes of the Heptarchy was in 
 a great measure dissolved. Dissentions, wars, and 
 revolutions among themselves, were the natural con 
 sequence. At length, nearly four hundred years afte 
 the first arrival of the Saxons in Britain, all the King 
 
 
u 
 
 HISTORY OE ENGLAND. 
 
 doms of the Heptarchy were united in one great state, 
 g<27-i under Egbert, whose prudence and policy effect- 
 -* ed what had been often in vain attempted. His 
 territories were nearly of the same extent with what 
 is now properly called England ; and prospects of 
 peace, security, and increasing refinement, were thus 
 afforded. 
 
 The Saxons at this period seem not to have much 
 excelled their German ancestors in arts, civiliza- 
 tion, humanity, justice, or obedience to the laws. 
 Christianity had not hitherto banished their ignorance, 
 por softened the ferocity of their manners 5 credulity 
 and superstition had accompanied the doctrines re- 
 ceived through the corrupted channels of Rome 3 and 
 the reverence towards saints and reliques seems al- 
 most to have supplanted the adoration of the Supreme 
 Being. Monastic observances were esteemed more 
 meritorious than the active virtues ; the universal 
 belief in miraculous interpositions superseded the 
 knowledge of natural causes 3 and bounty to the church 
 atoned for every violence against society. The sacer- 
 dotal habit was the only object of respect. Hence the 
 nobility preferred the security and sloth of the clois- 
 ter to the tumult and glory of war, and endowed mon- 
 asteries of which they assumed the government. 
 Hence also the kings, impoverished by continual bene- 
 factions to the church, were neither able to bestow 
 rewards on valour or military services, nor retained 
 sufficient influence to support their government. 
 
 Another inconvenience which attended this. corrupt 
 specfes of Christianity, was the superstitious attach- 
 ment to Rome. The Saxons were taught by the monks 
 a profound reverence for the holy see ; and kings, ab- 
 dicating their crowns, sought a secure passport to 
 heaven at the feet of the Roman Pontiff. The suc- 
 cessors of St. Peter, encouraged by the blindness and 
 submissive disposition of the people, advanced every 
 day in their encroachments on the independence of 
 the English church. In the eighth century, Wilfrid, 
 bishop of Lindisferne, the sole prelate of the Nor- 
 thumbrian kingdom, increased this subjection by an 
 appeal to Rome against the decisions of an Eng- 
 glish synod. Wilfrid thus laid the foundation of the 
 papal pretensions, which we shall find in the sequel 
 
EGBERT. — ETHELWOLF. 15 
 
 were carried to the most disgraceful heights, and sub- 
 mitted to with a patience almost incredible. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 From the Uni on of the kingdoms of the Heptarchy 
 under ]}gbert, to the Norman Conquest. 
 
 The kingdoms of the Heptarchy appeared to be 
 Qo-y-i firmly united in one state under Egbert ; and 
 this union promised future tranquillity to the 
 inhabitants of Britain. But these flattering hopes were 
 soon overcast by the appearance of the Danes. The 
 emperor Charlemagne had been induced to exercise 
 great severities in Germany ; and the more warlike 
 of the natives, to escape the fury of his persecutions, 
 nad retired into Jutland. From that northern extremi- 
 ty they invaded France, which was exposed by tho 
 dissentions of the posterity of Charlemagne. Desig- 
 nated by the general name of Normans, which they 
 received from their northern situation, they became 
 a terror to the maritime, and even to the inland 
 countries. In their predatory excursions they were 
 tempted to visit England, and in their hostilities made 
 7P71 no distinction between the French and English. 
 
 ■* nations. After an unsuccessful attempt on Nor- 
 thumberland, they landed on the Isle of Shepey, 
 which they plundered with impunity. The next year 
 they diser barked in Dorsetshire from thirty -five ‘ships, 
 and were encountered by Egbert at Charmouth, where 
 the Danes were defeated with great log's. They after- 
 wards entered into an alliance with the P tons of 
 Cornwall, and, in conjunction with the allies, made 
 an inroad into Devonshire, whe they were met at 
 Hingesd^ wn by Egbert, and or .-thrown with consid- 
 erable slaughter. The up-' i of Egbert, whose pru- 
 dence and valour had r^v „ered him a terror to his 
 enemies, revived the v pes of the Danes, and prompt- 
 ed them to new efl* s. 
 
 Ethel wolf, the so.i and successor of Egbert, possess- 
 8381 e< ^ ne i-fi er abilities nor tho bravery of his 
 -* father 5 he was better qualified for a cloister 
 
16 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 than a throne. He commenced his reign with resign- 
 ing to his eldest son, Athelstan, the provinces of Es- 
 sex, Kent, and Sussex. The domestic dissention 
 which this partition was calculated to occasion was 
 prevented by the terror excited by the Danes, whose 
 inroads were felt through Hampshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, 
 and Kent. In their course they carried off the goods, 
 the cattle, and even the wretched inhabitants ; and 
 then retiring to their vessels, they set sail to some 
 distant quarter w r hich was not prepared for their re- 
 ception. Though often repulsed, and sometimes de- 
 feated, yet they could not be expelled. They estab- 
 lished themselves in the isles of Thanet and Shepey, 
 whence they constantly harassed and ravaged the ad- 
 jacent coasts. 
 
 The unsettled state of England did not prevent Eth- 
 elwolf from making a pilgrimage to Rome, whither he 
 carried his fourth and favourite son, Alfred, then only 
 six years of age He passed a twelvemonth at Rome 
 in exercises of devotion, and failed not in liberality to 
 the church. In his return home, he married Judith, 
 the daughter of the emperor Charles the Bald ; but on 
 his landing in England, he met with an opposition 
 which he little expected. Athelstan, his eldest son, 
 had paid the debt of nature; Ethelbald, his second, 
 who had assumed the government, formed the project 
 of excluding his father from a throne, for which his 
 weakness and superstition little qualified him. Eth- 
 elwolf yielded in a great measure to the pretensions 
 of his son: he retained the eastern, which were the 
 least considerable, and ceded to Ethelbald the sove- 
 reignty of the western districts of the kingdom. Im- 
 mediately after, he summoned the states of the whole 
 kingdom, and, with the same facility of disposition, 
 not only granted to the priesthood a perpetual right to 
 tithes, but exempted it from all imposts and burdens. 
 
 Ethelwolf lived only two years after conferring this 
 important grant to the church. By his will he 
 -* divided England between his two eldest sons, 
 Ethelbald and Ethelbert; the west being assigned to 
 the former, and the east to the latter. Ethelbald was 
 a profligate prince, who married Judith, his mother-in- 
 law, and whose reign was short. His death united the 
 whole government in the hands of Ethelbert, who 
 
ALFRED. 
 
 17 
 
 during five years, reigned with justice and prudence, 
 and bequeathed the sceptre to his brother Ethered. 
 
 Though Ethered defended himself with great brave- 
 8fH during the whole of his reign, he enjoy- 
 
 ed no tranquillity from the Danes, who landed 
 in East Anglia, penetrated into the kingdom of North- 
 umberland, and seized the city of York. Alfred, his 
 younger brother, assisted Ethered in all his enterpris- 
 es against the enemy. The Danes were attacked by 
 the forces under Ethered and Alfred 3 and being de- 
 feated in an action, they sought shelter within the 
 walls of Reading. Thence they infested the neigh- 
 bouring country. An action soon after ensued at As- 
 ton, in Berkshire, where the English, through the 
 good conduct of Alfred, obtained a victory. Another 
 battle was fought at Basing, where the Danes were 
 more successful. Amidst these disorders, Ethered 
 died of a wound which he had received, and transfer- 
 red his kingdom and the care of its defence to the illus- 
 trious Alfred, who was then twenty-two years of age. 
 
 Alfred gave early proof of his abilities, by which, in 
 the most difficult times, he saved his country 
 ‘ -* from ruin. Pope Leo the Third predicted his 
 future greatness, by giving him the royal ; unction, 
 when Alfred was on a visit to the Roman pontiff. Be- 
 ing indulged in youthful pleasures, his education was 
 much neglected 3 but the recital of some Saxon po- 
 ems awakened his native genius 3 and he applied him- 
 self with diligence and success to the study of the 
 Latin tongue. From these elegant pursuits, however, 
 he was early recalled by the danger of his country. 
 Scarcely had he buried his brother, when he was 
 obliged to take the field, in order to oppose the Danes, 
 who had seized Wilton,* and were ravaging the sur- 
 rounding country. He gave them battle, and was at 
 first successful 3 but pursuing his advantage too eager- 
 ly, he was oppressed by the superiority of numbers, 
 and obliged to relinquish the field. Alfred, however, 
 was still formidable 3 and though he was supported 
 only by the West Saxons, he obliged his enemies to 
 conclude a treaty, in which they solemnly swore to 
 evacuate his territories. The oath was taken and vio- 
 
 * The real situation of Wilton has been much disputed. 
 VOL. I. 2 
 
18 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 lated with equal facility j and the Danes, without seek 
 ing any pretence, attacked Alfred’s army, which they 
 routed, and, marching westward, took possession of 
 Exeter. Alfred collected new forces, and exerted 
 such vigour, that he fought eight battles in one year 
 and obliged the enemy to engage that they would set 
 tie in some part of Ergland, and not suffer more op 
 their countrymen to enter the kingdom. Whilst Al- 
 fred expected the execution of this treaty, another bo- 
 dy of Danes landed in this island ; and collecting all the 
 scattered troops of their countrymen, they seized Chip- 
 penham, and extended their ravages over Wiltshire. 
 
 This last event broke the spirits of the Saxons, and 
 reduced them to despair. They believed themselves 
 abandoned by Heaven to destruction. Some left their 
 country, and retired into Wales, or fled beyond the 
 sea; others submitted to the conquerors, in hopes. of 
 appeasing their fury by a servile obedience ; and Al- 
 fred was obliged to relinquish the ensigns of royalty 
 and to seek shelter in the meanest disguises, from the 
 pursuit of his enemies. He concealed himself under 
 the habit of a peasant, and for some time lived in the 
 house of a neatherd, who had formerly been entrust- 
 ed with the care of his cows. In this humiliating sit- 
 uation, it is said that the wife of the neatherd, igno- 
 rant of the condition of her royal guest, and observing 
 him one day busy by the fire-side, in trimming his 
 bow and arrows, desired him to take care of some 
 cakes which were toasting, while she was employed 
 in other domestic concerns. However, Alfred, whose 
 thoughts were differently engaged, forgot the trust; 
 and the good roman, on her return, finding her cakes 
 burnt, rated the king ve.ry severely, and upbraided him 
 with neglecting what he was ready enough to eat. 
 
 Alfred, finding that success had rendered his ene 
 mies more remiss, collected some of his retainers. In 
 the centre of a bog, formed by the stagnated waters 
 of the Thone and Parret, in Somersetshire, he found 
 two acres of firm ground, where he built an habita- 
 tion, which he rendered secure by fortifications, and 
 still more by the unknown "and inaccessible roads that 
 led to it. This place he called ^Ethelingay, or the 
 Isle of Nobles ; and thence he made frequent and un- 
 expected sallies on the Danes, who often felt the vig- 
 
AL 
 
 19 
 
 our of liis arm, but kne w not from what quarter the 
 dIow came. In this insulated place he was informed 
 that Oddune, earl of Devonshire, had routed and kill- 
 ed Hubba the Dane, who had besieged him in his cas- 
 tle of Kinwith, near the mouth of the river Tau 3 ana 
 that he had got possession of the enchanted standard, 
 or reafen, so called from containing the figure of a 
 raven, which the Danes believed to have been inter- 
 woven by the three sisters of Hinguar and tlubba, 
 with magical incantations, and to express by the mo- 
 tions of its wings the success or failure of any enter- 
 prise. 
 
 When Alfred was informed of this successful re- 
 sistance, he left his retreat 5 but before he would as- 
 semble his subjects in arms, he resolved to inspect the 
 situation of the enemy. Under the disguise of a 
 harpgr, he entered their camp 3 his music obtained 
 for him a welcome reception, and introduced him into 
 the tent of their prince Guthrum 3 and he was wit- 
 ness during several days to the supine security of the 
 Danes, and their contempt of the English. Encour- 
 aged by what he observed, he sent private emissaries 
 to the most considerable of his friends, and summon- 
 ed them to meet him with their followers at Brixton 
 on the borders of Selwood Forest. The English hav- 
 ing experienced that submission o \y increased the 
 insolence ^nd rapacity of their conquerors, repaired 
 to the place of rendezvous with alacrity, and received 
 with shouts of transport a monarch whom they had 
 fondly loved, and whom they had long concluded to 
 have been dead. Alfred immediately led them against 
 the Danes, who, surprised to see an army of English, 
 fled after a faint resistance, and suffered greatly in the 
 pursuit : the remnant that escaped, were besieged by 
 the victors in a fortified camp 3 and being reduced to 
 extremity by hunger, they implored the clemency of 
 Alfred, whose prudence converted them from mortal 
 enemies into faithful friends and confederates. He 
 proposed to Guthrum and his followers to re-people 
 the desolated parts of East Anglia and Northumber- 
 land 3 but he required from them as a pledge of their 
 future sincerity, that they should embrace Christiani- 
 ty. The Danes complied 3 and Guthrum received, aa 
 the ad< uted son of Alfred, the name of Athelstan. 
 
20 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The success of this expedient seemed to corre9 
 pond with Alfred’s hopes : the greater part of the 
 Danes settled peaceably in their new quarters ; the 
 more turbulent procured subsistence by ravaging tha 
 coasts of France ; and England enjoyed for some years 
 a state of tranquillity. Alfred employed this period 
 in establishing civil and military institutions, and in 
 providing for the future defence of the island. He 
 repaired the ruined cities ; built castles and fortres- 
 ses ; and established a regular militia. Sensible that 
 the best means of defending an island is by a navy, 
 he increased the shipping of his kingdom both in 
 number and strength, and trained his subjects to mar- 
 itime conflicts. He stationed his vessels with such 
 judgment as continually to intercept the Danish ships 
 either before or after they had landed their troops ; 
 and by this means he repelled several inroads of the 
 Danes. 
 
 At length Hastings, the celebrated Danish chief, 
 having ravaged all the provinces of France, along the 
 Loire and the Seine, appeared off the coast of Kent 
 with three hundred and thirty sail ; where the greater 
 yart of the Danes disembarked, and seized the fort of 
 Apuldore. Hastings himself, with a fleet of eighty 
 sail, entered the Thames, and fortifying Milton in 
 Kent, spread his forces oyer the country, and com- 
 mitted the most dreadful ravages. Alfred, yi the first 
 alarm of this descent, hastened with a chosen band 
 to the defence of his people } and collecting all the 
 armed militia, he appeared in the field with a force 
 superior to that of the enemy. The invaders, instead 
 of increasing their spoil, were obliged to seek refuge 
 within their fortifications. Tired of this situation, 
 the Danes at Apuldore suddenly left their encamp- 
 ment, and attempted to march towards the Thames, 
 and to penetrate into the heart of the kingdom ; but 
 Alfred, whose vigilance they could not escape, en- 
 countered and defeated them at Farnham. They fled 
 to their ships, and escaped to Mersey in Essex, where 
 they erected new works for their protection. Has- 
 tings attempted a similar movement at the same time, 
 and with the same success : after leaving Milton, he 
 was glad to find refuge at Bamflete, near the isle of 
 Canvey, where he threw up fortifications for his de- 
 fence. 
 
ALFRED. 
 
 21 
 
 From these invaders the attention of Alfred was 
 soon distracted by another enemy. Guthrum was 
 now dead ; and his followers, encouraged by the ap- 
 pearance of so great a body of their countrymen, re- 
 volted against the authority of Alfred. They embark- 
 ed on board of two hundred and forty vessels, and 
 appeared before Exeter, in the west of England. Al- 
 fred immediately marched to the west, and suddenly 
 attacking them, defeated them, and pursued them to 
 their ships with great slaughter. In another attempt 
 on the coast of Sussex, they were again repulsed, and 
 some of their ships taken. Discouraged by these dif- 
 ficulties, they embarked, and returned to tneir settle- 
 ments in Northumberland. 
 
 In the mean time, the Danes in Essex, having quit- 
 ted their retreat, and united their forces under the 
 command of Hastings, ravaged the inland country. 
 The English army left in London attacked the Dan- 
 ish intrenchments at Bamflete, over powered the garri- 
 on, and carried off’ the wife and two sons of Hastings. 
 Alfred restored the captives to the Danish chief, on 
 'ondition that he should quit the kingdom, to which 
 ne readily assented. 
 
 However, many of the Danes refused to follow 
 Hastings. Great numbers of them seized and fortified 
 Shobury, at the mouth of the Thames ; and leaving a 
 garrison tbpre, they marched to Boddington, in the 
 county of Gloucester, where they were reinforced by 
 the Welsh, and erected fortifications for their protec- 
 tion. Alfred surrounded them with his whole force. 
 After having endured the extremities of famine, they 
 attacked the English, and a small number of them 
 effected their escape ; but most of them being taken, 
 they were tried at Winchester, and hanged as public 
 robbers. 
 
 This well-timed severity restored tranquillity tc 
 England, and produced security to the government. 
 Not only the East-Anglian and Northumberland Danes, 
 but the Welsh, acknowledged the authority of Alfred. 
 By prudence, by justice, and by valour, he had now 
 established his sovereignty over all the southern parts 
 of the island, from the English channel to the fron 
 tiers of Scotland ; when, in the vigour of his age, and 
 in the full possession of his faculties, he expired af 
 
22 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ter a glorious reign of twenty-nine years and a half, 
 in which he had deservedly attained the appellation 
 of Great, and the title of founder of the English 
 monarchy. 
 
 The character of Alfred, both in private and public 
 life, is almost unrivalled in the annals of any age or 
 nation. His virtues were so happily tempered to- 
 gether, and so justly blended, that each prevented the 
 other from exceeding its proper boundaries. He re- 
 conciled the most enterprising spirit with the greatest 
 moderation ; the most severe justice with the gentlest 
 lenity ; the highest capacity and inclination for sci- 
 ence, with the most shining talents for action. His 
 cwil and his military virtues are almost equally the 
 objects of our admiration ; and nature, also, as if so 
 bright a production of her skill should be set in the 
 fairest light, had bestowed on him every personal 
 grace and accomplishment. 
 
 The martial exploits of Alfred afford only an imper- 
 fect idea of his merit. His civil institutions, many of 
 which still exist, and his encouragement of the arts 
 and sciences, form the most prominent features of his 
 reign. The violence and rapacity of the Danes had 
 subverted all order throughout England, and introduc- 
 ed the greatest anarchy and confusion. To provide a 
 remedy for the evils which their licentiousness nad 
 occasioned, and to render the execution of justice 
 strict and regular, Alfred divided the kingdom into 
 counties ; these he subdivided into hundreds, and the 
 hundreds into tithings. Ten householders formed a 
 tithing, who were answerable for each other’s conduct, 
 and over whom a headborough or borsholder was ap- 
 pointed to preside. Every man was obliged to regis- 
 ter himself in some tithing; and none could chango 
 his habitation without a certificate from the headbor- 
 o’ugh of the tithing to which he belonged. 
 
 When any person had been guilty of a crime, the 
 headborough was summoned to answer for him; and 
 if the headborough was unwilling to be surety for his 
 appearance, the criminal was committed to prison till 
 his trial. If the criminal fled, either before or after 
 finding sureties, the headborough and tithing were 
 exposed to the penalties of the law. Thirty-one days 
 were allowed them for producing the criminal. If th* 
 
ALFRED. 
 
 25 . 
 
 ^lapsed before they could find him, the hendbor - 
 and two other members of the tithing were obli 
 a appear, and together with three chief mem 
 bers of three neighbouring tithings, consisting of 
 twelve in all, swear that the tithing was free from all 
 privity both of the crime and of the escape of the crim- 
 inal. If the headborough could not produce such a 
 number of witnesses to their innocence, the tithing 
 was ccmpelled to pay a fine to the king. This insti- 
 tution obliged every man carefully to observe the con- 
 duct of his neighbours, and was a kind of surety for 
 their behaviour. 
 
 In the administration of justice, the headborough 
 summoned his tithing to assist him in deciding any 
 trivia) difference which occurred among the members 
 In affairs of greater moment, .or in controversies be- 
 tween members of different tithings, the cause was 
 brought before the hundred, which consisted of ten 
 tithings, or one hundred families, and which was regu- 
 larly assembled once in four weeks. In their method 
 of decision we trace the origin of juries. Twelve 
 freeholders were chosen, who, together with the pre- 
 siding magistrate of that division, were sworn to ad- 
 minister impartial justice in the cause submitted to 
 their jurisdiction. 
 
 The county court, which met twice a year, and con- 
 sisted of the freeholders of the county, was superior 
 to that of the hundred, from which it received appeals, 
 The bishop with the aldermen presided in it. The 
 latter originally possessed both the civil and military 
 authority 3 but Alfred, sensible that this conjunction 
 of power might render the nobility dangerous, appoint- 
 ed a sheriff in each county, who was equal with the 
 aldermen in his judicial function, and whose office 
 also consisted in guarding the rights of the crown, 
 from violation, and in levying the fines. In default 
 of justice in these courts, an appeal lay to the king in 
 council 5 but finding that his time would be entirely 
 engrossed in hearing these appeals, Alfred took care 
 to correct the ignorance or corruption of inferior 
 magistrates, and to instruct his nobility in letters and 
 laws. To guide them in the administration of justice, 
 he framed a code of laws, which, though now lost, 
 Ions served as the basis of English jurisprudence, and 
 
24 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 is generally deemed the origin of what is now denom 
 inated the common law. 
 
 To encourage learning among his subjects was no 
 ess the care of thi3 illustrious prince. When he 
 came to the throne, he found the English sunk into 
 the grossest ignorance. Alfred himself complains 
 that on his accession he did not know one person 
 south of the Thames, who could so much as interpret 
 the Latin service ; and very few even in the northern 
 parts who had reached that pitch of erudition. To 
 supply this defect, he invited the most celebrated 
 scholars from all parts of Europe ; he established 
 schools; and he founded, or at least revived, the uni- 
 versity of Oxford, which he endowed with various 
 privileges, revenues, and immunities. He enjoined 
 by law, all freeholders possessed of two hides, or about 
 two hundred acres of land, to send their children to 
 school for instruction ; and he gave preferment, both 
 in church and state, to such only as had made some 
 proficiency in knowledge. 
 
 However, the most effectual expedient employed by 
 Alfred for the encouragement of learning, was his own 
 example. He usually divided his time into three 
 equal portions: one was employed in exercise and the 
 refection of his body ; another, in the despatch of 
 business; and a third, in study and devotion. Sensible 
 that the people were incapable of speculative instruc- 
 tion, he conveyed his morality by apologues, parables, 
 stories, and apothegms, couched in poetry. He trans- 
 lated the Fables of ^Esop, the Histories ofOrosius and 
 Bede, and Boethius on the consolation of philosophy ; 
 nor did he deem it derogatory from his high character 
 of sovereign, legislator, warrior, and politician, thus 
 to lead the way in literary pursuits. 
 
 The prince was also an encouragerof the mechanical 
 arts. He invited industrious foreigners to repeople 
 nis country, which had been desolated by the ravages 
 of the Danes. He introduced and encouraged manu- 
 factures ; he prompted men of activity to engage in 
 navigation and commerce ; he appropriated a seventh 
 part of his own revenue to rebuild the ruined cities, 
 castles, palaces, and monasteries ; and such was the 
 impression of his sagacity and virtue, that he was re- 
 garded by foreigners, as well as by his own subjects 
 

 EDWARD.— ATHELSTAN.— EDMUND. 25 
 
 as one of the greatest princes that had appeared on the 
 throne of the world 
 
 Of the two surviving sons of Alfred by his wife 
 AQjl Ethelswitha, the daughter of a Mercian earl, 
 -* Ethelwald the younger inherited his father’s pas- 
 sion for letters, and lived a private life; but Edward 
 the elder succeeded to the military talents as well as 
 to the throne of Alfred. Ethelwald, the cousin-ger- 
 man of Edward, and son of Ethelbert, the elder broth- 
 er of Alfred, insisted on a title to the throne preferable 
 to that of Edward. Ethelwald, however, was obliged 
 to flee ; but connecting his interests with those of the 
 Danes, he obtained the assistance of those freebooters, 
 and returned. An action was fought near Bury, in 
 which the Kentish men vigorously opposed the Danes, 
 who lost their bravest leaders, and among the rest 
 Ethelwald himself. The reign of Edward was an in- 
 cessant but successful struggle against the Northum- 
 brians, the East-Angles, and the Danes. He gained 
 two signal victories at Telmsford and Maldon, com- 
 pelled the Danes to retire into France, and obliged the 
 East-Angles to swear allegiance to him. After a tur- 
 bulent but successful reign of twenty-four years, his 
 kingdom devolved on Athelstan, his natural son. 
 
 The mature age of Athelstan obtained for him the 
 9251 P re ^ erence over legitimate children of Ed- 
 * ward; and, amidst storms of civil conflict and 
 foreign war, he proved himself not unworthy of it. 
 He crushed Alfred, a powerful nobleman, who had 
 conspired against him; he entered Scotland with an 
 army, and extorted the submission of Constantine its 
 king; he reduced to obedience the turbulent Northum- 
 brians ; and he defeated with considerable slaughter 
 the Danes and Welsh. Athelstan was regarded as an 
 able and active prince; and the remarkable law which 
 he enacted, that a merchant, who had made three long 
 sea voyages, should be admitted to the rank of thane 
 or gentleman, is a proof of great liberality of mind. 
 He died at Gloucester, after a reign of sixteen years, 
 and was succeeded by Edmund, his legitimate brother. 
 
 The reign of Edmund was short, and his death vio- 
 lent. He chastised the Northumbrians, who 
 ■* seized every opportunity of rebelling ; and he 
 conquered Cumberland from the Britons, and confer 
 
26 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 red it on Malcolm, king of Scotland, on condition that 
 he should do him homage for it, and protect the north 
 from the incursions of the Danes. He perished by 
 the hand of Leolf, a notorious robber, whom he had 
 sentenced to banishment, and who presumed to enter 
 the royal apartment. The king, enraged at this inso- 
 lence, ordered him to leave the room ; and on his re- 
 fusing to obey, Edmund, naturally choleric, seized 
 him by the hair, when the ruffian drew a dagger, and 
 gave him a mortal wound. 
 
 Edred, the brother and successor of Edmund, had 
 no sooner ascended the throne, than he found it 
 -* necessary to oppose the incursions of the North- 
 umbrian Danes, and to oblige Malcolm, king of Scot- 
 land, to renew his homage for the lands which he held 
 in England. Edred, though not destitute of courage, 
 was ail abject slave to superstition ; and he abandon- 
 ed his conscience to Dunstan, abbot of Glastonbury, 
 who, under the appearance of sanctity, veiled the most 
 violent ambition. 
 
 Dunstan practised the most rigid austerity, and pre- 
 tended to have frequent conflicts with the devil 5 in 
 one of which he seized the devil by the nose with a 
 pair of red-hot pincers, and held him till the whole 
 neighbourhood resounded with his bellowings. Sup- 
 ported by this affected character, Dunstan obtained 
 an entire ascendency over Edred, and was placed at 
 the head of the treasury. Sensible that he owed his 
 advancement to the austerity of his life, he became a 
 partisan of the rigid monastic rules. The celibacy of 
 priests was deemed meritorious by the church of 
 Rome ; and the pope undertook to make all the cler- 
 gy in the western world renounce the privilege of 
 m irrying. In England, Dunstan seconded his efforts, 
 and introduced the reformation into the convents of 
 Glastonbury and Abingdon $ but the secular clergy, 
 who were numerous and rich, defended their priv- 
 ileges against this usurpation. Daring the ferment oc- 
 casioned by these religious controversies, Edred de- 
 parted this life. 
 
 The children of Edred being too young to bear the 
 QKK-i weight of government, the throne was filled by his 
 “ -* nephew Edwy, who was adorned with a graceful 
 
 person and possessed the most promising virtues 
 
EDWY.— EDGAR. 
 
 2*7 
 
 Contrary to the advi.ce of his wisest counsellors, he un- 
 fortunately married Elgiva, a beautiful princess of the 
 royal blood, who was within the degrees of affinity pro- 
 hibited by the canon law. This occasioned the in- 
 vectives of the monks 5 and the king found reason to 
 repent his creating such dangerous enemies. On the 
 day of his coronation, whilst his nobility were indulg- 
 ing in riot and disorder, Edwy retired from the noisy 
 revelry of the table, to taste the pleasures of love with 
 Elgiva. Dunstan, conjecturing the reason of the 
 king's retreat, burst into the apartment, and with ev- 
 ery opprobrious epithet that could be applied to her 
 sex, thrust the queen from her royal consort. To 
 avenge this public insult, Edwy accused Dunstan of 
 malversation in the treasury, and banished him the 
 kingdom. But Dunstan's party were not inactive dur- 
 ing his absence : they exclaimed against the impiety 
 of the king and queen, and proceeded to still more 
 outrageous acts of violence. Archbishop Odo - , with a 
 party of soldiers, seized the queen, burned her face 
 with a hot iron, and forcibly carried her into Ireland. 
 Edwv, finding himself unable to resist, was obliged to 
 consent to his divorce. The unhappy Elgiva, at- 
 tempting to return to her husband, was seized by the 
 iiifernal Odo, who, wuth the malice of a demon, caus- 
 ed her to be hamstrung, of which she died a few days 
 after, at Gloucester, in the sharpest torments. 
 
 Not satiated with this horrible vengeance, the 
 monks encouraged Edgar, the younger brother of Ed- 
 wy, to aspire to the throne, and soon put him in pos- 
 session of Mercia, Northumberland, and East-Anglia. 
 Dunstan returned to England, to assist Edgar and his 
 party, and after Odo’s death, was installed in the see 
 of Canterbury. The unhappy Edwy was excommuni- 
 cated, and pursued with unrelenting vengeance 3 but 
 his death, which happened soon after, freed him from 
 monkish persecution, and gave Edgar peaceable pos 
 session of the throne. 
 
 Edgar discovered great abilities in the government 
 qtQ-i of the kingdom ; and his reign is one of the most 
 * 1 fortunate in English history. By his vigorous 
 preparations for war, he ensured peace 3 and he aw- 
 ed equally the foreign and domestic Danes. The 
 neighbouring sovereigns, the king of Scotland, dis 
 

 28 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 princes of Wales, of the Isle of Man, of the Orkneys 
 and of Ireland, were reduced to pay him submission 
 but the chief means by which he maintained his au 
 thority, was his assiduous yet forced respect to the 
 lanatical and inhuman Dunstan and his kundred monks. 
 
 These repaid his politic concessions by the high- 
 eskpanegyrics 5 and Edgar has been represented by 
 them not only as a consummate statesman and a great 
 prince, but as a man of strict virtue, and even a saint. 
 Nothing however could more fully prove, that the 
 praises bestowed on Edgar, with respect to the 
 sanctity of his life, were exaggerated and unmerited, 
 than his immoral and licentious conduct. He broke 
 into a convent, carried off Editha, a nun, by force, 
 and even committed violence on her person. For 
 tSiis crime, Dunstan required him merely to abstain 
 from wearing his crown during seven years. At An- 
 dover, too, Edgar, struck with the beauty of the 
 daughter of a nobleman, in whose house he lodged, 
 unceremoniously went to her mother, and desired that 
 the young lady might pass that very night with him. 
 The mother, knowing the impetuosity of the king’s 
 temper, pretended a submission to his will but she 
 secretly ordered a waiting-maid, named Elflede, to 
 steal into the king’s bed, after the company had retir 
 ed to rest. The dawn of light discovered the deceit j 
 but Edgar, well pleased with his companion, express- 
 ed no displeasure on account of the fraud ; and El 
 flede became his favourite mistress, until his criminal 
 marriage with Elfrida. 
 
 This lady was daughter and heir of Olgar, earl of 
 Devonshire, and all England resounded with the prais 
 esofher beauty. The curiosity of Edgar was excit- 
 ed ‘ y and he resolved to marry her, if he found her 
 charms answerable to the report. He communicated 
 his intentions to Athelwold, his favourite, whom he 
 deputed to bring him an authentic account of her 
 person. Athelwold found that general report had not 
 exaggerated the beauty of Elfrida ; and being smitten 
 with her charms, he determined to sacrifice to his 
 love for her the fidelity which he owed to his master. 
 He returned to Edgar, and assured him, that the birth 
 and riches of Elfrida had been the cause of the admi- 
 ration paid to her, and that she possessed no charms of 
 
 
 
WARD. 
 
 superior lustre. Aitor some time, he intimated to the 
 king, that, though her parentage and fortune had not 
 deceived him with regard to her beauty, she would be 
 an advantageous match for him, and might by her 
 birth and riches make him sufficient compensation for 
 the homeliness of her person. Edgar, pleased with 
 an opportunity of establishing his favourite's fortune, 
 forwarded his success by a recommendation to the pa- 
 rents of Elfrida, whose hand Athelwold soon obtained 
 
 Envy, which ever pursues the favourite of a king, 
 speedily informed Edgar of the truth. However, be- 
 fore he avenged the treachery of Athelwold, he re- 
 solved to satisfy himself of his guilt. He told him, 
 that he intended to visit his castle, and to be introduc- 
 ed to his wife. Athelwold, unable to refuse this hon- 
 our, revealed the whole transaction to Elfrida, and 
 conjured her to conceal from Edgar that beauty which 
 had seduced him from his fidelity. Elfrida promised 
 a compliance, but appeared before the king in all her 
 charms, and excited in his bosom at once the passions 
 of desire and revenge. However, he dissembled his 
 emotions, till he had an opportunity, in hunting, of 
 stabbing Athelwold, and soon after publicly espous- 
 ed Elfrida. 
 
 Edgar died after a reign of sixteen years, and was 
 succeeded by Edward, whom he had by his first 
 -* marriage wich the daughter of Earl Ordmer. 
 This prince was anointed and crowned by Dunstan at 
 Kingston, and lived four years after his accession. 
 His death alone was memorable and tragical. Though 
 his step-mother had opposed his succession, and had 
 raised a party in favour of her own son Ethelred, yet 
 Edward had always showed her marks of regard. He 
 was hunting one day near Corfe-castle in Dorsetshire, 
 where Elfrida resided, and paying her a visit without 
 attendants, he presented her with the opportunity for 
 which she had long wished. After remounting his 
 torse, he desired some liquor to be brought him ; and 
 vhilst he was holding the cup to his mouth a servant 
 >f Elfrida approached, and stabbed him behind. The 
 irince, feeling himself wounded, set spurs to his horse, 
 ;ut faint with the loss of blood, he fell from the sad- 
 tle, and his foot being entangled in the stirrup, he was 
 lragged along until he expired. His youth and inno- 
 tence obtained for him the appellation of Martyr 
 
30 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Ethelied, the son of Edgar and Elfrida, reaped the 
 advantage of his mother’s crime, and succeeded 
 u -* to the throne. He was a weak and irresolute 
 monarch, and obtained the appellation of Unready. 
 During his reign the Danes resumed their ravages j 
 and Ethelred exhibited neither courage nor ability suf- 
 ficient to repel so formidable an enemy. A shameful 
 composition was made with Sweyn, king of Denmark ; 
 and the English monarch consented to the disgraceful 
 badge of tribute. Ethelred, desirous of forming a 
 closer alliance with the pirates of the north, solicited 
 and received in marriage Emma, Sister to Richard the 
 second, duke of Normandy, whose family sprang from 
 the Danish adventurer Rollo. 
 
 Whilst their sovereign courted the alliance, the 
 English groaned beneath the rapacity and arrogance 
 of the northern invaders. Sensible of the superiority 
 of these hardy warriors, the English princes had been 
 accustomed to retain in their pay bodies of Danish 
 troops. These mercenaries, by their arts and military 
 character, had rendered themselves so agreeable to 
 the fair sex, that they debauched the wives and daugh- 
 ters of the English 5 but what most provoked the in- 
 habitants was, that instead of defending them against 
 invaders, they were always ready to join the foreign 
 foe. This animosity inspired Ethelred with the reso- 
 lution of massacreing the Danes throughout his do- 
 minions. Secret orders were despatched to com- 
 mence the execution every where the same day ; and 
 
 1002 
 
 so well were these orders executed, that the 
 [ rage of the people, sanctioned by authority, 
 Wov.iJ. ) distinguished not between innocence and 
 guilt, and spared neither sex nor age. 
 
 This barbarous policy, however, did not remain long 
 inOTl unrevenged. Sweyn and his Danes, who want- 
 •* ed only a pretence for invading England, ap- 
 peared off the western coast. Exeter first fell into 
 their hands, from the negligence or treachery of Earl 
 Hugh, a Nornjan, who had been made governor of that 
 city. — Thence they extended their devastations over 
 the country. The calamities of the English were aug- 
 mented by famine ; and they submitted to the infamy 
 of purchasing a nominal peace, by the payment of 
 thirty thousand Dounds. The dissentions of the Eng 
 
EDMOND. 
 
 31 
 
 1014] 
 
 lish prevented them from opposing the Danes, who 
 still continued their depredations, and from whom 
 they purchased another peace at the expense of forty- 
 eight. thousand pounds. The Danes, however, disre- 
 garded all engagements, and extorted new contribu- 
 tions. The English nobility, driven to despair, swore 
 allegiance to Sweyn, and delivered him hostages for 
 their fidelity. Ethelred, equally afraid of the vio- 
 lence qf the enemy and the treachery of his own sub- 
 
 i 'ects, fled into Normandy, whither he had sent before 
 lim Emma, and her two sons, Alfred and Edward. 
 The king had not been more than six weeks in Nor- 
 mandy, when he was informed of the death of 
 Sweyn. The English prelates and nobles sent 
 a deputation into Normandy, and invited Ethelred to 
 resume the royal authority. But on his return they 
 soon perceived that adversity had not corrected his 
 errors : he displayed the same incapacity, indolence, 
 cowardice, and credulity. In Canute, the son and suc- 
 cessor of Sweyn, the English found an enemy no less 
 formidable than his father. After ravaging the eastern 
 and southern coasts, he burst into the counties of 
 Dorset, Wilts, and Somerset ; where an army was as- 
 sembled against him under the command of prince 
 Edmond, the eldest son of Ethelred. The English 
 soldiers demanded the presence of their sovereign ; 
 and upon his refusal to take the field, they became 
 discouraged, and gradually retired from the camp. Ed- 
 mond, after some fruitless expeditions into the north, 
 retired to London, which he found in confusion, from 
 the death of the king, who had expired after an inglo- 
 rious reign of thirty-five years. He left two sons by 
 his first marriage, Edmond who succeeded him, and 
 Edwy who was murdered by Canute ; and two more 
 by his second marriage, Alfred and Edward, who, up- 
 on the death of Ethelred, were conveyed into Nor- 
 mandy by queen Emma. 
 
 Edmond, who from his hardy valour obtained the 
 10161 surname °f Ironside, was inferior in abilities 
 J only to the difficulties of the time. In two bat- 
 tles he encountered the Danes with skill and courage j 
 but in both .ie was defeated or betrayed by the enmi- 
 ty or perfidy of Edric, duke of Mercia. The indefati- 
 gable Edmond, however, had still resources: ka as 
 
32 
 
 HISTORY OE ENGLAND. 
 
 eembled a new army at Gloucester, and was again pre 
 
 f iared to dispute the field 3 when the Danish and Eng- 
 ish nobility, equally harassed, obliged their kings to 
 submit to a compromise, and to partition the kingdom. 
 Canute reserved to himself the northern part, and re- 
 linquished the southern to Edmond. This prince sur- 
 vived the treaty about a month 3 he was murdered at 
 Oxford by two of his chamberlains, accomplices of 
 Edric, who thereby made way for the succession of 
 Canute the Dane to the crown of England. 
 
 Canute, at the head of a great force, was ready to 
 10171 a ^ van l a o e t ^ ie minority of Alfred and 
 
 -* Edward, the two sons of Edmond. To cover, 
 however, his injustice under plausible pretences, be 
 fore he seized the dominions of the English princes, 
 he summoned a general assembly of the states, in or- 
 der to fix the succession of the kingdom. He here 
 suborned some nobles to depose, that, in the treaty of 
 Gloucester, it had been verbally agreed, in case of 
 Edmond’s death, to name Canute successor to his do- 
 minions, or tutor to his children 3 and this evidence, 
 supported by the great p®wer of Canute, determined 
 the states to vest in him the government of the king- 
 dom. Jealous of the two princes, he sent them to 
 his ally the king of Sweden, whom he desifed to free 
 him by their de tth from all future anxiety. The Swe- 
 dish monarch was too humane to comply with this 
 cruel request 3 but afraid of a quarrel with Canute if 
 he protected the young princes, he conveyed them to 
 Solomon, king of Hungary. The elder died without 
 issue j but Edward the younger married Agatha, the 
 sister-in-law of Solomon, and daughter of the empe- 
 ror Henry II. by whom he had Edgar Atheling, Mar- 
 garet, afterwards queen of Scotland, and Christina, 
 who became a nun. 
 
 Canute no sooner found himself confirmed on the 
 throne, than he put to death the nobles, on whose fi- 
 delity he could not rely 3 and among these was the 
 traitor Edric, who had presumed to reproach him with 
 his services. But, like a wise prince, he was deter- 
 mined that the English, now deprived of all their 
 dangerous leaders, should be reconciled to the Danes 
 by the justice and impartiality of his government. He 
 restoied the Saxon customs in ti c general assembly 
 
CANUTE.— HAROLD. 33 
 
 of the states ; he made no distinction between Danes 
 and English in the distribution of justice ; and the 
 victors were gradually incorporated with the vanquish- 
 ed. Though the distance of Edmond’s children was 
 regarded by Canute as the greatest security to his gov- 
 ernment yet he dreaded the pretensions of Alfred and 
 Edward, who were supported by their uncle, Richard 
 duke of Normandy. To acquire the friendship of 
 that prince, he paid his addresses to his sister Emma; 
 and the widow of Ethelred consented to bestow her 
 hand bn the implacable enemy of her former husband, 
 on condition that the children of their marriage should 
 mount the English throne. 
 
 After repelling the attacks of the king of Sweden, 
 Canute invaded and subdued Norway, of which he 
 retained possession till his death. At leisure from 
 war, he cast his view towards that future existence, 
 which it is so natural for the human mind, whether 
 satiated by prosperity, or disgusted with adversity, to 
 nake the object of its attention. Instead, however, 
 of endeavouring to atone for the crimes which he 
 had committed by compensation to the injured, it was 
 ,n building churches, in endowing monasteries, and 
 in a pilgrimage to Rome, that his penitence was dis- 
 played. Some of his courtiers affected to think his 
 power uncontrollable, and that all things would be 
 obedient to his command. Canute, sensible of their 
 adulation, ordered his chair to be placed on the sea- 
 shore while the tide was rising; and as the waters ap- 
 proached, he commanded them to retire, and tc obey 
 the voice of him who was lord of the ocean. But 
 when the sea, still advancing towards him, began to 
 wet his feet, he turned to his courtiers, and remarked 
 to them, that every creature in the universe is feeble 
 and impotent, compared to that Almighty Being in 
 whose hands are all the elements of nature, and who 
 can say to the ocean, “ Thus far shaltthou go, and no 
 farther.” 
 
 Canute died at Shaftsbury, in the nineteenth year 
 of his reign. Of his two sons by his first marriage, 
 Sweyn had been crowned king of Norway, and Harold 
 succeeded his father on t' e English throne ; and 
 Hardicanut.e, who was his issue by Emma, was left in 
 possession of the kingdom of Denmark. 
 
 VOL. I. 3 
 
54 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Though Harold succeeded to the throne of England 
 
 1035] 
 
 agreeably to the will of his father, who consid- 
 
 ered it dangerous to leave a newly-conquered 
 kingdom in the hands of so young a prince as Kardi- 
 canutej yet this was a manifest violation of the trea- 
 ty with the duke of Normandy, by which England was 
 assigned to the issue of Canute by Emma. Harold 
 was favoured by the Danes, and Hardicanute by the 
 English. The death of Harold, however, which hap- 
 pened four years after his accession, left the succes- 
 sion open to his brother Hardicanute-. He expired, 
 little regretted by his subjects, and distinguished only 
 for his agility in running, by which he had gained the 
 surname of Harefoot. 
 
 Hardicanute, upon his arrival frpm the continent, 
 Iqoq-i was received with the most extravagant dem- 
 -* onstrations of joy, and was acknowledged king 
 Doth by the Dan-es and the English. However, he 
 soon lost the affections of the nation by his miscon- 
 duct. At the nuptials of a Danish lord, which he had 
 honoured with his presence, Hardicanute died 5 and 
 this event once more presented to the English a fa- 
 vourable opportunity of shaking off the Danish yoke. 
 
 The descendants of Edmond Ironside, the legiti- 
 10411 mate heirs to the crown, were at a distance in 
 ■* Hungary ; and as all delays might be dangerous, 
 the vacant throne was offered to Edward, the son of 
 Ethelred and Emma. His succession might have been 
 opposed by earl Godwin, who had espoused the daugh- 
 ter of Canute, and whose power, alliances, and abili- 
 ties, gave him a great influence 3 but it was stipulated, 
 that Edward should marry Edilha, the daughter of 
 Godwin. To this Edward consented, and was crown- 
 ed king of England. 
 
 The long residence of Edward in Normandy, had 
 attached him to the natives, who repaired to his court 
 in great numbers, and who soon rendered their lan 
 guage, cuSto.ns, and laws, fashionable in the kingdom 
 Their influence soon became disgusting to the Eng- 
 lish ; but above all it excited the jealousy of Godwin. 
 That powerful nobleman, besides being earl or duke 
 of Wessex, had the counties of Kent and Sussex an- 
 nexed to his government : his eldest son, Sweyn, pos- 
 sessed the same autboritv in the counties of Oxford 
 
 : jet 
 
EDWARD. 
 
 S3 
 
 Berks, Gloucester, and Hereford : and Harold, his 
 second son, was Duke of East Anglia, and at .the 
 same time governor of Essex.. The king had indeed 
 married the daughter of Godwin ; but the amiable 
 qualities of Editha had never won the affection of her 
 husband. It is even pretended that Edward abstained 
 from all commerce of love with her 5 and such a for- 
 bearance, though it obtained for the prince, from the 
 monkish historians, the appellation’ of Saint and Con- 
 fessor, could not but be noticed by the high-spirited 
 Godwin. 
 
 However, the influence of the Normans was the 
 popular pretence for the disaffection of the duke of 
 Wessex to the king and his government. Godwin 
 raised the standard of rebellion : but finding himself, 
 from the desertion of his troops, incapable of oppos- 
 ing his sovereign, he fled to Flanders. Returning 
 with a powerful fleet, which the earl of Flanders had 
 permitted him to prepare in his harbours, a new rec- 
 onciliation took place, and the most obnoxious of the 
 Normans were banished. 
 
 Godwin’s death, which happened soon after, devolv- 
 ed his government of Wessex, Sussex, Kent, and Es- 
 sex, with his office of steward of the household, on 
 his son Harold, who was actuated by an ambition equal 
 to that of his father, and was superior to him in virtue 
 and address. Edward, who felt the approach of age 
 and infirmities, and had no issue himself, began to 
 think of appointing a successor to his kingdom ; and, 
 at length, he fixed his choice on his kinsman, William 
 duke of Normandy. 
 
 This celebrated prince was natural son of Robert, 
 duke of Normandy, by Harlotta, daughter of a tanner 
 in Falaise. The illegitimacy of his birth had not pre- 
 vented him from being acknowledged by the Normans 
 as their duke j and the qualities which he displayed 
 in the field and the cabinet, encouraged his friends, 
 and struck terror into his enemies. Having establish- 
 ed tranquillity in his own dominions, he visited Eng- 
 land ; where he was received in a manner suitable to 
 the reputation he had acquired, and to the obligations 
 which Edward owed to his family. Soon after his re- 
 turn, he was informed of the king’s intentions in his 
 favour ; and this first opened the mind of William tc 
 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 55 
 
 entertain such ambitious hopes. Harold, however, 
 openly aspired to the succession ; and Edward, feeble 
 and irresolute, was afraid to declare either for or 
 against him. In this state of uncertainty, the king was 
 surprised by death, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, 
 and the twenty -fifth of his reign. 
 
 On the death of Edward, the last of the Saxon prin- 
 lOffl ces ? Harold ascended the throne with little op- 
 •* position j and the whole nation seemed to ac- 
 quiesce in his elevation. The duke of Normandy, 
 however, received the intelligence w*th the greatest 
 indignation. No sooner had he proclaimed his inten- 
 tion of attempting the conquest of England, than he 
 found less difficulty in completing his levies, than in 
 rejecting those who were desirous of serving under 
 him. The duke of Normandy speedily assembled a 
 fleet of three thousand vessels, in which to transport 
 an army of sixty thousand men, whom he had selected 
 from the numbers that courted his service. Among 
 these were found the high names of the most illustri- 
 ous nobles ot Normandy, France, Brittany, and Flan- 
 ders. To these bold Chieftains William held up 
 the spoils of England as the prize of their valour ; and 
 pointing to the opposite shore, he told them, that there 
 was the field, on which to erect trophies to their name, 
 and fix their residence. The Norman armament ar- 
 rived, without any material loss, at Pevensey in Sus- 
 sex 5 and the troops were disembarked without meet- 
 ing any obstacle. The duke himself, as he leaped on 
 shore, happened to stumble and fall; but he had the 
 presence of mind to turn the omen to his advantage, 
 by calling aloud that he had taken possession of the 
 country. 
 
 Harold had just gained a great and important victo- 
 ry over the Norwegians, who had invaded the king- 
 dom, when he received the intelligence that the duke 
 of Normandy had landed with a numerous army in the 
 south of England. He resolved to give battle in per- 
 son, and soon appeared in sight of the enemy, who 
 had pitched their camp at Hastings. So confident was 
 Harold of success, that to a message sent him by the 
 duke, he replied, “ The god of battles should soon be 
 llie arbiter of all their differences.” 
 
 Both parties immediately prepared for action ; but 
 
HAROLD. 
 
 37 
 
 lOffi ) ^ ne English spent the night previously to Ihe 
 > battle, in riot and jollity; whilst the Nor- 
 ^ ^ mans were occupied in prayer and in the du- 
 
 ties of religion. On the morning, the duke assembled 
 his principal officers and harrangued them in a set 
 speech, in which he used every argument that could 
 stimulate their courage and repel their fears. He then 
 ordered the signal of battle to be given ; and the 
 whole army, moving at once, and singing the hymn or 
 song of Roland, the famous peer of Charlemagne, 
 advanced in order and with alacrity towards the Eng- 
 lish. 
 
 Harold had. seized the advantage of a rising ground, 
 and having secured his flanks with trenches, he re- 
 solved to stand on the defensive, and to avoid an en- 
 gagement with the cavalry, in which he was inferior. 
 The Kentish men were placed in the van, a post of 
 honour which they always claimed as their due. The 
 Londoners guarded the standard; and the king him- 
 self, accompanied by his two valiant brothers, Gurth 
 and Leofwin, dismounting from his horse, placed him- 
 self at the head of his infartry, and expressed his 
 resolution to conquer or to die. The first attack of 
 the Normans was desperate, but was received with 
 equal valour by the English ; and the former began to 
 retreat, when William hastened to their support with 
 a select band. His presence restored the action ; 
 and the English in their turn were obliged to retire. 
 They rallied again, however, assisted by the advan- 
 tage of the ground ; when William commanded his 
 troops to allure the enemy from their position, by the 
 appearance of flight. The English followed precipi- 
 tately into the plain ; where the Normans faced upon 
 them, and forced them back with considerable slaugh- 
 ter. The artifice was repeated a second time with 
 the same success ; yet a great body of the English 
 still maintained themselves in firm array, and seemed 
 resolved to dispute the victory. Harold, however, 
 was slain by an arrow, whilst combating at the head of 
 his men ; and his two brothers shared tne same fame. 
 The English, discouraged by the fall of their princes, 
 fled on all sides ; and the darkness of the night con- 
 tributed to save those who had survived the carnage 
 of the battle. 
 
38 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Thus was gained by William, duke of Normal dy. 
 the great and decisive victory of Hastings, after a 
 battle fought from morning to sun-set, in which the 
 valour of the vanquished, as well as of the victois, 
 was highly conspicuous. In this engagement nearly 
 fifteen thousand Normans fell ; and William had three 
 horses killed under him. But the victory, however 
 dearly purchased, was decisive, as it paid the price of 
 a kingdom. The body of Harold was brought to Wil- 
 liam, who generously restored it without ransom tc 
 his mother. The Norman army gave thanks to heaven 
 for their success ; and their prince pressed forwards to 
 secure the prize he had won. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Reigns of William the Conqueror, William Ru- 
 fus, Henry and Stephen. 
 
 As soon as William passed the Thames at Walling- 
 lOPfl * orc U Stigand, the primate, made submission tc 
 •* him : and before he came in sight of London, 
 all the chief nobility entered his camp, and request 
 ed him to mount the throne, declaring that, as they 
 had always been ruled by regal power, they desired to 
 follow, in this instance, the example of their ances- 
 tors, and knew of no one more worthy than himself to 
 hold the reins of government. Though William feign- 
 ed to hesitate, and wished to obtain a more formal 
 consent of the English nation, yet he dreaded the dan- 
 ger of delay, and accepted of the crown wh ; ch was 
 thus tendered him. He was consecrated in Westmin- 
 ster Abbey by Aldred, archbishop of York 5 and he 
 was attended, on this occasion, by the most considera- 
 ble of the nobility, both English and Norman. 
 
 Thus, by a pretended destination of king Edward, 
 and by an irregular election of the people, but still 
 more 1 y force of arms, William seated himself on the 
 English throne. He introduced into England that 
 strict execution of justice for which his government 
 had been much celebrated in Normandy. He confirm 
 ed the liberties and immunities of London, and thr 
 
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 
 
 39 
 
 ather cities of England, and appeared desirous of re. 
 placing every thing on ancient establishments. His 
 whole administration had the semblance of that of a 
 lawful prince, not of a conqueror ; and the English 
 began to flatter themselves that they had changed only 
 the succession of their sovereigns, and not the form 
 of their government. But amidst this confidence and 
 friendship which he expressed for the English, the 
 king took care to place all real power in the hands of 
 the Normans. He built citadels in London, Winches- 
 ter, Hereford, Oxford, and the towns best situated for 
 commanding the kingdom, all of which he garrisoned 
 with Norman soldiers. 
 
 By this mixture of vigour and lenity, William had 
 so soothed or humbled the minds of the English, that 
 he thought he might safely revisit his native country, 
 and enjoy tiie congratulations of his ancient subjects. 
 Accordingly, he set out for Normandy, and carried 
 over with him the chief of the English nobles, who, 
 whilst they served to grace his court by their magnifi- 
 cence, were in reality hostages for the fidelity of the 
 nation. 
 
 During the absence of William, affairs took a very 
 unfavourable turn in England. It is probable that the 
 Normans, despising a people who had so easily sub- 
 mitted to the yoke, and envying their riches, were de- 
 sirous of provoking them to rebellion. Certain, how- 
 ever, it is, that their arrogance multiplied discontents 
 and complaints every where 5 that secret conspira- 
 cies were entered into against the government 3 and 
 that every thing seemed to threaten a revolution. The 
 disaffection of the English daily increased 3 and a se- 
 cret conspiracy was entered into to perpetrate in one 
 day a general massacre of the Normans, like that- 
 which had been formerly executed upon the Danes. 
 
 The return of the king, however, disconcerted the 
 plans of the conspirators ; and the confiscation of 
 their estates enabled the king still farther to gratify 
 the rapacity of the Normans. Though naturally vio- 
 lent and severe in his temper, yet William still pre 
 served the appearance of justice in his oppressions 
 he restored to their inheritance such as had been ar- 
 bitrarily expelled by the Normans during his absence * 
 but he imposed on the oeople the tax of Danegelt 
 
40 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 which had been abolished by Edward the Confessor 
 and which was extremely odious to the nation. 
 
 The English now clearly foresaw that the king in 
 tended to rely entirely on the support and affection of 
 foreigners, and that new forfeitures would be the re- 
 sult of any attempt to maintain their rights. Impress- 
 ed with this dismal prospect, many fled into foreign 
 countries. Several of them settled in Scotland, and 
 founded families which were afterwards illustrious in 
 that country. But whilst the English suffered under 
 these oppressions, the Normans found themselves sur- 
 rounded by an enraged people, and began to wish for 
 tranquillity. However, the rage of the vanquished 
 English served only to excite the attention of the king 
 and his warlike chiefs to suppress every commence- 
 ment of rebellion. 
 
 William introduced into England the feudal law, 
 which had some time been established in Normandy 
 and France. He divided with very few exceptions, 
 besides the royal demesnes, all the lands of England 
 into baronies ; and he conferred them, with the reser- 
 vation of stated services and payments, on the most 
 considerable of his adventurers. These barons mad© 
 a grant of a great part of their lands to other foreign- 
 ers, under the denomination of knights or vassals, 
 who paid their lord the same duty and submission 
 which the chieftain paid to their sovereign. The 
 whole kingdom contained about 700 chief tenants, and 
 60,215 knights fees ; and as none of the native English 
 were admitted into the first rank, the few who retained 
 their landed property were glad to be received into 
 the second, under the protection of some powerful 
 Norman. 
 
 The doctrine which exalted the papacy above all 
 human power, had gradually diffused itself from 
 Rome; but, at this time, was more prevalent in the 
 southern, than in the northern kingdoms of Europe. 
 Pope Alexander, who had assisted William in his 
 conquests, naturally expected that he would extend to 
 England the reverence for this sacred character, and 
 break the spiritual independence of the Saxons. As 
 soon, therefore, as the Norman prince was established 
 on the throne, Alexander despatched to him Esmen- 
 "roy, bishop of Siam, as his legate: and the kino 
 
WILL* AM THE CONQUEROR. 41 
 
 though he was probably led by principle to pay sub 
 mission to Rome, determined to employ this incident 
 as a means of serving his political purposes, and de- 
 graded those English prelates who were obnoxious to 
 him. However, the superstitious spirit, which became 
 dangerous to some of William’s successors, was 
 checked by the abilities of that monarch. He prohib- 
 ited his subjects from acknowledging any one for 
 pope, whom he himself had not previously received; 
 and he would not suffer any bills or letters from Rome 
 to be produced without the sanction of his authority. 
 
 But the English had the mortification to find that 
 the king employed himself chiefly in oppressing them 
 He even formed a project of extinguishing the Eng- 
 lish language ; and, for that purpose, he ordered that 
 in all schools youth should be instructed in the 
 French tongue ; and that all law proceedings should 
 be directed in the same idiom : hence arises that mix- 
 ture of French which is at present found in the Eng- 
 lish tongue, and particularly in legal forms. 
 
 William’s eldest son, Robert, who was greedy of 
 fame, impatient of contradiction, and without reserve 
 in his friendships or enmities, had been flattered with 
 the hope that his father, in possession of England, 
 would resign to him the independent government of 
 his continental dominions. The king, indeed, had 
 declared Robert his successor in Normandy, and had 
 obliged the barons of that duchy to do homage to him 
 as their future sovereign ; but when Robert demanded 
 of his father the execution of those engagements, 
 William refused; Robert openly declared his discon- 
 tent, and cherished a violent jealousy against his two 
 surviving brothers, William and Henry. Irritated by 
 an imaginary affront, he quitted the court, and after an 
 ineffectual attempt to surprise the citadel of Rouen, 
 fled to Hugh de Neufchatel, a powerful Norman baron, 
 and openly levied war against his father. After a 
 struggle of several years, a reconciliation was effected 
 between the king and Robert, who soon after accom- 
 panied his father to England. 
 
 Having gained a respite from war, William employ- 
 ed his leisure in an undertaking which does honour to 
 his memory. He appointed commissioners to survey 
 all the lands in the kingdom ; their extent in each dis 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 42 
 
 trict 5 their proprietors, tenures, value ; and the quan- 
 tity of meadow, pasture, wood, and arable land, which 
 they contained. This monument, called Domesday 
 Book, was perfected in six years, and is still preserved 
 in the exchequer. 
 
 The domestic happiness of William was again inter- 
 10831 ru P te d b y tbe death of his consort Matilda, 
 -* whom he tenderly loved. He was involved in 
 war with France, on account of the inroads into Nor- 
 mandy by some French barons on the frontiers. The 
 displeasure of William was increased by some raille- 
 ries which Philip of France had thrown out against 
 his person. He was become corpulent, and had been 
 detained in bed some time by sickness, when Philip 
 jocularly expressed his surprise, that his brother of 
 Fn gland should be so long in being delivered of his 
 big belly. This being reported to William, he sent 
 Philip word, that, as soon as he was up, he would 
 present so many lights at Notre-dame, as perhaps 
 would give little pleasure to the king of France ; allu- 
 ding to the usual practice at that time of women after 
 childbirth. Immediately after his recovery, he led an 
 army into the Isle of France, which he laid waste ; 
 and he also took and reduced to ashes the town of 
 Mante. But the progress of these hostilities was 
 stepped by an accident, which put an end to his life. 
 His horse starting, he bruised his belly on the pommel 
 ef his saddle; and being in a bad habit of body, and 
 apprehending the consequences, he ordered himself to 
 be carried to the monastery of St. Gervas. In his 
 last moments he was struck with remorse for the cru 
 cities he had exercised, and endeavoured to make 
 atonement by presents to churches and monasteries 
 He left Normandy and Maine to his eldest son Robert ; 
 and he wrote to Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, 
 desiring him to crown his second son, William. To 
 Henry, his third son, be bequeathed nothing save the 
 possessions of his mother Matilda, but foretold that 
 he would one day surpass both his brothers, in power 
 and opulence. Having made these dispositions, he 
 expired, in the sixty-third year of his age, and in the 
 twenty-first of his reign over England. 
 
 Few princes have been more fortunate than William 
 or v ere bolter entitled to grandeur and prosperity 
 
WILLIAM RUFUS 
 
 43 
 
 from the abilities and vigour of mind which he dis- 
 played in all his conduct. His spirit was bold and 
 enterprising, yet guided by prudence : and his ambi- 
 tion, though exorbitant, generally submitted to the 
 dictates of sound policy. Though not insensible to 
 generosity, he was hardened against compassion; and 
 his conduct was too austere to render his government 
 popular over a vanquished people, who felt him to be 
 both a master and a tyrant. 
 
 William, surnamed Rufus , from the red colour of 
 10871 hair, was solemnly crowned king of England 
 * by the primate ; and about the same time Rob- 
 ert was acknowledged successor to Normandy. But 
 the barons, who possessed estates both in England and 
 Normandy, were 'uneasy at the separation of those 
 territories; they respected the claim of primogeniture 
 in Robert, and they preferred his. open and generous 
 nature to the haughty and tyrannical disposition of his 
 brother. A conspiracy, therefore, was formed against 
 William, who, conscious of his danger, endeavoured 
 to conciliate the affections of the English, by promises 
 of future lenity, and the indulgence of hunting in the 
 royal forests. The English espoused the cause of 
 William, who marched an army into Kent, and reduc- 
 ed the fortresses of Pevensey and Rochester, which 
 had been seized by his uncles. This success, together 
 with the indolent conduct of Robert, broke all the 
 hopes of the rebels; some few of whom received a 
 pardon ; but the greater part were attainted, and their 
 estates confiscated. 
 
 But the noise of the petty wars and commotions 
 sunk in the tumult of the crusades, which engrossed 
 the attention and agitated the hearts of the principal 
 nations of Europe. Peter the Hermit, a native of 
 Amiens in Picardy, had made the pilgrimage to Jeru- 
 salem, then in possession of the Turks. Deeply affect- 
 ed with the dangers to which that act of piety now 
 exposed the pilgrims, he entertained the design of 
 leading against the Moslems the hardy warriors of the 
 west. By permission of the pope, Martin the Second, 
 he preached the crusade over Europe ; and men of all 
 ranks flew to arms, with the greatest alacrity, for the 
 purpose of rescuing the Holy Land from the infidels 
 The sign of the cross became the badge of union, ano 
 
44 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 was affixed on their right shoulder, by all who enlisted 
 themselves in this sacred warfare. Such was the gen* 
 eral ardour, that while the youthful and vigorous took 
 up arms, the infirm and aged contributed to the expe- 
 dition by presents and money. A promiscuous, disor- 
 derly multitude of 300,000, impatient to commence 
 operations, under the conduct of Peter the Hermit, 
 attempted to penetrate through Hungary and Bulgaria 
 to Constantinople, and perished by disease, by famine, 
 and the sword. These were followed by more numer- 
 ous and better disciplined armies, which, after passing 
 the streights at Constantinople, were mustered in the 
 plains of Asia, and amounted to the number of 700,000 
 combatants. 
 
 Robert duke of Normandy, impelled by the bravery 
 and mistaken generosity of his spirit, had early engag- 
 ed in the crusade ; but being destitute of money, he 
 offered to mortgage, or rather sell his dominions to 
 his brother William, for the inadequate sum of ten 
 thousand marks. The bargain was soon concluded; 
 and whilst Robert set out with a magnificent train for 
 the Holy Land, William possessed himself of Norman- 
 dy, and thus re-united, beneath his authority, the ex 
 tensive dominions of his father. 
 
 The cession of Normandy and Maine extended the 
 dominions, but on account of the unsettled state of 
 those countries, weakened the power of William. 
 The Norman nobles were men of independent minds, 
 and w r ere supported by.the French king in all their in- 
 surrections. Helic, lord of le Fleche, a small town 
 in Anjou, obliged YVilliam to undertake several expe 
 ditions, before he could prevail over a petty baron 
 who had acquired the confidence and affections of the 
 inhabitants of Maine. 
 
 However, the king was not less desirous of extend- 
 ing his dominions. William, earl of Poictiers and 
 duke of Guienne, inflamed with the spirit of adventure, 
 determined to join the crusaders ; but wanting money 
 to forward the preparations, he offered to mortgage his 
 dominions to the king of England. This proposal was 
 accepted by the king, who had prepared a fleet and ar 
 my to escort the money and to take possession of the 
 rich provinces of Poictiers and Guienne, when an ac- 
 cident put an end to all his ambitious projects an(< 
 
HENRY I. 
 
 45 
 
 views of aggrandizement. He was engaged in the 
 New Forest in hunting, accompanied by Walter Tyr- 
 rel, a French gentleman, remarkable for his skill in 
 archery ; and as William dismounted after a chace / 
 Tyrrel, impatient of showing his dexterity, let fly an 
 arrow at a stag, which suddenly started before him. 
 The arrow glancing from a tree, struck the king in the. 
 breast, and instantly killed him. Tyrrel, fearful of 
 suspicions which perhaps he was conscious of incur- 
 ring, without informing the royal attendants, gained 
 the seashore, embarked for France, and joined the 
 crusade in an expedition to Jerusalem, as a penance 
 for this involuntary crime : William was perfidious 
 and oppressive • and the extremes of prodigality and 
 rapacity, which were reconciled in him, had long es- 
 tranged from him the hearts of his subjects. The 
 chiel monuments which perpetuate his name are the 
 Tower, Westminster Hall, and London Bridge. 
 
 Prince Henry was hunting with Rufus in the New 
 •1001 Forest, when that monarch was killed 5 and, 
 ■* hastening to Winchester, he extorted by threats 
 the royal treasure from William de Breteuil, the keep 
 er. Pursuing nis journey to London, and having as 
 sembled some noblemen and prelates, whom his ad- 
 dress or liberality gained to his side, he was saluted 
 king: and in less than three days after his brother’s 
 death, he was solemnly crowned by Maurice, bishop 
 of London. 
 
 To maintain the dignity which he had thus usurped, 
 Henry resolved to court, by fair professions at least, 
 the favour of his subjects. He passed a charter, 
 which was framed to remedy many of the grievous 
 oppressions that had been complained of during the 
 reigns of his father and brother. He espoused Matil- 
 da, daughter of Malcolm the Third, king of Scotland, 
 and niece to Edgar Atheling; and his marriage with 
 a Saxon princess, endeared him to the English, and 
 tended to establish him on the throne. 
 
 Robert returned to Normandy about a month after 
 the death of his brother William. After establishing 
 his authority over Normandy, he made preparations 
 for possessing himself of England, of which he had 
 been so unjustly defrauded. The two armies lay in 
 sight of each other for several days without coming to 
 
46 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 action. It was, however, agreed that Robert, in lieu 
 of his pretensions to England, should receive an an- 
 nual pension of 3000 marks ; that if either of the prin- 
 ces died without issue, the survivor should succeed 
 to his dominions : and that the adherents of each 
 should be pardoned. 
 
 Alternately plunged into the most dissolute pleas- 
 ures, or abandoned to the most womanish supersti- 
 tions, Robert neglected the government of his duchy ; 
 and Normandy became a scene of violence and depre- 
 dation. To avail himself of these disorders, Henry 
 raised a numerous army, with which he invaded Nor- 
 mandy. He took Bayeuk by storm, and was admitted 
 into Caen by the inhabitants. Robert, roused at last 
 from his lethargy, advanced to meet him, with a view 
 of terminating their quarrels in a decisive battle : he . 
 resumed his wonted spirit; he animated his troops by 
 his example, and threw the English into disorder : but 
 when he had the fairest prospect of victory, the 
 treachery and flight of one of his generals occasioned 
 the total defeat of his army. Robert and ten thousand 
 of his followers were made prisoners. Normandy 
 submitted to the victors; and the unfortunate prince 
 was carried by Henry into England, and detained in 
 prison during the remainder of his life, in the castle 
 of Cardiff in Glamorganshire. 
 
 The conquest of Normandy seemed to establish the 
 throne of Henry ; but his prosperity was clouded by a 
 severe domestic calamity. His only son, William, 
 hau reached his eighteenth year; he had been affianc- 
 ed to the daughter ofFulk, count of Anjou; and he 
 had been acknowledged as successor to the kingdom 
 of England, and the duchy of Normandy. The prince 
 was detained for some hours after his father had set 
 sail from Barfleur to return to England ; and his cap- 
 tain and crew having spent the interval in drinking, 
 when they weighed anchor, in their impatience to 
 overtake the king, they struck the ship on a rock, 
 where she immediately foundered. William was in- 
 stantly put into the long-boat, and had got clear of the 
 ship; when hearing the cries of his natural sister, the 
 countess of Perche, he ordered the seamen to row 
 back in hopes of saving her. But the numbers who 
 then crowded in, soon sunk the boat; and the pr’nre 
 
STEPHEN. 41 
 
 with all his retinue perished. Above one hundred and 
 forty young noblemen, of the principal families of 
 England and Normandy, were lost on this occasion 
 and the only person that escaped to relate the melan- 
 choly tale was a butcher of Rouen, who clung to the 
 mast, and was taken up the next morning by some 
 fishermen When Henry received intelligence of 
 this mournful event, he fainted away ; and it was re- 
 marked that he never after recovered his wonted 
 cheerfulness. 
 
 Henry had now no legitimate issue except one 
 daughter, Matilda, whom he had betrothed, when on- 
 ly eight years of age, to the emperor Henry the Fifth, 
 and whom he had sent over to be educated in Germa- 
 ny. Fearful lest her absence from the kingdom, and 
 marriage into a foreign family, might endanger the 
 succession, Henry obtained the hand of Adelais, 
 daughter of Godfrey, Duke of Lovane. Adelais, 
 However, proved barren in his embraces ; and he be- 
 stowed his daughter Matilda, who had become a wid- 
 ow, on Geoffery, the son of Fulk, count of Anjou. 
 
 Henry died at St. Dennis le Forment, from eating 
 too plentifully of lampreys, in the sixty-seventh year 
 of his age, and the thirty-fifth of his reign; leaving by 
 will his daughter Matilda the heir of all his domin 
 ions. He was one of the most accomplished princes 
 that ever graced the English throne. His person was 
 manly, and his countenance engaging ; and he was el- 
 oquent, penetrating, and brave. By his great progress 
 in literature, he acquired the name of Beau-clerc, or 
 the scholar; but his application to those sedentary 
 pursuits abated nothing of the activity and vigilance 
 of his government. 
 
 The failure of male heirs to the kingdom of Eng- 
 11351 l an d an d duchy of Normandy, seemed to leave 
 ■* the succession open, without a rival, to the em- 
 press Matilda ;.but no sooner had Henry breathed his 
 last, than Stephen, son of Adela, daughter of William 
 the Conqueror, hastened to London, and was saluted 
 king by the popula-ce. His father was the count of 
 Blois, whom Adela had married ; and Stephen had al- 
 ways affected the greatest attachment to his uncle, the 
 late king, and the most ardent zeal for the succession 
 of Matilda. After gaining the populace, Stephen next 
 
48 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 acquired the good-will of the clergy, by the influence 
 of his brother Henry, bishop of Winchester ; and he 
 was solemnly crowned by the archbishop of Canterbu- 
 ry, without much attendance indeed, but without op- 
 position. 
 
 The Normans no sooner heard that Stephen had 
 seized the English crown, than they swore allegiance 
 to him ; and Matilda was scarcely informed of her fa- 
 ther’s death, before she found another had usurped her 
 rights. Matilda, however, did not long delay to as- 
 sert her claim to the crown. Encouraged by a quar- 
 rel which had broken out between Stephen and some 
 of the clergy, she landed in England, with Robert earl 
 of Gloucester, and a retinue of one hundred and forty 
 knights. She fixed her residence at Arundel castle, 
 the gates of which were opened to her by Adelais the 
 queen-dowager 5 and she excited her partisans to take 
 arms in every county of England. The war quickly 
 broke out in every quarter 5 and England, for more 
 than a year, was distressed and laid waste by the fury 
 of the contending parties. At last, a battle took place 
 between Stephen and the earl of Gloucester. Af- 
 ter a violent shock, the two wings of the royalists 
 were put to flight ; and Stephen himself, surrounded 
 by the enemy, was borne down by numbers, and tak 
 en prisoner. 
 
 The authority of Matilda now seemed to be estab- 
 lished over the whole kingdom ; but affairs did not re- 
 main long in this situation. Matilda was passionate 
 and imperious, and did not know how to temper with 
 affability the harshness of a refusal. Stephen’s queen, 
 seconded by many of the nobility, petitioned for the 
 liberty of her husband, on condition that he should 
 renounce the crown, and retire into a convent. Oth- 
 er petitions also were presented to Matilda ; but she 
 rejected them all in the most haughty and perempto- 
 ry manner. A conspiracy was entered into to seize 
 her person; but Matilda saved herself by a precipi 
 tate retreat to Oxford. The Civil War was re-kindled 
 with greater fury than ever ; and Matilda, harassed 
 with incessant action, sought repose with her son in 
 Normandy. 
 
 But when prince Henry, the son of Matilda, had 
 reached his sixteenth year, he resolved to reclaim his 
 
HENRY II. 
 
 43 
 
 heieditary kingdom. Informed of the dispositions of 
 the English in his favour, he invaded England 3 and, 
 at Malmesbury, he prepared to encounter Stephen in 
 a pitched battle. The great men on both sides, alarm- 
 ed at the consequences of a decisive action, compel- 
 led the rival princes to a negotiation. It was agreed, 
 that, on the demise of Stephen, the crown should re- 
 vert to Henry 3 and that William, Stephen's surviving 
 son, should succeed to the earldom of Boulogne, 
 and his patrimonial estate. After all the barons had 
 sworn to the observance of this treaty, and done hom- 
 age to Henry, as heir-apparent to the crown, that 
 orince evacuated the kingdom ; and the death of 
 Stephen, which happened the next year, after a short 
 illness, in the fiftieth year of his age, put an end to 
 farther jealousies. 
 
 Had Stephen succeeded by a just title to the 
 crown, he seems to have been well qualified to have 
 promoted the happiness of his subjects. He was pos- 
 sessed of industry, activity, and courage 5 and though 
 his judgment may be arraigned, his humanity must be 
 acknowledged, and his address commended. During 
 this reign, the see of Rome made a rapid progress in 
 its encroachments, and ultimately pretended to a par 
 amount authority over the kings of this country. 
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 
 Reigns of Henry II., Richard /., and John. 
 
 The first acts of Henry's government corresponded 
 11551 to high idea entertained of his abilities. 
 
 He dismissed the mercenary soldiers of Ste- 
 phen 3 revoked all grants made by his predecessors 3 
 restored the coin which had been debased during the 
 former reign 5 and was rigorous in the execution of 
 justice, and the suppression of violence. 
 
 In addition to his possessing the throne of England, 
 Henry, in right of his father, was master of Anjou 
 and Touraine 5 in that of his mother, of Normandy 
 and Maine 3 in that of his wife, of Guienne, Poictou, 
 Xantoigne, Auvergne, Perigord, Angournois, and tlu 
 
 VOL. I. *1 
 
50 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Limosin ; and he annexed Brittany to his other states . 
 all of which rendered him one of the most powerful 
 monarchs in Christendom, and an object of great jeal- 
 ousy to the king of France. 
 
 Henry directed his attention to the encroachments of 
 the see of Rome, which had grown with a rapidity not 
 to be brooked by a prince of his hign spirit. To fa- 
 cilitate his design of suppressing them, he advanced 
 to the dignity of metropolitan, Becket, his chancel- 
 lor, on whose flexibility of temper he had made a 
 wrong estimate. 
 
 Thomas a Becket was born of reputable parents in 
 the city of London ; and haying insinuated himself 
 into the favour of Theobald, archbishop of Canterbu- 
 ry, he obtained from that prelate considerable prefer- 
 ment. Being of a gay and splendid turn, and appa- 
 rently little tenacious of ecclesiastical privileges, 
 Henry thought him the fittest person, on the death of 
 Theobald, for the high station of metropolitan 5 but 
 no sooner was he installed in this high dignity, than 
 he altered his conduct and demeanour. He maintain- 
 ed in his retinue and attendants alone, his ancient 
 pomp and lustre 5 in his own person he affected the 
 greatest austerity; he wore sackcloth next his skin, 
 which he pretended to conceal ; he seemed perpetu- 
 ally employed in reciting prayers and pious lectures; 
 and ail men of penetration plainly saw that he was 
 meditating some great design. 
 
 Though Henry found himself grievously mistaken 
 in the character of the person whom he had raised to 
 the primacy, yet he determined not to desist from his 
 former intention of retrenching clerical usurpations 
 The ecclesiastics in that age had renounced all im- 
 mediate subordination to the magistrate; and crimes 
 of the blackest die were committed by them with im- 
 punity. A clerk in Worcestershire, having debauched 
 a gentleman’s daughter, had proceeded to murder the 
 father; the general indignation against the crime, 
 moved the king to attempt the remedy of an abuse 
 which had become so palpable, and to require that the 
 deck should be delivered up, and receive condign 
 punishment from the magistrate. Becket insisted on 
 the privileges of the church, and maintained that no 
 greater punishment could be inflicted on the criminal 
 than degradation. 
 
HENRY II. 
 
 51 
 
 In order to define expressly those laws to which he 
 /equired obedience, and to mark the limits between 
 the civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions, Henry sum- 
 moned a general council of the nobility and prelates 
 at Clarendon ; when, by his influence or authority, 
 the laws so favourable to prerogative, known by the 
 name of the Constitutions of Clarendon, were voted 
 without opposition. Becket, of all the prelates, alone 
 withheld his assent; but he was at last obliged to 
 comply, and engaged by oath legally , with good faith, 
 and without fraud, or reserve , to observe them. How- 
 ever, Alexander, who was pope at that time, condemn- 
 ed them in the strongest terms, abrogated, annulled, 
 and rejected them. 
 
 Becket no sooner learnt the determination of the 
 Roman pontiff, than he expressed the deepest sorrow 
 for his compliance, and endeavoured to engage the 
 other bishoos to adhere to their common rights. This 
 excited the resentment of Henry, who caused a pros- 
 ecution for some land that he held to be commenced 
 against him ; and when the primate excused himself 
 from appearing, on account of indisposition, he wag 
 arraigned as guilty of a contempt of the king’s court; 
 and being condemned, his goods and chattels were 
 confiscated. Henry soon after required Becket to 
 give in the account of his administration while chan- 
 cellor, and estimated the balance due at 44,000 marks, 
 for which he demanded sureties. After celebrating 
 mass, where he had previously ordered that the introit 
 to the communion service should begin with the 
 words, Princes sat and spake against me, arrayed in 
 the sacred vestments, and bearing the cross aloft in 
 his hands, he entered the royal apartments, and de- 
 clared that he put himself and his see under the pro- 
 tection of the supreme pontiff. Having in vain asked 
 permission to leave Northampton, he withdrew se- 
 cretly to the sea-coast, and found a vessel which con- 
 veyed him to France, where he was received with ev- 
 ery token of regard. 
 
 Henry issued orders to his justiciaries, inhibiting, 
 under severe penalties, all appeals to the pope or 
 archbishop ; and by discovering some intentions of 
 acknowledging Pascal III., the anti-pope at that time, 
 he endeavoured to terifv the enterprising though 
 
52 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 prudent pontiff from proceeding to extremities against 
 nim. On the other hand, Becket not only issued a 
 censure, excommunicating the king’s chief ministers 
 by name, but also abrogated and annulled the Const! 
 tutions of Clarendon ; and he declared that he sus- 
 pended the spiritual thunder over Henry himself, sole 
 ly that the prince might avoid the blow by a timely 
 repentance. 
 
 At length a reconciliation was effected between the 
 king and the primate 3 and Becket was allowed to re- 
 turn, on conditions which may be esteemed both hon- 
 ourable and advantageous to that prelate. He was 
 not required to give up any rights of the church, or 
 resign any of those pretensions which had been the 
 original ground of the controversy. It was agreed 
 that all these questions should be buried in oblivion 3 
 but that Becket and his adherents should, without ma- 
 king further submission, be restored to all their liv 
 ings j and that even the possessors of such benefices as 
 depended on the see of Canterbury, and had been filled 
 during the primate’s absence, should be expelled, and 
 becket have liberty to supply the vacancies. In re- 
 turn for concessions which trenched so deeply on the 
 honour and dignity of the crown, Henry reaped only 
 the advantage of seeing his ministers absolved from 
 the sentence of excommunication pronounced against 
 them, and of preventing the interdict with which his 
 kingdom had been threatened. So anxious was Henry 
 to accommodate all differences, and to reconcile him- 
 self fully with Becket, that on one occasion he humil- 
 iated himself so far as to hold the stirrup of that haugh- 
 ty prelate while he mounted his horse. 
 
 Whilst the king was expecting an interdict to be 
 laid on his kingdom, he had associated his son, prince 
 Henry, in the royalty, and had caused him to be 
 crowned by the archbishop of York. Becket, elated 
 by the victory which he had gained over his sovereign, 
 on his arrival in England suspended the archbishop of 
 York, and excommunicated the bishops of London 
 and Salisbury, who had assisted at the coronation of 
 the prince. 
 
 When the suspended and excommunicated prelates 
 arrived at Baieux, where the king then resided, and 
 informed him of the violent proceedings of Becket 
 
HENRY II. b3 
 
 he was vehemently agitated, and burst forth into an 
 exclamation against his servants, whose want of zeaF 
 ne said, had so long left him exposed to the enterpri- 
 ses of that ungrateful and imperious prelate. Foui 
 gentlemen of his household, Reginald Fitz-Urse, Wil- 
 liam de Traci, Hugh de Moreville, and Richard Brito, 
 taking these passionate expressions to be a hint for 
 the primate ; s death, immediately communicated their 
 thoughts to each other; and swearing to avenge their 
 prince’s quarrel, secretly withdrew from court. The 
 four assassins, though they took different roads to Eng- 
 land, arrived nearly at the same ti-ine at Saltwood, near 
 Canterbury ; and being there joined by some assist- 
 ants, they proceeded in great haste to the archiepis- 
 copal palace. They found the primate, who trusted 
 entirely to the sacredness of his character, very slen- 
 derly attended; and though they threw out many 
 menaces and reproaches against him, he was so inca- 
 pable of fear, that, without using any precautions 
 against their violence, he immediately proceeded to 
 St. Benedict’s church to hear vespers. They follow- 
 ed him thither, attacked him before the altar, and hav- 
 ing cloven his head with many blows, retired without 
 experiencing any opposition. Such was the tragical 
 end of Thomas a Becket, a prelate of the most lofty, 
 intrepid, and inflexible spirit, who was able to cover 
 to the world, and probably to himself, the enterprises 
 of pride and ambition, under the disguise of sanctity, 
 and of zeal for the interests of religion. 
 
 The intelligence of Becket’s murder threw the king 
 into the greatest consternation ; and he was immedi- 
 ately sensible of the dangerous consequences which 
 he had to apprehend from so horrible an event. 
 However, the rage of Alexander was appeased, by the 
 ministers of Henry making oath before the whole con- 
 sistory of their sovereign’s innocence, and engaging 
 that he would make every submission which should 
 oe required of him. Becket was afterwards canoniz- 
 ed by the pope ; and pilgrimages were performed t<? 
 obtain his intercession with heaven. 
 
 Henry, finding himself in no immediate danger from 
 1 1721 the Sunders of the Vatican, undertook an expe- 
 -* dition against Ireland. That island, about thi 
 middle of the twelfth century, besides m.my smal' 
 
54 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 tribes, contained five principal sovereignties, Mun 
 ster, Leinster, Meath, Ulster-, and Connaught; and 
 as it had been usual for one or the other of these to 
 take the lead in their wars, there was commonly some 
 prince, who seemed, for the time, to act as monarch 
 of Ireland. Roderic O’Ctfnnor, king of Connaught, 
 was then advanced to this dignit 17 : but his govern 
 ment, .11 obeyed even within his own territory, could 
 not unite the people in any measures either for the 
 establishment of order, or for deience against for- 
 eigners. 
 
 Dermot Macmorrogh, king of I.einster, having ren- 
 dered himself obnoxious by his licentious tyranny, had 
 been expelled his dominions by a confederacy, of 
 which Connaught was the chief. The exiled prince 
 applied to Henry for succour, who gave Dermot no 
 other assistance than letters patent, by which he em- 
 powered all his subjects to aid him in the recovery of 
 his dominions. Dermot formed a treaty with Richard, 
 surnamed Strongbow, earl of Strigul ; who stipulated, 
 for this assistance, a promise that he should marry his 
 daughter Eva, and be declared heir to all his territo- 
 ries. Dermot also engaged in his service Robert Fitz- 
 Stephens, constable of Abertivi, and Maurice Fitz- 
 Gerall, and obtained their promise of invading Ire- 
 land: he himself privately returned to his own state, 
 concealed himself in a monastery which he had found- 
 ed, and prepared every thing for the reception of his 
 English allies. 
 
 The troops of Fitz-Stephens were first ready. That 
 gentleman landed in Ireland with thirty knights, sixty 
 esquires, and three hundred archers. The conjunction 
 of Maurice de Pendergast, who, about the same time 
 brought over ten knights and sixty archers, enabled 
 Fitz-Stephens to attempt the siage of Wexford, a town 
 inhibited by the Danes ; and after gaining an advan- 
 tage, he made himself master of the place. Soon after 
 V'itz-Gerald arrived with ten knights, thirty esquires, 
 and a hundred archers ; and being joined by the former 
 adventurers, composed a force which nothing in Ire- 
 land was able to withstand. Roderic, the chief mon 
 arch of the island, was fo :i ed in different actions: the 
 prince of Ossory was obliged to submit, and give hos 
 ‘ages for his peaceable behaviour; and Dermot, no f 
 
HENRY II. 
 
 5c 
 
 content with being restored to his kingdom of Lein- 
 ster, projected the dethroning of Roderic, and aspired 
 io the sole dominion of Ireland. 
 
 In prosecution of these views, he sent over a mes- 
 senger to the earl of Strigul, challenging the perform- 
 ance of his promise, and displaying the mighty advan- 
 tages which might now be reaped by a reinforcement 
 of warlike troops from England. Strongbow first sent 
 over Raymond, one of his retinue, with ten knights, 
 and seventy archers ; and as Richard himself, who 
 brought over two hundred horse and a body of archers, 
 joined them a few days after, the English made them- 
 selves masters of Waterford, and proceeded to Dub- 
 lin, which was taken by assault. Richard, marrying 
 Eva, became soon after, by the death of Dermot, mas- 
 ter of the kingdom of Leinster, and prepared to extend 
 his authority over all Ireland. 
 
 Henry, jealous of the progress of his own subjects, 
 sent orders to recall all the English 5 and that monarch 
 himself landed in Ireland at the head of five hundred 
 knights. The adventurers appeased him by. offering 
 to hold all their acquisitions in vassalage to his crown j 
 and the Irish being dispirited by their misfortunes, 
 nothing more was necessary than to receive their sub- 
 mission. The whole island was formally annexed to 
 the English crown 3 and Henry, after granting to earl 
 Strigul the commission of seneschal of Ireland, re- 
 turned in triumph to England. 
 
 The king had appointed Henry, his eldest son, to 
 be his successor in the kingdom of England, the duchy 
 of Normandy, and the counties of Anjou, Maine, and 
 Touraine 5 Richard, his second son, was invested in 
 the duchy of Guienne and county of Poictou ; Geof- 
 fery, his third son, inherited, in right of his wife, the 
 duchy of Brittany 3 and the new conquest of Ireland 
 was destined for the appanage of John, his fourth son. 
 But this exaltation of his family excited the jealousy 
 of all his neighbours, who made those very sons, 
 whose fortunes he had so anxiously established, the 
 means of embittering his future life, and disturbing his 
 government. 
 
 Young Henry had been persuaded by Lewis of 
 France, that by the ceremony of coronation, in ths 
 life of his father, he was entitled to sovereignty, lr. 
 
■ r--— . ^ 
 
 % HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 consequence of these extravagant ideas, he desiied 
 the king to resign to him either the crown of England, 
 or the duchy of Normandy ; and on the king refusing to 
 grant his request, he fled to Paris. Whilst Henry 
 was alarmed at this incident, his uneasiness was in 
 creased by the conduct of his queen, Eleanor who was 
 not less troublesome to her present husband by hei 
 jealously, in regard to the fair Rosamond and others, 
 than she had been to her former by her g dlantries. 
 She communicated her discontents to her two younger 
 sons, Geoffery and Richard ; persuaded them that they 
 were also entitled to the present possession of the 
 territories which had been assigned them, and induc- 
 ed them to flee secretly to the court of France. Thus 
 Europe saw with astonishment three boys scarcely 
 arrived at puberty, pretend to dethrone their father, a 
 monarch in the full vigour of his age, and plenitude of 
 his power. 
 
 The king of England was obliged to seek for aux- 
 iliaries in the tribes of banditti, who, under the name 
 of Brabangons, or Cottereaux, proffered their swords 
 to the most liberal employer. At the head of twenty 
 thousand of these hardy and lawless ruffians, and the 
 few troops that he had brought from Ireland, he at- 
 tacked and defeated the French army, and crushed the 
 insurgents in Brittany. He continued his negotiations 
 in the midst of victory, and offered to his undutiful 
 sons the most liberal terms ; but these were rejected 
 by the confederates, who depended on the league they 
 had concerted with the king of Scotland, and several 
 of the most powerful barons of England. 
 
 In consequence of that league, the king of Scotland 
 broke into the northern provinces with a great army of 
 eighty thousand men ; and Henry, who had baffled all 
 his enemies in France, and had put his frontiers in a 
 posture of defence, now found England the seat of 
 danger. He landed at Southampton ; and knowing the 
 influence of superstition over the minds of the people, 
 he hastened to Canterbury, in order to make atone- 
 ment to the canonized ashes of Thomas a Becket 
 As soon as he came within sight of the church of 
 Canterbury, he dismounted, walked barefoot towards 
 it, prostrated himself before the shrine of the saint 
 remained in fasting and prayer during a whole dry 
 
HENRY II. 
 
 51 
 
 and watched all night the holy reliques. He also as- 
 sembled a chapter of the monks, disrobed himself be- 
 fore them, put a scourge of discipline into the hands 
 of each, and presented his bare shoulders to the lashes 
 which these ecclesiastics inflicted upon him. Next 
 day he received absolution ; and departing for London, 
 soon after received the agreeable intelligence of a 
 great victory which his generals had obtained over the 
 Scots, in which William their king was taken prisoner, 
 and which being gained, as was reported, on the very 
 day of his absolution, was regarded as the earnest of 
 his final reconciliation with Heaven and with Thomas 
 a Becket. 
 
 This victory was decisive in favour of Henry, and 
 entirely broke the spirit of the English rebels. In a 
 few weeks all England was restored to tranquillity. 
 Lewis, the king of France, was obliged to consent to a 
 cessation of arms, and engaged with sincerity in a 
 treaty of peace ; and Henry, after'granting to his sons 
 much less favourable terms than he had formerly offer 
 ed, received their submissions. It cost the king of 
 Scots the ancient independency of his crown, as the 
 price of his liberty. William stipulated to do homage 
 to Henry for Scotland and all his other possessions ; 
 and the English monarch engaged the king and states 
 of Scotland to^make a perpetual cession of the for- 
 tresses of Berwick and Roxborough, and to allow the 
 castle of Edinburgh to remain in his hands for a lim- 
 ited time. This was the first great ascendant which 
 England had over Scotland j and indeed the first im- 
 portant transaction between the kingdoms. 
 
 A few years after, Henry found his eldest son again 
 engaged in conspiracies, and ready to take arms 
 against him. But while the young prince was con. 
 ducting these intrigues, he was seized with a fever at 
 Martel, a castle near Turenne, where he died full of 
 remorse for his undutiful behaviour to his father. 
 
 A crusade had been once more projected j but Phil- 
 ip, who filled the throne of France, and was jealous 
 of Henry's power, entered into a private confederacy 
 with young Richard. Philip demanded that Richard 
 should be crowned king of England, be immediately 
 invested with all his father's transmarine dominions, 
 %nd espouse Alice, Philip's sister, to whom he had 
 
58 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 been already affianced. Henry refused to accede t« 
 these stipulations j but experiencing a reverse of for 
 tune, he was at length obliged to submit to the rigo- 
 rous terms, which, under the mediation of the duke 
 of Burgundy, were offered to him. 
 
 The mortification, however, which Henry endured 
 on this occasion, was increased by discovering that 
 his fourth son, John, who had ever been his favourite, 
 had secretly entered into the unnatural confederacy 
 which Richard had formed against him. The unhap 
 py father, already overloaded with cares and sorrows, 
 finding his last disappointment in his domestic tender- 
 ness. broke out into expressions of the utmost despair, 
 cursed the day on which he received his miserable 
 being, and bestowed on his ungrateful and undutifu] 
 children a malediction which he could never be pre- 
 vailed on to retract. The agitation of his mind threw 
 nim into a lingering fever, of which he expired at the 
 castle of Chinon, near Saumur, in the fifty-eighth yeat 
 i his age, and the thirty-fifth of his reign , and he 
 was bur.ee .it Fontervrault. 
 
 Henry was tne greatest prince of his time for wis- 
 dom and abilities, and the most powerful, in extent 
 of dominion, of all that had filled the throne of Eng- 
 land. His character, in private as well as in public 
 life, is almost without a blemish ; i*nd he seems to 
 have possessed every accomplishment, both of body 
 and mind, which renders a man either estimable or 
 amiable. He loved peace, but possessed both bravery 
 and abilities in war ; he was provident without timidi 
 ty j severe in the execution of justice without rigour j 
 and temperate without austerity. 
 
 The remorse of Richard for his undutiful behaviour 
 
 I ROT f° war ^ s his father, influenced him in the choice 
 of his servants after his succession. Those 
 who had favoured his rebellion were on all occasions 
 treated with disregard and contempt , whilst the faith- 
 ful ministers of Henry, who had opposed the enter- 
 prises of his sons, were continued in those offices 
 which they had honourably discharged to their former 
 master. 
 
 The love of military glory impelled the king to act, 
 from the beginning of his reign, as if the sole pur- 
 pose of his government had been the relief of the 
 
RICHARD I. 
 
 59 
 
 Holy Land, and the recovery of Jerusalem from the 
 Saracens. This zeal against infidels, being communi- 
 cated to his subjects, broke out in London on the day 
 of his coronation ; when some Jews, who had pre- 
 sumed, contrary to the orders of the king, to approach 
 the hall in which he dined, were dragged forth, and 
 put to death, and vengeance fell on their innocent 
 brethren. Instantly, their houses .were broken open, 
 their effects plundered, and themse ves slaughtered. 
 The inhabitants of other cities followed the example 
 of the people of London 3 and in York, five hundred 
 Jews, who had retired into the castie, finding them- 
 selves unable to defend it, murdered their own wives 
 and children, and, setting fire to the houses, perished 
 in the flames. 
 
 Richard, regardless of every other consideration 
 than the expedition to the Holy Land, endeavoured to 
 obtain supplies for the exigencies of so perilous a 
 war, by every expedient which he could devise. He 
 put to sale the revenues and manors of the crown, 
 and the offices of greatest trust and power. He yield- 
 ed up for ten thousand marks the vassalage of Scot- 
 land, with the fortresses of Roxborough and Berwick. 
 He even declared, that he would sell London itself, 
 could he find a purchaser. He left the administration 
 in the hands of Hugh bishop of Durham, and of Long- 
 champ bishop of Ely ; and, accompanied by all the 
 military and fiery spirits of the kingdom, set out for the 
 frontiers- of Burgundy, where he had engaged to meet 
 the French king. 
 
 In the plains of Vezelay, Richard and Philip re- 
 viewed their forces, and found their combined arm> 
 amount to one hundred thousand men 3 and after re 
 peating their vows of friendship to each other, they 
 separated, Richard embarking at Marseilles, and Phil- 
 ip at Genoa. They reached Messina about the same 
 time, and passed the winter in Sicily, where several 
 quarrels broke out between the troops of the different 
 nations j and these were communicated to the two 
 kings, who, however, waiving immediate jealousies / 
 proceeded to the Holy Land. 
 
 The English army arrived in time to partake in the 
 siege of Acre or Ptolemais, which had been attacked 
 for more than two years by the united force o r all the 
 
60 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Christians in Palestine. The siege of Acre was pi ess 
 cd with redoubled ardour 5 but the harmony of the 
 chiefs was of short duration. The opposite views of 
 Richard and Philip produced faction and dissection 
 in the Christian army, and retarded all its operations. 
 But as the length of the siege had reduced the Sara- 
 cen garrison to the last extremity, they surrendered 
 themselves prisoners 5 and the gates of Acre were 
 opened to the conquerors. 
 
 On the surrender of this place, Philip, disgusted 
 with the ascendancy acquired by Richard, declared 
 his resolution of returning to France, under the plea 
 of a bad state of health. He left, however, to the 
 king of England, ten thousand of his troops, under 
 the command of the duke of Burgundy, and engaged 
 by oath not to commence hostilities against that 
 prince’s dominions during his absence ; but he no 
 sooner reached home, than he proceeded, though se- 
 cretly, in a project which the present situation of 
 England rendered inviting. 
 
 Immediately after Richard had left England, the 
 two prelates, whom he had appointed guardians of 
 the realm, broke out into animosities against each oth- 
 er, and threw the kingdom into confusion. Long 
 champ, naturally presumptuous, and armed with the 
 legantine commission, hesitated not to arrest his col- 
 league, the bishop of Durham, and governed the 
 kingdom by his sole authority. At length, he had the 
 temerity to throw into prison Geoffrey, archbishop of 
 York. This breach of 'ecclesiastical privileges excit- 
 ed such an universal ferment, that prince John sum- 
 moned the guardian before a council of the nobility 
 and prelates. Longchamp, conscious of his error, fted 
 beyond sea, and was deprived of his offices of chan- 
 cellor, and chief justiciary ; ..but his commission of 
 legate still enabled him to disturb the government. 
 Philip not only promoted his intrigues ; but entered 
 11Q21 into a correspondence with John, to whom he 
 ■* promised his sister Alice in marriage, and the 
 possession of all Richard’s transmarine dominions. 
 John was with difficulty deterred from this enterprise 
 by the vigilance of his mother, and the menaces of 
 the council. 
 
 The jealousy of Philip was excited by the g ; or) 
 
RICHARD I 
 
 61 
 
 which the actions of Richard gained him in the east 
 The king of England obtained a complete victory over 
 the Saracens, of whom forty thousand are said to have 
 perished in the field of battle ; he recovered Ascalon, 
 and advanced within sight of Jerusalem, the object 
 of his enterprise j but long absence, fatigue, disease, 
 and want, had abated the ardour of the crusaders. 
 Every one, except the king of England, expressed a 
 desire of returning into Europe. Richard was forced 
 to yield to their importunities ; and he concluded a . 
 truce with Saladin, by which the Christians were left 
 in possession of Acre, Joppa, and other sea-port towns 
 of Palestine, and were allowed a free pilgrimage to 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 As -Richard was acquainted with the intrigues of 
 Philip, he ventured not to pass through France on his 
 return, but sailed to the Adriatic 3 and being ship- 
 wrecked near Aquileia, he put on the disguise of a 
 pilgrim, and endeavoured to pursue his route through 
 Germany. At Vienna he was arrested by orders of 
 Leopold, duke of Austria, and by him he was sold to 
 'he Emperor Henry VI., who affected to consider him 
 «as an enemy-, on account of an alliance which he had 
 contracted with Tancred king of Sicily. Thus Rich- 
 ard, who had filled the world with his renown, was 
 confined in a dungeon, and loaded with irons. 
 
 The king of France prepared to avail himself of 
 11931 m i s ^ ortunes * Philip entered into negotia 
 J tions with prince John, who stipulated to deliv 
 er to the king of France a great part of Normandy 
 and received, in return, the investiture of all Rich- 
 ard’s transmarine dominions. In consequence of this 
 treaty, Philip invaded Normandy, and by the treachery 
 of John’s adherents overran a great part of it 3 but he 
 was repulsed from the walls of Rouen, by the gallant- 
 ry of the carl of Leicester. Prince John was not more 
 successful in his attempt in England : though he made 
 himself master of the castles of Windsor and Wal- 
 lingford, yet finding the barons every where averse to 
 his cause, he was obliged to retire again to France. 
 
 In the mean time, Richard, in Germany, suffered 
 every kind of insult and indignity 3 he was accused 
 by Henry, before the diet of the empire, of making an 
 alliance with Tancred, the usurper of Sicily 3 of afi 
 
 J 
 
62 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 fronting the duke of Austria before Acre ; of obstruct 
 ing the progress of the Christian arms by his quar- 
 rels with the king of France 5 and of concluding z 
 truce with Saladin, and leaving Jerusalem in the 
 hands of the Saracen emperor. Richard, after deign- 
 ing to apologize for his conduct, burst out into indig- 
 nation at the cruel treatment which he had met with $ 
 and the emperor finding it impracticable to detain the 
 king of England longer in captivity, agreed to restore 
 him to his freedom for the sum of one hundred and 
 fifty thousand marks, or about three hundred thousand 
 pounds of our present money. 
 
 The joy of the English was extreme on the appear- 
 ance of their monarch, wfro was crowned anew at 
 Winchester, as. if to wipe off the ignominy of cap- 
 tivity. As soon as Philip heard of the king's deliver- 
 ance, he wrote to his confederate John in these 
 terms: l< Take care of yourself — the devil is broken 
 i loose." John, howevet, anxious to disengage himself 
 
 from an associate whose fortunes seemed declining, 
 
 I threw himself at his brother's feet, and implored his 
 
 mercy. u 1 forgive you," said the king, “ and hope 1 
 shall as easily forget your injuries, as you will my 
 pardon." 
 
 The king of France was the great object of Rich- 
 ard's resentment and animosity ; and during five years 
 after the king's return, the two sovereigns were en- 
 gaged in a series of faithless negotiations and desulto- 
 ry welfare. The cardinal of St. Mary, the pope's le- # 
 gate, was employed in changing a truce into a durable 
 peace, when the death of Richard put an end to the 
 negotiation. 
 
 Vidomer, viscount of Limoges, having found a treas 
 ure, it was clairfted by Richard, as his superior lord \ 
 and that nobleman was besieged by the king in the cas- 
 tle of Chalons. As Richard approached to survey the 
 works, one Bertrand de Gourdon, an archer, pierced 
 his shoulder with an arrow. The wound was not dan- 
 gerous ; but the unskilfulness of the surgeon rendered 
 it mortal. The king, sensible that his end was ap- 
 proaching, sent for Gourdon, and said, “ Wretch, what 
 nave I ever done to you, to induce you to seek my 
 life ?" The prisoner coolly replied, “ You killed with 
 your own hands mv father and my two brothers : I am 
 
RICHARD 
 
 65 
 
 now in your power, and you may take revenge, by in 
 dieting on me the most severe torments ; but I shall 
 endure them with pleasure, provided I can tnink that 
 I have been so happy as to rid the world from such a 
 nuisance.” The mind of Richard was softened by 
 the near approach of death, and the magnanimity of 
 Gouidon : he ordered him to be set at liberty, and a 
 sum of money to be given him ; but Marcadee, one 
 of Richard’s generals, privately seizing the unhappy 
 man, flayed him alive, and then hanged him. 
 
 Thus died Richard, in the tenth year of his reign, 
 and the forty-second of his age. The most shining 
 parts of his character are his military talents, and his 
 personal courage, which gained him the appellation 
 of “ Coeur de Lion,” or 11 the Lion-Carted.” He was, 
 however, a passionate lover of poet^ ; and some po- 
 etical works of his composition are still extant. He 
 left behind him no issue ; and by his last will, he de- 
 clared his brother John heir to all his dominions, 
 though by a formal deed before he embarked for the 
 Holy Land, he had named as his successor, his neph- 
 ew Arthur, duke of Brittany, the son of Geoffrey, 
 elder brother of John, who was now only twelve years 
 of age. 
 
 The barons of the transmarine provinces, Anjou, 
 liqm Maine, and Touraine, declared in favour of 
 ‘ J Arthur, and applied for assistance to the French 
 monarch. Philip, who desired only an occasion to 
 embarrass John, and to dismember his dominions, em- 
 braced the cause of the young duke of Brittany. John, 
 after being acknowledged in Normandy and England, 
 returned to France, in order to conduct the war 
 against Philip. Nothing enabled the king to bring 
 matters to a happy issue so much as the selfish and 
 intriguing character of the French monarch. Con- 
 stantia, the mother of Arthur, was jealous that Philip 
 intended to usurp the entire dominion of the provin- 
 ces which had declared for her son. She, therefore, 
 secretly carried off her son from Paris, put him into 
 the hands of b s uncle, restored the provinces which 
 had adhered to him, and made him do homage for the 
 duchy of Brittany, which was regarded as a fief of 
 Normandy As Philip, after this incident, saw that 
 he could not carry on the war with success, he enter 
 
64 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ed into a treaty with John, in which the limits of theif 
 teiritories were adjusted 5 and, to render their union 
 more permanent, the king of England gave his niece, 
 Blanche of Castile, in marriage to Prince Louis, Phil 
 ip ; s eldest son, and with her the baronies of Issoudun 
 and Graijjai, and other fiefs in Berri. 
 
 Thus secure as he imagined, on the side of France, 
 12001 indulged his passion for Isabella, the 
 
 -* daughter of the count of Angouleme, a lady 
 with whom he had become much enamoured. Though 
 nis queen, the heiress of the family of Gloucester, was 
 still alive, and Isabella was betrothed to the count of 
 Marche, the passion of the king overcame every ob- 
 stacle 3 he persuaded the count of Angouleme to car- 
 ry off his daughter from her husband 3 and having pro- 
 cured a divorc^from his wife, he espoused Isabella, 
 regardless of the menaces of the pope, and of the re- 
 sentment of the injured count. . 
 
 John had not the art of attaching his barons either 
 12011 ky affection or by fear. The count of Marche 
 J taking advantage of the general discontent 
 against him, excited commotions in Poictou and Nor- 
 mandy, and obliged the king to have recourse to arms 
 in order to suppress the insurrection of his vassals. 
 He summoned together the barons of England, and re • 
 quired them to pass the sea under his standard, and to 
 quell the rebels ; but he found that he possessed as 
 little authority in that kingdom as in his transmarine 
 provinces. The English barons unanimously replied, 
 that they would not attend him on this expedition, un- 
 less he would promise to restore and preserve their 
 privileges ; but John, by menaces, engaged many of 
 them to follow him into Normandy, and obliged the 
 rest to pay the price of their exemption from service. 
 The force which the king carried with him, and that 
 which joined him in Normandy, rendered him greatly 
 superior to the malcontents 3 but, elated with his su- 
 periority, he advanced claims which gave an universal 
 alarm to his vassals, and diffused still wider the gener- 
 al discontent. The king of France, to whom the com- 
 plainants appealed for redress, interposed in behalf of 
 the French barons. 
 
 Whilst matters were thus circumstanced, the duke 
 of Brittany, who was rising to man’s estate, joined the 
 
JOHN 
 
 05 
 
 king of France and the revolted nobles. Impatient of 
 military renown the young prince had entered Poic- 
 tou with a small army, and had invested Mirabeau, in 
 which was his grandmother, queen Eleanor, when 
 John attacked his camp, dispersed his army, and took 
 him prisoner. The king represented to Arthur the fol- 
 ly of his pretensions and required him to renounce 
 the French alliance ; but the brave, though imprudent 
 youth, maintained the justice of his cause, and assert- 
 ed his claim not only to the French provinces, but to 
 the crown of England. John, sensible, from these 
 symptoms of spirit, that the young prince might here- 
 after prove a dangerous rival, ordered him to be de 
 spatched; but when he found that his commands had 
 not been obeyed, the cruel tyrant stabbed him with his 
 own hands, and fastening a stone to the dead body, 
 threw it into the Seine. 
 
 All men were struck with horror at this inhuman 
 deed; and from that moment the king, who was now 
 detested by his subjects, retained a very precarious 
 authority over both the people and the barons in his 
 dominions. As John had got into his power his niece 
 Eleanor, sister to Arthur, the Bretons chose for thei. 
 sovereign Alice, a younger daughter of Constantia by 
 a second marriage. They also solicited the assistance 
 of Philip, who received their application with pleas- 
 ure, summoned John to a trial, and on his non-appear- 
 ance, declared him to have forfeited to his superior 
 lord all his fiefs in France. 
 
 The king of France perceived the opportunity fa- 
 vourable for expelling the English, or rather the Eng- 
 lish king, and of re-annexing to the French crown so 
 many considerable appendages, of which, during sev- 
 eral ages, it had been dismembered. Philip extended 
 his conquests along the banks of the Loire, while 
 John consumed his hours at Rouen in pastimes and 
 amusements. “Let the French go on,” said he, “I 
 will retake in a day what it has cost them years to ac- 
 quire.” Yet, instead of fulfilling this vaunt, he mean- 
 ly applied to the pope, Innocent III., who ordered 
 Philip to stop the progress of his arms, and to con 
 elude a peace with the king of England. Philip, how 
 ever, instead of obeying the orders of the pope, laid 
 siege to Chateau Gaillard, the most considerable for- 
 
 VOL I. 5 
 
t 
 
 66 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 tress on the frontiers of Normandy, which was taken 
 by a sudden assault in the night. When the bulwark 
 of Normandy was once subdued, the whole province 
 was open to the inroads of Philip. The French king 
 proceeded to invest Rouen, the inhabitants of which 
 demanded thirty days to advertise their prince of their 
 danger. Upon the expiration of that term they open 
 ed their gates 3 and Philip, leading his victorious ar- 
 my into the western provinces, soon reduced Anjou, 
 Maine, Touraine, and part of Poictou. John made a 
 feeble attempt to recover his transmarine dominions, 
 by landing a considerable army at Rochelle 3 but the 
 approach of Philip threw him into a panic, and he 
 deserted his troops, and returned to England with 
 shame and disgrace. The mediation of the pope pro- 
 cured him a truce for two years with the French 
 monarch 3 but almost all the transmarine provinces 
 were wrested from him 5 and the church, which, at 
 that time, declined not. a contest with the most pow 
 erful monarchs, took advantage of John’s imbecility. 
 
 Innocent the Third, a prelate of a lofty and enter- 
 12071 P r i s * n o genius, attempted to convert thd superi- 
 -* ority yielded him by all the European princes 
 into a real dominion over them. A dispute respect- 
 ing an election to the see of Canterbury, afforded In- 
 nocent an opportunity of claiming a right, to nomin- 
 ate the primate of England. Availing himself of this 
 opportunity, he commanded the monks or canons of 
 Christ-church, who had hitherto possessed that rm- 
 portant privilege, to choose, on pain of excommuni- 
 cation, cardinal Langton, an Englishman by birth, but 
 connected by interest and attachment to the see of 
 Rome. In vain the monks represented, that an elec- 
 tion, without a previous writ from the king, would be 
 highly irregular 3 and that they were merely agents for 
 another person, whose right they could not abandon. 
 One only persevered in his opposition 3 the rest, over- 
 come by the menaces and authority of Ihe pope, 
 complied with his mandate. 
 
 John was inflamed with the utmost rage when he 
 heard of this interference of the couit of Rome ; ana 
 he immediately vented his passion on the monks cl 
 Christ-church, whom he expelled the monastery 
 When it 'vas intimated to him that if he oersevered 
 
* 
 
 JOHN. 67 
 
 to his disobedience, the sovereign pontiff would be 
 •bliged to lay the kingdom under an interdict, the 
 king burst out into violent invectives, and swore if 
 the pope attempted such a measure, that he would 
 send to him all the bishops and clergy in England, and 
 confiscate all their estates. These sallies of passion, 
 however, were disregarded by the Roman pontiff, who, 
 sensible that John had lost the confidence of the peo- 
 ple, at length fulminated the sentence of interdict. 
 
 The execution of this sentence was calculated to 
 strike with awe the minds of a superstitious people. 
 The nation was of a sudden deprived of all exterior 
 exercise of its religion ; the altars were despoiled of 
 their ornaments; the dead were not interred in con- 
 secrated ground, but were thrown into ditches, or 
 buried in common fields ; marriage was solemnized 
 in the church-yards ; and every circumstance carried 
 symptoms of the most immediate apprehension of di- 
 vine vengeance. 
 
 The king, that he might oppose his temporal tc 
 their spiritual terrors, confiscated the estates of all 
 the clergy who obeyed the interdict; and treated with 
 the utmost rigour the adherents of the church of 
 Rome. Though some of the clergy, from the dread 
 of punishment, obeyed the orders of John, and cele 
 brated divine service, yet they complied with the ut- 
 most reluctance, and were regarded, both by them- 
 selves and the people, as men who betrayed their 
 principles, and sacrificed their conscience to their 
 fears or their interest. 
 
 As the interdict had not reduced the king to obedi- 
 12091 ence > an ^ P eo pl e had not risen in rebellion, 
 -* the court of Rome determined to proceed to 
 excommunication. John was now alarmed at his dan- 
 gerous situation. In a conference at Dover, he of- 
 fered to acknowledge Langton as primate, to submit 
 to the pope, and to restore th«e exiled clergy; but 
 Langton demanding the full reparation for the rents 
 of their confiscated estates, the king broke off the 
 conference. Innocent immediately absolved John’s 
 subjects from their oaths of fidelity and allegiance ; 
 declared every one excommunicated who held any in- 
 tercourse with him ; deposed' him from his throne ; and 
 offered the crown of England to the king of France 
 
53 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, 
 
 Philip was seduced by interest to accept this off*! 
 of the pontiff'. He levied a great army, and collected 
 in the ports of Normandy and Picardy a fleet of one 
 thousand seven hundred vessels. To oppose him, 
 John assembled at Dover, an army of sixty thousand 
 men ; a force sufficient, had they been animated with 
 zeal : but the minds of the common people were im- 
 pressed with superstition ; the barons were all dis 
 gusted with the tyranny of the king ; and the inca 
 pacity and cowardice of John augmented his difficul 
 ties. The obstinacy of the humbled monarch at 
 length gave way, when Pandolf, the pope s legate, 
 represented to him the certainty of his ruin, from the 
 disaffection of his subjects, and the mighty armament 
 of France. John now agreed to all the conditions 
 which Pandolf was pleased to impose. He passed a 
 charter, in which he declared he had, for the remis- 
 sion of his own sins, and those of his family, resign- 
 ed England and Ireland to God, to St. Peter ,md St. 
 Paul, and to pope Innocent and his successors in the 
 apostolic chair ; agreeing to hold those dominions as 
 feudatories of the church of Rome, by the annual 
 payment of a thousand marks. He did l^omage to Pan- 
 dolf in the most abject manner : he fell on his knees 
 before the legate, who was seated on a throne ; swore 
 fealty to the pope ; and paid part of the money which 
 he owed for his kingdom as the patrimony of St. Pe- 
 ter ; whilst the legate, elated by the triumph of sa- 
 cerdotal power, trampled on the money which was 
 laid at his feet, as an earnest of the subjection of the 
 kingdom. 
 
 YVhen Pandolf returned to France, he informed 
 Philip, that John had returned to obedience under the 
 apostolic see, and even consented to do homage to 
 the pope for his dominions ; and that, as his king- 
 dom now formed a part of St. Peter's patrimony, il 
 would be impious in any Christian prince to attack 
 him. Philip was enraged on receiving this intelli- 
 gence, and threatened to execute his enterprise against 
 England, notwithstanding the inhibitions and menae s 
 of the legate ; but the English fleet, under the com- 
 mand of the earl of Salisbury, the king's natural broth- 
 er, attacked the French in their harbours, and by the 
 destruction of the greater part of their armament, 
 compelled Philip to abandon the enterprise. 
 
JOHN. 
 
 6$ 
 
 The introduction of the feudal system into England 
 by William the conqueror, had infringed on the liber- 
 ties enjoyed by the Anglo-Saxons, and had reduced 
 the people to a state of vassalage, and in some re- 
 spects of real slavery, to the king or barons. The 
 necessity also of entrusting great power in the hands 
 of a prince, who was to maintain military dominion 
 over a vanquished nation, had engaged the Norman 
 barons to submit to a more severe and absolute prerog- 
 ative, than that to which men of their rank were com- 
 monly subjected j and England, during a course of an 
 hundred and fifty years, was governed by an authority 
 unknown, in the same degree, to all the kingdoms 
 founded by the northern conquerors. Henry the first, 
 that he might allure the people to exclude his elder 
 brother Robert, had granted them a charter favourable 
 in many particulars to their liberties 3 Stephen had 
 renewed the grant 3 Honry the second had confirmed 
 it 5 but the concessions of all these princes had re- 
 mained a dead letter 3 when John, equally odious and 
 contemptible, both in public and private life, provok- 
 ed the people to form a general confederacy, and to 
 demand a restqration of their privileges. 
 
 Nothing forwarded this confederacy so much as the 
 concurrence of Langton, archbishop of Canterbury: 
 a man whose memory, though he was obtruded on 
 the nation by a palpable encroachment of the see of 
 Rome, ought always to be respected by the English. 
 This prelate formed the plan of reforming the govern- 
 ment, and paved the way for it, by inserting a clause 
 in the oath which he administered to the king, before 
 he would absolve him from excommunication, 11 that 
 ne would re-establish the good laws of his pedeces- 
 sors, and abolish the wicked ones, and maintain jus- 
 tice and right in all his dominions. Soon after he 
 showed to some of the barons a copy of the charter 
 of Henry the first, which, he said, he had found in a 
 monastery, and exhorted them to insist on its renewal. 
 The barons swore they would lose their lives sooner 
 than desist from so reasonable a demand. The confed- 
 eracy now spread wider 3 and a more numerous meet 
 ing was summoned by Langton at St. Edmund 7 s-Bury, 
 under colour of devotion. The barons, inflamed by 
 the eloquence of the prelate, and incited by the sense 
 
70 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 of their own wrongs, took an oath before the altar, to 
 adhere to each other, and to make endless war on the 
 king, till he should grant their demands. They agreed 
 that they would prefer in a body their common peti- 
 tion 5 and that, in the mean time, they would enlist 
 men and purchase arms, and supply their castles with 
 necessary provisions. 
 
 On a day appointed, the barons appeared in London, 
 12151 ant * re( l u ' re d the king, in consequence of his 
 -* oath before the primate, as well as in deference 
 to their just rights, to renew the charter of Henry, 
 and confirm the laws of St. Edward. The king alarm- 
 ed at their zeal and unanimity, as well as their pow- 
 er, asked for a delay, which was granted. The inter- 
 val was employed by John in appealing to the pope 
 against the violence of the barons. Innocent, who 
 foresaw that if the administration should fall into the 
 hands of a high-sp'rited nobility, they would vindicate 
 the liberty and independence of the nation, exhorted 
 the prelates to employ their good offices in putting an 
 end to civil discord, expressed his disapprobation of 
 the conduct of the barons, and advised the king to 
 grant such demands as should appear reasonable. 
 
 Though the barons perceived that the pope was in- 
 imical to their interests, yet they 1 ad advanced too 
 far to recede from their pretensions; and they fore- 
 saw. that the thunders of Rome, when not seconded 
 by the efforts of the English ecclesiastics, would avail 
 little against them. At the time, therefore, when 
 they were to expect the king’s answer to their peti- 
 tion, they met at Stamford, and assembled their for- 
 ces, consisting of about two thousand knights, besides 
 retainers and inferior persons without number. Elat- 
 ed with their power, they advanced in a body to Brack- 
 ley, within twenty miles of Oxford, the place where 
 the court then resided ; and there they received a 
 message from the king, desiring to know what those 
 liberties were which they so zealously required from 
 their sovereign. They delivered to the messengers 
 a schedule containing the chief articles of their de- 
 mands ; which was no sooner shown to John, than he 
 burst into a furious passion, swearing he would never 
 grant such privileges as must reduce himself to slavery 
 
 The confederated nobles, informed of his answer 
 
JOHN. 
 
 71 
 
 proceeded without farther ceremony to levy war upon 
 the king. They besieged the castle of Northampton, 
 were admitted into that of Bedford, occupied Ware, 
 and entered London without opposition. They laid 
 waste the royal parks and palaces ; and all the barons, 
 who had hitherto appeared to support the king, open- 
 ly joined a cause which they had secretly favoured. 
 So universal was the defection, that the king was left 
 at Odiham, in Hampshire, with a retinue of only sev- 
 en knights j and after trying several expedients, and 
 offering to refer all difference to the pope, he found 
 himself at last obliged to yield without reserve. 
 
 A conference between the king and the barons was 
 held at Runnymcde, between Windsor and Staines 3 
 a place which has ever since been celebrated, on ac- 
 count of that great event. After a debate of a few 
 days, the king, with a faedity rather suspicious, sign- 
 June J9 > e( * anc * sea l e d the famous deed called mag 
 > NA CHARTA, or the GREAT CHARTER, which 
 ^ either granted or secured very important 
 liberties to the clergy, the barons, and the people. 
 The articles of this charter contain such mitigations 
 and explanations of the feudal law as are reasonable 
 and equitable ; and also involve all the chief outlines 
 of a legal government, providing for the equal distri- 
 bution of justice and the free enjoyment of property. 
 
 The barons obliged the king to agree that London 
 should remain in their hands, and the Towner be con- 
 signed to the custody of the primate, till the execu- 
 tion of the charter. John also allowed the confede- 
 rates to choose from their own body twenty-five mem- 
 bers, to whose authority no limits were prescribed 
 either in extent or duration. All men throughou 
 the kingdom were obliged, under the penalty of con- 
 fiscation, to swear obedience to the twenty-five bar- 
 ons 5 and the freeholders of each county were to 
 choose twelve knights, who should make reports of 
 such evil customs as requireu redress, conformably ta 
 the tenor of the great charter. 
 
 John apparently submitted to all these regulations, 
 however injurious to majesty 3 but he only awaited a 
 proper opportunity for annulling his concessions. He 
 retired to the Isle of Wight, where he meditated the 
 most fata) vengeance against his enemies. He se 
 
72 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 cretly sent his emissaries to enlist foreign troops, and 
 to invite the rapacious Brabancons into his service j 
 and he despatched a messenger to Rome, to complain, 
 before that tribunal, of the violence which had been | 
 imposed upon him. Innocent, considering himself as 
 feudal lord of the kingdom, issued a bull, by which he 
 annulled the whole charter, as unjust in itself, and 
 derogatory to the dignity of the apostolic see. He 
 prohibited the barons from exacting the observance of 
 \t; he prohibited the king from paying any regard to 
 it 5 and he pronounced a general sentence of excom- 
 munication against every one who should persevere in 
 maintaining such iniquitous proceedings. 
 
 As the foreign forces arrived along with this bull, 
 the king, under the sanction of the pope's decree,* 
 threw off the mask. The barons, enticed into a fatal 
 security, had taken no rational measures for re-assem- 
 bling their armies. The king was master of the field: 
 his rapacious mercenaries were let loose against the 
 estates, the tenants, the houses, and parks of the no- 
 bility ; nothing was to be seen but the flames of vil- 
 lages, and castles reduced to ashes, the consternation 
 and misery of the inhabitants, and the tortures exer- 
 cised by the soldiers to cause them to reveal their 
 concealed treasures. The king, marching through the 
 whole extent of England, from Dover to Berwick, laid 
 the provinces waste on each side of him, and consid- 
 ered every part of the country, which was not his im- 
 mediate property, as hostile, and the object of military 
 execution. 
 
 The barons, reduced to this desperate extremity, 
 employed a remedy no less desperate. They 
 -» applied to the court of France, and offered to 
 acknowledge Lewis, the eldest son of Philip, as their 
 sovereign, provided he would protect them from the 
 violence of the tyrant. The prospect of such a prize 
 rendered Philip regardless of the menaces of the 
 court of Rome, which threatened him. with excommu- 
 nication if he attacked a prince under the protection 
 of the holy see j but he refused to intrust his son and 
 heir to the caprice of the English, unless they would 
 
 * To the honour of Langton the primate, he refused to pulr 
 Ssh the papal mandate 
 
JOHN. 
 
 73 
 
 deliver to him twenty-five of their most illustrious 
 nobles, as hostages lor their fidelity ; and having ob- 
 tained this security, he sent over Lewis with a numer- 
 ous army. 
 
 In consequence of that young prince's appearance 
 in England, John’s foreign troops, being mostly levied 
 in Flander^, and other provinces of France, refused to 
 serve against the heir of their monarchy. Many con- 
 siderable noblemen deserted John’s party ; his castles 
 fell daily into the hands of the enemy ; and Dover was 
 the only place which resisted the progress of Lewis. 
 But the union between the English and French was 
 of short duration ; the preference of Lewis to the lat- 
 ter soon excited the jealousy of the former; and the 
 French began to apprehend a sudden reverse of for 
 tune. The King was assembling a considerable army, 
 with an intention of fighting one great battle for his 
 crown ; but passing from Lynne to Lincolnshire, his 
 road lay along the sea-shore, which was overflowed at 
 high-water, and not choosing the proper time for his 
 journey, he lost in the inundation all his carriages, 
 treasure, baggage, and regalia. The affliction for this 
 disaster, and vexation from the distracted state of his 
 affairs, increased an indisposition under which he then 
 laboured: and though he reached the castle of New- 
 ark, he soon after died, in the forty-ninth year of his 
 age, and the eighteenth of his reign. He left two 
 legitimate sons, Henry and Richard, the eldest of 
 whom was only nine years old, and the other seven. 
 
 The character of John is a complication of vices 
 equally mean and odious; cowardice, levity, licen-. 
 tiousness, ingratitude, treachery, tyranny, and cruelty. 
 It is hard to say whether his conduct to his father, his 
 brother, his nephew, or his subjects, was most culpa- 
 ble. By his misconduct he lost the flourishing prov- 
 inces of France, the ancient patrimony of his family ; 
 he subjected his kingdom to a shameful vassalage, 
 under the see of Rome; and he died when in danger 
 of being totally expelled by a fore’gn power, and of 
 either ending his life in prison, or in seeking shelter 
 is a fugitive from the pursuit of his enemies. 
 

 74 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 7 'he reigns of Henry III., Edward 1. and Ed 
 ward II. 
 
 Fortunately for Henry III., as well as for the 
 I2in nat ‘ on 7 ear l °f Pembroke was, at the time of 
 -* John’s death, mareschal of England, and at the 
 head of the armies. This nobleman, who had main- 
 tained his loyalty to John, was chosen protector of the 
 realm, during the king’s minority, by a general coun- 
 cil of the barons. That he might reconcile all men 
 to the government of his pupil, he made him grant a 
 new charter of liberties, which, though mostly similar 
 to that extorted from John, contained some altera- 
 tions. This was followed by a charter of forests ; 
 which declared offences committed in the king’s for- 
 ests no longer capital, but only punishable by fine and 
 imprisonment. 
 
 These charters diffused so much satisfaction as 
 evidently to affect the cause of Lewis. The distrust 
 which the French prince manifested of the fidelity of 
 the English encouraged the general propensitytowards 
 the king. A large detachment of the French was 
 routed near Lincoln 3 and their fleet suffered a consid- 
 erable defeat off the coast of Kent. After these, 
 events, the malcontent barons hastened by an early 
 submission to prevent those attainders to which they 
 were exposed on account of their rebellion 5 and 
 Lewis, whose cause was now totally desperate, read- 
 ily consented to conclude a peace on honourable con- 
 ditions, promising to evacuate the kingdom, and only 
 stipulating, in return, an indemnity to his adherents, 
 and a restitution of their honours and fortunes. Thus 
 was happily ended a civil war, which had threatened 
 the kingdom with the most fatal consequences. 
 
 The earl of Pembroke did not long survive the pa 
 cification, which had been chiefly owing to his wis- 
 dom and valour 5 and he was succeeded in the govern- 
 ment by Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, and 
 Hubert de Burgh, the justiciary. The counsels of the 
 latter were chiefly followed ; and had he possessed 
 equal influence with Pembroke, he seemed to be eve- 
 ry way worthy of filling the place of that virtuous no- 
 
HENRY III. 
 
 75 
 
 bleman. Rat the licentious and powerful barons, 
 having once broken the reins of subjection to their 
 prince, could ill be restrained by laws under a minor- 
 ity • and the people, no less than the king, suffered 
 from their outrages. They retained by force the royal 
 castles j they usurped the king's demesnes 3 they op- 
 pressed their vassals ; and they protected the worst 
 kind of banditti, in their robberies and extortions, in 
 defiance of legal government. 
 
 As Henry approached to man's estate, his character 
 .6)0)71 became every day better known, and he was 
 ■* found incapable of maintaining a proper author- 
 ity over the turbulent barons. Gentle, humane, and 
 merciful, even to a fault, he seems to have been steady 
 in nothing else, but to have received every impression 
 from those who surrounded him. Without activity or 
 vigour, he was unfit to conduct war; without policy 
 or art, he was ill calculated to maintain peace. His 
 resentments, though hasty and violent, were not 
 dreaded, while he was found to drop them with such 
 facility ; his friendships were little valued, because 
 they were neither derived from choice, nor maintain- 
 ed with constancy. 
 
 That able and faithful minister, Hubert de Burgh, 
 was in a sudden fit of caprice dismissed by Henry, 
 and exposed to the most violent persecutions. Among 
 other frivolous crimes objected to him, he was accus- 
 ed of gaining the king's affections by enchantments. 
 Hubert was expelled the kingdom, and was again re- 
 ceived into favour, and recovered a great share of the 
 king’s confidence ; but he never showed any inclina- 
 tion to reinstate himself in power or authority. 
 
 Hubert was succeeded in the government of the 
 ^0)931 king and kingdom by Peter, bishop of Winches- 
 ter, a Poictevin by birth, no less distinguished 
 by his arbitrary principles, and violent conduct, than 
 by his courage and abilities. Through his advice, 
 Henry invited over a great numbei of Poictevins, and 
 other foreigners, who, he believed, could be more 
 safely trusted than the English. Every office was 
 bestowed on these strangers, who exhausted the reve- 
 nues of the crown, and invaded the rights of the peo- 
 ple. A combination of the nobles formed against this 
 odious ministry, was broken by th* address cf Peter 
 
76 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 the estates of the more obnoxious barons were confis- 
 cated, without a legal sentence or trial by their peers j 
 and when the authority of the Great Charter was ob- 
 jected to the king, Henry was wont to reply, “ Why 
 should I observe this charter, which is neglected by 
 all my grandees, both prelates and nobility ?” To 
 this it was justly answered, “ You ought, sir, to se‘t 
 them the example.” 
 
 So violent an administration as that of the bishop of 
 Winchester could not be of long duration 3 yet its fail 
 proceeded from the church, not from the efforts of the 
 nobles. Edmond, the primate, attended by many oth- 
 er prelates, represented to the king the pernicious 
 measures of Peter, and required the dismission of him 
 and his associates under pain of excommunication. 
 Henry was obliged to submit 5 but the English were 
 not long free from the dominion of foreigners. The 
 123fl king, having married Eleanor, daughter of the 
 count of Provence, was surrounded by a great 
 lumber of strangers from that country, whom he en- 
 riched by the most arbitrary exactions upon his sub- 
 jects. 
 
 The foreign enterprises of Henry were equally dis- 
 graceful with his domestic government. In a war 
 with Louis IX., he was stripped of what remained to 
 him of Poictou. H>s want of economy, and an ill- 
 judged liberality, obliged him to sell all his plate and 
 jewels. When this expedient was first proposed to 
 him, he asked, where he should find purchasers 1 It 
 was replied, the citizens of London. “On my word,” 
 said he, “ these clowns who assume to themselves the 
 name of barons, abound in every thing, while we are 
 reduced to necessities.” 
 
 The grievances under which the English laboured 
 from the faults of the king, were considerably increas- 
 ed by the usurpations and exactions of the court of 
 Rome. About 1229, pope Honorius demanded, and 
 obtained, the tenth of all ecclesiastical revenues. In 
 the year 1240, Otho the legate wrested large sums 
 from the prelates and convents, and is said to have 
 carried more money out of the kingdom than he left in 
 it. The king, who relied on the pope for the support 
 of his tottering authority, never failed to countenance 
 those exactions. 
 

 HENRY III. 7 T 
 
 The successful revolt of the barons from king John 
 ftad rendered them more sensible of their own impor 
 tance. The parliament, which seems to have had 
 some. authority in this reign, refused an aid, unless 
 Henry would promise, at the same time, a re- 
 J dress of civil and ecclesiastical grievances, and 
 'ratify the great charter in the most solemn manner. 
 To this the king consented ; but, misled by his favour- 
 ites, he soon resumed the same arbitrary measures of 
 government. 
 
 The conduct of Henry afforded a pretence to Simon 
 i^rq-j de Mountfort, earl of Leicester, for attempting 
 
 ° J to wrest the sceptre from the feeble hand which 
 held it. This nobleman had espoused Eleanor, dow- 
 ager to William earl of Pembroke, and sister to the 
 king. His address gained him the affections of all or- 
 ders of men 5 but he lost the friendship of Henry from 
 the usual levity and fickleness of that prince. He 
 was banished the court, recalled, and again disgraced 
 by the king. Being too great to preserve an entire 
 complaisance to Henry’s humours, and to act in sub- 
 serviency to the minions of that prince, he found 
 more advantage in cultivating his interest with the 
 public, and in inflaming'the general discontents. He 
 filled every place with complaints against the infringe- 
 ment of the great charter 5 and a quarrel which he 
 had with William de Valence, the king’s half-brother, 
 and chief favourite, determined him to give full scope 
 to his ambition. He secretly called a meeting of the 
 most considerable barons, particularly Humphrey de 
 Bohun, high constable, Roger Bigod, earl mareschal, 
 and the earls of Warwick and Gloucester. To them 
 he exaggerated the oppressions exercised against the 
 low'er orders of the state, the violations of the barons’ 
 privileges, and the continual depredations made on the 
 clergy ; and he appealed to the great charter, which 
 Henry had so often ratified, and which was calculated 
 to prevent the return of those grieVances. He mag- 
 nified the generosity of their ancestors, who at the 
 expense of their blood had extorted that famous con 
 cession from the crown ; but he lamented their own 
 degeneracy, who allowed so important an advantage 
 to be wrested from them by a weak prince and inso- 
 lent parasites. 
 
78 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 These topics were well suited to the sentiments of 
 the company, and the barons embraced a resolution of 
 redressing the public grievances, by taking into theif 
 own hands the administration of government. Henry 
 having summoned a parliament, the barons appeared 
 in the hall clad in complete armour, and with their 
 swords by their sides. The king, struck with their 
 unusual appearance, asked, whether they intended to 
 make him their prisoner 3 Roger Bigod replied in the 
 name of the rest, “ That he was not their prisoner, 
 but their sovereign 3 but that, as he had frequently 
 acknowledged his past errors, and had still allowed 
 himself to be carried into the same path, he must now 
 yield to more strict regulations, and confer authority 
 on those who were able and willing to redress the na- 
 tional grievances.” Henry, partly allured by the hope 
 of supply, partly intimidated by the union and martial 
 appearance of the barons, agreed to their demand, 
 and promised to summon another parliament at Ox- 
 ford, in order to digest the new plan of government. 
 
 This parliament, which, from the confusion that at 
 tended its measures, was afterwards denominated the 
 u mad parliament, ” chose twelve barons, to whom 
 were added twelve more from the king’s ministers. 
 
 To these twenty-four unlimited authority was granted 
 to reform the state ; and as Leicester was at the head 
 of this supreme council, to which the legislative pow- 
 er was in reality transferred, all their measures were 
 taken by his influence and direction. They ordered .• 
 
 that four knights should be chosen by each c#unty, 
 who should inquire into the grievances of the people, 
 and inform the assembly of the state of their particu 
 lar counties 5 that three sessions of parliament should 
 be regularly held every year 3 that a new sheriff should 
 be annually elected by the votes of the freeholders of. 
 each county 3 that no heirs should be committed to 
 the wardship of foreigners, and no castles intrusted to 
 their custody 5 and that no new warrens or forests 
 should be created, nor the revenues of any counties or 
 hundreds be let to farm. 
 
 The earl of Leicester and his associates, having pro- 
 ceeded so far to satisfy the nation, instead of continu- 
 ing in this popular course, or granting the king those 
 supplies which thev had promised, provided for the 
 
HENRY" III. 
 
 79 
 
 extension of their own authority. They displaced 
 all the chief officers of the crown 5 and advanced 
 either themselves or their own creatures in their 
 place. The whole power of the state being thus 
 transferred to them, they obliged every man to swear, 
 that they would obey and execute all the regulations 
 of the twenty-four barons ; and they chose a commit- 
 tee of twelve persons, who, during the intervals of 
 the cessions, were to possess the whole authority of 
 oarl i ament. 
 
 But the stream of popularity rapidly turned against 
 them. Whatever support the barons might have de- 
 rived from the private power of their families, was 
 weakened by their intestine jealousies and animosi- 
 ties. A violent enmity broke out between the earls of 
 Leicester and Gloucester ; the latter, more moderate 
 in his designs, was desirous of stopping or retarding 
 the usurpations of the barons ; but the former, enrag- 
 ed at the opposition he met with in his own party, 
 pretended to throw up all concern in English affairs, 
 and retired into France. ■ 
 
 On the death of the earl of Gloucester, who, before 
 • or 0-1 his decease, had joined the royal party, Leices- 
 -■ ter entered into a confederacy with Llewellyn, 
 prince of Wales. Llewellyn invaded England with 
 an army of thirty thousand men, but was repulsed, 
 and obliged to take shelter in the north of Wales. 
 The Welsh invasion was the signal for the malcon- 
 tent barons to rise in arms. Leicester secretly passed 
 over into England, collected all the forces of his par- 
 ty, and commenced an open rebellion. The power of 
 Leicester’s faction increased to such a height, that 
 the king, unable to resist it, was obliged to seek an ac- 
 commodation. He agreed to confirm the provisions 
 of Oxford, and reinstated the barons in the sovereign- 
 ty of the kingdom. The latter summoned a parlia- 
 ment to meet at Westminster, in order to settle the 
 plan of government; and, in that assembly, they pro- 
 duced a new list of twenty-four barons, whose authori- 
 ty they insisted should continue, not only during the 
 reign of the king, but also during that of prince Ed- 
 ward. 
 
 This prince, the life and soul of the royal party, 
 had been taken prisoner by Leicester in a parley af 
 
BO 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Windsor 5 and that event had chiefly determined Hen 
 ry to submit to the ignominious conditions imposed on 
 him by the barons. Edward, however, having recov- 
 ered his liberty by the treaty, employed his activity 
 in defending the prerogatives of his family. The num- 
 ber of his friends, and the clamour of the people for 
 peace, obliged the earl of Leicester to consent to a 
 second negotiation ; and it was agreed by both sides 
 to submit their differences to the arbitration of the 
 king of France. 
 
 This virtuous prince had never ceased to interpose 
 nis good offices between the English factions 3 and at 
 Amiens, in the presence of the states of France, of 
 the king of England, and of Peter de Montfort, Lei- 
 cester's son, he brought this great cause to a trial. He 
 annulled the provisions of Oxford, restored to the 
 king the possession of his castles, and the nomination 
 of the great offices ; but he ordered that a general am- 
 nesty should be granted for all past offences, and de- 
 clared that his award was in no wise meant to dero- 
 gate from the privileges and liberties which the nation 
 enjoyed by any former charters. 
 
 This equitable sentence was rejected by Leicester 
 l 6, 641 an ^ con fed erates > w h° determined to havt 
 -* recourse to arms, in which they were assisted 
 by the city of London. The king and the prince, find- 
 ing a civil war inevitable, prepared themselves for de- 
 fence, and summoned to their standard their military 
 vassals ; while Leicester, having been reinforced by a 
 great body of Londoners, determined to stake the fate 
 of the nation on a decisive engagement. Leicester 
 conducted his march with so much skill and secrecy, 
 that he had nearly surprised the royalists in their quar 
 ters at Lewes in Sussex 3 but the vigilance and activi 
 ty of prince Edward soon repaired this negligence. 
 With the van he rushed upon the Londoners, who, 
 from their ignorance of discipline, and want of expe- 
 rience, were IU fitted to resist the ardour of Edward 
 and his martial companious : they were broken in an 
 instant, and chased off the field for four miles. But 
 when Edward returned from the pursuit, he was aston- 
 ished to find the ground covered with the dead bodies 
 of his friends, and still more to hear that his father, 
 and his uncle Richard, king of the Romans, had been 
 
HENRY III. 
 
 81 
 
 Defeated and taken prisoners. In this exigency, the 
 gallant prince was obliged to submit to Leicester’s 
 terms, which were laconic and severe. He stipulated, 
 that Edward, and Henry d’Allmaine, the son of the 
 king of the Romans, should surrender themselves 
 pledges in lieu of the two kings 5 that all other priso- 
 ners on both sides should be released j and that the 
 king of France should name six Frenchmen, who 
 should choose two others of their own country ; and 
 these two should appoint one Englishman, and that 
 these three persons should be invested with full pow- 
 ers to make what regulations they should deem neces- 
 sary for the settlement of the kingdom. 
 
 The prince and young Henry accordingly delivered 
 themselves into Leicester’s hands, who sent them un- 
 der a guard to Dover castle 5 but he had no sooner 
 got the whole royal family in his power, than he open- 
 ly violated every article of the treaty, and acted as 
 sole master, and even tyrant of the kingdom. No 
 farther mention was made of the reference to the 
 king of France 5 and Leicester summoned a parlia- 
 ment, composed altogether of his own partisans, who 
 voted the royal power should be exercised by nine 
 persons to be chosen and removed by the majority of 
 three, Leicester himself, the earl of Gloucester, and 
 the bishop of Chichester. By this plan of govern- 
 ment, the sceptre was really put into Leicester’s 
 hands, as he had the entire direction of the bishop 
 of Chichester. Leicester, however, summoned a new 
 parliament in London. Besides the barons of his own 
 party, and several ecclesiastics, he ordered returns to 
 be made of two knights from each shire, and what is 
 more remarkable, of deputies r rom the boroughs, an 
 order of men, which in former ages had always been 
 regarded as too mean to enjoy a place in the national 
 T2651 counc ^ s ’ This period is commonly esteemed 
 the epoch of the house of commons in Eng- 
 land, and it is certainly the first time that historians 
 speak of any representatives sent to parliament from 
 the boroughs. 
 
 The earl of Gloucester, becoming disgusted with 
 the arbitrary conduct of Leicester, retired for safety 
 to his estates on the borders of Wales ; Leicester fol- 
 owed him with an army to Heieford* and that he 
 
 vol. 1 6 
 
ff 
 
 82 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 might add authority to his cause, he carried both the 
 king \nd prince along with him. The earl of Glou 
 cester here concerted with young Edward the manner 
 of that prince’s escape. He furnished him with a 
 swift horse, and appointed a small party to receive 
 the prince, and guard him to a place of safety. Ed- 
 ward pretended to take the air with some of his 
 guards; and making matches between their horses un- 
 til he thought he had tired them, he suddenly mount- 
 ed Gloucester’s horse, bade them adieu, and reached 
 his friends. 
 
 The royalists, secretly prepared for this event, im- 
 mediately flew to arms. Leicester finding himself in 
 a remote quarter of the kingdom, surrounded by his 
 enemies, and barred from all communication with his 
 friends by the Severn, whose bridges Edward had 
 broken down, wrote to his son, Simon de Montfort, to 
 hasten from London with an army for his relief. Si- 
 mon had advanced to Kenilworth with that view, 
 where, fancying that all Edward’s force and attention 
 were directed against his father, he lay secure and 
 unguarded ; but the prince, making a sudden and forc- 
 ed march, surprised him in his camp, dispersed his 
 army, and took the earl of Oxford and many other no- 
 blemen prisoners, almost without resistance. Leices- 
 ter, ignorant of his son’s fate, passed the Severn in 
 boats during Edward’s absence, and lay at Evesham, 
 in expectation of being every hour joined by his 
 friends from London ; when the prince, who availed 
 himself of every favourable moment, appeared in the 
 field before him. The battle immediately began, 
 though on very unequal terms. Leicester’s army, 
 by living on the mountains of Wales without bread, 
 which was not then much used among the inhabitants, 
 nad been extremely weakened by sickness and deser- 
 tion, and was soon broken by the victorious royalists ; 
 while his Welsh allies, accustomed only to a desulto- 
 ry kind of war, immediately took to flight, and were 
 • pursued with great slaughter. Leicester himself, 
 asking for quarter, was slain in the heat of the action, 
 with his eldest son, Henry, Hugh le Despenser, and 
 about an hundred and sixty knights, and many other 
 gentlemen of his party. The old king had been pur 
 posely placed by the rebels in the front of the battle ; 
 
 
HENRY III. 
 
 83 
 
 and being clad in armour, and thereby not known bj 
 his friends, he received a wound, and was in clan 
 ger of his life : but crying out, 11 1 am Henry of Win- 
 chester, your king,” he was rescued and carried to a 
 place of safety. 
 
 The victory of Evesham, with the death of Leices- 
 iorri ter. proved decisive in favour of the royalists; 
 
 -* but they used it with moderation. No sacrifices 
 of national liberty were made on this occasion ; the 
 great charter remained inviolate ; and they carefully 
 abstained from all those exertions of power, which had 
 afforded so plausible a pretext to the rebels. The 
 mild disposition of the king, and the prudence of the 
 prince, tempered the insolence of victory. 
 
 Prince Edward, finding the state of the kingdom 
 tolerably composed, was impelled by his avidity 
 for glory, by the prejudices of the age, and by 
 the earnest solicitations of the king of France, to un- 
 dertake an expedition against the infidels in the Holy 
 Land. He sailed from England with an army 5 but 
 when he arrived at Tunis, he found Lewis had died 
 from the heat of the climate and the fatigues of the 
 
 1270 ] 
 
 enterprise. Not discouraged, however, by this event, 
 he continued his voyage to the Holy Land, where he 
 signalized himself by acts of valour, and revived the 
 glory of the English name. 
 
 In the' mean time his absence from England was 
 productive of the most fatal consequences; the laws 
 were not executed; the barons oppressed the common 
 people with impunity ; and the populace of London 
 returned to their usual licentiousness. The old king, 
 unequal to the burthen of public affairs, called aioud 
 for his gallant son to return, and to assist him in sway- 
 ing that sceptre which was ready to drop from his fee- 
 ble and irresolute hands. At last, overcome by the 
 cares of government, and the infirmities of age. he 
 visibly declined, and expired at Edmondsbury, in the 
 sixty-fourth year of his age, and fifty-sixth of his reign ; 
 the longest reign that is to be met with in the English 
 annals, except that of our late sovereign. He left two 
 sons, Edward, his successor, and Edmond, earl of 
 Lancaster; and two daughters, Margaret, queen of 
 Scotland, and Beatrix, duchess of Brittany. The mos* 
 abvious circumstance of Henry's character is, his in- 
 
84 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 capacity for government, which rendered him as much 
 a prisoner in the hands of his ministers and favourites, 
 as when a captive in the hands of his enemies. From 
 this source, rather than from insincerity or treachery, 
 arose his negligence in observing his promises 
 Hence, too, were derived his profusion to favourites, 
 his attachment to strangers, the variableness of his 
 conduct, his hasty resentments, and the sudden return 
 of affection. Greater abilities with his good disposi- 
 tions would have prevented him from falling into his 
 faults; or, with worse dispositions, would have ena- 
 bled him to maintain them. 
 
 Edward had reached Sicily in his return from the 
 12721 Holy Land, where he had been wounded with a 
 * poisonous dagger, when he received intelligence 
 of the death of his father. As he was assured of the 
 quiet settlement of the kingdom, he was in no hurry 
 to take possession of the throne, but spent near a year 
 in France, and did homage to Philip for the domin- 
 ions which he held in that country. At length he ar 
 rived in England, where he was received with the 
 most joyful acclamations, and was solemnly crownec 
 at Westminster by Robert, archbishop of Canterbury. 
 
 The king immediately applied himself to correct 
 those disorders which civil commotions had introduc- 
 ed. By a rigid execution of the laws, he gave protec- 
 tion to the inferior orders of the state, and diminished 
 the arbitrary power of the barons. He appointed a 
 commissioner to inquire into crimes of all kinds; and 
 the adulteration of the coin of the realm being imputed 
 chiefly to the Jews, he let loose on them the whole 
 rigours of his justice. In London alone, two hundred 
 and eighty of them were hanged at once for this 
 crime ; fifteen thousand were robbed of their effects, 
 and banished the kingdom ; and since that period they 
 have never been so numerous in England. 
 
 Llewellyn, prince of Wales, had entered into all the 
 12761 cons p irac i es °f the Montfort faction against the 
 J crown, and refusing to do homage to the new 
 king, Edward levied an army to reduce him to obedi- 
 ence. Llewellyn retired among the hills of Snowdon : 
 but Edward pierced into the heart of the country, and 
 obliged him to submit at discretion. He did homage, 
 and permitted his barons to swear fealty to the crown 
 
EDWARD I. 85 
 
 of England : and he also relinquished the country be- 
 tween Chesnire and the river Conway. However, the 
 insolence of the English, who oppressed the inhabit- 
 ants of the districts ceded to them, raised the indigna- 
 tion of the Welsh, who again took to arms. Edward 
 advanced into Wales with an army which could rot 
 be resisted. Llewellyn was surprised and slain, with 
 two thousand of his followers 5 and his brother David, 
 after being chased from hill to hill, was at last betray- 
 ed to the enemy. Edward sent him in chains to 
 Shrewsbury ; and bringing him to a formal trial before 
 all the peers of England, he ordered this sovereign 
 prince to be hanged as a traitor, for defending the 
 liberties of his native country. The Welsh nobility 
 submitted to the conqueror ; and the laws of England 
 were established throughout the principality. 
 
 The king, sensible that nothing cherished military 
 12841 8 lor y an< ^ va l° ur so much as traditional poetry, 
 -* collected all the Welsh bards, and barbarously 
 ordered them to be put to death. It is said that Ed- 
 ward promised to give the Welsh t a prince, a Welsh- 
 man by birth ; and that he invested in the principality 
 his son Edward, then an infant, who had been born at 
 Caernarvon. Thus Wales was fully annexed to . the 
 crown ; and henceforth gives a title to the eldest son 
 of the kings of England. 
 
 Edward had contracted his son to Margaret, the heir 
 12Q11 Scottish throne, and by this means hoped 
 
 J to unite the whole island into one monarchy ; 
 but this project failed of success by the sudden death 
 of that princess; and the vacant throne was claimed 
 both by John Baliol and Robert Bruce. Each of the 
 two claimants possessed numerous adherents ; and in 
 order to prevent a civil war, it was agreed on to sub 
 mit the dispute to the arbitration of the king of Eng- 
 land. The temptation was too strong for the virtue 
 of Edward. He purposed to lav hold of the present 
 opportunity, to revive, if not to create, his claim of a 
 feudal superiority over Scotland. Accompanied by a 
 great army, he advanced to the frontiers, and invited 
 the Scottish parliament aqd the competitors to attend 
 him in the castle ofNorham, on the southern bank of 
 the Tweed. He informed them that he was come 
 thither to determine the right of the two competitors 
 
36 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 to their crown ; that he was resolved to do strict jus 
 tice to each party ; and that he was entitled to this 
 authority, not in virtue of the reference made to him, 
 but in quality of liege lord of the kingdom. 
 
 The Scottish barons were moved with indignation 
 at the injustice of this unexpected claim : but they 
 found themselves betrayed into a situation, in which 
 it was impossible for them to make any defence for 
 the independence of their country ; and the king inter- 
 preting their silence into consent, addressed himself 
 to the competitors, and previously to his pronouncing 
 sentence, required their acknowledgment of his supe- 
 riority. At length, after long deliberations, Edward 
 pronounced in favour of Baliol,to whom, upon renew- 
 ing his oath of fealty to England, all the Scottish for - 
 tresses were restored. However, he proceeded in 
 such a manner, as made it evident that he aimed at 
 the absolute dominion of the kingdom. He encour 
 aged appeals to England; and obliged king John to 
 appear at the bar of his parliament as a private person. 
 Baliol, though a prince of a gentle disposition, was 
 greatly provoked at this usage; he determined at all 
 hazards to vindicate his liberties ; and the war which 
 soon after broke out between France and England 
 afforded him a favourable opportunity. 
 
 A petty quarrel between a Norman and English 
 sailor had been speedily inflamed into a national 
 enmity. Barbarities were committed on the 
 crews of Norman and English vessels ; the sea became 
 a scene of piracy between the two nations ; and so 
 numerous were the fleets engaged, that fifteen thou- 
 sand Frenchmen are reported to have perished in one 
 action. Philip sent an envoy to demand reparation ; 
 but not obtaining s. Jicient satisfaction, he summoned 
 Edward as his vassal, to appear in his court at Paris, 
 and answer for these offences; ard on his refusal, 
 Guienne, by a formal decree, was declared forfeited, 
 and annexed to the crown of France. Some impres- 
 sion was made on Guienne by an English army, which 
 Edward raised by emptying the jails, but which was 
 soon after defeated with gre^t slaughter; and England 
 was at the same time menaced with an invasion from 
 France and from Scotland, whose kings had entered 
 IF to a secret alliance. 
 
EDWARD I. 
 
 81 
 
 The expenses attending these 
 to have frequent recourse 
 plies, and to introduce int 
 the lower orders of the state He issued writs to the 
 sheriffs, enjoining them to send to parliament, along 
 with two knights of the shire, two deputies from each 
 borough ;* “ as it is a most equitable rule,” says he, 
 11 that what concerns all should be approved of by all 
 and common dangers be repelled by united efforts.” 
 This noble principle seems to indicate a liberal mind 
 in the king, and to have laid the foundation of a free 
 and equitable government; and from this period may 
 be dated the regular establishment of the different 
 branches composing the house of commons, the pre- 
 cedent of Leicester in the former reign being rather 
 an act of violence than of authority. 
 
 Edward employed the supplies granted him by his 
 people, in making preparations against the hostilities 
 
 * The charges of the deputies were borne by the borough 
 which sent them. They sat apart from the barons and knights, 
 who disdained to mix with such mean personages. After they 
 had given their consent to the taxes required of them, they 
 jeparated, even though the parliament continued to sit. How- 
 ever, tire union of the representatives from the boroughs gave 
 gradually more weight to the whole order ; and it became cus- 
 tomary for them, in return for the aupplies which they granted, 
 to prefer petitions to the crown for the redress of any particu- 
 lar grievance ; and the king, by adding to the petitions the 
 sanction of his authority, bestowed validity upon them. But 
 it was soon discovered, that no laws could be fixed for one or- 
 der of men, without affecting the whole: apd the house of 
 peers, therefore, with reason, expected that their assent should 
 be expressly granted to all public ordinances. 
 
 With the most frequent partition of property, the knights 
 and lesser barons sunk into a rank still more inferior to the 
 great nobility ; while the growth of commerce augmented the 
 private wealth and consideration of the burgesses : and as they 
 resembled the knights of shires in representing particular bod- 
 ies of men, it no longer appeared unsuitable to unite them to- 
 gether in the same house, and to confound their rights and 
 privileges. This event took place in the 16th of Edward III 
 or fony-eight years from the time when burgesses were first 
 summoned to parliament. Thus the third estate, that of the 
 commons, reached at length its present form •, it gradually in- 
 creased in importance ; and in its progress made arts and com- 
 merce, the necessary attendants of liberty and equal rights 
 flourish in the kingdom. 
 
 wars obliged Edward 
 to parliamentary sup- 
 o the public councils 
 
68 
 
 HISTORY OF -ENGLAND. 
 
 12961 °** nort ^ ern neighbours. He summoned 
 ■* John to appear before him as his vassal; and 
 on his refusal, he marched with thirty thousand foo* 
 and four thousand horse to chastise his contumacy. 
 Some of the most considerable of the Scottish nobles 
 endeavoured to ingratiate themselves with Edward by 
 an early submission ; and the king crossed the Tweed 
 without opposition, took Berwick by assault, and de- 
 tached the earl of Warrenne with twelve thousand men 
 to besiege Dunbar. The Scots, who advanced against 
 Warrenne with their main army, were defeated with 
 the loss of twenty thousand men. Dunbar surrender- 
 ed ; and after a feeble resistance, the castles of Edin- 
 burgh and Stirling opened their gates to the English. 
 All the southern parts were immediately subdued. 
 The spirit of the nation was broken by misfortunes ; 
 and the feeble and timid Baliol hastened to make his 
 submission, and solemnly resigned his crown into the 
 hands of fldward. That sovereign marched to Aber- 
 deen and Elgin without opposition ; and having reduc- 
 ed the whole kingdom to an apparent state of tran- 
 quillity, he returned to the south. Earl Warrenne was 
 left governor of Scotland. Baliol was carried to Lon 
 don, and lay two years in the Tower, and then submit- 
 ted to a voluntary banishment to France, where he 
 died in a private station. 
 
 Edward was not equally successful in his attempt 
 to recover Guienne ; and, at length, Philip and he 
 agreed to submit their differences to the arbitration 
 of Pope Boniface. This was the last of the 
 sovereign pontiffs that exercised an authority 
 over the temporal jurisdiction of princes; and these 
 exorbitant pretensions, which he had been tempted to 
 assume from the successful example of his predeces- 
 sors, but of which the season was now passed, involv- 
 ed him in so many calamities, and were attended with 
 so unfortunate a catastrophe, that they have been se- 
 cretly abandoned, though never openly relinquished, 
 by his successors in the apostolic chair. Edward and 
 Philip, equally jealous of papal claims, took care to 
 insert in their reference, that Boniface was made judge 
 of their differences by their consent, as a private per- 
 son, not by any right of his pontificate; and the pope 
 without seeming to be offended at this mortifying 
 
 1298] 
 
EDWARD I. 8S 
 
 clause, proceeded to give a sentence between them, 
 in which they both acquiesced. He brought them to 
 agree that their union should be cemented by a dou- 
 ble marriage; that of Edward himself, who now was a 
 .widower, with Margaret, Philip’s sister ; and that ot 
 the prince of Wales with Isabella, daughter of that 
 monarch. Philip was likewise willing to restore Gui- 
 enne to the English ; and Edward agreed to abandon 
 his ally the earl of Flanders, on condition that Philip 
 should treat in like manner his ally the king of Scots. 
 The prospect of conquering these two countries, 
 whose situation .made them so commodious an acqui- 
 sition to the respective kingdoms, prevailed over all 
 other considerations ; and though they were both fi- 
 nally disappointed in their hopes, their conduct was 
 very reconcilable to the principles of an interested 
 policy. 
 
 Warrenne retiring into England, on account of his 
 bad state of health, left the administration of Scot- 
 land entirely in the hands of Ormesby the justiciary, 
 jand Cressingham the treasurer. The former distin- 
 guished himself by his severity; the latter had no 
 other object than the amassing of money by rapine 
 and injustice. They treated the Scots as a conquered 
 people ; and, in consequence, the bravest and most 
 generous spirits of the nation were exasperated to the 
 highest degree against the English government. 
 
 Among these was William Wallace, a man descend- 
 ed from an ancient family, whose courage prompted 
 him to undertake, and enabled him finally to accom- 
 plish, the deliverance of his native country. Finding 
 himself obnoxious to the administration, he had fled 
 into the woods, and offered himself as a leader to all 
 those whom their crimes, or bad fortune, or avowed 
 hatred to the English, had reduced to the same neces- 
 sity. He was endowed with gigantic force, with he- 
 roic courage, and patience to bear hunger, fatigue, and 
 all the severities of the seasons. Beginning with 
 small attempts, he gradually proceeded to more mo 
 mentous enterprises; and he discovered equal pru 
 dence in securing his followers, and valour in annoy 
 ing the enemy. All who thirsted after military fame 
 or felt the flame of patriotism, were desirous to par 
 take his renown; and he seemed to vindicate the na 
 
asw. 
 
 90 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 tion from the ignominy into which it had fallen by iti 
 tame submission to the English. 
 
 Wallace resolved to strike a decisive blow against 
 the English government, and concerted the plan of 
 attacking Ormesby at Scone 3 but the justiciary, ap- 
 prized of his intentions, fled hastily into England, and 
 all the other officers of Edward followed his example. 
 Their terror added courage to the Scots, who took up 
 arms in every quarter. Warrenne, collecting an army 
 of forty thousand men in the north of England, ad- 
 vanced to Stirling, and found Wallace encamped on 
 the opposite banks of the Forth. He prepared to at- 
 tack the Scots in that position, and ordered his army 
 to cross a bridge which lay over the Forth. Wallace, 
 allowing a number of the English to pass, attacked 
 them before they could be formed, and pushed them 
 into the river, or destroyed them with the sword. 
 Warrenne was obliged to retire into England 3 and 
 Wallace, after receiving from his followers the title 
 of. guardian, or regent, broke into the northern coup. 
 ties of England, and extended his ravages to the bish-' 
 opric of Durham. 
 
 * Edward, who received in Flanders intelligence of 
 these events, hastened his return 5 and having collect- 
 ed the whole military force of England, Wales, and 
 Ireland, he marched with an army of nearly a hun 
 dred thousand men to the northern frontiers. The 
 Scots were distracted by faction and animosity. Tl/e 
 elevation of Wallace was the object of envy to the 
 nobility j and that hero, sensjble of their jealousy, 
 and dreading the ruin of his country from those intes- 
 tine discords, voluntarily resigned his authority, and 
 retained only the command over that body of follow 
 ers, who, being accustomed to victory under his stand- 
 ard, refused to follow into the field any other leader. 
 The chief power devolved on the steward of Scot- 
 land, and Cummin of Badenach, men of eminent 
 birth, who fixed their station at Falkirk, where they 
 purposed to abide the assault of the English. 
 
 The English archers, who began about this time to 
 surpass those of other nations, first chased the Scot- 
 tish bowmen off* the field, afterwryds threw the pike- 
 men into disorder, and thus rendered the assault of 
 the English lancers and cavalry more easy and sue- 
 
EDWARD I. 
 
 91 
 
 eessful. The whole Scottish army wa3 broken, and 
 driven off the field with prodigious slaughter. In this 
 general route Wallace kept his troops entire ; and re- 
 tiring behind the Carron, he marched leisurely along 
 the banks of that river. Young Robert Bruce, the 
 grandson and heir of him who had been competitor 
 for the throne, who, in the service of England, had 
 already given many proofs of his aspiring genius, ap 
 peared on the opposite banks; and distinguishing the 
 Scottish chief, he called to him, and desired a short 
 conference. He represented to Wallace the fruitless 
 and ruinous enterprise in which he was engaged, and 
 the unequal contest between a weak state, deprived 
 of its head and agitated by intestine discord, and a 
 mighty nation conducted by the ablest and most mar 
 tial monarch of the age. If the love of his country 
 was his motive for perseverance, his obstinacy tended 
 only to prolong her misery ; if he carried his views 
 to private grandeur and ambition, he ought to reflect, 
 that so many haughty nobles, proud of the pre-emin 
 ence of their families, would never submit to person- 
 al merit. To these exhortations Wallace repl ed, 
 that, if he had hitherto acted alone as the champion 
 of his country, it was because no leader had yet ap- 
 peared to place himself in that honourable station : 
 that the blame lay entirely with the nobility, and 
 chiefly with Bruce himself, who, uniting personal 
 merit to dignity of family, had deserted the post which 
 both nature and fortune invited him to assume ; that 
 the Scots, possessed of such a leader, might hope 
 successfully to oppose all the powers and abilities of 
 Edward; and as for himself, he was desirous that his 
 own life, as well as the existence of the nation, might 
 terminate when they could not otherwise be preserv- 
 ed, than by receiving the chains of a haughty victor. 
 The gallantry of these sentiments was felt by the 
 .generous mind of Bruce ; and he secretly determined 
 to seize the first opportunity of embracing the cause 
 of his oppressed country. 
 
 The battle of Falkirk had not completed the sub- 
 12991 J ect ^ on °f the*Scots. They chose for their re- 
 J gent John Cummin, who surprised the English 
 army, and routed them after an obstinate conflict 
 and it became necessary for Edward to begin anev 
 the conquest of the kinedom. 
 
92 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The king prepared himself for the enterprise with 
 his usual vigour and abilities. He marched victorious 
 from one extremity of Scotland to the other, and com 
 polled even Cummin himself to submit to his author 
 ity. To render his acquisition durable, he abrogated 
 all the laws and customs of Scotland, endeavoured to 
 substitute those of England in their place, entirely 
 rased or destroyed all the monuments of antiquity, 
 and hastened wholly to abolish the Scottish name. 
 
 Wallace himself was at length betrayed into Ed- 
 13051 warc ^ s hands, by his friend Sir John Monteith 3 
 •* find the king, whose natural bravery and mag 
 nanimity, should have induced him to respect similar 
 qualities in an enemy, resolved to overawe the Scots 
 by an example of severity. He ordered the hero to 
 be carried in chains to London 3 to be tried as a rebel 
 and a traitor, though he had never sworn fealty to 
 England; and to be executed on Tower-hill. Such 
 was the unworthy fate of Wallace, who, through the 
 course of several years, with signal conduct, intre- 
 pidity, and perseverance, defended, against a public 
 and oppressive enemy, the liberties of his native 
 country. 
 
 The barbarous policy of Edward failed of the ob- 
 13061 j ec * *° w h* c h it was directed. The Scots were 
 -* enraged at the injustice and cruelty exercised 
 on their gallant chief 3 and it was not long ere a more 
 fortunate leader presented himself to conduct them 
 to victory and to vengeance. Robert Bruce, whose 
 conference with Wallace on the banks of the Carron 
 has been already noticed, determined to revive the 
 pretensions of his family, and to aspire to the. vacant 
 throne. Edward, being apprised of his intentions, or- 
 dered all his motions to be strictly watched. An in- 
 timate friend of Bruce, not daring, amidst .so many 
 jealous eyes, to hold any conversation with him, sent 
 him by his servant a pair of gilt spurs and a purse of 
 gold, which he pretended to have borrowed from him j 
 and left it to his sagacity to discover the meaning. 
 Bruce immediately contrived to escape, and i n, a few 
 days arrived at Dumfries, the chief seat of hisTamily 
 interest, where he found a great number of the Scottisli 
 nobility assembled, and among the rest John Cummin 
 with whom he had formerly lived in strict intimacy. 
 
EDWARD II. 
 
 93 
 
 The noblemen were astonished at the appearance 
 of Bruce among them ; and still more when he tolu 
 them, that he was come to live or die with them in 
 defence of the liberties of his country. These gen- 
 erous sentiments, assisted by the graces of his youth 
 and manly deportment, impressed the minds of his 
 audience 5 and they resolved to use their utmost ef- 
 forts in delivering their country from bondage. Cum- 
 min alone, who had secretly taken his measures with 
 the king, opposed this general determination ; and 
 Bruce, already apprised of his treachery, followed 
 Cummin on the dissolution of the assembly, and at- 
 tacking him in the cloisters of the Gray Friars, ran 
 him through the body. 
 
 The murder of Cummin sealed the conspiracy of the 
 Scottish nobles. The genius of the nation roused it- 
 self ; and Bruce was solemnly crowned at Scone by 
 the bishop of St. Andrews. The English were again 
 expelled the kingdom 5 and Edward found, that the 
 Scots, twice conquered in his reign, must yet be afresh 
 subdued. To effect this, he assembled a great army, 
 >3071 an d was preparing to enter the frontiers, when he 
 -* unexpectedly sickened and died near Carlisle, 
 in the sixty-ninth year of his age and the thirty-fifth of 
 his reign. With his last breath he enjoined his son and 
 successor to prosecute the enterprise, and never to de- 
 sist till he had finally subdued the kingdom of Scotland. 
 
 Edward II. was in the twenty-third year of his age 
 when he ascended the throne. He was of an agreea- 
 ble figure, and of a mild and gentle disposition ; but 
 the first act of his reign blasted the hopes which the 
 English had entertained of him. Equally incapable 
 of, and averse to bus-iness, he entered Scotland only 
 - to retreat: he disbanded his army, without attacking 
 Bruce : and by this conduct, he convinced the barons 
 that the authority of the crown was no longer to be 
 dreaded, and that they were at liberty to practise er 
 ery insolence with impunity. 
 
 Piers Gaveston, the son of a Gascon knight, by his 
 insinuating address, his elegance of form, and his live- 
 ly wit, had gained an entire ascendant over the young 
 Edward 5 and the late king, apprehensive of the con- 
 sequences, had banished him the kingdom, and made 
 his son promise never to recall hirn. No sooner, 
 
94 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 however, did the young Edward ascend the Oirone, 
 than he recalled Gaveston, gave him the whole earl- 
 dom of Cornwall, married him to his own niece, and 
 seemed to enjoy no pleasure in his royal dignity, but 
 as it enabled him to exalt this object of his fond af- 
 fections. The haughty barons were offended at the 
 superiority of a minion, whose birth they despised, 
 and who eclipsed them in pomp and splendour. In 
 a journey to France, to espouse the princess Isabella, 
 Edward left Gaveston guardian of the realm ; but on 
 his return with the young queen, Isabella, who was 
 of an imperious and intriguing disposition, finding her 
 husband’s capacity required to be governed, thought 
 herself best entitled to perform the office, and was 
 well pleased to see a combination of the nobility 
 formed against the favourite. 
 
 Thomas earl of Lancaster, cousin-german to the 
 coqo- 1 king, was at the head of the party among the 
 ° -* barons. That nobleman entering the parlia- 
 
 ment with his adherents in arms, required the banish- 
 ment of Gaveston ; and Edward was obliged to sub- 
 mit ; but instead of sending him to his own country, 
 he appointed him lord-lieutenant of Ireland. 
 
 The king, unhappy in the absence of his minion, 
 employed every expedient to soften the opposition of 
 the barons to his return ; and deeming matters suffi- 
 ciently prepared for his purpose, he ventured to re- 
 call Gaveston, and went to Chester to receive him 
 on his first landing from Ireland. However, in defi- 
 ance of the laws and the king’s prohibition, the bar- 
 ons, with a numerous retinue of armed followers, 
 compelled Edward to devolve on a chosen junto the 
 whole authority both of the crown and the parliament: 
 and among other regulations sanctioned by this com- 
 mittee, Gaveston was forever banished the king’s do- 
 minions. 
 
 As soon, however, as Edward, by removing to York, 
 had freed himself from the barons’ power, he recall- 
 ed Gaveston from Flanders; and the barons, highly 
 provoked at this measure, flew to arms, with the earl 
 of Lancaster at their head. Edward left his favour- 
 ite in the castle of Scarborough, which was obliged 
 to surrender to the earl of Pembroke. From thenco 
 Gaveston was conducted to the castle of Dedington 
 
EDWARD II. 
 
 i »5 
 
 rear Banbury, where, being left with a small guard, 
 he was surprised by the earl of Warwick ; and, with- 
 out any regard to the laws, the head of the unhappy 
 favourite was struck off by the hands of the execu 
 1 SI ti° ner * When the king was informed of Gav- 
 eston’s murder, he threatened vengeance on 
 all those who had been active in that bloody scene ; 
 but being less constant in his enmities than in his 
 friendships, he listened to terms of accommodation, 
 and granted the barons a pardon of all offences. 
 
 Immediately after Edward’s retreat from Scotland, 
 Robert Bruce left his fastnesses ; and in a short time, 
 nearly the whole kingdom acknowledged his authority. 
 The castle of Stirling, the only fortress in Scotland 
 which remained in the hands of the English, was 
 closely pressed ; and to relieve this place, Edward 
 summoned his forces from all quarters, and marched 
 wi-th an army of an hundred thousand rnen. At Ban- 
 nockburn, about two miles from Stirling, Bruce with 
 thirty thousand hardy warriors, inured to all the vari- 
 eties of fortune, and inflamed with the love of inde 
 pendence, awaited the charge of the enemy. A hil 
 covered his right flank, and a morass his left 5 am 
 along the banks of a rivulet in his front he dug deep 
 pits; planted them with stakes, and covered the whole 
 with turf. The English, confident in their superior 
 numbers, rushed to the attack without precaution. 
 Their cavalry, entangled in the pits, were thrown in 
 to disorder ; and the Scottish horse, allowing them no 
 time to rally, attacked them, and drove them off the 
 field with considerable loss. While the English for 
 ces were .alarmed at this unfortunate event, an army 
 appeared on the heights toward the left, marching to 
 surround them. This was composed of wagoners and 
 sumpter-boys, whom Robert had supplied with milita- 
 ry standards. The stratagem took effect ; a panic 
 seized the English who threw down their arms, and 
 fled, and were pursued to the gates of Berwick.. Be- 
 sides an inestimable booty, the Scots took many per- 
 sons of quality prisoners, and above four hundred gen- 
 tlemen, whose ransom was a new accession of strength 
 to the victors. 
 
 This great and decisive battle secured the indepen- 
 dence of Scotland, and fixed tne throne of Bruce 
 
96 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 QJ5-1 whilst it shook that of Edward, whose defeat 
 1 -* encouraged the nobility to insist on the renew- 
 
 al of their ordinances. After the death of Gaveston, 
 the king’s chief favourite was Hugli le Despenser, or 
 Spenser, a young man of high rank, and noble family. 
 He possessed all the exterior accomplishments of per- 
 son and address, but was not endowed either with 
 moderation or prudence. His father, who was of the 
 same name, was a nobleman venerable from his years, 
 and qualified, by his talents and experience, to have 
 supplied the defects both of the king and his minion j 
 but Edward’s attachment rendered the name of Spen- 
 ser odious 3 and the turbulent Lancaster, and most 
 of the great barons, formed plans for his destruction. 
 
 The claim of Spenser to an estate, which had been 
 settled on the illustrious family of Mowbray, was the 
 signal for civil war. The earls of Lancaster and Her- 
 eford flew to arms 3 and by menaces and violence they 
 extorted from the king an act of attainder against the 
 Spensers, and of indemnity for themselves. This be- 
 *ng effected, they disbanded their army, and separated, 
 in security, as they imagined, to their respective cas- 
 tles. Edward, however, having assembled an army, 
 dropped the mask, and recalled the Spensers, whose 
 sentence he declared to be illegal and unjust. Lan- 
 caster, who had hastily collected thirty thousand men, 
 fled with his forces towards the north 3 but being in- 
 tercepted at Boroughbridge, after a slight action, he 
 was taken prisoner, and brought to the king. Edward, 
 though gentle by nature, remembered on this occasion 
 the fate of Gaveston 3 and Lancaster, mounted upon a 
 lean horse, and exposed to the derision of the people 
 was conducted to an eminence near Pomfret, one of 
 his own castles, where he suffered decapitation. 
 
 Edward, after another fruitless attempt on Scotland, 
 concluded a truce for thirteen years with Bruce, 
 whose title to the crown «vas thus virtually, though not 
 tacitly, acknowledged. He was, however, still embar- 
 rassed by the demands of his brother-in-law, Charles 
 the Fair, who required him to appear and do homage 
 for the fees which he held in France. The queen 
 had been permitted to go to Paris, and endeavour to 
 adjust in an amicable manner the differences wkh hei 
 brother. On her arrival in France, Isabella was sur 
 
EDWARD. II. 
 
 'J 7 
 
 rounded by a number of English fugitives, the remains 
 of the Lancastrian faction. Among these was young 
 Roger Mortimer, a potent baron in the Welsh march- 
 es, who, by the graces of his person and^ address, 
 quickly advanced in the affections of the queen, and 
 at last triumphed over her honour. The king, inform- 
 ed of these circumstances, required her speedily to 
 return with the young prince Edward, who was then 
 with his mother in Paris ; but instead of obeying his 
 orders, she publicly declared that she would never set 
 foot in England till Spenser was removed from his 
 presence and councils. 
 
 This declaration procured Isabella great popularity 
 1^261 ' n England, and threw a veil over her treasona- 
 J ble enterprises 3 and having affianced young 
 Edward with Philippa, daughter of the count of Hol- 
 land and Hainault, she enlisted three thousand men, 
 sailed from the harbour of Dort, and landed, without 
 opposition, on the coast of Norfolk. She was imme- 
 diately joined by several of the most powerful barons 3 
 ind to render her cause popular, she renewed her dec- 
 laration, that her sole purpose was to free the king and 
 kingdom from the tvranny of the Spensers. 
 
 The king, after trying in vain to rouse the citizens 
 of London to a sense of duty, departed for the west, 
 and was hotly pursued to Bristol by his own brother, 
 the earl of Kent, and the foreign forces under John de 
 Hainault. Disappointed in the loyalty of those parts, 
 he passed over into Wales, leaving the elder Spenser 
 governor of the castle of Bristol 3 but the garrison mu- 
 tinied against him, and he was delivered into the hands 
 of his enemies. This venerable noble, who had near- 
 ly reached his ninetieth year, was without trial con- 
 demned to death by the rebellious barons. He was 
 hanged on a gibbet j his body was cut in pieces and 
 thrown to the dogs 3 and his head was sent to Win- 
 chester, where it was set upon a pole, and exposed to 
 the insults of the populace. Edward himself attempted 
 to escape to Ireland 3 but being driven back by contra- 
 ry winds, he was discovered, and committed to the cus- 
 tody of the earl of Leicester, in the castle of Kenil- 
 worth. The younger Spenser, his favourite, who al- 
 so fell into the hands of his enemies, was executed 
 like his father, without any appearance of a legal trial. 
 
 VOL. I. 7 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The diabolical Isabella, in order to avail he r self of 
 1S271 P reva ili n o delusion, summoned in the king’s 
 ■* name a parliament at Westminster. A charge 
 was drawn up against Edward, in which, though fratn 
 ed by his inveterate enemies, nothing but his want of 
 capacity, or his misfortunes, could be objected against 
 him. The deposition of the king, however, was vot- 
 ed by parliament; and the prince his son was placed 
 on the throne. 
 
 But it was impossible that the character and con- 
 duct of Isabella could long oe mistaken. The gross 
 violation of every duty and every tie soon estranged 
 from her the minds of men ; the proofs which daily 
 broke out of her criminal commerce with Mortimer, 
 increased the general abhorrence against her ; and her 
 hypocrisy in publicly bewailing the king’s unhappy 
 fate, was not able to deceive even the most stupid and 
 most prejudiced of her adherents. In proportion as 
 the queen became the object of public hatred, the de- 
 throned monarch, who had been the victim of her 
 crimes and her ambition, was regarded with pity and 
 veneration; and men became sensible, that all his 
 misconduct, which faction had so much exaggerated, 
 had been owing to the natural imbecility, not to any 
 voluntary depravity, of his character. The earl of 
 Leicester, now earl of Lancaster, to whose custody 
 he had been committed, was soon touched with those 
 generous sentiments; and besides treating his priso- 
 ner with gentleness and humanity, he was suspected 
 to have entertained still more honourable intentions 
 in his favour. The king, therefore, was taken from 
 his hands, and delivered over to lord Berkeley, and 
 Mautravers and Gournay, who were entrusted alter- 
 nately, each for a month, with the charge of guarding 
 him. While he was in the custody of Berkeley, he 
 was still treated with the gentleness due to his ranl< 
 and his misfortunes; but when the turn of Mautra- 
 vers and Gournay came, every species of indignit) 
 was practised against him, as if their intention had 
 been to break entirely the prince’s spirit, anti to em 
 ploy his sorrows and afflictions, instead of more vio* 
 lent and more dangerous expedients, for the instru 
 ments of his murder. But as this method of destruc- 
 tion appeared too slow to the impatient Mortimer, he 
 
EDWARD III. 
 
 39 
 
 lecretly sent orders to the two keepers > who were at 
 his devotion, instantly to despatch him. Taking ad- 
 vantage of Berkeley's sickness, in whose custody he 
 12071 then was, and who was thereby incapacitated 
 ~ ■* from attending his charge, they came to Berke- 
 ley castle, and putting themselves in possession of 
 the king's person, they threw him on a bed, and hold- 
 ing him down with a table, thrust into his furdament 
 a red hot iron, which they inserted through a horn, 
 that no external marks of violence might be seen on 
 his person. The dreadful deed, however, was discov 
 ered to all the guards and attendants by the screams 
 with which the agonizing king filled the castle, while 
 nis bowels were consuming. 
 
 Thus died Edward II., than whom it is not easy to 
 imagine a more innocent and inoffensive man, nor a 
 prince less capable of governing a fierce and turbu- 
 lent people. Obliged to devolve on others the weight 
 of which he had neither ability nor inclination to bear, 
 he wanted penetration to choose ministers and favour- 
 ites qualified for the trust. 
 
 CHAPTER. VI. 
 
 The Reign of Edward III. 
 
 The party which had deposed the unfortunate mon- 
 arch, deemed it requisite for their security, to obtain 
 an indemnity from parliament for all their proceed- 
 ings. All the attainders, also, which had passed against 
 the earl of Lancaster and his adherents, were easily 
 reversed during the triumph of their party. A coun- 
 cil of regency was likewise appointed by parliament, 
 consisting of five prelates and seven lay lords ; and 
 the earl of Lancaster was nominated guardian of the 
 young king, Edward III. 
 
 Mortimer, though not included in the regency, ren- 
 dered that council entirely useless, by usurping to 
 himself the whole sovereign authority. He never 
 consulted either the princes of the blood or the no- 
 bility on any public measure ; and he affected a state 
 and dignity equal or superior to those of royalty. Ed« 
 
100 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ward, who had attained his eighteenth year, repined 
 at the fetters in which he was held by this insolent 
 minister ; but so much was he surrounded by the emis- 
 saries of Mortimer, that he was obliged to conduct 
 the project for subverting him with the greatest se- 
 crecy and precaution. The queen-dowager, and Mor- 
 timer lodged in the castle of Nottingham ; the king 
 also was admitted, though with a few only of his at- 
 tendants ; and as the castle was strictly guarded, it 
 became necessary to communicate the design to Sir 
 William Eland, tin governor, who zealously took part 
 in it. By his direction, the king’s associates were ad- 
 mitted through a subterraneous passage ; and Morti- 
 mer, without having it in his power to make resist- 
 ance, was suddenly seized in an apartment adjoining 
 to the queen’s. A parliament was immediately sum 
 moned for his condemnation ; and such was the noto 
 riety of his infamous conduct, that without trial, or 
 examining a witness, he was sentenced to be hanged 
 on a gibbet at the Elms, in the neighbourhood of Lon- 
 don. The queen was confined to her own house at 
 Risings; and though the king, during the remainder 
 of her life, paid her a visit once or twice a year, she 
 never regained any credit or influence. 
 
 Edward, having now assumed the reigns of govern- 
 13321 mcnt > applied himself to redress all those griev- 
 -* ances which had proceeded from the late abuse 
 of authority. The severity with which he caused jus- 
 tice to be administered, soon restored the kingdom to 
 internal tranquillity ; and in proportion as the govern 
 ment acquired stability at home, it became formida- 
 ble to its neighbours. Edward made a successful ir- 
 ruption into Scotland, for the purpose of reinstating 
 Edward Baliol in possession of the crown of that 
 kingdom 3 and in an engagement at Halidown-hill, a 
 little north of Berwick, the Scots were defeated, 
 with the loss of nearly thirty thousand men. 
 
 It had long been a prevailing opinion, that the crown 
 13371 France ccmlcl never descend to a female, and 
 •* this maxim was supposed to be confirmed by a 
 clause in the Salic code ; but the king of England, at 
 an early age, embraced a notion that he was entitled, 
 in right of his mother, to the succession of the king- 
 dom, and that the claim of the nephew was preferable 
 
EDWARD III. 
 
 101 
 
 to that of Philip de Valois, the cousin german, who 
 nad been unanimously placed on the throne of France. 
 His own claim, however, was so unreasonable, and so 
 thoroughly disavowed by the whole French nation, 
 that it is probable Edward would never \ ave prosecut- 
 ed it, had not some jealousies and misunderstanding 
 arisen between the two monarch?. 
 
 Determined to engage in this chimerical attempt, 
 the king began with opening his intentions to the count 
 of Hainault, his father-in-law; and having engaged 
 him in hi^ interests, he employed the good offices and 
 counsels of that prince in drawing into his alliance 
 the other sovereigns of that neighbourhood. The 
 duke of Brabant was induced, by his mediation, and 
 by large remittances of money from England, to prom- 
 ise his concurrence; the archbishop of Cologne, the 
 duke of Gueldres, the marquis of Juliers, the count 
 of Namur, the lords of Fauquemont and Baquen, 
 were engaged by like motives to embrace the English 
 alliance. These sovereign princes could supply, eith- 
 er from their own states, or from the bordering coun- 
 tries, great numbers of warlike troops; and nothing 
 was wanting to make the force on that quarter very 
 formidable, but the accession of Flanders; which Ed- 
 ward procured by means rather extraordinary and un- 
 usual. 
 
 After consulting his parliament and obtaining its 
 consent, Edward, accompanied by a body of English 
 forces, and by several of his nobility, passed over to 
 Flanders. The Flemings, as vassals of France, pre- 
 tending some scruples with regard to the invasion of 
 their liege lord, Edward assumed the title of king of 
 France; but he did not venture on this step without 
 hesitation and reluctance, and a presage of the ca- 
 lamities which he was about to inflict and entail on 
 bolh countries. 
 
 The first attempts of the king were unsuccessful ; 
 but he was a prince of too much spirit to be discour- 
 aged by the difficulties of an undertaking. By con- 
 firming the ancient charters, and the privileges of 
 boroughs, he obtained from the parliament a consid 
 erable supply; and with a fleet of two hundred and 
 forty sail, he again embarked for the continent. Off 
 Sluise he was encountered by a French fleet consist 
 
102 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ing ol* four hundred vessels. The inferiority of the 
 English in number, was compensated by their nauti 
 cal skill, and the presence of their monarch The 
 engagement was fierce and bloody 5 and the Flemings, 
 near whose coast the action took place, issued from 
 their harbours, and reinforced the English. Two hun- 
 dred and thirty French ships were taken 3 and thirty 
 thousand of their men perished. Numbers now flock- 
 ed to the standard of Edward ; and with an army of 
 above an hundred thousand men, he inve^ed Tour- 
 nay. That place had been provided with a garrison 
 of fourteen thousand men 3 but after the "ege had 
 continued ten weeks, the city was reduced to istress j 
 and Philip advanced towards the English cam , nt the 
 head of a mighty host, with the intention of avoiding a * 
 decisive action, but of throwing succours into the 
 place. Both armies continued in sight of each other 
 without engaging j and,, whilst in this situation, Jane, 
 countess dowager of Hainault, interposed her good of- 
 fices in order to prevent the effusion of blood. This 
 princess was mother-in-law to Edward, and sister to 
 Philip 3 and her pious efforts prevailed on them both, 
 though they could not lay aside, at least to suspend 
 their animosities, by subscribing a truce for twelve 
 months. 
 
 Edward returned to England, deeply chagrined at 
 the unfortunate issue of his military operations 3 and 
 he vented hi's ill humour on the officers of the reve- 
 nue and collectors of taxes, hi order to obtain a new 
 supply from the parliament, the king had been oblig- 
 ed to subscribe to nearly the same restrictions as had 
 Deen imposed on Henry III. and Edward II. No 
 sooner, however, was he possessed of the necessary 
 supply, than he revoked and annulled his concessions j 
 and he afterwards obtained from his parliament a legal 
 repeal of the obnoxious statute, which imposed those 
 restrictions. Edward had experienced so many mor- 
 tifications in his war with France, that he would 
 probably have dropped his claim, had not a revolution 
 in Brittany opened to him more promising views. 
 
 John III., duke of Brittany, having no issue, was* 
 solicitous to prevent those disorders to which, on the ■ 
 event of his demise, a disputed succession might ex . 
 oose his subjects. For that purpose, he bestowed h s 
 
EDWARD III. 103 
 
 niece, whom he deemed his heir, in marriage on 
 Charles of Blois, nephew of the king of France ; and 
 all his vassals, and among the resjt the cotfnt of Mont- 
 fort, his brother by a second marriage, swore fealty to 
 Charles and to his consort as to their future sove- 
 reigns. But on the death of the aged duke, the count 
 of Montfort made a voyage to England ; and offering 
 to do homage to Edward as king of France, for the 
 duchy of Brittany, he proposed a strict alliance for 
 the support of their mutual pretensions. Edward im- 
 mediately saw the advantages attending this treaty : 
 and it required a very short negotiation to conclude 
 an alliance between two men, who, though their pleas 
 with regard to the preference of male or female suc- 
 cession were directly opposite, were intimately con 
 nected by their immediate interests. 
 
 Soon after, however, Montfort fell into the hands of 
 enemies, was conducted as a prisoner to 
 Paris, and shut up in the Louvre. This event 
 seemed to put an end to his pretensions ; but his con- 
 sort assembled the inhabitants of Rennes, deplored to 
 them the calamity of their sovereign, and entreated 
 them to resist an usurper, who had been imposed on 
 them by the arms of France. Inspirited by the noble 
 conduct of the princess, the states of Brittany vowed 
 to live and die with her in defending the rights of her 
 family. The countess shut herself up in Hennebon- 
 ne, which was invested by Charles of Blois, who, af- 
 ter several reiterated attacks, was compelled to abac 
 don the siege on the arrival of succours from Eng- 
 land. 
 
 After the death o£ Robert of Artois, whom the king 
 of England had despatched to Brittany with a consid 
 erable reinforcement, Edward undertook in person the 
 defence of the countess of Montfort. The king land- 
 ed at Morbian, near Vannes, with an army of twelve 
 thousand men, and commenced the three important 
 sieges of Vannes, of Rennes, and of Nantz 5 but by 
 undertaking too much, he failed of success in all hio 
 enterprises. The duke of Normandy, eldest son of 
 Philip king of France, appeared in Brittany at the 
 head of an army of thirty thousand infantry and four 
 thousand cavalry. Edward was obliged to concen- 
 trate his forces, and to entrench himself before Van* 
 
104 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 nes, where the duke of Normandy soon after arrived 
 and in a manner invested the besiegers. The English 
 drew all their subsistence from England, exposed tc 
 the hazards of the sea, and sometimes to those which 
 arose from the fleet of the enemy j and, in this dan- 
 gerous situation, Edward willingly accepted the me- 
 diation of the pope’s legates, and concluded a truce 
 for three years. By this truce all prisoners were to 
 be released, the places in Brittany to remain with 
 their present possessors, and Vannes was to be se- 
 questered into the hands of the legates, to be after- 
 wards disposed of according to their pleasure. 
 
 The truce, however, was of very short duration; 
 13441 an ^ eac h monarch endeavoured to inculpate the 
 other for its infraction. The parliament, whom 
 Edward affected to consult on all occasions, advised 
 the king not to be amused by a fraudulent truce, and 
 granted supplies for the renewal of the war. The 
 carl of Derby, with an English army, was sent into 
 134f 1 Guienne ; but Edward, iaformed of the great 
 -* danger to which that province was exposed 
 from the duke of Normandy, prepared a force for its 
 relief. He embarked at Southampton, with his son 
 the prince of Wales, and the flower of his nobility ; 
 but the winds proving contrary, he was prevailed on to 
 change the destination of his enterprise ; and ordering 
 his fleet to sail to Normandy, he safely disembarked 
 his forces at La Hogue. Edward spread his army over 
 the whole country, defeated a body of troops that had 
 been collected for the defence of Caen, and took and 
 plundered that rich city. He moved next towards 
 Rouen ; but he found the bridge over the Seine broken 
 down, and the king of France encrftnped on the oppo- 
 site bank with an army of one hundred thousand men. 
 
 Edward perceived that the French intended to in- 
 close him in their country ; and therefore, by a secret 
 and rapid movement, he gained Poissy, passed the 
 Seine, and advanced by quick marches towards Flan- 
 ders. But as he approached the Somme, he found 
 himself in the same difficulty as before ; all the bridges 
 on that river were either broken down or strongly 
 guarded; and an army was stationed on the opposite 
 oanks. The promise of a reward induced a peasant 
 .o betray the interests of his country, and to inform 
 
EDWARD III. 
 
 105 
 
 Edward of a ford below Abbeville. The king tlirev* 
 himself into the river at the head of his troops, drove 
 the enemy from their station, and pursued them to a 
 distance on the plain. As the. fear-guard of the Eng 
 lish passed, the French army under Philip arrived 3 
 the ford ; and Edward, sensible that an engagement 
 was unavoidable, adopted a prudent resolution. He 
 chose his ground with advantage, near the village of 
 Crecy,* drew up his army on a gentle ascent, and di 
 vided them into three lines : the first was commanded 
 by the prince of Wales, and under him by the earls 
 of Warwick and Oxford, and other noblemen ; the se- 
 cond, by the earls of Arundel and Northampton; and 
 the third j by the king himself. His flanks were secur- 
 ed by trenches ; and according to some historians, 
 several pieces of artillery were placed in his front. 
 
 The French army imperfectly formed, and already 
 fatigued and disordered, arrived in presence of the en- 
 emy. The first line, consisting of fifteen thousand 
 Genoese cross-bow men, was commanded by Antho- 
 ny Doria and Charles Grimaldi ; the second was led 
 by the count of Alengon, brother to the king ; and at 
 the head of the third was Philip himself, accompanied 
 by the kings of Bohemia, of the Romans, and of Major- 
 ca, with all the nobility and great vassals of the crown 
 of France. The battle became, for some time, hot and 
 dangerous; and the earl of Warwick, apprehensive 
 of the event from the superior numbers of the French, 
 despatched a messenger to the king, and entreated 
 him to send succours to the relief of the prince of 
 Wales. Edward had chosen his station on the top of 
 the hill ; and he surveyed in tranquillity the scene of ac- 
 tion. When the messenger accosted him, his first ques 
 tion was, whether the prince was slain or wounded 
 On receiving an answer in the negative, “ Return / 7 
 said he, u to my son, and tell him that I reserve the hon- 
 our of the day to him : I am confident that he will show 
 himself worthy of the honour of knighthood which I so 
 lately conferred upon him : he will be able without 
 my assistance, to repel the enemy . 77 This speech be- 
 ing reported to the prince and his attendants, inspired 
 
 * The battle of Crecy, which was fought Aug. 26, began at 
 ee o’clock in the afternoon, and lasted till dark. 
 
106 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 them with fresh courage : they made an attack with re* 
 doubled vigour on the French, in which the count of 
 Alein^on was slain. In vain the king of . France ad* 
 vanced with the rear- to sustain the line commanded 
 by his brother. The whole French army took to 
 flight, and was followed and put to the sword, without 
 mercy, by the enemy, till the darkness of the night 
 put an end to the pursuit. The king, on his return to 
 the camp, flew into the arms of the prince of Wales, 
 and exclaimed, “ My brave son ! persevere in your 
 honourable cause : you are my son 3 for valiantly have 
 you acquitted yourself to-day : you have shown your- 
 self worthy of empire.” 
 
 Iri this battle there fell, by a moderate computation, 
 twelve hundred French knights, fourteen hundred gen- 
 tlemen., four thousand men at arms, besides about 
 thirty thousand of inferior rank : many of the princi- 
 pal nobility of France, the dukes of Lorraine and 
 Bourbon, the earls of Flanders, Blois, Vaudemont, 
 Aumale. were left on the field of battle. The kings 
 also of Bohemia and Majorca were slain. The former 
 was blind from age 3 but being resolved to hazard his 
 person, and set an example to others, he ordered the 
 reins of his bridle to be tied on each side to the horses 
 of two gentlemen of his train 3 and his dead body, and 
 those of his attendants, were afterwards found among 
 the slain, with their horses standing by them in that 
 situation. His crest was three ostrich feathers 3 and 
 his motto these German words, Ich dien. I serve : 
 which the prince of Wales and his successors adopted 
 in memorial of this great victory. 
 
 The great prudence of Edward appeared not only in 
 obtaining this memorable victory, but in the measures 
 which he pursued after it. Not elated by his present 
 prosperity, so far as to expect the total conquest of 
 France, or even that of any considerable provinces, he 
 limited his ambition to the conquest of Calais j and 
 after the interval of a few days, which he employed in 
 interring the slain, he marched with his victorious ar- 
 my, and presented himself before that place. 
 
 John of Vienne, a valiant knight of Burgundy, was 
 governor of Calais, and being supplied with every 
 thing necessary for defence, he encouraged the towns- 
 men to perform to tie utmost their duty to their king 
 
EDWARD III. 
 
 107 
 
 and country. Edward, therefore, sensible from the 
 beginning that it was in vain to attempt the place by 
 force, purposed only to reduce it by famine. This 
 6iege employed him nearly twelve months 3 and dur- 
 ing this interval, there passed in different places many 
 other events, all of which redounded to the honour of 
 the English arms. In vain Philip attempted to relieve 
 Calais at the head of two hundred thousand men. 
 Thrt fortress was now reduced to the last extremity 
 by famine and the fatigue of the inhabitants ; but Ed- 
 j34n ward insisted that six of the most considerable 
 1 -* citizens should atone for the obstinacy of the 
 rest, by submitting their lives to his disposal, and by 
 presenting, with ropes about their necks, the keys of 
 the city. This intelligence struck the inhabitants 
 with new consternation. At length, Eustace de St. 
 Pierre, whose name deserves to be recorded, declar- 
 ed himself willing to encounter death for the safety of 
 his friends and companions : the generous flame was 
 communicated to others 3 and the whole number was 
 soon completed. They appeared before Edward in 
 the guise of malefactors j but at the intercession of 
 his queen Philippa, these excellent citizens were dis- 
 missed with presents. 
 
 To secure the possession of Calais, Edward order- 
 ed all the inhabitants to quit the town, and peopled it 
 anew with English ; a policy which probably secured 
 that important fortress so long to his successors. 
 Through the mediation of the pope’s legates, he soon 
 after concluded a truce with France 3 and on his re- 
 turn to England, he instituted the Order of the Garter. 
 The number received into this order consisted of 
 twenty-five persons, besides the sovereign. A vulgar 
 story prevails, but is not supported by authority, that, 
 at a court-ball, the king’s mistress, the countess of 
 Salisbury, dropped her garter 5 and Edward taking it 
 up, observed some of the courtiers to smile, upon 
 which he called out, Honi soil qui mal y pense, “ Evil 
 to him that evil thinks j” and in memorial of this 
 event, he instituted the Order of the Garter, with these 
 words for its motto. 
 
 During the truce between France and England, 
 • oka-i Philip de Valois died, and was succeeded in the 
 00 ■* throne by his son John who was distinguished 
 
\ 
 
 108 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 by many virtues, but was destitute of that master!} 
 prudence which the situation of the kingdom requir- 
 ed. The chief source of the intestine calamities of 
 France was Charles king of Navarre, who received 
 the epithet of “ wicked,” and whose conduct fully 
 entitled him to that appellation, though he possessed 
 talents of the very first order, if they had been hon- 
 ourably directed. This prince did not conceal his 
 pretensions, in right of his mother, to the throne of 
 France, and increased the number of his partisans 
 throughout the kingdom. He even seduced, by his 
 address, Charles, the eldest son of John, who was the 
 first that bore the name of dauphin. But Charles was 
 made sensible of the folly and danger of the connex- 
 ion ; and in concert with his father, he invited the 
 king of Navarre, and other noblemen of the party, to 
 an entertainment at R.ouen, where they were betrayed 
 into the hands of John. Some of the latter were im- 
 mediately led to execution ; and the king of Navarre 
 was thrown into prison. Philip, the brother of the 
 king of Navarre, flew to arms, and implored the pro- 
 tection of England ; and as the truce was expired, 
 Edward was at liberty to support the French malcon- 
 tents. Whilst the king himself ravaged Picardy, the 
 Scots, taking advantage of his absence, collected an 
 army for an incursion against England. Edward, 
 therefore, returned to defend that kingdom against the 
 threatened invasion ; and after burning and destroying 
 the whole country from Berwick to Edinburgh, he in- 
 duced Baliol to resign the crown of Scotland into his 
 * hands, in consideration of an annual pension of two 
 thousand pounds. 
 
 In the mean time, young Edward, accompanied by 
 n . the earls of Warwick and Salisbury , had arrived 
 IdooJ - n t y )e Garonne, with three hundred sail. Be- 
 ing joined by the vassals of Gascony, he reduced all 
 the villages and several towns of Languedoc to ashes. 
 In a second compaign, at the head of twelve thousand 
 men, he penetrated into the heart of France ; when 
 he was informed that the French king was approach- 
 ing with an army of sixty thousand men. 
 
 Near Poictiers, prince Edward prepared for battle 
 with equal courage and prudence; but the most splen 
 did military qualities could rot have extricated him. 
 
 I 
 
EDWARD III. 
 
 103 
 
 if the French had availed themselves of their superi- 
 or numbers, and contented themselves with intercept- 
 ing his provisions. So sensible, indeed, was the 
 prince of his desperate condition, that he offered to 
 purchase his retreat by ceding all his conquests, and 
 by stipulating not to serve against France for seven 
 years ; but John required that he should surrender 
 himself prisoner with one hundred of his attendants. 
 The prince rejected this proposal with disdain, and 
 declared that England should never be obliged to pay 
 the price of his ransom. 
 
 All hopes of accommodation being at an end, the 
 prince of Wales strengthened by new entrenchments 
 the post which he had before so judiciously chosen; 
 knd contrived an ambush of three hundred men at 
 arms, and as many archers, whom he put under the 
 command of the Captal de Buche, and ordered to 
 make a circuit, that they might fall on the flank or 
 rear of the French army during the engagement. The 
 van of his army was commanded by the earl of War- 
 wick, the rear by the earls of Salisbury and Suffolk, 
 /he main body by the prince himself. 
 
 John also arranged his forces in three divisions : 
 the first was commanded by the duke of Orleans, the 
 king’s brother 3 the second by the dauphin, attended 
 by his two younger brothers; the third by the king 
 himself, who had by his side Philip, his fourth and fa- 
 vourite son, then about fourteen years of age. There 
 was no reaching the English army but through a nar- 
 row lane, covered on each side by hedges; and in. 
 order to open this passage, the mareschals Andrehen 
 and Clermont were ordered to advance with a separate 
 detachment of men at arms. While they marched 
 along the lane, a body of English archers, who lined 
 the hedges, plied them on each side with their arrows ; 
 and being very near them, yet placed in perfect safe- 
 ty, they coolly took their aim against the enemy, and 
 slaughtered them with impunity. The French de- 
 tachment, much discouraged by the unequal combat, 
 and diminished in their number, arrived at the end of 
 the lane, where they met on the open ground the 
 prince of Wales himself, at the head of a chosen 
 body., ready for their reception. They were discom- 
 fited and overthrown ; on<? of the mareschals was 
 
* iO 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 slain, the other taken prisoner, and the remainder of 
 the detachment, who were still in the lane, and expos- 
 ed to the shot of the enemy, without being able to 
 make resistance, recoiled upon their own army, and 
 put every thing into disorder. In the critical moment 
 the Captal de Buche unexpectedly appeared, and attack- 
 ed in flank the dauphin's line, which fell into some con- 
 fusion. Landas, Bodenai, and St. Venant, to whom the 
 care of that young prince and his brothers had been 
 committed, too anxious for their charge, or for their 
 own safety, carried them off the field, and set the ex- 
 ample of flight, which was followed by that whole divi- 
 sion. The duke of Orleans, seized with a like panic, 
 and imagining all was lost, thought no longer of fight- 
 ing, but carried off his division by a retreat, which 
 soon turned into a flight. The division under king 
 John was more numerous than the whole English ar- 
 my ; and the only resistance made that day was by 
 his line of battle. The prince of Wales fell with 
 impetuosity on some German cavalry placed in the 
 front; a fierce battle ensued, but at length that body 
 of cavalry gave way, and left the king himself expos- 
 ed to the whole fury of the enemy. The ranks were 
 every moment thinned around him ; the nobles fell 
 by his side one after another: his son, scarcely four- 
 teen years of age, received a wound whilst fighting 
 valiantly in defence of his father. The king himself 
 spent with fatigue, and overwhelmed by numbers, 
 might easily have been slain ; but every English gen- 
 tleman, ambitious of taking alive the royal prisoner, 
 spared him in the action, exhorted him to surrender, 
 and offered him quarter. Several who attempted to 
 seize him suffered for their temerity. He still cried 
 out, “ Where is my cousin, the prince of Wales?" 
 and seemed unwilling to become prisoner to any per- 
 son of inferior rank ; but being told that the prince 
 was at a distance, he threw down his gauntlet, and 
 yielded himself, together with his son, to Dennis de 
 Morbec, a knight of Arras. 
 
 The moderation displayed by Edward on this occa- 
 sion, has for ever stamped his character. At a repast 
 prepared in his tent for his prisoner, he served at the 
 royal captive’g table, as if he had been one of his ret- 
 inue ; he stood behind the king’s chair, and refused 
 
EDWARD III. 
 
 Ill 
 
 to be seated. All his father's pretensions to the crown 
 of France were buried in oblivion ; and John received 
 when a captive, those honours which had been denied 
 him when on a throne. 
 
 The prince of Wales concluded a truce of two years 
 . with France, that he might conduct the captive 
 king with safety into England. He landed at 
 Southwark, and was met by a great concourse of people 
 of all ranks. The prisoner was clad in royal apparel, 
 and mounted on a white steed, distinguished by its 
 size and beauty, and by the richness of its furniture. 
 The conqueror rode by his side in a meaner attire, on 
 a black palfry. In this situation he passed through the 
 streets of London, and presented the king of France to 
 his father, who advanced to meet him, and received 
 him with the same courtesy as if he had voluntarily 
 paid him a visit. 
 
 The captivity of John produced in France the most 
 horrible anarchy. Every man was thrown loose and 
 independent of his fellows; and licentiousness reigned 
 without control. At length, in a conference between 
 the English and French commissioners at Bretigni, a 
 peace between the two nations was concluded on the 
 following conditions. It was stipulated that king John 
 should be restored to his liberty, and should pay as his 
 ransom three millions of crowns of gold;* that the 
 king of England should forever renounce all claim to 
 the crown of France, and to the provinces of Norman- 
 dy, Maine, Touraine, and Anjou, possessed by his an- 
 cestors, and should receive in exchange the provinces* 
 of Poictou, Xaintonge, PAgenois, Perigort, the Li- 
 mousin, Quercy, Rovergue, PAngoumois, and other 
 districts in that quarter, together with Calais, Guisnes, 
 Montreuil, and the county of Ponthieu, on the other 
 side of France ; that Edward should renounce his con- 
 federacy with the Flemings, and John his connex- 
 ions with the Scots; and that forty hostages should 
 be sent to England as a security for the execution of 
 these conditions. 
 
 John no sooner regained his liberty, than he prepar- 
 ed to execute the terms with that fidelity and 
 
 1360 ] 
 
 honour by which he was characterized. How- 
 
 About a million and a half of our present sterling money. 
 
112 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ever, notwithstanding his endeavouis, many difficut 
 ties occurred in fulfilling his purposes ; and, therefore, 
 in order to adjust some disputes, he formed a resolu- 
 tion of coming over to England. His council endeav- 
 oured to dissuade him from this design ; but he replied, 
 11 that though good faith were banished from the rest 
 of the earth, she ought still to retain her habitation in 
 the breast of princes.” John therefore came to Lon- 
 don, and was lodged in the Savoy, where he fell sick 
 and died. 
 
 John was succeeded in the throne by Charles the 
 13 GI 1 Dauphin, who immediately directed his atten- 
 ° J tion to the internal disorders which afflicted his 
 kingdom. His fhief obstacle proceeded from large 
 bands of military adventurers, who had followed the 
 standard of Edward, but who, on the conclusion of 
 peace, refused to lay down their arms, persevered in a 
 life of rapine, and associating themselves under the 
 name of “companions/ 7 were a terror to the country 
 At length, they enlisted under the standard of Du 
 Guesclin, who led them against Peter the Cruel, king 
 of Castile. Peter fled from his dominions, sought ref- 
 uge in Guienne, and craved the protection of the 
 prince of Wales, whom his father had invested with 
 the sovereignty of these conquered countries, by the 
 title of the principality of Aquitaine. That prince 
 promised his assistance to the dethroned monarch, and 
 recalled the companions from the service of Henry of 
 Transtamare, whom they had placed on the throne of 
 Castile. Henry encountered the English prince at 
 Najara, and was defeated with the loss of more than 
 twenty thousand men. Peter was restored to the 
 throne 5 but the ungrateful tyrant refused the stipulated 
 pay to the English forces ; and Edward returned to 
 Guienne, with a diminished army, and his constitution 
 fatally impaired by the climate. The barbarities exer- 
 cised by Peter over his subjects, revived all the ani- 
 mosity of the Castilians j and the tyrant was again de- 
 throned, and put to death. 
 
 Prince Edward, by this rash expedition, had involv- 
 ed himself in so much debt, that he found it necessary, 
 on his return, to impose oh Aquitaine a new tax on 
 hearths. The people, disgusted by this measure, car- 
 ried their complaints to Charles, their ancient sove- 
 
EDWARD III. 
 
 113 
 
 reign, as to their lord paramount, against these oppres- 
 sions of the English government. By the treaty of 
 Bretigne, the king of France had renounced all claims 
 to the homage and fealty due for Guienne, and the 
 other provinces, ceded to the English 3 but, on this 
 occasion, Charles affected to consider himself as supe- 
 rior lord of those provinces, and summoned Edward to 
 appear at his court at Paris, and justify his conduct to 
 his vassals. The prince briefly replied, that he would 
 come to Paris, but that it should be at the head of 
 sixty thousand men. 
 
 Charles fell upon Ponthieu, while his brothers, the 
 dukes of Berri and Anjou, invaded the southern prov- 
 inces. In one action, Chandos, the oonstable of Gui 
 enne, was slain ; and in another, the Captal de Buche 
 was taken prisoner. The state of the prince of Wales'* 
 health rendered him unable to mount on horseback, 
 or exert his usual activity 3 and his increasing infirmi- 
 ties compelled him to resign the command of the 
 army, and return to his native country. Edward, from 
 ^ ie necessity of his affairs, was obliged to con 
 -* elude a truce, after seeing almost all his ancient 
 possessions in France ravished from him, except Bour- 
 deaux and Bayonne, and all his conquests, except Calais. 
 
 The decline of the king's power corresponded no! 
 with the preceding parts of it. Besides the loss of 
 his foreign dominions, he felt the decay of his author 
 ity at home. During the vigour of age, he had been 
 chiefly occupied by war and ambition 3 but, in his lat 
 ter years, he began to indulge himself in pleasure. 
 After a lingering illness, the prince of Wales died, in 
 the forty-sixth year of his age, leaving a character 
 illustrious for eve.ry eminent virtue, and unstained by 
 any blemish. His valour and military talents formed 
 the smallest part of his merit 3 his generosity, human- 
 ity, affability, and moderation, gained him the affec- 
 tions of all men-j and he was qualified to throw a lus- 
 tre not only on the rude age in which he lived, but on 
 the most shining period either of ancient or modern 
 history. The king survived about a year this melan- 
 choly incident: he expired in the sixty-fifth year of his 
 age, and the fifty-first of his reign ; and the people were 
 then sensible, though too la*e, of the irreparable loss 
 which they had sustained. • 
 
1 14 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The English are apt to consider with peculiar fond- 
 ness the history of Edward the Third, and to esteem 
 his reign, as it was one of the longest,* the most glori- 
 ous also in the annals of their nation. The ascendan 
 cy which they then began to acquire over France, 
 their rival and natural enemy, makes them cast their 
 eves on this period with great complacency, and sanc- 
 tifies every measure which Edward embraced for that 
 end. But the domestic government of this prince is 
 really more admirable than his foreign victories j and 
 England enjoyed, by the prudence and vigour of his 
 government, a longer interval of domestic peace and 
 tranquillity than she had been blest with in any former 
 period, or than she experienced for many ages after. 
 He gained the affections of the great, yet curbed their 
 licentiousness : his affable and obliging behaviour, his 
 munificence and generosity, induced them to submit 
 with pleasure to his dominion ; and his valour and con- 
 duct rendered them successful in most of their enter- 
 prises. His foreign wars were neither founded in 
 justice, nor directed to any salutary purpose ; but the 
 glory of a conqueror is so dazzling to the vulgar, the 
 animosity of nations is so violent, that the fruitless 
 desolation of so fine a part of Europe as France, is 
 totally disregarded by us, and is never considered as 
 a blemish in the character or conduct of this prince. 
 
 Edward had a numerous posterity by his queen, 
 Philippa of Hainault. His eldest son was the heroic 
 Edward, usually denominated the Black Prince, from 
 the colour of his armour. This prince espoused his 
 cousin Joan, commonly called the “ Fair Maid of 
 Kent, daughter and heir of his uncle, the earl of Kent,” 
 who was beheaded in the beginning of this reign. By 
 her, the prince of Wales had a son, Richard, who suc- 
 ceeded his grandfather. 
 
 The second son of king Edward was Lionel, duke 
 of Clarence, who, dying while still young, left only 
 one daughter, married to Edward Mortimer, earl of 
 Marche. Of all the family, he resembled most his 
 father and elder brother in his noble qualities. 
 
 Edward’s third son was John of Gaunt, so called 
 
 * It is the longest reign in English history, excepting that of 
 George the Third 
 

EDWARD III. 
 
 J1J 
 
 from the place of his birth : he was created duke of 
 ' Lancaster; and from him sprang that branch which 
 afterwards possessed the crown. The fourth son of 
 this royaj family was Edmund, created duke of York j 
 and the fifth was Thomas, who received the title of 
 duke of Gloucester. By his queen, Edward had also 
 four daughters, Isabella, Joan, Mary, and Margaret, 
 all of whom arrived at years of maturity, and married. 
 
 During the reign of Edward, the parliament rose to 
 greater consideration than it had experienced in any 
 ferine r time ; and even the house of commons, which, 
 durwig turbulent and factious periods, was naturally 
 depressed by the greater power of the crown and bar- 
 ons, began to assume its rank in the constitution. 
 
 One of the most popular laws enacted by any prince, 
 was the statute which passed in the twenty-fifth year 
 of king Edward’s reign, and which limited the cases 
 of high treason to three principal heads : conspiring 
 the deat.t of the king, levying war against him, and 
 adhering vo his enemies. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The reigns of Richard II. , Henry IV., and Henry V. 
 
 Richard II., the son of Edward the Black Prince, 
 was only e’even years of age when his grand- 
 -* father died; and as the late king had taken no 
 care to establish a plan of government during the mi- 
 nority of his grandson, it behooved the parliament to 
 supply the defect. On this occasion, the commons 
 took the lead; and at their requisition the house of 
 lords appointed a council of nine, to whom they gave 
 authority for a year to direct the public business, and to 
 inspect the education of the young prince. The gov- 
 ernment was conducted entirely in the king’s name; 
 no regency was expressly appointed; and the whole 
 system was for some years kept together -by the secret 
 authority of the king’s uncles, especially of the duke 
 of Lancaster. 
 
 Edward had left his grandson involved in many dan* 
 gerous wars. The pretensions of the duke of Luncas- 
 
 J 
 
 
i 16 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 ter to the crown of Castile made that kingdom perse 
 vere in hostilities against England. Scotland main 
 tained such close connections with France, that vvai 
 with one crown almost inevitably produced hostilities 
 with the other. Charles the Fifth, indeed, was dead, 
 and his son Charles the Sixth was a minor. The duke* 
 of Lancaster conducted an army into Brittany 5 and 
 the duke of Gloucester, with only two thousand cav- 
 alry, and eight thousand infantry, penetrated into the 
 heart of France j but, though the French were over- 
 awed by the former successes of the English, these 
 enterprises proved in the issue unsuccessful. 
 
 The expenses of these armaments greatly exhaust- 
 ed the English treasury 5 and the parliament imposed 
 a tax of three groats on every person above fifteen 
 years of age. This impost produced a most serious 
 revolt. A spirit of independence had been excited 
 among the people, who had this distich frequency in 
 their mouths : 
 
 “ When Adam delv’d and Eve span, 
 
 “ Where was then the gentleman 
 
 At this time the tax-gatherers demanded of a black- 
 smith of Essex, payment for his daughter, whom he 
 asserted to be under the age assigned by the statute. 
 One of the collectors offered to produce a very inde- 
 cent proof to the contrary, and laid hold of the maid 3 
 which the father resenting, immediately knocked out 
 the ruffian’s brains with his hammer. The spectators 
 applauded the action, and exclaimed that it was time 
 to take vengeance on their tyrants, and to vindicate 
 their liberty. The people flew to arms 5 and the se- 
 dition spread from the county of Essex into that of 
 Kent, of Hertford. Surry, Sussex, Suffolk, Norfolk, 
 Cambridge, and Lincoln. The leaders, assuming the 
 feigned names of Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, Hob Car- 
 ter, and Tom Miller, committed the most outrageous 
 violence on the gentry and nobility that had the mis- 
 fortune to fall into their hands. The mutinous popu- 
 lace, amounting to one hundred thousand men, assem- 
 bled on Blackheatb, under their leaders, Tyler and 
 Straw, broke into the city, and required of the king 
 the abolition of slavery, i.eedom of commerce in 
 
RICHARD U. 
 
 in 
 
 market-towns without toll or impost, and a fixed rent 
 of lands, instead of the services of villanage. 
 
 These requisitions were complied with; and char 
 ters to that purpose were granted to them. A party 
 of the insurgents, however, broke into the tower, mur- 
 dered several persons of distinction, and continued 
 their ravages in the city. The king, passing along 
 Smithfield, very slenderly guarded, met with Wat Ty- 
 ler, at the head of the tnob, and entered into a confer 
 ence with him. Tyler having ordered his companions 
 to retire till he should give them a signal, when they 
 were to murder all the company, except the king him- 
 self, whom they were to detain prisoner, fearlessly 
 came into the midst o r the royal retinue. He there 
 behaved himself in such a manner, that Walworth, the 
 mayor of London, unable to bear his insolence, drew 
 his sword, and struck him to the ground, where he 
 was instantly despatched by others of the king's at- 
 tendants. The mutineers, seeing their leader fall, 
 prepared themselves for revenge ; and this whole com- 
 pany, with the king himself, had undoubtedly perished 
 on the spot, had it not been for an extraordinary pres- 
 ence of mind which Richard displayed on the occasion. 
 Ordering his company to stop, he advanced alone 
 against the enraged multitude ; and accosting them 
 with an affable and intrepid countenance, he asked 
 them, u What is the meaning of this disorder, my good 
 people 1 Are ye angry that ye have lost your leader 1 
 I. am your king: I will be your leader !” The popu- 
 lace, overawed by his presence, implicitly followed 
 him : he led them into the fields, to prevent any dis- 
 order which might have arisen by their continuing in 
 the city, and peaceably dismissed them with the same 
 charter which had been granted to their fellows. Soon 
 after, the' nobility and gentry, hearing of the king’s 
 danger, in which they were all involved, flocked to 
 London with their adherents and retainers ; and R.ich- 
 ard took the field at the head of an army forty thou- 
 sand strong. The rebels were obliged to submit ; the 
 charters of enfranchisement and pardon were revoked 
 by parliament; and several of the ringleaders were 
 severely punished. 
 
 The subjection in which Richard was held by his 
 uncles, particularly by the Duke of Gloucester, a 
 
1 18 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 prince of genius and ambition, was extremely disa 
 greeable to his disposition ; and he soon attempted to 
 shake off the yoke. Gloucester and his associates, 
 however, framed a commission which was ratified by 
 parliament, and by which the sovereign power was 
 transferred to a council of fourteen persons for a 
 twelve month. The king, who had now reached the 
 twenty-first year of his age, was in reality dethroned j 
 and though the term of the commission was limited, 
 it was easy to perceive that it was the intention of 
 the party to render it perpetual. However, in less 
 than a twelve month, Richard, who was in his twenty- 
 third year, declared in council, that, as he had now 
 attained the full age which entitled him to govern the 
 Iooq- 1 kingdom by his own authority, he was resolved 
 -* to exercise his right of sovereignty. By what 
 means the king regained his authority is unknown ; 
 but he exercised it with moderation, and appeared 
 reconciled to his uncles. 
 
 However, the personal conduct of Richard brought 
 him into contempt, even whilst his government seem- 
 ed, in a great measure, unexceptionable. Indolent, 
 profuse, and addicted to low pleasures, he spent his 
 time in feasting, and dissipated in idle show, or in 
 bounties to worthless favourites, the revenue which 
 should have been employed in enterprises directed to 
 public honour and advantage. He forgot his rank, 
 and admitted all men to his familiarity. The little 
 regard which the people felt for his person, disposed 
 them to murmur against his government, and to re-- 
 ceive with readiness every complaint suggested to 
 them by the discontented or ambitious nobles. 
 
 Gloucester soon perceived the advantages afforded 
 him by the king's dissolute conduct *, and he determin- 
 ed to cultivate the favour of the nation. He inveighed 
 with indecent boldness against every measure pursued 
 SQ 71 ky the king, and particularly against the truce 
 -* with France. His imprudence revived the re- 
 sentment which his former violence had kindled ; the 
 precipitate temper of Richard admitted of no delibera- 
 tion •, and he ordered Gloucester to be unexpectedly 
 arrested, and carried over to Calais, where alone, by 
 reason of his numerous partisans, he could safely bf 
 detained in custody. In a parliament which was in? 
 
KICHARD II. 
 
 119 
 
 mediately summoned, an accusation jyas presented 
 against the duke of Gloucester, and the earls of Arun- 
 del and Warwick, who had appeared against their 
 sovereign, in an hostile manner, at Haringay Park. 
 The earl of Arundel was executed, and the earl of 
 Warwick banished, though the crime for which they 
 were condemned had been obliterated by time, and 
 by repeated pardons. A warrant was issued to the 
 earl mareschal, governor of Calais, to bring over the 
 duke of Gloucester, in order to his trial 3 but the gov- 
 ernor returned for answer, that the duke had died sud- 
 denly of an apoplexy 3 though it afterwards appeared, 
 that he had been suffocated by the order of Richard. 
 
 After the destruction of the duke of Gloucester and 
 the heads of that party, a misunderstanding arose 
 among the noblemen who had joined in the prosecu- 
 tion. The duke of Hereford, son of the duke of Lan- 
 caster, accused the duke of Norfolk of having private- 
 ly spoken many slanderous words of the king. Nor 
 folk denied the charge, and offered to prove his own in- 
 nocence by duel. The challenge was accepted 3 but 
 when the two champions appeared in the field, the 
 king interposed, and ordered both the combatants to 
 quit the kingdom 3 assigning one country for the 
 place of Norfolk’s exile, which he declared perpetual, 
 and another for that of Hereford, which he limited to 
 ten years. 
 
 Hereford conducted himself with so much submis- 
 sion, that the king shortened the term of his exile 
 four years 3 and he also granted him letters patent, by 
 which he was empowered, in case any inheritance 
 should in the interval accrue to him, to enter immedi- 
 ately into possession, and to postpone the doing of 
 homage till his return. However, the king’s jealousy 
 was awakened by being informed that Hereford had 
 entered into a treaty of marriage with the daughter 
 of the duke of Berry, uncle to the French king 3 and 
 on the death of the duke of Lancaster, which happen- 
 ed soon after, Richard revoked his letters patent, and 
 seized the estate of Lancaster. Henry, the new duke 
 of Lancaster, had acquired, by his conduct and abili- 
 ties, the esteem of the public 3 and he had joined to 
 his other praises ihose of piety and valour. His mis- 
 fortunes were lamented 3 the injustice w'hich he hac 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 120 
 
 suffered was complained of; and all men turned theii 
 eves towards him, as the only person that could re- 
 trieve the lost honour of the nation, or redress the 
 supposed abuses of the government. 
 
 While such were the dispositions of the people, 
 Richard had the imprudence to embark for Ireland, in 
 order to revenge the death of his cousin, Roger, earl 
 of Marche, the presumptive heir of the crown, who 
 had lately been slain in a skirmish with the natives; 
 and he thereby left the kingdom of England open to 
 the attempts of his provoked and ambitious enemy. 
 Henry, embarking at Nantz with a retinue of sixty 
 persons, among whom were the archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, and the young earl of Arundel, nephew to that 
 prelate, landed at Ravenspur in Yorkshire, and was 
 immediately joined by the earls of Northumberland 
 and Westmoreland, two of the most potent barons in 
 England. Every place was in commotion : the mal- 
 contents in all quarters flew to arms: and Henry's ar- 
 my, increasing on every day's march, soon amounted 
 to the number of sixty thousand men. This army was 
 farther increased by the accession of that assembled 
 by the duke of York, who had been left guardian of 
 the realm ; and the duke of Lancaster, thus reinforced, 
 was now entirely master of the kingdom. 
 
 The king, receiving information of this invasion and 
 insurrection, hastened over from Ireland, and landed 
 in Milford Haven with a body of twenty thousand 
 men ; but even this army, so much inferior to the en- 
 emy, gradually deserted him, till he found that he had 
 not above six thousand men who followed his stand- 
 ard. Sensible of his danger, he privately fled to the 
 isle of Anglesea, where the earl of Northumberland, 
 bv treachery and false oaths, made himself master of 
 the king's person, and carried him to his enemy 
 Flint castle. Richard was conducted to London by 
 the duke of Lancaster, who was there received by the 
 acclamations of the mutinous populace. The duke 
 first extorted a resignation from Richard; but as he 
 knew the result of this deed would appear the result 
 of force, he also procured him to be deposed in par- 
 liament for his pretended tyranny and misconduct. 
 The throne being now declared vacant, the duke of 
 Lancaster stepped forth, and having made the sign of 
 
 # 
 
HENRY IV. 
 
 121 
 
 the cross, pronounced these words, wnich we shal 
 give in their original idiom, because of their singular- 
 ity : “In the name of the Fadher, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, I Henry of Lancaster challenge this rewme of 
 Ynglancte, and the croun, with all the membres and 
 the appurtenances : als I that am descendit by rignt . ine 
 of the blode coming fro the gude king Hem v Incrde, 
 and throge that right that God of his grace hath sent 
 me, with helpe of kyn, and of my frendes, to recover 
 it 5 the which rewme was in poynt to be ondone 
 by default of governance, and ondoying of the gude 
 laws. ;; 
 
 The earl of Northumberland made a motion in the 
 house of peers with regard to the unhappy prince- 
 whom they had deposed. He asked them what advice 
 they would give the king for the future treatment of 
 him, since Henry was resolved to spare his life. They 
 unanimously replied, that he should be imprisoned 
 under a secure guard, in some secret place, and should 
 be deprived of all commerce with his friends and par- 
 tisans. It was easy to foresee, that he would not long 
 remain alive in the hands of his barbarous and san- 
 guinary enemies. Historians differ with regard to the 
 manner in which he was murdered. It was long the 
 prevailing opinion, that Sir Piers Exton, and others of 
 his guards, fell upon him in the castle of Pomfret, 
 where he was confined, and despatched him with their 
 halberts. But it is more probable, that he was starv- 
 ed to death in prison, since his body was exposed in 
 public, and no marks of violence were observed upon 
 it. He died in the thirty-four-th year of his age, and 
 twenty-third of his reign; and left no posterity, either 
 legitimate or illegitimate. 
 
 Richard appears to have been incapacitated for gov- 
 ernment, less for want of natural parts, than of. solid 
 judgment and good education. He was violent in his 
 temper ; profuse in his expense ; fond of idle show and 
 magnificence 5 devoted to favourites ; and addicted 
 to pleasure. If he had possessed the talents of gain- 
 ing or of overawing his great barons, he might have 
 escaped ali the misfortunes of his reign; but when the 
 nobles were tempted, by his want of prudence or of 
 vigour, to resist his authority, he was naturally led t 
 seek an opportunity of retaliation 
 
122 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Henry the Fourth, in his very first parliament, nad 
 
 W)1 reason to see d^ n ger attending that station 
 ‘ J which he had assumed, and the obstacles which 
 he would meet with in governing an unruly aristocra 
 cy, always divided by faction, and at present inflamed 
 with the resentments consequent on such recent con- 
 vulsions. The peers, on their assembling, broke out 
 into violent animosities against each other ; forty 
 gauntlets, the pledges of furious battle, were thrown 
 on the floor of the house, by noblemen who gave mu- 
 tual challenges ; and liar and traitor resounded from 
 all quarters. The king had so much authority with 
 these doughty champions, as to prevent all the com 
 bats which they threatened ; but he was not able to 
 bring them to a proper composure, or to an amicable 
 disposition towards each other. 
 
 The utmost prudence of Henry could not shield him 
 from those numerous inquietudes which assailed him 
 from every quarter. The connexion of Richard with 
 the royal family of France, made that court exert its 
 activity to recover his authority, or revenge his death ; 
 but the confusions ‘which the French experienced at 
 home, obliged them to accommodate matters, and to 
 conclude a truce between the two kingdoms. 
 
 The revolution in England proved also the occasion 
 of an insurrection in Wales. Owen Glendour, de- 
 scended from the ancient princes of that country, had 
 become obnoxious on account of his attachment to 
 Richard, in consequence of which Reginald lord Grey 
 of Ruthyn, who was connected with the new king, had 
 seized his estate. Glendour recovered possession by 
 the sword 5 the Welsh armed on his side ; and a long 
 and troublesome war was kindled. As Glendour com- 
 mitted devastations on the estate of the earl of Marche, 
 Sir Edmund Mortimer, uncle to that nobleman, led 
 out the retainers of the family, and gave battle to the 
 Welsh chieftain. Mortimers troops were routed j and 
 the earl himself, still in his minority, was made pris- 
 oner ; and Henry, though he owed his crown t) the 
 Piercies, to whom the young nobleman was nearly re- 
 lated, refused to the earl of Northumberland perinis 
 eion tc treat for his ransom with Glendour. 
 
 The critical situation of Henry had induced the 
 Scots to make incursions into England ; and Henry 
 
HENRY IV. 
 
 123 
 
 desirous of taking revenge, conducted his followers t« 
 Edinburgh ; but finding the Scots would neither sub- 
 mit nor give him battle, he returned in three weeks, 
 and disbanded his army. In the following year, Arch- 
 ibald earl .of Douglas, at the head of twelve thousand 
 men, and attended by many of the principal nobility 
 of Scotland, made an irruption into England, and com- 
 mitted devastations on the northern counties. On his 
 return home, he was overtaken by the Piercies at 
 Homeldon, on the borders of England, and a fierce bat- 
 tle ensued, in which the Scots were totally routed. 
 Douglas himself was taken prisoner, as was Mordack 
 earl of Fife, son of the duke of Albany, with many oth 
 ers of the gentry and nobility. 
 
 The obligations which Henry had owed to North 
 umberland were of a kind the most likely to produce 
 ingratitude on one side, and discontent on the other. 
 The sovereign naturally became jealous of that power 
 which had advanced him to the throne ; and the subject 
 was not easily satisfied in the returns which he 
 thought so great a favour had merited. Though Hen- 
 ry, on his accession, had bestowed the office of con- 
 stable on Northumberland for life, and conferred oth- 
 er gifts on that family, yet these favours were consid- 
 ered as their, due ? the refusal of any other request, 
 was deemed an injury. The impatient spirit of Harry 
 Piercy, and the factious disposition of the earl of Wor- 
 cester, younger brother of Northumberland, inflamed 
 the discontents of that nobleman ; and the precarious 
 title of Henry tempted him to seek revenge, by over- 
 turning that throne which he had at first established. 
 He entered into a correspondence with Glcndour; he 
 gave liberty to the earl of Douglas, and made an alii 
 ance with that martial chief; he roused up all his par- 
 tisans to arms ; and such unlimited authority at that 
 time belonged to the great families, that the same 
 men, whom a few years before he had conducted 
 against Richard, now followed his standard in opposi- 
 tion to Henry. When hostilities were ready to com 
 mence, Northumberland was seized with a sudden ill 
 ness at Berwick ; and young Piercy, taking the com 
 , m.md of the troops, marched towards Shrewsbury, in 
 order to join his forces with those of Glendour. The 
 king had fortunately a small army on foot. He ap. 
 
124 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 proached Piercy near Shrewsbury, before that noble 
 man was joined by Glendour; and the policy of one 
 leader, and impatience of the other, made them has- 
 ten to a general engagement. 
 
 We shall scarcely find any battle in those ages 
 140^1 w ^ ere shock was more terrible and more 
 -* constant. Henry exposed his person in the 
 thickest of the fight : his gallant son, whose military 
 achievements were afterwards so renowned, and 
 who here performed his noviciate in arms, signalized 
 himself in the highest degree ; and even a wound, 
 which he received in the face with an arrow, could 
 not oblige him to quit the field. Piercy supported 
 that fame which he had acquired in many a bloody 
 combat; and Douglas, his ancient enemy, and now 
 his friend, still appeared his rival, amidst the hor- 
 ror and confusion of the day. While the armies were 
 contending in this furious manner, the death of Pier- 
 cy, by an unknown hand, decided the victory, and the 
 royalists prevailed. There are said to have fallen 
 that day, on both sides, near two thousand three hun- 
 dred gentlemen ; but the persons of greatest dis- 
 tinction that were killed, belonged to the king’s party. 
 About six thousand private men perished, of whom 
 two thirds were of Piercy’s army. The earls of Wor- 
 cester and Douglas were taken prisoners : the former 
 was beheaded at Shrewsbury ; the latter was treated 
 with the courtesy due to his rank and valour. 
 
 The earl of Northumberland, having recovered 
 from his sickness, had levied a fresh army, and was 
 oq his march to join his son; but being opposed by 
 the earl of Westmoreland, and hearing of the defeat 
 at Shrewsbury, he dismissed his forces, and came with 
 a small retinue to the king at York. He pretended 
 that his sole object in arming was to mediate be- 
 tween the parties : Henry thought proper to ac- 
 cept of the apology, and even granted him a pardon 
 for his offence. Most of the other insurgents were 
 treated with equal lenity. Northumberland, however, 
 having formed anew conspiracy against the king, was 
 killed in an engagement at Bramham, in Yorkshire 
 This success, joined to the death of Glendour, which 
 happened soon after, freed Henry from all his domes 
 tic enemies ; and this prince, who had mounted the 
 
HENRY IV. 
 
 12c 
 
 throne by such unjustifiable means and held it b» 
 such an exceptionable title, by his valour, prudence,, 
 and address, had obtained a great ascendency over his 
 subjects. 
 
 Though Henry entertained a well-grounded jealousy 
 of the family of Mortimer, yet he allowed not their 
 name to be once mentioned in parliament; and as 
 none of the rebels had ventured to declare the earl of 
 Marche king, he never attempted to procure an ex- 
 press declaration against the claim of that nobleman. 
 However, with a design of weakening the pretensions 
 of the earl of Marche, he procured a settlement of the 
 crown on himself and his heirs — male ; but the long 
 contest with France had displayed the injustice of the 
 Salic law; and the parliament, apprehensive that 
 they had destroyed the foundations of the English 
 government, applied with such earnestness for a new 
 settlement of the crown, that Henry yielded to their 
 request, and agreed to the succession of the princesses 
 of his family. 
 
 But though the commons, during this reign, show- 
 ed a laudable zeal for liberty in their transactions with 
 the crown, their efforts against the church was still 
 more extraordinary. In the sixth of Henry, being re. 
 quired to grant supplies, they proposed in plain terms 
 to the king, that he should seize all the temporalities 
 of the church, and employ them as a perpetual fund 
 to serve the exigencies of the state. The king, how- 
 ever, discouraged the application of the commons 
 and the lords rejected the bill which the lower house 
 had framed for stripping the church of her revenues. 
 The commons were not discouraged by this repulse : 
 in the eleventh of the king, they returned to the 
 charge with more zeal than before : they made a cal- 
 culation of all the ecclesiastical revenues, which, by 
 their account, amounted to four hundred and eighty- 
 five thousand marks a-year, and contained eighteen 
 thousand ploughs of land. They proposed to divide 
 this property among fifteen new earls, fifteen hundred 
 knights, six thousand esquires, and one hundred hos- 
 pitals ; besides twenty thousand pounds a-year, which 
 the king might take for his own use ; and they insist- 
 ed, that the clerical functions would be better pei 
 formed than at present, by fifteen thousand parish 
 
26 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 priests, paid after the rate of seven marks a piece of 
 yearly stipend. This application was accompanied 
 >vith an address for mitigating the statutes enacted 
 against the Lollards, which shows from what souice 
 the address came. To this unjust and chimerical 
 proposal, the king gave the commons a severe reply. 
 
 The king was so much- employed in defending his 
 crown, that he had little leisure to look abroad. His 
 health declined some months before his death ; and 
 though he was in the flower of his age, his end was 
 visibly approaching. He expired at Westminster 
 14131 March,) in the forty-sixth year of his age, 
 
 ■* and the thirteenth of his reign. The prudence, 
 vigilance and foresight of Henry IV. in maintaining 
 his power, were admirable j his command of temper 
 was remarkable 5 his courage, both military and polit- 
 ical, without blemish ; and he possessed many quali- 
 ties which fitted him for his high station, and which 
 rendered his usurpation, though pernicious in after- 
 times, rather salutary, during his own reign, to the 
 English nation. He left four sons, Henry his succes- 
 sor, 'Thomas duke of Clarence, John duke of Bedford, 
 and Humphrey duke of Gloucester ; and two daugh 
 ters, Blanche and Philippa, the former married to th^ 
 duke of Bavaria, the latter to the king of Denmark 
 
 The jealousies to which the deceased monarch's 
 situation naturally exposed him, had so infected his 
 temper, that he regarded with distrust even his eldest 
 son, whom, during the latter years of his life, he had 
 excluded from public business. The active spirit of 
 young Henry, restrained from its proper exercise, 
 broke out into extravagancies of every kind. There 
 remains a tradition, that, when heated with liquor 
 and jollity, he scrupled not to accompany his riotous 
 associates in attacking and plundering the passengers 
 in the streets and highways. This extreme dissolute- 
 ness was not more agreeable to the father, than would 
 have been his application to business ; and Henry 
 fancied he saw, in his son's behaviour, the same neg- 
 ect of decency, which had degraded the character of 
 Richard. But the nation regarded the young prince 
 with more indulgence : they observed in him the 
 seeds of generosity, spirit and magnanimity ; and an 
 incident which happened, afforded occasion for favour 
 
% 
 
 HENRY V. 127 
 
 able reflections. A riotous companion of the prince’s 
 had been indicted before Gascoigne, the chief justice^ 
 for some disorders 3 and Henry was not ashamed to 
 appear at the bar with the criminal, in order to give 
 him countenance and protection. Finding that his 
 presence did nbt overawe the chief-justice, he pro- 
 ceeded to insult that magistrate on his tribunal 3 but 
 Gascoigne, rpindful of his own character, and the 
 majesty of the sovereign and of the laws, which he 
 sustained, ordered the prince to be carried to prison 
 for his rude behaviour 3 and the spectators were agree- 
 ably disappointed when they saw the heir of the 
 crown submit peaceably to this sentence, and make 
 reparation ofJ?is error by acknowledging it. 
 
 The memory of this incident, and of many others 
 of a like nature, rendered the prospect of the future 
 reign nowise disagreeable to the nation 3 and the first 
 steps taken by the young prince, confirmed all those 
 orepossessions entertained in his favour. He called 
 together his former companions, acquainted th m with 
 .ais intended reformation, exhorted them to imitate 
 his example, but strictly inhibited them, till they had 
 given prools of their sincerity in this particular, from 
 appearing any more in his presence 5 and he thus dis- 
 missed them with liberal presents. The wise minis- 
 ters of his father, who had checked his riots, were re- 
 ceived with all the marks of favour and confidence : 
 and the chief-justice himself, who trembled to ap- 
 proach the royal presence, met with praises instead 
 of reproaches for his past conduct, and was exhorted 
 to persevere in the same rigorous and impartial exe- 
 cution of the laws. The surprise of those who ex- 
 pected an opposite behaviour, augmented their satis- 
 faction 3 and the character of the young king appear- 
 ed brighter than if it had never been shaded by any 
 errors. 
 
 At this time, the Lollards were every day increas- 
 ing in the kingdom. The head of this sect was sir 
 John Oldcastle, lord Cobham, a nobleman who had 
 distinguished himself by his valour and military tal- 
 ents, and had acquired the esteem berth of. the late 
 and of the present king. His high character and zeal 
 f or the new sect pointed him out to Arundel, arch- 
 Dishop of Canterbury, as the proper victim of ecclesi 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND^ 
 
 123 
 
 astical severity. The archbishop applied to Henry fo t 
 permission to indict lord Cobham; but the prince, 
 averse to sanguinary methods of conversion, endeav- 
 oured, by a conversation with Cobham, to reconcile 
 him to the Catholic faith. But he found that noble- 
 man firm in his opinions ; and- Henry's principles of 
 toleration could carry him no farther. The primate 
 indicted Cobham, and, with the assistance of his suf- 
 fragans, condemned him to the flames for his errone- 
 ous opinions. Cobham escaped from the Tower 3 and 
 his daring spirit, provoked by persecution and stimu- 
 lated by zeal, prompted him to attempt the most crimi- 
 nal enterprises. He appointed a general rendezvous 
 of his party, in order to seize the person of the king, 
 and put their religious enemies to the sword 3 but 
 Henry, apprized of their intentions, apprehended such 
 of the conspirators as appeared, and rendered the de- 
 sign ineffectual. It appeared that a few only were in 
 the secret of the conspiracy : of these some were 
 executed 3 and Cobham himself, who had fled, was 
 not brought to justice till four years after, when he 
 was hanged as a traitor, and his body burnt upon the 
 gibbet. 
 
 Charles the Sixth, king of France, after assuming 
 the reins of government, had discovered symptoms of 
 genius and spirit; but the unhappy prince being seiz 
 ed with an epileptic disorder, his judgment was gradu- 
 ally but sensibly impaired 5 and the administration of 
 affairs was disputed between his brother, Lewis duke 
 of Orleans, and his cousin-german, John duke of Bur- 
 gundy. The latter procured his rival to be assas- 
 sinated in the streets of Paris. The princes of the 
 blood, combining with the young duke of Orleans and 
 his brothers, with all the violence of party rage, 
 made war on the duke of Burgundy 3 and the unhappy 
 king, seized sometimes by one party, sometimes by 
 the other, transferred alternately to each of them the 
 appearance of legal authority. 
 
 These circumstances concurred to favour an enter- 
 prise of the English against France. Henry, therefore, 
 assembled a great fleet and army at Southampton; and 
 relying on the aid of the duke of Burgundy, he put t<i 
 sea, and landed near Harfleur, with six thousand men 
 at arms, and twenty-four thousand foot. He obliged 
 
HENRY V. 
 
 129 
 
 that city to capitulate after a gallant defence. The fa 
 tigues of this siege, and the unusual heat of the sea- 
 son, had so wasted the English army, that Henry could 
 enter on no other enterprise 5 and as he had dismissed 
 his transports, he was under the necessity of marching 
 by land to Calais, before he could reach a place of 
 safety. By this time a numerous French army, of 
 fourteen thousand men at arms, and forty thousand 
 foot, was assembled in Normandy, under the consta- 
 ble d'Albert. Henry, therefore, offered to purchase a 
 safe retreat at the expense of his new conquest of 
 Harfleur; but his proposals being rejected, he march- 
 ed slowly and deliberately to the Somme, which he 
 purposed to pass at the same ford that had proved so 
 auspicious to his predecessor Edward. The ford, how- 
 ever, was rendered impassable, by the precaution of 
 the French ; but he was so fortunate as to surprise a 
 passage near St. Quentin, over which he safely carried 
 his force. After passing the small river of Ternois, 
 at Blangi, he observed the whole French army drawn 
 up in the plains of Agincourt, and so posted that an 
 engagement was inevitable. The enemy was four 
 *imes more numerous than the English, and was head- 
 ed by the dauphin, and all the princes of the blood. 
 
 Henry's situation was exactly similar to that of Ed- 
 ward at Crecy, and of the Black Prince at Poictiers. 
 The king drew up his army on a narrow ground be- 
 tween two woods, which guarded his flank, and pa- 
 tiently awaited the attack of the enemy. The French 
 archers on horseback, and their men at arms, crowded 
 in their ranks, advanced against the English archers, 
 who had fixed palisadoes in their front to break the 
 impression of the enemy, and who, from behind that 
 defence, safely plied them with a shower of arrows 
 which nothing could resist. The heavy ground hin- 
 dered the force of the French cavalry j the whole ar- 
 my was a scene of confusion, terror, and dismay 5 and 
 the English fel. with their battle-axes upon the French, 
 who, being unable to flee or defend themselves, were 
 slaughtered without resistance. Among the slain were 
 the constable himself, the count of Nevers, and the 
 duke of Brabant, both brothers to the duke of Bur 
 gundy, the count of Vaudemont, the dukes of Alen- 
 gon and B.irre, and the count of Marie} and among 
 
 VOL I 9 
 
130 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 the prisoners were the dukes of Orleans and Bourbon , 
 the counts d’Eu, Vendome, and Richmont, and the 
 inareschal of Bousicaut. The killed, on the side of 
 the French, are computed to have amounted to ten 
 thousand men ; and the prisoners to fourteen thousand. 
 14.K1 The person of chief note, who fell among the 
 English, was the duke of York ; and their whole 
 loss is said not to have exceeded forty men. 
 
 During the interruption of hostilities which follow- 
 ed this engagement, France was exposed to all the fu- 
 ries of civil war. The count of Armagnac, created 
 constable of France, prevailed on the king to send the 
 queen to Tours, and confine her under a guard ; and 
 her son, the dauphin Charles, was entirely governed 
 by the faction of Armagnac. In concert with her, 
 the duke of Burgundy entered France at the head of 
 a powerful army, and at last liberated the queen, who 
 fixed her independent residence at Troyes, and openly 
 declared against the ministers, who, she asserted, de- 
 tained her royal consort in captivity. In the mean 
 time, the- partisans of Burgundy raised a commotion 
 in Paris. Lisle Adam, one of the duke's captains, 
 was received into the city, and headed the insurrec- 
 tion ; the person of the king was seized ; the dauphin 
 escaped with difficulty ; and the count of Armagnac, 
 the chancellor, and the principal adherents of the Or- 
 leans party, were inhumanly put to death. 
 
 Henry the Fifth again landed in Normandy, at the 
 head of twenty-five thousand men. Having subdued 
 all the lower Normandy, he formed the siege of Rou- 
 en, of which, at length, he made himself master. The 
 duke of Burgundy was assassinated by the treachery 
 of the dauphin ; and his son thought himself bound to 
 revenge the murder of his father. A league was con- 
 cluded at Arras between Henry and the young duke of 
 Burgundy, who agreed to every demand made by that 
 monarch. By this treaty, which was concluded at 
 Troyes, in the names of the kings of France and Eng- 
 land, and the duke of Burgundy, it was stipulated, that 
 14201 Charles, during his life, should enjoy the title 
 ' and dignity of king of France ; that Henry 
 should be declared heir of the monarchy and imme- 
 diately entrusted with the reins of government, and 
 that kingdom should pass to his heirs general; that 
 
HENRY V. 
 
 131 
 
 France and England should for ever be united undei 
 one king, but should still retain their several usages, 
 customs, and privileges 5 and that Henry should join 
 his arms to those of king Charles and the duke of Bur- 
 gundy, for the purpose of subduing the adherents of 
 Charles the Dauphin. 
 
 To push h4s present advantages, Henry a few days 
 after espoused the princess Catherine, carried his 
 father-in-law to Paris, and put himself in possession 
 of that capital. He then turned his arms with suc- 
 cess against the dauphin, who, as soon as he heard of 
 the treaty of Troyes, had assumed the title of Regent. 
 That prince, chased beyond the Loire, almost entirely 
 deserted by the northern provinces, and pursued into 
 the south by the English and Burgundians, prepared 
 to meet with fortitude the destruction which seemed 
 inevitable. To crown the prosperity of Henry, his 
 queen Catherine was delivered of a son, who was call- 
 ed by his father’s name, and whose birth was celebrat- 
 ed by equal rejoicings in Paris and in London. 
 
 The glory of Henry, however, had now reached its 
 summit. He was seized with a fistula, a complaint 
 which the ignorance of theuge rendered mortal. Sen- 
 sible of his approaching end, he devoted the few re- 
 maining moments of life to the concerns of his king- 
 dom and family, and to the pious duties of rel gion. 
 To the duke of Bedford, his elder brother, he left the 
 regency of France ; to the duke of Gloucester, his 
 younger brother, he committed that of England ; and 
 to the earl of Warwick he entrusted the care of his 
 14^1 son ’ s person and education. He expired in the 
 thirty-fourth year of his age, and the tenth of 
 his reign. 
 
 Henry the Fifth possessed rrlarty eminent virtues, 
 which were unstained by any other blemish than am- 
 bition and the love of glory. His talents were equal- 
 ly distinguished in the field and the cabinet j and 
 whilst we admire the boldness of his enterprises, w<j 
 cannot refuse our praise to the prudence and valour 
 by which they were conducted. His affability attach- 
 ed his friends to his service ; and his address and 
 clemency vanquished his enemies. His un casing at- 
 tention to the administration of justice, and his main- 
 tenance of discipline in the armies, alleviated both to 
 
132 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 France and England the calamities inseparable from 
 those wars in which his short and splendid reign was 
 almost entirely occupied. The exterior figure of this 
 great prince, as well as his deportment, was engaging. 
 His stature was somewhat above the middle size 3 his 
 countenance beautiful 5 his limbs were genteel, and 
 slender, but full of vigour; and he excelled in all war 
 like and manly exercises. He left by his queen, Cath 
 erine of France, only one son, not full nine months 
 old 3 whose misfortunes, in the course of his life, sur- 
 passed all the glories and successes of his father. 
 
 Catherine of France, Henry's widow, married, soon 
 after his death, a Welsh gentleman, Sir Owen Tudor, 
 said to be descended from the ancient princes of that 
 country : she bore him two sons, Edmund and Jasper, 
 of whom the eldest was created earl of Richmond; 
 the second, earl of Pembroke. The family of Tudor, 
 first raised to distinction by '& alliance, mounted 
 afterwards the throne of England. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Reigns of Henry VI., Edward IV., and Ed- 
 ward V. 
 
 During the reign of the princes of the house of 
 Lancaster, the authority of parliament had been more 
 confirmed, and the privileges of the people more re- 
 garded, than in any former period. Without attending 
 to the strict letter of the deceased monarch's recom- 
 mendation, the lords and commons appointed the duke 
 of Bedford protector or guardian of the kingdom 3 they 
 invested the duke of Gloucester with the same dignity 
 during the absence of his elder brother 3 and, in order 
 to limit the power of both these princes, they ap- 
 pointed a council, without whose advice and appro- 
 bation no measure of importance could be determined. 
 The person and education of the infant prince were 
 committed to Henry Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, 
 his great uncle, who, as his family could never have 
 any pretensions to the crown, might safely, the} 
 thought be intrusted with that important charge. 
 
 i 
 
133 
 
 HENRY VI. 
 
 The conquest of France was the first object of the 
 hew government 5 and, on a superficial view of the 
 state of affairs, every advantage seemed to be on the 
 side of the English. Though Henry was an infant, 
 the duke of Bedford was the most accomplished prince 
 of his age ; and the whole power of England was at his 
 command. He was at the head of armies accustomed 
 to victory ; he was seconded by the most renowned 
 generals of the age ; and besides Guienne, the ancient 
 inheritance of England, he was master of Paris, and 
 of almost all the northern provinces. 
 
 But Charles, notwithstanding his present inferiority, 
 possessed some advantages which promised him suc- 
 ' cess. He was the true and undoubted heir of the 
 monarchy; and all Frenchmen, who knew the interest, 
 or desired the independence of their country, turned 
 their eyes towards him as their sole resource. Though 
 only in his twentieth year, he was of the most friendly 
 and benign disposition, of easy and familiar manners, 
 and of a just, though not a very vigorous understand- 
 ing. The love of pleasure often seduced hijn into 
 indolence ; but, amidst all his irregularities, the good- 
 ness of his heart still shone forth ; and by exerting at 
 intervals his courage and activity, be proved that his 
 rem ; ssness did not proceed from the want of ambition 
 or personal valour. 
 
 The resentment of the duke of Burgundy against 
 Charles, still continued ; and the duke of Bedford, that 
 he might corroborate national connexions by private 
 ties, concluded his own marriage with the pr.ncess of 
 Burgundy, which had been stipulated by the treaty of 
 Arras. 
 
 But the Duke of Bedford was not so much employed 
 in negotiations as to neglect the operations of war. 
 A considerable advantage was gained over the French, 
 in the battle of Crevant, by the united forces of Eng- 
 land and Burgundy. In the mean time, the duke of 
 Bedford was engaged in the siege of Yvri in Norman- 
 dy ; and the governor, finding his resources exhausted, 
 agreed $o surrender the town, if not relieved by a cer- 
 tain day. Charles, informed of these conditions, de- 
 termined to make an attempt for saving the place : 
 and collecting an army of fourteen thousand meir, of 
 tthoin one half were Scots, he entrusted it to tha ead 
 
134 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 of Buchan, constable of France. When the constable 
 arrived within a few leagues of Yvri, he found that 
 the place had already surrendered j but he immediate 
 ly invested Verneuil, which he carried without dilfi 
 culty. On the approach of the duke of Bedford, Bu- 
 chan called a council of war, in order to deliberate on 
 the conduct necessary to be pursued. The wiser part 
 of the council declared for a retreat 5 but a vain point 
 of honour determined the assembly to await the arri- 
 val of the duke of Bedford. 
 
 In this action, the numbers of the contending armies 
 were nearly equal ; and the battle was fierce and well 
 disputed. At length, the duke of Bedford, at the head 
 of the men at arms, broke the ranks of the French, 
 chased them off the field, and rendered the victory 
 complete and decisive. Verneuil was surrendered 
 next day by capitulation. 
 
 • The fortunes of Charles now appeared almost des- 
 perate, when an incident happened which lost the 
 English an opportunity of completing their conquests. 
 Jaqueljne, countess of Hainault and Holland, and 
 heiress of these provinces, had espoused John, duke 
 of Brabant, cousin-german to the duke of Burgundy. 
 The marriage had been dictated by motives of policy: 
 but the duke of Brabant’s weakne&s, both of. body and 
 mind, inspired the countess with contempt, which 
 soon proceeded to antipathy. Impatientof effecting her 
 purpose, she escaped into England, and solicited the 
 protection of the duke of Gloucester. The impetuous 
 passions of that prince, and the prospect of inheriting 
 her rich inheritance, induced him to offer himself to 
 her as a husband j and he entered into a contract of 
 marriage with Jaqueline, and immediately attempted 
 to render himself master of her dominions. The duke 
 of Burgundy resented the injury offered to the duke 
 of Brabant, his near relation, and marched troops to 
 his support 3 the quarrel, which was at first political, 
 soon became personal j and the protector, instead of 
 improving the victory gained at Verneuil, found him- 
 self obliged to return to England, that he might try, by 
 his councils and authority, to moderate the measures 
 of the duke of Gloucester. 
 
 The pope annulled Jaqueline’s contract with the 
 dike of Gloucester; and Humphrey, despairing of 
 
HENRY VI. 
 
 135 
 
 tucccss, married another lady, who had lived some 
 time with him as his mistress. The duke of Brabant 
 died ; and his widow, before she could recover pos- 
 session of her dominions, was obliged to declare 
 the duke of Burgundy her heir, in case she should die 
 without issue, and to promise never to marry without 
 his consent. This affair, however, left an unfavoura- 
 ble impression on the mind of Philip, and excited an 
 extreme jealousy of the English. About the same 
 time, the duke of Brittany withdrew himself from the 
 alliance with England; his defection was followed by 
 that of his brother, the count of Richemont ; and both 
 these princes joined the standard of their legitimate 
 sovereign, Charles the Seventh. 
 
 Indignant at the conduct of the duke of Brittany, the 
 duke of Bedford, on his arrival in France, secretly as- 
 sembled a considerable army, and suddenly invading 
 the province of Brittany, compelled its sovereign to 
 renounce his alliance with France, and to yield hom- 
 age to Henry for his duchy. Being thus freed from a 
 14281 dangerous enemy, the English prince resolved 
 * to invest the city of Orleans, which was^o situ- 
 ated between the provinces commanded by Henry, 
 and those possessed by Charles, as to afford an easy 
 entrance into either. He committed the conduct of 
 the enterprise to the earl of Salisbury, who had greatly 
 distinguished himself by his military talents during 
 the present war. On the other hand, the French king 
 reinforced the garrison, and replenished the maga 
 zincs, and appointed as governor the lord of Gaucur 
 a brave and experienced officer. 
 
 The earl of Salisbury approached the place with ar 
 army of ten thousand men, and was killed by a can 
 non-shot in a successful attack on the fortifications 
 The earl of Suffolk succeeded to the command: an*, 
 being reinforced by large bodies of English and Bur 
 gundians, he completely invested Orleans. The in 
 clemency of the season, and the rigour of the winter 
 could not overcome the perseverance of the besiegers 
 who seemed daily advancing to the completion of 
 their enterprise. In order to distress the enemy, the 
 French had ravaged and exhausted the whole sur 
 rounding country : and the English were compelled tc 
 draw their subsistence from a considerable distance. 
 
136 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 A convoy of provisions was escorted by Sir John Fal 
 stofle, with a detachment of two thousand five hundred 
 men. Falstoffe, being attacked by a body of four 
 thousand French, under the command of the counts of 
 Clermont and Dunois, drew up his men behind the 
 wagons; when the French were defeated by their own 
 impetuosity, and five hundred of them perished on the 
 field. 
 
 Charles had now only one expedient left for pre- 
 serving this city. The duke of Orleans, still a prison- 
 er in England, had prevailed on the duke of Glouces- 
 ter and his council to consent to a neutrality in his 
 demesnes, which should be sequestered during the 
 war into the hands of the duke of Burgundy; but this 
 proposal was rejected by the duke of Bedford, who 
 replied, that “ he was not in a humour to beat the 
 bushes, whilst others ran away with the game.” This 
 answer disgusted the duke of Burgundy, who separated 
 his forces from those of the English; but the latter 
 pressed the siege with increased ardour; and scarcity 
 was already experienced by the garrison and inhab 
 itants. 
 
 Charles, almost reduced to despair, entertained 
 thoughts of retiring with the remains of his army into 
 Dauphine and Languedoc ; but he was diverted from 
 his purpose by the intreaties of his queen, Mary of 
 Anjou, a princess of prudence and spirit, and by the 
 remonstrances of his beautiful mistress, the celebrated 
 Agnes Sorele. 
 
 In the village of Domremi, near Vaucouleurs, on 
 the borders of Lorraine, lived a country girl, called 
 Joan d’Arc, who was a servant in a 6mall inn, and 
 who, having been accustomed to ride the horses of her 
 master’s guests to water, had acquired a degree of 
 hardihood, which enabled her to endure the fatigues 
 of war. The present situation of France was the 
 common topic of conversation. Joan, inflamed by the 
 general sentiment, fancied that she was destined by 
 heaven to re-establish the throne of her sovereign ; 
 and the intrepidity of her mind led her to despise the 
 dangers which would naturally attend such an attempt. 
 She procured admission to Baudricourt, the governoi 
 of Vaucouleurs ; and declared to him, that she had 
 oeen exhorted by visions and voices to achieve the 
 
HENRY VI. 
 
 l;37 
 
 deliverance of her country. Baudricourt, either 
 equally credulous himself, or sufficiently penetrating 
 to foresee the effect such an enthusiast might have ok 
 the minds of the vulgar, gave her an escort to the 
 French court, which at that time resided at Chinon. 
 
 On her arrival, she is said to have distinguished 
 Charles, though he purposely remained in the crowd 
 of his courtiers, and had devested himself of every 
 ensign of royalty ; to have offered him to raise the 
 siege of Orleans, and to conduct him to Rheims, there 
 to he crowned and anointed ; and to have demanded, 
 as the instrument of her future victories, a sword 
 which was kept in the church of St. Catherine of Fire- 
 bois, and which, though she had never seen it, she 
 described by its particular mar;ks. Charles and his min- 
 isters pretended to examine her claims % with scrupu- 
 lous exactness; and her mission was pronounced au- 
 thentic and supernatural by an assemblage of doctors 
 and theologians, and by the parliament of France, 
 then residing at Poictiers. 
 
 To essay the power of Joan, she was sent to Blois, 
 where a convoy was already provided for the relief of 
 Orleans, and an army of ten thousand men were as- 
 sembled to escort it. The holy maid marched at the 
 head of the troops, and displayed in her hand a con- 
 secrated banner, on which was represented the Su- 
 preme Being holding the globe of the earth. The 
 English affected to deride the maid and her heavenly 
 commission ; but the common soldiers were insensibly 
 impressed with horror, and waited with anxious dread 
 the issue of these extraordinary preparations. In this 
 state of the public mind the earl of Suffolk durst not 
 venture an attack; and the French army returned to 
 Blois without interruption. The maid entered the 
 city of Orleans arrayed in her military garb, and dis- 
 playing her consecrated standard, and was received by 
 the inhabitants as a celestial deliverer. A second con- 
 voy approached the city, on the side of Bausse ; and 
 the wagons and troops passed without interruption be- 
 tween the redoubts of the English, who, formerly 
 elated with victory, and impatient for action, beheld 
 the enterprises of their enemies in silent astonishment 
 and religious awe. The maid seized the critical mo 
 oient and exhorting the garrison to attack the enemy 
 
i38 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGL AND. 
 
 in their intrenchments, the English were success 
 sively chased from their posts with the loss of above 
 six thousand men. In vain did the English generals 
 oppose the prevailing opinion of supernatural influ- 
 ence ; the English had lost their wonted courage and 
 confidence, and were seized with amazement and 
 despair. 
 
 Unable to remain longer in the presence of a victo- 
 rious enemy, the earl of Suffolk raised the siege, and 
 retired to Jergeau, which was attacked by the French, 
 under the command of Joan. On this occasion, the 
 maid displayed her usual intrepidity, and led the at- 
 tack. The place was obstinately defended ; but the 
 English were at length overpowered, and Suffolk was 
 obliged to yield himself prisoner. The remainder of 
 the English army, commanded by Falstoffe. Scales 
 md Talbot, w'ere pressed by the constable Richemont. 
 They were overtaken at the village of Patay ; and op- 
 pressed by their fears, they immediately fled. Two 
 thousand of the English were slaughtered ; and both 
 Scales and Talbot were made prisoners. 
 
 The maid had fulfilled one part of her promise ; and 
 she now strongly insisted that the king should be 
 crowned at Pvheims, The city itself lay in a distant 
 part of the kingdom, and was in the hands of the Eng- 
 lish ; and the whole road which led to it was occupied 
 by their garrisons. However, Charles resolved to fol- 
 low the exhortations of his warlike prophetess; and 
 he set out for Rheims, at the head of twelve thousand 
 men. Troyes and Chalons opened their gates to him; 
 and he was admitted into Rheims, where the ceremo- 
 ny of his coronation was performed. From this act, 
 as from a heavenly commission, Charles seemed to 
 derive an additional title to the crown, and many 
 towns in the neighbourhood immediately submitted to 
 his authority. 
 
 The abilities of the duke of Bedford were never dis 
 UW1 played to more advantage than on this occasion 
 -* He put all the English garrisons in a posture 
 of defence ; he retained the Parisians in obedience by 
 alternately employing caresses and menaces ; and he 
 had the address to renew, in this dangerous crisis, his 
 alliance with the duke of Burgundy, who had 'begun t« 
 waver in his fidelity. The French army which con 
 
HENRY VI. 
 
 139 
 
 sisted chiefly of volunteers, soon after disbanded ; and 
 Charles, after having possessed himself of Laval, Lag- 
 ni, and St. Denys, retired to Bourges. Bedford caus 
 ed Henry the Sixth to be crowned and anointed at Pa- 
 ris, and exacted an oath of allegiance from all who liv- 
 ed .n the provinces still possessed by England. 
 
 After the coronation of Charles atRheims, the maid 
 of Orleans declared that her mission was now fulfil- 
 ied ; but the count of Dunois exhorted her to perse 
 vere till the English should be finally expelled. Over- 
 come by his importunities, she had thrown herself in- 
 to the town of Compiegne, which was at that time be- 
 sieged by the duke of Bedford, assisted by the earls of 
 Arundel and Suffolk. In a sally, she was deserted by 
 her friends, probably out of envy ; and being surround- 
 ed by the enemy, she was taken prisoner. The duke 
 of Bedford purchased the captive from John of Lux- 
 emburg, into whose hands she had fallen, and com- 
 uenoed a prosecution against her, which, whether un- 
 ’ertaken from policy or revenge, was equally barba- 
 ous and dishonourable. She was tried for sorcery / 
 mpiety, idolatry, and magic j and though harassed by 
 interrogatories for the space of four hours, she betray- 
 ed no weakness or womanish submission, but answer- 
 ed with firmness and intrepidity. However, she was 
 convicted of all the crimes of which she had been ac- 
 cused, aggravated by heresy ; her revelations were de- 
 clared to be the inventions of the devil to delude the 
 people 5 and she was sentenced to be burnt in the 
 market-place of Rouen. The inhuman sentence was 
 accordingly executed ; and the unhappy victim expi- 
 ated by her death the signal services which she had 
 rendered to her prince and her country. 
 
 The affairs of the English, instead of being advanced 
 oy this inhuman act, became every day more ruinous ; 
 and the abilities of Bedford were unable to prevent 
 the French from returning under the obedience of 
 their legitimate sovereign. The duke of Burgundv 
 determined to unite himself to the royal family of 
 14351 France, from which his own had descended ; 
 
 * and a congress was appointed at Arras, in which 
 were adjusted the mutual pretensions of Charles and 
 Philip. Soon after this transaction, the Duke of Bed 
 ford expired, a prince of great abilities and many t ir 
 
i40 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 tues, and whose memory is chiefly tarnished by the 
 execution of the maid of Orleans. After his death, 
 the court of Henry was distracted by the rival parties 
 of the duke of Gloucester and the cardinal of Win- 
 chester : and it was seven months before the duke of 
 York, son to the earl of Cambridge, who had been ex- 
 ecuted in the beginning of the last reign, was appoint- 
 ed successor to the duke of Bedford. On h : .s arrival in 
 France, the new governor found the capital already 
 lost. The Parisians were attached to the house of 
 Burgundy ; and after the conclusion of the treaty of 
 Arras, they returned to their allegiance under their 
 native sovereign. Lord Willoughby, with an English 
 garrison of fifteen hundred men, retired into the Bas- 
 tile ; but his valour and skill only served to procure 
 him a capitulation, by which he was allowed with his 
 troops a safe retreat into Normandy. 
 
 The cardinal of Winchester had always encouraged 
 every proposal of accommodation with France, and had 
 represented the utter impossibility of pushing farther 
 the conquests in that kingdom 3 but the duke of Glou- 
 cester, high-spirited and haughty, and educated in the 
 lofty pretensions which the first successes of his two 
 brothers had rendered familiar to him, could not be 
 induced to relinquish all hopes of subduing France 
 However, the earl of Suffolk, who adhered to the car- 
 dinal’s party, was despatched to Tours to negotiate 
 14431 French ministers. As it was found 
 
 ■* impossible to adjust the terms of a lasting peace, 
 a truce for twenty-two months was concluded ; and 
 Suffolk proceeded to the execution of another busi- 
 ness, which seems to have been rather implied than 
 expressed in the powers granted to him. 
 
 As Henry advanced in years, his character became 
 fully known. He was found to be of the most harm- 
 less, simple manners, but of the most slender capaci- 
 ty ; and hence it was easy to foresee that his reign 
 would prove a perpetual minority. As he had now, 
 However, reached the twenty-third year of his age, it 
 was natural to think of choosing him a queen. The 
 lluke of Gloucester proposed a daughter of the count 
 of Armagnac, but the cardinal and his friends cast their 
 eyes on Margaret of Anjou, daughter of Regnier, tir 
 ular king of Sicily, Naples, and Jerusalem j a prim es* 
 
HENRY VI. 
 
 141 
 
 accomplished both in person and mind, of a masculine 
 spirit, and an enterprizing temper, which she had not 
 been able to conceal even in the privacy of her fa- 
 ther’s family. The earl of Suffolk, in concert with 
 his associates of the English council, made proposals 
 of marriage to Margaret, which were accepted. 
 Though Margaret brought no dowry with her, this no- 
 bleman ventured of himself, without any direct author 
 ity from the council, but probably with the approba 
 tion of the cardinal and the ruling members, to en- 
 gage, by a secret article, that the province of Maine, 
 which was at that time in the hands of the English, 
 should be ceded to Charles of Anjou, her uncle, who 
 was prime minister and favourite of the French king, 
 and who had already received from his master the 
 grant of that province as his appanage. 
 
 The treaty of marriage was ratified in England : 
 Suffolk obtained first the title of marquis, then that of 
 duke ; and even received the thanks of parliament for 
 iiis services in concluding it. The princess immedi- 
 ately fell into close connexions with the cardinal and 
 his party, who, fortified by her powerful patronage, re 
 solved on the final ruin of the duke of Gloucester. 
 
 This generous prince, ill-suited to court intrigues, 
 but possessing in a high degree the favour of the pub- 
 lic, had received from his rivals a cruel mortification, 
 which he had hitherto borne without violating the pub- 
 lic peace, but which it was impossible that a person 
 of his spirit and humanity could ever forgive. His 
 duchess, the daughter of Reginald lord Cobham, had 
 been accused of the crime of witchcraft; and it was 
 pretended that the e was found in her possession a 
 waxen figure of the king, which she and her associ- 
 ates, sir Roger Bolingbroke, a priest, and one Margery 
 Jordan of Eye, melted in a magical manner before a 
 slow fire, with an intention of making Henry’s force 
 and vigour waste away, by like insensible degrees. 
 The accusation was well calculated to affect the weak 
 and credulous mind of the king, and to gain belief in 
 an ignorant age ; and the duchess was brought to trial 
 with her confederates. A charge of this ridiculous 
 nature seems always to exempt the accusers from ob- 
 serving the rules of common sense in their evidence : 
 the prisoners were pronounced guilty; the duchess 
 
142 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 was condemned to do public penance, and to suffer 
 perpetual imprisonment and the others were execut- 
 ed. As these violent proceedings were ascribed sole- 
 ly to the malice of the duke’s enemies, the people, 
 contrary to their usual practice in such trials, acquit 
 ted the unhappy sufferers, and increased their esteem 
 and affection towards a prince who was thus exposed 
 to mortal injuries. 
 
 These sentiments of the public made the cardinal 
 and his party sensible that it was necessary to destroy 
 a man whom they had so deeply injured. In order to 
 effect their purpose, a parliament was summoned to 
 meet, not at London, which was supposed to be too 
 well affected to the duke, but at St. Edmondsbury. As 
 soon as Gloucester appeared, he was accused 
 
 1 J of treason, and thrown into prison : he was soon 
 after found dead in his bed 5 and though it was pre- 
 tended that his death was natural, and his body bore no 
 marks of outward violence, ho one doubted but he had 
 r allen a victim to the vengeance of his enemies. 
 
 The cardinal of Winchester died six weeks after his 
 nephew, whose murder was universally ascribed to 
 him as well as to the duke of Suffolk, and which, it is 
 said, gave him more remorse in his last moments, than 
 could be naturally expected from a man hardened, dur- 
 ing the course of a long life, in falsehood and in poli- 
 tics. What share the queen had in this guilt is un- 
 certain : her usual activity and spirit made the people 
 conclude, with some reason, that the duke’s enemjes 
 durst not have ventured on such a deed without her 
 privity. But there happened, soon after, an event of 
 which she and her favourite, the duke of SuffotK, bore 
 incontestibly the whole odium. 
 
 The article of the marriage treaty, by which the 
 province of Maine was to be ceded to Charles of An- 
 jou, the queen’s uncle, had been hitherto kept secret; 
 out as the court of France strenuously insisted on its 
 performance, orders were now despatched, under Hen- 
 ry’s hand, to Sir Frances Surienne, governor of Mans, 
 to surrender that place. Surienne, questioning the 
 authenticity of the order, refused to comply; but a 
 French army, under the count of Dunois, obliged 
 him to surrender not only Mans, but all the other for- 
 tresses, in that province. Surienne, at the head of hU 
 
HENRI VI. 
 
 143 
 
 garrisons, retired into Normandy ; bat the duke of 
 Somerset, who was governor of that province, refused 
 to admit him ; and this adventurer marched into Brit- 
 tany, and subsisted his troops by the ravages which 
 he exercised. The duke of Brittany complained of 
 this violence to the king of France, his liege lord , 
 and Charles remonstrated with Somerset, who replied 
 that the injury was done without his privity, and that 
 he had no authority over Surienne. Charles refused 
 to admit of this apology, and insisted that reparation 
 should be made to the duke of Brittany for all the 
 damages which he had sustained; and, in order to 
 render an accommodation absolutely impracticable, 
 he estimated the loss at no less a sum than one mil 
 lion six hundred thousand crowns. 
 
 Sensible of the superiority which the present state 
 of his affairs gave him over England, he was deter- 
 mined to take advantage of it ; and, accordingly, Nor- 
 mandy was at once invaded by four powerful armies : 
 J44Q1 ^ rst commanded by the king of France 
 himself; the second, by the duke of Brittany ; 
 the third, by the duke of Alent^on ; and the fourth by 
 the count of Dunois. The conquest of Normandy 
 was speedily finished by Charles. A like rapid suc- 
 cess attended the French arms in Guienne ; and the 
 English were expelled from a province which they 
 had held for three centuries. 
 
 The palpable weakness of Henry the Sixth had en- 
 couraged a pretender to the crown of England; and 
 the English were doomed to pay, though late, the 
 penalty of their turbulence under Richard the Second, 
 und of their levity in violating, without any necessity, 
 the lineal succession of their monarchs. All the 
 males of the house of Mortimer were extinct : but 
 Anne, the sister of the last earl of Marche, having 
 espoused the earl of Cambridge, beheaded in the 
 reign of Henry V., had transmitted her latent, but not * 
 yet forgotten, claim to her son, Richard duke of York. 
 This prince, thus descended by his mother from Phi- 
 lippa, only daughter of the duke of Clarence, second 
 son of Edward 111., stood plainly in the order of suc- 
 cession before the king, who derived his descent from 
 the duke of Lancaster, third son of that monarch ; 
 and that claim could not, in many respects have fa!- 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 144 
 
 len into more dangerous hands than those of the duke 
 of York. Richard was a man of valour and abilities, 
 of a prudent conduct and mild disposition . he had 
 enjoyed an opportunity of displaying these virtues in * 
 his government of France ; and though recalled by 
 the intrigues and superior interest of the duke of Som- 
 erset, he had been sent to suopress a rebellion in Ire- 
 land ; and had even been able to attach to his person 
 and family the whole Irish nation, whom he was sent 
 to subdue. In the right of his father, he bore the rank 
 of first prince of the blood ; and by this station he 
 gave a lustre to his title derived from the family of 
 Mortimer, which, however, had been eclipsed by the 
 royal descent of the house of Lancaster. He possess- 
 ed an immense fortune from the union of so many 
 successions, those of Cambridge and York on the one 
 hand, with those of Mortimer on the other ; which 
 last inheritance had before been augmented by an 
 union of the estates of Clarence and Ulster, with the 
 patrimonial possessions of the family t)f Marche. 
 The alliance too of Richard, by his marrying the 
 daughter of Ralph Nevil, earl of Westmoreland, had 
 widely extended his interest among the nobility, and 
 had procured him many connexions in that formidable 
 order. Among the rest he was nearly allied to the 
 earl of Warwick, commonly known, from the subse- 
 quent events, by the appellation of the King-maker. 
 
 This nobleman had distinguished himself by his 
 gallantry in the field, by the hospitality of his table 
 by the magnificence, and still more by the generosity 
 of his expense, and by the spirited and bold manner 
 which attended him in all his actions. The undesign- 
 ing frankness and openness of his character rendered 
 his conquest over men's affections the more cerU : n. 
 No less than thirty thousand persons are said to have 
 daily lived at his expense in the different manors and 
 •castles which he possessed ; and he was the greatest, 
 as well as the last, of those mighty barons, who for- 
 merly overawed the crown. 
 
 The humours of the people, set afloat by a parlia- 
 mentary impeachment, and by the fali of the duke of 
 Suffolk, broke out in various commotions, which were 
 soon suppressed; but an insurrection in Kent was at- 
 tended with more dangerous consequences. One John 
 
HENRY VI. 
 
 Cade, a native of Ireland, a man of low condition, 
 who had been obliged to fly into France for crimes, 
 observed, on his return to England, the discontents of 
 the people, and assumed the name of John Mortimer. 
 On the first mention of that popular name, the com- 
 mon people of Kent, to the number of twenty thou- 
 sand, flocked to Cade’s standard 5 and he inflamed 
 their zeal by publishing complaints against the numer- 
 ous abuses in government, and demanding a redress 
 of grievances. Cade advanced with his followers to- 
 wards London, and encamped on Blackheath 3 and 
 transmitting to the court a plausible list of grievan- 
 ces, he promised that when these should be redressed, 
 and Lord Say the treasurer, and Cromer sheriff of 
 Kent, should be punished for their malversations, he 
 would immediately lay down his arms. The council, 
 perceiving the reluctance of the people to fight against 
 men so reasonable in their pretensions, carried the 
 king, for present safety, to Kenilworth ; and the city 
 mmediately opened its gates to Cade, who maintain- 
 ed, during some time, great order and discipline 
 among his followers. But being obliged, in order to 
 gratify their malevolence against Say and Cromer, to 
 put these men to death without a legal trial, he found 
 that after the commission of this crime, he was no 
 longer able to control their riotous disposition, and 
 that all his orders were disobeyed. Proceeding to acts 
 of plunder and violence, the citizens became alarm 
 ed, and shut their gates against them ; and*, being sec 
 onded by a detachment of soldiers sent them by Lord 
 Scales, governor of the tower, they repulsed the reb- 
 els with great slaughter. The Kentishmen were so 
 discouraged by the blow, that upon receiving a gener- 
 al pardon from the primate, then chancellor, they re- 
 treated towards Rochester, and there dispersed. The 
 pardon, however, was soon after annulled, as extorted 
 by violence : a price was set on Cade’s head, who was 
 killed by one Iden, a gentleman of Sussex 3 and many 
 of his followers were punished with death. 
 
 The court suspected that the duke of York had se- 
 cretly instigated Cade to this attempt, to sound the 
 dispositions of the people towards his title and family ; 
 and fearing that he intended to return from Ireland 
 with an armed force, the ruling part.v issued orders 
 
 VOL l. 10 
 
.46 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 debarring him entrance into England. The duke re- 
 futed his enemies by coming attended with only nia 
 ordinary retinue ; but finding himself an object of jeal- 
 ousy, be saw the impossibility of remaining a quiet 
 subject, and the necessity of proceeding forwards in 
 support of his important claim. His partisans, there- 
 fore, were instructed to maintain his right by succes- 
 sion, and by the established constitution of the king- 
 dom ; and the arguments adduced by his adherents 
 and those of the reigning family divided and distract- 
 ed the people. The noblemen of greatest influence 
 espoused the part of the duke of York ; but the earl 
 of Northumberland adhered to the present govern- 
 ment ; and the earl of Westmoreland, though head of 
 the family of Nevil, was prevailed on to support the 
 cause of Henry. 
 
 The public discontents were increased by the loss 
 of the province 'of Gascony, which was subdued by 
 the French *, and though the English might deem 
 themselves happy in being freed from all continental 
 possessions, they expressed great dissatisfaction on 
 the occasion, and threw all the blame on the minis- 
 try. While they were in this disposition, the queen's 
 delivery of a son, who received the name of Edward, 
 had a tendency to inflame the public mind, as it re- 
 moved all hopes of the peaceable succession of tne 
 duke of York, who was otherwise, in the right of his 
 father, and by the laws enacted since the accession 
 of the house of Lancaster, next heir to the crown. 
 The duke, however, was incapable of violent coun- 
 cils ; and even when no visible obstacles lay between 
 him and the throne, he was prevented by his own 
 scruples from mounting it. Henry, always unfit to 
 exercise the government, fell about this time into a 
 distemper, which so far increased his natural imbecil- 
 ity, that it rendered him incapable of maintaining even 
 the appearance of royality. The queen and the coun- 
 cil, destitute of this support, and finding themselves 
 unable to resist the York party, were obliged to yield 
 to the torrent. They sent to the tower the duke of 
 Somerset, who had succeeded to Suffolk's influence 
 in the ministry, and who had soon become equally 
 the object of public animosity and hatred ; and they 
 appointed Richard lieutenant of the kingdom, with 
 
HENRY VI. 117 
 
 powers to open and hold a session of parliament. Thai 
 assembly also, taking into consideration the state of 
 the kingdom, created him protector daring pleasure 
 Yet the duke, instead of pushing them to make far- 
 ther concessions, appeared somewhat timid and irres- 
 olute, even in receiving the power which was tender- 
 ed to him. This moderation of Richard was certainly 
 very unusual and very amiable ; yet was it attended 
 with bad consequences in the present juncture, and ( 
 by giving time to the animosities of faction to rise 
 and ferment, it proved the source of all those furious 
 wars and commotions which ensued. 
 
 The enemies of the duke of York soon found it in 
 their power to make advantage of his excessive cau- 
 tion. Henry being so far recovered from his distem- 
 per as to carry the appearance of exercising the royal 
 power, was moved to resume his authority, to annul 
 the protectorship of the duke, to release Somerset 
 from the tower, and to commit the administration in- 
 to the hands of that nobleman. Richard, sensible of 
 the dangers to which he might be exposed, if he sub- 
 mitted to the annulling of the parliamentary commis- 
 sion, levied an army ; but still without advancing any 
 pretensions to the crown. He complained only of 
 the king's ministers, and demanded a reformation of ■ 
 
 the government. A battle was fought at St. Alban's’ 
 
 14 551 ln ^ ie Yorkists, without suffering any 
 
 ■* material loss, slew about five thousand of their 
 enemies. The king himself fell into the hands of 
 the duke of York, who treated him with great .resp ect 
 and tenderness ; and he was only obliged, which he re- 
 garded as no hardship, to commit the whole authority 
 of the crown into the hands of his rival. This was 
 the first blood spilt in that fatal quarrel between the 
 houses of York and Lancaster, which lasted for thirty 
 years, and which is computed to have cost the lives 
 of eighty princes of the blood, and almost entirely an 
 nihilated the ancient nobility of England. 
 
 An outward reconciliation w'as effected, by means 
 of the archbishop of Canterbury, between the two par- 
 ties 5 but it was evident, that the contest for a crown 
 could not thus be peaceably accommodated. One of the 
 king's retinue insulted one of the earl of Warwick's, 
 and their comoanions on both sides took part in the 
 
149 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 quarrel , a fierce combat ensued j the earl, apprehend 
 ing Ins life to be aimed at, fled to his government of 
 Calais, which gave him ths command of the only reg 
 ill ar force maintained by England j and both parties, 
 in every country, openly made preparations for deci- 
 ding the contest by arms. 
 
 The earl of Salisoury, marching to join the duke of 
 York, was overtaken at Blore-heath, on the borders 
 of Staffordshire, by lord Audley, wJjo commanded 
 much superior forces. A small rivulet ran between 
 the two armies 5 and when the van of the royal army 
 had passed the brook, Salisbury suddenly attacked 
 them, and put them to the rout 3 and obtaining a com- 
 plete victory, he reached the general rendezvous of 
 the Yorkists at Ludlow. To the same place, the earl 
 of Warwick brought a choice body of veterans from 
 Calais, on whom it was thought the fortune of the 
 war would much depend 3 but when the royal army 
 approached, and a general action was every hour ex- 
 pected, sir Andrew Trollop, who commanded the 
 veterans, deserted to the king in the night time, and 
 the Yorkists were so dismayed at this instance of 
 treachery, which made every man suspicious of his 
 fellow, that they separated next day, without striking 
 a stroke. The duke fled to Ireland 3 the earl of War- 
 wick, attended by many of the other leaders, escaped 
 to Calais, where his great popularity among all orders 
 of men soon drew to him partisans 5 and the friends 
 of the house of York, in England, kept themselves 
 every where in readiness to rise on the first sum- 
 mons. 
 
 After meeting with some success at sea, Warwick 
 landed in Kent, with the earl of Salisbury, and the 
 earl of Marche, eldest son of the duke of York 3 and 
 being met by the primate, by lord Cobham, and other 
 persons of distinction, he marched, amidst the accla- 
 mations of the people, to London. A battle was 
 fought at Northampton, and was soon decided against 
 the royalists, of whom the duke of Buckingham, the 
 earl of Shrewsbury, the lords Beaumont and Egre 
 mont, and sir William Lucie, with many other per 
 sons of quality, were killed in the action or pursuit. 
 Henry himself was again taken prisoner ; and as th« 
 innocence and simplicity of his manners had procur 
 
HENRY VI. 
 
 149 
 
 #d him the tender regard of the people, he was treat- 
 ed with abundant respect. 
 
 A parliament was summoned in the king’s name at 
 Westminster, where the duke of York soon after ap- 
 peared from Ireland. This prince stated to the house 
 of peers his own claim to the crown, and exhorted 
 them to do justice to the lineal successor. The lords 
 remained in some suspense, but at length declared in 
 favour of the duke of York. They determined, how- 
 ever, that Henry should possess the dignity during 
 the remainder of his life 5 that the administration" of 
 the government should in the mean while remain 
 with Richard ; and that he should be acknowledged 
 the true and lawful heir of the monarchy. 
 
 But Margaret, whose high spirit spurned at the com- 
 pact, was not remiss in defending the rights of her 
 family. After the b. qle of Northampton, she had fled 
 with her infant son to the north, where he’, -liability, 
 insinuation, and address, among the north-ra barons, 
 raised her an army twenty thousand strong, with a ce- 
 lerity which was neither expected by her friends, ncr 
 apprehended by her enemies. The duke of York, in- 
 formed of her appearance in the north, hastened thith- 
 er with a body of five thousand men j but on his arri- 
 val at Wakefield, finding himself so much outnumber- 
 ed by the enemy, he threw himself into Sandal castle : 
 and was advised by the earl of Salisbury and other 
 prudent counsellors, to remain in that fortress, till his 
 son, the earl of Marche, who was levying forces in 
 trie borders of Wales, could advance to his assistance. 
 But the duke, who possessed personal bravery in an 
 eminent degree, thought that he should be forever 
 disgraced, if, by taking shelter behind walls, he should 
 foi a moment resign the victory to a woman. He 
 therefore descended into the plain, and offered battle 
 to the enemy, which was instantly accepted. The 
 great inequality of numbers was alone sufficient to de- 
 cide the victory 5 but the queen, by sending a detach- 
 ment, who fell on the back of the duke’s army, ren 
 dered her advantage still more certain and undisputed 
 The duke himself was killed in the action ; and his 
 head, by Margaret’s orders, was fixed on the gates of 
 York, with a paper crown, in derision of his pretend- 
 ed title. There feli near three thousand Yorkists if 
 
150 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 this battle; the duke himself was greatly and justly 
 lamented by his own party. He perished in the fifti- 
 eth year of his age, and left three sons, Edward, 
 George, and Richard, with three daughters, Anne, 
 Elizabeth, and Margaret. 
 
 The queen, after this important victory, divided her 
 army. She sent the smaller division, under Jasper 
 Tudor, earl of Pembroke, half brother to the king, 
 against Edward, the new duke of York. She herself 
 marched with the larger division towards London, 
 where the earl of Warwick had been left with the 
 command of the Yorkists. Pembroke was defeated 
 by Edward at Mortimer’s Cross, in Herefordshire, 
 with the loss of near four thousand men ; but Marga- 
 ret compensated this defeat by a victory which she 
 obtained over the earl of Warwick at St. Alban’s ; and 
 the person of the king fell again into the hands of his 
 own party. 
 
 The queen, however, reaped no great advantage 
 from this victory. Young Edward advanced upon her 
 from the other side; and collecting the remains of 
 Warwick’s army, he was soon in a condition of giv- 
 i. g her battle with superior force. Sensible of her 
 danger, she found it necessary to retreat with her ar- 
 my to the north; and Edward entered the capital 
 amidst the acclamations of the citizens. Instead of 
 confining himself to the narrow limits to which his 
 father had submitted, he determined to avail himself 
 of his popularity, and to assume the nam ' and dignity 
 of king. His army was ordered to assemble in St. 
 John’s Fields; great numbers of people surrounded 
 them ; an harangue was pronounced to this mixed 
 multitude, setting forth the title of Edward, and in- 
 veighing against the tyranny and usurpation of the ri- 
 val family ; and the people were then asked, whether 
 they would accept of Edward, eldest son of the late 
 duke of York, for their king ? They expressed their 
 assen” by loud and joyful acclamations. A great num- 
 ber of bishops, lords, magistrates, and other persons 
 of distinction, were next assembled at Baynard’s cas- 
 I4f II w ^° ratl ^ ie( ^ tl]e popular election ; and the 
 
 0 -* new king was on the subsequent day proclaim 
 ed in London, by the title of Edward the Fourth. 
 
 In this manner ended- the reign of Henry VI a 
 
EDWARD IV. 
 
 151 
 
 monarch who, while in his cradle, had been proclaim 
 ed king both of France and England, and who began 
 his life with the most splendid prospects that any 
 prince in Europe had ever enjoyed His.weakness and 
 his disputed tide were the chief causes of the public 
 calamities : but whether his queen, and his ministers, 
 were not also guilty of some great abuses of power, 
 it. is not easy for us at this distance of time to deter- 
 mine. The scaffold, as well as the field, incessantly 
 streamed with the noblest blood of England, spilt in 
 the quarrel between the two contending families, 
 whose animosity was now become implacable. The 
 partisans of the house of Lancaster chose the red 
 rose as their mark of distinction 5 those of York 
 were denominated from the white 3 and these civil 
 wars were thus known over Europe, by the name of 
 the quarrel between the two roses. 
 
 Queen Margaret assembled an army in Yorkshire; 
 and the king and the earl of Warwick hastened with 
 forty thousand men to check her progress. In a skir- 
 mish for the passage of ferrybridge over the river 
 Ayre, the Yorkists were chased back with great slaugh- 
 ter. The earl of Warwick, dreading the consequen- 
 ces of this disaster, at a time when a decisive action 
 was every hour expected, immediately ordered his 
 horse to be brought him, whi h he stabbed before the 
 whole army ; and kissing tl e hilt of his sword, swore 
 that he was determined to share the fate of the mean- 
 est soldier. And, to show the greatest security, a 
 proclamation was at the same time issued, giving to 
 every one full liberty to retire 3 but menacing the se- 
 verest punishment to those who should discover any 
 symptoms of cowardice in the ensuing battle. 
 
 The hostile armies met at Touton 3 and a fierce and 
 bloody battle ensued, which ended in a total victory 
 on the side of the Yorkists. Edward issued orders to 
 give no quarter. The routed army was pursued to 
 fadcaster with great bloodshed and confusion 3 and 
 above thirty-six thousand men are computed to have 
 fallen in the battle and pursuit : among these were the 
 earl of Westmoreland and his brother, sir John Nevil, 
 the earl of Northumberland, the lords Dacres and 
 Welles, ano sir Andrew Trollop. The earl of Dev 
 onshire, who was now engaged in Henry’s party, was 
 
152 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 brought a prisoner to Edward ; and was, soon after 
 beheaded by martial law at York. Henry and Marga 
 ret had remained at ¥"ork during the action ; bu 
 learning the defeat of their army, and being sensible 
 that no place in England could now afford them shel- 
 ter, they fled with great" precipitation into Scotland 3 
 and on Margaret’s offering to the Scottish council to 
 deliver to them immediately the important fortress of 
 Berwick, and to contract her son in marriage with a 
 sister of king James, the Scots promised the assist- 
 ance of their arms to reinstate her family upon the 
 throne. 
 
 But as the danger from that quarter seemed not ve- 
 ry urgent to Edward, he did not pursue the fugitive 
 king and queen into their retreat ; but returned to 
 London, where a parliament was summoned for set- 
 tling the government. That assembly no longer hesi- 
 tated between the two families ; they recognised the 
 title of Edward, and passed an act of attainder against 
 Henry and Margaret, against their infant son Edward 
 and their principal adhereifts. 
 
 However, Lewis the eleventh of France, a prince 
 of an intriguing and politic genius, sent a body of two 
 thousand men at arms to the assistance of Henry. 
 These enabled Margaret to take the field ; but though 
 reinforced by a numerous train of adventurers from 
 Scotland, and by many partisans of the family of Lan- 
 caster, she received a check at Hedgley-moor from 
 lord Montague, brother to the earl of Warwick, who 
 was so encouraged with this success, that, while a 
 numerous reinforcement was on their march to join 
 him by orders from Edward, he ventured, with his 
 own troops alone, to attack the Lancastrians at Hex- 
 ham ; and obtained a complete . victory over them. 
 All those who were spared in the field suffered on the 
 scaffold; and the utter extermination of their adver- 
 saries was now become the plain object of the t York 
 party. 
 
 The fate of the unfortunate royal family, after this 
 defeat, was singular. Margaret, fleeing with her son 
 into a forest, was beset, during the darkness of the 
 night, by robbers, who despoiled her of her rings mu 
 jewels, and treated her with the utmost indignity. 
 The partition of this rich booty raise i a quarrel arnony 
 
EDWARD IV. 
 
 153 
 
 
 them 5 and while their attention was thus engaged, 
 6he took an opportunity of plunging with her son into 
 the depths of the forfcst. While in this wretched con- 
 dition, she saw a robber approach with his naked sword ; 
 and finding that she had no means of escape, she sud- 
 denly advanced towards him 5 and presenting to him 
 the young prince, called out to him, “ Here, my friend, 
 I commit to your care the safety of your king’s son.” 
 The man, whose humanity and generous spirit had 
 oeen obscured, not entirely lost, by his vicious course 
 of life, was charmed with the confidence reposed in 
 him, and vowed not only to abstain from all injury 
 against the princess, but to devote himself entirely to 
 tier service. By his means she dwelt some time con- 
 cealed in the forest, and was at last conducted to the 
 sea-coast, whence she made her escape into Flan- 
 ders. She passed thence to her fathers court, where 
 she lived several years in privacy and retirement. Her 
 husband was not so fortunate nor so dexterous in find- 
 ing the means of escape. Some of his friends took 
 him under their protection, and conveyed him into 
 Lancashire, where he remained concealed during a 
 year ; but he was at last detected, delivered up to Ed- 
 I4fn warc ^ an( l thrown into the Tower. The preser- 
 * vation of his life was owing less to the generosi- 
 
 ty of his enemies than to the contempt which they had 
 entertained of his courage and understanding. 
 
 The imprisonment of Henry, the expulsion of Mar- 
 garet, and the execution and confiscation of all the 
 most eminent Lancastrians, seemed to give full secu- 
 rity to Edward’s government ; but the amorous tem- 
 per of the prince led him into an act which proved fa 
 tal to his repose, and to the stability of his throne. 
 El zabeth Grey, daughter of the duchess of Bedtord, 
 by her second marriage with Sir Richard Woodville 
 and widow of sir John Grey of Groby, who had been 
 slain in the second battle of St. Albans, fighting on the 
 side of Lancaster, and whose estate had been confis- 
 cated, seized the opportunity, when the king was on a 
 visit to the duchess of Bedford, of throwing herself at 
 his feet, and entreating his pity for her impoverished 
 and distressed children. The sight of so much beau 
 ty in affliction strongly affected Edward; and he was 
 reduced, in his turn, to the posture of a supplicant at 
 
154 • HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 theTeet of Elizabeth. But the lady was either averse 
 to dishonourable love, or inflamed with ambition ; and 
 the caresses and importunities of the young and amia- 
 ble Edward proved fruitless against her rigid and in- 
 flexible virtue. His passion, increased by opposition, 
 carried him beyond all bounds 5 and he offered to 
 share with her his throne as well as his heart. The 
 marriage was privately celebrated at Grafton ; and the 
 secret was carefully kept for some time, from motives 
 of policy, which at that time rendered this proceed- 
 ing highly dangerous and imprudent. 
 
 The king had a little before cast his eye on Bona 
 of Savoy, sister of the queen of France, who, he 
 hoped, would, by her marriage, ensure him the friend- 
 ship of that power, which was alone both able and in- 
 clined to give support and assistance to his rival. To 
 render the negotiation more successful, the earl of 
 Warwick had been despatched to Paris, where the 
 princess then resided. This nobleman had demand- 
 ed Bona in marriage for the king 5 his proposals had 
 been accepted ; and nothing remained but the ratifi- 
 cation of the terms agreed on, and the bringing over 
 the princess to England. But when the secret of Ed- 
 ward’s marriage broke out, the haughty earl, deeming 
 himself affronted, returned to England, inflamed with 
 rage and indignation; and an extensive and dangerous 
 combination was insensibly formed against Edward 
 and his ministry. A rebellion arosg in Lincolnshire, 
 and was headed^by sir Robert Welles, son to the lord 
 of that name ; but the king defeated the army of the 
 rebels, took their leader prisoner, and ordered him 
 immediately to execution. 
 
 Edward had entertained so little jealousy of the earl 
 of Warwick or duke of Clarence the king’s second 
 brother, who had married the earl’s eldest daughter 
 that he sent them with commissions of array to levy 
 forces against the rebels ; but these malcontents, as 
 soon as they left the court, raised troops in their own 
 name, issued declarations against the government, and 
 complained of grievances, oppressions, and bad min- 
 isters. The unexpected defeat of Welles disconcerted 
 all their measures; and they were obliged to disband 
 their army, and to fly into Devonshire., whence the* 
 embaiked and made sail towards Calais 
 
 ! 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
EDWARD IV. 
 
 Ioj 
 
 The king of France, jealous of the alliance entered 
 into between Edward and the duke of Burgundy, re- 
 ceived Warwick with the greatest demonstrations o r 
 regard, and hoped to make him his instrument for re 
 establishing the house of Lancaster. Margaret being 
 sent for f-om Angers, where she then re-ided, an 
 agreement dictated by mutual interest was soon con- 
 cluded between them. Edward, however, foresaw 
 that it would be easy to dissolve an alliance compos- 
 ed of such discordant materials. He employed a lady 
 in the train of the duchess of Clarence, to represent 
 to the duke that he had unwarily become the instru- 
 ment of Warwick's vengeance, and had formed a con 
 nexion with the murderers of his father, and the im- 
 placable enemies of his family. Clarence, struck with 
 the force of these arguments, on a promise of forgive- 
 ness. secretly engaged to abandon the Lancastrian par 
 ty. Warwick also was secretly carrying on a corres- 
 pondence of the same nature with his brother, the 
 marquis of Montague, who was entirely trusted by Ed- 
 ward 3 and like motives produced a like resolution in 
 that nobleman. Warwick availed himself of a storm 
 to cross the channel, and with a small body of French 
 troops, landed at Dartmouth, accompanied by the duke 
 of Clarence, and the earls of Oxford and Pembroke. 
 
 Edward though brave and active, had little fore- 
 sight. He had made no preparations for this event 3 
 14701 anc ^ even said, that he wished for noth- 
 
 J ing more than to see Warwick on English 
 ground. However, the prodigious popularity of that 
 nobleman, the zeal of the Lancastrian party, and the 
 spirit of discontent with which many were infected, 
 drew sucl^ multitudes to his standard, that in a few 
 days his army amounted to sixty thousand men, and 
 was continually increasing. Edward, who had been 
 employed In suppressing an insurrection in the north, 
 now hastened southwards to encounter him 3 and the 
 two armies approached each other near Nottingham 
 The rapidity of Warwick's progress had incapacitated 
 the duke of Clarence from executing his plan of 
 treachery 3 but the marquis of Montague, having com- 
 municated the design to his adherents, took to arms in 
 the night-time, and hastened with loud acclamation! 
 to Edward's quarters. The king had just time to ge< 
 
156 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 on horseback, and to hurry with a small retinue t« 
 Lynn in Norfolk, where finding some ships ready, he 
 instantly embarked. Thus, the earl of Warwick, in 
 no longer space than eleven days after his first land- 
 ing, was- left entire master of the kingdom. 
 
 Immediately after Edward’s flight, Warwick hasten- 
 ed to London ; and delivering Henry from his confine- 
 ment in the Tower, he proclaimed him king with 
 great solemnity ; and every thing now promise a full 
 settlement of the English crown in the family of Lan- 
 caster. However, Edward being assisted by the duke 
 of Burgundy, his brother-in-law, though in a covert 
 way, he set sail for England ; and impatient to take 
 vengeance on his enemies, he made an attempt to 
 land with his forces, which did not exceed two thou- 
 sand men, on the coast of Norfolk ; but being there 
 repulsed, he sailed northwards, and disembarked at 
 Ravenspur in Yorkshire. Finding that the new magis 
 trates, who had been appointed by the earl of War- 
 wick, kept the people every where from joining him, 
 he pretended, and even made oath, that he came not 
 o challenge the crown, but only the inheritance of 
 .he house of York, which of right belonged to him; 
 and that he did not intend to disturb the peace of the 
 kingdom. His partisans every moment flocked to his 
 standard; he was admitted into the city of York; and 
 he was soon in such a situation as gave him hopes of 
 succeeding in all his former claims and pretensions. 
 Warwick assembled an army at Leicester, with an in- 
 tention of meeting, and of giving battle, to the ene- 
 my ; but Edward, by taking another road, passed him 
 unmolested, and presented himself before the gates 
 of London. His numerous friends facilitated his ad- 
 mission into the capital; a-nd his entrance into Lon- 
 don made him master not only of that rich and pow- 
 c rful city, but also of the person of Henry, who, dos 
 tined to be the perpetual sport of fortune, again fell 
 into the hands of his enemies, 
 j The king soon found himself in a condition to face 
 the earl of Warwick, who, being reinforced by his son 
 ‘ in-law, the duke of Clarence, and his brother the Mar- 
 quis of Montague, took post at Barnet, in the vicinity 
 of London. His brother Montague seems to have re- 
 mained attached to the interests of his family, but his 
 
EDWARD IV. 
 
 157 
 
 Bon-in-law, though bound to him by every tie of hen 
 our and gratitude, resolved to fulfil the secret engage- 
 ments which he had formerly taken with his brother, 
 and deserted to the king in the night time, carrying 
 over a body of twelve thousand men along with him. 
 Warwick was now too far advanced to retreat ; and as 
 he rejected with disdain all terms of accommodation 
 offered him by Edward and Clarence, he was obliged 
 to hazard a general engagement. The battle 
 was fought with obstinacy on both sides 3 and 
 the victory remained long undecided between them. 
 But an accident threw the balance to the side of the 
 Yorkists. Warwick engaged that day on foot, and 
 was slain in the thickest of the engagement 3 his 
 brother underwent the same fate ; and as Edward had 
 issued orders not to give any quarter, a great and un- 
 distinguished slaughter was made in the pursuit. 
 
 The same day on which this decisive battle was 
 fought, queen Margaret and her son, now about eigh- 
 teen years of age, and a young prince of great hopes, 
 '.anded at Weymouth, supported by a small body of 
 F rench forces. She advanced through the counties 
 of Devon, Somerset, and Gloucester, increasing her 
 army on each day’s march 3 but was at last overtaken 
 by the rapid and expeditious Edward at Tewkesbury, 
 on the banks of the Severn. The Lancastrians were 
 here totally defeated 3 and the army was entirely dis- 
 persed. 
 
 Queen Margaret and her son were taken prisoners, 
 and brought to the king, who asked the prince, after 
 an insulting manner, how he dared to inyade his do- 
 minions? The young prince, more mindful of his high 
 birth than of his present fortune, replied, that he 
 came thither to claim his just inheritance. The un- 
 generous Edward, insensible to pity, struck him on the 
 face with his gauntlet 5 and the dukes of Clarence and 
 Gloucester, lord Hastings, and sir Thomas Gray, tak- 
 ing the blow as a signal for further violence, hurried 
 the prince into the next apartment, and there des- 
 patched him with their daggers. Margaret was thrown 
 into the Tower : king Henry died in that confinement 
 a few days after the battle of Tewkesbury 5 but wheth* 
 er he died a natural or a violent death is uncertain 
 It is pretended, and w&s generally believed, that the 
 
158 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 duke of Gloucester killed him with his own hands ; 
 but the universal odium which that prince has incur 
 red, inclined perhaps the nation to aggravate his 
 crimes without any sufficient authority. 
 
 All the hopes of the house of Lancaster seemed 
 now utterly extinguished ; and Edward was firmly es- 
 tablished on the throne of England. This prince was * 
 active and intrepid in adversity, but unable to resist 
 the allurements of prosperity. He now devoted him- 
 self to pleasure and amusement ; but he was roused 
 from his lethargy by the prospect of foreign conquests. 
 He formed a league with the duke of Burgundy to in- 
 vade France ; and, for this purpose, the parliament 
 voted him a tenth of rents, or two shillings in the 
 pound', which produced only 31,4601. j and they added 
 to this supply a whole fifteenth, and three-quarters of 
 another ; but as the king deemed these sums still une- 
 qual to the undertaking, he attempted to levy money 
 by way of benevolence ; a kind of exaction which, ex- 
 cept difring the reigns of Henry the Third and Rich- 
 ard the Second, had not been much practised in for- 
 mer times, and which, though the consent of the par- 
 ties was pretended to be gained, could not be deem- 
 ed entirely voluntary. 
 
 The king passed over to Calais with an army of fif- 
 ., 47,-1 teen hundred men at arms, and fifteen thousand 
 archers 5 but all his hopes of conquest were 
 damped, when he found that the constable St. Pol, 
 who had secretly promised to join him, did not re- 
 ceive him into the towns of which he was master, nor 
 the duke of Burgundy bring him the smallest assis- 
 tance. This circumstance gave great disgust to the 
 king, and inclined him to hearken, to the pacific over- 
 tures of Lewis, who consented to pay Edward im- 
 mediately seventy-five thousand crowns, on condition 
 that he should withdraw his army from France, and 
 promised to pay him fifty thousand crowns a-year du- 
 ring their joint lives. It was farther stipulated, that 
 the dauphin, when of age, should marry Edward’s eld- 
 est daughter. The articles of this treaty were ratified 
 in a personal interview which the two monarchs had 
 at Pacquigni, near Amiens. This treaty was little 
 honourable to either of these monarchs 5 it discover- 
 ed the imprudence of Edward, and the want of dignity 
 
EDWARD IV r . 
 
 153 
 
 in Lewis, who, rather than hazard a battle, agreed to 
 subject his kingdom to a tribute. The most honoura- 
 ble part of it was the stipulation for the liberty of 
 queen Margaret, who, though after the death of her 
 husband and son, she could no longer be formidable to 
 government, was still detained in custody by Edward. 
 Lewis paid fifty thousand crowns for her ransom , and 
 that princess, who had been so active on the stage of 
 the world, and who had experienced such a variety of 
 fortune, passed the remainder of her days in tranquil- 
 lity and privacy, till the year 1482, when she died. 
 
 Edward abandoned himself entirely to indolence 
 and pleasure, which were now become his ruling pas- 
 sions ; but an act of tyranny, of which he was guilty 
 in his own family, has met with general and deserved 
 censure. The duke of Clarence, after all his services 
 l'n deserting Warwick, had never been able to regain 
 the king’s friendship. He was also an object of dis- 
 pleasure to the queen, as well as to his brother, the 
 duke of Gloucester, a prince of the deepest policy, 
 *nd the most unrelenting ambition. A combination 
 between these potent adversaries being secretly formed 
 against Clarence, it was determined to begin by at- 
 tacking his friends, of whom several were put to death 
 for the most trivial offences. Clarence, instead of 
 securing his own life by silence and reserve, was open 
 and loud in exclaiming against the iniquity of their 
 persecutors. The king, highly offended with his free- 
 dom, or using that pretence against him, committed 
 him to the Tower, summoned a parliament, and tried 
 him for his life before the house of peers, on charges 
 the most frivolous and futile. A sentence of condem- 
 nation, however, was a necessary consequence in 
 those times, of any prosecution by the court or the 
 prevailing party j and the duke of Clarence was pro- 
 nounced guilty by the peers. The house of commons 
 were no less slavish and unjust: they both petitioned 
 for the execution of the duke, and afterwards passed a 
 bill of attainder against him. The only favour which 
 the king granted his brother, after his condemnation, 
 was to leave him the choice of his death j and he was 
 • privately drowned in a butt of malmsey in the Tower j 
 a whimsical choice, which implies that he had an ex- 
 traordinary passion for that liquor. 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 160 
 
 All the energies of Edward’s reign seem to liava 
 terminated with the civil wars: his spirit afterwards 
 sunk into indolence and pleasure. Whilst, however, 
 he was making preparations for a war against France, 
 ^3 was seized with a distemper of which he died in 
 the forty-second year of his age, and the twenty-third 
 of his reign. Besides five daughters, Edward left two 
 sons : Edward prince of Wales, his successor, then in 
 his thirteenth year, and Richard duke of York, in his 
 ninth. 
 
 The king, on his death-bed, had entrusted the regen- 
 cy to his brother, the duke of Gloucester, then absent 
 • joqi the north ; and he recommended to the rival 
 -* nobles peace and unanimity during the tender 
 years of his son. But he had no sooner expired, than 
 the jealousies of the parties broke out ; and each of 
 them endeavoured to obtain the favour of the duke of 
 Gloucester. 
 
 This prince, whose unbounded ambition led him to 
 carry his views to the possession of the crown itself, 
 prevailed on the queen, by professions of zeal and 
 attachment, to countermand the order which she hac 
 issued to her brother, the earl of Rivers, to levy 
 body of forces, and to direct him to bring up th 
 young king from Ludlow to London, with only his or 
 * dinary retinue. In the mean time, the duke of Glouces 
 ter set out from York, attended by a numerous train 
 of the northern gentry. When he reached Northamp 
 ton, he was joined by the duke of Buckingham, who 
 was also attended by a splendid retinue ; and after 
 being met by the earl of Rivers, who had sent his pu- 
 pil forward to Stony Stratford, they all proceeded on 
 the road the next day to the king; but as they entered 
 Stony Stratford, the earl of Rivers was arrested by 
 orders from the duke of Gloucester, together with sir 
 Richard Gray, one of the queen’s sons, and instantly 
 conducted to Pomfret. 
 
 On intelligence of her brother’s imprisonment, the 
 queen fled into the sanctuary of Westminster, attend- 
 ed by the marquis of Dorset; and she carried thither 
 the five princesses, together with the duke of York. 
 But Gloucester, anxious to have the duke of York also 
 in his power, employed the archbishops of Canterbury 
 and York, who, duped by the villain’s artifice and dis 
 
EDWARD V. 
 
 1 61 
 
 simulation, prevailed on the queen to deliver up the 
 prince, that he might be present at the coronation of 
 his brother. 
 
 The council, without waiting for the consent of par- 
 liament, had already invested the duke of Gloucester 
 with the high dignity of protector; and having so far 
 succeeded in his views, he no longer hesitated in re- 
 moving the other obstructions which lay between him 
 and the throne. The death of the earl of Rivers, and 
 of the other prisoners detained in Pomfret, was first 
 determined; and he easily obtained the consent of 
 the duke of Buckingham, as well as of lord Hastings 
 to this violent and sanguinary measure, which was 
 promptly executed. 
 
 The protector then assailed the fidelity of Bucking- 
 ham, by specious arguments, and offers of great private 
 advantages, and obtained from him a promise of sup- 
 porting him in all his enterprises. Knowing the im- 
 portance of gaining lord Hastings, he sounded. him at 
 \ distance ; but finding him impregnable in his allegi- 
 ance and fidelity to the children of Edward, he deter- 
 mined on his destruction. Having summoned a coun- 
 cil in the Tower, whither that nobleman, suspecting 
 no design against him, repaired without hesitation, the 
 Drotector asked them, what punishment those deserv- 
 ed that had plotted against his life, who was so nearly 
 related to the king, and was entrusted with the admin- 
 istration of government? Hastings replied, that they 
 merited the punishment of traitors. “These traitors,” 
 cried the protector, u are the sorceress, my brother's 
 wife, and Jane Shore, his mistress, with others their 
 associates : see to what a Condition they have reduced 
 me. by their incantations and witchcraft;” upon which 
 he laid bare’his arm, all shrivelled and decayed. The 
 counsellors, who knew that this infirmity had attended 
 him from his birth, looked on each other with amaze- 
 ment; and above all lord Hastings, who, as he had 
 since Edward’s death engaged in an intrigue with Jane 
 Shore, was naturally anxious concerning the issue of 
 these extraordinary proceedings. . “ Certainly, my 
 
 lord,” said he, “if they be guilty of these crimes, 
 they deserve the severest punishment.” “ And do you 
 reply to me,” exclaimed the protector, “ with your ifs 
 and your ands'l You are the chief abettor of tha« 
 vol. I. 11 
 
162 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 witch Shore j you are yourself a traitor ; and I sweai 
 by St. Paul, that I will not dine before your head be 
 brought me.” He struck the table with his handi- 
 armed men rushed in at the signal: — the counsellors 
 were thrown into the utmost consternation 5 and Has- 
 tings being seized, was hurried away, and instantly be- 
 headed on a timber-log, which lay in the court of the 
 Tower. 
 
 After the murder of Hastings, the protector no lon- 
 ger made a secret of his intentions to usurp the crown. 
 A report was industriously circulated, that Edward, 
 before espousing the lady Elizabeth Gray, had been 
 privately married to fhe lady Eleanor Talbot, and that 
 consequently the offspring of the last marriage were 
 illegitimate. In an assembly of the citizens convoked 
 for the purpose, the duke of Buckingham harangued 
 the people on the protector’s title to the crown ; when/ 
 after several useless efforts, some of the meanest ap- 
 prentices raised a feeble cry of u God save King Rich- 
 ard !” This was deemed sufficient 5 and the crown 
 was formally tendered to Richard, who pretended to 
 refuse it, but was at length prevailed on to accept the 
 offer. This ridiculous farce was soon after followed 
 by a scene truly tragical : the murder of the two young 
 princes, who were smothered by hired ruffians in the 
 Tower, and whose bodies were buried at the foot of 
 the stairs, deep in the ground, under a heap of stones.* 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Reigns of Richard III. and Henry Vll. 
 
 The first acts of Richard were to bestow rewards 
 on those who had assisted him in usurping the crown 
 but the person, who, from the greatness of his services^ 
 was best entitled to favours under the new govern- 
 
 * In the reign of Charles II. the bones of two persons were 
 found in the place above mentioned, which exactly correspond- 
 ed by their size to the ages of Edward V. and his brother ; and 
 being considered as the undoubted remains of these princes, 
 they were deposited in Westminster Abbey, under 0 marble 
 tomb 
 
RICHARD III. 
 
 163 
 
 mcnt, was the duke of Buckingham ; and Richard 
 seemed determined to spare no pains or oounty in se- 
 curing him to his interests. That nobleman was in- 
 vested with the office of constable, and received a 
 grant of the forfeited estate of Bohun, earl of Here- 
 ford. It was, however, impossible, that friendship 
 could long remain inviolate between two men of such 
 corrupt minds as Richard and the duke of Bucking- 
 ham. Certain it is, that the duke, soon after Rich- 
 ard’s accession, began to form a conspiracy against 
 the government. 
 
 By the exhortations of Morton, bishop of Ely, a 
 zealous Lancastrian, the duke cast his eye toward the 
 young earl of Richmond, as the only person capable 
 of opposing an usurper, whose murder of the young 
 princes had rendered him Jie object of general detes- 
 tation. Henry earl of Richmond was at this time de- 
 tained in a kind of honourable custody by the duke of 
 Brittany ; and his descent, which seemed to give him 
 some pretensions to the crown, had been for some 
 time a great object of jealousy. He was descend d 
 from John of Gaunt, and was nearly allied to Hen- 
 ry VI. 
 
 As all the descendants of the house of York were 
 now either women or minors, it was suggested by Mor- 
 ton, that the only means of overturning the present 
 usurpation, was to unite the opposite factions, by con- 
 tracting a marriage between the earl of Richmond and 
 the princess Elizabeth, eldest daughter or Edward IV.j 
 and the queen-dow T ager, finding in this proposal the 
 probable means of revenge for the murder of her broth- 
 er and her three sons, gave her approbation to the 
 project. But this conspiracy could not escape the 
 jealous and vigilant eye of Richard ; he immediately 
 levied troops, and summoning Buckingham to appear 
 at court, that nobleman replied only by taking arms in 
 Wales. At that very time, how;ever, there happened 
 to fall such heavy rains, so incessant and continued, 
 as exceeded any known in the memory of man ; and 
 the Severn, with the other rivers in that neighbour- 
 hood, swelled to a height which rendered them impas- 
 sable, and prevented Buckingham from marching into 
 the heart of England to join his associates. The 
 Welshmen, partly moved by suQerstition at this ex- 
 
164 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 traordinary event, partly distressed by famine in their 
 camp, fell off from him ; and Buckingham, finding 
 himself deserted by his followers, put on a disguise, 
 and took shelter in the house of Bannister, an old ser- 
 vant of his family. But being detected in his retreat, 
 he was brought to the king at Salisbury, and was in- 
 stantly executed. 
 
 The king, fortified by this unsuccessful attempt to 
 dethrone him, ventured at last to summon a parliament 
 in which his right to the crown acknowl- 
 
 edged ; and his only son Edward, then a youth 
 of twelve years of age, was created prince of Wales. 
 To gain the confidence of the Yorkists, he paid court 
 to the queen^dowager, who ventured to leave her 
 sanctuary, and to put herself arid her daughters into 
 the hands of the tyrant. But he soon carried farther 
 his views for the establishment of his throne. He 
 had man Anne, the second daughter of the earl of 
 Warwick, and widow of Edward prince of Wales, 
 whom Richard himself had murdered; but this prin- 
 cess having borne him but one son, who died about 
 this time, he considered her as an invincible obstacle 
 to the settlement of his fortune, and he was believed 
 to have carried her off by poison; a crime which 
 the usual tenor of his conduct made it reasonable to 
 suspect. He now thought it in his power to remove the 
 chief perils which threatened his government. The 
 earl of Richmond, he knew, could never be formida- 
 ble but from his projected marriage with the piincess 
 Elizabeth, the true heir of the crown ; and he there- 
 fore intended, by means of a papal dispensation, to 
 espouse, himself, this princess, and thus to unite in 
 his own family their contending titles. The queen- 
 dowager, eager to recover her lost authority, neither 
 scrupled this alliance, nor felt any horror at marrying 
 her daughter to the murderer of her three sons and of 
 her brother. She even joined so far her interests 
 with those of the usurper, that she wrote to all her 
 partizans, and among the rest, to her son the marquis 
 of Dorset, desiring them to withdraw from the earl of 
 Richmond ; an injury which the earl could never af- 
 terwards forgive. The court of Rome was applied to 
 for a dispensation ; and Richard thought that he could 
 easily defend himself during the interval till it arri- 
 
RICHARD III. m 
 
 red, when he had the prospect of a full and secure 
 ‘settlement. 
 
 But the crimes of Richard were so shocking to hu 
 mamty, that every person of probity and honour was 
 earnest to prevent the sceptre from being any longer 
 polluted by his bloody and faithless hand. All the ex- 
 iles flocked to the earl of Richmond in Brittany, who, 
 dreading treachery, made his escape to the court of 
 France. The ministers of Charles VIII. gave him as- 
 sistance and protection 3 and he sailed from Harfleur 
 in Normandy with a small army of about two thou- 
 sand men, and landed without opposition at Milford- 
 haven in Wales. 
 
 But the danger to which Richard was chiefly expo- 
 sed, proceeded not so much from the zeal of his open 
 enemies, as from the infidelity of his pretended friends. 
 Except the duke of Norfolk, scarcely any nobleman 
 was attached to his cause ; but the persons of whom 
 he entertained the greatest suspicion, were lord Stan- 
 ley and his brother sir William. When he employ- 
 ed lord Stanley to levy forces, he still retained his 
 eldest son lord Strange, as a pledge for his fidelity j 
 and that nobleman was, on this account, obliged to 
 employ great caution and reserve in his proceedings. 
 He raised a powerful body of his friends and retainers 
 in Cheshire and Lancashire, but without openly declar- 
 ing himself 5 and though Henry had received secret 
 assurances of his friendly intentions, the armies on 
 both sides knew not what to infer from his equivocal 
 behaviour. 
 
 The two rivals at last approached each other at Bos- 
 worth, near Leicester ; Henry, at the head of six thou- 
 sand men, Richard with an army of above double that 
 number. Stanley, who commanded above seven thou- 
 sand men, took care to post himself at Atherstone,not 
 far from the hostile camps 3 and he made such a dis- 
 position as enabled him on occasion to join either 
 party. Soon after the battle began, lord Stanley, 
 whose conduct in this whole affair discovers great 
 precaution and abilities, appeared in the field, and de- 
 clared for the earl of Richmond. The intrepid tyrant, 
 sensible of his desperate situation, cast his eye around 
 the field, and descrying his rival at no great distance, 
 he drove against him with fury, in hopes that eitbei 
 
166 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Henry’s death or his own would decide the victor) 
 between’them. He killed with his own hands sir Wil- 
 liam Bradon, standard-bearer to the earl ; he dis- 
 mounted sir John Cheyney ; he was now within reacn 
 of Richmond himself’, who declined not the combat: 
 when sir William Stanley, breaking in with his troops 
 1 40,-1 surrounded Richard, who fighting bravely to the 
 J last moment, was overwhelmed ' by numbers, 
 and perished by a fate too mild and honourable for 
 his multiplied and detestable enormities. His men 
 every where sought for safety by flight. 
 
 There fell in this battle about four thousand of the 
 vanquished ; and among these the duke of Norfolk, 
 lord Ferrars of Chartley, and several other persons of 
 high rank. The loss was inconsiderable on the side 
 of the victors. The body of Richard was found in 
 the field covered with dead enemies, and all -besmear- 
 ed with blood ; it was thrown carelessly across a 
 horse ; carired to Leicester amidst the shouts of the 
 insulting spectators ; and interred in the Grey-Friars 
 church of that place. All historians agree, that Rich- 
 ard was ready to commit the most horrid crimes 
 which appeared necessary for his purposes 5 and it is 
 certain, that all his courage and capacity, qualities in 
 which he really seems not to have been deficient, 
 would never have made compensation to the people 
 for the danger of the precedent, and for the contagious 
 example of vice and murder, exalted upon the throne. 
 This prince was of a small stature, hump-backed, and 
 had a harsh, disagreeable countenance; so that his 
 bodv was in every particular no less deformed than 
 his mind. 
 
 The victory at Bosworth was entirely decisive ; and 
 the earl of Richmond was immediately saluted with 
 acclamations of “Long live Henry the Seventh! 7 ’ 
 He accepted the title without hesitation ; and assert- 
 ing his claim to the throne as heir to the house of 
 Lancaster, he determined never to allow it to be dis- 
 cussed. Though bound by honour, as well as by in- 
 terest, to complete his alliance with the princess Eliz- 
 abeth, yet he resolved to postpone the nuptials til* 
 after the ceremony of his coronation, lest a preceding 
 marriage with the princess should imply a participa- 
 tion of sovereignty in her, and raise doubts of his own 
 
HExiRY VII. 
 
 161 
 
 title by the house of Lancaster. In order to height 
 en the splendour of the coronation, he bestowed the 
 rank of knight-banneret on twelve persons ; and he 
 conferred peerages on three. Jasper, earl of Pem 
 broke, his uncle, was created duke of Bedford ; Thom- 
 as lord Stanley, his father-in-law, earl of Derby j and 
 Edward Courtney, earl of Devonshire. At the coro- 
 nation, likewise, there appeared a new institution, 
 which the king had established for security as well 
 as pomp, a band of fifty archers, who were termed 
 yeomen of the guard. But lest the people should take 
 umbrage at this unusual symptom of jealousy in the 
 prince, as if it implied a personal diffidence of his 
 subjects, he declared the institution to^)e perpetual. 
 The parliament assembled at Westminster, and pro 
 ceeded to settle the entail of the crown. No men 
 tion was made of the princess Elizabeth : it was vo- 
 ted, “ that the inheritance of the crown should rest, 
 remain, and abide, in the kjng, and “ that the succes- 
 sion should be secured to the heirs of his body but 
 Henry pretended not, in case of their failure, to ex- 
 clude the house of York, or give the preference to 
 that of I .ancaster. 
 
 The parliament had petitioned to the king to espouse 
 the princess Elizabeth, under the pretence of their 
 desire to have heirs of his body j and he now' thought 
 in earnest of satisfying the minds of his people in 
 that particular. His marriage was celebrated at Lon- 
 don, and that with greater appearance of universal 
 joy than either his first entry or his coronation. Hen- 
 ry remarked with much displeasure this general favour 
 borne to the house of York. The suspicions which 
 arose from it not only disturbed his tranquillity dur- 
 ing his whole reign but bred disgust towards his con- 
 sort herself, and poisoned all his domestic enjoyments. 
 Though virtuous, amiable, and obsequious to the last 
 degree, she never met with a proper return of affec- 
 tion, or even of complaisance, from her husband j and 
 the malignant ideas of faction still, in his sullen mind 
 Drevailed over all the sentiments of conjugal endear- 
 ment. 
 
 The king now resolved to make a progress into the 
 north, where the friends of the house of York, and 
 even the partisans of Richard, were numerous, ir* 
 
168 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 nopes of curing by his presence and conversation the 
 prejudices of the malcontents. When he arrived at 
 Nottingham, he heard that viscount Lovel, with sir 
 Hu mpihrey Stafford, and Thomas, his brother, had se- 
 cretly withdrawn themselves from their sanctuary at 
 Colchester; but this news appeared not to him of 
 such importance as to stop his journey ; and he pro* 
 ceeded forward to York. He there "heard that the 
 Staffords had levied an army, and were marching to 
 besiege the city of .Worcester ; and that Lovel, at the 
 head of three or four thousand men, was approaching 
 to attack him in York. Henry was not dismayed*with 
 this intelligence. His active courage, full of resour- 
 ces, immediately prompted him to find the proper 
 remedy. r I*hough surrounded with enemies in these 
 disaffected counties, he assembled a small body of 
 troops in whom he could confide; and having joined 
 to them all his own attendants, he put them under the 
 command of the duke of Bedford, who published a 
 general promise of pardon to the rebels. This had a 
 greater effect on their leader than on his followers. 
 Lovel, who had undertaken an enterprise that exceed- 
 ed his courage and capacity, was so terrified with the 
 fear of desertion among his troops, that he suddenly 
 withdrew himself, and after lurking some time ir 
 Lancashire, he made his escape into Flanders, where 
 he was protected by the duchess of Burgundy. His 
 army submitted to the king’s clemency ; and the other 
 rebels, hearing of this success, raised the siege of 
 Worcester, and dispersed themselves. The Stafford! 
 took sanctuary in the church of Coinham, neat Abing 
 don ; but being taken thence, the elder was executes 
 at Tyburn, and the younger obtained a pardon. 
 
 Henry’s joy for this success was followed, some time 
 after, by the birth of a prince, to whom he gave the 
 name of Arthur, in memory of the famous British king 
 of that name, from whom it was pretended the family 
 of Tudor derived its descent. But his government 
 had become in general unpopular; and the source of 
 public discontent arose chiefly from his prejudice? 
 against the house of York. 
 
 There lived in Oxford one Richard Simon, a priest 
 of a subtle and enterprising genius. This man had 
 entertained the design of disturbing Henry’s govern 
 
HENRY VII. 
 
 m 
 
 ment > by raising a pretender to his trowr. ; and 
 -* for that purpose he cast his eyes on Lambert 
 Simnel, a youth of fifteen years of age, the son of a 
 Daker, who was endowed with understanding above his 
 ^ears,lind address above his condition. Him, Simon 
 instructed to personate the earl of Warwick, son of 
 the duke of Clarence, who had been confined in the 
 Tower since the commencement of this reign ; and 
 the queen-dowager, finding herself fallen into abso- 
 lute insignificance, and her daughter treated with se- 
 verity, was suspected of countenancing the imposture. 
 " In Ireland the scene of it first was opened. No 
 sooner did Simnel present himself to Kildare, the 
 deputy, and claim his protection as the unfortunate 
 Warwick, than that credulous nobleman acknowledg- 
 ed him; the people of Dublin tendered their allegi- 
 ance to him, as to the true Plantagenet ; and the whole 
 island followed the example of the capital. 
 
 Henry, perplexed by the news of this revolt, first 
 seized the queen-dowager, whom he confined in the 
 nunnery of Bermondsey, where she ended her life in 
 poverty and solitude. He next exposed Warwick 
 through the streets of London ; but though this meas- 
 ure had its effect in England, the people of Ireland 
 retorted on the king the reproach of having shown a 
 counterfeit personage. 
 
 Henry had soon reason to apprehend that the design 
 against him was not laid on slight foundations. John 
 earl of Lincoln, son of the duke of Suffolk, and of 
 Elizabeth, eldest sister of Edward IV., was engaged 
 to take part in the conspiracy ; and having established 
 1 secret correspondence in Lancashire, he retired to 
 Flanders, where Lovel had arrived a little before him , 
 and he lived in the court of his aunt the duchess of 
 Burgundy. 
 
 That princess, the widow of Charles the Bold, after 
 consulting with Lincoln and Lovel, hired a body of 
 two thousand veteran Gomans, under the command 
 of Martin Swart, a brave and experienced officer; and 
 sent them over, together with these two noblemen, to 
 join Simnel in Ireland. The countenance given by 
 persons of such high rank, and the accession of this 
 military force, much raised the courage of the Irish, 
 and made them entertain the resolution of invading 
 
170 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 England; as well From, the hopes of plunder as of ie- 
 venge. 
 
 Being informed that Simnel was landed at Foudre)/ 
 in Lancashire, Henry drew together his forces, and 
 advanced towards the enemy as far as Coventry. The 
 rebels had entertained hopes that the disaffected boun- 
 ties in the north would rise in their favour; but the 
 people in general, averse to join Irish and German in- 
 vaders, convinced of Lambert's imposture, and kept 
 in awe, by the king's reputation for success and con- 
 duct, either remained in tranquillity, or gave assist 
 ance to the royal army. The hostile armies met at 
 Stoke in the county of Nottingham, and fought a bat 
 tie which was bloody and obstinately disputed. The 
 king's victory was purchased with loss, but was en- 
 tirely decisive. Lincoln, Broughton, and Swart, per- 
 ished in the field of battle, with four thousand of 
 148H1 ^eir followers ; and as Lovel was never more 
 -* heard of, he was believed to have undergone 
 the same fate.* Simnel, with his tutor Simon, was 
 taken prisoner. Simon, being a priest, was only com- 
 mitted to close custody; and Simnel being too con- 
 temptible to be an object either of apprehension or 
 resentment, was pardoned, and made a scullion in the 
 king’s kitchen ; whence he was afterwards advanced 
 to the rank of a falconer. 
 
 The duchess of Burgundy, full of resentment for 
 the depression of her family, and rather irritated than 
 discouraged by the ill-success of her past enterprise, 
 propagated a report that her nephew, Richard Planta- 
 
 * Doctor Mavor, in his History of Enola ni>, gives the 
 following probable account of the death of this distinguished 
 nobleman, on the authority of the late Mr. Thomas Warton, 
 who received his information, as well as could be recollected, 
 from Dr. Dennison, a witness of what is related ; — “ The 
 Walls of this nobleman’s once magnificent seat at Minster 
 Lovel, Oxfordshire, of which some ruins still remain, being 
 pulled down for the sake of the materials, early in the last 
 century, a secret chamber was discovered with a trap-door, 
 and in it a skeleton of a person in complete armour was found 
 From hence it was supposed, and on probable grounds, that 
 this was the body of lord Lovel, who, after escaping from the 
 battle of Stoke, took refuge in this place, and from some cause, 
 not now to be accounted for, was left to perish in his concoal- 
 
HENRY VII. (71 
 
 genet, duke of York, had escaped from the Tower, and 
 was still r.live; and finding this rumour greedily re- 
 ceived by the people, she sought for some young man 
 proper to personate that unfortunate prince. 
 
 Warbeck, a renegado Jew of Tournay, who had 
 visited London in the reign of Edward IV., had there 
 a son born to him. Having had opportunities of be- 
 ing known to the king, and obtaining his favour, he 
 prevailed with that prince, whose manners were very 
 affable, to stand god-fatrtfcr to his son, to whom he 
 gave the name of Peter, corrupted, after the Flemish 
 manner, into Peterkin, or Perkin. It was by some be- 
 lieved that Edward, among his amorous adventures, 
 had a secret commerce with Warbeck's wife 3 and 
 people thence accounted for that resemblance which 
 was afterwards remarked between young Perkin and 
 that monarch. Some years after the birth of this 
 child, Warbeck returned to Tournay, whence Perkin 
 his son, by different accidents, was carried from place 
 to place, and his birth and fortunes became thereby 
 unknown, and difficult to be traced. The variety of 
 his adventures had happily favoured the natural versa- 
 tility and sagacity of his genius 3 and he seemed to be 
 a youth perfectly fitted to act any part, or assume any 
 character. In this light he had been represented to 
 the duchess of Burgundy, who found him to exceed 
 her most sanguine expectations; so comely did he 
 appear in his person, so graceful in his air, so court- 
 ly in his address, so full of docility and good sense in 
 his behaviour and conversation. The lessons ne- 
 cessary to be taught him, in order to his personating 
 the duke of York, were soon learned by a youth of 
 such quick apprehension 3 and Margaret, in order the 
 better to conceal him, sent him, under the care 
 of lady Brampton, into Portugal, where he remained 
 a year, unknown to all the world. 
 
 The war, which was then ready to break out be- 
 tween France and England, seemed to afford a proper 
 opportunity for this impostor to try his success 3 and 
 Ireland, which still retained its attachment to the 
 house of York, was chosen as the proper place for 
 his first appearance. He landed at Cork : and imme- 
 diately assuming the name of Richard Plantagenet 
 d»-ew tc him partisans among that credulous people 
 
172 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The news soon reached France ; and Charles, prompt 
 ed by the secret solicitations of the duchess of Bur 
 gundy, sent Perkin an invitation to repair to him at 
 Paris. He received him with all the marks of regard 
 due to the duke of York. The French courtiers readi- 
 ly embraced a fiction which their sovereign thought it 
 his interest to adopt 5 and Perkin, both by his deport- 
 ment and personal qualities, supported the prepos- 
 session which was spread abroad of his royal pedigree. 
 From France the admiratftn and credulity diffused 
 themselves into England: sir George Nevil, sir John 
 Taylor, and above a hundred gentlemen more, came 
 to Paris, in order to offer their services to the suppos- 
 ed duke of York, and to share his fortunes ; and the 
 impostor had now the appearance of a court attending 
 him, and began to entertain hopes of final success. 
 
 When peace was concluded between France and 
 England, Charles consented to dismiss Perkin, who 
 retired to the duchess of Burgundy. That princess 
 put on the appearance of distrust; and it was not till 
 after a long and severe scrutiny, that she pretended to 
 hurst out into joy and admiration, and embraced Per- 
 kin as the true image of Edward, and the sole heir of 
 14931 ^ an ! a g enets * Not the populace alone of 
 ' England gave credit to Perkin's pretensions ; 
 men of the highest birth and quality turned their eyes 
 towards the new claimant; and sir Robert Clifford and 
 William Barley made him a tender of their services. 
 
 The king, informed of these particulars, proceeded 
 deliberately, though steadily, in counter-working the 
 projects of his enemies. His first object was to ascer- 
 tain the death of the real duke of York, and to con- 
 firm the opinion that had always prevailed with regard 
 to that catastrophe ; but as only two of the persons 
 employed by Richard, in the murder of his nephews, 
 were now alive, and as the bodies were supposed to 
 have been removed by Richard's orders, from the 
 place where they were first interred, and could not 
 now be found, it was not’ in Henry's power to estab- 
 lish the fact beyond all doubt and controversy. He 
 was, however, more successful in detecting who this 
 wonderful person was, who thus advanced pretensions 
 to his crown. He engaged Clifford, by the hope of 
 rewards and pardon, to betray the secrets entrusted to 
 
HENRY VII. 
 
 173 
 
 him; and such was the diligence of his spies, that in 
 the issue the whole plan of the conspiracy was clearly 
 laid before h ; m, with the pedigree, adventures, life, 
 and conversation, of the pretended duke of York; and 
 this latter part of the story was immediately published 
 for the satisfaction of the nation. 
 
 Several of the conspirators were immediately arrest- 
 ed. Some of inferior rank were rapidly arraigned, 
 convicted, and condemned for high treason ; but more 
 solemnity was deemed necessary in the trial of sir 
 William Stanley, one of the most opulent subjects in 
 the kingdom. After six weeks delay, which was in- 
 terposed to show that the king was restrained by 
 doubts and scruples, the prisoner was brought to his 
 trial, condemned, and presently after beheaded. His- 
 torians, however, are not agreed as to the precise na- 
 ture of the crime for which he suffered. 
 
 The fate of Stanley struck the adherents of Perkin 
 with the greatest dismay ; and as the imposter found 
 that his pretensions were becoming obsolete, he re- 
 solved to attempt something which might revive the 
 hopes and expectations of his partisans. Having col- 
 lected a band of outlaws, pirates, robbers, and neces- 
 sitous persons of all nations, to the number of six hun- 
 dred men, he put to sea, with a resolution of making 
 a descent in England. Information being brought him 
 that the king had made a progress to the north, he cast 
 anchor on the coast of Kent, and sent some of his re- 
 tainers ashore, who invited the country to join him. 
 The gentlemen of Kent assembled some troops to op- 
 pose him ; but they purposed to do more essential ser- 
 vice than by repelling the invasion : they carried the 
 semblance of friendship to Perkin, and invited him to 
 come himself ashore, in order to take the command 
 over them. But the wary youth, observing that they 
 had more order and regularity in their movements 
 than could be supposed in new-levied forces who had 
 taken arms against the established authority, refused 
 to entrust himself into their hands , and the Kentish 
 troops, despairing of success in their stratagem, fell 
 upon such of his retainers as were already landed j 
 and killing some, they took a hundred and fifty prison- 
 ers, who were tried and condemned, and executed by 
 orders from the king. 
 
174 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 This year a parliamentTwas summoned in England, 
 
 1 4,Q <51 and another in Ireland; and some remarkable 
 J laws were passed in both countries. The Eng- 
 lish parliament passed an act, empowering the king to 
 levy, by course of law, all the sums which any per 
 son had agreed to pay by way of benevolence ; a stat 
 ute by which that arbitrary method of taxation was in- 
 directly authorized and justified. 
 
 The king’s authority appeared equally prevalent and 
 uncontrolled in Ireland. Sir Edward Poynings, who 
 had been sent over to that country, with an intention 
 of quelling the partisans of the house of York, and of 
 reducing the natives to subjection, summoned a parlia- 
 ment at Dublin, and obtained the passing of that 
 memorable statute, which still bears his name, and 
 which, during three centuries, established the para- 
 mount authority of the English government in Ireland. 
 By this statute all the former lav s of England were 
 made to be in force in Ireland; and no bill could be 
 introduced into the Irish parliament, unless it had pre- 
 viously received the sanction of the council of Eng- 
 land.* 
 
 After being repulsed from the coast of Kent, Perkin . 
 retired to Ireland ; but tired of the wandering life he 
 was compelled to lead in that country, he passed over 
 into Scotland, where he was favourably received by 
 James IV. who gave him in marriage the lady Catha- 
 rine Gordon, daughter of the earl of Huntley. The 
 jealousy which subsisted between England and Scot- 
 land, induced James to espouse the cause of the im- 
 poster, and to make an inroad into England; but Per- 
 kin's pretensions were now become stale even in the 
 eyes of the populace ; and James perceiving that, 
 while Perkin remained in Scotland, he should never 
 enjoy a solid peace with Henry, privately desired him 
 to depart. 
 
 After quitting Scotland, Perkin concealed himself 
 in the wilds and fastnesses of Ireland. Impatient, 
 however, of a retreat which was both disagreeable and 
 dangerous, he held consultations with his followers, 
 
 * By the act of union between Great Britain and Ireland f 
 these regulations, which had long been the object rf jealousy 
 and contention, were happily rendered obsolete. 
 
HENRY VII. 
 
 I7a 
 
 Heme, Skelton, and Astley, three broken tiaaesmen ; 
 and by their advice he resolved to try the affections of 
 the Cornish, whose mutinous disposition had been 
 lately manifested, in resisting the levy of a tax im- 
 posed for the purpose of repelling the inroads of the 
 Scots. No sooner did he appear at Bodmin, in Corn- 
 wall, than the populace, to the number of three thou- 
 sand, flocked to his standard 5 and Perkin, elated with 
 this appearance of success, took on him, for the first 
 time, the appellation of Richard the Fourth, king of 
 England. Not to suffer the expectations of his follow- 
 ers to languish, he presented himself before Exeter; 
 and finding that the inhabitants shut their gates against 
 him, he laid siege to the place; but being unprovided 
 with artillery, ammunition, and every thing requisite 
 for the attempt, he made no progress in his undertak- 
 ing. 
 
 When Henry was informed that Perkin had landed 
 in England, he expressed great joy at his being so 
 near, and prepared himself with alacrity to attack him. 
 The lords Daubeny and Broke, with sir Rice ap 
 Thomas, hastened forward with a small body of troops 
 to the relief of Exeter, and the king himself prepared 
 to follow with a considerable army. 
 
 Perkin, informed of these great preparations, imme- 
 diately raised the siege of Exeter, and retired to Taun- 
 ton. Though his followers seemed still resolute to 
 maintain his cause, he himself despaired of success, 
 and secretly -withdrew to the sanctuary of Beaulieu in 
 the new forest. The Cornish rebels submitted to the 
 king’s mercy. Except a few persons of desperate for- 
 tunes who were executed, and some others who were 
 severely fined, all the rest were dismissed with im- 
 punity. Lady Catharine Gordon, wife to Perkin, fell 
 into the hands of the victor, and was treated with a 
 generosity which does him honour. He soothed her 
 mind with many marks of regard, placed her in a repu- 
 table station about the queen, and assigned her a pen- 
 sion, which she enjoyed even under his successor. 
 
 Perkin being persuaded, under promise of pardon, tG 
 uqql deliver himself into the king’s hands, was con- 
 ducted, in a species of mock triumph, to Lon- 
 don. His confession of his life and adventures was 
 published; but though his life was granted him he 
 
176 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 i 
 
 l 
 
 ' 
 
 was still detained in custody. Impatient of confine 
 ment, he broke from his keepers, and fled to the sanc- 
 tuary of Shyne. He was then imprisoned in the Tow- 
 er, where his habits of restless intrigue and enterprise 
 followed him. He insinuated himself into the intima- 
 cy of four servants of sir JoTin Digby, lieutenant of the 
 Tower 3 and, by their means, opened a correspon- 
 dence with the earl of Warwick, who was confined in 
 the same prison. This unfortunate prince, who had, 
 from his earliest youth, been shut up from the com- 
 merce of men, and who was ignorant even of the most 
 common affairs of life, had fallen into a fatuity, which 
 made him susceptible of any impression. The con- 
 tinued dread also of the more violent effeots of Hen- 
 ry’s tyranny, joined to the natural love of liberty, en- 
 gagerd him to embrace a project for his escape, by the 
 murder of the lieutenant 3 and Perkin offered to con- 
 duct the whole enterprise. The conspiracy escaped 
 not the king’s vigilance. Perkin, by this new attempt, 
 had rendered himself totally unworthy of mercy: and 
 he was accordingly arraigned, condemned, and soon 
 after hanged at Tyburn, acknowledging his imposture 
 to the last. 
 
 It happened about that very time, that one Wilford, 
 a cordwainer’s son, encouraged by the surprising credit 
 given to other impostures, had undertaken to person 
 ate the earl of Warwick j and a priest had even ven- 
 tured from the pulpit to Recommend his cause to the 
 people. This incident served Henry as a pretence for 
 his severity towards that prince. He was brought to 
 trial, and accused of forming designs to disturb the 
 government, and raise an insurrection among the peo- 
 ple. Warwick confessed the indictment, was con- 
 demned, and the sentence was executed upon him. 
 This act of tyranny, the capital blemish of Henry ’3 
 reign, occasioned great discontent 3 and though he en- 
 deavoured to alleviate the odium of this guilt, by 
 sharing it with his ally, Ferdinand of Arragon, who, 
 he said, had scrupled to give his daughter Catherine 
 in marriage to Arthur, while any male descendant of 
 the house of York remained 3 this only increased the 
 indignation of the people, at seeing a young prince 
 sacrificed to the jealous politics of two subtle tyrants. 
 
 There was a remarkable similarity of character be- 
 
 i 
 
 l 
 
 ' 
 
HENRY VII. 
 
 17 
 
 tween these two monarchs : both were full of craft, 
 intrigue, and design ; and though a resemblance of 
 this nature be a slender foundation for confidence and 
 amity, such was the situation of Henry and Ferdinand, 
 that no jealousy ever arose between them. The king 
 completed a marriage, which had been projected and 
 negotiated during the course of seven years, between 
 Arthur prince of Wales, and the infanta Catherine, 
 fourth daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella; but this 
 marriage proved in the issue unprosperous. The young 
 prince a few months after sickened and died, much 
 regretted by the nation. Henry, desirous to continue 
 his alliance with Spain, and also unwilling to restore 
 Catherine’s dowry, which was two hundred thousand 
 ducats, obliged his second son Henry, whom he cre- 
 ated prince of Wales, to be contracted to the infanta, 
 by virtue of a dispensation from the pope. This mar- 
 riage was, in the event, attended with the most im- 
 portant consequences. In the same year, another 
 marriage was celebrated, which was also in the next 
 age productive of great events; the marriage of Mar- 
 garet, the king’s eldest daughter, with James kingtrf 
 Scotland. Amidst these prosperous incidents the 
 queen died in child-bed ; and the infant did not long 
 survive her. This princess was deservedly a favour- 
 ite of the nation ; and the general affection for her 
 was augmented by the harsh treatment which it was 
 thought she experienced from her consort. 
 
 Uncontrolled by apprehension or opposition of any 
 15031 kind, Hen ry novv gave full scope to his natural 
 ■* propensity; and his avarice, which had ever 
 beeq the ruling passion of his mind, brchc through, a. 
 restraints. He had found Ofro jwfisifl&ra, Eunps-or. 
 Dudley, perfectly qualified to fit rnpK 
 
 and tyrannical inclinations. c' 
 
 oppression. were both lawyer*. P~ kaon 
 
 in law these men were qualified t« the 'fi 
 
 of justice to the oppression of the innocent; & r.ic 
 formidable authority of the king supported them in sil 
 their iniquities. In vain did the people look for pro- 
 tection from the parliament; that assembly was 
 overawed, that during the greatest rage of Henry*: 
 oppressions, the commons chose Dudley their speak 
 er, and granted hiin the subsidies which he demand 
 
 VOL. 1 . 12 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 m 
 
 ! 
 
 ,v 
 
 ed. By the arts of accumulation, this monarch so 
 filled his coffers, that he is said to have possessed 
 at one time the sum of one million eight hundred 
 thousand pounds; a treasure almost incredible, if we 
 consider the scarcity of money in those times. 
 
 The decline of his health induced the king to turn 
 his thoughts towards that future existence, which the 
 iniquities and severities of his reign rendered a very 
 dismal prospect to him. To allay the terrors under 
 which he laboured, he endeavoured, by distributing 
 alms, and founding religious houses, to make atone- 
 ment for his crimes, and to purchase, by the sacrifice 
 of part of his ill-gotten treasures, a reconciliation 
 with his offended Maker. Remorse even seized him, 
 at intervals, for the abuse of his authority by Empson 
 and Dudley ; but not sufficiently to make him stop the 
 rapacious hand of those oppressors. However, death, 
 by its nearer approaches, impressed new terrors upon 
 him; and he then ordered, by a general clause in his 
 will, that restitution should be made to rfll those whom 
 15091 i n J ure d- He died of a consumption, at 
 
 * his favourite palace of Richmond, after a reign 
 of twenty-three years and eight months, and in the 
 fifty-second year of his age. 
 
 The reign of Henry the Seventh was, on the whole 
 fortunate for his people at home, and honourable 
 abroad. He loved peace without fearing war; and 
 this acquired him the regard and consideration of for- 
 eign princes. His capacity was excellent, though 
 somewhat contracted by the narrowness of his heart. 
 Avarice was his ruling passion ; and to gratify it, he 
 sacrificed every honourable principle. 
 
 This prince, though he exalted his prerogative 
 above law, is celebrated for many good laws which he 
 established for the government of his subjects; but 
 the most important law in its consequences which was 
 enacted during the reign of Henry, was that by which 
 the nobility and gentry acquired a power of breaking 
 the ancient entails, and of alienating their estates. 
 By means of this law, joined to the beginning luxury 
 and refinement of the age, the great fortunes of the 
 barons were gradually diss'oated, and the property of 
 the commons increased in England. It is probable 
 that Henry foresaw and intended this consequence ; 
 
fp 
 
 HENRY VII. 17S 
 
 because the constant scheme of his policy consisted 
 in depressing the great, and exalting churchmen, law- 
 yers, and men of ne*w families, who would be more 
 obsequious. 
 
 It was during this reign, that Christopher Columbus 
 discovered America; and Vasquez de Gama passed 
 the Cape of Good Hope, and opened a new passage 
 to the East Indies. It was by accident only that Hen- 
 ry had not a considerable share in those great naval 
 discoveries. However, he fitted out Sebastian Cabot, 
 a Venetian, settled in Bristol; and sent him west- 
 ward, in 1493, in search of new countries. Cabot dis- 
 covered the main land of America, towards the six- 
 tieth degree of northern latitude, Newfoundland, and 
 many other countries; but returned to England with- 
 out making any conquest or settlement. Eliiot, arid 
 other merchants in Bristol, made a like attempt in 
 1502. The king expended fourteen thousand pound* 
 in building one ship, called the “ Great Harry which 
 was, properly speaking, the first ship in the English 
 navy. In 1453, Constantinople was taken by the Turks ; 
 and the Greeks, among whom some remains of learn 
 ing were still preserved, being scattered by these bar 
 barians, took shelter in Italy, and imported, togethe 
 with their admirable language, a tincture of their sci- 
 ence, and of their refined taste in poetry and elo- 
 quence. About the same time, the purity of the Latin 
 was revived; and the art of printing, invented about 
 that time, extremely facilitated the progress of all these 
 improvements. The invention of gunpowder ©hang- 
 ed the whole art of war; and mighty innovations were 
 soon^after made in religion. Thus a general revolu- 
 tion was produced in human affairs throughout this 
 part of the world; and men gradua'ly entered on that 
 career of commerce, arts, science, government, and 
 police, in which, with the exception of some pauses, 
 they have ever since been persevering. 
 
180 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 • # • 
 
 The Reign of Henry VIII. 
 
 The accession of Henry the Eighth spread univer* 
 sal joy and satisfaction. Instead of a monarch jeaL 
 ous, severe, and avaricious, a young prince of eigh« 
 I r n ( >i teen had succeeded to the throne, who, even 
 ■* in the eyes of men of sense, gave promising 
 hopes of his future conduct, much more in those of 
 the people, always enchanted with novelty, youth, 
 i and royal dignity. Hitherto he had been occupied 
 
 entirely in manly exercises and the pursuits of litera- 
 ture j and the proficiency which he made in each, 
 gave no bad prognostic of his parts and capacity. 
 Even the vices of vehemence, ardour, and impatience, 
 to which he was subject, and which afterwards degen- 
 ' ©rated into tyranny, were considered only as faults of 
 
 unguarded youth, which would be corrected by time. 
 
 The chief competitors for favour were the earl of 
 Surrey, and Fox, bishop of Winchester. The former 
 was a dexterous courtier, and promoted that taste for 
 pleasure and magnificence, which began to prevail 
 under the young monarch. The vast treasures amass- 
 ed by the late king, were gradually dissipated in the 
 giddy expenses of Henry 3 or if he intermitted the 
 course of his festivity, he chiefly employed himself 
 in an application to music and literature, which were 
 his favourite pursuits, and which were well adapted 
 to his genius. And though he was so unfortunate as to 
 be seduced into a study of the barren controversies 
 of the schools, which were then fashionable, and had 
 chosen Thomas Aquinas for his favourite author, he 
 still discovered a capacity for more useful and inter- 
 esting acquirements. 
 
 Epsom and Dudley were sent to the Tower, and 
 soon after brought to trial 3 and their execution was 
 less an act of justice, than for the purpose of gratify- 
 ing the people. Henry, however, while he punished 
 the instruments of past tyranny, paid such deference 
 to former engagements, as to celebrate his marriage 
 with the infanta Catherine, though her former mar- 
 riage with his brother was urged by the primate as ao 
 lmDortant objection. 
 
HENRY VIII. 
 
 iSi 
 
 At this time, when the situation of the several [ow- 
 *rful states of Europe promised, by balancing each 
 other, a long tranquillity, the flames of war were kin- 
 dled by Julius It an ambitious and enterprising pon- 
 tiff, who determined to expel all foreigners from Italy, 
 and drew over Ferdinand to his party. He solicited 
 the favour of England, by sending Henry a sacred 
 rose, perfumed with musk, and anointed with chrism ) 
 and he also gave him hopes, that the title of u Most 
 Christian King,” which had hitherto been annexed to 
 the crown of France, should , in reward of his servi- 
 ces, be transferred to that of England. Impatient al- 
 so of acquiring distinction in Europe, Henry joined 
 the alliance, which the pope, in conjunction with Spain 
 and Venice, had formed against the French monarch. 
 
 Henry’s intended invasion of France roused the 
 jealousy of the Scottish nation. The ancient league 
 which subsisted between France and Scotland, was 
 conceived to be the strongest band of connexion ; and 
 the Scots universally believed, that were, it not for 
 the countenance which they received from this for- 
 eign alliance, they had never been able so long to 
 maintain tlnrir independence against a people so much 
 superior. James was farther incited to take part in 
 the quarrel by the invitations of Anne queen of France, 
 whose knight he had ever in all tournaments professed 
 himself, and who summoned him, according to the 
 ideas of romantic gallantry, prevalent in that age, to 
 take the field in her defence, and to prove himself her 
 true an J valorous champion. He first sent a squadron 
 of ships to the assistance of France, the only fleet 
 which Scotland seems ever to have possessed j and 
 though he still made professions of maintaining, a neu- 
 trality, the English ambassador easily foresaw, that a 
 war would in the end prove inevitable, and gave warn- 
 ing of the danger to his master. 
 
 Henrv. ardent for military fame, was little discour- 
 aged by this appearance of a diversion from the north 
 He had now got a minister vvho flattered him in every 
 scheme to which his impetuous temper inclined. 
 Thomas Wolsey, dean of Lincoln, and almoner to the 
 king, surpassed in favour all his ministers, and was 
 fast advancing towards that unrivalled grandeur which 
 he afterwards attained. This man was soi?. of a butch 
 
182 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 er at Ipswich ; but having got a learned education, and 
 being endowed with an excellent capacity, he was 
 admitted into the marquis of Dorset's family as tutor ' 
 to 'that nobleman's children, and soon gained the fa- 
 vour and countenance of his patron. He was recom- 
 mended to be chaplain to Henry VII.; and being em- 
 ployed by that monarch in a secret negotiation, he 
 acquitted himself to the king’s satisfaction, and was 
 considered at court as a rising man. The death of 
 Henry retarded his advancement; but Fox bishop of 
 Winchester cast his eye upon him, as one who might 
 be serviceable to him in his present situation. This 
 prelate, observing that the earl of Surrey had totally 
 eclipsed him in favour, resolved to introduce Wolsey 
 to the young prince's familiarity, and hoped that he 
 might rival Surrey in his insinuating arts, and yet be 
 content to act in the cabinet a part subordinate to Fox 
 himself, who had promoted him. In a little time 
 Wolsey gained so much on the king, that he supplant- 
 ed both Surrey in his favour, and Fox in his trust and 
 confidence. Being admitted to Henry s pities of 
 pleasure, he took the lead in every jovial conversation, 
 and promoted all that frolic and entertainment which 
 he found suitable to the age and inclination of the 
 young monarch. Neither his own years, which were 
 near forty, nor his character of a clergyman, were any 
 restraint upon him, or engaged him to check, by any 
 useless severity, the gayety in which Henry passed his 
 careless hours. 
 
 The king soon advanced his favourite, from being 
 the companion of his pleasures, to be a member of his 
 council ; and from being a member of his council, to 
 be his sole and absolute minister. By this rapid ad- 
 vancement and uncontrolled authority, the character 
 and genius of Wolsey had full opportunity to display 
 themselves. Insatiable in his acquisitions, but still 
 more magnificent in his expense; of extensive capaci- 
 ty, but still more unbounded enterprise; ambitious of 
 power, but still more desirous of glory*; insinuating, 
 engaging, persuasive; and, by turns, lofty, elevated, 
 commanding; haughty to his equals, but affable to his 
 dependants; oppressive to the people, but liberal to 
 his friends; more generous than grateful ; less moved 
 by injuries than by contempt ; he was framed to takt 
 
HENRY VIII. 
 
 183 
 
 the ascendant in every intercourse with others, but 
 exerted this superiority of nature with such ostenta- 
 tion as exposed him to envy, and made every one 
 willing to recall the original inferiority of his coildi- 
 tion. 
 
 A considerable force having sailed over to Calais, 
 Henry prepared to follow with the main body and rear 
 of the army ; and he appointed the queen regent of the 
 kingdom during his absence. He was accompanied 
 by the duke of Buckingham, and many others of the 
 nobility ; but of the allies, on whose assistance he re- 
 lied, the Swiss alone performed their engagements, and 
 invaded France. The emperor Maximilian, instead of 
 reinforcing the Swiss with eight thousand men, as he 
 had promised, joined the English army with a few 
 German and Flemish soldiers 3 and observing the dis- 
 position of the English monarch to be more bent on 
 glory than on interest, he enlisted himself into his 
 service, and received one hundred crowns a-da}', as 
 one of his subjects and captains, though, in reality, he 
 directed all the operations of the English army. 
 
 Terouane, a town situated on the frontiers of Picar- 
 dy, was reduced to the last extremity from want of 
 provisions and ammunition, when eight hundred horse- 
 men, each of whom carried a sack of gunpowder be 
 hind him, and two quarters of bacon, made a sudden 
 irruption into the English camp, deposited their burden 
 in the town, and again broke through the English 
 without suffering any loss in tnis dangerous enter- 
 prise. But the English had, soon after, full revenge 
 for the insult. Henry had received intelligence of 
 the approach of the French horse, who had advanced 
 to protect another incursion of Fontraillesj and he 
 ordered some troops to pass the Lis, for the purpose 
 of opposing him. The cavalry of France, though they 
 consisted chiefly of gentlemen who had behaved with 
 great gallantry in many desperate actions in Italy, 
 were, on sight of the enemy, seized with so unac- 
 countable a panic, that they immediately took to 
 flight, and were pursued by the English. The duke 
 of Longue ville, who commanded the French, and 
 tnany other officers of distinction, were made prison 
 ers. This action, or rather rout, is sometimes called 
 the battle of Guinegate, from the place where it waa 
 
a 84 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 fought 5 but more commonly the u Battle of Spurs/ 
 because the French, that day, made more use of then 
 spurs, than of their swords or military weapons. 
 
 .After the capture of Terouane and Tournay, the 
 king returned to England, and carried with him the 
 greater part of his army. Success had attended him 
 in every enterprise ; but all men of judgment were 
 convinced that this campaign was, in reality, both ru- 
 inous and inglorious to him. 
 
 The success which attended Henry’s arms in the 
 north, was much more decisive. The king of Scot- 
 land had assembled the whole force of his kingdom : 
 and after passing the Tweed with an army of fifty 
 thousand men, he ravaged the parts of Northumber- 
 land nearest to that river, and employed himself in 
 taking several castles of small importance. The earl 
 of Surrey, having collected a force of twenty-six thou- 
 sand men, marched to the defence of the country, and 
 approached the Scots, who had encamped on some 
 high ground near the hills of Cheviot. Surrey feigned 
 a march towards Berwick 5 and the Scottish army hav- 
 ing descended the hill, an engagement became inevi- 
 table. A furious action commenced, and was contin- 
 ued till night separated the combatants. The victory 
 seemed yet undecided, and the numbers that fell on 
 each side were nearly equal, amounting to above five 
 thousand men ; but the morning discovered where the 
 advantage lay. The English had lost only persons of 
 small note ; but the Scottish nobility had fallen in bat- 
 tle, and their king himself, after the most diligent in- 
 quiry, could no where be found. 
 
 The king of Scotland, and most of his chief nobles, 
 being slain in the field of Flouden, an inviting oppor- 
 tunity was offered to Henry of reducing that kingdom 
 to subjection : hut he discovered on this occasion a 
 mind truly great and generous. When the queen of 
 Scotland, Margaret, who was created regent during 
 the infancy of her son, applied for peace, he readily 
 granted it; and compassionated the helpless condition 
 of his sister and nephew r . The earl of Surrey, who 
 had gained him so great a victory, was restorer to the 
 title of duke of Norfolk, which had been forfeited by 
 his father for engaging on the side of Richard the 
 Third; and Wolsey, who was both his favourite and 
 his minister, was created bishop of Lincoln. 
 
HENRY VIII. 
 
 185 
 
 Peace with Scotland enabled Henry to prosecute 
 1 5141 enter P r i se against France, yet several inci- 
 ' dents opened his eyes to the rashness of the 
 undertaking j and the duke of Longueville, who had 
 been made prisoner at the battle of Guincgate, was 
 ready to take advantage of this disposition. He rep- 
 resented, that as Lewis was a widower without male 
 children, no marriage could be more suitable to him 
 than that with the princess Mary, the sister of Henry. 
 The king seemed to hearken to this discourse with 
 willing ears ; and Longueville received full powers 
 from his master for negotiating the treaty. The ar- 
 ticles were easily adjusted between the monarchs. 
 
 The espousals of Mary and Lewis were soon after 
 celebrated at Abbeville j but th j monarch was seduced 
 into a course of gayety and pleasure, very unsuitable 
 to the declining state of his health, and died in less 
 than three months after the marriage. He was 
 
 1515 ] 
 
 succeeded by Francis, duke of Angouleme, who 
 
 had married the eldest daughter of Lewis. 
 
 The numerous enemies whom Wolsey's sudden 
 elevation and haughty deportment had raised him, 
 served only to rivet him faster in Henry's confidence. 
 He preferred him to the archbishopric of York, and al- 
 lowed him to unite with it the sees of Durham and of 
 Winchester j while the pope, observing his great in- 
 fluence over the king, and desirous of engaging him 
 in his interests, created him a cardinal. His train 
 consisted of eight hundred servants, of whom many 
 were knights and gentlemen. Whoever was distin- 
 guished by any art or science, paid court to the cardi- 
 nal ; and none paid court in vain. Literature, which 
 was then in its infancy, found in him a generous pa- 
 tron ; and both by his public institutions and private 
 bounty, he gave encouragement to every branch of 
 erudition. Not content, however, with this munifi- 
 cence, which gained him the approbation of the wise, 
 he strove to dazzle the eyes of the populace, by the 
 splendour of his equipage and furniture, the costly 
 embroidery of his liveries, and the richness of his ap 
 parel. 
 
 Warham, chancellor and archbishop of Canterbury 
 a man of a moderate temper, and averse to all dis- 
 putes, chose- rather to retire from public employment 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 136 
 
 khan maintain an unequal contest with the haughty car 
 dinal. He resigned his office of chancellor; and the 
 great seal was immediately delivered to Wolsey. II 
 this new accumulation of dignity increased his ene- 
 mies, it also served to exa t his personal character, 
 and prove the extent of his capacity. A strict admin- 
 istration of justice took place during the time he filled 
 this high office ; and no chancellor ever discovered 
 greater impartiality in his decisions, deeper penetra- 
 tion of judgment, or more enlarged knowledge of law 
 and equity. 
 
 The title of legate, which was afterwards conferred 
 on Wolsey, brought with it a gre-at accession of pow- 
 er and dignity. He erected an office, which he called 
 the legatine court, and on which he conferred a kind 
 of inquisitorial and censorial power, even over the 
 laity ; and directed it to inquire into all actions, which, 
 though they escaped the law, might appear contrary 
 to good morals. .The abuse, however, of this court, 
 at length reached the king’s ears; and he expressed 
 such displeasure to the cardinal, as made him ever af- 
 ter more cautious in exerting his authority. 
 
 While Henry, indulging himself in pleasure and 
 . p. . q, amusement, intrusted the government of his 
 ° J kingdom to this imperious minister, an incident 
 happened abroad, which excited his attention. Maxi- 
 milian, the emperor, died; a man who, of himself, 
 was indeed of little consequence; but as his death 
 left vacant the first station among Christian princes, 
 it set the passions of men in agitation, and proved a 
 kind of era in the general system of Europe. The 
 kings of France and Spain immediately declared them- 
 selves candidates for the imperial crown, and employ- 
 ed every expedient of money or intrigue, which prom- 
 ised them success in so great a point of ambition. 
 Henry also was encouraged to advance his preten- 
 sions ; but’.'is minister, Pace, who waa despatched to 
 the electors, found that he began to canvass too late. 
 
 Francis and Charles professed from the beginning 
 to carry on this rivalship without enmity ; but all men 
 perceived that this moderation would not be of long 
 duration; and when Charles at length prevailed, the 
 French monarch could not suppress his indignation af 
 being disappointed in so important a pretension Both 
 
HENRY VIII. 
 
 187 
 
 of them were princes endowed with talents and abili- 
 ties 5 brave, aspiring, active, warl.ke; beloved by 
 their servants and subjects, dreaded by their enemies, 
 and respected by all the world : Francis, open, frank, 
 liberal, munificent, carrying these virtues to an excess 
 which prejudiced his affairs : Charles, political, close, 
 artful, frugal j better qualified to obtain success in 
 wars and in negotiations, especially the latter. The 
 one the more amiable man j the other the greater mon- 
 arch. Charles reaped the succession of Castile, of Arra- 
 gon, of Austria, of the Netherlands: he inherited the 
 conquest of Naples, of Grenada : election entitled him 
 to the empire : even the bounds of the globe seemed 
 to be enlarged a little before his time, that he might 
 possess the whole treasure, as yet entire and unrifled, 
 of the new world. But though the concurrence of 
 all these advantages formed an empire, greater and 
 more extensive than any known in Europe since that 
 of the Romans, the kingdom of .France alone, being 
 close, compact, united, rich, populous, and interposed 
 between the provinces of the emperor's dominions 
 was able to make a vigorous opposition to his progress 
 and maintain the contest against him. 
 
 Henry possessed the felicity of being able, both by 
 the native force of his kingdom and its situation, to 
 hold the balance between those two powers ; but he 
 was heedless, inconsiderate, capricious, and impolitic. 
 Francis, well acquainted with his character, solicited 
 an interview near Calais, in hopes of being able, by 
 familiar conversation, to gain upon his friendship and 
 confidence. Wolsey earnestly seconded this propo- 
 sal ; and, as Henry himself loved show and magnifi- 
 cence, he cheerfully adjusted the preliminaries of the 
 interview. The two monarchs met in a field within 
 the English pale, between Guisnes and Andres ; and 
 I .flA-i such was their profusion of expense, as pro- 
 -* cured to the place the name of the Field of in e 
 Cloth of Gold. 
 
 A defiance had been sent by the two kings to each 
 other's court, and through all the chief cities of Eu- 
 rope, importing, that Henry and Francis, with four- 
 teen aids, would be ready in the plains of PiGardy, to 
 answer all comers that were gentlemen, at tilt and 
 tournament. The monarchs, in order to fulfil this 
 
188 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 challenge, advanced into the field on horseback; 
 Francis, surrounded with Henry's guards, and Henry 
 with those of Francis. They were gorgeously appa- 
 relled ; and were both of them the most comely per- 
 sonages of their age, as well as the most expert in 
 every military exercise. They carried away the prize 
 at all trials in those dangerous pastimes. The ladies 
 were the judges in these feats of chivalry, and put an 
 end to the rencounter whenever they deemed it expe* 
 dient. 
 
 Henry afterwards paid a visit to the emperor and 
 Margaret of Savoy at Gravelines ; and the artful 
 Charles effaced all the friendship to which the frank 
 and generous nature of Francis had given birth. He 
 secured Wolsey in his interests, by assuring him of 
 nis assistance in obtaining the papacy, and by putting 
 him in immediate possession of the revenues belong- 
 ing to the sees of Badajox and Placentia. 
 
 The violent emulation between the emperor and 
 the French king soon broke out in hostilities. Henry, 
 who pretended to be neutral, engaged them to send 
 their ambassadors to Calais, there to negotiate a peace 
 under the mediation of Wolsey and the pope’s nuncio. 
 The emperor was well apprized of the partiality of 
 these mediators; and his demands in the conference 
 were so unreasonable as plainly proved him conscious 
 of the advantage. On Francis rejecting the terms pro- 
 posed, the congress of Calais broke up, and Wolsey, 
 soon after, took a journey to Bruges, where he met 
 with the emperor. He was received with the same 
 state, magnificence, and respect, as if he had been the 
 king of England himself; and he concluded, in his 
 master’s name, an offensive alliance with the pope ar.d 
 the emperor, the result of the private views and am- 
 bitious projects of the cardinal. 
 
 An event of the greatest importance engrossed at 
 this time the attention of all Europe. Leo X., by 
 his generous and enterprising temper, having exhaust- 
 ed his treasury, in order to support his liberalities, 
 had recourse to the sale of indulgences. The produce 
 of this revenue, particularly that which arose from 
 Saxony and the countries bordering on the Baltic, was 
 farmed out to a merchant of Genoa. The scandal of 
 this transaction, with the licentious lives which the 
 
HENRY VIII. 
 
 ICO 
 
 collectors are reported to have led, roused Martin Lu 
 ther, a professor of the university of Wittemberg 
 who not only preached against these abuses in the sale 
 of indulgences, but even decried indulgences them 
 selves, and was thence carried, by the heat of dispute, 
 to question the authority of the pope. Finding his 
 opinions greedily hearkened to, he promulgated them 
 by writing and discourse ; and in a short time, all Eu- 
 rope was filled with the voice of this daring innovator. 
 
 As there subsisted in England great remains of the 
 Lollards, the doctrines of Luther secretly gained ma- 
 ny partisans ; but Henry had been educated in a strict 
 attachment to the church of Rome, and therefore op- 
 posed the progress of the Lutheran tenets, by all tbo 
 influence which his extensive and almost absolute au- 
 thority conferred upon him. He even wrote a book 
 in Latin, against the principles of Luther ; a perform- 
 ance which, if allowance be made for the subject and 
 the age, does no discredit to his capacity. He sent 
 a copy to Leo, who received so magnificent a present 
 with great testimony of regard ; and conferred on him 
 the title of Defender of the Faith ; an appellation still 
 retained by the kings of England. 
 
 Henry having declared war against France, Surrey 
 I 590 I l an d*l some troops at Cherbourg in Normandy ; 
 
 and after laying waste the country, he sailed to 
 Mori lix, a rich town in Brittany, which he took and 
 plundered. The war with France, however, proceed- 
 ed slowly for want of money. Henry had caflsed a 
 general survey to be made of his kingdom, and had is- 
 sued his privy seal to the most wealthy, demanding 
 loans of particular sums : he soon after published an 
 edict for a general tax upon his subjects, which he 
 still called a loan; and he levied five shillings in the 
 pound upon the clergy, and two upon the laity. The 
 parliament, which was summoned about this time, was 
 far from complaining of these illegal transactions: but 
 the commons, more tenacious of their money than 
 their national privileges, refused a grant of e.ight hun- 
 dred thousand pounds, divided into four yearly pay- 
 ments ; ailiin computed to be equal to four shillings 
 in the pound of one year's revenue ; and they only 
 voted an imposition of three shillings in the pound on 
 all possessed of fifty pounds a-year and upwards, oi 
 
r r 
 
 190 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 two shillings in the pound on all who enjoyed twenty 
 pounds a-year and upwards, one shilling on all who 
 possessed between twenty pounds and forty shillings 
 a-year, and on the other subjects above sixteen years 
 of age, a groat a-head. The king was dissatisfied with 
 this saving disposition of the commons j and on pre- 
 tence of necessity, he levied in one year, from all who 
 were worth forty pounds, what the parliament had 
 granted him payable in four years. These irregularities 
 were commonly ascribed to Wolsey’s counsels, who, 
 trusting to the protection afforded him by his ecclesi- 
 astical character, was the less scrupulous in his en- 
 croachments on the civil rights of the nation. 
 
 A new treaty was concluded between Henry and 
 15241 Hilaries for the invasion of France 5 but the 
 -* duke of Bourbon to whom Charles confided a 
 powerful army, in order to conquer Provence and Dau- 
 phiny, was obliged, after an ineffectual attempt on 
 Marseilles, to lead his forces, weakened, baffled, and 
 disheartened, into Italy. Francis might now have 
 enjoyed, in safety, the glory of repulsing all his ene- 
 mies 3 but, ardent for the conquest of Milan, he pass- 
 ed the Alps, and laid siege to Pavia, a town of con- 
 siderable strength, and defended by Leyva, one of the 
 bravest officers in the Spanish service. E^ery attempt 
 which the French king made to gain this important 
 1 52"! pl ace proved fruitless. Fatigue and unfavoura- 
 ble weather had wasted the French army, when 
 the imperial army, commanded by Pescara, Lannoy, 
 and Bourbon, advanced to raise the siege. The im- 
 perial generals; after cannonading the French camp 
 for several days, at last made a general assault, and 
 broke into the intrenchments. Francis’s forces were 
 put to the rout, and himself, surrounded by his ene- 
 mies, after fighting with heroic valour, and killing sev- 
 en men with his own hand, was obliged at last to sur- 
 render himself prisoner. Almost the whole army, full 
 of nobility and brave officers, either perished by the 
 sword, or were drowned in the river. The few who es- 
 caped with their lives fell into the hands of # the enemy. 
 
 Henry was startled at this important event, and be- 
 came sensible of his own danger, from the loss of a 
 proper counterpoise to the power of Charles. Instead 
 of taking advantage, therefore, of the distressed ccn 
 
HENRY VIII. 191 
 
 dition of Francis, he was determined to lend him as- 
 sistance in his present calamities 3 and, as the glory 
 of generosity in raising a fallen enemy concurred with 
 his political interest, he hesitated the less in embra- 
 cing these new measures. He concluded an alliance 
 with the regent of France, and engaged to procure 
 her son his liberty on reasonable conditions. Charles, 
 dreading a general combination, against him, was at 
 length prevailed on to sign the treaty of Madrid. The 
 principal condition was the restoring of Francis’s lib- 
 erty, and the delivery of his two eldest sons as hos- 
 tages to the emperor for the cession of Burgundy. 
 
 The more to cement the union between Henry and 
 Francis, anew treaty was some time after concluded 
 at London 3 in which the former agreed finally to re- 
 nounce all claims to the crown of France 3 claims 
 which might now indeed be deemed chimerical, but. 
 which often served as a pretence for disturbing the 
 tranquillity of the two nations. As a return for this 
 concession, Francis bound himself and his successors 
 to pay for ever fifty thousand crowns a year to Henry 
 and his successors 3 and that greater solemnity might 
 be given to this treaty, it was agreed that the parlia- 
 ments and great nobility of both kingdoms should 
 give their assent to it. Thus, the terror of the empe- 
 ror’s greatness had extinguished the ancient animos- 
 ity between the nations 3 and Spain, during more 
 than a century, became the object of jealousy to the 
 English. 
 
 The marriage of Henry with Catherine of Arragon, 
 his brother’s widow, had not passed, without much 
 scruple and difficulty 3 the prejudices of the people 
 were in general bent against a conjugal union between 
 such near relations 3 and with some doubts that natur- 
 ally arose in Henry’s mind, there concurred other caus- 
 es, which tended much to increase his remorse. The 
 queen was older than the king by no less than six 
 years 3 and the decay of her beauty, together with 
 particular infirmities and diseases, had contributed, 
 notwithstanding her blameless character and deport- 
 ment, to render her person unacceptable to him. 
 Though she had borrus him several children, they all 
 died in early infancy, except one daughter 3 and he 
 was the more struck with this misfortune, because the 
 
 A ''' Y- 
 
m 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 course of being childless is the very threatening con 
 tained in the Mosaical law against those who espouse 
 their brother’s widow. The succession too of the crown 
 was a consideration that occurred to every one, when- 
 ever the lawfulness of Henry’s marriage was called in 
 question ; and it was apprehended, that if doubts of 
 Mary’s legitimacy concurred with the weakness of 
 her sex, the king of Scots, the next heir, would ad- 
 vance his pretensions, and might throw the kingdom 
 into confusion. Thus the king was impelled, both by 
 his private passions, and by motives of public interest 
 to seek the dissolution of his inauspicious, and, as it 
 was esteemed, unlawful marriage with Catherine. 
 
 Anne Boleyn, who lately appeared at court, had 
 been appointed maid of honour to the queen, and had 
 acquired an entire ascendant over Henry’s affections. 
 This young lady / whose grandeur and misfortunes 
 have rendered her so celebrated, was daughter of sir 
 Thomas Boleyn, who had been employed by the king 
 in several embassies, and who was allied to all the 
 principal nobility in the kingdom. Henry’s scruples' 
 or aversion had made him break off all conjugal com- 
 merce with the queen ; but as he still supported an 
 intercourse of civility and friendship with her, he had 
 occasion, in the frequent visits which he paid her, to 
 observe the beauty, the youth, the charms of Anne 
 Boleyn. Finding the accomplishments of her mind 
 no wise inferior to her exterior graces, he even enter- 
 tained the design of raising her to the throne : and as 
 every motive of inclination and policy seemed thus to 
 concur in making the king desirous of a divorce from 
 Catherine, he resolved to make application to pope 
 Clement, and sent Knight, his secretary, to Rome f<»r 
 that purpose. Clement was then a prisoner in the 
 hands of the emperor 5 and when the English secreta- 
 ry solicited him in private, he received a very 
 favourable answer. After Clement had recov- 
 ered his liberty, he granted a commission, to try the 
 validity of the king’s marriage, in which cardinal 
 Campeggio was joined with Wolsey ; but in confor- 
 mity with the pope’s views and. intentions, the former 
 deferred the decision by the most artful delays. At 
 length, the business seemed to be drawing near to a 
 period : and the king was every day in expectation of 
 
HENRY VIII. 
 
 153 
 
 a sentence in his favour, when the menaces and 
 promises of Charles proved successful ; and Clement 
 suspending the commission of the legates, adjourned 
 the cause to his own personal judgment at Rome. 
 
 Wolsej? had long foreseen the failure of this meas- 
 ure as the sure forerunner of his ruin. The dukes of 
 Norfolk and Suffolk were sent to require from him the 
 great seal, which was delivered by the king to sir 
 Thomas More. All his furniture and plate were seiz- 
 ed; and the cardinal was ordered to retire to Esher, 
 a country seat which he possessed near Hampton 
 court. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Cranmer, fellow of Jesus College in 
 Cambridge, a man remarkable for his learning, and 
 still more for the candour and disinterestedness of his 
 temper, falling one evening by accident into company 
 with Gardiner, now secretary of state, and Fox, the 
 king’s almoner, the business of the divorce became 
 the subject of conversation. Cranmer observed that 
 the readiest way, either to quiet Henry’s conscience, 
 or extort the pope’s consent, would be to consult all 
 the universities of Europe with regard to this contro- 
 verted point. When the king was informed of the 
 proposal, he was delighted with it, and immediately, 
 in prosecution of the scheme proposed, employed his 
 agents to collect the judgments of all the universities 
 in Europe. The universities of France, of Venice, 
 Ferrara, Padua, and Bologna, with those of Oxford and 
 . Cambridge, gave their opinion in the king’s fa- 
 
 ° vour; and the convocations both of Canterbu- 
 ry and York pronounced Henry’s marriage invalid. 
 But Clement, who was still under the influence of 
 the emperor, continued to summon the king to ap- 
 pear, either by himself or proxy, before his tribunal at 
 Rome. 
 
 After Wolsey had remained some time at Esher, , # he 
 was allowed to remove to Richmond ; bu^ the cour- 
 tiers, dreading still his vicinity to the king, procured 
 an ‘order for him to remove to his see of York. The 
 cardinal, therefore, took up his residence at Cawood 
 in Yorkshire ; but he was not allowed to remain long 
 unmolested in this retreat. The earl of Northumber- 
 land received orders, without regard to Wolsey’s eccle- 
 siastical character to arrest him for high tieason, and 
 
 VOL 1 . ~ 13 
 
194 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 to conduct him to London, in order to take his .Trial 
 The cardinal, partly from the fatigues of his journey, 
 partly from the agitation of his anxious mind, was seiz- 
 ed with a disorder which turned into a dysentery, and 
 he was able, with some difficulty, to reach Leicester- 
 abbey, where he immediately took to his bed, whence 
 he never rose more. A little before he expired, 
 among other expressions he used the following words 
 to sir William Kingston, constable of the Tower, who 
 had nim in custody : u Had I but served God as dili- 
 gently as I have served my king, he would not have 
 given me over in my gray hairs.” Thus died this fa- 
 mous cardinal, whose character seems to have con- 
 tained as singular a variety as the fortune to which he 
 was exposed. 
 
 A new session of parliament was held, together with 
 a convocation ; and from the latter a confession 
 ■* was extorted, that “ the king was the protector, 
 and the supreme head of the church and clergy of 
 England.” In the next session, an act was passed 
 against levying the annates or first-fruits ; and it was 
 also voted, that any censures which should be passed 
 by the court of Rome on account of that law, should 
 be entirely disregarded. 
 
 Having proceeded too far to recede, Henry ‘private- 
 ly celebrated his marriage w'ith Anne Boleyn, 
 whom he had previously created marchioness 
 of Pembroke. Anne became pregnant soon after her 
 marriage ; and this event gave great satisfaction to the 
 king. An act was made against all appeals to Rome 
 in causes of matrimony and divorces; and Henry find- 
 ing the new queen’s pregnancy to advance, publicly 
 owned his marriage, and informed Catherine that she 
 was hereafter to be treated only as princess-dowager 
 of Wales. 
 
 The parliament enacted laws wffiich were totally 
 subversive of the papal authority in England. But 
 the most important law passed this session, was that 
 which regulated the succession to the crown. The 
 marriage of the king wuth Catherine was declared un- 
 lawful, void, and of no effect; and the marriage with 
 queen Anne was established and confirmed. The 
 crown was appointed to descend to the issue of this 
 marriage, and failing them, to the king’s heirs forever 
 
HENRY YIII. 
 
 195 
 
 An oath likewise was enjoined to be taken in favour 
 of this order of succession, under the penalty of im- 
 prisonment during the king’s pleasure, and forfeiture 
 of goods and chattels. Fisher, bishop of Rochester, 
 and sir Thomas More, were the only persons of 
 note who scrupled the oath of succession : and the 
 king ordered both to be indicted upon the statute, and 
 committed prisoners to the Tower. 
 
 The parliament being again assembled, conferred on 
 1 5341 tke kin S tke t * t * e tke onl y supreme head on 
 -* earth of the church of England ; and in this 
 memorable act they acknowledged his inherent pow- 
 er, “to visit, and repress, redress, reform, order, cor- 
 rect, restrain, or amend, all errors, heresies, abuses, 
 offences, contempts, and enormities, which fell under 
 any spiritual authority, or jurisdiction.” They also 
 declared it treason to attempt, imagine, or speak evil 
 against the king, queen, or his heirs, or to endeavour 
 depriving them of theft dignities or titles. They gave 
 him a right to all the annates and tithes of benefices, 
 which had formerly been paid to the court of Rome. 
 They attainted More .and Fisher for misprision of trea- 
 son *, and they completed the union of England and 
 Wales, by giving to that principality all the benefits 
 of the English laws. 
 
 Though Henry had rejected the authority of the see 
 of Rome, yet the idea of heresy still appeared detesta- 
 ble as well as formidable to that prince 5 and for more 
 reasons than one, he was indisposed to encounage the 
 opinions of the reformers. Separate as he stood from 
 the catholic church, and from the Roman pontiff, the 
 head of it, he still valued himself on maintaining the 
 catholic doctrine, and on guarding by are and sword 
 the imagined purity of his speculative principles. 
 
 Henry’s ministers and courtiers were of as motley a 
 character as his conduct ; and seemed to waver, du- 
 ring this whole reign, between the ancient and the 
 new religion. The queen, engaged by interest as weii 
 as inclination, favoured the cause of the reformers. 
 Cromwell, who was created secretary of state, and 
 who was daily advancing in the king’s confidence, had 
 embraced the same views 5 and as he was a man of 
 prudence and abilities, he was able, very effectually, 
 though in a covert manner, to promote the late inno 
 
[J6 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 vations. Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, had se 
 cretly adopted the protestant tenets ; and he had gain 
 ed Henry's friendship by his candour and sincerity f 
 virtues which he possessed in as eminent a degree as 
 those times, equally distracted with faction and op- 
 pressed by tyranny, could easily permit. On the 
 other hand, the duke of Norfolk adhered to the ancient 
 faith 5 and by his high rank, as well as by his talents 
 both for peace and war, he had great authority in the 
 king's council : Gardiner, lately created bishop of 
 Winchester, had enlisted himself in the same party 5 
 and the suppleness of his character, and dexterity of 
 his conduct, had rendered him one of its principal 
 supporters. 
 
 In the mean time, the king, who held the balance 
 between the factions, was enabled, by the courtship 
 paid him both by protestants and catholics, to assume 
 an unbounded authority. The ambiguity of his con- 
 duct, though it kept the courtiers in awe, served in the 
 main to encourage the protestant doctrine among his 
 subjects. The books composed by the Lutherans 
 were secretly imported into England, and made con 
 verts every where ; but a translation of the Scriptures, 
 by Tindal, who, dreading the exertion of the king’s 
 authority, had fled to Antwerp, was justly deemed 
 one of the most fatal blows to the established faith. 
 
 Though Henry neglected not to punish those who 
 adhered to the protestant doctrine, which he deemed 
 heresy, yet he knew that his most formidable enemies 
 were the monks, who, having their immediate depen- 
 dence on the Roman pontiff, apprehended their own 
 ruin to be the certain consequence of abolishing his 
 authority in England. Some, of these were detected 
 in a conspiracy 5 and the detection instigated the king 
 to take vengeance on them. He suppressed three 
 monasteries ; and finding that little clamour was ex- 
 cited by this act of power, he was more encouraged 
 to lay his rapacious hands on the remainder. Mean- 
 while, he exercised punishments on individuals who 
 were obnoxious to him. The parliament had made it 
 treason to endeavour to deprive the king of his digni 
 ty or titles; they had lately added to his other titles 
 that of supreme head of the church ; it was inferred 
 diat to deny his supremacy was treason ; and many 
 
HENRY VIII. 
 
 197 
 
 priors and ecclesiastics lost their lives for this new 
 species of guilt. Impelled by his violent temper, and 
 desirous of striking a terror into the whole nation, 
 Henry proceeded, by making examples of Fisher and 
 More, to consummate his tyranny. 
 
 When the execution of Fisher and More was re- 
 ported at Rome, Paul III., who had succeeded Cle- 
 ment VII. in the papal throne, excommunicated the 
 king and his adherents, deprived him of his crown, 
 and gave his kingdom to any invader ; but he delayed 
 the publication of this sentence till the empe- 
 * ror, who was at that time hard pressed by the 
 Turks and the protestant princes in Germany, should 
 be in a condition to carry it into execution. Howev- 
 er, an incident happened, which seemed to open the 
 way for a reconciliation between Henry and Charles, 
 Queen Catherine died at Kimbolton in the county of 
 Huntingdon, of a lingering illness, in the fiftieth year 
 of her age. She wrote a very tender letter to the 
 king, a little before she exDired, in which she gave 
 him the appellation of her' most dear lord, king, and 
 husband ; and she concluded with these words : 11 1 
 make this vow, that mine eyes desire you above all 
 things.” The king was touched even to the shedding 
 of tears, by this last tender proof of Catherine’s affec- 
 tion j but queen Anne is said to have expressed her 
 joy for the death of a rival beyond what decency or 
 humanity could permit. 
 
 The emperor thought that, as the demise of his aunt 
 had removed all foundation of a personal animosity 
 between him and Henry, it might not be impossible to 
 detach him from the alliance of France 5 but Henry 
 was rendered indifferent to the advances made by the 
 emperor, both by his experience of the duplicity, and 
 insincerity of that monarch, and the ill success that 
 he met with in his invasion of Provence. 
 
 Henry, conscious of the advantages of his situation, 
 determined to suppress the monasteries, and to put 
 himself in possession of their ample revenues, and for 
 that purpose he delegated his supremacy to Crom- 
 well, who was then secretary of state, and who em- 
 ployed commissioners to inquire into the conduct and 
 deportment of the friars. If we may credit the report* 
 of the commissioners, monstrous disorders were foimJ 
 
193 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 in many of the religious houses. Henry had recouisa 
 to his usual instrument of power, the parliament 3 and 
 in order to prepare men for the innovations projected, 
 the report of the visiters was published, and a genera, 
 horror was endeavoured to be excited in the nation 
 against institutions, which had long been the objects 
 of the most profound veneration. An act was, there- 
 fore, passed, by which three hundred and seventy- 
 six monasteries were suppressed, and their revenues, 
 amounting to thirty-two thousand pounds a-year, were 
 granted to the king, together with their goods, chat- 
 tels, and plate, computed at a hundred tnousand 
 pounds more. It does not appear that any opposition 
 was made to this important law : so absolute was Hen- 
 ry s authority ! 
 
 But while the supporters of the new religion were 
 exulting in their prosperity, they met with a mortifica- * 
 tion in the fate of their patroness Anne Boleyn, who 
 lost her life by the rage of her furious husband. She 
 had been delivered of a dead son ; and Henry's ex- 
 treme fondness for male issue was thereby disappoint- 
 ed. The king's love was transferred to Jane, daugh- 
 ter of sir John Seymour; and he was determined to 
 sacrifice every thing to the gratification of his new ap- 
 petite. In a tilting at Greenwich, the queen happen- 
 ed to drop her handkerchief, an incident probably cas- 
 ual, but interpreted by the king as an instance of gal- 
 lantry to some of her paramours. He immediately 
 'arrested several persons, in the number of whom was 
 lord Rocheford, the queen’s brother; and next day he 
 ordered the queen to be carried to the Tower. The 
 queen and her brother were tried by a jury of peers; 
 and the chief evidence adduced against them was, that 
 Rocheford had been seen to lean on her bed, before 
 some company. Unassisted by counsel, the queen 
 defended herself with great judgment and presence of 
 mind ; and the spectators pronounced her entirely in 
 noc.ent. Judgment, however, wjis- given against both 
 her and Rocheloul; and when the dreadful sentence 
 was pronounced lifting up her hands to heaven, she 
 exclaimed, “ O Father, O Creator, thou who art the 
 way, the truth, and the life, thou know est that 1 have 
 not deserved this fate." After being beheaded, hei 
 body wa« thrown into a common chest of elm tree, 
 
HENRY VIII. 190 
 
 wade to hold arrows, and was buried in the Tower. 
 The innocence of Anne Boleyn cannot reasonably be 
 called in question 5 and the king made the most ef- 
 fectual apology for her, by marrying Jane Seymour the 
 day after the execution. The parliament had the 
 meanness to declare the issue of both his former mar- 
 riages illegitimate 5 and the crown was settled on the 
 king’s issue by Jane Seymour, or any subsequent wife j 
 and in case he should die without issue, he was em- 
 powered by his will to dispose of the crown. 
 
 A convocation which sat at the same time with the 
 parliament, determined the standard of faith to consist 
 in the Scriptures, and the three creeds, the Apostolic, 
 Nicene, and Athanasian ; auricular confession, and 
 penance, were admitted ; but no mention was made of 
 marriage, extreme unction, confirmation, or holy or- 
 ders, as sacraments ; and in this omission the influ- 
 ence of the prohestants appeared. The real presence, 
 however, was asserted, conformably to the ancient 
 doctrine j while the terms of acceptance were estab- 
 lished to be the merits of Christ, and the mercy and 
 good pleasure of God, suitable to the new principles. 
 These articles of belief were formed by the convoca- 
 tion, corrected by the king r and subscribed by every 
 member of that society 5 whilst not one, except Henry, 
 adopted these doctrines and opinions. The expelled 
 monks, wandering about the country, excited both the 
 piety and compassion of men ; and as the ancient reli- 
 gion to )k hold of the populace by powerful motives, 
 suited to vulgar capacity, it was able, now that it was 
 brought into apparent hazard, to raise the strongest 
 zeal in its favour. The first rising was in Lincoln- 
 shire, and amounted to about twenty thousand men 5 
 Dot the duke of Suffolk appearing at the head of some 
 foices, with secret assurances of pardon, the populace 
 was dispersed and a few of their leaders suffered. 
 The northern rebels were more numerous and more 
 formidable than those of Lincolnshire. One Aske, a 
 gentleman, had taken the command of them, and pos- 
 sessed the art of governing the populace. Their enter- 
 prise they called the Pilgrimage of Grace: they took 
 an oath that their only motive proceeded from theii 
 love to God, their care of the king's person and issue, 
 thsir desire of purifying the nobility, of restoring the 
 
200 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 . ro --. church, and of suppressing heresy. The duke 
 
 * J of Norfolk was appointed general of the king’s 
 forces against the rebels. Aske, with many other 
 chiefs, was put to death ; and an amnesty was granted 
 to the people. 
 
 Not long after this prosperous issue, Henry's joy 
 was crowned by the birth of a son, who was baptized 
 by the name of Edward ; yet his happiness was not 
 without alloy, for in two days after the queen died. 
 The prince, not six days old, was created prince of 
 Wales, duke of Cornwall, and earl of Chester 3 sir 
 Edward Seymour, the queen's brother, was raised to 
 the dignity of earl of Hertford ; sir William Fitzwil- 
 liams, high-admiral, was created earl of Southamp- 
 ton ; sir William Paulet, lord St. John; sir John Rus- 
 sel, lord Russel. 
 
 Henry's rapacity, the consequence of his profusion, 
 produced the most entire destruction of the monaste 
 ries ; a new visitation of them was appointed ; and 
 the abbots and monks were induced, in hopes of bet- 
 ter treatment, to make a voluntary resignation of their 
 houses. The whole revenue of these establishments 
 amounted to one hundred and sixty-one thousand one 
 hundred pounds. Great murmurs were every where 
 excited on account of these violent measures ; buf 
 Henry took an effectual method of interesting the no- 
 bility and gentry in the success .of his measures; he 
 either made a gift of the revenues of convents to his 
 favourites and courtiers, or sold them at low prices, or 
 exchanged them for other lands on very disadvanta- 
 geous terms. The court of Rome saw this sacrile- 
 gious plunder with extreme indignation ; and Henry 
 was frequently reproached with his resemblance to 
 the emperor Julian. 
 
 The king was so much governed by passion, that 
 nothing could have delayed his opposition against 
 Rome, but some new objects of animosity. Though 
 he had gradually been changing the tenets of that 
 theological system in which he had been educated / 
 yet he was no less dogmatical in the few articles which 
 remained to him, than if the whole fabric had been 
 entire and unshaken. The point on which he chiefly 
 rested his orthodoxy happened to be the real pres 
 ence ; and every departure from this principle, h« 
 held to be heretical detestable. 
 
HENRY VIII. 
 
 201 
 
 Lambert, a schoolmaster in London, drew up objec 
 dons against the corporeal presence ; and when cited 
 Dy Cranmer and Latimer, instead of recanting, he 
 ventured to appeal to the king.- Henry, not displeas- 
 ed with an opportunity of exerting his supremacy, and 
 displaying his learning, accepted the appeal. Public 
 notice was given, that he intended to enter the lists 
 with the schoolmaster: scaffolds were erected in 
 Westminster-hall for the accommodation of the audi- 
 ence; and Henry appeared on his throne, accompa- 
 nied with all the ensigns of majesty, and with the pre- 
 lates and temporal peers on each side of him. The 
 bishop of Chichester opened the conference; and the 
 king asked Lambert, with a stern countenance, what 
 his opinion was of Christ’s corporeal presence in the 
 sacrament of the altar. He afterwards pressed Lam- 
 bert with arguments drawn from Scripture and the 
 schoolmen. The audience applauded the force of his 
 reasoning and the extent of his erudition : Cranmer 
 seconded his proofs by some new topics; Gardiner 
 entered the lists as a support to Cranmer; Tonsta! 
 took up the argument after Gardiner; Stokesley 
 brought fresh aid to Tonstal ; six bishops more ap 
 peared successively in the field after Stokesley ; and 
 the disputation, if it deserves the name, was prolong- 
 ed for five hours; till Lambert, fatigued, confounded, 
 brow-beaten, and abashed, was at last reduced to si- 
 lence. The king then proposed, as a concluding argu- 
 ment, this interesting question, whether he were re- 
 solved to live or to die ? Lambert replied, that he cast 
 himself wholly on his majesty’s clemency: the king 
 told him, that he would be no protector of heretics; 
 and, there. ore, if that were his final answer, he must 
 expect to be committed to the flames. Cromwell, as 
 vicegerent, pronounced the sentence against him. 
 Lambert’s executioners took care to make the suffer- 
 ings of a man who had personally opposed the king, 
 as cruel as possible : he was burned at a slow fire ; and 
 when there appeared no end of his torments, some of 
 the guards, more merciful than the rest, lifted him on 
 their halberts, and threw him into the flames, where 
 he was consumed. While they were employed in 
 this friendly office, he cried aloud several times, none 
 but Christ, none but Christ ; and with these words he 
 expired. 
 
202 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Immediately after the death of Jane Seymour, Hei.ry 
 began to think of a new marriage j and Cromwell propo- 
 sed to him Anne of Cleves, whose father, the duke of 
 that name, had great interest among the Lutheran prim 
 ces. The marriage was at length concluded 3 and Anne 
 was sent over to England. The king, however, found 
 15401 ^ er utterl y destitute both of beauty and grace j 
 -* swore that she was a great Flanders mare j and 
 declared that he never could possibly bear her any af- 
 fection. His aversion to the queen secretly increased 
 every day j and having at last broken all restraint, it 
 prompted him at once to seek the dissolution of a 
 marriage so odious to him, and to involve his minister 
 in ruin, who had been the innocent author of it. The 
 fall of Cromwell was hastened by other causes. The 
 catholics regarded him as the concealed enemy of 
 their religion 3 the protestants, observing his exterior 
 concurrence with all the persecutions exercised against 
 them, were inclined to bear him as little favour 5 and 
 the king, who found that great clamour had on all 
 h mds arisen against the government, was not displeas- 
 ed to throw on Cromwell the load of public hatred, 
 hoping by so easy a sacrifice to regain the affections of 
 his subjects. Another more powerful cause, howev- 
 er, brought about an unexpected revolution in the min- 
 istry. The king had fixed his affection on Catherine 
 Howard, niece to the duke of Norfolk ; and, being de- 
 termined to gratify this new passion, he could find no 
 other expedient than a divorce from his present con- 
 sort, to raise Catherine to his bed and throne. The 
 duke, who had long been in enmity with the minister, 
 obtained a commission from the king to arrest Crom- 
 well at the council-table, on an accusation of high-trea- 
 son, and to commit him to the Tower. Immediately 
 after, a bill of attainder was framed against him 3 and 
 the house of peers thought proper, without trial, ex- 
 amination, or evidence, to condemn to death, on the 
 most frivolous pretences, a man whom, a few da^s be- 
 fore, they had declared worthy to be near-general of 
 the universe. The house of commons passed the bill, 
 though not without some opposition. When brought 
 to the place of execution, Cromwell avoided ail earn- 
 est protestations of his innocence, and all complaints 
 against the sentence pronounced upon him. He knew 
 
HENRY VIII. 
 
 205 
 
 'khat Henry would resent on his son those symptoms 
 of opposition to his will, and that his death alone 
 would not terminate that monarch’s vengeance. He 
 was a man of prudence, industry, and abilities ; wor 
 thy of a better master and of a better fate. Though 
 raised to the summit of power from a low origin, yet 
 he betrayed no insolence or contempt towards his in- 
 feriors j and he was careful to remember all the obli- 
 gations which, during his more humble fortune, he 
 had owed to any one 5 a circumstance that reflects the 
 highest lustre on his character. 
 
 The measures for divorcing Henry from Anne of 
 Cleves, were carried on at the same time with the bill 
 of attainder against Cromwell. Anne had formerly 
 been contracted, by her father, to the duke of Lor- 
 raine j and Henry pleaded this precontract as a ground 
 of divorce. The convocation was satisfied with this 
 reason, and solemnly annulled the marriage between 
 the king and queen ; the parliament ratified the decision 
 of the clergy ; and Anne, blest with a happy insen- 
 sibility of temper, accepted of a settlement of three 
 thousand pounds a-year, and gave her consent to the di- 
 vorce. 
 
 An alliance contracted by Henry with the emperor, 
 and his marriage with Catherine Howard, which fol- 
 lowed soon after his divorce from Anne of Cleves*, 
 were regarded as favourable incidents to the catholics : 
 and the subsequent events corresponded to their ex- 
 pectations. A fierce persecution commenced against 
 the protestants; but whilst the king exerted his vio- 
 lence against the protestants, he spared not the catho- 
 lics, who denied his supremacy; and hence it was 
 said by a foreigner in England, that those who were 
 against the pope were burned, and those whc were fo* 
 him were hanged. 
 
 Henry had thought himself very happy in his new 
 marriage ; the agreeable person and disposition of 
 Catherine had entirely captivated his affections; and 
 he made no secret of his devoted attachment to her 
 But the queen’s conduct very little merited this ten 
 derness: one Lascelles brought intelligence of her 
 dissolute life to Cranmer; and told him that Derham 
 and Mannoc, both of them servants to the old duchess 
 rf Norfolk, had been admitted to her bed Three 
 
 . .-'W- 
 
204 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 maids of the family were admitted into her secrets 
 and some of them had even passed the night in bed 
 with her and her lovers. The queen being questioned, 
 denied her guilt ; but when informed that a full dis- 
 covery was made, she confessed that she had been 
 criminal before marriage ; and only insisted that she 
 had never been false to the king's bed. But as there 
 was evidence that one Colepepper had passed the night 
 with her alone since her marriage ; and as it appeared 
 that she had taken Derham, her old paramour, into her 
 service, she seemed to deserve little credit in this as- 
 severation $ and the king, besides, was not of a humour 
 to make an} difference between these degrees of 
 guilt. 
 
 Henry convoked a parliament, the usual instrument 
 of his tyranny 3 and the two houses, having received 
 the queen’s confession, voted a bill of attainder for 
 treason against the queen, and the viscountess Roche- 
 ford, who had conducted her secret amours j and in 
 this bill Colepepper and Derham were also compre- 
 hended. At the same time, they passed a bill of at- 
 tainder for misprision of treason against the old duch- 
 ess of Norfolk, Catherine’s grandmother 3 her uncle / 
 lord William Howard, and his lady, together with the 
 countess of Bridgewater, and nine persons more 3 
 because they knew the queen’s vicious course of life 
 before her marriage, and had concealed it. Henry 
 himself seems to have been sensible of the cruelty of 
 this proceeding: for he pardoned the duchess of Nor- 
 folk, and most of the others condemned for misprision 
 of treason. However, to secure himself for the future, 
 as well as his successors, from this fatal accident, he 
 engaged the parliament to pass a law,’ that if the king 
 married any woman who had been incontinent, taking 
 her for a true maid, she should be guilty of treason 
 if she did not previously reveal her guilt to him. The 
 people made merry with this singular enactment, and 
 said, that the king must henceforth look out for a wid- 
 ow 3 for no reputed maid would ever bf persuaded to 
 incur the penalty of the statute. After this, the 
 queen was beheaded on Tower-hill, together with la- 
 dy P*.ocheford. They behaved in a manner suitable to 
 their dissolute life 3 and as lady Rocheford was known 
 to be the chief instrument in bringing Anne Bole) n to 
 her untimely end, she died unnitied 
 
HENRY VIII. 
 
 £05 
 
 James, king of the Scots, having incurred the re- 
 sentment of Henry, a manifesto soon paved the way 
 to hostilities 3 and the duke of Norfolk, at the head of 
 twenty thousand men, passed the Tweed af Berwick, 
 and marched along the banks of the river as far as 
 Kelso 3 but on the approach of James, with thirty 
 thousand men, the English repassed the river, and 
 retreated into their own country. The King of Scots, 
 inflamed with a desire.of military glory, and of revenge 
 on hiS invaders, gave the signal for pursuing them, and 
 carrying the war into England 3 but his nobility, who 
 were in general disaffected on account of the prefer- 
 ence which he had given to the clergy, opposed this 
 resolution, and refused to attend him in his projected 
 enterprise. Enraged at this mutiny, he reproached 
 them with cowardice, and threatened vengeance 5 but 
 he sent ten thousand jnen to the western borders, who 
 entered England at Solway Frith 3 and he himself fol- 
 lowed them at a small distance. This army, however, 
 was ready to disband, when a small body of English 
 appeared, not exceeding five hundred men, under the 
 command of Dacres and Musgrave. A panic seized 
 the Scots, who immediately took to flight, and were 
 pursued by the enemy. Few were killed in this rout, 
 but a great many were taken prisoners, and some of 
 tne principal nobility, who were all sent to London. 
 James, being' naturally of a melancholic disposition, as 
 well as endowed with a high spirit, lost all command 
 of his temper on this dismal occasion. Rage against 
 his nobility, who he believed had betrayed him 3 
 shame for a defeat by such unequal numbers 3 regret 
 for the oast, fear of the future 3 all these passions so 
 wrought upon him, that he would admit of no consola- 
 tion, but abandoned himself wholly to despair. His 
 body was wasted by sympathy with his anxious mind j 
 and even his life began to be thought in danger. He 
 had no issue living, and hearing that his queen was 
 safely delivered, he asked whether she had brought 
 him a male or a female child? Being told the latter, 
 he turned himself in his bed: “The crown came with 
 a woman/' said he, “ and it will go with one : many 
 * miseries await this poor kingdom : Henry will 
 make it his own, either by force of arms or by 
 marriage.” A few days after, he expired, in the flow 
 er of his age. 
 
/ 
 
 20 £ HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Henry was no sooner informed of his victor) , and 
 of the death of his nephew, than he projected the 
 scheme of uniting. Scotland to his own dominions, by 
 marrying his son Edward to the heiress of that king- 
 dom. The Scottish nobles, who were his prisoners, 
 readily assented to the proposal 3 and after deliver 
 ing hostages for their return, in case the intended nup- 
 tials should not be completed, they were allowed to 
 return to Scotland. A negotiation was commenced 
 with sir Ralph Sadler, the English ambassador, for the 
 marriage of the infant queen with the prince of Wales 3 
 and equitable conditions were quickly agreed on ; but 
 Beaton, the cardinal priina-te, who acted as minister 
 to James, was able, by his intrigues, to confound this 
 measure. He represented the union with England as 
 the certain ruin of the ancient religion 3 and as soon 
 as he found a war with that kingiom unavoidable, he 
 immediately applied to France for assistance during 
 the present distresses of the Scottish nation. The in- 
 fluence of the French in Scotland excited the resent- 
 ment of Henry, who formed a close league with the 
 emperor; and war was declared against Francis by the 
 allies. 
 
 In order to obtain supplies for his projected war 
 with France, Henry summoned a new session of par- 
 liament, which granted him a subsidy. About the 
 15401 same time, the king married Catherine Pir, 
 widow of Nevil, lord Latimer, a woman of vir 
 tue, and somewhat inclined to the reformed doctrines. 
 On the other hand, the king's league with the empe- 
 ror seemed a circumstance no less favourable to the 
 catholic party 3 and thus matters remained still nearly 
 balanced between the factions. 
 
 While the winter season restrained Henry from mil- 
 itary operations, he summoned a new parliament, 
 which, after declaring the prince of Wales, or any of 
 the king's male issue, first heirs to the crown, restor- 
 ed the two princesses, Mary and Elizabeth, to their 
 right of succession. Such, however, was the caprice 
 of the king, that while he opened the way lor these 
 princesses to ascend the throne, he would n >t allow 
 the acts to be reversed which declared them illegiti- 
 mate ! 
 
 Henry sent a fleet and army to invade Scotland 
 
I 
 
 HENRY VIII. 207 
 
 I he tioops were disembarked near Leith ; and, after 
 dispersing a small body which opposed them, they 
 took that town without resistance, and then marched 
 to Edinburgh, the gates of which were soon beaten 
 down $ and the English first pillaged, and then set fire 
 to the city. The earl of Arran, who was regent, and 
 Beaton the cardinal, were not prepared to oppose so 
 great a force ; and they fled to Stirling. The English 
 marched eastward, laid waste the whole country, 
 burned and destroyed Haddington and Dunbar, and 
 then retreated into England. 
 
 This incursion inflamed, without subduing the spirit 
 of the Scots ) but Henry recalled his troops, in conse- 
 ‘quence of his treaty with the emperor, by which those 
 two princes had agreed to invade France with above 
 one hundred thousand men. The city of Boulogne 
 was treacherously surrendered to Henry ; but the em- 
 peror, after taking several places, concluded a peace 
 with Francis at Crepy, where no mention was made 
 of England j and Henry, finding himself obliged to 
 raise the siege of Montreuil, returned into England. 
 This campaign served to the populace as matter of 
 great triumph ; but all men of sense concluded that 
 the king had, as in all his former military enterprises, 
 obtained, at a great expense, an unimportant acquisi- 
 tion. 
 
 The war with Scotland, meanwhile, was conducted 
 1 feebly, and with various success *, and the war 
 * with France was not distinguished by any mem- 
 orable event. The great expense of these two wars 
 maintained by Henry, obliged him to summon a new 
 parliament. The commons granted him a subsidy; 
 payable in two years, of two shillings a pound on land ; 
 the spirituality voted him six shillings a pound. But 
 the parliament, apprehensive lest more demands 
 should be made upon them, endeavoured to save them- 
 selves by a very extraordinary liberality of other peo- 
 ple's property. By one vote they bestowed on the 
 king all the revenues of the universities, as well as of 
 the ebauntries, free chapels, and hospitals. Henry 
 was pleased with this concession, as it increased his 
 power ; but he had no intention to rob learning of all 
 ncr endowments ; and he soon took care to inform the 
 universities that he meant not to touch their revenues 
 
203 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 Thus tuese ancient and celebrated establishments owe 
 their existence to the generosity of the king, not to 
 the protection of this servile parliament. 
 
 Henry employed in military preparations the money 
 154fl o ranted % parliament 5 and he sent over the 
 ■* earl of Hertford and lord Lisle, the admiral, to 
 Calais, with a body of nine thousand men, two-thirds 
 of which consisted of foreigners. Some skirmishes 
 of small moment ensued with the French : but as no 
 hopes of any considerable progress could be entertain- 
 ed by either party, both came to an accommodation. 
 Commissioners met at Campe, a small place between 
 Ardres and Guisnes ; and it was agreed, that Henry 
 should retain Boulogne during eight years, or till the 
 former debt due by Fraqcis should be paid. This debt 
 was settled at two millions of livres, besides a claim 
 of five hundred thousand livres, which was afterwards 
 to be adjusted. Francis took care to comprehend 
 Scotland in the treaty. Thus all that Henry obtained 
 by a war which cost him above one million three 
 hundred and forty thousand pounds sterling, was a bad 
 and a chargeable security for a debt which was not a 
 third of the value. 
 
 The king had now leisure to attend to domestic af- 
 fairs. He was prevailed on to permit the Litany to be 
 celebrated in the vulgar tongue ; and Cranmer taking 
 advantage of Gardiner's absence on an embassy to the 
 emperor, attempted to draw him into farther innova- 
 tions : but Gardiner wrote to Henry, and retarded for 
 some time the projects of Cranmer. The catholics 
 took hold of the king by his passion for orthodoxy ; 
 and they represented to him, that if his laudable zeal 
 for enforcing the truth met with no better success, it 
 was altogether owing to the primate, whose example 
 and encouragement were, in reality, the secret sup- 
 ports of heresy. Henry seeing the point at which 
 they aimed, feigned a compliance, and desired the 
 council to make inquiry into Cranmer’s conduct. Ev- 
 ery body now considered the primate as lost; and 
 when admitted into the council-chamber, he was told 
 that they had determined to send him to the Tower. 
 Cranmer said, that he appealed to the king himself: 
 and finding his appeal disregarded, he producedaring, 
 which Henry had given him as a pledge of favour and 
 
HENRY VIII. 
 
 209 
 
 protection. The council were confounded ; and when 
 they came before the king, he reproved them in the 
 severest terms; and told them that he was well ac- 
 quainted with Cranmer’s merit, as well as with their 
 malignity and envy. 
 
 But though Henry’s partial favour for Cranmer ren- 
 -dered fruitless all accusations against him, his pride 
 and peevishness, irritated by his declining state of 
 health, induced him to punish with severity every oth- 
 er person who differed from him in opinion. Ann 
 Ascue, a young lady of merit as v/311 as beauty, who 
 was connected with the queen herself, was accused 
 of dogmatizing on the rea' presence 3 and, after being 
 subjected to the torture in the most barbarous man- 
 ner, she was sentenced to be burned alive, with four 
 others condemned for the same crime. When they 
 were all tied to the stake, they refused the pardon that 
 was offered on condition of recantation 3 and they saw 
 with tranquillity the executioner kindle the flames 
 that were to consume them. 
 
 Though the secrecy and fidelity of Ann Ascue sav- 
 ed the queen from this peril, yet that princess soon af- 
 ter fell into a new danger, from which she narrowly 
 escaped. Henry’s favourite topic of conversation was 
 theology ; and Catherine, whose good sense enabled 
 her to discourse on any subject, was frequently engag- 
 ed in the argument 3 and, being secretly inclined to 
 the principles of the reformers, she unwarily betrayed 
 too much of her mind on these occasions. Henry, 
 highly provoked that she should presume to differ from 
 him, complained of her obstinacy to Gardiner, who 
 gladly laid hold of the opportunity to inflame the quar- 
 rel 3 and the king, hurried on by his own impetuous 
 temper, and encouraged by his bigoted counsellors, 
 went so far as to order articles of impeachment to be 
 drawn up against his consort. By some means this 
 important paper fell into the hands of one of the 
 queen’s friends, who immediately carried the intelli- 
 gence to her. Sensible of the extreme danger to 
 which she was exposed, she paid her usual visit to the 
 king, who entered on the subject most familiar to 
 him, and who seemed to challenge her to an argument 
 in divinity. She gently declined the conversation, 
 
 VOL. I. 14 
 
 / 
 
210 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 and remarked, that such profound speculations were 
 Ml-suited to the natural imbecility of her sex. Wo- 
 men, she said, by their creation, were made subject to 
 men. It belonged to the husband to choose principles 
 for his wife ; the wife’s duty was, in all cases, to 
 adopt implicitly the sentiments of her husband: and 
 as to herself, it was doubly her duty, being blest with 
 a husband who was qualified by his judgment and 
 learning to choose principles not only for his own 
 family, but for the most wise and knowing of every 
 nation. “Not so, Ly St. Mary,” replied the king; 
 “ you are now become a doctor, Kate ; and better 
 fitted to give than receive instructions.” She meekly 
 replied, that she was sensible how little she was enti- 
 tled to these praises ; that though she usually declin- 
 ed not any conversation, however sublime, when pro 
 posed by his majesty, she well knew that her concep- 
 tions could serve to no other purpose than to give him 
 a little momentary amusement; that she found the 
 conversation apt to languish, when not revived by 
 some opposition, and she had ventured sometimes U 
 feign a contrariety of sentiments, in order to give him 
 the pleasure of refuting her ; and that she also pur- 
 posed, by this innocent artifice, to engage him on to- 
 pics whence she had observed, by frequent experi- 
 ence, that she reaped profit and instruction. “ And is 
 it so, sweetheart?” replied the king; “then weare 
 perfect friends again.” He embraced her with great 
 affection, and sent her away with assurances of his pro- 
 tection and kindness. 
 
 The reputation which the duke of Norfolk had ac- 
 quired in war, his high rank, and his influence as the 
 head of the catholic party, rendered that nobleman 
 obnoxious to Henry, who foresaw danger, during his 
 son’s minority, from the attempts of so potent a sub- 
 ject. His son; the earl of Surrey, had distinguished 
 himself by every accomplishment which became a 
 scholar, a courtier, and a soldier; but having declined 
 the hand of the daughter of the earl of Hertford, and 
 even waived every other proposal of marriage, Henry 
 imagined that he entertained the design of espousing 
 the lady Mary. Actuated by those suspicions, the 
 king gave private orders to arrest Norfolk and Surrey 
 who, on the same day, were confined in the Tower 
 
HENRY VIII. 
 
 21 1 
 
 Surrey was accused of entertaining in his family some 
 Italians, who were suspected to be spies, of corres* 
 ponding with cardinal Pole, and of quartering on his 
 escutcheon the arms of Edward the Confessor, a prac- 
 tice which had been justified by the authority of the 
 heralds. Notwithstanding his eloquent and spirited 
 defence, a venal jury condemned him for high-treason 5 
 • zAr-, and their sentence was soon after executed up- 
 0 J on him. The innocence of Norfolk was, if 
 possible, still more apparent than that of his son, yel 
 the house of peers, without trial or evidence, passed a 
 bill of attainder against him, and sent it down to the 
 commons. The king was now approaching fast to- 
 wards his end, and fearing lest Norfolk should escape 
 him, he sent a message to the commons to expedite 
 the bill. The obsequious commons obeyed his direc- 
 tions ; and the king, having aifixed the royal assent to 
 the bill by commissioners, issued orders for the exe- 
 cution of Norfolk on the morning of the twenty-ninth 
 of January. But news being carried to the Tower 
 that the king himself had expired the preceding night, 
 the lieutenant deferred obeying the warrant; and it 
 was not thought advisable by the council to begin a 
 new reign with the death of the greatest nobleman in 
 the kingdom, who had been condemned by a sentence 
 so unjust and tyrannical. 
 
 The king’s health had long been in a declining 
 state ; but for several days, all those near him plainly 
 saw his end approaching, yet no one durst inform him 
 of his condition. At last sir Anthony Denny ventured 
 to disclose to him the fatal secret, and exhorted him 
 to prepare for the event. He expressed his resigna- 
 tion, and desired that Cranmer might be sent for; but 
 before the prelate arrived he was speechless, though 
 he still seemed to retain his senses. Cranmer desired 
 him to give some sign of his dying in the faith of 
 Christ: he squeezed the prelate’s hand, and immedi- 
 ately expired, after a reign of thirty-seven years and 
 nine months ; and in the fifty-sixth year of his age. 
 
 The king had made his will near a month before his 
 demise, in which he confirmed the destination of par- 
 liament, by leaving the crown first to prince Edward, 
 then to the lady Mary, next to lady Elizabeth. Tha 
 two princesses he obliged, under the penalty of for 
 
m 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 feiting their title to the crown, not to marry without 
 consent of the council, which he appointed for the 
 government of his minor son. 
 
 A catalogue of this prince’s vices would compre 
 hend many of the worst qualities incidental to Human 
 nature ; violence, cruelty, profusion, rapacity, injus- 
 tice, obstinacy, arrogance, bigotry, and presumption; 
 yet, he was sincere, open, gallant, liberal, and capable, 
 at least of a temporary friendship and attachment. 
 Notwithstanding his cruelty and extortion, he seems 
 to have possessed to the last, in some degree, the love 
 and affection of his people. Indeed, his exterior qual- 
 ities were advantageous, and fit to captivate the mul- 
 titude ; and his magnificence and personal bravery 
 rendered him illustrious in vulgar eyes. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The Reigns of Edward VI. and Mary 
 
 Edward, at his accession, was little more than 
 nine years of age ; and as his majority was fixed at the 
 15471 com P* et i° n °fhis eighteenth year, his father had 
 J appointed sixteen executors, to whom, during 
 the minority, he intrusted the government of the 
 kingdom. Among these were Cranmer, archbishop of 
 Canterbury; lord Wriothesley, chancellor; lord St. 
 John, great master; lord Russel, privy-seal; the earl 
 of Hertford, chamberlain ; viscount Lisle, admiral ; 
 Tonstal, bishop of Durham ; with other officers of 
 state, and two or three private persons. To these ex- 
 ecutors, with whom was intrusted the regal authority, 
 were associated twelve counsellors, who possessed no 
 immediate power, and could only assist with their ad- 
 vice when any affair was laid before them. 
 
 No sooner were the executors and counsellors met, 
 than it was suggested that the government would lose 
 its dignity, for want of some head to represent tire 
 royal majesty. Though this was a departure from the 
 late king’s will, yet the measure was carried ; and the 
 choice fell of course on the earl of Hertford the 
 king’s maternal uncle. In their next measure, tkev 
 
EDWARD VI. 
 
 213 
 
 showed a greater deference to Henry s intentions. 
 Hertford was created duke of Somerset, mareschal, 
 and lord treasurer; Wriothesley, earl of Soatnamp- 
 ton ; the earl of Essex, marquis of Northampton ; vis 
 count Lisle, earl of Warwick; sir Thomas Seymour, 
 lord Seymour of Sudley, and admiral; and sir Rich- 
 ard Rich, sir William Willoughby, and sir Edward 
 Sheffield, were raised to the dignity of barons. 
 
 The earl of Southampton had always been engaged 
 in an opposite party to Somerset ; and the latter taking 
 advantage of some illegal proceedings of which the 
 former was guilty, the council declared that South- 
 ampton had forfeited the great seal, that a fine should 
 be imposed upon him, and that he should be confined 
 to his own house during pleasure. The removal of 
 Southampton, however, did not satisfy the ambition 
 of Somerset. He procured a patent from the young 
 king, by which he entirely overturned the will of 
 Henry VIII., and produced a total revolution in the gov- 
 ernment. He named himself protector, with full regal 
 power, and appointed a council consisting of all the 
 former counsellors, and all the executors, except 
 Southampton, reserving a power of naming any other 
 counsellors at pleasure, and of consulti with such 
 only as he thought proper. The protector and his 
 council were likewise empowered to act at discretion, 
 and to execute whatever they deemed for the public 
 service, without incurring any penalty or forfeiture 
 whatsoever. 
 
 Somerset had long been regarded as a secret parti- 
 san of the reformers; and he took care that all per- 
 sons intrusted with the king’s education should be 
 attached to the same principles. In his schemes for 
 advancing the reformation, he had always recourse to 
 the counsels of Cranmer, who, being a man of modera- 
 tion and prudence, was averse to all violent changes. 
 A visitation was made of all the dioceses in England 
 by a mixture of clergy and laity ; and the chief purport 
 of their instructions was, besides correcting immoral- 
 ities and irregularities in the clergy, to abolish the 
 ancient superstitions, and to bring the discipline and 
 worship somewhat nearer the practice of the reformed 
 churches. The person that opposed, with greatest 
 authority, these advances towards reformation waa 
 
214 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGL D. 
 
 Gardiner, bishop of Worcester, who, though he had 
 not obtained a r place in the council of regency, on ac- 
 count of late disgusts which he had given to Henry, 
 was entitled by his age, experience, and capacity, to 
 the highest trust and confidence of his party. He 
 represented the perils of perpetual innovations, and 
 the necessity of adhering to some system. For this 
 freedom he was sent to the Fleet-prison, and treated 
 with some severity. 
 
 In Scotland, one Wishart, a gentleman by birth, and 
 celebrated for the purity of his morals, and his exten- 
 sive 'earning, employed himself with great success in 
 preaching against the ancient superstitions. Beaton, 
 the cardinal primate, resolving to strike terror into all 
 other innovators, by the punishment of so distinguish- 
 ed a preacher, caused him to be arrested. The unhap- 
 py man was condemned to the flames for heresy, and 
 suffered with the usual patience. The disciples of 
 this martyr, enraged at the cruel execution, formed 3 
 conspiracy against the cardinal, who was assassinated 
 soon after the death of Wishart. The assassins, being 
 reinforced by their friends, to the number of a hun- 
 dred and forty persons, prepared themselves for the 
 defence of the cardinal’s palace, and craved the as- 
 sistance of Henry, who promised to take them under 
 his protection. 
 
 To fulfil this promise, and to execute the project 
 which the late king had recommended with his dying 
 breath, the protector levied an army of eighteen thou- 
 sand men, with which he invaded Scotland. The 
 Scottish army, double in number to that of the Eng- 
 lish, posted themselves on advantageous ground, 
 guarded by the banks of the Eske, about four miles 
 from Edinburgh. Having reconnoitred their camp, 
 Somerset found it difficult to make an attempt upon 
 it with any probability of success. He wrote, there- 
 fore, to Arran, the governor of Scotland, and offered 
 to evacuate the kingdom, provided the Scots would 
 stipulate not to contract the queen to any foreign prince, 
 but to detain her at home till she reached the age of 
 choosing a husband for herself. The Scots rejected 
 the demand, and quitting their camp, advanced int<? 
 the plain, with the hope of cutting off* the retreat of 
 the English. Somerset, pleased to behold this raov** 
 
EDWARD VI. 
 
 ment of the Scottish army, ranged his troops in order 
 of battle. The Scots were defeated with the loss of 
 about ten thousand slain, and fifteen hundred taken 
 prisoners} while not more than two hundred of the 
 English fell in this engagement. This action was call- 
 ed the battle of Dinkey, from a nobleman’s seat of that 
 name in the neighbourhood. 
 
 Somerset was desirous of returning to England, 
 where he heard that some counsellors, and even his 
 own brother, the admiral, were carrying on cabals 
 against his authority. On his arrival, he summoned a 
 parliament, in which all laws were repealed that ex- 
 tended the crime of treason beyond the statute of the 
 15481 twe «Iy of Edward 111.; all laws enacted 
 -* during the late reign extending the crime of 
 felony ; all the former laws against Lollardy or heresy, 
 together with the statute of the six articles. By these 
 and other appeals, some dawn, both of civil and reli- 
 gious liberty, began to appear to the people. Heresy, 
 however, was stiil a capital crime by the common law, 
 and was subjected to the penalty of burning. Only 
 there remained no precise standard by which that 
 crime could be defined or determined ; a circumstance 
 which might either be advantageous or hurtful to pub- 
 lic security, according to the disposition of the judges. 
 
 The greater the progress that was made towards a 
 reformation in England, the further did the protector 
 find himself from all prospect of completing the union 
 with Scotland; and the queen-dowager, as well as the 
 clergy, became the more averse to all alliance with a 
 nation which had so far departed from ancient princi- 
 ples. The hostile attempts, too, which the late king 
 and the protector had made against Scotland, had serv- 
 ed only to inspire the Scottish people with the utmost 
 aversion to an union. The queen-dowager, finding 
 fhese sentiments prevail, called a parliament, in which 
 it was proposed that the young queen should be sent 
 to France. Accordingly, the governor received a pen- 
 sion of twelve thousand livres a year, and" the title of 
 duke of Chatelrault; and Mary embarked onboard 
 some French vessels, arrived at Brest, whence she 
 w T as conducted to Paris, and soon after betrothed to 
 the dauphin. 
 
 The mortification of Somerset, on the failure of hiv 
 
21 b HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 project for an union with Scotland, was increased by 
 the intrigues of his own family. His brother, lord 
 Seymour, a man of insatiable ambition and great abili- 
 ties, by his flattery and address, had so insinuated him- 
 self into the good graces of the queen-dowager, that, 
 forgetting her usual prudence and decency, she mar- 
 ried him so immediately upon the demise of the late 
 king, that had she soon proved pregnant, it might have 
 been doubtful to which husband the child belonged. 
 The credit and riches of this alliance supported the 
 ambition of the admiral 3 but gave umbrage to the 
 duchess of Somerset, who, uneasy that the younger 
 •brother’s wife should have the precedency, employed 
 all her influence with her husband, first to create, then 
 to widen, the breach between the two brothers. 
 
 The first attempt of the admiral was a direct attack 
 upon his brother’s authority, by procuring from the 
 young king a letter to the parliament, desiring that 
 Seymour might be appointed his governor 3 but, find- 
 ing himself prevented in his design by the parliament, 
 he was obliged to submit, and to desire a reconcilia- 
 tion with his brother. His ambition, however, could 
 not be easily checked. His spouse, the queen-dowa- 
 ger, died in child-bed 3 but so far from regarding this 
 event as an obstacle to his aspiring views, he made 
 his addresses to the lady Elizabeth 3 and as Henry had 
 excluded his daughters from all hopes of succession, 
 if* they married without the consent of his executors, 
 which Seymour could never, hope to obtain, he is sup- 
 posed to have aimed at effecting his purpose by the 
 most criminal means. He had brought over to his par- 
 ty many of the principal nobility 3 and it was suppos- 
 ed, that he could on occasion muster an army of ten 
 thousand men, composed of his servants, tenants, and 
 retainers. He had already provided arms for their 
 use 3 and having engaged in his interests sir John 
 Sharington, a corrupt man, master of the mint at Bris- 
 tol, he flattered himself that money would not be 
 wanting. Somerset was well apprized of all these 
 alarming circumstances, and endeavoured by the most 
 friendly expedients, by intreaty, reason, and even by 
 heaping new favours upon his brother, to make him 
 desist from his dangerous counsels 5 hut finding all 
 endeavours ineffectual, he was easily persuaded, by 
 
EDWARD VL 
 
 £17 
 
 the earl of Warwick, to deprive him of the office of 
 admiral, and to commit him to the Tower. 
 
 Some of his accomplices were also taken into cus- 
 tody ; and three privy counsellors being sent to exam- 
 ine them, made a report that they had met with very 
 full and important discoveries. Yet still the protec- 
 tor suspended the blow, and showed a reluctance to 
 ruin his brother; but as Seymour made no other an- 
 swer to all his friendly offers, than menaces and defi- 
 ances, he ordered a charge to be drawn up against 
 him, consisting of thirty-three articles, and the whole 
 to be laid before the privy council. It is pretended, 
 that every particular was so incontestibly proved, both 
 by witnesses and his own hand-writing, that there was 
 no room for doubt; yet did the council think proper 
 to go in a body to the Tower, in order more fully to 
 examine the prisoner. We shall indeed conclude, if 
 we carefully examine the charge, that many of the ar- 
 ticles were general, and scarcely capable of any proof; 
 many of them, if true, susceptible of a more favoura- 
 ble interpretation; and that though, on the whole, 
 Seymour appears to have been a dangerous subject, he 
 had not advanced far in those treasonable projects im- 
 puted to him. 
 
 But the administration had at that time, an easy in- 
 strument of vengeance in the parliament; and a ses- 
 sion being held, Seymour was proceeded against by 
 bill of attainder. The bill was passed in the upper 
 house without undergoing any objections; but in the 
 House of Commons, some members objected against 
 the whole method of proceeding by bill of attainder 
 passed in absence, and insisted that a formal trial 
 should be given to every man before his condernna 
 tion. At length, however, the bill passed ; and the 
 sentence was soon after executed, and the pris- 
 J oner beheaded on Tower-hill. Thd warrant was 
 signed by Somerset himself, who was much blamed 
 on account of the violence of these proceedings. 
 
 In this session, the translation of the liturgy, as 
 well as of the scriptures, into the vulgar tongue, was 
 established by parliament; and an act was also passed, 
 permitting the marriage of priests, who had hithertc 
 Veen enjoined celibacy. 
 
 Scarcely any institution can be considered Jess H 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 PAH 
 
 vourable to the interests of mankind than that of 
 monks and friars. The convents, however, were a 
 sure resource to the poor and indigent; and though 
 the alms which they distributed gave too much en- 
 couragement to idleness, yet the suppression of them 
 was felt and regretted. These grievances were at 
 this time heightened by other causes. The arts of 
 manufacture were much more advanced in other Eu- 
 ropean countries than in England; and even in Eng- 
 land these arts had made greater progress than the 
 knowledge of agriculture. A great demand arose for 
 wool both abroad and at home ; pasturage was found 
 more p.ofitable than unskilful tillage.; whole estates 
 were laid waste by enclosures ; and a decay of people, 
 as well as a diminution of the former plenty, was re- 
 marked in the kingdom. 
 
 The general increase also of gold and silver in Eu- 
 rope, after the discovery of the West-Indies, had a 
 tendency to inflame these complaints. The growing 
 demand in the more commercial countries had height- 
 ened every where the price of commodities, which 
 could easily be transported thither; but in England, 
 the labour of men who could not so easily change their 
 habitation, still remained nearly at the ancient rates; 
 and the poor complained that they could no longer 
 gain a subsistence by their industry; .which, as it was 
 difficult for them to shake off their former habits of 
 ’.ndolence, they were, in fact, unwilling to employ. 
 
 Loud complaints were heard in every part of Eng 
 land; and these were succeeded by acts of open vio- 
 lence. The rising was simultaneous, as if a general 
 conspiracy had been formed by the people. The com- 
 motions in Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, and some other 
 counties, were quieted by mild expedients ; but the 
 disorders in Devonshire and Norfolk threatened more 
 dangerous consequences. In Devonshire, the rebels, 
 who amounted to ten thousand, were attacked and de- 
 feated near Exeter by lord Russel, who had been sent 
 to disperse therrr. In Norfolk, the insurgents amount- 
 ed to twenty thousand, and were headed by one Ket, 
 a tanner. The protector affected popularity, and cared 
 not to appear in person against the rebels; he there 
 fort sent the earl of Warwick, at the head of six thou 
 land men, levied for the wars against Scotland ; by 
 
EDWARD VI. 
 
 219 
 
 which means he afforded his mortal enemy an oppor 
 tunity of increasing his reputation and character. 
 Warwick having tried some skirmishes with the reb* 
 els, at last made a general attack upon them, and put 
 them to flight. Two thousand fell in the action and 
 pursuit; and Ket was hanged at Norwich. 
 
 But though these insurrections were quickly sub- 
 dued, they were attended with serious consequences 
 to the foreign interests of the nation. The Scots took 
 the fortress of Broughty, and compelled the English 
 to evacuate Haddington ; and the French recovered 
 all the conquests which Henry had made on the con- 
 tinent, with the exception of Boulogne. 
 
 Somerset, despairing of the assistance of the em- 
 peror, was inclined to conclude a peace with France 
 and Scotland; but his enemies in the council oppos- 
 ed all proposals for a pacification. Lord St. John, 
 president of the council, the earls of Warwick, South- 
 ampton, and Arundel, with five members more, met at 
 Ely-house ; and assuming to themselves the whole 
 power of the council, began to act independently of 
 the protector, whom they represented as the author 
 of every public grievance and misfortune. They wrote 
 letters to the chief nobility and gentry of England, 
 informing them of the present measures, and requir- 
 ing their assistance; they sent for the mayor and al- 
 dermen of London, and enjoined them to obey their 
 orders, without regard to any contrary orders which 
 they might receive from the duke of Somerset. They 
 laid the same injunctions on the lieutenant of the 
 Tower, who expressed his resolution to comply with 
 them. Other lords and gentlemen joined the malcon-. 
 tent counceliors. 
 
 Somerset was sent to the Tower; and articles of 
 indictment were preferred against him. He was pre- 
 vailed on to confess on his knees, before the council, 
 all the articles of charge against him; and he even 
 subscribed this confession. The paper was given into 
 parliament, who, after sending a committee to exam- 
 ine him, andhear him acknowledge it to be genuine, 
 passed a vote, by which they deprived him of all h.s 
 o'ficcs, and fined him two thousand pounds a-year in 
 land. L ; ' i'd St. John was created treasurer in his place, 
 Stid. Warwick earl- marshal. The prosecution agains- 
 
220 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 him was carried no farther j and his fine was remitted 
 by the king. Warwick, thinking that he was now 
 sufficiently humbled, re-admitted him into the coun- 
 cil, and even agreed to an alliance between their fami- 
 lies, by the marriage of his own son, lord Dudley, with 
 the lady Jane Seymour, daughter of Somerset. 
 
 When Warwick and the council of regency began 
 15501 to exerc ‘ se their power, they found themselves 
 -* embarrassed by the wars with France and Scot- 
 land j. and therefore a pacification was effected, by 
 which France bound herself to pay four hundred thou- 
 sand crowns for the restitution of Boulogne ; and the 
 English agreed to restore to Scotland Lauder and Dou- 
 glas, and to demolish the fortresses of Roxburgh and 
 Ey mouth. 
 
 In all other respects, than an intention of marrying 
 
 1551 } 
 
 the king to a daughter of the king of France, a 
 
 violent persecutor of the protestants, the coun- 
 cil was steady in promoting the reformation. Several 
 prelates still adhered to the Romish communion, and 
 were deprived of their sees on pretehce of disobedi- 
 ence. The princess Mary declared herself willing to 
 endure death rather than relinquish the ancient reli- 
 gion j and Edward, who had been educated in a vio- 
 lent abhorrence of the mass and other popish rites, 
 lamented his sister's obstinacy, and bewailed his fate 
 in suffering her to continue in such an abominable 
 mode of worship. 
 
 Various schemes attempted by the council for pro- 
 moting industry were likely to prove abortive, by the 
 ambition of Warwick. The last earl of Northumber- 
 land died without issue j and as sir Thomas Piercy, 
 his brother, had been attainted in the late reign, War- 
 wick procured a grant of the estate, with the title 
 of duke of Northumberland. 
 
 Finding that Somerset, though degraded from his 
 dignity, still enjoyed a considerable share of populari- 
 ty, Northumberland determined to ruin the man whom 
 he regarded as the chief obstacle to the -attainment 
 of his ambition. The alliance between the two fami- 
 lies had produced no cordial union. Northumberland 
 secretly gained many of the friends and servants of 
 that unhappy nobleman ; and the unguarded Somerset 
 often broke out into menacing expressions, whidft 
 his treacherous confidants carried to his enemy. 
 
EDWARD VI. 
 
 22 . 
 
 In one night ; the duke of Somerset, lord Grey, Da- 
 vid and John Seymour, Hammond and Neudigate, two 
 of the duke’s servants, sir Ralph Vane, and sir Thom- 
 as Palmer, were arrested and committed to custody. 
 Next day the duchess of Somerset, with her favour- 
 ites, and some others, were thrown into prison. Sir 
 Thomas Palmer, who had all along acted as a spy up- 
 on Somerset, accused him of having formed a design 
 of raising an insurrection in the north ; and that he 
 had once projected the murder of Northumberland, 
 Northampton, and Pembroke. Somerset was brought 
 to his trial before the marquis of Winchester, created 
 high-steward. Twenty-seven peers composed the jury, 
 among whom were "Northumberland, Pembroke, and 
 Northampton, whom decency should have hindered 
 from acting as judges in the trial of a man that appear- 
 ed to be their capital enemy. Somerset was accused 
 of high-treason on account of the projected insurrec- 
 tions, and of felony in laying a design to murder privy- 
 counsellors. The proof seems to have been lame in 
 regard to the treasonable part of the charge 5 but the 
 prisoner himself confessed that he had expressed his 
 intention of nnfrdering Northumberland and the other 
 lords ; and he was accordingly condemned to death 
 for felony. 
 
 Care had been taken to prepossess the young king 
 against his uncle 5 and lest he should relent, no ac- 
 cess was given to any of Somerset’s friends. The 
 prisoner was brought to the scaffold on Tower-hill, 
 amidst great crowds of spectators, who bore him such 
 15521 s ‘ ncere hindness that they entertained to the 
 ' ' -* last moment the fond hopes of his pardon. Ma- 
 ny of them rushed in to dip their handkerchiefs in his 
 blood, which they long preserved as a precious rel- 
 ique 5 and some of them soon after, when Northum- 
 berland met with a like doom, upbraided him with 
 this cruelty, and displayed to him these symbols of 
 his crime.. 
 
 The day after the execution of Somerset, a session 
 of parliament was held, in which farther advances 
 were made towards the establishment of the reforma- 
 tion. The new liturgy was authorized } and penalties 
 were enacted against all those who absented them 
 selves from public worship. 
 
m 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Tonstal, bishop of Durham, less eminent for th« 
 dignity of his see, than for his own personal merit, 
 had opposed, by his vote and authority, all innovations 
 in religion ; but as soon as they were enacted, he had 
 always submitted from a sense of duty, and had con- 
 formed to every theological system which had been 
 established. The general regard paid to his charac- 
 ter had protected him from any severe treatment dur- 
 ing the administration of Somerset ; but when North- 
 umberland gained the ascendant, he was thrown in- 
 to prison ; and as that rapacious nobleman had form- 
 ed a design of seizing the revenues of the see of Dur- 
 ham, and of acquiring to himself a principality in the 
 northern counties, he was resolved to deprive Tonstal 
 of his bishopric. A bill of attainder, therefore, on 
 pretence of misprision of treason, was introduced into 
 the house of peers against that prelate, and passed 
 with slight opposition 5 but when the bill was sent 
 down to the commons, they required that witnesses 
 should be examined, that Tonstal should be allowed 
 to defend himself, and that he should be confronted 
 with his accusers. These demands being refused, 
 they rejected the bill. * 
 
 This equity, so unusual in the parliament during 
 that age, was ascribed by Northumberland to the prev- 
 alence of Somerset’s faction; and it was therefore re- 
 solved to dissolve the parliament, and to summon a 
 new one. This expedient answered Northumberland’s 
 expectations. As Tonstal had., in the interval, been 
 deprived of his bishopric in an arbitrary manner, by 
 the sentence oT lay-commissioners appointed to try 
 him, the see of Durham was by act of parliament di- 
 vided into two bishoprics, which had certain portions 
 of the revenue assigned them. The regalities of the 
 see, which included the jurisdiction of a count pala 
 tine, were given by the king to Northumberland. 
 
 The young prince showed a disposition to frugality ; 
 but such had been the rapacity of the courtiers, that 
 the crown owed about three hundred thousand pounds ; 
 and as the king’s health was declining very fast, the 
 emptiness of the exchequer was an obstacle to the 
 ambitious projects of Northumberland. That noble- 
 man represented to Edward, that his two sisters, M i- 
 ry and Elizabeth, had been declared illegitimate by 
 
EDWARD VI. 
 
 223 
 
 act of parliament 3 that the queen of Scots stood ex- 
 cluded by the, late king's will 3 that the certain con- 
 sequence of his sister Mary’s succession, or that of 
 thj queen of Scots, was the abolition of the protes- 
 tant religion 3 that the succession next devolved on 
 the marchioness of Dorset, elder daughter of the 
 French queen, and the duke of Suffolk 3 that the next 
 heir of the marchioness was the lady Jane Grey, a 
 lady of the most amiable character, accomplished by 
 the best education, both in literature and religion, and 
 every way worthy of a crown j and that even if her 
 title by blood were doubtful, which there was no just 
 reason to pretend, the king was possessed of the same 
 power that his father enjoyed, and might leave her the 
 crown by letters patent. These reasonings made im- 
 pression on me young prince 3 and, above all, his zeal- 
 ous attachment to the protestant religion made him 
 apprehend the consequences, if so bigoted a catholic 
 as his sister Mary should succeed to the throne. And 
 though he bore an affection to the lady Elizabeth, who 
 was liable to no such objection, means were found to 
 persuade him that he aould not exclude the one sister 
 on account of illegitimacy, without also excluding the 
 other. 
 
 Northumberland, finding that his arguments were 
 likely to operate on the king, began to prepare the 
 other parts of his scheme. Two sons of the duke of 
 Suffolk, by a second marriage, having died this season 
 of the sweating sickness, that title was extinct 3 and 
 Northumberland engaged the king to bestow it on the 
 marquis of Dorset. By means of this favour, and of 
 others which he conferred upon him, he persuaded 
 the new duke of Suffolk and the duchess to give their 
 daughter, the lady Jane, in marriage to his fourth son, 
 the lord Guildford Dudley. In order to fortify him- 
 self by farther alliances, he negotiated a marriage be- 
 tween the lady Catherine Grey, second daughter of 
 Suffolk, and lord Herbert, eldest son of the earl of 
 Pembroke. He also married his own daughter to lord 
 Hastings, eldest son of the earl of Huntingdon. Those 
 marriages were solemnized with great pomp and fes- 
 livity 3 and the people, who hated Northumberland, 
 could not forbear expressing their indignation at see* 
 ing such public demonstrations of joy during the lan- 
 3 tishing state of the young prince’s health. 
 
m 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The appearance of symptoms of a consumption in Ed 
 ward made Northumberland more intent on the execu 
 tion of his project. He removed all except his own era 
 issaries from about the king 3 and by artifice he prevail 
 ed on the young prince to give his final consent to the 
 settlement projected. Sir Edward Montague, chief 
 justice of the common pleas, sir John Baker, and sir 
 Thomas Bromley, ^two judges, were accordingly sum- 
 moned to the council, where, after the minutes of the 
 intended deed were read to them, the king required 
 them to draw them up in the form of letters-patent. 
 They hesitated to obey, and desired time to consider 
 The more they reflected, the greater danger they found 
 in compliance. The settlement of the crown by Henry 
 the Eighth had been made in consequence of an act 
 of parliament 3 and by another act, passed in the be- 
 ginning of this reign, it was declared treason in any 
 of the heirs, their aiders or abettors, to change the 
 order of succession. The judges pleaded these rea- 
 sons before the council 3 and they were reduced to 
 great difficulties between the dangers from the law, 
 and those which arose from the violence of present 
 power and authority. At last, Montague proposed an 
 expedient, which satisfied both his brethren and the 
 counsellors. He desired that a special commission 
 should be passed by the king and council, requiring 
 the judges to draw a patent for the new settlement of 
 the crown 3 and that a pardon should be immediately 
 after granted them for any offence which they might 
 have incurred by their compliance. 
 
 When the patent was drawn, and brought to the 
 bishop of Ely, chancellor, in order to have the great 
 seal affixed to it, the prelate required that all the 
 judges should previously sign it. The chancellor 
 next required, for his greater security, that all the 
 privy-counsellors should set their hands to the patent; 
 and the intrigues of Northumberland, or the fear of 
 his violence, were so prevalent, that the counsellors 
 complied with this demand. Cranmer alone hesitated N 
 during some time, but at last yielded to the earnest 
 and pathetic intreaties of the king. 
 
 After this settlement was made, with so many in 
 auspicious circumstances, Edward visibly declined 
 every day ; and, to make matters worse, his physi 
 
EDWARD VI. 
 
 £25 
 
 cians were dismissed by Northumberland's advice, 
 and by an order of council ; and he was put into the 
 hands of an ignorant woman, in a little time to restore 
 him to his former* state of health. After the use of 
 her medicines, all his b Ad symptoms increased to the 
 most violent degree ; ard he expired at Greenwich, 
 in the sixteenth year of his age, and the seventh of 
 his reign. 
 
 The English historians dwell with pleasure on the 
 excellent qualities of th.s young prince; whom the 
 flattering promises of hope, joined to many real virtues, 
 had made an object of tender affection to the public. 
 He possessed mildness of disposition, with application 
 to study and business, and a capacity to learn and 
 judge, with an attachment to equity and justice. 
 
 During the reign of Edward, the princess Mary had 
 been regarded as his lawful successor; and though 
 the protestants dreaded the effects of her prejudices, 
 15531 e:ltrerne hatred universally entertained 
 •* against the Dudleys, who, it was foreseen, 
 would reign under the name of Jane, was more than 
 sufficient to counterbalance, even with that party, the 
 attachment to religion. This last attempt to violate 
 the order of succession had displayed Northumber- 
 land's ambition and injustice in a full light. 
 
 Northumberland, sensible of the opposition which 
 he must expect, had carefully concealed the destina- 
 tion made by the king; and, in order to bring the two 
 princesses into his power, he had the art to engage the 
 council, before Edward’s death, to write to them in 
 that prince's name, desiring their attendance, on pre- 
 tence that his infirm state of health required the as- 
 sistance of their council, and the consolation of their 
 company. Edward expired before their arrival ; but 
 Northumberland, in order to make the princesses fall 
 into the snare, kept the king's death still secret; and 
 the lady Mary had already reached Hoddesden, within 
 half a day's journey of the court. Happily, the earl 
 of Arundel sent her private intelligence both of her 
 brother's death and of the conspiracy formed against 
 her. She immediately made haste to retire ; and she 
 arrived at Framlingham in Sufiolk, where she purposed 
 embark and escape *0 Flanders, in case she should 
 find it impossible to defend ner right of succession 
 
 VOL. I V 15 
 
226 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 She wrote letters to the nobility and most considera 
 ble gentry in every county of England, commanding 
 them to assist her in the defence of her crown and 
 person 3 and she despatched a message to the council, 
 requiring them immediately to give orders for pro* 
 claiming her in London. 
 
 Northumberland found that farther dissimulation 
 was fruitless 3 and he approached the lady Jane with 
 the respect due to a sovereign. Jane was in a great 
 measure ignorant of the transactions which had taken 
 place 3 and it was with equal grief and surprise that 
 she received the intelligence. She was a lady of an 
 amiable person, an engaging disposition, and accom- 
 plished talents. Her heart, full of a passion for liter- 
 ature and the elegant arts, and of tenderness towards 
 her husband, who was deserving of her affections, had 
 no room for ambition. She even refused to accept 
 the crown, and pleaded the right of the two princess- 
 es 3 and she at last yielded rather to the intreaties than 
 the reasons of her father and husband 
 
 Orders were given by the council to proclaim Jane 
 throughout the kingdom 5 but these orders were exe- 
 cuted only in London and the neighbourhood. In the 
 mean time, the people of Suffolk paid their'attendance 
 on Mary. They were much attached to the reformed 
 religion 3 and as she assured them that she never 
 meant to change the laws of Edward, they enlisted in 
 her .cause with zeal and affection. The nobility and 
 gentry daily flocked to her, and brought her reinforce- 
 ments. Even a fleet, which had been sent by North- 
 umberland to lie off the coast of Suffolk, being forced 
 into Yarmouth by a storm, was engaged to declare in 
 her favour. 
 
 Northumberland, hitherto blinded by amfiition, saw 
 at last the danger gather round him, and knew not 
 which way to turn. He had levied forces which were 
 assembled at London-; but dreading the cabals of the 
 courtiers and counsellors, whose compliance he knew 
 had been entirely the result of fear or artifice, he was 
 resolved to keep near the person of the lady Jane, and 
 send Suffolk to command the army. But the counsel- 
 lors who wished to remove him, working on the filial 
 tenderness of Jane, magnified to her the danger to 
 which her father would be exposed 3 and represented 
 
MARY. 
 
 127 
 
 that Northumberland, who had gained reputation b) 
 formerly suppressing a rebellion in those parts, was 
 more proper to command in that enterprise. The 
 duke himself, who knew the slender capacity of Suf- 
 folk, began to think that he only was able to encounter 
 the present danger 3 and he agreed to take the com- 
 mand of the troops. The counsellors attended him at 
 his departure with the highest protestations of attach- 
 ment., and none more than Arundel, his mortal enemy. 
 As he went along, he remarked the disaffection of the 
 people, which forebode ! a fatal issue to his ambitious 
 hopes. “ Many/ 7 said he to'lord Gray, u come out to 
 look at us, but I find not one who cries, God speed 
 you ! 77 
 
 The duke had no sooner reached St. Edmondsbury, 
 than he found his army, which did not exceed six thou- 
 sand men, too weak to encounter the queen's, which 
 amounted to double the number. The counsellors 
 immediately laid hold of the opportunity to free them- 
 selves from confinement, and to return to the duty 
 which they owed to their lawful sovereign. The may- 
 or and aldermen of London discovered great alacrity 
 in obeying the orders they received to proclaim Marv. 
 The people expressed their approbation by shouts of 
 applause. Even Suffolk, who commanded in the Tow- 
 er, finding resistance fruitless, opened the gates and 
 declared for the queen. The lady Jane, after the vain 
 pageantry of wearing a crown during ten days, returned 
 to a private life with more satisfaction than she felt 
 when the royalty was tendered to her; and the mes- 
 sengers who were sent to Northumberland with orders 
 to lay down his arms, found that he had despaired of 
 success, was deserted by all his followers, and had al- 
 ready proclaimed the queen, with exterior marks of ’ 
 joy and satisfaction. 
 
 The people every where, on the queen's approach 
 to London, gave sensible expressions of their loyalty 
 and attachment; and the lady Elizabeth met her at 
 the head of a thousand horse. The queen gave orders 
 for taking into custody the duke of Northumberland, 
 who fell on his knees to the earl of Arundel, sent to 
 arrest him, and abjectly begged his life. At the same 
 time were committed the earl of Warwick, his eldest 
 son; lord Ambrose and lord Henry Dudley, two of hi? 
 
223 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 younger sons ; sir Andrew Dudley, his brother ; ihe 
 marquis of Northampton, the earl of Huntingdon, sir 
 Thomas Palmer, und sir John Gates. The queen 
 afterwards confined the duke of Suffolk, lady Jane 
 Grey, and lord Guildford Dudley. But Mary was desir- 
 ous, in the beginning of her reign, to acquire popular- 
 ity by the appearance of clemency ; and because the 
 counsellors pleaded constraint as an excuse for their 
 treason, she extended her pardon to most of them. 
 Suffolk owed his liberty to the contempt of his inca- 
 pacity ; but Northumberland was too powerful and 
 dangerous to be pardoned ; he pleaded guilty, and was 
 executed. Sir Thomas Palmer and sir John Gates 
 Fuffered with him. Sentence was also pronounced 
 against the lady Jane and lord Guildford 5 but the exe- 
 cution of it was at present deferred. 
 
 The joy arising from the succession of the lawful 
 heir did not prevent the people from feeling great 
 anxiety concerning the state of religion; and the na- 
 tion dreaded not only the abolition, but the persecu- 
 tion of the established religion from the zeal of Mary; 
 and it was not long before she discovered her inten- 
 tions. Gardiner, Bonner, Tonstal, and others, were 
 reinstated in their sees ; and Cranmer, whose merits 
 to the queen during the reign of Henry had been con- 
 siderable, was tried for the part which he had acted 
 in concurring with lady Jane, and pronounced guilty 
 of high-treason. The execution of the sentence, 
 however, did not follow : and Cranmer was reserved 
 for a more cruel punishment. 
 
 Several English protestants, foreseeing a persecu- 
 tion of the reformers, took shelter in foreign parts ; 
 and affairs wore a dismal aspect for the reformation. 
 In opening the parliament, the court showed a con- 
 tempt of the laws, by celebrating before the two hou- 
 ses a mass of the Holy Ghost in the Latin tongue, at- 
 tended with all the ancient rites and ceremonies, 
 though abolished by act of parliament. Taylor, bisi:- 
 op of Lincoln, having refused to kneel at this service 
 was severely handled, and was violently thrust out of 
 the house. The queen, however, still retained the 
 title of supreme head of the church of England ; and 
 it was generally pretended, that the intention of the 
 court was only to restore religion to the same condi 
 
MARY. 
 
 229 
 
 fion in which it had been left by Henry ; but that the 
 other abuses of popery, which were the most grievoua 
 to the nation, would never be revived. 
 
 The first bill passed by the parliament was of a pop 
 ular nature, and abolished every species of treason not 
 contained in the statute of Edward III., and every spe 
 cies of felony that did not subsist before the first of 
 Henry the Eighth. All the statutes of king Edward, 
 with regard to religion, were repealed by one vote. 
 The attainder of the duke of Norfolk was reversed : 
 and this act of justice was more reasonable, than the 
 declaring of that attainder invalid, without farther au- 
 thority. 
 
 Notwithstanding the compliance of the two houses 
 with the queen's inclinations, they were determined 
 not to submit tamely to her pleasure in the choice of 
 a husband. There were three matches, concerning 
 which it was supposed that Mary had deliberated after 
 her accession. The first person proposed to her was 
 the earl of Devonshire, whose person and address had 
 visibly gained on the queen’s affections ; but that no- 
 bleman neglected the advantage, and attached himself 
 to the lady Elizabeth, whose youth and agreeable con- 
 versation he preferred to all the power and grandeur 
 of her sister : the second was cardinal Pole, who had 
 never taken priest’s orders, but who, having contract- 
 ed habits of study and retirement, was represented to 
 the queen as unsuitable to the business of a court : the 
 third was Philip, son of the emperor Charles V. 5 and 
 this alliance was not only desired by the emperor, but 
 strenuously recommended by Gardiner, who had be- 
 come prime-minister, and was readily embraced by 
 Mary herself. The commons were alarmed that the 
 queen had resolved to contract a foreign alliance 5 and 
 they sent a committee to remonstrate in strong terms 
 against that dangerous measure. To prevent farther 
 applications of the same kind, she thought proper to 
 dissolve the parliament. 
 
 After the parliament was dismissed, the new laws 
 with regard to religion were openly put in execution. 
 The mass was every where re-estaolistied and mar 
 riage was declared to be incompatible with any spirit- 
 ual office. This violent and sudden change of religion 
 inspired the protestants with great discontent ; but 
 
230 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 16541 t ^ ie Spanish match was a point of more genera 
 J concern, and <iulused universal apprehensions 
 for the liberty and independence of the nation. Tc 
 obviate all clamour, the artn'^s of marriage were 
 drawn as favourably as possible for trie interest and se- 
 curity, and even grandeur, of England. It was agreed 
 that though Philip should have the title of king, the ad 
 ministration should be entirely in the queen j that no 
 foreigner should be capable of enjoying any office in 
 the kingdom ; that no innovation should be made in 
 the' English laws, customs, and privileges • that Phil- 
 ip should not carry the queen abroad without her con- 
 sent, nor any of her children without the consent of 
 the nobility 5 that the male issue of this marriage 
 should inherit, together with England, both Burgundy 
 and the Low Countries •, and that if Don Carlos, Phil- 
 ip's son by his former marriage, should die, and his 
 line be extinct, the queen's issue, whether male or fe- 
 male, should inherit Spain, Sicily, Milan, and all the 
 Hher dominions of Philip. 
 
 These articles, however, gave no satisfaction ; and 
 complaints were every where diffused that England 
 would become a province, and a province to a king- 
 dom which usually exercised the most violent author- 
 ity over all her dependent dominions. Some persons, 
 more turbulent than the rest, formed a conspiracy to 
 rise in arms, and declare against the queen’s marriage 
 with Philip. Sir Thomas Wyat purposed to raise 
 Kent 5 sir Peter Carew, Devonshire 5 and they engag- 
 ed the duke of Suffolk, by the hopes of recovering the 
 crown for the lady Jane, to attempt raising the mid- 
 land counties. Carew’s rebellion was soon suppress- 
 ed ; and he was obliged to fly into France. Suffolk 
 endeavoured to raise the people in the counties of 
 Warwick and Leicester : but being closely pursued 
 by the earl of Huntingdon, at the head of three hun- 
 dred horse, he was taken and carried prisoner to Lon- 
 don. Wyat was at first more successful in his at- 
 tempt ; and having published a declaration at Maid- 
 stone, in Kent, against the queen’s evil counsellors, 
 and against the Spanish match, the people began tc 
 flock to his standard. The duke of Norfolk, with sii 
 Henry Jernegan, was sent against him, at the head of 
 the guards and some other troops, reinforced with five 
 
MARY. 
 
 231 
 
 hundred Londoners commanded Bret. The Lon* 
 doners, however, deserted to Wyat, and declared that 
 they would not contribute to enslave their native 
 country j and JNorfolk, dreading the contagion of the 
 example, immediately retreated with his troops, and 
 took shelter in the city. 
 
 After this proof of the dispositions of the people, es- 
 pecially of the Londoners, who were mostly protes- 
 tants, Wyat was encouraged to proceed : he led his 
 forces to Southwark, but finding that the bridge was 
 secured against him, and that the city was overawed, 
 he marched up to Kingston, where he passed the riv- 
 er with four thousand men 5 and returning towards 
 London, hoped to encourage his partisans, who had 
 engaged to declare for him. He had however impru- 
 dently wasted so much time, that the critical season 
 on which all popular commotions depend, was entire- 
 ly lost ; and his followers insensibly falling off, he was 
 taken prisoner near Temple bar, and soon after exe- 
 cuted, with about four hundred of his adherents. 
 
 The lady Elizabeth had been, during some time, 
 treated with great harshness by her sister. Mary 
 seized the opportunity of this rebellion j and hoping 
 to involve Elizabeth in some appearance of guilt, com- 
 mitted her to the Tower : but the princess made so 
 good a defence before the council, who examined her, 
 that the queen found herself under the necessity of 
 releasing her. In order, however, to send her out of 
 the kingdom, a marriage was offered her with the duke 
 of Savoy ; and when she declined the proposal, she 
 was committed to custody under a strong guard at 
 Woodstock. 
 
 This rebellion proved fatal to the lady Jane Grey 
 and her husband. She was warned to prepare for 
 death ; a doom which she had long expected, and 
 which the innocence of her life, as well as the mis- 
 fortunes to which she had been exposed, rendered no- 
 wise unwelcome to her. The queen’s zeal, under 
 colour of tender mercy to the prisoner’s soul, induced 
 her to send divines who harassed her with perpetual 
 disputation. The lady Jane, however, had presence 
 of mind, in those melancholy circumstances, not only 
 to defend her religion by all the topics then in use, but 
 also to write a letter to her sister in the Greek lan 
 
 i 
 
 
 \ 
 
 iV 
 
 
232 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 guage ; in which, besides sending her a copy of the 
 scriptures in that tongue, she exhorted her to main- 
 tain, in every fortune, a like steady perseverance. 
 On the day of her execution, her husband lord Guild 
 ford, desired permission to see her 5 but she refused 
 her consent, and informed him by a message, that the 
 tenderness of their parting would overcome the forti- 
 tude of both, and would too much unbend their minds 
 from that constancy which their approaching end re- 
 quired : their separation, she said, would be only for a 
 moment; and they would soon rejoin each other in a 
 scene where their affections would be forever united, 
 and where death, disappointment, and misfortunes, 
 could no longer have access to them, or disturb their 
 eternal felicity. She saw her husband led to execu- 
 tion ; and having given him from the windowsome to- 
 ken of her remembrance, she waited with tranquillity 
 till her own appointed hour should bring her to a like 
 fate. She even saw his headless body carried back in 
 a cart ; and found herself more confirmed by the re- 
 ports which she heard of the constancy of his end, 
 than shaken by so tender and melancholy a spectacle. 
 Sir John Gage, constable of the Tower, when he led 
 her to execution, desired her to bestow on him some 
 small present, which he might keep as a perpetual me- 
 morial of her : she gave him her table-book, on which 
 she had just written three sentences on seeing her 
 husband’s dead body ; one in Greek, another in Latin, 
 a third in English. The purport of them was, that hu- 
 man justice was against his body, but divine mercy 
 would be favourable to his soul ; that if her fault de- 
 served punishment, her youth at least, and her impru- 
 dence, were worthy of excuse 3 and that God and pos- 
 terity, she trusted, would show her favour. On the 
 scaffold she made a speech to the spectators, in which 
 the mildness of her disposition led her to take the 
 blame wholly on herself, without uttering one com- 
 plaint against the severity with which she had been 
 treated; and then, with a steady and serene counte 
 nance, she submitted to the stroke of death. 
 
 The duke of Suffolk was tried and condemned, and 
 soon after executed ; and the Tower and all the pris- 
 ons were filled with nobility and gentry, whom their 
 interest with the nation rendered objects of suspicion 
 
MARY. 
 
 233 
 
 Tile queen, finding that she was universally hated, de* 
 termined to deprive the people of resistance, by or- 
 dering general musters, and directing the commission- 
 ers to seize their arms. 
 
 The ministry hoped to find a compliant disposition 
 in the new parliament, which was summoned to as- 
 semble ; and for the purpose of facilitating this object, 
 the emperor distributed above four hundred thousand 
 crowns in bribes and pensions among the members. 
 Gardiner, the chancellor, opened the session by a 
 speech, in which he observed, that in order to obviate 
 the inconveniences which might arise from different 
 pretenders, it was necessary to invest the queen, by 
 law, with a power of disposing of the crown, and of 
 appointing her successor. The parliament, however, 
 who knew her extreme hatred to Elizabeth, and the 
 probability of her making a will in her husband’s fa- 
 vour, and thereby rendering England for ever a prov- 
 ince to the Spanish monarchy, refused to acquiesce 
 m Gardiner’s proposal ; and, the more effectually to 
 cut off Philip’s hopes, they passed a law, il that her 
 majesty, as their only queen, should solely, and as a 
 sole queen, enjoy the crown and sovereignty of her 
 realms, with all the pre-eminences, dignities, and 
 rights thereto belonging, in as large and ample a man- 
 ner after her marriage, without any title or claim ac- 
 cruing to the prince of Spain, either as tenant by cour- 
 tesy, or by any other means.” 
 
 The queen, finding the parliament less subservient 
 than she wished, finished the session by dissolving 
 them;, and she employed all her thoughts on receiv- 
 ing Don Philip, whose arrival she hourly expected. 
 She waited with the utmost impatience for the comple- 
 tion of the marriage ; and every obstacle was to her a 
 source of anxiety and discontent. She complained of 
 Philip’s delays as affected ; and she could not conceal 
 her vexation, that though she brought him a kingdom 
 as her dowry, he treated her with such neglect, that 
 he had never yet favoured her with a single letter. Her 
 health, and even her understanding, were visibly hurt 
 by this extreme impatience; and she was struck with 
 a new apprehension lest her person, impaired by time, 
 and blasted by sickness, should prove disagreeable to 
 her future consort Her glass discovered to her how 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 131 
 
 # haggard she was become 5 and when she remarked thft 
 decay of her beauty, she knew not whether she ought 
 more to desire or apprehend the arrival of Philip. 
 
 At last, news was brought the queen of Philip’s ar- 
 rival at Southampton. A few days after they were 
 married at Westminster, and having made a pompous 
 er.try into London, she carried him to Windsor, the 
 palace in which they afterwards resided. The prince's 
 behaviour was ill-calculated to remove the prejudices 
 which the English nation had entertained against him. 
 He was distant and reserved in his address 3 and so 
 entrenched himself in form and ceremony, that he 
 was in a manner inaccessible 3 but this circumstance 
 rendered him the more acceptable to the queen, who 
 desired to have no company but her husband’s, and 
 who was impatient when she met with any interrup- 
 tion to her fondness. 
 
 Mary soon found that Philip’s ruling passion was 
 ambition 3 and that the only method of gratifying him, 
 and securing his affections, was to render hipi master 
 of England. For the purpose of obtaining this favour- 
 ite object, she summoned a new parliament, in hopes 
 of finding them entirely compliant 3 but the hatred to 
 the Spaniards still prevailed, and the queen failed in 
 the endeavour to get her husband declared presump- 
 tive heir to the crown. That assembly, however, was 
 more obsequious in regard to religion : it had re- 
 versed the attainder of cardinal Pole, who had come 
 over invested with legantine powers from the pope , 
 and who, after being introduced to the king and queen, 
 invited the parliament to reconcile themselves and 
 the kingdom to the apostolic see, from which they had 
 been so long and so unhappily divided. This message 
 was taken in good part 3 and both houses voted an 
 address to Philip and Mary, acknowledging that they 
 had been guilty of a most horrible defection from the 
 true church ; and praying their majesties to intercede 
 with the holy father for the absolution and forgiveness 
 of their penitent subjects. The request was easily 
 granted. The legate, in the name of his holiness, 
 gave the parliament and kingdom absolution, freed 
 them from all censures, and received them again into 
 the bosom -of the church. 
 
 The queen’s extreme desire of having issue made 
 
MARY. 
 
 235 
 
 her fondly give credit to every appearance of pregnan- 
 cy 3 and when the legate was introduced to her, she 
 fancied that she felt the embryo stir in her womb. 
 Great rejoicings were made on this occasion 3 but the 
 nation remained somewhat incredulous. The belief, 
 however, of her pregnancy was upheld with all possi- 
 ble care ; and was one artifice by which Philip endeav- 
 oured to support his authority in the kingdom. The 
 parliament passed a law, which, in case of the queen’s 
 demise, appointed him protector during the minority 3 
 and the king and queen, finding that they could 
 obtain no farther concessions, came unexpect- 
 edly to Westminster and dissolved them. 
 
 The success of Gardiner in governing the parlia- 
 ment, and engaging them to concur both in the Span- 
 ish match, and in the re-establishment of the ancient 
 religion, had raised his character above that of Pole, 
 who was regarded rather as a good man than a great 
 ninister. The latter was very sincere in his religious 
 irinciples, and thought that no consideration of hu- 
 man policy ought ever to come in competition with 
 the catholic doctrines 3 whilst Gardiner, on the con- 
 trary, had always made his religion subservient to his 
 schemes of safety or advancement. Yet the benevo- 
 lent disposition of Pole led him to advise a toleration 
 of the heretical tenets, which he highly blamed 5 while 
 the severe manners of Gardiner inclined him to sup- 
 port by persecution that religion which in reality he 
 regarded with great indifference. 
 
 The arguments and views of Gardiner were more 
 agreeable to the cruel bigotry of Mary and Philip 3 
 and the scheme of toleration was entirely rejected. 
 It was determined to let loose the laws in their full 
 vigour against the reformed religion ; and England 
 was soon filled with scenes of horror, which have ever 
 since rendered the catholic religion the object of de 
 served detestation. 
 
 Rogers, prebendary of St. Paul’s, a man eminent in 
 his party for virtue as well as for learning, was the 
 first victim of the persecutors. This man, beside the 
 care of his own preservation, lay under other power- 
 ful temptations to recant: he had a wife whom he 
 tendedy loved, and ten children; yet such was his 
 serenity after his condemnation, that tne jailors, it is 
 
236 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 said, waked him from a sound sleep, when the hout 
 of his execution approached. He had desired to see 
 A is wife before he died 5 but Gardiner told him, that 
 he was a priest, and could not possibly have a wife $ 
 thus adding insult to cruelty. 
 
 Hooper, bishop of Gloucester, had been tried at the 
 same time with Rogers; but was sent to his own dio- 
 cess to be executed. This circumstance was contriv- 
 ed to strike the greater terror into his flock ; but it 
 was a source of consolation to Hooper, who rejoicrd 
 in giving testimony by his death to that doctrine which 
 he had formerly preached among them. When he 
 was tied to the stake, a stool was set before him, and 
 the queen's pardon laid upon it, which it was still in 
 his power to merit by a recantation : but he ordered 
 it to be removed ; and cheerfully prepared himself for 
 that dreadful punishment to which he was sentenced. 
 He suffered it in its full severity: the wind, which 
 was violent, blew the flame of the reeds from his bo- 
 dy ; the faggots were green, and did not kindle easily } 
 all his lower parts were consumed before his vitals 
 were attacked ; but he was heard to pray, and to ex 
 hort the people, till his tongue, swollen with- the vio- 
 lence of his agony, could no longer permit him utter- 
 ance. 
 
 Sanders v/as burnt at Coventry : a pardon was also 
 offered him ; but he rejected it, and embraced the 
 stake, saying, “ Welcome the cross of Christ ! wel- 
 come everlasting life !” Taylor, parson of Hadley, 
 was punished by fire in that place, surrounded by his 
 former friends and parishioners. Philpot, archdeacon 
 of Winchester, was condemned to the flames, and 
 suffered at Smithfield. The imputed crime for which 
 almost all the protestants were condemned, was their 
 refusal to acknowledge the doctrine of the real pre- 
 sence. 
 
 Gardiner, who had vainly expected that a few ex- 
 amples would strike a terror into the reformers, find- 
 ing the work daily multiply upon him, devolved the 
 invidious office on others, chiefly on Bonner, a man 
 of profligate manners, and of a brutal character, who 
 seemed to rejoice in the torments of the unhappy 
 sufferers. He sometimes whipped the prisoners with 
 his own hands, till he was tired with the violence of 
 
MARY. 
 
 23 / 
 
 the exercise : he tore out the beard of a weaver who 
 refused to relinquish his religion} and that he might 
 give him a specimen of burning, he held his hand to 
 the candle till the sinews and veins shrunk and burst 
 
 It is impossible to enumerate in this work all the 
 cruelties practised in England during the three years 
 that these persecutions lasted. Ferrar, bishop of St. 
 David's, was burned in his own diocess. Ridley, bish- 
 op of London, and Latimer, formerly bishop of Worces- 
 ter, two prelates celebrated for learning and virtue, 
 perished together in the same flames at Oxford, and 
 supported each other's constancy by their mutual ex- 
 hortations. Latimer, when tied to the stake, called 
 to his companion, “ Be of good cheer, brother 5 we 
 shall this day kindle such a torch in England, as, 1 
 trust in God, shall never be extinguished. ” 
 
 The tender sex itself, as they have commonly great- 
 er propensity to religion, produced many examples of 
 the most inflexible courage in supporting the profes- 
 sion of their faith against all the persecutors. One 
 execution in particular was attended with circumstan- 
 ces which, even at that time, excited astonishment by 
 reason of their unusual barbarity. A woman in Guern- 
 sey, being near the time of her labour, when brought 
 to the stake was thrown into such agitation by the 
 torture that her belly burst, and she was delivered in 
 the midst of the flames. One of the guards immedi- 
 ately snatched the infant from the fire, and attempted 
 to save it} but a magistrate, who stood by, ordered i 
 to be thrown back, being determined, he said, tha 
 nothing should survive which sprang from so obstinate 
 and heretical a parent. 
 
 These barbarities, committed in the name of a reli 
 gion which abjures them, excited horror in the nation, 
 and rendered the Spanish government daily more odi- 
 ous. Philip, sensible of the hatred which he incur 
 red, ordered his confessor to deliver, in his presence, 
 a sermon in favour of toleration 5 but this shallow ar- 
 tifice failed of the desired effect, and the court threw 
 off the mask. An attempt was made to introduce the 
 nquisition into England } and a commission was ap- 
 pointed, by authority of the queen's prerogative, more 
 effectually to extirpate heresy} but the court devised 
 a more expeditious and summary method of support 
 
238 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 r ng orthodoxy than even the inquisition itself. Thcj 
 issued a proclamation against books of heresy, treason 
 and sedition, declaring, il that whosoever had any of 
 these books, and did not presently burn them, without 
 reading them, or showing them to any other person, 
 should be esteemed rebels 3 and without any farther 
 delay be executed by martial lavv. ,; 
 
 In the space of three years, it is computed, that 
 two hundred and seventy-seven persons were brought 
 to the stake 3 besides those who were punished by 
 imprisonment, fines, and confiscations. Among those 
 who suffered by fire were five bishops, twenty-one 
 clergymen, eight lay gentlemen, eighty-four trades- 
 men, one hundred husbandmen, servants, and labour- 
 ers, fifty-five women, and four children. 
 
 The burning of heretics was a very natural method 
 of reconciling the kingdom to the Romish commun- 
 ion ; and little solicitation was requisite to engage the 
 pope to receive the strayed flock. How’ever, Paul 
 IV., who now filled the papal chair, insisted that the 
 property and possessions of the church should be re- 
 stored to the uttermost farthing. This demand had 
 little influence on the nation, but operated powerful- 
 ly on the queen, who w\as deteimined, in order to ease 
 her conscience, to restore all the church-lands, which 
 were still in the possession of the crown 3 and the 
 more to display her zeal, she erected anew some con- 
 vents and monasteries, notwithstanding the low con- 
 dition of the exchequer. When this measure was de- 
 bated in council some members objected, that if such 
 a considerable part of the revenue were dismembered, 
 the dignity of the crown would fall to decay ; but the 
 queen replied, that she preferred the salvation of her 
 soul to ten such kingdoms as England. 
 
 Persecution had now become extremely odious to 
 the nation 3 and the effects of the public discontent 
 appeared in the new parliament summoned to meet at 
 Westminster. A bill was passed, restoring to the 
 church the tenths and first-fruits, and all the impropri- 
 ations which remained in the hands of the crown 3 but 
 though this matter directly concerned none but the 
 queen hertelf, great opposition was made to the b il 
 in the house of commons. An application being made 
 for a subsidy during two years, and for two fifteenths 
 
MARY. 
 
 23 £ 
 
 the latter was refused by the commons ; and marv 
 members said, that while the crown was thus despoil* 
 ing itself of its revenue, it was in vain to bestow rich- 
 es upon it. The queen, finding the intractable humoui 
 of the commons, thought proper to dissolve the parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 The spirit of opposition which prevailed in parlia- 
 ment, was the more vexatious to Mary, as Philip, tir- 
 ed of her importunate love and jealousy, and finding 
 his authority extremely limited in England, had left 
 her, and gone over to Flanders. The indifference and 
 neglect of her husband, added to the disappointment 
 in her imagined pregnancy, threw her into a deep mel- 
 ancholy 5 and she gave vent to her spleen, by daily en- 
 forcing the persecutions against the protestants, and 
 even by expressions of rage against all her subjects, 
 by ^hom she knew herself to be hated, and whose 
 opposition, in refusing an entire compliance with Phil- 
 ip, was the cause, she believed, why he had alienated 
 his affections from her, and afforded her so little of his 
 company. The less return her love met with, the 
 more it increased ; and she passed most of her time 
 in solitude, where she gave vent to her passion, either 
 in tears, or in writing fond epistles to Philip, who 
 seldom returned her any answer, and scarcely deign- 
 ed to pretend any sentiment of love or even of grati- 
 tude towards her. The chief part of government to 
 which she attended was the extorting of money from 
 her people, in order to satisfy his demands 5 and as 
 tne parliament had granted her but a scanty supply, 
 sne had recour&e to expedients very violent and irreg- 
 ular. She levieu loans and exacted contributions with 
 the greatest rapacity ; and this at a time when she was 
 at peace with all the world, and had no other occasion 
 for money than to supply the demands of a husband, 
 who attended only to his own convenience, and show- 
 ed himself indifferent to her interests. 
 
 Philip was now become master of all the wealth of 
 , W1 the new world, and of the richest and most ex- 
 •* tensive dominions in Europe, by the voluntary 
 resignation of the emperor Charles V.,\vho, though still 
 in the vigour of his age, had taken a disgust to the 
 world, and was determined to seek, in the tranquillil) 
 of retreat, for that happiness which he had in val. 
 
210 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 pursued amidst the tumults of* war, and the restless 
 projects of ambition. Philip, finding himself threat- 
 ened with a war with France, was desirous of embark- 
 ing England in the quarrel ; and though the queen was 
 extremely'averse to the measure, yet she was incapa- 
 ble of resisting her husband’s importunity. But she 
 had little weight with her council, and still less with 
 her people ; and a new act of barbarity, of which she 
 was guilty, rendered her government extremely unpop- 
 ular. 
 
 Cranmer had long been detained prisoner ; but the 
 queen now determined to bring him to punishment: 
 and in order the more fully to satiate her vengeance, 
 she resolved to punish him for heresy, rather than for 
 treason. He was cited by the pope to stand his trial 
 at Rome 3 and though he was known to be kept in 
 close custody at Oxford, he was, upon his not appear- 
 ing, condemned as contumacious. Bonner, bishop of 
 London, Thirleby of Ely, were sent to degrade him, 
 and the former executed the melancholy ceremony 
 with all the joy and exultation which suited his sav- 
 age nature. The implacable spirit of the queen, not 
 satisfied'with the execution of that dreadful sentence 
 to which he was condemned, prompted her to seoi 
 the ruin of his honour, and the infamy of his name 
 Persons were employed to attack him by flattery, in 
 sinuation, and address 5 by representing the dignities 
 to which his character still entitled him, if he would 
 merit them by a recantation : and by giving hopes of 
 long enjoying those powerful friends whom his benefi- 
 cent disposition had attached to him during the course 
 of his prosperity. Overcome by the fond love of life 
 and terrified by the prospect of those tortures which 
 awaited him, he allowed, in an unguarded hour, the 
 sentiments of nature to prevail over his resolution, 
 and agreed to subscribe the doctrines of the papal su- 
 premacy, and of the real presence. The court, equally 
 perfidious and cruel, were determined that his recan- 
 tation should avail him nothing ; and they sent him 
 orders that he should be required to acknowledge his 
 errors in church before the whole people, and that he 
 should thence be immediately carried to execution 
 Whether Cranmer had received a secret intimation of 
 their design, or had repented of his weakness, he sur- 
 
MARY. 
 
 241 
 
 prised the audience by a contrary declaration. He 
 said, that he was well apprized of the obedience which 
 he owed to his sovereign and the laws; but this duty 
 extended no farther than to submit patiently to their 
 commands, and to bear, without resistance, whatever 
 hardships they should impose upon him 3 that a supe- 
 rior duty, the duty which he owed to his Maker, oblig- 
 ed him to speak truth on all occasions, and not relin- 
 quish, by a base denial, the holy doctrine which the 
 Supreme Being had revealed to mankind: that there 
 was one miscarriage in his life, of which above all 
 others, he severely repented 5 the insincere declara- 
 tion of faith to which he had the weakness to consent, 
 and which the fear of death alone had extorted from 
 him : that he took this opportunity of atoning for his er- 
 ror by a sincere and open recantation ; and was willing 
 to seal with his blood, that doctrine which he firmly Re- 
 lieved to be communicated from heaven 5 and that, as 
 his hand had erred, by betraying his heart, it should 
 first be punished, by a severe but just doom, and should 
 first pay the forfeit of its offences. He was thence 
 led to the stake, amidst the insults of the catholics j 
 and having now summoned up all the force of his 
 mind, he bore their scorn, as well as the torture of his 
 punishment, with singular fortitude. He stretched 
 out his hand*, and, without betraying, either by his 
 countenance, or motions, the least sign of weakness, 
 or even of feeling, he held it in the flames till it was 
 entirely consumed. His thoughts seemed wholly oc- 
 cupied with reflections on his former fault, and he 
 called aloud several times, u This hand has offended.’’ 
 Satisfied with that atonement, he then discovered a 
 serenity in his countenance 5 and when the fire attack- 
 ed his body, he seemed to be quite insensible of his 
 outward sufferings, and by the force of hope and reso- 
 lution, to have collected his mind altogether within 
 itself, and to repel the fury of the flames. It js pre- 
 tended, that after his body was consumed, his heart 
 ^vas found entire and untouched amidst the ashes 5 an 
 event which, as it was the emblem of his constancy, 
 was fondly believed by the zealous protestants. Cran- 
 mer was undoubtedly a man of great merit. He was 
 adorned with candour, sincerity, and beneficence, and 
 all those virtues which were fitted to render him use 
 
 VOL. 1 . 16 
 
242 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ful and amiable in society. His moral qualities pro- 
 cured him universal respect; and his learning and 
 capacity entitled hitn to the esteem of mankind. 
 
 After Cranmer’s death, cardinal Pole was installed 
 in the see of Canterbury, and placed at the head of 
 the church of England ; but, though he was averse to 
 all sanguinary methods of converting heretics, his au- 
 thority was too weak to oppose the barbarous and big- 
 oted disposition of the queen and her counsellors. 
 In order to engage the nation in the war between 
 France and Spain, Philip had come to London ; and 
 he told the queen, that if he were not gratified in this 
 request, he would never more set foot in England. 
 
 After employing menaces and artifices, Mary’s 
 ■* importunity prevailed ; war was declared against 
 France ; and preparations were made for invading that 
 kingdom. 
 
 The revenue of England at that time little exceed- 
 ed three hundred thousand pounds ; and in order to 
 support the war, the queen levied money by the most 
 arbitrary and violent methods. She. obliged the city 
 of London to supply her with sixty thousand pounds 
 on her husband’s entry ; she levied, before the legal 
 time, the second year’s subsidy voted by parliament: 
 she issued anew many privy-seals, by which she pro- 
 cured loans from the people; and having equipped a 
 fleet, which she could not victual, by reason of the 
 dearness of provisions, she seized all the corn she 
 could find in Suffolk and Norfolk, without paying any 
 price to the owners. By all these expedients, assist- 
 ed by the power of pressing, she levied an army of 
 ten thousand men, which she sent over to the Low 
 Countries, under the command of the earl of Pem- 
 broke. Meanwhile, in order to preVent any disturb- 
 ance at home, many of the most considerable gentry 
 were thrown into the Tower; and lest they should be 
 known, they either were earned thither in the night- 
 time, or were hood-winked and muffled by the guards 
 who conducted them. 
 
 The king of Spain’s army, after the junction of the 
 English, amounted to sixty thousand men ; and the 
 duke of Savoy, who commanded it, suddenly invested 
 St. Quintin. The constable, Montmorency, approach- 
 ed the place with his whole army ; but being attacked 
 
 
MARY. 
 
 
 by the besiegers, he was totally defeated and made 
 prisoner. By this event, the wnole kingdom of France 
 was thrown into consternation ; but the cautious tem- 
 per of Philip allowed the fiench time to recover their 
 spirits, and no other enterprise of moment followed 
 this decisive victory. 
 
 Calais, which the English had held above two hun- 
 1 ^red years, was unexpectedly invested, and at- 
 
 ° J tacked by the duke of Guise, who in eight days, 
 during the depth of winter, made himself master of 
 this strong fortress, though it had cost Edward III. a 
 siege of eleven months, at the head of a numerous ar- 
 my, which had that very year been victorious in the 
 battle of Cressy. The loss of this valuable fortress 
 occasioned loud murmurs among the English, who com- 
 plained of the improvidence of the queen and her 
 council. 
 
 The Scots, excited by the French, began to infest 
 the borders 5 and the English were obliged to look to 
 their defence at home, rather than think of foreign 
 conquests. In order to connect Scotland more closely 
 with France, and to increase the influence of the lat- 
 ter kingdom, it was thought proper by Henry to cele- 
 brate the marriage between the young queen and the 
 dauphin 5 and a deputation was sent by the Scottish 
 parliament to assist at the ceremony, and to settle the 
 terms of the contract. 
 
 This close alliance between France and Scotland 
 threatened very nearly the repose and security of Ma- 
 ry 5 and it was foreseen, that though the factions and 
 disorders which might naturally be expected in the 
 Scottish government, during the absence of the sove- 
 reign, would make its power less formidable, that 
 kingdom would at least afford to the French a means 
 of invading England. The queen, therefore, found it 
 necessary to summon a parliament, and to demand of 
 them some supplies to her exhausted exchequer. The 
 commons, without making any reflections on the past 
 exactions and extortions, voted, besides a fifteenth, a 
 subsidy of four shillings in the pound on land, and two 
 shillings and eight pence on goods. The parliament 
 also passed an act, confirming all the sales and grants 
 »f crownlands, which either were already made by 
 the queen, or should be made during the seven eiisu« 
 ing years. 
 
244 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 During this whole reign, the nation were undei 
 great apprehensions with regard not only to the suc- 
 cession, but the life of the lady Elizabeth. The vio- 
 lent hatred which the queen bore to her appeared on 
 every occasion 3 and it required all the prudence of 
 that princess to prevent the effects of Mary’s jealous 
 disposition. Being asked her opinion of the real pres 
 ence, the net for catching the protestants, she is said 
 to have replied as follows : 
 
 “ Christ was the word that spake it, 
 
 He took the bread and brake it 3 
 And what the word did make it, 
 
 That 1 believe and take it.” 
 
 The money granted by parliament enabled the queen 
 to fit out a fleet of a hundred and forty sail, which being 
 joined by thirty Flemish ships, and carrying six thou- 
 sand land forces on board, was sent to make an attempt 
 on the^coast of Brittany. Negotiations for peace were 
 entered into between the kings of France and Spain ; 
 and the armies in Picardy were put in winter quar- 
 ters till the princes should come to some agreement. 
 Among other conditions, Henry demanded the resti- 
 tution of Navarre to its lawful owner 5 Philip, that of 
 Calais and its territory to England 3 but in the midst 
 of these negotiations, news arrived of Mary’s death. 
 She had long been in a declining state of health 3 and 
 the loss of Calais, and the absence of her husband, 
 I ~p.pi brought on a lingering fever, of which she died, 
 00 •* after a short and inglorious reign of five years, 
 four months, and eleven days. 
 
 Mary possessed few qualities either estimable or 
 amiable j and her person was as little engaging as her 
 behaviour and address. Obstinacy, bigotry, violence, 
 cruelty, malignity, revenge, and tyranny, the fruits of 
 bad temper, and a narrow understanding, attach to her 
 character j and amidst this complication of vices, we 
 can find no other virtue than that of sincerity. 
 
 Under her reign, the naval power of England was 
 so inconsiderab 1 ^ that fourteen thousand pounds be- 
 ing ordered to tne repairing and victualling of the fleet, 
 it was computed that ten thousand pounds a-) ear 
 would afterwards answer all necessary charges. 
 
ELIZABETH. 
 
 215 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The reign of Elizabeth. 
 
 Elizabeth had displayed great prudence during 
 the reign of her sister 3 and as men were sensible of 
 the imminent danger to which she was exposed, com- 
 passion towards her situation, and concern for her 
 safety, had rendered her the favourite of the nation. 
 A parliament had been assembled a few days before 
 .(..q, Mary’s death 5 and when that event was notifi- 
 ed to them, scarcely an interval of regret appear- 
 ed : the two houses immediately resounded with the 
 joyful acclamations of “ God save queen Elizabeth ; 
 long and happily may she reign !” The people, less 
 actuated by faction, expressed a joy still more gener- 
 al and sincere. With a prudence and magnanimity 
 truly laudable, Elizabeth buried all offences in obliv- 
 ion 3 but when the bishops came to make obeisance to 
 her, she turned away from Bonner, as from a man pol- 
 luted with blood. 
 
 In notifying her accession to Phili-p, she expressed 
 to him her gratitude for the protection which he had 
 afforded her 3 and that monarch, hoping by means of 
 Elizabeth to obtain that dominion over England of 
 which he had failed in espousing Mary, made hei pro- 
 posals of marriage. To these, however, she returned 
 an obliging, but evasive answer. 
 
 The education and conviction of Elizabeth deter- 
 mined her to pursue the measures of the reformation 5 
 and she frequently deliberated with sir William Cecil 
 on the means of restoring the protestant religion 3 but 
 she resolved to proceed with cautious steps, and not 
 to imitate the example of Mary, in encouraging a vio- 
 lent invasion on the established religion. She recal- 
 led those who had fled 5 she set at libeity tho»*. 
 had been confined on account of religion 3 she order- 
 ed a great part, of the service to be read in English j 
 and after enjoining all the churches to conform to the 
 practice of her own chapel, she forbade the host to be 
 any more elevated in her presence. By her affability 
 end address she gained the affections of her subjects* 
 
246 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 and she delayed the entire change of religion til 
 the meeting of the parliament, which was summoned 
 to assemble. 
 
 The elections had gone entirely against the catho- 
 lics , and the houses met in a disposition to gratify 
 the queen. They began the session with an unani- 
 mous declaration, “ that queen Elizabeth was, and 
 ought to be, as well by the word of God, as the com- 
 mon and statute laws of the realm, the lawful, undoubt- 
 ed, and true heir to the crown, lawfully descended 
 from the blood-royal, according to the order of succes- 
 sion settled in the thirty-fifth of Henry VIII.' ’* This 
 act of recognition was probably dictated by the queen 
 herself and her ministers ; and she did not follow the 
 example of Mary, in declaring the validity of her 
 mother’s marriage, or in expressly repealing the act 
 formerly passed against her own legitimacy. 
 
 The first bill brought into parliament was for sup- 
 pressing the* monasteries lately erected, and for re- 
 storing the tenths and first-fruits to the queen. This 
 point being gained, a bill was next passed, annexing 
 the supremacy to the crown, which was vested with 
 the whole spiritual power 5 and whoever denied, or 
 refused to acknowledge the queen’s supremacy, was 
 subjected to certain pains and penalties. A law was 
 passed, confirming all the statutes enacted in king Ed- 
 ward’s time with regard to religion. 
 
 A solemn and public disputation was held during 
 this session, between the divines of the protestant 
 and those of the catholic communion, in which, it 
 may be easily imagined, the champions of the former 
 were entirely triumphant. Emboldened by this vic- 
 tory, the protestants ventured on bringing a bill into 
 parliament for abolishing the mass, and re-establishing 
 the liturgy of king Edward. Thus in one session, 
 without any violence or tumult, the whole system 
 of religion was changed, and placed on another foun- 
 
 Vue commons also voted the queen a liberal subsi- 
 dy j bu* when, in an importunate address, they besough< 
 her to fix her choice of a husband, she rejected the 
 proposal, and observed that England was her husband 
 and the people her children. She added, that she de 
 sired no higher character than to have it inscribed or 
 
ELIZABETH. 247 
 
 her tombstone, a Here lies Elizabeth, who fired and 
 died a maiden queen.” 
 
 WhiLe the queen and parliament were employed in 
 settling the national religion, negotiations for peace 
 were carried on between the ministers of France, 
 Spain, and England. Philip employed his utmost 
 efforts to procure a restitution of Calais to England, 
 So long as he entertained hopes of espousing the 
 queen, he delayed to conclude a peace with Henry ; 
 and he seemed willing to continue the war till she 
 should obtain satisfaction. But Elizabeth, sensible 
 of the low state of her finances, ordered her ambassa- 
 dors to conclude a peace with Henry on any reasona- 
 ble terms. It was agreed, that Henry should restore 
 Calais at the expiration of eight years ; but it was ev- 
 ident, that this was only a colourable pretence for 
 abandoning that fortress. A peace with Scotland 
 was a necessary consequence of that with France. 
 
 But though peace was concluded between France 
 and England, there soon appeared serious grounds for 
 misunderstanding. The king of France ordered his 
 son and daughter-in-law to quarter the arms of Eng- 
 land on all their equipages and liveries; and as the 
 queen of Scots was next heir to that throne, Elizabeth 
 plainly saw, that the king of France intended, on the 
 first opportunity, to dispute her legitimacy, and her 
 title to the crown. Soon after Francis II. succeeded 
 to the throne of France, and still continuing to assume 
 without reserve the title of king of England, she be- 
 gan to consider him and his queen as her mortal ene- 
 mies ; and the jealousy thus excited against the queen 
 of Scots terminated only with the life of the unfortun- 
 ate Mary. • 
 
 The present situation of affairs in Scotland afford 
 ed Elizabeth a favourable opportunity both of reveng- 
 ing the injury, and providing for her own safety. 
 Popery was still the religion of the state in that coun- 
 try; but the English preachers, who took shelter in 
 Scotland on the accession of Mary to the throne of 
 England, had filled the whole kingdom with horror 
 at the cruelties of the catholics ; and by their means 
 the reformation in that country had acquired addition 
 &1 strength, and even threatened the established refi 
 gion. 
 
248 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 About this critical time, when the queen-regent, 
 agreeably to the orders leceived from France, had 
 been proceeding with rigour against the protestants, 
 John Knox arrived from Geneva, where he had imbi 
 bed from his commerce with Calvin, the highest fa- 
 naticism of his sect, augmented by the natural feroci- 
 ty of his own character. He had been invited back 
 to Scotland by the leaders of the reformation ; and 
 mounting the pulpit at Perth, during the present fer- 
 ment of men’s minds, he declaimed against the idola- 
 try and other abominations of the church of Rome, 
 and incited his audience to exert themselves for its 
 subversion. A tumult immediately succeeded ; and, 
 in a short time, a civil war raged through the whole 
 kingdom. 
 
 The leaders of the reformers, who had assumed the 
 title of the congregation, solicited succours from Eliz- 
 abeth ; and the wise council of the queen did not long 
 deliberate in agreeing to this request. She equipped 
 a fleet, which consisted of thirteen ships of war ; and 
 she assembled at Berwick an army of eight thousand 
 men, under the Command of lord Grey, warden of the 
 east and middle marches. The court of France, sen- 
 sible of the danger, offered the immediate restitution 
 of Calais, provided she would not interfere in the af- 
 fairs of Scotland j but she resolutely replied, that she 
 would never put an inconsiderable fishing-town in 
 competition with the safety of her dominions. Ac- 
 cordingly, she concluded a treaty of mutual defence 
 with the congregation, and receiving from the Scots 
 six hostages for the performance of articles, she order- 
 ed her fleet and army to begin their operations. 
 
 The appearance of the English soon decided the 
 15601 ** ate contest; and a treaty was speedily 
 
 J concluded, in which it was stipulated that the 
 French should immediately evacuate Scotland, and 
 that an amnesty should be granted for all past offen- 
 ces. Soon after, the parliament abolished the papal 
 
 1 ‘urisdiction in Scotland, and established the pres, 
 ►yterian form of discipline, though Mary refused tu 
 sanction their statutes. 
 
 Francis IV. died soon after, and Mary, finding hef 
 abode in France disagreeable, began to think of re- 
 turning to her native country ; and she applied to Eliz 
 
ELIZABETH. 
 
 24-9 
 
 abeth for a safe conduct, in case she should be obli- 
 ged to pass through England ; but she received for an- 
 swer, that till she had ratified the treaty of Edinburgh, 
 she could expect no favour from a person whom she 
 had so much injured. To this Mary replied with in- 
 dignation, “ With God’s permission, 1 can return to 
 Scotland without her leave and embarking at Cala- 
 is, she passed the English fleet in a fog, and arrived 
 safely ^t Leith. Though a widow, yet she was only 
 in her nineteenth year j and by her beauty, and the 
 politeness of her manners, she was well qualified to 
 gain the affections of her subjects, who rejoiced at her 
 arrival among them. Her first measures were calcu- 
 lated to establish order in a country divided by public 
 factions and private feuds ; but there was one circum- 
 stance which bereaved Mary of the general favour 
 that her agreeable manners and judicious deportment 
 entitled her to expect. She was still a papist ; and 
 this exposed the helpless queen to unmerited con- 
 tumely, which she bore with benignity and patience. 
 In particular, John Knox, who possessed an uncontrol- 
 led authority in the church, and even in the civil affairs 
 of the nation, triumphed in the contumelious abuse 
 of his sovereign, whom he usually denominated Jez- 
 ebel. 
 
 The queen of Scots, destitute of the means of re- 
 sistance, and pressed by a turbulent nobility and a big 
 oted people, found that her only expedient for main- 
 taining tranquillity was the preservation of a friendly 
 connexion with Elizabeth. Secretary Lidington was, 
 therefore, sent to London to pay her compliments to 
 the queen, and express her desire of friendship and a 
 good correspondence ; and both sovereigns assumed 
 the appearances of a cordial reconciliation and friend- 
 ship with each other. 
 
 Elizabeth, finding that Mary was sufficiently de- 
 pressed by the mutinous spirit of her subjects, employ- 
 ed herself in regulating the affairs of her own king- 
 dom. She furnished the arsenals w'ith arms, fortified 
 the frontiers, promoted trade and navigation, and by 
 building vessels of force herself, and suggesting the 
 same to the merchants, she acquired to herself the 
 titles of the restorer of naval glory, and the queen of 
 the northern seas. 
 
250 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Though Elizabeth kept aloof from marriage, yet she 
 was not only very averse to appoint any successor to 
 the crown, but was resolved, as much as was in her 
 power, that no one, who could pretend to the succes- 
 sion, should have any heirs or successors. The lady 
 Catherine Grey, younger sister to lady Jane, having 
 privately married the earl of Hertford, and proving 
 pregnant, they were both committed to the Tower. 
 As Hertford could not prove their nuptials within the 
 time limited, the issue was declared illegitimate 3 and 
 the earl was confined for nine years, till the death of 
 his wife, by freeing the queen from all apprehension 
 of heirs and claimants from that quarter, procured him 
 his liberty. 
 
 At this time, the two great rival powers of Europe 
 were Spain and England. The bigotry and intolerant 
 i ^ro-i spirit of Philip placed him at the head of the 
 catholic party; while Elizabeth, from her reli- 
 gious opinions, and the conduct which she pursued, 
 was considered as the bulwark and support of the pro- 
 testants. The civil and religious contests by which 
 France was divided, rendered that country an object 
 of vigilance both to Philip and Elizabeth : the former 
 supported the established government and religion ; 
 while the latter lent her aid in protecting the Hugo- 
 nots, or protestant party, which had taken arms under 
 the prince of Conde. Three thousand English took 
 possession of Havre and Dieppe 3 but the latter place 
 was so little capable of defence, that it was immedi- 
 ately abandoned. The siege of Rouen was already 
 formed by the catholics 3 and though the English 
 troops in it behaved with great gahantry, the place 
 was taken by assault, and the whole garrison put to the 
 sword. 
 
 It was expected that the French catholics would 
 immediately have formed the siege of Havre ; but the 
 intestine divisions of the kingdom diverted their at- 
 tention to another object. By the influence of Elis® 
 beth, a considerable body of protestants had been lev 
 ied in Germany ; and the Hugonots were enabled to 
 take field against their enemies. A famous battle was 
 fought at Dreux; and in this action, Conde and Mont 
 morency, the commanders of the opposite armies, by a 
 singular fatality, fell into the hands of their enemies 
 
ELIZABETH. 
 
 251 
 
 The appearances of victory remained with Guise ; but 
 the admiral Coligni, collecting the remains of the ar- 
 my, and inspiring every breast with his own invinci- 
 ble courage, subdued some considerable places in 
 Normandy. 
 
 The expenses incurred by assisting the Hugonots 
 had emptied the queen's exchequer, and obliged her 
 ^ ca ^ a parliament. As the life of Elizabeth 
 ° v -■ had been endangered by the smali-pox, a little 
 before the meeting of that assembly, the commons, on 
 the opening of the session, again entreated the queen 
 to choose a husband, whom they promised faithfully 
 to serve ; or, if she entertained any reluctance to the 
 married state, they desired that the lawful successor 
 might be appointed by an act of parliament. 
 
 This subject was very little agreeable to the queen, 
 who, considering the inconveniences likely to arise 
 from declaring in favour either of the queen of Scots 
 or the house of Suffolk, determined to keep both par- 
 ties in awe by maintaining an ambiguous conduct 
 She gave, therefore, an evasive answer to the com- 
 mons, whom she told, that she had fixed no absolute 
 resolution against marriage ; that the difficulties at- 
 tending the question of the succession were so gre-at, 
 that, for the sake of her people, she would be content- 
 ed to remain some time longer in this vale of misery; 
 and that she could not die with satisfaction, till she 
 had laid some solid foundation for their future secu- 
 rity. 
 
 In the mean time, the duke of Guise had been as- 
 sassinated before Orleans, and Conde aud Montmoren- 
 cy had c^me to an agreement, that a toleration should 
 be granted anew to the protestants. The interests of 
 England were disregarded in the treaty 3 and Havre, 
 which had been some time in possession of the Eng- 
 lish, was obliged to capitulate to the arms of France. 
 Elizabeth, whose usual vigour and foresight do not ap- 
 pear in this transaction, was now glad to compound 
 matters, by agreeing that the hostages which the 
 French had previously given for the restitution of Ca- 
 lais, should be restored on the payment of two hun- 
 dred and twenty thousand crowns, and that both sides 
 should retain all their claims and pretensions. 
 
 The peace with Scotland still continued ; and even 
 
252 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 a cordial friendship seemed to have been cemented 
 between Elizabeth and Mary. She always told the 
 queen of Scots, that nothing would satisfy her but her 
 espousing some English nobleman, which would re- 
 move all grounds of jealousy and misunderstanding 
 between them. At last she named lord Robert Dud- 
 ley, now created earl of Leicester, as the person on 
 whom she desired that Mary's choice should fall. 
 
 Leicester, the great and powerful favourite of Eliz- 
 abeth, possessed all those exterior qualities which are 
 naturally alluring to the fair sex ; and, by means of 
 these accomplishments, he was able to blind the sa- 
 gacious Elizabeth, and to conceal from her the great 
 defects which marked his character. He was proud, 
 insolent, and ambitious, without honour or principle. 
 The constant and declared attachment of Elizabeth to 
 him, had emboldened him to aspire to her bed ; and 
 the proposal of espousing Mary was by no means 
 agreeable to him. Indeed, it is probable, that the 
 queen had no serious intention of effecting this mar- 
 riage, and that her design was merely to gain time, 
 and elude the project of any other alliance 3 for when 
 Mary, in the hopes of being declared successor to the 
 crown, seemed to listen to the proposal, Elizabeth re- 
 ceded from her offers, and withdrew the bait which 
 she had thrown out to her rival. 
 
 After two years spent in evasions and artifices, Ma- 
 ry married lord Darnley, son to the earl of Lenox, her 
 cousin-german, by the lady Margaret Douglas, niece 
 to Henry VIII,; and as he was, after his spouse, next 
 heir to the crown of England, this marriage seemed to 
 strengthen and unite both their claims. 
 
 Elizabeth was secretly not displeased with this mar- 
 riage, though she would rather have wished that Mary 
 had remained single; yet she menaced, protested and 
 complained, as if she had suffered the most grievous 
 injury. It served her as a pretence for refusing to ac- 
 knowledge Mary's title to the succession of England, 
 and for encouraging the discontents of the Scottish 
 nobility and clergy, to whom she promised support in 
 their rebellious enterprises. 
 
 Mary, however, was no sooner informed of the de- 
 signs forming against her by the duke of Chatelrauit 
 the earls of Murray, Argyle, Rotbes, and Gluncaiin 
 
ELIZABETH. 
 
 253 
 
 ftad some others, than she .assembled her forces and 
 obliged those rebel noblemen to leave their country 
 and take shelter in England. 
 
 Elizabeth, when she found the event so much to 
 disappoint her expectations, disavowed all connexions 
 with the Scottish malcontents, and even drove them 
 from her presence. The banished lords had now re- 
 course to the clemency of their own sovereign ; and 
 Mary seemed inclined to restore them to favour 3 but 
 her uncle, the cardinal of Lorraine, to whose opinion 
 she always paid the greatest deference, advised her 
 by no means to pardon the protestant leaders. 
 
 The cardinal of Lorraine had been a chief instru 
 ment in forming an association between Philip and 
 Catherine of Medicis, for the extermination of the 
 protestants ; and he took care that the measures of 
 the queen of Scots should correspond with the violent 
 counsels embraced by the other catholic princes. A 
 parliament was summoned at Edinburgh for attainting 
 the banished lords, who were saved from the rigour 
 of the law only by the ruin of Mary herself. 
 
 The marriage of the queen of Scots with lord Darn- 
 ley was so precipitate, that while she was allured by 
 his youth and beauty, and exterior accomplishments, 
 she had not observed that the qualities of his mind by 
 no means corresponded with the excellence of his 
 person. He was violent, insolent, and ungrateful 3 
 addicted to low pleasures, and incapable of the senti 
 ments of love and domestic endearment. The queen 
 of Scots, in the first effusions of her fondness, had 
 granted him the title of king, and had joined his name 
 with her own in all public acts 3 but observing his 
 weakness and vices, she began to see the danger of 
 her profuse liberality 5 and the young prince, enraged 
 at her imaginary neglects, pointed his vengeance 
 against every one whom he deemed the cause of this 
 change in her measures and behaviour. 
 
 There happened to be in the court one David Riz- 
 zio*, a Piedmontese musician, of mean birth, who, by 
 his professional talents, and the arts of address, had 
 insinuated himself into the favour of Mary. He be- 
 came her secretary for French despatches 3 he was 
 consulted on all occasions 3 favours of honour 01 
 emolument could be obtained only through his inter 
 
254 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 cession; and his insolence and rapacity drew on him- 
 self the hatred of the nobility and of the whole king- 
 dom. 
 
 On the change of the queen’s sentiments, it was ea 
 sy for Darnley’s friends to persuade him that Rizzic 
 was the real author of her indifference, and even to 
 excite in his mind jealousies of a more dangerous na- 
 ture; and the king, by the advice of several of the 
 courtiers, determined on the assassination of Rizzio. 
 Mary, in the sixth month of her pregnancy, was sup- 
 ping in private with the countess of Argyle, Rizzio, 
 and others of her servants, when the king entered the 
 room by a private passage, and stood at the back of 
 Mary’s chair. Lord Ruthven, George Douglas, and 
 other conspirators, rushed in after him ; and Rizzio, 
 aware of the danger, ran behind his mistress for pro- 
 tection; but in spite of her cries, and menaces, and 
 entreaties, Douglas struck a dagger into the body of 
 Rizzio, who was then dragged into the anti-chamber, 
 and despatched with fifty-six wounds. The unhappy 
 queen, informed of his fate, immediately dried up her 
 tears, and said she would weep no more, but think of 
 revenge. 
 
 The conspirators applied to the earl of Bothwell, ? 
 new favourite, and that nobleman pacified Mary ; but 
 she was implacable against her husband, whom she 
 rendered the object of universal contempt. He was 
 permitted, however, to have apartments in the castle 
 of Edinburgh, where Mary was delivered of a son ; 
 and Sir James Melvil was sent with the intelligence 
 of this happy event to England. Melvil tells us, that 
 Elizabeth had given a ball to .her court at Greenwich 
 the evening of his arrival in London, and was display- 
 ing all her usual spirit and gayety ; but when news ar- 
 rived of the prince of Scotland’s birth, all her joy was 
 damped, and she complained to some of her attend- 
 ants, that the queen of Scots was mother of a son, 
 while she was only a barren stock. 
 
 The birth of a son gave additional zeal to Mary’s 
 partisans in England, where her conduct also procured 
 her universal esteem ; but these flattering prospects 
 were suddenly blasted by her egregious indiscretion 
 at least, or, as some are still inclined to suppose, by 
 her atrocious guilt. 
 
 i 
 
ELIZABETH. 
 
 255 
 
 The earl of Bothwcll was a man of considerable 
 power in Scotland, but of profligate manners. He had 
 acquired the favour and entire confidence of Mary 5 
 and reports were spread of too great an intimacy be- 
 tween them, though Bothwell was a married man. 
 These reports gained ground from the increased ha- 
 tred of the queen towards her husband, who, sensible 
 of the neglects which he underwent, had it in con- 
 templation to retire into France or Spain. 
 
 While affairs were in this unpleasant situation, 
 Darnley was seized with an illness of an extraordina- 
 ry nature ; and the queen visiting him during his sick- 
 ness, treated him with great tenderness, and a cordial 
 reconciliation seemed to have been brought about be- 
 tween them. The king, naturally uxorious, put him- 
 self implicitly into her hands; and as the concourse 
 of people about the court might disturb him in his in- 
 firm state of health, Mary assigned him a lodging in a 
 solitary house, called the Kirk of Fie.d. In this sit- 
 aation, the queen gave him marks of kindness and 
 attention, and lay some nights in a room below his; 
 but, on the 9th of February, she told him, that she 
 would pass that night in the palace, because the mar- 
 riage of one of her servants was there to be celeorated 
 in her presence. About two o’clock in the morning, 
 the whole city of Edinburgh was alarmed by a great 
 noise ; and it was discovered, that the house in which 
 the king lay had been blown up by gunpowder, and 
 that his dead body had been carried by the violence 
 of the explosion into a neighbouring field. 
 
 The general opinion was, that Bothwell was the 
 author of this horrible crime ; and the earl of Lenox, 
 Darnley’s father, implored speedy justice against him 
 and the other assassins. Mary allowed only fifteen 
 days for the examination of this important affair ; and 
 as Bothwell still possessed the confidence of the 
 queen, and enjoyed his former authority, Lenox en- 
 tertained just apprehensions from the power, insolence 
 and temerity of his enemy. As, therefore, neither 
 accuser nor witness appeared at the trial, Bothwell 
 was absolved from the king’s murder ; but the verdict 
 in his favour was attended with circumstances which 
 strongly confirmed the general opinion of his guilt. 
 Mary, having gune to visit her son at Stirling, was 
 
256 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 seized by Bothwell, and ostensibly carried off against 
 her will, with the avowed design of forcing her to 
 yield to his purpose. Some of the nobility sent the 
 queen a private message, that if she lay under force, 
 they would use all their efforts to rescue her; but the 
 queen professed herself satisfied with BothwelPs con- 
 duct, and granted him a pardon for the violence com- 
 mitted on her person, and for all other crimes. 
 
 Soon after this infamous transaction, Bothwell ob- 
 tained a divorce from his wife, and Mary, with inde- 
 cent precipitation, raised him to heV bed and to her 
 throne. Elizabeth remonstrated, by friendly letters 
 and messages, against the marriage 5 the court of 
 France did the same 3 but Mary paid no regard to the 
 advice she received, and seemed to scorn the united 
 censures of Europe. 
 
 At length the spirit of the nation was roused j and 
 lord Hume, with a body of eight hundred* horse, sud- 
 denly environed the queen of Scots and Bothwell in 
 the castle of Bothwick. They found means, however, 
 of making their escape 5 but Mary was obliged to put 
 herself into the hands of the confederates. She was 
 conducted to Edinburgh, amidst the insults of the 
 populace, who reproached her for her crimes, and 
 who held before her eyes, which way soever she turn 
 ed, a banner, on which were painted the murder of 
 her husband and the distress of her infant son. Both- 
 well, meanwhile, found means to reach the Orkneys, 
 whence he escaped to Denmark, where he was thrown 
 into prison, and losing his senses, died about ten years 
 after, in extreme misery. 
 
 Mary was sent under a guard to the castle of Loch- 
 leven, where the associated lords refused Throgmor- 
 ton, the English ambassador, all access to her ; and 
 various schemes were proposed for the treatment of 
 the captive queen. In the mean time, the earl of 
 Murray was appointed regent, and Mary signed a deed, 
 by which she resigned the crown in favour of her son. 
 In consequence of this forced renunciation, the young 
 prince was proclaimed king, by the name of James 
 VI. j and he was soon after crowned at Sterling, where 
 the earl of Morton took the coronation oath in his 
 I5fqi nnrne - Mary, however, found means to escape 
 ° •* from Lochleven 3 and being joined by many of 
 
ELIZABETH. 
 
 257 
 
 the nobility, an army of six thousand men was assem- 
 bled, in a few days, under her staudard. The regent 
 instantly took the field against her j and, coming to an 
 engagement at Langside, near Glasgow, the queen’s 
 forces were entirely defeated. 
 
 The unhappy Mary fled from the field of battle, 
 with a few adherents, to the borders of England ; and 
 rashly confiding to some late specious professions of 
 Elizabeth, she embarked on board a fishing-boat in 
 Galloway, and landed the same day at Workington, in 
 Cumberland 5 whe.nce she immediately despatched a 
 messenger to London, to notify hei arrival, to request 
 leave to visit Elizabeth, and to crave her protection. 
 
 Elizabeth, seeing her rival thus in her power, attend- 
 ed rather to the dictates of policy than generosity. 
 She sent lord Scrope and sir Francis Knollis to inform 
 her, that her request of being allowed to visit their 
 sovereign could not be complied with, till she had 
 cleared herself of her husband’s murder. On receiv- 
 ing this intelligence, Mary burst into tears ; and the 
 necessity of her situation extorted from her a declara- 
 tion, that she would submit her cause to the arbitration 
 of her sister of England. The regent of Scotland too 
 professed his readiness to abide by the determination 
 of Elizabeth. Mary was removed to Bolton, in York- 
 shire, and placed under the care of lord Scrope ; and 
 the issue of this affair was regarded as an object of 
 the greatest moment to the interests and security of 
 Elizabeth. Commissioners were appointed on the part 
 of England, of Mary, and of the regent, representing 
 the king and kingdom of Scotland, and met at York, 
 where this grand inquiry commenced. Under pre 
 text, however, that the distance from her person re 
 tarded the proceedings of, the commissioners, Elizabeth 
 removed the conferences to Hampton court. 
 
 When Murray, the regent, was called upon for 
 proofs of his charge against Mary, he produced before 
 the commissioners some love-letters and sonnets, and 
 a promise of marriage to Both well, before his trial and 
 acquittal, all written in the hand of the queen of 
 Scots. These were incontestible evidences of her 
 imprudence, and of her criminal correspondence with 
 Bothwell, however they may be considered in regard 
 to her consent to the murder of her husband; out as 
 vor. 1 . 17 
 
258 
 
 HISTQRY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Mary had instructed her commissioners n<rt to make 9 
 defence, if any thing were advanced that touched hei 
 honour, as she was a sovereign princess, and could nol 
 be subject to a foreign tribunal, though she professed 
 ner readiness to justify her innocence to Elizabeth in 
 person, the conferences terminated, and no decision 
 was given. 
 
 The queen of Scots was now removed from Bolton 
 to Tutbury, in Staffordshire, and put under the care 
 of the earl of Shrewsbury. Elizabeth entertained 
 hopes, that she would either resign the crown, or as- 
 sociate her son with her in the government, and leave 
 the administration in the hands of Murray during her 
 son's minority; but the high-spirited Mary declared, 
 that her last words should be those of a queen of 
 Scotland ; and she insisted either that Elizabeth should 
 assist her in recovering her authority, or give her lib- 
 erty to retire into France. Elizabetn, however, refus- 
 ed both these proposals, and determined to detain her 
 still a captive. 
 
 The duke of Norfolk, the only peer that enjoyed the 
 highest title of nobility, and the most powerful sub 
 ject in England, was at this time a widower; and hi 
 marriage with the queen of Scots appeared desirabl 
 to several of his friends and those of that princess. 
 The scheme was made known to Norfolk, who, afraid 
 of disclosing his intentions to Elizabeth, endeavoured 
 to increase his interest in the kingdom, by engaging 
 the nobility to favour the measure. Mary was applied 
 to on the subject, and returned a favourable answer. 
 The kings of France and Spain were secretly con- 
 sulted, and expressed their approbation of the meas- 
 ure ; and though Elizabeth’s consent was always held 
 out as a previous condition of finishing this alliance, 
 it was apparently the duke’s intention to render his 
 party too formidable to be resisted. 
 
 Elizabeth was not entirely unacquainted with the 
 plan, and even intimated to the duke the necessity of 
 caution; but he wanted either prudence or courage 
 to make known to her his full intentions ; and when 
 the court of England received certain information of 
 this dangerous combination, the alarm became ex- 
 treme. Norfolk and many of his friends were arrest- 
 ed ; and the queen of Scots was removed to Ooveut 
 
ELIZABETH 250 
 
 ry, and all access to her, for a time, was more strictly 
 prohibited. 
 
 The conspirators, among whom were the earls of 
 Northumberland and Westmoreland, appealed to arms ; 
 and about four thousand foot and sixteen hundred horse 
 took the field, and expected the concurrence of all 
 the catholics in England. The duke of Norfolk, how- 
 ever, not only discountenanced these proceedings, 
 but employed all his interest to suppress the rebellion ; 
 which being effected in a short time, the queen was 
 so well pleased with his behaviour, that she releasee. 
 h ; m from the Tower, and only exacted a promise from 
 him, not to proceed any farther in his negotiations 
 with the queen of Scots. 
 
 After an interval of five years, a new parliament 
 was assembled, in which appeared the dawn of spirit 
 •and liberty among the English. The puritans agitated 
 several questions respecting religion ; and Strickland, 
 a member of the house of commons, moved a bill for 
 the amendment of the liturgy. This was highly re- 
 sented by the queen, who was, if possible, still more 
 jealous of what regarded religion, than of matters of 
 sta*e. She summoned Strickland before the council, 
 and prohibited him from appearing in the house of 
 commons; but finding that her conduct was likely to 
 excite a great ferment, she sent him permission to give 
 his attendance in parliament. Elizabeth, however, 
 would not allow the parliament to discuss any matters 
 of state, and still less to meddle with the church. For 
 along period, the chief business for which paniament 
 was assembled, was to grant subsidies, to attaint and 
 punish the obnoxious nobility, and to countenance such 
 great efforts of power as might be deemed somewhat 
 exceptionable, when they proceeded entirely from the 
 sovereign. The queen, as she was determined to 
 yield none of her power, was very cautious in asking 
 the parliament for any supply. She endeavoured, by 
 a rigid frugality, to make her ordinary revenues suffice 
 for the necessities of the crown ; or she employed 
 her prerogative, and procured money by the granting 
 of patents and monopolies, or by some such ruinous 
 expedient. 
 
 The bigotry of Philip, and the inhuman severity of 
 nis representative, the duke of Alva, had filled the 
 
260 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Low Countries with confiscation, imprisonment, exile^ 
 and death. Elizabeth gave protection to all the Flem- 
 ings who took shelter in her dominions, and reaped 
 the advantage of introducing into England some use- 
 ful manufactures which were before unknown. Alva, 
 whose measures were ever violent, entered into a 
 scheme with the Spanish ambassador, and one Rodol 
 phi, a Florentine merchant, for uniting the catholics 
 and Mary queen of Scots in a confederacy against 
 Elizabeth. The duke of Norfolk, despairing of the 
 confidence and favour of Elizabeth, was tempted to 
 violate his word, and to open anew his correspond- 
 ence with the captive queen. A promise of marriage 
 was renewed between them ; and the duke gave his 
 consent to enterprises still more criminal. 
 
 The new conspiracy had hitherto escaped the vigil 
 ance of Elizabeth, and of Cecil, now lord Burleigh ; 
 but one of the duke’s servants betrayed his master 5 
 and the evidence of the bishop of Ross proved the 
 guilt of Norfolk beyond all doubt. A jury of twenty- 
 five peers passed sentence upon him ; but the queen 
 hesitated to put the sentence in execution. At length, 
 .-79, after a delay of four months, the fatal warrant 
 was signed; and Norfolk died, acknowledging 
 tne justice of his sentence. 
 
 The queen of Scots was charged by Elizabeth as 
 the cause of these disturbances ; and" though Mary 
 endeavoured to justify herself, the queen was little 
 satisfied with her apology, and the parliament applied 
 for her immediate tnal ; but Elizabeth forbade them 
 to proceed farther in the affair, and only increased the 
 rigour and strictness of her confinement. 
 
 The same views which engaged the queen to sup- 
 port the Hugonots in France, would have led her to 
 assist the distressed. protestants in the Low Countries ; 
 but the mighty power of Philip kept her in awe, and 
 obliged her to deny the Flemish exiles an entrance 
 into her dominions. The people, however, enraged 
 by the cruelty, oppression, and persecution under 
 which they suffered, flew to arms. Holland and Zea 
 land revolted ; and under the auspices of the prince 
 of Orange, the whole Batavian provinces united in a 
 .eague against the tyranny of Spain. By a solemn 
 embassy ; the Flemings offered Elizabeth the sove* 
 

 ELIZABETH. 2G3 
 
 reignty of these provinces, if she would exert her 
 power in their defence ; but as she was never ambi- 
 tious of conquests, or of new acquisitions, she de- 
 clined the proffered sovereignty. The queen, how- 
 ever, sent the revolters a sum of money, and conclud- 
 ed a treaty with them, in which she stipulated to assist 
 them with five thousand foot, and a thousand horse, 
 at the charge of the Flemings. It was farther agreed, 
 that the new States, as they began to call themselves, 
 should enter into no alliance without her consent, and 
 if any discord should arise among them, it was to be 
 referred to her arbitration. She was desirous of mak- 
 ing the king of Spain believe, that her sole motive 
 for entering into a treaty with the States, was to pre- 
 vent them from throwing themselves into the arms of 
 France ; and Philip dissembled his resentment against 
 the queen, and waited for an opportunity of taking his 
 revenge. 
 
 Elizabeth was extremely anxious to support an in- 
 terest in Scotland, because that country alone afforded 
 her enemies the means of attacking her, and because 
 she was sensible that the Guises had engaged Mary 
 to have recourse to the powerful protection of Philip. 
 That prince, under the name of the pope, sent a body 
 of seven hundred Spaniards and Italians into Ireland j 
 but they were soon obliged to surrender 5 and when 
 the English ambassador complained of the invasion, 
 he was answered by similar complaints of the piracies 
 committed by Drake in the new world. 
 
 This brave officer, setting sail from Plymouth in 
 1577, with four ships and a pinnace, on board of 
 which were one hundred and sixty-four men, passed 
 the Straits of Magellan, attacked the Spaniards in 
 South America, and captured many rich prizes. He 
 was the first Englishman that completed the circum- 
 navigation of the globe ; and he returned safely to his 
 native country, after a voyage of more than three 
 years. 
 
 In oraer to avert tne resentment of Spain, the queen 
 15801 Was P ersuac ^ e ^ t0 disavow the enterprise ; but 
 J she determined to countenance this gallant offi- 
 cer, on whom she conferred the honor of knight- 
 hood, and accepted of a banquet at Greenwich, on 
 board the ship which had performed such a memora- 
 ble voyage. 
 
262 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The duke of Aler^on, now created duke of Anjou 
 nearly twenty-five years younger than the queen, be 
 came a suitor of Elizabeth. He came over to Eng 
 land in order to prosecute his suit ; and the reception 
 which he met w'ith made him expect complete suc- 
 cess. On the anniversary of her coronation, the queen 
 was observed to take a ring from her own finger, and 
 put it upon his ; and all the spectators concluded, that 
 in this ceremony, she had given him a promise of 
 marriage, and was even desirous of signifying her in 
 tentions to all the world. Reflections, however, on 
 the probable consequences of this marriage, filled the 
 mind of the queen with anxiety and irresolution ; but, 
 at length, prudence and ambition prevailed over her 
 affection ; and she dismissed the duke with some apol- 
 ogies. He expressed great disgust on his lea/ing her, 
 and uttered many curses on the mutability of women 
 and of islanders. 
 
 The affairs of Scotland again strongly engaged the 
 attention of the queen. A conspiracy of the discon- 
 tented nobles was formed, probably with the concur- 
 15821 1161106 Elizabeth, for seizing the person of 
 -* James at fluthven, a seat belonging to the earl 
 of Gowry, one of the conspirators. The king wept 
 when he found himself a prisoner ; but the master of 
 Glamis said, “ No matter for his tears : it is better 
 that boys weep than bearded men. 7 ' This expression 
 James never forgave j but he acquiesced in his own 
 detention, and agreed to summon both an assembly of 
 the church, and a convention of the estates, in order 
 to ratify that enterprise. 
 
 The queen of Scots had often made overtures tc 
 Elizabeth, which had been entirely neglected; but 
 nearing of James’s confinement, she wrote in the most 
 pathetic manner to the queen, entreating her to raise 
 them both from their present melancholy situation, 
 and reinstate them in that liberty and authority to 
 which they were entitled. This humble application 
 produced little effect, though some ostensible steps 
 were taken ; but James, impatient of restraint, escap- 
 ed from his keepers, and fleeing to St. Andrews, sum- 
 moned his friends and partisans to attend him. The 
 opposite party found themselves unable to resist, and 
 were offered a pardon on their submission. Some of 
 
ELIZABETH. 263 
 
 them accepted the terms ; but the greater part left 
 the country, and took shelter in Ireland or England, 
 where they were protected by Elizabeth. 
 
 The queen sent YValsingham into Scotland, on pur- 
 pose to penetrate the character of James 5 and as 
 James excelled in general discourse and conversation, 
 that minister conceived a higher opinion of his talents 
 than he really deserved ; and from the favourable re- 
 port of his capacity, Elizabeth was inclined to treat the 
 young king with more respect than she had hitherto 
 done. The revolutions in Scotland, however, would 
 have been little regarded, had not the zeal of the catho- 
 lics daily threatened her with some dangerous insur- 
 rection. Many of the plots which had been discovered, 
 were imputed to the intrigues of Mary ; and the par- 
 liament passed a resolution “to defend the queen, to 
 revenge her death, or any injury committed against 
 her, and to exclude* from the throne all claimants, 
 what title soever they might possess, by whose sugges- 
 tion, or for whose behoof, any violence should be of- 
 fered to her majesty.” The queen of Scots was sen- 
 sible that this was intended against her ; and to re- 
 move all suspicion from herself, she desired leave to 
 subscribe this resolution. 
 
 During the same session, a conspiracy was discov- 
 1 r 841 ere d> greatly increased the animosity 
 
 ° I against the catholics. One William Parry, who 
 had received the queen s pardon for a capital crime, 
 was instigated by some liomanist of high rank and 
 authority to attempt the life of the queen, by shooting 
 at her while she was taking the air on horseback. 
 The conspiracy, however, was betrayed by one of his 
 associates ; and Parry being thrown into prison, con- 
 fessed the guilt, and suffered the punishment of death. 
 
 About the same time, the prince of Orange perished 
 at Delft, by the hands of an assassin ; and the States 
 sent a solemn embassy to London, and made anew 
 an offer to the queen of acknowledging her for their 
 sovereign, on condition of obtaining her projection 
 and assistance. Elizabeth, however, again declined 
 the sovereignty, but entered into an alliance with the 
 States, and sent the earl of Leicester with a consider- 
 able army to their relief. 
 
 The queenj while she provoked so powerful an en- 
 
 V 
 
2 f>4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 emy as the king of Spain, by her open aid to the re- 
 volted Flemings, took care to secure herself on the 
 side of Scotland, by forming an alliance with James 
 for the mutual defence of their dominions, and of 
 their religion, now menaced by the open combination 
 of all the catholic powers of Europe. But the unfor- 
 tunate Mary, whose impatience of confinement and 
 unsubdued spirit, together with her zeal for popery, 
 impelled to the most desperate acts, engaged in de- 
 signs against Elizabeth, which afforded her enemies a 
 reason or pretence for effecting her complete ruin. 
 
 Ballard, a Romish priest, encouraged by the hopes 
 of succours from the pope, the king of Spain, and the 
 duke of Guise, came over to England, and bent his en- 
 deavours to effect at once an assassination, an insurrec- 
 tion, and an invasion. The first person to whom he con- 
 fided his intentions was Anthony Babington, a young 
 gentleman of Derbyshire, who was ardent in the cause 
 of Mary and of the catholic religion. Babington em- 
 ployed himself in increasing the number of the associ- 
 ates in this desperate undertaking; and he communi- 
 cated the project to Mary, who approved highly of the 
 design, and who observed, that the death of Elizabeth 
 was necessary, before any other attempt should be 
 made. Ballard, however, being arrested, his confede 
 rates became alarmed, and took to flight; but being 
 seized they were tried, condemned, and executed. 
 
 The lesser conspirators being thus despatched, 
 measures were taken for the trial of the queen of 
 Scots, who was conducted to Fotheringay castle, in 
 the county of Northampton. A commission, consist- 
 ing of forty noblemen and privy-counsellors, was ap- 
 pointed and empowered to pass sentence on Mary, 
 who was described in the instrument as late queen of 
 Scots, and heir to James V. of Scotland. 
 
 On this awful occasion, Mary behaved with great 
 dignity. She protested her innocence, and declared 
 that Elizabeth had no authority over her, who was an 
 independent sovereign, and not amenable to the laws 
 of England. Her objections, however, were over rul- 
 ed ; her letters, and the confessions of the conspira- 
 tors, were produced in evidence against her ; and a 
 few days after, sentence of death was pronounced 
 against her. Both houses of parliament ntified this 
 
ELIZABETH. 
 
 26J 
 
 sentence, which was certainly illegal, if not unjust; 
 and they urged the queen to consent to its publication 
 and execution. 
 
 Elizabeth, however, affected great reluctance to ex- 
 ecute the sentence against Mary, and asked if it were 
 not possible to secure the public tranquillity, by some 
 other expedient than the death of the queen of Scots ; 
 but when foreign powers interfered, and interceded in 
 behalf of the unfortunate Mary, Elizabeth became ob- 
 durate, and determined to execute the sentence. The 
 interposition of James, who remonstrated in very se- 
 vere terms in favour of his mother, was unavailing; 
 and Elizabeth, tired with importunity, and dreading 
 the consequences, ordered Davison, her secretary, 
 privately to draw a warrant for the execution of the 
 queen of Scots ; which, she afterwards said, she in- 
 tended to keep by her, in case any attempt should be 
 made to rescue Mary. She signed the warrant, and 
 commanded Davison to procure the great seal to be 
 affixed to it ; but when Davison told her that the war- 
 rant had passed the great seal, she blamed his precip- 
 itation. Davison acquainted the council with the 
 transaction ; and they endeavoured to persuade him to 
 send off the warrant, promising to take on themselves 
 the whole blame of the measure. The secretary, not 
 sufficiently aware of their intention, complied with 
 the advice ; and the warrant was despatched to the 
 earls of Shrewsbury and Kent, and some others, order- 
 ing them to see the sentence executed on the queen 
 of Scots. 
 
 Mary, informed of this commission, though some 
 what surprised, betrayed no symptoms of fear. The 
 night before her execution, she called in all her ser- 
 vants, drank to them, and bade them a solemn fare- 
 well. Next morning she dressed herself in a rich hab- 
 it of silk and velvet; and having declared her resolu- 
 tion to die in the ancient catholic and Roman reli- 
 gion, her head was severed from her body by the exe- 
 15871 cu ^ oner * Thus perished, in the forty-fifth year 
 ■* of her age, and the nineteenth of her captivity 
 in England, Mary queen of Scots, a woman of great 
 accomplishments, both of body and mind. The beau- 
 ty of her person, and the charms of her address and 
 conversation, rendered her the most amiable of wo 
 
266 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 men. Whether we consider her faults as imprudences 
 or crimes, certain it is, that she was betrayed into ac- 
 tions which can with difficulty be accounted for, and 
 which admit of no apology or extenuation. In her nu- 
 merous misfortunes, we forget her faults ; and the 
 accomplishments which she possessed render us in- 
 sensible to the errors of her conduct. 
 
 When Elizabeth was informed of the execution of 
 Mary, she affected the utmost surprise and indigna- 
 tion. She wrote an exculpatory letter to James j and 
 she committed Davison to prison, and ordered him to 
 be tried for a misdemeanor. He was condemned to 
 imprisonment during the pleasure of the queen, and to 
 pay a fine which reduced him to beggary. 
 
 The dissimulation of Elizabeth, however, was too 
 gross to deceive any person ; and James and his no- 
 bles breathed nothing but revenge. When, however, 
 James began coolly to reflect on the consequences 
 of a war with England, and that he might thereby for- 
 feit the certain prospect of his succession to the Eng- 
 lish throne, he stifled his resentments, and gradually 
 entered into a good correspondence with the court of 
 England. 
 
 While Elizabeth insured tranquillity from the at- 
 tempts of her nearest neighbour, accounts were re- 
 ceived of the vast preparations made by the Spaniards 
 for the invasion of England, and for the entire con- 
 quest of this kingdom. In all the ports of Sicily, Na- 
 ples, Spain, and Portugal, Philip had for some time 
 been equipping vessels of uncommon size and force, 
 and filling them with stores and provisions. The most 
 renowned nobility of Italy and Spain were ambitious 
 of sharing in the honour of this great enterprise *, and 
 the Spaniards, ostentatious of their power, and confi- 
 dent of success, had already denominated this arma- 
 ment “ The Invincible Armada.” 
 
 Elizabeth, finding that she must contend for her 
 crown with the whole force of Spain, made prepara- 
 tions for resistance ; and though her force seemed ve 
 ry inadequate to oppose so powerful an enemy, every 
 place in the kingdom discovered the greatest readi 
 ness in defending their liberty and religion, by contri 
 buting ships, men, and money. The gentry and no- 
 bility vied with each other in the same generous ca* 
 
ELIZABETH. 267 
 
 reer ; and all the loans which the queen demanded 
 ftere immediately granted. 
 
 Lord Howard of Effingham, a man of distinguished 
 abilities, was appointed admiral of the fleet 3 and 
 Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, the most renowned 
 seamen in Europe, served under him. A small squad- 
 ron, commanded by lord Seymour, second son of the 
 protector Somerset, lay off Dunkirk, in order to inter- 
 cept the duke of Parma. 
 
 The troops were disposed along the south coast 3 
 and a body of twenty-two thousand foot, and a thou 
 sand horse, under the command of the earl of Leices- 
 ter, was stationed at Tilbury, in order to cover tue 
 capital. The principal army consisted of thirty-four 
 thousand foot, and two thousand horse, commanded by 
 lord Hudson ; and these were reserved for guarding 
 the queen’s person, and marching whithersoever the 
 enemy should appear. Men of reflection, however, 
 entertained the greatest apprehensions, when they 
 considered the force of fifty thousand veteran Span- 
 iards, under the duke of Parma, the most consummate 
 general of the age. 
 
 The queen was sensible that next to her popularity, 
 the firmest support of her throne consisted in the zeal 
 of the people for the protestant religion, and their ab- 
 horrence of popery. She reminded the English of 
 their former danger from the tyranny of Spain 3 and 
 of the bloody massacres in the Indies, and the unre- 
 lenting executions in the Low Countries 3 and a list 
 was published of the several instruments of torture, 
 with which, it was pretended, the Spanish armada was 
 loaded. The more to excite the martial spirit of the 
 nation, the queen appeared on horseback in the camp 
 at Tilbury 3 and riding through the lines, she exhort- 
 ed the soldiers to remember their duty to their coun- 
 try and their God, declaring that she would rather per- 
 ish in battle than survive the ruin and slavery of her 
 people. By this spirited conduct she excited the ad- 
 miration of the soldiery; the attachment to her be- 
 came enthusiastic 3 and all swore to defend the glori 
 ous cause in which they were engaged. 
 
 The armada, after sailing from Lisbon, suffered con- 
 siderably from storm ; but the damages being repaired, 
 Jhe Spaniards again put to sea. The fleet consisted 
 
£G8 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 of one hundred and thirty vessels, of which one hun 
 dred were galleons, and of larger size than any before 
 seen in Europe. On board were upwards of thirty 
 thousand men, and two thousand six hundred and thir- 
 ty great pieces of brass ordnance. Effingham, who 
 was stationed at Plymouth, had just time to get out of 
 port, when he saw the armada advancing towards him, 
 disposed in the form of a crescent, and stretching the 
 distance of seven miles from one extremity to the 
 other. As the armada advanced up the channel, the 
 English hung on its rear, and soon found that the 
 largeness of the Spanish ships was no advantage to 
 them. Their bulk exposed them the more to the fire 
 of the enemy j while their cannon, placed too high, 
 passed over the heads of the English. 
 
 The armada had now reached Calais, and cast an- 
 chor, in expectation that the duke of' Parma would 
 put to se'j. and join them. The English admiral, how 
 ever, filling eight of his smaller ships with combusti 
 ble materials, sent them one after another into the 
 midst of the enemy. The Spaniards were so much 
 alarmed, that they immediately cut their cables, and 
 fled with the greatest precipitation. The English, 
 whose fleet now amounted to one hundred and forty 
 sail, fell upon them next morning while in confusion; 
 and besides doing great damage to other ships, they 
 took or destroyed about twelve of the enemy. 
 
 The Spanish admiral, defeated in many rencounters, 
 and perceiving the inevitable destruction of his fleet, 
 prepared to return homewards; but. conducting his 
 shattered ships by the circuitous route of Scotland 
 and Ireland, a violent tempest overtook them near the 
 Orkneys. Many of the vessels were wrecked on the 
 western isles of Scotland, and on the coast of Ire- 
 land; and not one half of this mighty armament re- 
 turned to Spain. 
 
 The discomfiture of the armada begat in the nation 
 ,- S o-i a kind of enthusiastic passion for enterprises 
 against Spain; and ships were hired, as well as 
 arms provided, at the expense of the adventurers. 
 Among those who signalized themselves in these ex 
 peditions, were Drake and Norris, Grenville, Howard, 
 md the earls of Essex and Cumberland. 
 
 The war in the Netherlands still continued ; and 
 
ELIZABETH. 
 
 269 
 
 die king of Navarre, a protestant, ascending the throne 
 of France by the title of Henry IV., a great part of the 
 nobility immediately deserted him, and the king of 
 Spain entertained views either of dismembering the 
 French monarchy, or of annexing the whole to his 
 own dominions. In this emergency, Henry addressed 
 himself to Elizabeth, who sent him aid both in men 
 and money ; and the English auxiliaries acquired great 
 reputation in several enterprises, and revived in 
 France the fame of their ancient valour. 
 
 This war did great injury to Spain ; but it was at- 
 tended with considerable expense to England ; and 
 the queen summoned a parliament in order to obtain a 
 supply. However, it is evident that Elizabeth either 
 thought her authority so established as to need no 
 concessions in return, or she rated her prerogative 
 above money. When sir Edward Coke, the speaker, 
 made to her the then three usual requests of freedom 
 from arrests, access to her person, and liberty of 
 speech, she declared that she would not impeach the 
 freedom of their persons, nor refuse them access to 
 her, provided it were upon urgent occasions, and when 
 she was at leisure from other important affairs ; but 
 that they were not to speak every one what he listeth, 
 and that the privilege of speech extended no farther 
 than a liberty of ay or no. 
 
 Henry IV. renounced the protestant religion, and 
 was received by the prelates of his party into the 
 catholic church ; and Elizabeth assisted that monarch 
 to break the league which had been formed against 
 him, and which, after his conversion to popery, gradu 
 ally dissolved. 
 
 Though the queen made war against Philip in 
 France and the Low Countries, yet the severest blows 
 which he received from England, proceeded from na- 
 val enterprises. James Lancaster, with three ships 
 15941 an< ^ a pinnace, took thirty-nine Spanish ships, 
 J sacked Fernambouc on the coast of Brazil, and 
 brought home a great quantity of treasure. Sir Wal- 
 ter Raleigh was less successful in an expedition to 
 Guiana, a country which he undertook to explore at 
 his own expense. Sir Francis Drake engaged in an 
 enterprise against Panama; but the Spaniards obliged 
 the English to return without effecting any thing; and 
 
270 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Drake, from the vexation of this disappointment, was 
 eeized with a distemper, of which he died. 
 
 This unsuccessful enterprise in America determin- 
 ed the English to attack the Spanish dominions in Eu- 
 rope. A powerful fleet of one hundred and seventy 
 vessels, carrying upwards of seven thousand soldiers, 
 besides Dutch auxiliaries, set sail from Plymouth ; 
 and after a fruitless attempt to land at St. Sebastian, 
 on the western side of Cadiz, resolved to attack the 
 ships and galleys in the bay. This attempt was deem- 
 ed rash ; but the earl of Essex strenuously recom- 
 mended the enterprise. Effiingham, the commander- 
 in-chief, appointed sir Walter Raleigh, and lord Thom- 
 as Howard, to lead the van ; but Essex, contrary to 
 the injunctions of the admiral, pressed forward into 
 the thickest of the fight 5 and landing his men at the 
 fort of Puntal, he immediately marched to Cadiz, 
 which the impetuous valour of the English soon car 
 ried, sword in hand. The generosity of Essex, not 
 inferior to his valour, induced him to stop the slaugh- 
 ter. The English obtained immense plunder; but 
 they missed a much greater, by the Spanish admiral 
 setting fire to the ships, in order to prevent their fall- 
 ing into the hasids of the enemy. It was computed 
 that the loss which the Spaniards sustained by this 
 enterprise amounted to twenty millions of ducats. 
 
 The king of France concluded a peace with Spain ; 
 and the queen knew that she could finish the war on 
 equitable terms with Philip. Burleigh advised her to 
 embrace pacific measures ; but Essex, whose passion 
 for glory rendered him desirous that the war should 
 continue, urged that her majesty had no reason to fear 
 the issue of the contest, and that it would be dishon- 
 ourable in her to desert the Hollanders, till their af- 
 fairs were placed in greater security. The advice of 
 Essex was more agreeable to Elizabeth ; and the fa 
 vourite seemed daily to acquire an ascendant over the 
 minister. Had he, indeed, been endowed with cau- 
 tion and temper, he might soon have engrossed the 
 entire confidence of* his mistress ; but his lofty spirit 
 could ill submit to implicit deference ; and in a dis- 
 pute with the queen, he was so heated by the argu 
 merit, and so entirely forgetful of the rules both ol 
 civility and duty, that he turned his back upon her in 
 
ELIZABETH. 
 
 271 
 
 a contemptuous manner. Elizabeth, naturally prone 
 to anger, instantly gave him a box on the ear, adding 
 a passionate expression suitable to his impertinence. 
 
 Instead of recollecting himself, and making the sub- 
 mission due to her sex and station, Essex clapped his 
 hand on his sword, swore that he would not bear such 
 usage, were it from Henry the Eighth himself, and 
 immediately withdrew from court. 
 
 The queen’s partiality, however, soon reinstated 
 him in his former favour ; and the death of Burleigh, 
 equally regretted by his sovereign and the people, 
 seemed to ensure him the confidence of Elizabeth. 
 
 Soon after the death of this wise and faithful minis- 
 ter, Philip the Second expired at Madrid. This haugh- 
 ty prince, desirous of an accommodation with his re- 
 volted subjects in the Netherlands, had transferred to 
 1 ns daughter, married to the archduke Albert, the title 
 to the Low Countries; but the States considered this 
 deed only as the change of a name 5 and the secret 
 opposition of France, as well as the avowed efforts 
 of England, continued to operate against the progress 
 of Albert, as they had done against that of Philip. 
 
 The authority of the English in the affairs of Ire- 
 land had hitherto been little more than nominal. In- 
 stead of inviting the Irish to adopt the more civilized 
 customs of their conquerors, they even refused to 
 communicate to them the privilege of their laws, and 
 every where marked them out as aliens and enemies ; 
 and the treatment which they experienced, rendered 
 them such, and made them daily become more un- 
 ' tractable and more dangerous. Insurrections and re- 
 bellions had been frequent in Ireland 3 and Elizabeth 
 tried several expedients for reducing that country to 
 greater order and submission ; but these expedients 
 were unsuccessful, and Ireland became formidable to 
 the English. 
 
 Hugh O’Neale, who had been raised by the quee 1 
 to the dignity of earl of Tyrone, embraced the reso 
 lution of raising an open rebellion, and entered into a 
 correspondence with Spain, whence he procured a 
 supply of arms and ammunition. A victory obtained 
 over sir Henry Bagnal, who had advanced to relieve a 
 fort besieged by the rebels, raised the reputation of j 
 
 Tyrone, who assumed the character of the delivt iei f! 
 
 
272 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 .,-qqt of his country. The English council were now 
 J J sensible that the rebellion of Ireland should be 
 opposed by vigorous measures j and the queen ap- 
 pointed Essex governor of that country, by the title 
 of lord-lieutenant, and gave him the command of 
 twenty thousand foot, and two thousand horse. 
 
 On his landing at Dublin, Essex was guilty of a cap- 
 ital error, which was the ruin of his enterprise. In- 
 stead of leading his forces immediately into Ulster 
 against Tyrone, the chief enemy, he wasted the sea- 
 son of action in reducing Munster ; and when he as- 
 sembled his troops for an expedition into Ulster, the 
 army was so averse to this enterprise, and so terrified 
 with the reputation of the Irish rebel, that many of 
 them counterfeited sickness, and many of them de- 
 serted. Convinced that it would be impossible for 
 him to effect any thing against an enemy who, though 
 superior in number, was determined to avoid a deci- 
 sive action, Essex hearkened to a message sent him 
 by Tyrone for a conference. The generals met with- 
 out any of their attendants j a river ran between them, 
 into which Tyrone entered to the depth of his saddle 5 
 but Essex stood on the opposite bank. A cessation 
 of arms was concluded till the next spring, renewable 
 from six weeks to six weeks ; but which might be 
 broken by either party on giving a fortnight's notice. 
 Essex also received from Tyrone proposals of peace, 
 in which that rebel had inserted many unreasonable 
 conditions ; and it was afterwards suspected, that he 
 had commenced a very unjustifiable correspondence 
 with the enemy. 
 
 Elizabeth was highly provoked at the unexpected 
 issue of this great and expensive enterprise ; and 
 Essex, informed of the queen's anger, set out for Eng- 
 land, and arrived at court before any one was apprized 
 of his intentions. Though covered with dirt and 
 sweat, he hastened to the presence-chamber, and 
 thence to the privy-chamber; nor stopped till he was 
 in the queen’s bed-chamber, who had just risen. Af- 
 ter some private conversation with her, he retired with 
 great satisfaction ; but, though the queen had thus 
 been taken by surprise, she ordered him to be confin- 
 ed to his chamber, and to be twice examined by tho 
 council. 
 
ELIZABETH. 
 
 2*73 
 
 Essex professed an entire submission to the queen's 
 will, and declared his intention of retiring into the 
 country, remote from courts and business ; but, though 
 he affected to be cured of his ambition, the vexation 
 of this disappointment, and of the triumph gained by 
 his enemies, threw him into a distemper which seem- 
 ed to endanger his life. The queen, alarmed with his 
 situation, ordered her physicians to attend him, and 
 also to deliver him a message, whicii was probably 
 more efficacious in promoting his recovery, than any 
 medicines that could be prescribed. After some in- 
 terval, Elizabeth allowed her favourite to retire to his 
 own house, where, in the company of his countess, he 
 passed his time in the pursuits of elegant literature. 
 
 Essex possessed a monopoly of sweet wines ; and 
 as his patent was nearly expiring, he patiently expect- 
 ed that the queen would renew it 5 but Elizabeth, 
 whose temper was somewhat haughty and severe, de- 
 nied his request. Essex, whose patience was exhaust- 
 ed, burst at once all. restraints of prudence ; and ob- 
 served, “ that the queen was now grown an old wo- 
 man, and become as crooked in her mind as her body." 
 Some court ladies carried this story to the queen, who 
 was highly incensed against him ; but his secret ap- 
 plications to the king of Scots, her heir and succes- 
 sor, were still more provoking to BUizabeth, than the 
 sarcasms on her age and deformity. James, however, 
 disapproved of any violent method of extorting from 
 the queen an immediate declaration of his right of 
 succession ; and Essex, disappointed in his project, 
 formed a select council of malcontents at Drury-house, 
 where he deliberated with them concerning the meth- 
 od of taking arms, chiefly for the purpose of remov- 
 ing his enemies and settling a new plan of govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Receiving a summons to attend the council at the 
 treasurer's house, Essex concluded that the conspira- 
 cy was discovered, or at least suspected. He, there- 
 fore, rashly sallied forth with about two hundred at- 
 tendants, armed only with walking sw'ords ; and in his 
 way to the city, he cried aloud, “ For the queen ! for 
 the queen! a plot is laid for my life!" the citizens 
 flocked about him in amazement; but though he told 
 them that England was sold to the Infanta, and exhorted 
 
 VOL. I. 18 
 
£74 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 them to arm instantly, no one showed a disposition to 
 join him. Essex, observing the coldness of the citi- 
 zens, and hearing that he was proclaimed a traitor by 
 the earl of Cumberland and lord Burleigh, began to 
 despair of success, and forced his way to his own 
 house 3 where he appeared determined to defend him 
 self to the last extremity 3 but after some parley, he 
 surrendered at discretion. 
 
 He and his friend the earl of Southampton were ar- 
 raigned before a jury of twenty-five peers. The guilt 
 of th-e prisoners was too apparent to admit of any 
 doubt. When sentence was pronounced, Essex spoke 
 like a man who expected nothing but death 3 but 
 Southampton's behaviour was more mild and inoffen- 
 sive, and he excited the compassion of all the peers. 
 
 After Essex had passed some days in the solitude 
 and reflection of a prison, his proud heart was at last 
 subdued, not by the fear of death, but by the senti- 
 ments of religion 5 and he gave in to the council an 
 account of all his criminal desi'gns, us well as of his 
 correspondence with the king of Scots. The present 
 situation of Essex excited all the tender affections of 
 Elizabeth : she signed the warrant for his execution 5 
 she countermanded it 3 she resolved on his death j 
 she felt a new return of tenderness: but as he made 
 no application to her for mercy, she finally gave her 
 consent to his execution. Essex was only thirty-four 
 years of age, when his rashness, imprudence, and vio- 
 lence, brought him to this untimely end. Some of his 
 associates were tried, condemned, and executed 3 but 
 Southampton was saved with great difficulty, though 
 he was detained in prison during the remainder of 
 this reign. 
 
 In Ireland, Mountjoy, who succeeded Essex, had ef- 
 fected the defeat of Tyrone, and the expulsion of the 
 Spaniards. Many of the chieftains, after concealing 
 themselves during some time, in woods and morasses, 
 submitted to the mercy of the deputy. Tyrone him- 
 self, after an unsuccessful application to be received on 
 160 CT I terms > surrendered unconditionally to Mount- 
 joy, who intended to brirg him a captive to Eng- 
 land. But Elizabeth was now incapable of receiving 
 any satisfaction from this fortunate event. Some in- 
 cidents had happened which revived her tenderness for 
 
 I 
 
ELIZABETH. 
 
 275 
 
 Essex, and filled her with the greatest sorrow. After 
 his return from the fortunate expedition against Cadiz, 
 she had given him a ring as a pledge of her affection ; 
 and assured him that into whatever disgrace he might 
 fall, if he sent her that ring, she would afford him a 
 patient hearing, and lend a favourable car to his apol- 
 ogy. Essex, notwithstanding all his misfortunes, had 
 reserved this precious gift to the last extremity ; but 
 after his trial and condemnation, he resolved to try 
 the experiment, and committed the ring to the coun- 
 tess of Nottingham, whom he desired to deliver it to 
 the queen. The countess was prevailed on by her 
 husband the mortal enemy of Essex, not to execute 
 the commission*; and Elizabeth, ascribing the neglect 
 to his invincible obstinacy, at last signed the warrant 
 for his execution. The countess falling into a dan- 
 gerous sickness, was seized with remorse for her con- 
 duct ; and having obtained a visit from the queen, she 
 craved her pardon, and revealed to her the fatal se- 
 cret. The queen burst into a furious passion ; and 
 haking the dying countess in her bed, cried out, “ God 
 jay pardon you, but I never can.” 
 
 From that moment, Elizabeth resigned herself to 
 the deepest and most incurable melancholy ; she ev- 
 en refused food and medicine ; and throwing herself 
 on the floor, she remained there ten days and as many 
 nights, declaring life an insufferable burthen to her, 
 and uttering chiefly groans and sighs. Her anxious 
 mind had so long preyed on her frail body, that her 
 end was visibly approaching ; and the council being 
 assembled, commissioned the lord-keeper, admiral, 
 and secretary, to know her majesty’s pleasure with 
 regard to her successor. She answered with a faint 
 voice, that “ she hatl held a regal sceptre, and desired 
 no other than a royal successor.” Cecil requesting 
 her to explain herself more particularly, she subjoin- 
 ed, that “ she would have a king to succeed her, and 
 who should that be, but her nearest kinsman, the king 
 of Scots ?” Soon after, her voice failed, and her sen 
 ses were lost; and falling into a letnargic slumber, 
 she gently expired, in the seventieth year of her age, 
 and the forty-fifth of her reign. 
 
 So dark was the cloud which overspread the even- 
 ing of that day whose meridian solendour dazzled the 
 
276 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 eyes of Europe. The vigour, firmness, penetration 
 and address of Elizabeth, have not been surpassed by 
 any person that ever filled a throne j but a conduc 
 less imperious, more sincere, and more indulgent tc 
 her people, would have been requisite to form a com- 
 plete character. Her heroism was exempt from rash- 
 ness, her frugality from avarice, and her activity from 
 the turbulence of ambition 5 but the rivalship of beau- 
 ty, the desire of admiration, the jealousy of love, and 
 the sallies of anger, were infirmities from which she 
 guarded not herself with equal care or equal success. 
 When we contemplate her as a woman, we are struck 
 with the highest admiration of her great qualities and 
 extensive capacity ; but we perceive a want of that 
 softness of disposition, that lenity of temper, and those 
 amiable weaknesses by which her sex is distinguished 
 and adorned. Few sovereigns of England succeeded 
 to the throne in more difficult circumstances ; and 
 none ever conducted the government with such uni- 
 form success. Her wise ministers and brave warriors 
 share the praise of her -success y but, instead of less- 
 ening, they increased the applause which she justly 
 deserves. They owed their advancement to her judg- 
 ment and discrimination. 
 
 The maxims of hei government were highly arbitra 
 ry ; but these were transmitted to her by her prede- 
 cessors ; and she believed that her subjects were en- 
 titled to no more liberty than their ancestors had en- 
 joyed. A well-regulated constitutional balance was 
 not yet established 5 and it was not without many se- 
 vere struggles, and some dreadful convulsions, that 
 the people were allowed the blessings of liberty. 
 
 END OF VOLUME 1 
 

 ✓ 
 
 
 
 
 
 : 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3PH® flam HAIL 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 IIUME AND SMOLLETT : 
 
 ABRIDGED, 
 
 tKD CONTINUED TO THE ACCESSION OF 
 
 VICTORIA. 
 
 BY JOHN ROBINSON, D. D. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, AND COMPANY. 
 . 1857 . 
 
m 
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Reign of James / 
 
 The crown of England passed from the family of 
 Tudor to that of Stuart with the utmost tranquillity. 
 In James’s journey from Edinburgh to London, all 
 IfOTl ran ^ s ti oc, ked around him, allured by the inter- 
 ' est of curiosity ; and he was so well pleased 
 with the flow of affection which appeared in his new 
 subjects, that in six weeks after his entrance into the 
 kingdom, he conferred the honour of knighthood on 
 no fewer than two hundred and thirty-seven persons, 
 besides raising several from inferior to higher digni- 
 ties ; and among the rest the Scottish courtiers were 
 thought to be especially favoured. 
 
 It must be confessed, however, that James left al- 
 most all the chief offices in the hands of Elizabeth’s 
 ministers, and intrusted the conduct of political con- 
 cerns to his English subjects. Among these, Cecil 
 was successively created lord Effingdon, viscount 
 Cranbourne, and earl of Salisbury, and regarded as 
 prime minister and chief counsellor. A secret cor- 
 respondence into which he had entered with James, 
 during the latter years of Elizabeth’s reign, laid the 
 foundation of Cecil’s credit; and while all his former 
 associates, sir Walter Raleigh, lord Grey, and lord 
 Cobham, were discountenanced on account of their 
 animosity against Essex, this minister was conti> aed 
 in his employment, and treated with the greatest con- 
 fidence and regard. 
 
 Amidst the great tranquillity, both foreign and do- 
 mestic, which the nation enjoyed, nothing could be 
 
* HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 more unexpected than the discovery of a conspiracy 
 to subvert the government, and to place on the throne 
 Arabella Stuart, a near relation of the king’s, and 
 equally descended from Henry the Seventh. Sir Wal- 
 ter Raleigh, one of the principals in the plot, contrary 
 to all laws and equity, was found guilty by a jury ; but 
 he was reprieved, not pardoned 5 and he remained in 
 confinement for many years 
 
 The religious disputes between the church and the 
 puritans, which had been continually increasing ever 
 since the reformation, induced the king to call a con- 
 ference at Hampton-court, on pretence of finding ex- 
 16041 Patents which might reconcile both parties. 
 
 The disposition of James, however, had re- 
 ceived a strong bias against the puritanical clergy in 
 Scotland j and he showed tne greatest propensity to 
 the established church, and frequently inculcated as a 
 maxim, no bishop, no king. 
 
 The severe, though popular government of Eliza- 
 oeth, had confined the rising spirit of liberty within 
 very narrow bounds : but when a new and foreign fam- 
 ily succeeded to the throne, and a prince less dreaded 
 and less beloved, principles of a more independent 
 nature appeared in the nation. The king, however, 
 told the parliament, “ that all their privileges were 
 derived from his grant, and hoped they would not turn 
 them against him ” James of his own accord annul- 
 led all the numerous patents for monopolies; but the 
 exclusive companies still remained, and .almost all the 
 commerce of England centered in London, the trade 
 of which was confined to about two hundred citizens. 
 
 One of the most memorable events recorded in his- 
 tory is the “ Gunpowder Plot.” The Roman catholics 
 had expected great favour from James; and they were 
 surprised and enraged to find that, on all occasions, 
 he expresed his intention of strictly executing the 
 laws against them. Catesby, a gentleman of an an- 
 cient family, first thought of a most extraordinary 
 method of revenge, which was to destroy at one blovv / 
 the king, the royal family, the lords, and the com* 
 moi.s, by running a mine below the hall in which the 
 parliament assembled, and choosing the very moment 
 4 n which the king harangued both houses. This din 
 oolical scheme he ^^^municated to Percy ,*a descend 
 
JAMES I. 5 
 
 ant of the illustrious house of Northumberland, who 
 was charmed with the project ; and they agreed cau- 
 tiously to enlist some other conspirators, and sent 
 over to Flanders in quest of one Guy Fawkes, an offi- 
 cer in the Spanish service, with whose zeal and cour- 
 age they were well acquainted. 
 
 The conspirators bound themselves by oath of se- 
 crecy, which they confirmed by receiving the sacra- 
 ment together; and they hired a house in the name of 
 Percy, adjoining that in which the parliament assem- 
 bled. Finding that a vault under the house of lords 
 was to let, they seized the opportunity of renting it, 
 and deposited in it thirty-six barrels of powder 
 -* which they covered with laggots and billed 
 wood. The doors of the cellar were then thrown 
 boldly open, as if it contained nothing dangerous, and, 
 confident of success, the conspirators now planned the 
 remaining part of their project. 
 
 The king, the .queen, and prince Henry, were all 
 expected to be present at the opening of the parlia- 
 ment; but as the duke, by reason of his tender age, 
 would necessarily be absent, it was resolved to assas- 
 sinate him. The princess Elizabeth, a child likewise 
 was kept at lord Harrington's house in Warwickshire ; 
 and it was determined to seize that princess and pro- 
 claim her queen. 
 
 Though more than twenty persons were engaged in 
 this conspiracy, the dreadful secret had been sacredly 
 kept nearly a year and a half. No remorse, no pity, 
 no fear of punishment, or hope of reward, had induced 
 any conspirator either to abandon the enterprise, or 
 discover the plot. A few days, however, before the 
 meeting of parliament, lord Monteagle, a catholic, and 
 son to lord Morley, received the following letter, from 
 an unknown hand.* 
 
 “My lord, out of the love I bear to some of your 
 friends, I have a care of your preservation. T' ere- 
 
 * There is strong reason to believe that this letter was sent 
 by Mary, eldest daughter of lord Morley, sister to lord Mont- 
 eagle, and wife of Thomas Abington, esq of Henslip, in t he 
 county of Worcester. Affection for her brother prompted the 
 warning, while love for her husband, who was privy to thf 
 aonspiracy, suggested such means as were best calculated 
 l reveal his detection. 
 
5 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Toro. I would advise you, as you tender your life, to de* 
 vise some excuse to shift off your attendance in this 
 parliament. For God and man have concurred to 
 punish the wickedness of this time. And think not 
 slightly of this advertisement 5 but retire.yourself into 
 your country, where you may expect the event in safe- 
 ty. For though there be no appearance of any stir, 
 yet I say they will receive a terrible blow this parlia- 
 ment, am yet they shall not see who hurts them. 
 This counsel is not to be contemned, because it may 
 do you good, and can do you no harm : for the danger 
 is past as soon as you have burned the letter. And [ 
 hope God will give you the grace to make rood use of 
 it, unto whose holy protection I commend you.” 
 
 Monteagle, as well as Salisbury, to whom he com- 
 municated it, considered the letter as a foolish at- 
 tempt to frighten 5 but, from the serious and earnest 
 manner in which it was written, James conjectured 
 that it implied something dangerous and important 3 
 and the enigmatical but strong expressions used in the 
 epistle, seemed to denote some contrivance by gun 
 powder.* In consequence, it was determined to in 
 spect all the vaults under the house of parliament t 
 but the search was purposely delayed till the day be- 
 fore the meeting of parliament. This care belonged 
 to the earl of Suffolk, lord chamberlain, who remark- 
 ed the great piles of wood and faggots in the vault un- 
 der the upper house 3 and he observed Fawkfes in a 
 corner, who passed himself as Percy’s servant. About 
 giidnight, sir Thomas Knevet, with proper attend- 
 ants, entered tne vault 3 and after seizing Fawkes, he 
 removed the faggots, and discovered the powder. 
 The matches and other preparations for setting the 
 whole on fire, were found in tne pockets of Fawkes, 
 who, seeing it useless to dissemble, boldly expressed 
 his regret that he had lost the opportunity of firing the 
 powder at once, and of sweetening his own death by 
 that of his enemies. Before the council he displayed 
 the same intrepidity, and refused to discover his ac- 
 complices j but being confined in the Tower, and left 
 to reflect on Ins guilt and danger, his courage failed 
 in a few days, and he made a full discovery of the 
 
 * James might probably be led to this conclusion fret* 
 recollecting the catastrophe of his fathor. Mavcr 
 
JAMES I. 1 
 
 conspirators, who never exceeded the number of eigh 
 ty. They all suffered death by one way or other; 
 and horrible as the crime was, the bigoted catholics 
 regarded some of them as martyrs. 
 
 At this time, James seems to have possessed the 
 affections of his English subjects and of the oarlia- 
 ment. His learning, which was not despicable, obtained 
 him the name of the second Solomon. All his efforts, 
 however, for an union between England and Scotland 
 proved ineffectual, on account of the national antipa- 
 thy by which the English parliament was governed ; 
 and he could procure only an abolition of the hostile 
 laws which had been formerly enacted between the 
 two kingdoms. 
 
 The house of commons began now to feel them- 
 selves of such importance, that on the motion of sir 
 Edwin Sandys, they entered for the first time, an order 
 for the regular keeping of their journals. 
 
 In the following session, the lord-treasurer Dorset 
 If 101 °P en the, king’s necessities, but the com- 
 -* mons refused to relieve them, and James re- 
 ceived the mortification of discovering in vain, all his • 
 
 wants, and of asking the aid of his subjects, who 
 seemed determined to diminish the power of the 
 crown. Inheriting all the high notions of regal gov 
 eminent that had marked the reigns of Henry and 
 Elizabeth, James was continually employed in endeav- 
 ouring to preserve the prerogatives which former sov- 
 ereigns had enjoyed, but which a more enlightened 
 age and a less obsequious parliament deemed abso- 
 lutely necessary to circumscribe. In his first parlia- 
 ment, which sat nearly seven years, frequent attacks 
 were made on the royal prerogative ; and the king dis- 
 played all his exalted notions of monarchy and the au- 
 thority of princes; but the principles which these 
 popular attempts developed, and which opposition 
 served only to increase, at last overturned the throne, 
 and plunged the nation in confusion. 
 
 In promoting the civilization of Ireland, James pro- 
 ceeded on a regular and well-concerted plan ; and he 
 found it necessary to abolish the ancient customs, 
 which supplied the place of laws. By the Brehen cus- 
 tom, every crime, however enormous, was punished 
 by a pecuniary fine. This rate was called e;ic. When 
 
8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 (lie English had formed the design of sending a sner 
 iff into Fermanagh, Maguire, a chief of that district, 
 replied, “ Your sheriff shall be welcome to me ; but 
 et me know beforehand his eric, or the price of his 
 lead, that if my people cut it off, I may levy the mon- 
 ey on the county.' 77 Small offences were subject to no 
 penalty ; and in this horrible state of society, the ef- 
 forts of James to produce amelioration were highly 
 deserving of praise. In the room of savage institu- 
 tions, he substituted English laws; took the natives 
 under his protection, and declared them free citizens ; 
 and governed the kingdom by a regular administration, 
 military as well as civil. 
 
 This year the sudden death of Henry, prince of Wales, 
 in the eighteenth year of his age, diffused a general 
 grief throughout the nation. Neither his high birth 
 nor his youth had seduced him into any irregularities; 
 business a °d ambition were his sole delight; 
 -* and his inclinations as well as exercises were 
 martial. The French ambassador, taking leave of 
 nim, and asking his commands for France, found him 
 employed in the exercise of the pike: u Tell youi 
 king/ 7 said he, “ in what occupation you left me err 
 gaged. 77 He had conceived great affection and esteem 
 for sir Walter Raleigh, who was prisoner in the Tow- 
 er. u Surely, 77 observed he, “ no king but my father 
 would keep such a bird in a cage. 77 
 
 The marriage of the princess Elizabeth with Fred- 
 eric, elector palatine, served to dissipate the grief 
 which arose from that melancholy event ; but this mar- 
 riage, though happy to the nation in its remote and ulti- 
 mate consequences, was unfortunate both to the king 
 and his Son-in-law. The elector, trusting to so great 
 an alliance, engaged in enterprises beyond his strength ; 
 and the king, not being able to support him in his pre- 
 tensions, lost entirely, towards the end of his life, the 
 affection and esteem of his own subjects. 
 
 The history of this reign is more properly a history 
 of the court than of the nation. About the end of the 
 jear 1609, Robert Carre, a youth of twenty years of 
 age, and of a good family in Scotland, arrived in Lon 
 don,* and was introduced to the English court. The 
 charms of his person and the elegance of his mannere 
 ■oon won the affections of James, who success ; vely 
 
JAMES. 9 
 
 snignted him, created him viscount Rochester, and 
 gave him the garter. In sir Thomas Overbury, this 
 minion met with a judicious and sincere counsellor} 
 and so long as he was governed by his friendly coun- 
 sels, he enjoyed the highest favour of his sovereign, 
 without being hated by the people. Intoxicated, how- 
 ever, by his good fortune, Rochester found means to 
 seduce the affections of the young countess of Essex, 
 daughter of the earl of Suffolk, though she rejected 
 the embraces of her husband; and in spite, of the re- 
 monstrances of Overbury, a divorce was procured, and 
 a marriage solemnized between the two adulterers. 
 On this occasion, the king so far forgot the dignity of 
 his character, and his friendship to the family of Es- 
 sex, that, lest the lady should lose any rank by her 
 new marriage, he created his minion earl of Somerset. 
 
 The countess, however, was not satisfied till she 
 could satiate her revenge on Overbury, who had been 
 committed to the Tower, at the instance of Somerset, 
 for disobeying an order of the king. She engaged her 
 husband, as well as her uncle, the earl of Northamp- 
 ton, in the atrocious design of destroying him secret- 
 ly by poison. Fruitless attempts were reiterated by 
 weak doses ; but at last they gave him one so sudden 
 and violent, that the symptoms were apparent to every 
 one who approached him ; and though a strong suspi- 
 cion prevailed in the public, the full proof of the 
 crime was not brought to light for some years after. 
 
 The fatal catastrophe of sir Thomas Overbury in- 
 creased or begat a suspicion that the prince of Wales 
 had been carried off by poison, given him by Somer- 
 set; and the king was not spared amidst the just im- 
 putations thrown on his favourite. 
 
 A r.ew parliament was again summoned, after every 
 expedient had been tried to relieve the king’s necessi- 
 ties, even to the sale of baronetages and peerages ; 
 
 1614] 
 
 but that assembly, -instead of entering on the 
 
 business of supply, as urged by the king, began 
 with disputing his majesty’s power of levying new 
 customs and impositions, by the mere authority of his 
 prerogative. The king, with great indignation, dis 
 solved the parliament, without obtaining the smalles* 
 supply to his necessities; and he imprisoned some of 
 the memoers, who had been most forward iff their op 
 
10 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 position to his measures; and though he valued him 
 Belf highly on his king-craft, he openly at his table in- 
 culcated those monarchical principles which he had so 
 strongly imbibed. Among other company, there sat at 
 table two bishops, Neile and Andrews. The king pub- 
 licly proposed the question, whether he might not 
 take his subjects' money when he needed it, without 
 all this formality of parliament? The obsequious 
 Neile replied, “ God forbid you should not; for you 
 are the breath of our nostrils." Andrews declined 
 answering; but when the king urged him, he pleasant- 
 ly observed, “ I think your majesty may lawfully take 
 my brother Neile's money, for he offers it." 
 
 The favourite had hitherto escaped the inquiry of 
 justice ; but conscious of the murder of his friend, he 
 became sullen and silent; and the king began to es- 
 trange himself from a man who no longer contributed 
 to his amusement. The enemies of Somerset seized 
 the opportunity of throwing a new minion in the king's 
 way, in the person of George Villiers, a youth of one 
 and twenty, who was immediately raised to the office 
 of cup-bearcr. In the mean time, Somerset's guilt in 
 the murder of sir Thomas Overbury was fully discov- 
 ered ; and James, alarmed and astonished at such 
 enormous guilt in a man whom he had so highly hon 
 oured, recommended a most rigorous scrutiny. All 
 the accomplices received the punishment of death, 
 but the king bestowed a pardon on the principals, 
 Somerset and the countess: and after some years im- 
 prisonment, he restored them to their liberty, and they 
 languished out their old age in infamy and obscurity. 
 
 The fall of Somerset opened the way for Villiers, 
 who, in the space of a few years, by rapi-d advances, 
 was at last created duke of Buckingham, knight of the 
 garter, master of the horse, and lord high-admiral of 
 England, with other honourable appointments. His 
 mother obtained the title of countess of Buckingham; 
 his brother was created viscount Purbec ; and a nu- 
 merous train of needy relations were all invested with 
 credit and authority. 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh had been imprisoned for thir- 
 teen years ; and men had leisure to reflect on the 
 hardship and injustice of his sentence. They pitied 
 his active and enterprising spirit, which languished in 
 
JAMES I. 
 
 11 
 
 the rigours of confinement; and they admired his ex- 
 tensive genius, no less than his unbroken magnanimi- 
 ty. To increase these favourable dispositions, on 
 16181 w h* c h he built the hopes of recovering his lib- 
 J erty, Raleigh spread the report of a rieli gold 
 mine, which he had discovered in Guiana. The king 
 gave little credit to the tale, but released him from 
 the Tower, without pardoning him, and suffered him 
 to try the adventure. 
 
 Raleigh had declared that the Spaniards had plant- 
 ed no colonies on that part of the coast where this 
 mine lay; but it had happened, that, in a space of 
 twenty-three years which had elapsed since he had last 
 visited that region, they had formed a settlement on 
 the river Oronooko, and built a town called St. Tho- 
 mas. To this place Raleigh directly bent his course, 
 and sent a detachment under the command of his son, 
 and of captain Kemys^ an officer entirely devoted ta 
 him. The Spaniards, who had expected this invasion, 
 fired on the English at their landing, were repulsed, 
 and pursued into the town. Young Ralergh received 
 a shot, of which he immediately expired ; but the 
 town was carried, and afterwards reduced to ashes. 
 Kemys, who owned that he was within two hours 
 march of the mine, returned to Raleigh with the mel- 
 ancholy news of his son’s death ; and, despairing of 
 the success of the enterprise, he retired to his cabin, 
 and put an end to his life 
 
 The other adventurers now concluded, that they 
 were deceived by Raleigh; and thinking it safest to 
 return immediately to England, they carried him with 
 them. The privy-council pronounced that Raleigh 
 had abused the king’s confidence ; and the court of 
 Spain raising loud complaints against him, the king 
 made use of that power which he had purposely re- 
 served in his own hands, and signed the warrant for 
 his execution upon his former sentence. 
 
 Raleigh, finding his fate inevitable, collected all his 
 courage and resolution. As he felt the edge of the 
 axe with which he was to oe beheaded, il ’Tis a sharp 
 remedy,” he said, “ but a sure one for all ills.” His 
 harangue to the people was calm and eloquent ; and, 
 with the utmost indifference, he laid his head on the 
 slock, ai.d received the fatal blow. 
 
12 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, 
 
 The execution of this sentence, which was at first 
 aard, and which had been so long suspended, gave 
 general dissatisfaction ; and it was rendered still more 
 invidious and unpopular by the intimate connexions 
 entered into With Spain. Godemar, the Spanish am- 
 bassador, in order to withdraw the attention of Janies 
 from Germany, had offered the second daughter of 
 Spain in marriage to prince Charles, with an immense 
 fortune. The bait took 5 and though the states of Bo- 
 hemia, inspired with the love of civil and religious lib- 
 erty, had taken up arms against the emperor Ferdi- 
 nand, and tendered their crown to Frederic, elector 
 palatine, probably on account of his connexion with 
 England, James refused to lend any assistance to his 
 son-in-law, and Frederic, being defeated in the great 
 and decisive battle of Prague, was driven from the pal- 
 atinate, and fled with his family into Holland. 
 
 High were now the murmurs and complaints against 
 the inactive disposition of the king, who flattered him- 
 16201 se ^> ^at a ^ ter h e h ac * formed an intimate con- 
 -* nexiop with the Spanish monarch, by means of 
 his son’s marriage, the restitution of the palatinate 
 might be procured, from motives of friendship alone. 
 
 At this time the great seal was in the hands of Fran- 
 cis Bacon, lord Verulam, a man universally admired 
 for the sublimity of his genius 5 but his want of econ- 
 omy, and his indulgence to servants, involved him in 
 necessities; and he received bribes which rendered 
 him obnoxious to censure. Being impeached by the 
 commons, the peers sentenced him to pay a fine of 
 forty thousand pounds, to be imprisoned in the Tower 
 during the king’s pleasure, and to be for ever incapa- 
 ble of holding any office, place, or employment. Ba- 
 con, however, was soon released from prison, the fine 
 was remitted, and, in consideration of his great mer- 
 't, a pension of eighteen hundred pounds a-year was 
 conferred upon him ; and his literary productions have 
 made his guilt or weakness be forgotten or overlook- 
 ed by posterity. 
 
 In the mean time, the commons entreated his ma- 
 jesty, that he would immediately undertake the de 
 fence of the palatinate ; that he would turn his arms 
 against Spain ; and that he would enter into negotia- 
 tions for a marriage with his son only with ? proles 
 
 / 
 
JAMES I. 
 
 \2 
 
 tant princess. This seeming invasion of his prerogi 
 tive highly ir.censed James, who, in a letter to the 
 speaker, sharply rebuked the house for debating on 
 matters far above their capacity, and forbade them to 
 meddle with any subject that regarded his govern- 
 ment. This letter inflamed the commons, who, after 
 another ineffectual remonstrance, framed a protesta- 
 tion, in which they repeated all their claims for free- 
 dom of speech, and an unbounded authority to inter- 
 pose with their advice and counsel. They asserted 
 that the liberties, franchises, privileges, and jurisdic- 
 tions of parliament, are the ancient and undoubted 
 birthright of the subjects of England. This protesta- 
 tion the king himself tore from the journals ; and, af- 
 ter committing some of the leading members of the 
 house to the Tower, he finally dissolved the parlia- 
 ment. These struggles, between prerogative on the 
 one hand, and privilege on the other, terminated only 
 with the overthrow of the monarchy, under the unfor- 
 tunate Charles the First. 
 
 In vain did James, by reiterated proclamations, foi- 
 Did the discussing of state affairs. Such proclama- 
 tions, as might naturally be expected, served rather to 
 16221 * n ^ arne the curiosity of the public. The ef- 
 forts of Frederic for the recovery of his domin- 
 ions were vigorous, but ineffectual; and James now 
 persuaded his son-in-law to disarm, and to trust to his 
 negotiations. To show, however, the estimation in 
 which James's negotiations were held abroad, in a 
 farce acted at Brussels, a courier announced that 
 the palatinate would soon be wrested from Austria, as 
 succours from all quarters were hastening to the re- 
 lief of the despoiled elector : the king of Denmark, 
 he said, had agreed to contribute to his assistance one 
 hundred thousand pickled herrings ; the Dutch, one 
 hundred thousand butter boxes ; and the king of Eng- 
 land, one hundred thousand ambassadors. On other 
 occasions, James was depicted with a scabbard, but 
 without a sword ; or with a sword, which no one could 
 draw, though several were pulling at it. 
 
 In order to remove all obstacles to the match be- 
 tween the infanta of Spain and prince Charles, James 
 iespatched the earl of Bristol to Philip IV.; all mat- 
 ters were adjusted, and the dispensation from Borne 
 
f i HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 only was wanting, when this flattering prospect was 
 blasted by the temerity of Buckingham. 
 
 A coolness between this favourite and the prince 
 of Wales had taken place; and Buckingham, desirous 
 of an opportunity which might connect him with 
 Charles, and also envious of the great credit acquired 
 by Bristol, proposed a journey of courtship to Madrid. 
 The young and ardent mind of the prince eagerly em- 
 braced the scheme ; and the king was prevailed on to 
 grant his consent to the undertaking, though not with- 
 out much reluctance and apprehension of the result. 
 
 The prince and Buckingham, with their attendants, 
 passed disguised and undiscovered through France ; 
 and they even ventured into a court-ball at Paris, 
 where Charles saw the princess Henrietta, whom he 
 afterwards espoused, and who was at that time in the 
 bloom of youth and beauty. In eleven days after 
 their departure from London they arrived at Madrid, 
 and surprised every one by a step so unusual among 
 great princes. The Spanish monarch treated Charles 
 with the utmost respect and the most flattering atten- 
 tions ; but the infanta was only shown to her lover in 
 public, the established etiquette not allowing any far- 
 ther intercourse till the arrival of a dispensation from 
 Rome. The king of England, as well as the prince, 
 became impatient; and the latter having taken his 
 leave, embarked on board an English fleet, and return- 
 ed to England. Charles had endeared himself to the 
 whole Spanish nation, by whom he was beloved and 
 esteemed ; while Buckingham, by his indecent free 
 doms and his dissolute pleasures, had rendered him 
 self universally despised and hated. Through the in 
 trigues of Buckingham, who dreaded the influence of 
 the Spaniards in England after the arrival of the in 
 fanta, the match was broken off ; and James was in 
 duced to abandon a project which, during many years, 
 had been the object of his wishes, and which had been 
 brought near to a happy conclusion. 
 
 The king, having thus involuntarily broken with 
 Spain, was obliged to summon a parliament, in 
 •* order to procure the necessary supplies ; and in 
 that assembly, Buckingham threw all tne blame on 
 the court of Spain, which he accused of artifice and 
 insincerity. The parliament advised the king to break 
 
JAMES 1. 15 
 
 off botn treaties with Spain, as well that which re- 
 garded the marriage, as that for the restitution of the 
 palatinate. The supply, however, was voted with 
 parsimony ; and to it were annexed conditions, which • 
 
 trenched on the prerogative, but which at last pro- 
 duced legitimate liberty. 
 
 After the rupture with Spain, a treaty of marriage 
 between the prince of Wales and Henrietta of France 
 was speedily concluded j but military enterprises were 
 extremely disagreeable to James, whose disposition 
 jroKi incapacitated him for war. # The English nation, 
 
 -* however, were bent on t.h*e recovery of the pal- 
 atinate ; and an army of twelve thousand foot and two 
 hundred horse, under the command of count Mans- 
 feldt, were embarked at Dover j but so ill had this 
 expedition been concerted, that half of the troops * 
 died on board by a pestilential disorder, before they 
 were permitted to land, and the other half, weakened 
 by sickness, appeared insufficient to march into the 
 palatinate. 
 
 James, who had zealously cultivated the arts of 
 peace, did not long survive the commencement of 
 hostilities. He was seized with a tertian ague, and 
 finding himself gradually becoming weaker, he sent 
 for the prince, whom he exhorted to bear a tender re- 
 gard for his wife, but to preserve a constancy in reli- 
 gion, to protect the church of England, and to extend 
 his care to the unhappy family of the palatine. With 
 decency and fortitude he prepared himself for his end j 
 and he died in the fifty-ninth year of his age, after a 
 reign over England of twenty-two years and some 
 days. 
 
 In the annals of nations, it would be difficult to find 
 a reign less illustrious, )et more unspotted and un- 
 blemished than that of James. No prince so little 
 enterprising and so inoffensive, was ever so much ex-, 
 posed lo the opposite extremes of calumny and praise ; 
 and his character has been much disputed even in the 
 present time. It must be owned, however, that he 
 possessed many virtues, though scarcely one of them 
 was free from the contagion of the neighbouring vice, 
 
 His generosity bordered on profusion, his learning on 
 pedantry, his pacific disposition on pusillanimity, and 
 his wisdom on cunning. While he imagined that he 
 
.6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 was only maintaining his own authority, he may per- 
 haps be suspected of having somewhat encroached on 
 the liberties of the people. His intentions were just, 
 but more adapted to the conduct of private life, than 
 to the government of kingdoms. 
 
 He was married to Anne of Denmark, wno died in 
 1619, eminent neither for her vices nor her virtues; 
 and he left only one son, Charles, then in the twenty- 
 fifth year of his age ; and one daughter, Elizabeth, 
 married to the elector palatine. 
 
 At this period hi<jh pride of family prevailed ; and 
 great riches acquired by commerce, were rare. Civil 
 honours, which now hold the first place, were then 
 subordinate to the military ; and the young gentry and 
 nobility, were fond of distinguishing themselves by 
 arms. The country life, which still prevails in Eng- 
 land to a certain degree, was just beginning to give 
 way to a fondness for the seducements of the city ; 
 and James discouraged as much as possible this alter- 
 ation of manners. 11 He was wont to be very earnest,” 
 lord Bacon tells us, “ with the country gentlemen to 
 go from London to their country seats ; and some- 
 times he would say to them, Gentlemen, at London 
 you are like ships in a sea, which show like nothing; 
 but in your country villages, you are like ships in a 
 river, which look like great things.” 
 
 The amount of the king’s revenue in this reign was 
 about four hundred and fifty thousand pounds ; and his 
 ordinary disbursements are said to have exceeded this 
 sum thirty-six thousand pounds. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The reign of Charles 1. 
 
 No sooner had Charles assumed the reins of gov- 
 ernment than he issued writs for summoning a 
 J new parliament, which, after the arrival of the 
 princess Henrietta, whom he had espoused by proxy, 
 assembled at Westminster. The young prince addres- 
 sed them in the language of simplicity and cordiality; 
 but the commons, though aware of the expenses of 
 
2 * 
 
 | 
 
 CHARLES I. 17 
 
 government, and that the war was undertaken in com- 
 pliance with their earnest entreaties, granted a supply 
 of one hundred and twelve thousand pounds only 
 The puritanical party were disgusted with the court, 
 on account of the restraints under which they were 
 held, and of the favour suspected to be granted to the 
 catholics by the treaty of marriage. To the mode- 
 rate supplies allowed by parliament, were tacked con- 
 cessions in favour of civil liberty ; and Charles, who 
 had imbibed high ideas of monarchical power, and of 
 the prerogative of the crown, could ill brook any en- 
 croachments on his authority, ^>r any want of atten- 
 tion to his reasonable demands. 
 
 Though he condescended to employ entreaties with 
 the parliament, in order to obtain the necessary aid, 
 the commons remained inexorable ; and a new discov- 
 ery inflamed them against the court and tlie duke of 
 Buckingham. When James courted the alliance with 
 France, he had promised to furnish Lewis with eight 
 ships, which were to be employed against the Geno- 
 ese, the allies of Spain ; but when the vessels by the 
 orders of Charles arrived at Dieppe, a strong suspicion 
 arose that they were intended to serve against the Hu- 
 gonots of Rochelle. The sailors were inflamed ; and 
 Pennington, their commander, declared, that he would 
 rather be hanged in England for disobedience, than 
 fight against his brother protestants in France. The 
 whole squadron sailed immediately to the Downs, 
 where they received new orders from Buckingham, 
 lord Admiral, to return to Dieppe ; and a report was 
 industriously spread, that a peace had been concluded 
 between the French king and the Hugonots. When 
 they arrived at Dieppe, they found themselves deceiv- 
 ed, and again returned to England, notwithstanding 
 the magnificent offers of the French. 
 
 On this occasion the commons renewed their com- 
 plaints against the growth of popery ; and Charles 
 gave a gracious and compliant answer to their remon- 
 strances i but when he found that the parliament was 
 resolved to grant him no supply, he used the pretence 
 of the plague to dissolve the assembly. 
 
 To supply the want of parliamentary aids, Charles 
 had recourse to the unconstitutional and unpopular 
 expedient of issuing privy-seals, for borrowing money 
 
 VOL. II. 2 
 
18 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 of his subjects ; and, by means of the money thus pro- 
 cured, he equipped a fleet of eighty vessels, carrying 
 ten thousand men, which sailed to Cadiz under sir 
 Edward Cecil, lately created viscount Wimbleton. 
 The bay was full of Spanish ships of great value 3 but 
 owing to some neglect or misconduct, and the plague 
 breaking out among the seamen and soldiers, the fleet 
 was obliged to return to England without effecting 
 any thing. 
 
 Charles having failed in this enterprise, was again 
 If2f1 obli S ed to have recourse to a parliament 3 and 
 -* though he had»nominated four popular leaders, 
 to be sheriffs of their respective counties, and by that 
 means had incapacitated them from being elected 
 members, the ferment of opposition still continued. 
 The commons, indeed, voted a supply ; but the pass- 
 ing of that vote into a law was reserved till the end 
 of the session j and they annexed a condition, that 
 they should be allowed to regulate and control every 
 part of the government which displeased them 
 Great dissatisfaction was expressed by Charles at 
 this treatment 3 but his urgent necessities obliged 
 him to submit. 
 
 The duke of Buckingham, formerly obnoxious to 
 the public, became every day more unpopular 3 and the 
 house of commons impeached him of various crimes 
 and misdemeanors. While the commons were thus 
 engaged, the lord-keeper, in the king’s name express- 
 ly commanded the house not to meddle with Buck- 
 ingham 3 and Charles threatened them that if they did 
 not furnish him with supplies, he shoirld be obliged 
 to try new counsels. Two membe's, who had been 
 employed as managers of the impeachment, were 
 thrown into prison. The commons immediately de- 
 clared, that they would proceed no farther upon busi- 
 ness till they had satisfaction in their privileges. 
 Charles was obliged to release the imprisoned mem- 
 bers ; and this attempt served only to exasperate the 
 house still more. The commons were preparing are- 
 monstrance against the levying of tonnage and pound- 
 age without consent of parliament, when the king, 
 with intemperate haste, ended the session j and the^ 
 parted in mutual ill-humour. 
 
 The new counsels, with which Charles bad menac- 
 
CHARLES I. 
 
 IS 
 
 cd the parliament, were now adopted : a commission 
 was openly granted to compound with the catholics 
 and agree for dispensing with the penal laws enacted 
 against them; from the nobility assistance was re 
 quested, and from the city a loan required ; and the 
 maritime towns, with the aid of the adjacent counties, 
 were compelled to equip a certain number of ships 
 This is the first appearance in Charles's reign of ship- 
 money, a mode of taxation which afterwards produced 
 such violent discontents. 
 
 Though these irregular and unequal expedients 
 would have given disgust in more ^tranquil times, yet 
 Charles proceeded in these invidious methods with 
 some degree of moderation, till at last, under the 
 name of a general loan, he levied a sum equal to four 
 subsidies. Many, however, refused these loans ; and 
 some were even active in encouraging others to insist 
 on their common rights and privileges. Several were 
 thrown into prison by warrant of the council. Of 
 these, sir Thomas Darnel, sir John Corbet, sir Walter 
 Earl, sir John Heveningham, and sir Edmund Hamp- 
 den, had spirit enough, at their own hazard and ex 
 pense, to defend the public liberties, and to demand 
 releasement, not as a favour from the court, but as a 
 matter of right. 
 
 The question was brought to a solemn trial before 
 the court of King’s Bench; but though sir Randolph 
 Crew, chief justice, had been displaced as unfit for 
 the purposes of the court, and sir Nicholas Hyde, es- 
 teemed more obsequious, had obtained that high of- 
 fice, yet the judges went no farther than to remamd the 
 gentlemen to prison, and to refuse the bail which was 
 offered. The nation, indeed, was already exasperated 
 to a very high degree, by a variety of real grievances ; 
 and except a few courtiers and ecclesiastics, all men 
 were dissatisfied with the measures of government, 
 and thought that if some remedy were not speedily 
 adopted, all hopes of preserving the freedom of the 
 constitution might be abandoned. 
 
 Great, however, w ? as the surprise, when Charles, 
 though baffled in every attempt against Austria, em- 
 broiled with his own subjects, and unsupplied with 
 any treasure except what ho extorted by the most in 
 vidious and most dangerous measures, wantonly at 
 
20 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 'kicked France, the other great kingdom in his neigh 
 bourhood. This rash action is ascribed to the coun 
 eels of Buckingham. 
 
 When Charles married by proxy the princess Hen- 
 rietta, this minister and minion had been sent to 
 France, to grace the nuptials, and conduct the new 
 queen into England. The beauty of his person, the 
 elegance of his manners, and the splendour of his 
 equipage, occasioned general admiration. Encour- 
 aged by the smiles of the court, he carried his addres- 
 ses to the queen of Lewis; and, after his departure, 
 he secretly returned, and visiting the queen, was dis- 
 missed with a reproof which savoured more of kind- 
 ness than of anger. The vigilance of Richelieu soon 
 discovered this correspondence; and when the duke 
 was making preparations for a new embassy to Paris, 
 a message was sent him, that his presence would not 
 be agreeable. In a romantic fit of passion, he swore, 
 “ that he would see the queen in spite of all the pow- 
 er of France ;” and from that moment, he determined 
 to engage England in a war with that kingdom. 
 
 He first took advantage of some quarrels excited by 
 the queen of England’s attendants ; and he persuaded 
 Charles to dismiss all her French servants, contrary 
 to the articles of the marriage-treaty. He encourag- 
 ed the English ships of war and privateers to seize 
 vessels belonging to French merchants ; and these he 
 forthwith condemned as prizes, by a sentence of the 
 court of admiralty ; but finding that these injuries pro- 
 duced only remonstrances, or at most reprisals, on the 
 part of France, he resolved to second the intrigues of 
 the duke of Soubize, and to undertake a military ex 
 pedition against that kingdom. 
 
 Soubize, and his brother, the duke of Rohan, were 
 .he leaders of the Hugonot faction, and strongly so- 
 licited the assistance of Charles. Accordingly, a fleet 
 of one hundred sail, and an army of seven thousand 
 men, were intrusted to the command of Buckingham 
 but when the fleet appeared before Rochelle, the in- 
 hab : tants of that city refused to admit allies of whose 
 arrival they had received no previous information, and 
 Buckingham sailed to the isle of Rhe, where he land- 
 ed his men. He finally returned to England with the 
 loss of two thirds of his land forces, and with no oth- 
 
CHARLES I. 21 
 
 er credit than the vulgar one of courage and personal 
 bravery. 
 
 Great discontents, as might be expected, prevailed 
 among the English people. Their liberties were men- 
 aced j illegal taxes extorted; their commerce, which 
 had been already injured, was totally annihilated by 
 the French war; the military reputation of the nation 
 had been tarnished by two unsuccessful and ill-con- 
 ducted expeditions ; and all these calamities were as- 
 cribed to the obstinacy of Charles, in adhering to the 
 counsels of Buckingham, whose services and abilities 
 by no means deserved such unlimited confidence. 
 
 In this situation of men's minds, the king and the 
 duke dreaded the assembling of a parliament; 
 
 1 J but the money levied, or rather extorted, under 
 colour of prerogative, had beei. very slowly procured, 
 and had occasioned much ill-humour in the nation ; 
 and as it appeared dangerous to renew the experi- 
 ment, and a supply was absolutely necessary, it was 
 esolved to call a parliament. When the commons 
 ssembled, it was soon found that they were men of 
 whe same independent spirit with their predecessors, 
 and that the resentment for past injuries was neither 
 weakened nor forgotten. The court party did not pre- 
 tend to defend the late measures, in order to procure 
 money, except on the ground of necessity, to which 
 the king had been reduced by the conduct of the two 
 former parliaments ; and a vote was passed, without 
 opposition, against arbitrary imprisonments and forced 
 loans. In return for this concession, a supply of five 
 subsidies was voted, with which the king declared 
 himself satisfied ; and even tears of affection started 
 in his eye, when he was informed of this liberality. 
 
 But the supply, though voted, was not immediately 
 passed into a law ; and the commons resolved to em- 
 ploy the interval in providing some barriers to their 
 rights and liberties, so lately violated. They enume- 
 rated all the encroachments that had been made on 
 their constitutional liberties, under the name of a “ pe- 
 tition of right and against these gri evances an eter- 
 nal remedy was to be provided. Tb : terms in which 
 this petition was expressed, seem to have been just 
 and reasonable, yet favourable to public freedom ; bu 1 
 Charles, though he had given his consent to anv lav* 
 
22 HISTORY OF ENGLAJS D. 
 
 for securing the rights and liberties of the people, had 
 not expected such inroads on the prerogative, in re- 
 gard to which he was a great stickler ; and it was not 
 without much difficulty, and many evas : >ns, that the 
 royal assent was obtained to a measure which diffused 
 a general joy through the nation. 
 
 Nothing tended more to excuse, if not justify, the 
 extreme rigour of the commons towards Charles, than 
 his open encouragement and avowal of principles in- 
 compatible with a limited government. One doctor 
 Mainwaring had preached and printed a sermon sub- 
 versive of all civil liberty ; and the commons impeach- 
 ed him for the doctrines it contained. Mainwaring 
 was sentenced by the peers to be imprisoned during 
 the pleasure of the house, to be fined a thousand 
 pounds, to be suspended for three years, and to be 
 rendered incapable of holding any ecclesiastical dig- 
 nity or secular office. However, no sooner was the ses- 
 sion ended, than Mainwaring was pardoned, and pro- 
 moted to a living of considerable value, and some 
 years after, raised to the see of St. Asaph. This ac- 
 tion sufficiently showed the insincerity of Charles in 
 his late concessions. 
 
 If, however, the king had been perfectly sincere in 
 sanctioning the petition of right, it was evident that 
 the commons would still have been dissatisfied. They 
 continued to carry their scrutiny into every part of 
 government; and they expressly declared, that the 
 levying of tonnage and poundage without consent of 
 parliament, was a palpable violation of the ancient lib- 
 erties of the people, and an open infringement of the 
 petition of right. In order to prevent the presenting 
 of this remonstrance, the king came suddenly to the 
 parliament, and endod the session by a prorogation. 
 
 Freed from the vexation of this assembly, Charles 
 began to look towards foreign wars. A considerable 
 fleet and army had been prepared for the relief of Ro- 
 chelle, and Buckingham had gone to Portsmouth to 
 hasten the sailing of the armament. Whilst at that 
 place, one Felton, of an ardent and melancholy mind, 
 who had served under the duke, and had re.tiied in 
 discontent from the army, inflamed with private re 
 sentment, and taught by a remonstrance of the com 
 mons to consider Buckingham as the cause of ever; 
 
CHARLES L 
 
 i.1 
 
 natioral grievance, fancied that he should do heaven 
 acceptable service, by despatching this foe to religion 
 and to his country. Accordingly, as the duke in a 
 narrow passage, was engaged in conversation with 
 colonel sir Thomas Fryar, he was on a sudden, over 
 sir Thomas's shoulder, struck on the breast with a 
 knife, which he pulled out, saying, u the villain has 
 killed me," and with these words breathed his last. 
 
 No one had seen the blow, nor the person who in- 
 flicted it; but near the door was found a hat, in which 
 were four or five lines of the remonstrance of the 
 commons, declaring Buckingham an enemy to the 
 kingdom 5 and it was readily concluded that this hat be- 
 longed to the assassip. In this confusion a person 
 without a hat was seen walking very composedly be- 
 fore the door ; and one crying out, “ Here is the fel- 
 low who killed the duke/’ every body ran to ask, 
 
 “ which is he ?" on which Felton answered, “ I am 
 he." When questioned at whose instigation he had 
 committed the horrid deed, he replied, that no man * 
 living had credit enough with him, to have disposed 
 him to such an action, and that believing he should 
 perish in the attempt, his motives would appear in his 
 hat. 
 
 Charles received the melancholy news of the death 
 of his favourite with an unmoved countenance; but 
 he retained, during his whole life, an affection for 
 Buckingham’s friends, and a prejudice against his en- 
 emies. Meanwhile the distress of Rochelle had risen 
 to the utmost extremity ; and the English being una- 
 ble to relieve the place, the inhabitants, pressed by 
 famine, were obliged to surrender at discretion. 
 
 Though for more than a century the duties of ton- 
 nage and poundage had been considered as 
 the king’s due, without the sanction of parlia- 
 ment, and had been so levied, yet Charles, now freed 
 from the violent counsels of Buckingham, in the open- 
 ing of this session, informed the commons, that he had 
 not taken those duties as appertaining to his heredita- 
 ry prerogative, but as a gift of his people, and that he 
 had levied tonnage and poundage out of necessity, and 
 not by any right he assumed. This concession gave 
 a temporary satisfaction ; but the commons could not 
 oe pleased ; and as soon as they had obtained one 
 
U HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 point, they immediately found another to contend for 
 Matters of religion now formed the only grievance ta 
 which, in their opinion, they had not applied a suffi 
 cient remedy by their petition of right. The present 
 house of commons, like all the preceding, in the 
 present and two former reigns, was governed by the 
 puritanical party ; and they thought that they could 
 not better serve their cause, than by stigmatizing and 
 punishing the followers of Arininius, some of whom, 
 by the indulgence of James and Charles, had attained 
 the highest preferments in the hierarchy. Laude, 
 Neile, Montague, and other bishops, who were the 
 chief supporters of episcopacy, were also supposed to 
 be tainted with Arminianism. These men were re- 
 garded by the puritans as objects of enmity and dis- 
 trust, as well on account of their political as their re- 
 ligious principles ; but they were protected by Charles, 
 who wisely considered, that the most solid basis of his 
 authority consisted in the support which he received 
 from the hierarchy. 
 
 Sir John Elliot framed a remonstrance against levy 
 mg tonnage and poundage without consent of parlia- 
 ment ; but when the question was called for, Sir Johi? 
 Finch, the speaker, said, u that he had a commana 
 from the king to adjourn/' and immediately rose and 
 left the chair. The whole house was in an uproar; 
 and the speaker was pushed back into the chair, and 
 forcibly held in it, by Hollis and Valentine, till a short 
 remonstrance was framed, and passed by acclamation. 
 By it, papists and Arminians were declared capital en- 
 emies to the commonwealth ; and those who levied, 
 and even those who paid tonnage and poundage, were 
 branded with the same epithet. By the king's order, 
 the mace was taken from the table, and thus ended 
 their proceedings ; and a few days after, the parlia- 
 ment was dissolved. Sir Miles Hobart, sir Peter Hay- 
 man, Seldon, Coriton, Long, and Strode, were com- 
 mitted to prison, on account of the last tumult in the 
 house, which was called sedition; and it was with 
 great difficulty, and after several delays, that they ob- 
 tained their release. Sir John Elliot, Hollis, and Val 
 entine, were condemned by the court of Ring's Bench, 
 for their seditious speeches and behaviour in parlia- 
 ment, to be imprisoned during the king's pleasure, antf 
 
CHARLES L 
 
 to pay heavy fines. These gloried in their sufferings, 
 and would not condescend to petition the king, and 
 express their sorrow, though promised liberty on that 
 condition 5 and Elliot, happening to die while in cus- 
 tody, was regarded as a martyr to the liberties of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Charles, destitute of all regular supply, was reduc- 
 ed to the necessity of concluding a peace with Prance 
 and Spain. No conditions were made in favour of 
 inoi P a ^ at ^ ne > except that Spain promised in gen- 
 -* eral to use its good offices for his restoration. 
 The influence of these two wars on domestic affairs, 
 and on the dispositions of the king and people, was of 
 the utmost consequence 5 but they caused no altera- 
 tion in the foreign interests of the kingdom, which 
 were at this time in the most prosperous condition. 
 
 After the death of Buckingham, the queen maybe 
 considered as the chief friend and favourite of Charles, 
 By her sense and spirit, as well as by her beauty, she 
 justified the partiality of her husband 5 but her reli- 
 gion, to which she was much attached, increased the 
 jealousy which prevailed against the catholics and the 
 court. 
 
 Charles had endeavoured to gain the popular lead- 
 ers, by conferring offices upon them 3 but the views 
 of the king were so repugnant to those of the puritans, 
 that the leaders whom he gained, lost from that mo- 
 ment all influence with their, party. This was the 
 case with sir Thomas Wentworth, whom the king had 
 afterwards created earl of Strafford, made president 
 of the council of York, and deputy of Ireland, and who 
 was regarded as his chief-minister and counsellor. By 
 his eminent talents and abilities, Strafford rfterited all 
 the confidence which his master reposed in him; but 
 as he now employed all his counsels to support the 
 prerogative, which he had formerly endeavoured to 
 diminish, he was detested by the puritans. In all 
 ecclesiastical affairs, Laud, bishop of London, had the 
 greatest influence over the king. He was a man of 
 virtue and talents 3 but he wanted prudence, and a 
 flexibility of character, to open a way through difficul- 
 ties and opposition. His whole study was to exalt the 
 dignity of the priesthood; but he weakly imagined 
 that this would be best effected bv the introduction 
 
26 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 of new ceremonies and observances, and a strict ro 
 gird to the external forms of religion ; and the dis 
 contented puritans affected to consider the church of 
 England as relapsing fast into Romish superstition 
 Certain, however, it is, that Laud magnified, on every 
 occasion, the regal authority, and treated with disdain 
 all pretensions to a free constitution, 
 j Charles issued a proclamation, declaring, that 
 
 \, u though his majesty has shown, by frequent meet- 
 
 ings with his people, his love to the use of parlia- 
 ments ; yet the late abuse having, for the present, driv- 
 en him unwillingly out of that course, he will account 
 it presumption for any one to prescribe to him any 
 time for the calling of that assembly.” This was gen- 
 : erally considered as a declaration, that Charles did 
 
 | not intend to summon any more parliaments; and ev- 
 
 ery measure of the king’s tended to confirm this sus- 
 ; picion, so disagreeable to the people. 
 
 Tonnage and poundage continued to be levied by 
 the royal authority alone; and the king had recourse 
 to various unconstitutional expedients of raising money 
 by virtue of his prerogative, in every possible way 
 contrary not only to the rights of the people, but in 
 many instances also in direct opposition to their gen 
 > eral feelings and prejudices. The severities of the 
 
 [' star-chamber and high commission court Were reviv 
 
 £ ed, with all their force and malignity ; and being ex 
 
 ercised against those who were the champions of free- 
 dom, and who triumphed in their sufferings, the gov- 
 ernment became still more odious. Prynne, a barris- 
 ter, having written a book, intituled Histrio-Mastyx, 
 in which he censured not only stage-plays, music, and 
 dancing, but also hunting, public festivals, Christmas- 
 keeping, bonfires, and May-poles, was indicted in the 
 star-chamber as a libeller, merely because the king 
 and queen frequented the theatres, and the queen 
 J sometimes acted a part in pastorals and interludes rep- 
 
 resented at court. The star-chamber sentenced him 
 to lose both his ears, to stand in the pillory, to pay a 
 fine of five thousand pounds, and to be imprisoned 
 during life. This man was a champion among the pu- 
 ritans ; and it was probably with a view of mortifying 
 that sec at, that he was condemned to such a severe and 
 ignominious punishment. 
 
CHARLES i. 
 
 27 
 
 Charles made a journey to Scotland, attended by the 
 
 1633J 
 
 court, in order to hold a parliament there, and 
 to pass through the ceremony of his corona 
 tion. After his return, on the death of archbishop 
 Abbot, he conferred the see of Canterbury on Laud, 
 and that of London on Juxton, a person of great in- 
 tegrity, mildness, and humanity. 
 
 Ship-money was now levied by virtue of the pre- 
 ro S at i ve 5 and though the amount of the whole 
 -* tax little exceeded two hundred thousand 
 pounds, and was equally assessed, and entirely ex- 
 pended on the navy, yet as it was wholly arbitrary, 
 the discontents it excited, and the irregular means by 
 which if was enforced, produced the most important 
 consequ ences. The good effects of a navy, however, 
 were soon apparent. A fleet of sixty sail attacked the 
 herring f sheries of the Dutch, who consented to pay 
 thirty thousand pounds for a license for one year; and 
 a squadion was sent against Sallee, and destroyed that 
 receptacle of pirates, by whom the English commerce, 
 and even the English coasts, had been long infested. 
 
 Burton, a divine, and Bastwick, a physician, were 
 tried in the star-chamber for seditious and schismati- 
 cal libels, and condemned to the same punishment as 
 Prynne. The rigours of the star-chamber, which had 
 increased in severity since the promotion of Laud, in- 
 duced the leaders of the puritans to endeavour to ship 
 themselves off for America, where others of their sect 
 had laid the foundation of a free government; but the 
 council, dreading the consequences of a disaffected 
 colony, a proclamation was issued to prevent their 
 sailing; and thus sir Arthur Has«elrig, John Hamp 
 den, John Pym, and Oliver CromweR, were detained 
 in England, after having embarked on board of vessels 
 in the river Thames, for the purpose of abandoning 
 their native country for ever. 
 
 It would be impossible, in this short work, to enter 
 into a detail of the various means employed for abridg- 
 ing or destroying the few remaining liberties of the 
 people. It may be sufficient to observe, that the un- 
 constitutional acts of Charles, and the oppression 
 which was universally felt, produced murmurs and 
 complaints, and at length resistance. 
 
 John Hampden, who had been detained in England 
 
28 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 against his will has deserved well of his country for 
 the bold stand which he made in defence of its laws 
 and liberties. Rather than tamely submit to so ille 
 gal an imposition as the levying of ship money, he re- 
 solved to abide the event of a legal prosecution, 
 though the sum in which he was rated did not exceed 
 twenty shillings. The case was argued during twelve 
 days, in the exchequer-chamber, before all the judges 
 of England ; and the attention of the nation was 
 strongly excited to every circumstance of this cele- 
 brated trial. The event was easily foreseen j the pre- 
 judiced judges, with the exception of four of them, 
 gave sentence in favour of the crown. Hampden, 
 however, obtained by the trial the end for which he 
 had generously sacrificed his safety and his quiet : the 
 people were roused from their lethargy, and became 
 fully sensible of the danger to which their liberties 
 were exposed. 
 
 In this state of discontent and despondency, Charles 
 attempted to introduce episcopacy into Scotland ; and 
 by this attempt, he alienated the affections of his 
 Scottish subjects, and threw both kingdoms into a 
 flame. Against the combination of the Scots, whc 
 were contending for what they censidered as dearer 
 to them than life, the king had nothing to oppose but 
 a P roc ^ amat i° r '- This was instantly encounter- 
 •* ed by a public protestation ; and the insurrection 
 which had been advancing by a gradual and slow prog- 
 ress, now blazed dp at once. No disorder, however, 
 attended it. On the contrary, a new order immedi- 
 ately took place. Four tables, as they were called, 
 were formed in Edinburgh. One consisted of nobility, 
 another of gentry, a third of ministers, and a fourth of 
 burgesses. In the hands of the four tables the whole 
 authority of the kingdom was placed ; and among the 
 irst acts of their government was the production of 
 the COVENANT. 
 
 This covenant consisted, first of a renunciation of 
 popery, formerly signed by James in his youth ; and 
 this was followed by a bond of union, by which the sub- 
 scribers obliged themselves to resist religious innova- 
 tions, and to defend each other against all opposition 
 whatever. People of every rank and condition has. 
 tened to sign this covenant) and so general was th« 
 
CHARLES I. 
 
 29 
 
 icntagion, that it seized the very ministers and coun 
 sellors of the king. 
 
 Charles was now willing entirely to abolish the ca- 
 nons, the liturgy, and the high commission court 3 ana 
 he gave authority to summon first an assembly, then a 
 parliament, where every national grievance should be 
 redressed 3 but he wished on any terms to retain epis- 
 copacy in the church of Scotland. The covenanters 
 saw that it would be necessary to retain their reli- 
 gious tenets by military force 3 and the Dutch and 
 French, who sought occasion for revenge, on account 
 of a former misunderstanding, secretly fomented the 
 commotions in Scotland, and supplied the covenan- 
 ters with money and arms. The principal resource, 
 however, of the Scottish malcontents, was in their 
 own vigour and abilities. The earl of Argyle became 
 the chief leader of the party 3 and Leslie, a soldier of 
 experience and merit, was intrusted with the com- 
 mand of their forces. 
 
 Notwithstanding Charles’s aversion to sanguinary 
 measures, his attachment to the hierarchy prevailed: 
 and he equipped a fleet, and levied a considerable ar- 
 my, which he joined himself at Berwick. Dreading, 
 however, the consequences of a defeat, he suddenly 
 concluded a peace, by which it was stipulated, that 
 he should withdraw his fleet and army, that the Scots 
 should dismiss their forces, that the king’s authority 
 should be acknowledged, and that a general assembly 
 and a parliament should be immediately convoked in 
 order to compose all differences. 
 
 When the assembly met, they voted episcopacy to 
 be unlawful in the church of Scotland : Charles was 
 only willing to allow it to be contrary to the consti- 
 tutions of the church. They stigmatized the liturgy 
 and canons as popish : he agreed simply to abolish 
 them. They denominated the high commission ty- 
 ranny : he was content to set it aside. The parlia- 
 ment, which sat after the assembly, advanced preten- 
 sions which tended to diminish the civil power of the 
 monarch 3 and they were proceeding to ratify the acts 
 of the assembly, when they were prorogued by the 
 order of Charles. And on account of these elainis 
 which might have been foreseen, the war was renew 
 cd with great advantages on the side of the cove nail 
 ters, and disadvantageous on that of the king. 
 
30 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The covenanters, when they dismissed their troops, 
 had cautiously warned them to be ready at a moment’s 
 notice ; and the religious zeal with which they were 
 16401 * ns P* re d> ma< ^ e them fly to their standards as 
 J soon as summoned ; but the king with great dif- 
 ficulty, drew together an army ; which he soon discov- 
 ered that he was unable to support. Charles, there- 
 fore, found himself under the necessity of calling a 
 parliament, after an intermission of eleven years ; but, 
 after the king had tried many irregular methods of 
 taxation, and after multiplied disgusts given to the pu- 
 ritans, who sympathised with their discontented breth- 
 ren in Scotland; above all, when he considered the 
 spirit with which former parliaments had been actuat- 
 ed, he could feel little confidence in a measure which 
 his necessities had obliged him to adopt. Instead of 
 supplies, he was assailed with murmurs and com- 
 plaints. Charles, finding that ship-money in particular 
 gave great alarm and disgust, declared that he never 
 intended to make a constant revenue of it, and that all 
 the money levied had been faithfully applied; and he 
 offered a total renunciation of that obnoxious claim, 
 by any law which the commons might think proper to 
 frame. In return, he only asked a supply of twelve 
 subsidies, about six hundred thousand pounds; and 
 that payable in three years. 
 
 To the partisans of the court, who urged a reasona- 
 ble confidence in the king, and a supply of his present 
 ' 'wants, the popular leaders replied, that it was the an 
 cient practice cf parliament to give grievances the 
 precedency of supply; and that by bargaining for the 
 remission of an unconstitutional duty, they would in a 
 manner ratify the authority by which it had been lev- 
 ied. These reasons, joined to so many causes of ill- 
 humour, produced their effect on the majority ; and 
 some affirmed, that the amount of twelve subsidies 
 was a greater sum than could be found in all England. 
 Such were the happy ignorance and inexperience of 
 those times, in regard to taxation ! 
 
 The king, seeing that the same principles still pre- 
 vailed, which had occasioned him so much disturbance 
 in the former parliaments, and being informed that a 
 vote was about to pass, which would blast his revenue 
 of sh.p-money, without allowing him any compensa 
 
CHARLES I. 
 
 ‘M 
 
 lion in return, formed the hasty resolution of dissolv- 
 ing the assembly, a measure of which he soon after 
 heartily repented, and for which he was severely 
 blamed. 
 
 Charles, disappointed of parliamentary subsidies, 
 was obliged to have recourse again to his usual expe 
 dierits 5 and new exactions and acts of assumed au 
 thority, served only to increase the general discon- 
 tent. With some difficulty, he collected sufficient 
 means for marching his army, consisting of nineteen 
 thousand foot, and two thousand horse, under the earls 
 of Northumberland and Strafford, and lord Conway. 
 The Scottish army, which was somewhat superior, 
 had already entered England, as they pretended, with 
 no other view than to obtain access to the king’s pres- 
 ence, and to lay their humble petition at his feet. At 
 Newburn upon Tyne, a detachment under Conway 
 seemed to dispute the passage of that river. The 
 .Scots first entreated them not to stop them in their 
 march to their gracious sovereign ; and then attacked 
 them with great bravery, killed several, and chased the 
 remainder from their ground. Such a panic then seiz- 
 ed the whole English army, that the forces at Newcas- 
 tle fled immediately to Durham, and afterwards into 
 Yorkshire. 
 
 The Scots took possession of Newcastle 5 and, in 
 order to prevent their advancing upon him, the king 
 agreed to a treaty, and named sixteen English noble- 
 men, who were all popular men, to meet eleven Scot- 
 tish commissioners at Rippon'. 
 
 An address arrived from the city of London, peti- 
 tioning for a parliament ; and Charles, in despair of 
 being able to stem the torrent, at last determined to 
 yield to it, and declared that it W3S his wish to meet 
 the representatives of his people. As many difficulties 
 occurred in the negotiation with the Scots, it was pro- 
 posed, likewise to transfer the treaty from Rippon to 
 London, a proposal willingly embraced by the com- 
 missioners of that nation, who were sure of treating 
 with advantage, in a place, where the king would have 
 more enemies and they more friends. 
 
 The causes of disgust which, for more than thirty 
 years, had been multiplying in England, were now ar- 
 rived at full maturity. No sooner had the house of 
 
52 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 commons assembled, than the)’ impeached Straf- 
 ford, who had incurred the resentment of the 
 three kingdoms, by different services rendered to his 
 unpopular master. Pym enumerated all the grievances 
 under which the nation laboured; and after several 
 hours spent in invective or debate, the impeachment 
 of Strafford was voted ; and Pym was chosen to carry 
 it up to the lords. Strafford, who had just entered 
 the house of peers, was immediately ordered into cus- 
 tody, with symptoms of violent prejudice in his judg- 
 es, as well as in his prosecutors. 
 
 An impeachment of high-treason was also voted 
 against Laud, who was committed to custody ; and the 
 lord-keeper Finch, and secretary VVindebank, were 
 charged with the same crime ; but these ministers, 
 conscious of their danger, escaped to the Continent. 
 In short, all the officers and servants of the crown, 
 who had been guilty of any obnoxious or oppressive 
 measure, were called upon to answer for their con- 
 duct; and even the judges, who had given their vote 
 against Hampden, in the trial of ship-money, were 
 accused before the peers, and obliged to find secu- 
 rity for their appearance. 
 
 Thus, in a short time, . the whole sovereign power 
 was transferred to the commons ; and this was the 
 time when genius and talents, freed from the restraint 
 of authority, began to display themselves. Pym, 
 Hampden, St.John, Hollis, and Vane, greatly distin- 
 guished themselves by their various endowments; and 
 even men of more moderate talents, and of diffeient 
 principles, caught a portion of the same spirit from the 
 situation in which they were placed. 
 
 The harangues of members, now first published, 
 kept alive the discontents against the king’s adminis- 
 tration ; and the sentence against Prynne, Bastwick, 
 and Burton, being reversed by parliament, these wri- 
 ters were again turned loose upon the public, and in- 
 creased the general ferment. 
 
 From necessity, the king remained entirely passive 
 during these violent proceedings. 11 You have taken 
 the whole machine of government to pieces/’ said 
 Charles, in a speech to parliament; “ a practice fre- 
 quent with skilful artists, when they desire to clean 
 the wheels from any rust which may have grown upon 
 
CHARLES 1 . 
 
 33 
 
 them. The engine/ 7 continued he, 11 may again be 
 restored to its former use and motions, provided it be 
 put ■ap entire, so as not a pin of it be wanting.” But 
 this was far from the intention of the commons, who, 
 like all violent* reformers, destroyed the whole ma- 
 chine, instead of removing only such parts as might 
 justly be deemed superfluous ancl injurious. 
 
 The commons, besides overawing their opponents, 
 thought it necessary to encourage their friends and 
 adherents ; and with this view, they voted the Scots 
 a subsistence of eight hundred and fifty pounds a-day, 
 and St. Antholine’s church was assigned them for their 
 devotions, where their chaplains began to nractise the 
 presbyterian form of worship, to which multitudes of 
 all ranks resorted. The most effectual expedient for 
 procuring the favour of the zealojs Scots, was the pro- 
 motion of the presbyterian discipline and worship 
 throughout England 3 and to this innovation the pop- 
 ular leaders among the commons, as well as their 
 jaore devoted partisans, were sufficiently inclined. 
 
 Petitions against the church were framed in different 
 parts of the kingdom 3 and a bill was introduced, pro- 
 hibiting the clergy from holding any civil office, and 
 of course depriving the bishops of a seat in the house 
 of peers. This bill, however, was rejected in the 
 upper house by a great majority 3 but the puritans, far 
 from being discouraged by this opposition, immediate- 
 ly brought in another bill for the total abolition of 
 episcopacy, though they thought proper to suffer it to 
 sleep till a more favourable opportunity. 
 
 The commons next issued orders for demolishing all 
 images, altars, and crucifixes 5 and so great was the 
 abhorrence against the latter, that some of the most 
 zealous would not suffer one piece of wood or stone to 
 lie over another at right angles. Most of the es- 
 tablished ceremonies of religious worship, and the 
 ordinary vestments of its ministers were considered as 
 savouring of pope-ry 5 and the professors of that reli- 
 gion, in particular, were treated with the utmost harsh- 
 ness and indignity, from which the queen mother, who 
 had been obliged by some court intrigues to retire to 
 England, and even the queen heiself, were not ex- 
 empt. 
 
 Charles, finding by experierce the ill effects of his 
 
 VOL. II. 3 
 
S4 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 arbitrary measures, now endeavoured to regain the 
 confidence of his .people, by concessions and a con- 
 formity to their inclinations. He passed a bill, by 
 which the right of granting the duties of tonnage and 
 poundage was asserted as belonging to the commons 
 alone 5 and with some difficulty he consented to a law 
 for triennial parliaments, which was clogged with such 
 conditions, that the legitimate power of a king was 
 reduced almost to a shadow. A change of ministers, 
 as well as of measures, was also resolved on; and in 
 one day several new privy-counsellors were sworn, all 
 of the popular party. 
 
 The end on which the king was most intent in 
 changing his ministers was, to save the life of the earl 
 of Strafford ; but the impeachment of that unfortunate 
 nobleman was pushed on with the utmost vigour; and, 
 after long and solemn preparations, was brought to a 
 final issue. Twenty-eight articles were exhibited 
 against him; but though four months had been em- 
 ployed by the managers, and all Strafford's answers 
 were extemporaneous, it appears from comparison, 
 16411 t * iat was not on ^ guiltf 088 °f treason, but in 
 J some degree free from censure, if we make al- 
 lowance for human infirmities exposed to such diffi- 
 cult circumstances. The accusation and defence last- 
 ed eighteen days, during which Strafford conducted 
 himself with a degree of firmness, moderation, and 
 wisdom, that extorted the admiration of his most bit- 
 ter enemies; but the commons were determined to 
 convict him ; and therefore on the most incompetent 
 evidence, or rather against usual legal evidence, the 
 bill of attainder passed with no greater opposition than 
 that of fifty-nine votes. 
 
 After the bill had passed the commons, the puritan- 
 ical pulpits resounded with the necessity of executing 
 justice on great delinquents; about six thousand arm- 
 ed men surrounded the houses of parliament; and the 
 populace, worked up to a degree of frenzy by their 
 leaders, flocked round Whitehall, where the king re- 
 sided, and accompanied their demands against Straf- 
 ford with the most open menaces. 
 
 About eighty peers had constantly attended Strafford’s 
 trial ; but such were the apprehensions of the popular 
 tumults, that only forty-five were present when the 
 
CHARLES I. 
 
 33 
 
 bill of attainder was brought into the upper house , 
 yet of these, nineteen had the courage to vote against 
 it. On whichever side the king cast his eyes, he saw 
 no resource or security. All his servants, consult- 
 ing their own safety, rather than their master’s hon- 
 our, declined to interpose their advice between him 
 and his parliament j and the queen, terrified with the 
 appearance of so great a danger, pressed him to satis- 
 fy his people in this demand. Juxton alone, whose 
 courage was not inferior to his other virtues, counsel- 
 led the king not to act contrary to his conscience. 
 
 Strafford, hearing of the irresolution and anxiety of» 
 Charles, wrote to the king, and with a noble effort of 
 magnanimity, entreated him, for the sake of public 
 peace, to put an end to his unfortunate, however inno- 
 cent life, and to quiet the tumultuous populace, by 
 granting the request for which they were so importu- 
 nate. “ In this / 7 added he, u my consent will more 
 acquit you to God than all the world can do besides. 
 To a willing man there is no injury.” 
 
 After suffering the most agonizing conflicts, Charles 
 at last granted a commission to four noblemen to give 
 his assent to the bill ; and he also empowered them 
 at the same time, to sanction a bill which was still 
 more fatal to his interests, and by which the parlia- 
 ment could neither be adjourned nor dissolved with- 
 out their own consent. 
 
 Secretary Carleton was sent by the king to inform 
 Strafford of the final result*, and the unhappy earl at 
 first appeared surprised ; but soon collecting his na- 
 tive courage, he prepared for the fatal event, which 
 was to take place after an interval of three days. Du- 
 ring this period, Charles endeavoured to obtain from 
 the parliament a mitigation of his sentence, or at least 
 some delay, but was refused both requests. 
 
 Strafford, in passing from his apartments to Tower- 
 hill, where the scaffold was erected, stopped under 
 Laud’s windows, and entreated the assistance of his 
 prayers. The aged primate, dissolved in tears, pro- 
 nounced a tender blessing on his departing friend, and 
 sunk into the arms of his attendants. Strafford, how- 
 ever, still superior to his fate, passed on with an elat- 
 ed countenance, and an air of dignity ; and his mind 
 maintained its unbroken resolution amidst the terrors 
 
56 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ©F death, and the unfeeling exultations of his misguided 
 enemies. His speech on the scaffold was replete with 
 fortitude and Christian hope, and at one blow he was 
 launched into eternity. 
 
 Thus perished, in the forty-ninth year of his ago, 
 one of the most eminent personages that has appear- 
 ed in England, and the most faithful of the adherents 
 of Charles ; but his death was so far from producing 
 that calm which the king had expected from the sacri- 
 fice, that the commons renewed their claims, extorted 
 an abolition of the high commission and star-chamber 
 courts, and remedied various other abuses which mil- 
 itated against the principles of constitutional freedom 
 
 During this busy period, the princess Mary had been 
 married to William, prince of Orange, with the appro- 
 bation of parliament. A small committee of both 
 houses was appointed to attend the king into Scotland, 
 which he had resolved to visit ; and Charles, despoil- 
 ed in England of a considerable part of his authority, 
 arrived in Scotland only to abdicate the small share 
 which remained to him in that kingdom. 
 
 Charles, unable to resist, had been obliged to yield 
 to the Irish, as wall as to the Scottish and English 
 parliaments ; and the commons of England, jealous ot 
 a standing army in Ireland, entirely attached to the 
 king, prevailed on his majesty, contrary to his own 
 judgment, to disband it. 
 
 Though the animosity of the Irish against the Eng- 
 lish nation appeared to be extinguished, they were no 
 sooner freed from the dread of a military force, than a 
 gentleman, called Roger More, formed the project of 
 expelling the English, and asserting the independence 
 of his native country. This man maintained a close 
 correspondence with lord Maguire and sir Phelim 
 O’Neale, the most powerful of the old Irish ; and he 
 secretly went lrom chieftain to chieftain, and roused up 
 every latent principle of discontent. The reasons of 
 More engaged all the heads of the native Irish in the 
 conspiracy. The insurrection became general ; and a 
 massacre of the English commenced, in which, when 
 it took place, neither age, sex, nor condition, was 
 spared. The old, the young, the vigorous, and the in 
 firm, underwent a like fate, and were confounded in 
 one common ruin. In vain was recourse had to rela- 
 
CHARLES I. 
 
 51 
 
 tions or friends 3 the dearest ties were torn asunder 
 without pity or remorse 3 and death was dealt by that 
 hand, from which prelection was implored and expect- 
 ed. 
 
 Death, however, was the slightest punishment in- 
 flicted by the Irish. All the tortures which wanton 
 cruelty could devise, all the lingering pains of body, 
 and anguish of mind, which malicious ingenuity could 
 invent, were now put in practice 3 and the generous 
 nature of M^re was shocked at the recital of such 
 enormous cruelties 3 but found that his authority, 
 though sufficient to excite the Irish to an insurrection, 
 was unable to restrain their inhumanity. 
 
 The saving of Dublin alone preserved in Ireland the 
 remains of the English name. The gates of that city, 
 though timorously opened, received the wretched sup- 
 plicants, and presented to the view a scene of human 
 misery beyond description. Diseases of unknown 
 name and species, derived from their multiplied dis- 
 tresses, seized many, and put a period to their lives 5 
 others, having now leisure to reflect on their severe 
 oss of friends and fortune, cursed that being which 
 ney had preserved. 
 
 Charles found himself obliged in this exigency to 
 nave recourse to parliament 5 but that assembly mani- 
 fested the same opposition to the king in which they 
 had separated j and the increasing of their own author- 
 ity, and the diminishing of the regal power, were the 
 objects still pursued. By assuming the total manage- 
 ment of the war in Ireland, they deprived the crown 
 of its executive power 3 and it was even roundly in- 
 sinuated, that the pernicious counsels by which 
 Charles had been guided, had given rise to the popish 
 rebellion. 
 
 To render the attack on royalty more systematic, 
 the commons framed a general remonstrance of the 
 6tate of the nation, comprising every real or suppos- 
 ed grievance, from the accession of Charles 5 and this 
 was published without being carried up to the house 
 of peers for their assent and concurrence. 
 
 This violent measure extremely agitated the sobei 
 and reflecting 3 and Charles immediately published an 
 answer to the remonstrance, in which he made the 
 warmest protestations of his sinceie attachment to th« 
 
 1 
 
3S 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 established religion, expatiated with truth on the great 
 concessions he had lately made in favour of civil lib- 
 erty, and complained of the reproaches with which his 
 person and government were attacked ; but the ears of 
 the people were prejudiced against him, and nothing 
 he could offer appeared to them a sufficient apology 
 for his former misconduct. 
 
 The commons resumed their encroachments; and 
 every measure pursued by them showed their deter 
 mined resolution to reform the whole fabric of civil 
 and religious government. The majority of the peers, 
 of course, adhered to the king, and saw the depression 
 of their own order in the usurpations on the crown ; 
 but some of them, finding their credit high with the 
 nation, ventured to encourage those popular disor- 
 ders, which they vainly imagined they could hereaf- 
 ter regulate and control. 
 
 The pulpits resounded with the dangers whick. 
 threatened religion; and the populace crowded round 
 Whitehall, and threw out menaces against Charles 
 himself. Several gentlemen now offered their servi- 
 ces to the king; and between them and the rabble 
 frequent skirmishes took place. By way of reproach, 
 these gentlemen gave the mobility the appellation of 
 Roundheads, on account of the short cropt hair which 
 they wore; and the latter retorted by calling them 
 Cavaliers. Thus the nation, already sufficiently di- 
 vided by religious and civil disputes, was supplied 
 with party n-ames, under which the factious might ren- 
 dezvous and signalize their mutual hatred. 
 
 Williams, archbishop of York, having been abused 
 by the populace, hastily called a meeting of his breth- 
 ren, and prevailed on them to state in an address to 
 the king, that though they had an undoubted right to sit 
 in parliament, they could no longer attend with safety, 
 and therefore protested against all laws which should 
 be made during their absence. This ill-timed protes- 
 tation afforded an opportunity of joy and triumph to 
 the commons. An impeachment of high-treason was 
 immediately sent up against the bishops, as endeav- 
 ouring to invalidate the authority of the legisla- 
 ture ; and, in consequence, they were sequestered 
 from parliament, and committed to custody. 
 
 A few days after, Charles was betrayed into a verj 
 
CHARLES I. 
 
 39 
 
 fatal act of indiscretion, to which all the ensuing dis- 
 orders and civil wars ought immediately and 
 1 •* directly be ascribed. Imputing the increasing 
 
 insolence of the commons to his too great facility, he 
 was advised to exert the vigour of a sovereign, and 
 punish Lhe daring usurpations of his subjects. Accord 
 ingly, Herbert, attorney-general, appeared in the house 
 of peers, and, in his majesty’s name, entered an accu 
 sation of high-treason against lord Kimbolton, and five 
 commoners, Hollis, Haseltig, Hampden, Pym, and 
 Strode, for having endeavoured to subvert the funda- 
 mental laws and government of the kingdom, and to 
 alienate the affections of the people. A sergeant-at- 
 arms, in the king’s name, demanded of the house the 
 five members 5 and being sent back without any 
 positive answer, Charles resolved next day to go in 
 person to the house, and see his orders executed. 
 
 The members, informed of the design, had time to 
 withdraw, a moment before the king entered, who, 
 leaving his retinue at the door, advanced alone through 
 the lobby 3 and the speaker withdrawing, his majesty 
 took possession of the chair. The king told the house 
 that he must have the accused persons produced, but 
 that he would proceed against them in a fair and legal 
 way. The commons were in the utmost disorder 3 
 and when Charles was departing, some members cri- 
 ed aloud “ privilege ! privilege 1” and the house im- 
 mediately adjourned till next day. 
 
 The same evening, the accused members removed 
 into the city 3 and the citizens were the whole night 
 under arms. Next morning, Charles ordered the lord- 
 mayor to summon a common-council, which he attend- 
 ed himself, and told them, that he had accused cer 
 tain men of high-treason, against whom he would pro- 
 ceed in a legal way, and, therefore, presumed that 
 they would not meet with protection in the city. 
 After many gracious expressions, he left the hall with- 
 out receiving the applause which he expected 3 and, 
 in passing through the streets, he heard the cry of 
 “ privilege of parliament,” resounding from all quar 
 ters. 
 
 The king, apprehensive of personal danger, retired 
 to Hampton-court, overwhelmed with grief, shame 
 and -remorse. Fully sensible of his imprudence, he 
 
 . ‘.v 
 
40 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 wished to waive all thoughts of a prosecution, and 
 offered any reparation to the house for the breach of 
 privilege, of which, he acknowledged, they had rea- 
 son to complain. The parliament, however, were re 
 solved to accept of no satisfaction. 
 
 Hitherto a great majority of the lords had adhered 
 to the king, but they now yielded to the torrent ; and 
 the pressing bill, with its preamble, and the bill against 
 bishops voting in parliament, were now passed. The 
 queen prevailed with Charles to give his assent to 
 these bills, in hopes of appeasing for a time the rage 
 of the people, and of gaining for her an opportunity of 
 withdrawing into Holland. 
 
 These concessions, however, only paved the way 
 for more demands ; and the parliament proceeded 
 with hasty steps to monopolize all the legislative 
 and executive power. That his consent to the mili- 
 tia-bill might not be extorted by violence, the king 
 retired to York, attended by his two sons. Here he 
 found a zeal and attachment to which he had not been 
 lately accustomed ; and from all parts of England, the 
 chief nobility and gentry offered their allegiance, and 
 exhorted him to save himself and them from the slave 
 ry with which they were threatened. 
 
 Each party now wished to throw on the other the 
 odium of commencing a civil war; and while both 
 prepared for an event which they deemed inevitable, 
 the war of the pen preceded that of the sword and 
 daily sharpened the humours of the opposite par- 
 ties. Here Charles had a double advantage. Not only 
 his cause was now unquestionably the best ; but it was 
 defended, by lord Falkland, who had accepted the of- 
 fice of secretary, and who adorned the purest virtue 
 with the richest gifts of nature, and the most valuable 
 acquisitions of learning. 
 
 It was evident, however, that keener weapons than 
 manifestoes, remonstrances, and declarations, must 
 determine the dispute. To the ordinance of the par 
 liament concerning the militia, the king opposed his 
 commissions of array ; and the counties obeyed the one 
 or the other, according as they stood affected. Hull 
 contained a.large magazine of arms; and it being sus- 
 pected that sir John Hotham, the governor, was not 
 touch inclined to the parliament, the king presented 
 
CHARLES I. 
 
 41 
 
 himself before the place, in hopes of quietly obtaining 
 possession of it. The governor, however, shut the 
 gates, and refused to admit the king with only twenty 
 attendants. Charts immediately proclaimed him a 
 traitor j but the parliament justified and applauded the 
 action. 
 
 Both sides now levied troops with the utmost activi- 
 ty. The parliamentary army was given to the earl of 
 Essex, and in London no Less than four thousand per* 
 sons enlisted in it in one day. The splendour of no- 
 bility, however, with which the king was surrounded, 
 much eclipsed the appearance at Westminster. Lord- 
 keeper Littleton, and above forty peers of the first 
 rank, attended Charles ; while the house of lords sel- 
 dom consisted of more than sixteen members. The 
 parliament, in order that they might reduce the king 
 to despair of a compromise, s.ent him their demands 
 in nineteen propositions ; but they appeared so extrav- 
 agant, that Charles replied, 11 Should I grant these de- 
 mands, l may be waited on bare-headed ; the title of 
 majesty may be continued to me ; but as to true and 
 real power, I should remain but the outside, but the 
 picture, but the sign of a king.” War on any terms 
 seemed to the king and his counsellors preferable to 
 such ignominious conditions ; and, therefore, collect- 
 ing some forces, he advanced southward, and at Not- 
 tingham erected the royal standard, the open signal of 
 civil war. 
 
 When two names so sacred in the English consti 
 tution as those of King and Parliament were set in 
 opposition, it is no wonder that the people, divided in 
 their choice, were agitated with the most violent ani- 
 mosities and factions. The nobility and more con- 
 siderable gentry, dreading a total subversion of order, 
 generally enlisted themselves in defence of the king; 
 while most of the corporations, as being republican in 
 their principles of government, took part with the par- 
 liament. 
 
 Never was a quarrel more unequal, than seemed at 
 first that between the contending parties ; almost eve- 
 ry advantage lay on the side of the parliament, which 
 nad seized the king’s revenues, and converted the sup. 
 plies to their own use ; and the torrent of general af 
 fection ran also to the parliament. The king’s adher 
 
42 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, 
 
 ents were stigmatized with the epithets of wicked and 
 malignant; while their adversaries were denominated 
 the godly and well-affected. 
 
 The low condition in which tKe king appeared at 
 Nottingham, where his infantry, besides the trained 
 bands of the county, did not exceed three hundred, 
 and his cavalry eight hundred, confirmed the contempt 
 of the parliament. Their forces stationed at North- 
 ampton consisted of above six thousand men, well 
 armed and appointed 3 and had these troops advanced 
 upon the king, they must soon have dissipated the 
 small force which Charles had assembled 3 but it was 
 probably hoped, that the royalists, sensible of their 
 
 { feeble condition, and slender resources, would dis- 
 perse of themselves, and leave their adversaries a 
 [ bloodless victory. 
 
 On a message being sent by Charles, with overtures 
 for an accommodation, the parliament demanded as a 
 preliminary, that the king should dismiss his forces, 
 and give up delinquents to their justice ; and both 
 parties believed, that by this message and reply, the 
 people 'would be rendered fully sensible of the inten- 
 tions of each. 
 
 In the mean time, Portsmouth, which had declared 
 for the king, was obliged to surrender to the parlia- 
 mentary forces 3 and the marquis of Hertford, whom 
 Charles had appointed general of the western coun- 
 ties, and had drawn together a small army, being at- 
 tacked by a considerable force under the earl of Bed- 
 ford, was obliged to pass over into Wales, leaving sir 
 Ralph Hopton, sir John Berkley, and others, with 
 about one hundred and twenty horse, to march into 
 » Cornwall. 
 
 The parliamentary army, amounting to fifteen thou- 
 sand men. under the earl of Essex, now advanced to 
 Northampton ; and the king withdrew to Shrewsbury, 
 where he made a public declaration of his resolution 
 to maintain the established religion, and to govern in 
 future by the laws and customs of the kingdom. While 
 he lay at Shrewsbury, he received the news of the 
 first action of any consequence, which had yet taken 
 place, and in which he was successful. 
 
 On the appearance of civil commotions in England 
 the princes Rupert and Maurice, sons of the unfurl u 
 

 n 
 
 r 
 
 nate palatine, and nephews of Charles, had offered 
 their services to the king; and the foimer, at that 
 time, commanded a body of horse, which had been 
 sent to Worcester, in order to watch the motions of 
 Essex, who was marching towards that city. A de- 
 tached party, under colonel Sandys, was complete- 
 ly routed, and their leader killed ; and this action ac- 
 quired to prince Rupert that character for promptitude 
 • and courage, which he eminently displayed during the 
 whole course of the war. 
 
 The king, now mustering his army, found it to 
 amount to ten thousand men. The earl of Lindsey 
 was general, prince Rupert commanded the horse, sir 
 Jacob Astley the foot, and lord Bernard Stewart was 
 at the head of a troop of guards, whose estates and 
 revenue, according to lord Clarendon, were at least 
 equal to those of all the members, who, at the com- 
 mencement of the war, voted in both houses. 
 
 With this army the king left Shrewsbury, resolved 
 to bring on an action as soon as possible. The royal 
 army arrived in the neighbourhood of Banbury, while 
 that of the parliament was at Keinton, only a few 
 miles distant. Both parties advancing, they met at 
 Edge-hill, and fought with various success. The cav- 
 alry and the right wing of the parliament army were 
 defeated ; but sir William Balfour, who commanded 
 the reserve of Essex, perceiving the enemy in disor 
 and busied in plundering, attacked the king’s in- 
 fantry, and made a dreadful havock. The earl of 
 Lindsey was mortally wounded, and taken prisoner; 
 and sir Edmund Verney, the king’s standard bearer, 
 was killed. The two armies gradually recovered their 
 ranks, but neither cf them had courage for a new at- 
 tack. The earl of Essex retired to Warwick, and 
 Charles continued his march to Oxford, the only town 
 at his devotion. 
 
 After the royal army had been refreshed and re- 
 cruited, the king advanced to Reading, from which, 
 on the approach of a body of horse, the governor and 
 garrison being seized with a panic, fled precipitately 
 to London. The parliament, who had expected a 
 bloodless victory over Charles, were now alarmed at 
 the near approach of the royal army, and voted an ad- 
 dress for a treaty. The king named Windsor as the 
 
 i 
 
44 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 place of conference ; but Essex having arrived at Lon 
 don, Charles attacked two regiments quartered at 
 Brentford, beat them from that village, and took about 
 five hundred prisoners. Loud complaints were raised 
 against this attack, pending a negociation 3 and the 
 city, inflamed with resentment, joined its trained* bands 
 to the parliamentary army, which, by that means, was 
 rendered much superior to that of the king, who, in 
 consequence, judged it prudent to retire to Reading,® 
 and from thence. to Oxford. 
 
 The conferences between the king and parliament 
 had commenced without any cessation of hostilities ; 
 and it was soon found, that there was no probability 
 1 fit'll com ' n » an agreement. The earl of Essex 
 laid siege to Reading 3 and Fielding, the gov- 
 ernor, consented to yield the town, on condition that 
 he should bring off the garrison, and deliver up deser- 
 ters. For this last article, so ignominious in itself, and 
 so prejudicial to the king’s interests, the governor was 
 tried by a council of war, and condemned to lose his 
 life, but the sentence was afterwards remitted. 
 
 In the north, lord Fairfax commanded for the parlia- 
 ment, and the earl of Newcastle for the king. The laj 
 ter united in a league for the king, the counties of 
 Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Dur- 
 ham, and afterwards engaged some other counties in 
 the association. Finding that Fairfax was making some 
 progress in Yorkshire, he advanced with a body offoui 
 thousand men, and took possession of York ; and at 
 Tadcaster he attacked the forces of the parliament, 
 and dislodged them 5 but his victory was not decisive. 
 
 Sir William Waller began to distinguish himself as a 
 parliamentary general. After taking Winchester and 
 Chichester, he defeated lord Herbert, who had laid 
 siege to Gloucester, with a considerable body of forces 
 levied in Wales. 
 
 In the west, sir Bevil Granville, sir Ralph Hopton 
 sir Nicholas Slanning, Arundel, and Trevannion, had, 
 at their own charges, raised an army for the king, and 
 successively defeated the parliamentary generals, Rulh- 
 ven and lord Stamford, on Bradoc Down, and at Strat 
 ton. After this success, the attention of both king 
 and parliament was directed to the west j and the mar- 
 quis of Hertford and prince Maurice having joined tb* 
 
CHARLES I. 
 
 4a 
 
 Cornish army, over-ran the county of Devon, and 
 threatened that of Somerset. Waller advanced with 
 a considerable force to check their progress 3 and the 
 two armies met at Lansdown, near Bath, and fought a 
 pitched battle, but without any decisive event. The 
 gallant Granville, however, was killed in the action, 
 and Hopton was dangerously wounded. The royalists 
 next attempt ed to march eastwards, and join the king’s 
 forces at Oxford 3 but Waller hanging on their rear, a 
 battle took place at Roundway-down, near Devizes, in 
 which the parliamentary army was entirely routed and 
 dispersed. This important victory struck the parlia- 
 ment with dismay, which was increased by the death 
 of the celebrated Hampden, who fell in a skirmish at 
 Chalgrove, in Oxfordshire. Many were the virtues 
 and talents of this eminent man, whose valour in war 
 equalled his eloquence in the senate, and his resolu- 
 tion at the bar 3 and Charles valued him so highly, 
 that when he heard of his being wounded, he offered 
 to send his own surgeon to attend him. 
 
 Essex, discouraged by this event, retired towards 
 London ; and the king, freed from this enemy, sent’ 
 his army westward, under prince Rupert, who besieg- 
 ed and took the city of Bristol. Charles joined the 
 camp at Bristol 3 and some strongly urged to march 
 directly to London, where all was confusion and dis- 
 may, as the most likely means of rendering the royal 
 cause successful over its adversaries ' but the resolu- 
 tion of investing the city of Gloucester was fatally 
 adopted. 
 
 In the beginning of the summer, a combination had 
 been formed, by Edmund Waller, the poet, a member 
 of the lower house, to oblige the parliament to accept 
 of reasonable conditions, and to restore peace to the 
 nation. For the execution of this project, he associ- 
 ated with him Tomkins, his brother-in-law, and Cha- 
 oner the friend of Tomkins, whose influence in thq 
 city was considerable 5 but intelligence of the design 
 being conveyed to Pym, they were tried an J condemn- 
 ed by a court martial 3 and Tomkins and Chaloner 
 were executed. Waller, with much difficulty, escaped, 
 on paying a fine of ten thousand pounds. 
 
 After relieving Gloucester, besieged by the king, 
 Essex proceeded towards London 3 but when he reach' 
 
46 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ed Newbury, he found that the royal army already oc- 
 cupied the place, and that an action was unavoidable 
 On both sides, the battle was fought with desperate 
 valour; but night put an end to the action, and left 
 the victory undecided. Essex continued his march to 
 London ; and the king following, retook Reading, in 
 which he placed a garrison. In the battle of New- 
 bury, fell Lucius Cary, viscount Falkland, secretary 
 to the king; a man eminent for his abilities, and for 
 every virtue which adorns humanity. On the morning 
 of the day on which he met his fate, he had shown 
 more than usual care in dressing hin'.self, and gave for 
 a reason, that the enemy might not find his body in 
 any slovenly indecent situation. “ I am weary,” he 
 subjoined, “ of the times, and foresee much misery to 
 my country ; but believe I shall be out of it ere night.” 
 He was only thirty-four years of age at the time of his 
 death. 
 
 In the north, the influence and popularity of the earl, 
 now created Marquis of Newcastle, had raised a con 
 siderable force for the king; but he was opposed by 
 two men, on whom the event of the war finally de- 
 pended, and who began about this time to be distin- 
 guished for their valour and military conduct. These 
 were sir Thomas Fairfax, son of the lord of that name, 
 and Oliver Cromwell. The former gained a consid- 
 erable victory at Wakefield, and the latter at Gains- 
 borough ; but these defeats of the royalists were more 
 than compensated by thetotal defeat of lord Fairfax, at 
 Atherston Moor. After this victory, Newcastle sat 
 down with his army before Hull ; but Hotham, the 
 former governor, having expressed an intention to fa- 
 vour the king’s interest, had some time before been 
 sent to London, where he and his son fell victims to 
 the severity of the parliament. 
 
 Newcastle suffered so much by a sally of the garri- 
 son, that he was obliged to raise the siege ; and about 
 the same time, Manchester having joined Cromwell 
 and young Fairfax, obtained a considerable victory 
 over the royalists at Horncastle. Thus fortune seem- 
 ed to balance her favours ; but the king's party still 
 remained much superior in the north ; *and had it not 
 been for the garrison of Hull, which awed Yorkshire, a 
 conjunction of the northern forces with the army of ths 
 
CHARLES I. 
 
 47 
 
 south had probably enabled Charles to march directly 
 to London, and finish the war, instead of wasting both 
 his time and resources in the siege of Gloucester. 
 
 As the event became more doubtful, both parties 
 sought for assistance ; the parliament in Scotland, and 
 the king in Ireland. The farmer easily prevailed on 
 the Scottish covenanters to espouse their cause, by 
 joining in a solemn league and covenant, mutually to 
 defend each other against all opponents, and to pro- 
 mote their respective aims and designs ; and Charles, 
 having agreed to a cessation of hostilities in Ireland, 
 where the English had regained the ascendency, pro- 
 cured considerable bodies of troops from that king- 
 dom. 
 
 The king, that he might make preparations for the 
 1T4.41 ensu i n g' cam P al g n > endeavoured to avail himself 
 7 of the appearance of a parliament, and summon- 
 ed to Oxford all .the members of either house who ad- 
 hered to his interest. A great majority of the peers 
 attended him ; but the commons were not half so nu- 
 merous as those who sat at Westminster. The parlia- 
 ment at Westminster having voted an excise on beer, 
 wine, and other commodities, those at Oxford-imitated 
 the example, and conferred that revenue on the king; 
 and this was the first introduction of an excise into 
 England. 
 
 The same winter the famous Pym died ; a man as 
 much hated by one party, as respected by the other. 
 However, he had been little studious of .improving his 
 private fortune ; and the parliament, out of gratitude, 
 discharged the debts which he had contracted. 
 
 The forces from Ireland, under the command of 
 ion! Byron, after obtaining considerable advantages in 
 Cheshire, invested Nantwich, but were completely 
 defeated by sir Thomas Fairfax, who, in the sequel, 
 routed a large body of troops at Selby. Leven, the 
 Scotch commander, having joined lord Fairfax, they . 
 gat down before York, to which the army of the roy- 
 alists had retired. Hopeton was defeated by Waller 
 at Chcrrington ; but prince Rupert relieved Newark, 
 which the parliamentary forces had besieged. 
 
 The earl of Manchester having taken Lincoln, unit- 
 ed his army to that of Leven and Fairfax; and York, 
 though vigorously defended by Newcastle, was reduc 
 
 -J 
 
*8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 ed to the last extremity, when the besiegers were 
 alarmed by the approach of prince Rupert, at the head 
 of twenty thousand men. The Scottish and parlia- 
 mentary generals drew upon Marston Moor to give 
 battle to the royalists ; and Newcastle endeavoured 
 to persuade the prince to wait, and leave the enemy 
 to dissolve by their growing dissentions ; but Rupert, 
 whose martial disposition was not sufficiently temper- 
 ed with prudence, rejected the advice, and led on his 
 troops to the charge. This action was obstinately dis- 
 puted, and fought with various success; but after the 
 utmost efforts of courage by both parties, victory 
 wholly turned on the side of the parliament. The 
 prince’s train of artillery was taken, and his whole ar- 
 my pushed off the field of battle. 
 
 This engagement, in which Cromwell manifested 
 great courage and abilities, proved very fatal to the 
 king’s interest. Newcastle, disgusted at the treat- 
 ment which he had received from the prince, and en- 
 raged that all his successful labours should be ren- 
 dered abortive by one act of temerity, determined to 
 leave the kingdom. He retired to the continent, 
 where he lived till the restoration, in great necessity, 
 and saw with indifference his opulent fortune seques- 
 tered by those who assumed the reins of government. 
 
 Prince Rupert drew off the remains of his army, 
 and retired into Lancashire ; and York surrendered to 
 Fairfax, while Newcastle was taken by storm. 
 
 Ruthven, a Scotsman, who had been created earl of 
 Brentford, managed the king's affairs in the south with 
 more success. Essex and Waller marched with their 
 combined armies towards Oxford ; and the king, leav- 
 ing a numerous garrison in that city, dexterously pass- 
 ed between the two armies, and marched towards 
 Worcester. Waller received orders from Essex to 
 follow him, while he himself proceeded westward in 
 quest of prince Maurice. Waller had approached 
 v/ithin two miles of the royal camp, when he received 
 intelligence that the king had directed his course to- 
 wards Shrewsbury; and the parliamentary general 
 hastened by quick marches to that town ; but Charles 
 suddenly retraced his former steps, and having rein 
 forced his army, in his turn marched out in quest of 
 Waller. At Crupredy-bridge, near Banbury, the two 
 
CHARLES I. 
 
 4$ 
 
 armies faced each other, with only the Cherwell run- 
 ning between them. Waller, attempting to pass the 
 bridge, was repulsed ; and his army, disheartened by 
 this unexpected defeat, began to melt away by deser- 
 tion. The king thought he might safely leave it, and 
 marched westward against Essex ; and having cooped 
 him up in a narrow corner at Lestithiel, reduced him 
 to the last extremity. Essex, Robarts, and some of 
 the principal officers, escaped in a boat to Plymouth. 
 Balfour, with his horse, passed the king’s posts in a 
 thicli mist 5 but the foot under Skippon were obliged to 
 surrender. 
 
 That the king might have less reason to exult in 
 this advantage, the parliament opposed to him very 
 numerous forces under Manchester, Cromwell, and 
 Waller. Charles chose his post at Newbury, where 
 the parliamentary armies attacked him with great vig- 
 our 5 and though the king’s troops defended them- 
 selves with valour, they were overpowered by num- 
 bers, and night only saved them from a total defeat, 
 and enabled them to reach Oxford. 
 
 The discordant opinions which had arisen among 
 the parliamentary generals in the field, were now 
 transferred to the Senate. The independents now 
 appeared a distinct body from the presbyterians, and 
 betrayed very different views and pretensions. Vane, 
 Cromwell, Fiennes, and St. John, were regarded as 
 the leaders of the former 5 but as a great majority in 
 the nation were attached to the presbyterians, it was 
 only by cunning and deceit at first, and afterwards by 
 military violence, that the independents could enter- 
 tain any hopes of success. 
 
 The parliament having passed a self-denying ordin- 
 ance, by which the members of both houses w'ere ex- 
 cluded from all civil and military employments, Es- 
 sex, Manchester, and others, resigned their com- 
 mands. 
 
 It was agreed to recruit the army to twenty-two 
 16451 t ^ ousan( l men, and sir Thomas Fairfax was ap 
 •* pointed general 5 a man eminent for his cour- 
 age and humanity, but of little genius except in war. 
 Cromwell, being a member of the lower house, should 
 have been discarded with the rest •, but he was saved by 
 that political craft in which he was so eminent By 
 
 VOL. II. 4 
 
60 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 an artifice, which was, doubtless, concerted between 
 them. Fairfax requested that he might be favoured 
 with the advice and assistance of Cromwell, for anoth- 
 er campaign j and thus the independents prevailed by 
 art and cunning, and bestowed the whole military au- 
 thority apparently on Fairfax, but in reality on Crom- 
 well. The former was entirely governed by the ge- 
 nius and sagacity of the latter, whose strokes of char- 
 acter were only developed by the events in which he 
 was concerned. His extensive capacity enabled him 
 to form the most enlarged projects, and his enterpris- 
 ing genius was not dismayed by the boldest and most 
 dangerous. By the most profound dissimulation, the 
 most oblique and refined artifice, and the semblance 
 of the greatest moderation and simplicity, he conceal- 
 ed an ambitious and imperious mind, which ultimately 
 led him to the summit of power. 
 
 Negotiations for peace were once more renewed, 
 though with small hopes of success. Commissioners 
 on both sides met at Uxbridge 5 but it was soon found 
 impracticable to come to any amicable adjustment or- 
 the important articles of religion, the militia, and 
 Ireland. Charles refused to abolish episcopacy 5 and 
 the parliament expected that the power of the sword, 
 and the sovereignty of Ireland, should remain in their 
 hands. 
 
 A short time before the commencement of this trea- 
 ty, archbishop Laud, after undergoing a long impris- 
 onment, was brought to his trial for high treason, in 
 endeavouring to subvert the fundamental laws of the 
 kingdom. After a long trial, the commons, unable to 
 obtain a judicial sentence, passed an ordinance for tak- 
 ing away the life of this aged prelate, who sunk not 
 under the horrors of his execution. “ No one/' said 
 he, “can be more willing to send me out of life, than 
 I am to go.” His head was severed from his body at 
 one blow, which removed him to a better world. 
 
 While the king’s affairs declined in England, some 
 events took place in Scotland which seemed to prom- 
 ise a more prosperous issue in that kingdom. The 
 young earl of Montrose being ‘ntroduced to his maj- 
 esty, was so won by the civilities and caresses of the 
 king, that though he had been employed in the firs' 
 Scottish insurrection, he devoted himself from that 
 
CHARLES I. 
 
 5i 
 
 time entirely to the service of Charles. Montrose, 
 not discouraged by the defeat at Marston Moor, hav 
 ing obtained from the earl of Antrim, a nobleman of 
 Ireland, a supply of eleven hundred men from that 
 country, immediately declared himself, and entered 
 on the career which has rendered his name immortal. 
 Several hundreds of his countiymen soon flocked to 
 his standard ; P.nd, with this small force, he hastened 
 to attack lord Elcho, who lay at Perth, with an army 
 of six thousand men. Having received the fire of the 
 enemy, which was chiefly answered by a volley of 
 stones, for want of arms and ammunition, he rushed 
 among them, sword in hand, and throwing them into 
 confusion, obtained a complete victory, with the 
 slaughter of two thousand covenanters. Though the 
 majority of the kingdom was attached to the cove- 
 nant, yet the enterprises of Montrose were attended 
 with the most brilliant success j and, after prevailing 
 in many battles, he prepared himself for marching 
 into the southern provinces, in order to put a final pe- 
 riod to the power of the covenanters. 
 
 While the flame of war was thus rekindled in the 
 north, it blazed out with no less fury in the south. 
 Fairfax, or rather Cromwell, had new-modelled the 
 parliamentary army. Regimental chaplains were in a 
 great measure set aside ; and the officers assuming 
 tho spiritual duty, united it with their military func- 
 tions, and during the intervals of action, occupied 
 themselves in sermons, prayers, and exhortations. 
 The private soldiers, seized with the same fanaticism, 
 mutually stimulated each other to farther advances 
 in grace ; and when they were marching to battle, 
 the whole field resounded as well with psalms and 
 spiritual songs, as with the instruments of military 
 music. 
 
 At Naseby was fought, with nearly equal forces, a 
 decisive and well-disputed action between the king 
 and the parliament. Charles led on his main body, 
 and displayed in this action all the conduct of a pru- 
 dent general, and all the valour of a stout soldier. 
 Fairfax and Skippon encountered him, and well sup- 
 ported the reputation which they had previously ac- 
 quired. Cromwell also, by his prudence and valour, 
 very materially contributed io turn the fortune of the 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 5>2 
 
 day. The royal infantry was totally discomfited, and 
 Chailes was obliged to quit the field, and leave the 
 victory to the enemy. The slain on the side of the 
 parliament, however, exceeded those of the king: 
 out Fairfax made five hundred officers prisoners, and 
 four thousand private men, and took all the king's ar- 
 tillery and ammunition. 
 
 The affairs of the royalists now declined in all 
 \ cac -\ quarters. Charles escaped to Oxford, where 
 ° he shut himself up with the broken remains of 
 his army. The prince of Wales retired to France, 
 where he joined the queen ; the west submitted to 
 the arms of Fairfax and Cromwell; and the defeat of 
 Montrose at Philip-haugh, after a series of splendid 
 actions, seemed to seal the final destiny of the king’s 
 party. 
 
 The only resource which remained to Charles was 
 derived from the intestine dissentions of his enemies. 
 The jaresbyterians and independents fell into contests 
 concerning the division of the spoil ; and their reli- 
 gious and civil disputes agitated the whole nation. 
 In the mean time, Fairfax, with a victorious army, ap- 
 proached to lay siege to Oxford, which must infalli- 
 bly surrender. In this desperate extremity, the king 
 embraced a measure, which had been suggested by 
 Montreville, the French ambassador, of seeking the 
 protection of the Scottish army, which at that -ime 
 lay before Newark. 
 
 The Scottish generals and commissioners affected 
 great surprise on the appearance of the king ; and the 
 parliament, hearing of his escape from Oxford. .threat- 
 ened instant death to whosoever should harbour or 
 conceal him. The Scots, therefore, in order to justi- 
 fy themselves, assured the parliament, that they had 
 entered into private understanding with his majesty 
 After keeping the king a prisoner for some time, to 
 the eternal disgrace of the agents in this shameful 
 business, they agreed to surrender him to the parlia- 
 ment, for £400,000 pounds, half of which was to be 
 paid instantly; and thus the Scottish nation have been 
 stained with the infamy of selling their king, and be- 
 traying their prince for money. 
 
 When intelligence of the final resolution of the 
 Scots to sui *ender him was brought to Charles, l.e 
 
CHARLES i. 
 
 53 
 
 *vas playing at chess ; and so little was he affected ay 
 the news, that he continued his game without inter 
 ruption, or any appearance of discomposure. The 
 king, being delivered by the Scots to the English 
 commissioners, was conducted to Holdenby, in the 
 county of Northampton, where his ancient servants 
 were dismissed, and all communication with his friends 
 or family was prohibited. 
 
 About this time died the earl of Essex, who, sensi- 
 ble of the excesses to which affairs had been carried, 
 had resolved to conciliate a peace, and to remedy, as 
 far as possible, all those ills to which, from mistake 
 rather than any bad intentions, he had himself so 
 much contributed. His death, therefore, at this con- 
 juncture, was a public misfortune. 
 
 The dominion of the parliament, howdVer, was of 
 short duration. The presbyterians retained the supe 
 riority among the commons, but the independents pre 
 dominated in the army. Some evident symptoms of dis- 
 affection having appeared among the soldiers, the par- 
 liament sent Cromwell, Ireton, and Fleetwood, to the 
 army, to inquire into the cause of the disorders. 
 These men were the secret authors of the discontents, 
 which, while they pretended to appease them, they 
 failed not to foment. 
 
 In opposition to the parliament at Wetsminster, 
 a military parliament was formed, together with a 
 council of the principal officers, on the model of the 
 house of peers 3 and representatives of the army were 
 composed, by the election of two private men ^r infe- 
 rior officers, under the title of agitators, from each 
 troop or company. This court declared that they 
 found only grievances in the army, and voted the con- 
 duct of parliament unsatisfactory 3 and, foreseeing 
 the result of matters, they took care to strike a blow, 
 which at once decided the victory in their favour. 
 
 A party of five hundred horse appeared at Holden- 
 by, under the command of cornet Joice, who had 
 once been a tailor, but was now an active agitator in 
 the army. Joice came into the king’s presence, arm- 
 ed with pistols, and told him he must immediately go 
 along with him. u Whither V : said h ; s majesty. il T<| 
 the army,” replied Joice. t l By what warrant ?” ask 
 ed the king. Joice pointed to the soldiers, who were 
 
64 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 tall, handsome, and well accoutred. u Your warrant,’ 
 said Charles, smiling, “ is writ in fair characters, le- 
 gible, without spelling.” Resistance was of course 
 vain; and the king, stepping into his coach, was safe- 
 ly conducted to the army, which was hastening to its 
 rendezvous at Triplo-heath, near Cambridge. 
 
 Fairfax himself was ignorant of this manoeuvre ; 
 and it was not till the arrival of Cromwell, who had 
 deceived the parliament by his profound dissimulation 
 and consummate hypocrisy, that the intrigue was de- 
 veloped. On his arrival in the camp, he was received 
 with loud acclamations, and was instantly invested 
 with the supreme command. 
 
 The parliament, though at present defenceless, pos- 
 sessed many resources; and, therefore, Cromwell ad- 
 vanced upon ttiern with the army, and arrived in a 
 few days at St. Alban’s. The parliament, conscious 
 of their want of popularity, were reduced to despair ; 
 and the army, hoping by terror alone to effect all their 
 purposes, halted at St. Alban’s, and entered into ne- 
 gotiation with their masters. 
 
 The army, in their usurpations on the parliament, 
 copied exactly the model which the parliament itself 
 had set them, in their recent usurpations on the 
 crown. Everyday they rose in their demands; and 
 one concession only paved the way to another still 
 more exorbitant. At last, there being no signs of re- 
 sistance, in order to save appearances, they removed 
 at the desire of the parliament, to a greater dis- 
 tance*from London, and fixed their head-quarters at 
 Reading, 
 
 Charles was carried with them in all their marches, 
 and found himself much more comfortable than at 
 Holdenby^ All his friends had access to him ; and 
 his chilurem were once allowed to visit him, and they 
 passed a few days at Caversham, where he resided. 
 Cromwell, as well as the leaders of ail factions, paid 
 court to him ; and so confident was the king, that all 
 parties would at length have recourse to his lawful 
 authority, that on several occasions he observed, 
 lt You cannot be without me ; you cannot settle the 
 nation, but by my assistance.” 
 
 Charles, however, though he wished to hold the 
 balance between the opposite parties entertained 
 
CHARLES I. 51 
 
 more^hopes jf accommodation with the army, and 
 made the most splendid offers to lreton ind Crom- 
 well. The latter pretended to listen to his proposals j 
 but it is probable, that he had conceived .the design 
 of seizing the sceptre. While Cromwell, however, 
 allured the king with the hopes of an accommodation, 
 he systematically pursued his plan of humbling the 
 parliament. A petition against some laws was pre- 
 sented at Westminster, by the apprentices and sedi- 
 tious multitude ; and the house was obliged to reverse 
 its votes. Intelligence of this tumult being conveyed 
 to Reading, the army, under pretence of restoring lib- 
 er y to that assembly, marched to Hounslow, where 
 the speakers of the two houses, Manchester and Len- 
 tnal, having secretly retired by collusion, presented 
 themselves with their maces, and all the ensigns of 
 their dignity, and complained of the violence put 
 upon them. The two speakers were received with 
 acclamations, and conducted by a military force to 
 Westminster 5 and every act which had passed in 
 their absence was annulled, and the parliament reduc- 
 ed to a regularly formed servitude. 
 
 The leaders of the army, having now established 
 their dominion over the city and parliament, ventured 
 to bring the king to Hampton Court j but intelli- 
 gencebeing daily brought him of menaces thrown out 
 by the agitators, and his guards being doubled with the 
 view of rendering him uneasy in his present situation, 
 Charles adopted the sudden and impolitic resolution 
 of withdrawing himself; and attended only by sir John j 
 Berkley, Ashburnham, and Legge, he privately left 
 Hampton Court, and arrived next day at Tichfield. 
 Sensible, however, that he could not long remain con- 
 cealed there, he imprudently put himself into the 
 hands of Hammond, governor of the Isle of Wight, a 
 man entirely dependant on Cromwell, by whom he was 
 carried to Carisbrooke castle, and confined a prisoner, 
 though treated with the externals of duty and respect. 
 
 Cromwell, now freed from all anxiety in regard to 
 the custody of the king’s person, and being superior 
 to the parliament, applied himself seriously to quell 
 those disorders in the army, which he himself had 
 raised. He issued orders for discontinuing the meet- 
 ings of the agitators j but these levellers , as they were 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
56 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 called, joined in seditious remonstrances and pcti 
 tions ; and Cromwell, at the time of a review, seizing 
 the ringleaders before their companions, caused one 
 mutineer instantly to be shot, and struck such terror 
 into the rest, that they quietly returned to discipline 
 and duty. 
 
 Cromwell paid great deference to the counsels of 
 Ireton, a man who had grafted the soldier on the law- 
 yer, and the statesman on the saint„; and by his sug- 
 gestion, he secretly called a council of the chief offi- 
 cers at Windsor, w^here was first opened the daring 
 design of bringing the king to condign punishment for 
 maladministration. This measure being resolved on, 
 it was requisite gradually to conduct the parliament 
 from one violence to another, till this last act of atro- 
 cious iniquity should appear inevitable. At the insti- 
 gation of the independents and army, that assembly 
 framed four proposals, to which they demanded the 
 king's positive assent, before they would deign to treat. 
 The first was, that he should invest the parliament 
 with the military power for twenty years : the second, 
 that he should recall all his proclamations and declar 
 ations against the parliament, and acknowledge thal 
 assembly to have taken arms in their just and necessa- * 
 ry defence ; the third, that he should annul all the 
 acts, and void all the patents of peerage, which had 
 passed the great seal, since the commencement of the 
 civil wars ; and the fourth, that he should give the 
 two houses power to adjourn as they thought proper. 
 
 Charles, though a prisoner, regarded these preten- 
 sions as exorbitant, and desired that all the terms on 
 both sides should be adjusted, before any concession 
 16481 on either was insisted on. The republicans 
 J pretended to take fire at this reply; and Crom- 
 well, after expatiating on the valour and godliness of 
 the army, added, “ Teach them not by neglecting your 
 own safety and that of the kingdom, in which their's 
 too is involved, to imagine themselves betrayed, and 
 their interests abandoned to the rage and malice of 
 an irreconcilable enemy, whom, for your sake, they 
 have dared to provoke. Beware, (and at these words 
 he laid his hand on his sword,) beware lest despair 
 cause them to seek safety by some other means than 
 by adhering to you, who knew not how to consult youi 
 own safety. ” 
 
CHARLES I. 
 
 57 
 
 Ninety-one members, however, had still the cour 
 age to oppose this menace of Cromwell ; but the ma- 
 jority decided, that no more addresses were to be 
 made to the king, nor any letters or messages receiv 
 ed from him, and that it should be treason for any one 
 to have intercourse with him, without a permission 
 from parliament. By this vote the king was actually 
 dethroned ; and this violent measure was supported 
 by a declaration of the commons equally violent, in 
 which the character of Charles was aspersed with the 
 foulest calumnies. 
 
 Scotland, whence the king’s cause had received the 
 first fatal disaster, seemed now to promise its support 
 and assistance. Alarmed at the subjection of parlia- 
 ment to the army, and the confinement of Charles, the 
 Scots had resolved to arm forty thousand men, in sup- 
 port of their native prince, and secretly entered into 
 correspondence with the English royalists, sir Marma- 
 duke Langdale and sir Philip Musgrave, who had lev- 
 ied considerable forces in the north of England. Va- 
 rious combinations and conspiracies for the same pur- 
 
 f »ose were every where forming; and seventeen ships 
 ying-at the mouth of the river declared for the king; 
 and setting their admiral ashore, sailed over to Hol- 
 land, where the prince of Wales took the command 
 of them. 
 
 Cromwell and his military council, however, pre- 
 pared themselvep with vigour and conduct for de- 
 fence; and while the forces were employed in all 
 quarters, parliament having regained some share of 
 liberty, repealed the vote for non-addressing, and five 
 peers and ten commoners were sent to Newport in 
 the Isle of Wight, as commissioners to treat with 
 Charles. 
 
 From the time that the king had been a prisoner in 
 Carisbrooke castle, he had totally neglected his per- 
 son, and had suffered his beard to grow long. His 
 hair had become almost entirely gray, either from the 
 decline of years, or the load of sorrow with which he 
 was oppressed. The vigour of his mind, however, was 
 still unbroken ; and alone, and unsupported, for two 
 months, he maintained an argument against fifteen 
 men of the greatest parts and capacity, without ar.^ 
 advai tage being obtained over him. Of a.1 the de 
 
53 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 mands of the parliament, Charles refused only tw o 
 he would neither give up his friends to punishment, 
 nor abolish episcopacy, though he was willing to tem- 
 per it. 
 
 In the mean time, Cromwell, with eight thousand 
 men, attacked and defeated the numerous armies of 
 twenty thousand, commanded by Hamilton and Lang- 
 dale, and took the former prisoner. Following up his 
 advantage, he marched into Scotland, where he exer- 
 cised the most tyrannical power, and in conjunction 
 with those of his own party, placed all authority in 
 the hands of the most violent anti-royalists. Colches- 
 ter, after holding out for the king to the last extremi- 
 ty, under sir Charles Lucas and sir George Lisle, 
 was obliged to surrender 5 and Fairfax, instigated 
 by the inhuman Ireton, caused those officers to be 
 shot. 
 
 These successes of the army had subdued all their 
 enemies, except the helpless king and parliament; 
 and the council of general officers, at the suggestion 
 of Cromwell, now demanded the dissolution of that 
 assembly, and a more equal representation in future. 
 At the same time they advanced the troops to Wind 
 sor, and ordered the king to be removed to Hurst cas- 
 tle in Hampshire, where he was kept in close con- 
 finement. 
 
 The parliament, however, did not lose their cour- 
 age, but set aside the remonstrances of the army, and 
 issued orders that it should not advance nearer to Lon- 
 don. The parliament, however, had to deal with men 
 W'ho would not be intimidated by words, nor retarded 
 by any scrupulous delicacy. The generals marched 
 the army to London, and surrounded the parliament 
 with their hostile preparations. In this situation, the 
 parliament had the resolution to attempt to close their 
 treaty with the king; and after a violent debate of 
 three days, it was carried by a majority of one hun- 
 dred and twenty-nine, against eighty-three, in the 
 house of commons, that the king’s concessions were 
 a foundation for the houses to proceed upon in the 
 settlement of the kingdom. 
 
 Next day, however, when the commons were about 
 to !>ioet. colonel Pride, formerly a drayman, having 
 su; rounded the- house with two regiments, forty-ouj 
 
CHARLES I. - 53 
 
 members of the presbyterian party were seized, and 
 above one hundred and sixty more were excluded. In 
 short, none but the most determined independents 
 were allowed to enter, and these did not exceed the 
 number of fifty or sixty. This invasion of the parlia- 
 ment commonly passed under the name of colonel 
 Pride’s purge. The independents instantly reversed 
 the former vote, and declared the king’s concessions 
 unsatisfactory ; they renewed the former vote of non- 
 addresses j and committed some of the leading pres- 
 byterian members to prison. 
 
 The council of officers now took into consideration 
 a scheme, called “ the agreement of the people,” 
 which laid the basis of a republic ; and, that they 
 might complete their iniquity and fanatical extrava- 
 gance, they urged on this shadow of a parliament to 
 bring in a specific charge against their sovereign. Ac- 
 cordingly, a vote was passed, declaring it treason in a 
 king to levy war against his parliament, and appointing 
 a high court of justice to try Charles for this new-in- 
 vented treason This vote was sent up to the house 
 of peers; and that assembly, which was in general 
 very thinly attended, was on that day fuller than usual, 
 and consisted ot sixteen members ; but without one 
 dissenting voice, they instantly rejected the vote of 
 the lower house, and adjourned for ten days, in hopes, 
 by this delay, to ietard the furious career of the com- 
 mons. 
 
 That body, however, having assumed as a principle 
 which is true in theory, though false in practice, u that 
 the people are the origin of all just power,” they de- 
 clared that the commons represented the people, and 
 that their enactments have the force of laws, without 
 the consent of king or house of peers. The ordi- 
 nance for the. trial of Charles Stuart was then again 
 read, and unanimously agreed to. 
 
 Colonel Harrison, the son of a butcher, and the 
 most furious enthusiast of the army, was despatched 
 with a strong party to conduct the king to London ; 
 and it appears, that, at this time, his majesty expected 
 assassination, and could not believe that they really 
 intended to conclude their acts of violence by a pub- 
 lic trial and execution. 
 
 All things, however, being adjusted, the high c.our! 
 
60 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 of justice was fully constituted. It consisted of one 
 hundred and thirty-three persons named by the com- 
 mons ; but scarcely more than seventy ever sat ; so 
 difficult was it to engage men of any name or charac- 
 ter in that atrocious measure. Cromwell, Ireton, Har- 
 rison, and the chief officers of the army, most of them 
 of low birth, were members, together with some of 
 the lower house, and a few citizens of London. The 
 twelve judges were at first appointed in the number 3 
 but as they had affirmed that the proceeding was 
 illegal, their names were struck out. Bradshaw, a 
 lawyer, was chosen president, and Coke was appointed 
 solicitor to the people of England. 
 
 The court sat in Westminster-hall j and the king 
 being arraigned for levying war against the parliament, 
 was impeached as a tyrant, traitor, and murderer. 
 Though long detained a prisoner, and now produced 
 as a criminal, Charles sustained the dignity of a mon- 
 arch, and with great temper and force, declined the 
 authority of the court. Three times was he brought 
 before his judges, and as often declined their juris 
 diction. On the fourth, the court having examined 
 some witnesses, by whom it was proved that the king 
 had appeared in arms against the forces commissioned 
 by the parliament, they pronounced sentence against 
 him. 
 
 In this last scene, Charles forgot not his character, 
 either as a man or a prince. Firm and intrepid, he 
 maintained, in each reply, the utmost perspicuity in 
 thought and expression 3 mild and equable, he rose 
 into no passion at the unusual authority assumed over 
 him. His soul, wi*hout effort or affectation, seemed 
 only to remain in the situation familiar, to it, and to 
 look down with contempt on all the efforts of human 
 malice. The soldiers were brought, though with diffi- 
 culty, to cry aloud for justice : u Poor souls,” said the 
 king, u for a little money they would do as much 
 against their commanders. ” 
 
 Three days only were allowed the king between his 
 sentence and execution 3 and this interval was passed 
 in reading and devotion, and in conversing with the 
 princess Elizabeth and the duke of Gloucester, who 
 alone of his family remained in England. 
 
 The morning of the fatal dav, which was the 30tfr 
 
CHARLES 1. 
 
 61 
 
 of January, 1649, Charles rose early, and calling Her 
 bert, one of his attendants, bade him employ more 
 than usual care in dressing him, and preparing him for 
 such a great and joyful solemnity. Juxon, bishop of 
 London, a man endowed with the same mild and 
 steady virtues as his master, assisted him in his devo- 
 tions, and paid the last melancholy duties to his sove- 
 reign. As he was preparing himself for the block, 
 Juxon said, u There is, sir, but one stage more, which, 
 though turbulent, is yet a very short one. Consider, 
 it will soon carry you a great way : it will carry you 
 from earth to heaven ; ana there you shall find, to 
 your great joy, the prize to which you hasten, a crown 
 of glory. 1 ” “ I go,” replied the king, “ from a corrup- 
 
 tible to an incorruptible crown, where no disturbance 
 can have place.” At one blow his head was severed 
 from his body by a man in a visor; and another, in a 
 similar disguise, held up to the spectators the head 
 streaming with blood, and cried aloud, “ This is the 
 head of a traitor !” 
 
 It is impossible to describe the grief, indignation, 
 and astonishment, which took place throughout the 
 nation, on this melancholy occasion. Each reproach- 
 ed himself either with r •'tive disloyalty, or with a too 
 indolent defence of the royal cause. The generous 
 Fairfax, it appears, had designed to rescue the king 
 from the scaffold, with his own regiment; but this 
 intention being known, he was artfully engaged by 
 Cromwell in prayer with Harrison, till the fatal blow 
 was struck. 
 
 The moment before his execution, Charles had 
 said to Juxon, in an earnest and impressive manner, 
 Remember and the generals insisted with the prelate, 
 that he should inform them of the king’s meaning. 
 Juxon told them, that the king had charged him to in- 
 culcate on his son the forgiveness of his murderers; a 
 sentiment w r hich in his last speech he had before de- 
 clared. As a king, Charles was not free from faults ; 
 but as a man, few had ever filled the throne, who were 
 entitled to more unqualified praise. 
 
 A few days after the consummation of this tragedy, 
 the commons passed a vote, abolishing the house of 
 peers as dangerous and useless, and a like vote was 
 passed in regard to the monarchy. It was declared 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 62 
 
 high-treason to proclaim or otherwise acknowledge 
 Cnarles Stuart, commonly called the prince of Wales ; 
 and the commons ordered a new great seal to be en 
 graved, on which that assembly was represented, with 
 a legend, 11 On the first year of freedom, by God’s 
 blessing restored, 1648.” 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Commonwealth. 
 
 On the death of Charles, every person had framed 
 Ihe model of a republic, which, how new or absurd 
 soever, he wished to impose on his fellow citizens. 
 164,01 The ^ eve ^ ers insisted on an equal distribution 
 J L of power and property; the millenarians, or 
 fifth monarchy men, required that government itself 
 should be abolished, to prepare the way for the do 
 minion of Christ, whose second coming they sudden 
 ly expected; while the antinomians asserted, that the 
 obligations of morality and natural law were supersed- 
 ed, and that the elect were guided by an internal prin- 
 ciple more perfect and divine. 
 
 The royalists were inflamed with the highest resent- 
 ment against their ignoble adversaries ; the presbyte- 
 rians were enraged to find that the fruits of their la- 
 bours were ravished from them, by the treachery or 
 superior cunning of their associates; and the army, 
 the only support of the independent republican fac 
 tion, was actuated by a religious frenzy, which ren- 
 dered it dangerous even to its friends. 
 
 The only poise against these irregularities of action, 
 was the great influence of Oliver Cromwell. lilting 
 monarchy, while a subject; despising liberty, while a 
 citizen ; he was secretly paving the way, by artifice 
 and courage, to his own unlimited authority. 
 
 The parliament now named a council of state, con- 
 sisting of thirty-eight members, to whom all address 
 es we**3 made, and who digested all business before 
 it was introduced into the house. Foreign powers, 
 occupied in wars among themselves, had no leisure 
 or inclination to interpose in the domestic dissen- 
 
THE COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 t>3 
 
 
 tions of tnis island ; and the young king, poor and neg- 
 lected, comforted himself amidst his present distress- 
 es only with the hopes of better fortune. The situa- 
 tion of Scotland and Ireland alone gave any inquie- 
 tude to the new republic. 
 
 Argyle and his partisans had proclaimed Charles IT. 
 in Scotland ; but on contrition “ of his good behaviour 
 and strict observance of the covenant in Ireland, 
 the duke of Ormond having contrived to assemble an 
 army of sixteen thousand men, recovered several pla- 
 ces from the parliament, and threatened Dublin with 
 a siege ; and the young king entertained thoughts of 
 visiting that kingdom. 
 
 Cromwell aspired to a situation where so much glo- 
 ry might be won, and so much authority acquired ; 
 and, by his usual cunning, he procured from the coun- 
 cil of state the appointment of commander in chief in 
 that island. Many disorders, however, in England, 
 and particularly in the army, were necessary to be 
 composed, before he set out; but with his usual felic- 
 ity he settled affairs sufficiently to allow him to un- 
 dertake the expedition. 
 
 On his arrival at Dublin, he attacked and defeated 
 the army of Ormond, whose military character in this 
 action received some stain. He then hastened to Tre- 
 dah, which was well fortified, and garrisoned with 
 three thousand men 5 and having made a breach, he 
 ordered a general assault. The town was taken sword 
 in hand ; and orders being issued to give no quarter, u 
 cruel slaughter was made of the garrison. One person 
 alone escaped, to be the messenger, of this universal 
 havoc and destruction. 
 
 Cromwell pretended to retaliate, by this severe ex- 
 ecution, the cruelty of the Irish massacre ; and though 
 he well knew that nearly the whole garrison were 
 English, his barbarous policy had certainly the desired 
 effect. Every town before which he presented him- 
 self, now opened its gates without offering any resist- 
 ance ; and the English had no other difficulties to en- 
 counter, than what arose from fatigue and the advanc- 
 ed season. Fluxes and contagious distempers destroy- 
 ed great numbers of them ; but the English garrisons 
 of Cork, Kinsale, and other important places, deserted 
 to him. 
 
 i 
 
 ; 
 
f 
 
 54 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 This desertion of the English put an end to Or- 
 mond’s authority ; and leaving the island, he delegated 
 his power to Clanricarde, who found affairs too despe- 
 rate to admit any remedy. Above forty thousand Irish 
 passed into foreign service ; and in the space of nine 
 months, Cromwell had almost entirely subdued Ireland. 
 
 In the mean time, Charles being informed that he 
 ,g r Q 1 had been proclaimed king by the Scottish par- 
 -* liament, was at length persuaded, though reluc- 
 tantly, to submit to the severe conditions annexed ig 
 his receival of the crown. To comply with these, he 
 was chiefly induced by the account brought him of 
 the fate of Montrose, who, with all the circumstan- 
 ces of rage and contumely, had been put to death by 
 his zealous countrymen. The sentence pronounced 
 against Montrose, was, that, after being hanged, his 
 head should be cut off, and affixed to the prison, and 
 that his legs and arms should be stuck up on the four 
 chief towns in the kingdom. He told the clergy, who 
 insulted over his fallen fortunes, that they were a mis- 
 erably deluded and deluding people. “ For my part, 
 added he, “ I am much prouder to have my head ai 
 fixed to the place where it is sentenced to stand, thai 
 to have my picture hung in the king’s bed-chamber 
 So far from being sorry, that my quarters are to be 
 sent to four cities of the kingdom, I wish that I had 
 limbs enow to be dispersed into all the cities of Chris- 
 tendom, there to remain as testimonies in favour of 
 the cause for which I suffer.” This sentiment, the 
 same evening, he threw into verse ; and the poem 
 still remains, a monument of his heroic spirit, and no 
 despicable proof of his poetic genius. With the same 
 constancy he endured the last act of the executioner, 
 and thus perished, in the thirty -eighth year of his age, 
 the gallant marquis of Montrose. 
 
 Charles, in consequence of his agreement to take 
 the covenant, and to submit to other hard conditions, 
 landed in Scotland; but soon found himself consider- 
 ed *as a mere pageant of state, and that the few re- 
 mains of royalty which he possessed, served only to 
 draw on him *the greater indignities. As his facility 
 in yielding to every demand gave some reason to 
 doubt his sincerity, it was proposed that he should 
 pass through a public humiliation, instead of being 
 crowned as he expected. 
 
THE COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 65 
 
 The advance of the English army under Cromwell, 
 could not appease nor soften the animosities among 
 the parties in Scotland. As soon as the English par- 
 liament found that the treaty between Charles and 
 the Scots was likely to lead to an accommodation, 
 they prepared for war. The command in Ireland was 
 left to Ireton ; and Cromwell being declared captain- 
 general of all the forces in England, entered Scotland 
 with an army of sixteen thousand men. 
 
 The command of the Scottish army was given to 
 Leslie, who entrenched himself between Edinburgh 
 and Leith, and avoided a battle, which Cromwell tried 
 every expedient to bring on. The latter was at length 
 reduced to such extremities, that he had even embrac- 
 ed the resolution of sending all his foot and artillery 
 to England by sea, and of breaking through, at all haz- 
 ards, with his cavalry 5 but the madness of the Scot- 
 tish ecclesiastics preserved him from this dishonour. 
 
 These enthusiasts had not only enjoined Charles to 
 withdraw from the army, but they had purged it of four 
 thousand malignants, as they were called, though reck- 
 oned the best soldiers in the nation ; and on the faith 
 of visions, forced their general, in spite of his remon- 
 strances, lo descend from an advantageous station upon 
 the heights of Lamermure, near Dunbar, with a view of 
 attacking the English in their retreat. Cromwell, see- 
 ing the enemy’s camp in motion, foretold without the 
 help of revelations, u that the Lord had delivered 
 them into his hands.” He gave orders for an imme- 
 diate attack ; and such was the effect of discipline, 
 that the Scots, though double in number, were soon 
 put to flight, and pursued with great slaughter. 
 About three thousand were slain, and nine thou- 
 sand taken prisoners; and Cromwell following up his 
 advantage, took possession of Edinburgh and Leith. 
 The remnant of the Scottish army fled to Stirling. 
 The defeat of the Scots was regarded by Charles as a 
 fortunate event, as the vanquished were now obliged 
 to allow him more authority. Still, however, the pro- 
 testers kept aloof from the malignants. * 
 
 Charles encamped at Torwood, with the town of 
 16511 Stirling behind him, and cautiously adhered to 
 * defensive measures; but Cromwell, passing 
 oyer the frith into Fife, posted himself in his rear. 
 roL. ii 5 
 
66 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 and rendered it impossible for the king to keep his 
 station. Charles, reduced to despair, embraced a res 
 olulion worthy of a young prince contending for em- 
 pire. The road to England being open, where he hop- 
 ed to be joined by numerous friends, he persuaded the 
 generals to march thither 5 and with one consent the 
 army, to the number of fourteen thousand men, rose 
 from their camp, and advanced by rapid marches to- 
 wards the south. 
 
 Cromwell, leaving Monk with seven thousand men 
 to complete the reduction of Scotland, followed the 
 king with all possible expedition. Charles found him- 
 self disappointed in his expectations of increasing his 
 army : the Scots fell off in great numbers ; the Eng- 
 lish presbyterians and the royalists were unprepared 
 to join him 3 and when he arrived at Worcester, his 
 forces were not more numerous than when he rose 
 from his camp at Torwood. 
 
 Such is the influence of established government, 
 that the commonwealth, though very unpopular, had 
 sufficient influence to raise the militia of the coun- 
 ties 3 and these, united with the regular forces, ena 
 bled Cromwell to fall upon the king at Worcester 
 with an army of thirty thousand men. The streets of 
 that city were strewed with the dead. Hamilton, a 
 nobleman of bravery and honour, was mortally wound 
 ed5 Massey was wounded and taken prisoner j and 
 the king himself, having given many proofs of per 
 sonal valour, was obliged to fly. The whole Scottish 
 army was either killed or taken prisoners. 
 
 By the earl of Derby's directions, Charles went to 
 Boscobel, a lone house on the borders of Staffordshire,* 
 inhabited by one Penderell, a farmer, who, with his 
 four brothers, served him with unshaken fidelity. 
 Having clothed the king in a garb like their own, they 
 led him into a neighbouring wood, and pretended to 
 employ themselves in cutting faggots. For better con- 
 cealment, he mounted an oak, where, hid among the 
 leaves, he saw several soldiers pass by, who expressed 
 in his hearing, their earnest wishes of finding him. At 
 length, after escaping the frequent dangers of detec- 
 tion, the king embarked on board a vessel at Shore 
 ham, in Sussex, a.id arrived safely at Fescamp in Nor 
 mandy, after a concealment of one and forty Jays 
 

 
 
 
THE COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 67 
 
 No less than forty men and women had at different 
 Jimes been privy to his concealment, yet all of them 
 proved faithful to their trust. 
 
 The battle of Worcester afforded Cromwell what 
 he called his “ crowning mercy 5” and he now discov- 
 ered to his intimate friends his aspiring views. The 
 unpopularity of the parliament aided the ambition of 
 this enterprising man, and paved the way to his exal- 
 tation. Never, however, had the power of this coun- 
 try apprared so formidable to neighbouring nations, a§ 
 at this time. Blake had raised the naval glory of Eng- 
 land to a greater height than it had attained at any 
 former period. In America, the Bermudas, Antigua, 
 Virginia, and Barbadoes, were reduced 3 Jersey, Guern- 
 sey, Scilly, and the Isle of Man, were brought under 
 subjection to the republic 5 and all the British do- 
 minions submitting, parliament turned its views to for- 
 eign enterprises. 
 
 The dutch were the first that felt the weight of their 
 arms. The parliament passed the famous navigation 
 act. Letters of reprisal were granted to several mer- 
 chants, who complained of injuries which they had 
 received from the states : and above eighty Dutch 
 ships fell into their hands, and were made prizes. The 
 cruelties committed on the English at Amboyna, which 
 had been suffered to sleep in oblivion for thirty years, 
 were also urged as a ground for hostile aggression. 
 
 That they might not be unprepared for the war with 
 16 r< 21 they were menaced, the states equipped 
 
 •* a fleet of one hundred and fifty sail ; and gave 
 the command of a squadron of forty-two ships to Van 
 Tromp, an admiral of great talents, to protect the 
 Dutch navigation against the privateers of England. 
 In the road of Dover, he met with Blake, who com- 
 manded an English fleet much inferior in number. 
 Who was the aggressor in the action which ensued, it 
 is not easy to determine ; but the Dutch were defeated 
 with the loss of one ship sunk, and another taken. 
 
 The parliament gladly seized this opportunity of 
 commencing the war in form. Several actions now 
 took place with various success. At length, Tromp 
 seconded by De Ruyter, met near the Goodwin Sands 
 with Blake, who, though his fleet was inferior to that 
 of the Dutch, declined not the combat. Both sides 
 
68 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 
 fought with the greatest bravery ; but the advantage 
 remained with the Dutch ; and after this victory, 
 Tromp, in a bravado, fixed a broom to his mast-head, 
 as if resolved to sweep the seas of the English. 
 
 Great preparations were made in England to wipe 
 off this disgrace ; and a fleet of eighty sail was 
 
 JG53] 
 
 fitted out, commanded by Blake, and under him 
 
 bv Dean and Monk. As the English lay off Portland, 
 they descried a Dutch fleet of seventy-six vessels, 
 mailing up the channel with three hundred merchant- 
 men, under the command of Tromp and De Ruyter. 
 A most furious battle commenced, and continued for 
 three days, with the utmost lage and obstinacy ; and 
 Blake, who was victor, could scarcely be said to have 
 gained more honour than th-ii vanquished. Tromp 
 made a skilful retreat, and after losing eleven ships 
 of war, and thirty merchantmen, reached the coast of 
 Holland. 
 
 This defeat, together with the loss which their trade 
 sustained by the war, inclined the states to peace; 
 . but parliament did not receive their overtures in a fa- 
 vourable manner; and they rejoiced at the dissolution 
 of that assembly by Cromwell, as an event likely to 
 render their affairs more prosperous. 
 
 Cromwell, sensible that parliament entertained a 
 jealousy of his power, which they wished to restrain, 
 determined to anticipate their designs. A council of 
 officers presented a remonstrance, complaining of the 
 arrears due to the army, and demanding that a new 
 parliament should be summoned. To this the parlia- 
 ment made a sharp reply ; and Cromw^’I in a rage has- 
 tened to the house, attended by three hundred soldiers, 
 some of whom he placed at the door, some in the lob- 
 by, and some on the stairs. He reproached the par- 
 liament for their tyranny, ambition, and oppression; 
 and commanding the soldiers to clear the hall, he 
 himself went out the last, and ordering the doors to 
 be locked, departed to his lodgings at Whitehall. 
 
 Oliver Cromwell, who had t>y this violent measure 
 monopolized the whole civil and military power in 
 the kingdom, was born at Huntingdon, of a good fami- 
 ly, though their estate was small. In the early part 
 of his life, he was extremely dissolute and dissipated 1 
 but he was suddenly seized with the spirit of reforma 
 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
THE COMMONWEALTR 
 
 69 
 
 tion, and entered into all the zeal and rigour of the 
 puritans. His affairs being embarrassed, he took a 
 farm at St. Ives, and applied himself to agriculture 
 but this expedient involved him in greater difficulties. 
 The length of his prayers, together with the genera, 
 abstraction of his mind, prevented him from paying 
 due attention to his farm ; and urged by his wants, and 
 the religious principles he had imbibed, he had made 
 a party with Hampden, his near kinsman, to transport 
 himself to New-England, but was prevented by an or- 
 der of council. From accident and intrigue he was 
 chosen member for the town of Cambridge in the long 
 parliament; but though highly gifted by nature, he 
 was no orator ; and if he had not lived in times of tur 
 bulence and disorder, it is probable that he would nev 
 er have risen to eminence and distinction. 
 
 The indignation manifested by the people, on the 
 usurpation of Cromwell, was less violent than might 
 have been expected. Harrassed with wars and fac- 
 tions, men were glad to see any prospect of peace ; 
 and they considered it less ignominious to submit to 
 a person of talents and abilities, than to a few enthu- 
 siastic hypocrites, who, under the name of a republic, 
 had reduced them to a cruel subjection. 
 
 By the advice of his council of officers, Cromwell 
 sent summons to one hundred and twenty-eight per- 
 sons, of different towns and counties of England, to 
 five of Scotland, and to six of Ireland. These men, 
 who were generally low mechanics, supported by 
 Cromweli, voted themselves a parliament; and from 
 one of the most noted, a leather-seller in London, 
 whose name was Praise-God Barebone, they obtained 
 the ridiculous appellation of Barebone's parliament. 
 Cromwell, however, soon became dissatisfied with 
 this assembly of fanatics, who, he expected, would 
 have been subservient to him, but who began to in- 
 sist on their divine commission, and to oppose his 
 views. In *he act of drawing up a protest against their 
 dissolution, they were interrupted by Colonel White, 
 with a party of soldiers. White asked them what 
 they did there 1 11 We are seeking the Lord,” said 
 they. “ Then you may go elsewhere,” replied he; 
 “ for to my knowledge, he has not been here these ma- 
 ny years.” 
 
I 
 
 70 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 This shadow of a parliament being dissolved, the 
 council of officers now proposed, that the supreme au 
 thoritv should be vested in a single person, who should 
 be sti led the protector ; and a new instrument of 
 government being prepared, Cromwell was declared 
 protector , and installed with great solemnity in that 
 high office. By the plan of this new legislature, a 
 council was appointed, which was not to exceed twen- 
 ty-one, nor be fewer than thirteen persons. The pro- 
 tector, however, was to possess all the executive pow- 
 er; but the advice of the council vyas to be taken oit 
 every important occasion. A parliament was to be 
 summoned every three years, and allowed to sit. five 
 months, without adjournment, prorogation, or dissolu- 
 tion. The bills which they passed were to be present- 
 ed to the protector for his assent ; but if within twen 
 ty days that assent was not obtained, they were to be 
 come law's by the authority of parliament alone. A 
 standing army was established, and funds w r ere assign- 
 ed for its support. During the intervals of parliament, 
 the protector and council had the power of enacting 
 laws, which were to be valid till the next meeting of 
 the legislative body. The protector was to enjoy his 
 office during life ; and, on his death, the council was 
 to fill up the vacancy. The council of state, named 
 by the instrument, were men entirely devoted to 
 Cromwell, and not likely ever to combine agaosthim. 
 
 Whatever may be the defects and distraction? in 
 this system of civil polity, the military force of Eng 
 land was exerted with vigour, conduct, and unanimity. 
 The English fleet, commanded by Monk and Dean, af- 
 ter an engagement of two days, defeated the Dutch 
 under Tromp ; and in an another engagement, when 
 Blake commanded, Tromp was shot through the heart, 
 and this decided the action. The Dutch regarded 
 !ess the loss of thirty ships which were sunk and taken, 
 than the catastrophe of their brave admiral. At length, 
 however, a defensive league was contracted be- 
 J tween the two republics, on terms very honour- 
 able and advantageous to England ; and Cromwell, as 
 protector, signed the treaty of pacification. 
 
 Cromwell, however, had occasion to observe the 
 prejudices entertained against his government, by the 
 disposition of the parliament which he had summon 
 
THE COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 7i 
 
 ed. The manner irt which he had conducted the elec- 
 tions nad been favourable to liberty. The small bor 
 oughs, as being most exposed to influence and corrup- 
 tion, had been disfranchised $ and of four hundred 
 members who represented England, two hundred and 
 seventy were chosen by the counties. These meas- 
 ures, however, failed to procure him the confidence 
 of the people ; and’ the first business on which the par 
 liament entered, was to discuss the pretended instru 
 ment of government, and the authority which Crom- 
 well had assumed over the nation. Cromwell obliged 
 the members to sign a recognition of his authority, and 
 an engagement not to propose or consent to any alter- 
 ation in the government, as settled in a single person 
 and a parliament } but, finding that conspiracies had 
 been entered into between the members and some 
 malcontent officers, he hastened to dissolve this dan- 
 gerous assembly. 
 
 After this, the protector exerted himself against the 
 16551 a dherents of Charles, who had appointed a day 
 ■* of general rising throughout England ; and in 
 order to draw off the attention of the nation from him- 
 self, he extended his enterprises to every part of Eu- 
 rope. He compelled the French to comply with ev- 
 ery proposal which he thought fit to make, and to sub- 
 mit to the greatest indignities. 
 
 The extensive but feebie empire of Spain in the 
 West Indies, excited the ambition of the protector ; 
 and, in order to humble that power, he equipped two 
 squadrons j one under Blake entered the Mediterra- 
 nean, and spread terror every where. To the other, 
 under Pen and Venables, Jamaica surrendered without 
 a blow ; and that island has ever since remained in the 
 hands of the English, the chief acquisition which they 
 owe to the enterprising spirit of Cromwell. 
 
 Blake being informed that a Spanish fleet of sixteen 
 ships had taken shelter in the Canaries, sailed thither 
 and found them in the bay of Santa Cruz. This bay 
 was strongly fortified; but nothing could daunt the 
 spirit of Blake. In spite of the Spanish forts and bat- 
 teries, the English admiral steered into the bay ; and 
 after a resistance of four hours, the enemy abandoned 
 their ships, which were set on fire and consumed. 
 
 This was the last and greatest action of that gallant 
 
72 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 officer. Being almost worn out with a dropsy and 
 scurvy, he hastened home, that he might die in his na- 
 tive country 3 but he expired as he came within sight 
 of land. Never was a man more sincerely respected, 
 even by those of opposite principles. He was an in- 
 flexible republican, and the late changes were thought 
 to be no way grateful to, him 3 but he remarked to the 
 seamen, “ It is still our duty to fight for our country, 
 into whose hands soever the government may Fall.'' 
 
 The conduct of the protector in foreign affairs, 
 though often rash, was full of vigour. The great mind 
 of Cromwell was intent on spreading the fame of the 
 English nation 3 and it was his boast, that lie would 
 render the name of an Englishman as much feared and 
 revered as ever was that of a Roman. In his civil and 
 domestic administration, he paid great regard both to 
 justice and clemency. All the chief offices in the 
 courts of judicature were filled with men of integrity j 
 and amidst the virulence of faction, the decrees of the 
 judges were unwarped by partiality. 
 
 Cromwell now judging that he had sufficiently es- 
 tablished his authority, summoned another parlia 
 ment3 but, though he had used every art to influence 
 the elections, he soon found that it was necessary to 
 employ the most violent measures to procure an as- 
 cendency in the house. He placed guards at the door, 
 who permitted only such to enter as produced a war- 
 rant from the council. The parliament voted a re- 
 nunciation of all titles in Charles Stuart, or any of his 
 family 5 and colonel Jephson, in order to sound the 
 inclinations of the house, ventured to move, that they 
 should bestow the crown on Cromwell. When the 
 protector afterwards affected to ask what could induce 
 him to make such a motion 3 u As long,” said Jeph- 
 son, il as I have the honour to sit in parliament, I must 
 follow the dictates of my own conscience, whatever 
 offence I may be so unfortunate as to give you.” 
 %l G«d thee gone,” said Cromwell, giving him a gentle 
 blow on the shoulder, “ get thee gone for a mad fel- 
 low as thou art.” 
 
 At length, a motion in form was made by alderman 
 Pack, one of the city members, for investing Crom- 
 well with the royal dignity. The chief opposition 
 came from the usual adherents of the prelector, the 
 
THE COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 73 
 
 general officers, particularly Lambert, who had long 
 entertained hopes of succeeding him. However, the 
 bill was carried by a considerable majority ; and a 
 committee was appointed to reason with Cromwell, 
 If r i71 a< ^ *° OV€rcome tbe scruples which he pretend- 
 ■* ed against such a liberal offer. The conference 
 lasted several days ; but the opposition which Crom- 
 well dreaded was not that which came from Lambert 
 and his adherents : it was that which he met with in 
 his own family, and from men the most devoted to his 
 interests. Fleetwood had married his daughter, and 
 Desborow his sister; yet these men told him, that if 
 he accepted of the crown, they would instantly throw 
 up their commissions, and render it impossible for 
 them to serve him. In short, it is said that a gener- 
 al mutiny of the army was justly dreaded, if this ambi- 
 tious project had been carried into execution ; and 
 therefore Cromwell, after long doubt and perplexity, 
 was at last obliged to refuse the crown. The parlia- 
 ment, however, gave him the power of nominating his 
 successor, and assigned him a perpetual revenue for 
 the payment of the fleet and army, and the support of 
 the civil government. 
 
 The parliament was again assembled, and the pro- 
 tector endeavoured to maintain the appearance of a 
 civil magistrate, by placing no guards at the door of 
 either house ; but he soon found hov* ’ncompatibie 
 liberty is with a military usurpation. The commons 
 assumed the power of readmitting those members 
 whom the council had formerly excluded 5 and an in- 
 contestable majority declared themselves against the 
 protector. Dreading combinations between the mem- 
 bers and the malcontents in the army, Cromwell de- 
 termined to dissolve the parliament without delay ; 
 and when urged by Fleetwood and others of his friends 
 not to precipitate himself into so rash a measure, he 
 swore by the living God that they should not sit a mo- 
 ment longer. 
 
 These distractions at home, however, did not render 
 the protector inattentive to foreign affairs. The Span- 
 iards were defeated at Dunes by the combined armies 
 of France and England; aud Dunkirk being soon af 
 ter surrendered, was delivered to Cromwell. He com 
 milled the government of that important place tc 
 
74 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 Lockhart, who had married his niece, and was his am 
 bassador at the court of France. 
 
 These successes abroad were more than counter- 
 balanced by his inquietudes at home. The royalists 
 and presbyterians entered into a conspiracy, which be- 
 ing discovered, numbers were thrown into prison, and 
 pir Henry Slingsby and Dr. Huettwere condemned to 
 .be beheaded. The army was ripe for a mutiny ; and 
 Fleetwood and his wife, who had adopted republican 
 principles, began to estrange themselves from Crom- 
 well. His other daughters were no less prejudiced in 
 favour of the royal cause ; and the death of Mrs. Clay 
 pole, his peculiar favourite, destroyed ail his enjoy 
 ments. 
 
 All composure of mind seemed now for ever fled 
 from the protector. He saw nothing around him but 
 treacherous friends or enraged enemies ; and death, 
 which he had so often braved in the field, haunted him 
 in every scene of business or repose. Every action 
 betrayed the terrors under which he laboured. He 
 never moved a step without guards ; he wore armour 
 under his clothes; and he seldom slept above three 
 nights together in the same chamber. 
 
 The contagion of his mind began to affect his body 
 He was seized with a slow fever, which changed into 
 a tertian ague. Dangerous symptoms soon made their 
 appearance. Cashing his eyes towards that future 
 existence, which, though once familiar to him, had 
 been considerably obliterated by the hurry of business, 
 Cromwell asked Goodwin, one of his preachers, if it 
 were true that the elect could never fall or suffer final 
 reprobation? “Nothing more certain,” replied the 
 preacher. “Then I am safe,” said the protector, 
 “ for I am sure that I was once in a state of grace.” 
 
 He died on the third of September, a day which he 
 had always considered as propitious to him, in the fif- 
 ty-ninth year of his age. A violent tempest, which 
 immediately succeeded his death, served as a subject 
 of discourse to the vulgar; and his partisans, as well 
 as his enemies, endeavoured, by forced inferences, to 
 interpret this event as a confirmation of their particu 
 lar prejudices. 
 
 The private conduct of Cromwell, as a son, a hus- 
 band, a father, and a friend, merits praise rather than 
 
THE COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 75 
 
 censure; and, upon the whole, his character was a 
 compound of all the virtues and all the vices which 
 spring from violent ambition and wild fanaticism. 
 
 Cromwell was surrounded with so many difficulties, 
 that it was thought he could not much longer have 
 extended his usurped administration , but when that 
 powerful hand was removed, which conducted the 
 government, every one expected a sudden dissolution 
 of the baseless fabric. Richard, his son, possessed 
 no talents for government, and only the virtues of 
 private life ; yet the council recognized his succes- 
 sion. His brother Henry, who governed Ireland with 
 popularity, insured him the obedience of that king- 
 dom ; and Monk, who was much attached to the fami- 
 ly of Cromwell, proclaimed the new protector in Scot- 
 land. Above ninety addresses from the counties and 
 most considerable corporations congratulated Richard 
 Ifp-Ql on his accession j and a parliament being call- 
 -* ed, all the commons at first, without hesitation, 
 signed an engagement not to alter the present govern- 
 ment. 
 
 But there was another quarter from which greater 
 dangers were justly apprehended. The most consid- 
 erable officers of the army, with Fleetwood and Lam- 
 bert at their head, were entering into cabals against 
 Richard. The young protector, having neither reso- 
 lution nor pent Oration, was prevailed on to give his 
 consent for calling a general council of officers, who 
 were no sooner assembled, than they voted a remon- 
 strance, in which they lamented that the good old 
 cause, as they termed it, was neglected ; and they pro- 
 posed, as a remedy, that the whole military power 
 should be entrusted to some person, in whom they 
 might all confide. The protector was justly alarmed 
 at these movements among the officers ; and some of 
 his partisans offered to put an end to these intrigues 
 by the death of Lambert; but Richard declared that 
 he would not purchase power by such sanguinary 
 measures. 
 
 The pari iamenT was no less alarmed at these milita- 
 ry cabals, and passed a vote, that there should be no 
 general council of officers, without the protector’s 
 consent. This brought matters to a crisis. The offi- 
 cers hastened to Richard, and demanded the dissolu 
 
76 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 tlon of tne parliament. The protector wanted the 
 resolution to deny, and possessed little ability to re- 
 sist this demand ; and he soon after signed his own 
 resignation in form. Henry, the deputy of Ireland, 
 was endowed with the same moderate disposition as 
 his brother; and though his popularity and influence 
 in that country were very considerable, he quietly re- 
 signed his authority and returned to England. 
 
 Thus fell, a- once, the protectorate house of Crom- 
 well; but, by a rare fortune, it suffered no molesta- 
 tion. Richard continued to possess an estate, which 
 he had burdened with a debt contracted for the inter- 
 ment of his father. After the restoration, though un- 
 molested, he travelled for some years, and then re- 
 turning to England, lived to an extreme old age. He 
 was beloved for his social virtues, and happier in tran- 
 quillity and retirement than he could have been by the 
 applause of empty fame and the gratifications of the 
 most successful ambition. 
 
 The council of officers, in whom the supreme au- 
 thority was now lodged, agreed to revive the long 
 parliament. The members little exceeded seventy in 
 number; but they took care to thwart the measures 
 of the officers ; and they appointed Fleetwood lieu 
 tenant-general only during the pleasure of the house. 
 
 The conduct of the parliament gave great disgust 
 to the general-officers, who resolved to dissolve an 
 assembly by which they were vehemently opposed. 
 Accordingly, Lambert drew together some troops, and 
 intercepting the members as they came to the house, 
 sent them home under a military escort. 
 
 The officers now found themselves again in posses- 
 sion of supreme power; but to save appearances, they 
 elected twenty-three persons, called a committee of 
 safety , which they pretended to invest with sovereign 
 authority. Throughout the three kingdoms there pre- 
 vailed nothing but melancholy fears of a bloody mas- 
 sacre to the nobility and gentry, and of perpetual ser 
 vitude to the rest of the people. 
 
 But amidst these gloomy prospects, a means was 
 preparing for the king to mount in peace the throne 
 of his ancestors. General George Monk, to whose 
 prudence and loyalty the restoration of the monarchy 
 is chiefly to be ascribed, was the second son of a* 
 
THE COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 77 
 
 floncurable family in Devonshire, but somewhat gone 
 to decay. He had betaken himself, in early youth, to 
 the profession of arms ; and by his humane disposition 
 he gained the good will of the soldiers, who usually 
 called him honest George Monk. He was remarkable 
 for his moderation 5 and, from the candour of his be- 
 haviour, he fell under suspicion of the royalists, and 
 was suspended for a time. At the siege of Nantwich, 
 he was taken prisoner bv Fairfax, and sent to the 
 Tower, where he endured, about two years, all the 
 rigours of poverty and confinement; and it was not 
 till after the royalists were totally subdued that he re- 
 covered his liberty. 
 
 Monk, however distressed, had always refused the 
 most inviting offers from the parliament; but Crom- 
 well, sensible of his merit, prevailed on him to engage 
 in the wars against the Irish, who were considered as 
 rebels both by the king and parliament. He after- 
 wards fought in Scotland, and on the reduction of that 
 kingdom, was left with the supreme command. In that 
 capacity, he gave satisfaction both to the people and 
 the soldiery ; and foreseeing that the good will of th. 
 army might eventually be of great service to him, hr 
 cultivated their friendship with assiduity and success 
 
 Hearing that Lambert was advancing northward, 
 Monk sent commissioners to treat with the committee 
 of safety ; but his chief aim was to gain time, and re- 
 lax the preparations of his enemies. In the mean 
 time, the nation had fallen into anarchy. While Lam- 
 berts forces were assembling at Newcastle, Hazelrig 
 and Morley took possession of Portsmouth for the 
 parliament : and admiral Lawson, entering the river 
 Thames, declared on the same side. The city of Lon- 
 don established a kind of separate government within 
 itself; and Fleetwood was unable to support the 
 baseless fabric, which was every where falling to pie- 
 ces. 
 
 Monk, who had passed the Tweed, though informed 
 of the restoration of parliament, continued to advance 
 at the head of about six thousand men. In all the 
 counties through which he passed, the gentry flocked 
 to him with addresses, requesting that he would assisl 
 in restoring the nation to peace and tranquillity; bti 
 he affected not to favour them 
 
* 
 
 To HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Monk and his army soon reached the metropolis. 
 IfifOl r ^ e common-council of London having refused 
 to submit to an assessment, and declared that 
 till a free parliament imposed taxes they would make 
 no payment, Monk was ordered to march into the city, 
 and seize twelve persons the most obnoxious to the 
 parliament. With this order he immediately com- 
 plied, and apprehended as many as he could of the 
 proscribed persons; but soon reflecting that by this 
 action lie had broke through the cautious ambiguity 
 which he had hitherto maintained, and rendered him- 
 self the tool of a parliament whose tyranny had long 
 been odious to the nation, he wrote a letter to the 
 house, requiring them, in the name of the citizens, 
 soldiers, and whole commonwealth, to issue writs 
 within a w’eek for the filling of their assembly, and to 
 fix the time for their own dissolution and the meeting 
 of a new parliament. He then marched with his army 
 into the city, and requesting the mayor to summon a 
 common-council, he apologized for his late conduct, 
 and desired that they might mutually plight their faith 
 for a strict union between the city and army, in every 
 measure which might conduce to the settlement of 
 the commonwealth. 
 
 It would be impossible to describe the joy which 
 this intelligence conveyed; and the funeral of the 
 parliament was celebrated by the populace with marks 
 of hatred and derision. The secluded members were 
 invited by the general to enter the house, and appear- 
 ed to be the majority. Votes were passed favourable 
 to the views of Monk; and writs were issued for the 
 immediate assembling of a new parliament. 
 
 When the parliament met, sir Harbottle Grimstone, 
 a gentleman well affected to the king’s service, was 
 chosen speaker ; and the general having sounded the 
 inclinations of the assembly, gave directions to the 
 president of the council to inform them, . atone six 
 John Granville, a servant of the king, was now at tho 
 door with a letter to the commons. This intelligence 
 excited the loudest acclamations; Granville was call- 
 ed in ; and, without one dissenting voice, a committee 
 was appointed to prepare an answer. 
 
 The king’s declaration, which was immediately pub- 
 lished, offered a general amnesty, with the exception 
 
CHARLES II. 
 
 73 
 
 only of such persons as should be made by parlia- 
 ment^ it promised liberty of conscience ; and assured 
 the soldiers of all their arrears, with a continuance of 
 the same pay. 
 
 The lords, perceiving the spirit by which the king- 
 dom, as well as the commons, was animated, hasten- 
 ed to reinstate themselves in their ancient authority 3 
 and the two houses attended, while the king was pro- 
 claimed with great solemnity in Palace-yard, at White- 
 hall, and at Temple-bar. A committee of lords and 
 commons was despatched to invite his majesty to re- 
 turn, and take possession of the throne 5 and the king, 
 embarking at Scheveling, landed at Dover, where he 
 was met by Monk, whom he cordially embraced. On 
 the 29th of May, which was also his birth-day, Charles 
 entered London, amidst the most joyful congratula- 
 tions. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The reign of Charles II. 
 
 When Charles II. ascended the throne, he was 
 16601 thirty years of age. He possessed a vigorous 
 * constitution, a fine shape, a manly figure, and a 
 graceful air; and though his features were harsh, yet 
 his countenance was lively and engaging. No prince 
 ever received a crown with the more cordial attach- 
 ment of his subjects; and the ease and affability of 
 his manners were well calculated to confirm this pop 
 ularity. 
 
 In the choice of his ministers, the king gave great 
 satisfaction to the nation. Sir Edward Hyde, created 
 earl of Clarendon, was chancellor and prime-minis- 
 ter ; the duke of Ormond, steward of the household; 
 the earl of Southampton, high-treasurer ; and sir Ed- 
 ward Nicholas, secretary of state. Admiral Montague, 
 who had carried a fleet to receive his majesty, without 
 waiting for the orders of parliament, was created earl 
 of Sandwich; and Monk, who, without effusion of 
 blood, by his cautious and disinterested conduct, set- 
 tled the affairs of the three kingdoms, and restored 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 60 
 
 his injured sovereign to the vacant throne, was creat 
 ea duke of Albemarle. Into the king's council were 
 admitted the most eminent men of the nation, without 
 regard to former distinctions ; the presbyterians, equal- 
 ly with the royalists, shared this honour. 
 
 All judicial proceedings, transacted in the name of 
 the commonwealth, or protector, were ratified by a 
 new law: and the act of indemnity passed both hous- 
 es and soon received the royal assent. The regicides, 
 with Vane and Lambert, were alone excepted j and 
 all who had sitten in any illegal high court of justice, 
 were declared incapable of bearing any office in the 
 state. 
 
 The next business was the settlement of the kings 
 revenue. They granted him one hundred thousand 
 pounds a-year, in lieu of the tenures of wards and 
 liveries, which had long been considered as a grievous 
 burden by the nobility and gentry 5 and tney voted, 
 that the settled revenue of the crown, for all charges, 
 should amount to the annual sum of one million two 
 hundred thousand pounds ; but, still jealous of liberty, 
 they scarcely assigned sufficient funds for two thirds 
 of that sum 5 and thus left the care of fulfilling theii 
 engagements to the future consideration of parlia 
 ment. 
 
 The next object which interested the public, was 
 the trial and condemnation of the regicides. Harri- 
 son, Scot, Carew, Clement, Jones, Scrope,Axtel, Hack- 
 er, Coke, and Hugh Peters, suffered with the confi- 
 dence of martyrs. The rest of the king's judges were 
 reprieved. 
 
 After the parliament had sitten about two months, 
 the king dissolved that assembly in a speech full of 
 the most gracious expressions. The army was also 
 disbanded ; and no more troops were retained than a 
 few guards and garrisons, about one thousand horse 
 and four thousand foot. This, however, was the first 
 appearance of a regular standing.army, under the mon- 
 archy, in this island. 
 
 Clarendon, whose daughter, Ann Hyde, was now 
 married to the duke of York, by his wisdom, his jus 
 tice, and his prudence, equally promoted the interest 
 of the king and the people 3 but his conduct in the 
 management of ecclesiastical affairs has been cen- 
 
 O 
 
CHARLES II. 
 
 81 
 
 Fured by many. Charles having observed that presby- 
 terianism was not a religion for a gentleman, it was 
 resolved to restore prelacy in Scotland. Sharp, who 
 had been commissioned by the presbyterians in Scot- 
 land to manage their interests with the king, was per- 
 suaded to abandon his party, and, as a reward for his 
 tergiversation, was created archbishop of St. An- 
 drews. The conduct of ecclesiastical affairs was 
 chiefly intrusted to him ; and he became extrepiely 
 obnoxious to his former friends. 
 
 In England, the new parliament, laying hold of the 
 prejudices which prevailed among the presbyterian 
 sect, in order to eject them from their livings, requir- 
 ed that every clergyman should be re-ordained, if he 
 had not before received episcopal ordination.; should 
 declare his assent to every thing contained in 
 the Book of Common Prayer; should take the 
 oath of canonical obedience ; should abjure the sol- 
 emn league and covenant; and should renounce the 
 principle of taking arms against the king, on any pre- 
 sence whatsoever. This act, and others which passed 
 about the same time, have been the best supports of 
 the state, by joining it closely with the church. It 
 must, however, be confessed, that by these enact- 
 ments the king’s promises of toleration and indulgence 
 to tender consciences was entirely eluded or broken. 
 About tw’o thousand of the clergy, in one day, relin- 
 quished their cures, and sacrificed their interest to 
 their principles. 
 
 Before the parliament rose, the court was employed 
 in preparing for the reception of the princess Cathe- 
 rine of Portugal, to whom the king was betrothed, 
 ond with whom he received five hundred thousand 
 pounds, and the two fortresses of Tangier in Africa, 
 and Bombay in the East Indies, by way of dowry 
 This marriage, however, was far from proving auspi- 
 cious, as the queen was never able to win the affec- 
 tions of her husband. 
 
 Charles, pressed by pecuniary difficulties, in order 
 to raise money, as well as to save expenses, sold Dun- 
 kirk to France, for four hundred thousand pounds. To 
 this measure he was advised by Clarendon. The 
 value of this acquisition was so little understood by 
 I . vol. 11. 6 
 
 
E 2 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, 
 
 the I renfii king, that he thought he had made a hard 
 bargain. 
 
 Charles issued a declaration, under pretence of 
 mitigating the rigours contained in the act of uniform- 
 ity ; but the foundation of this measure was of a v«>ry 
 different nature. The king, during bis exile, had im- 
 bibed strong prejudices in favour of the catholic reli- 
 gion 5 and though he fluctuated during his whole reign, 
 between irreligion, which he more openly professed, 
 and popery, to which he retained a strong propensity, 
 his brother the duke of York had entered with zeal 
 into all the principles of that theological party, and 
 by his application to business, which Charles disliked, 
 had acquired a great ascendency over him. On pre- 
 tence of easing the protestant dissenters, they agreed 
 upon a plan for introducing a general toleration, and 
 giving the catholics the free exercise of their religion, 
 at least in private houses. The parliament, however, 
 refused their concurrence in this measure ; and, in 
 Iff SI orc ^ er to deprive the catholics of all hopes, the 
 ' -* two houses agreed, in a remonstrance against 
 them. The king insisted no farther at present on this 
 project of indulgence 5 and he issued a vague procla- 
 mation against jesuits and Romish priests. In return 
 for this the commons voted him a supply of four sub- 
 sidies ; and this was the last time that taxes were lev- 
 ied in that manner. 
 
 In proportion as the king found himself established 
 on the throne, he began to alienate himself from Cla- 
 rendon, whose character was so little suited to his 
 own. Charles's partiality for the catholics was always 
 opposed by this minister, who, conscious of integrity 
 and of faithful services, disdained to enter into any 
 connexion with the royal mistresses. 
 
 The irregular pleasures of Charles, and the little 
 regard he paid to decency in his public mistresses, 
 could not but give offence to the nation. It was found 
 that the virtues which he possessed were more showy 
 than substantial ; that his bounty proceeded rather 
 from facility of disposition than generosity ; that while 
 he seemed affable to all, his heart was little suscepti- 
 ble of friendship ; and that he secretly entertained a 
 bad opinion of mankind, no proof that he was actuated 
 by better motives. But what was most injurious to 
 
CHARLES II. 
 
 83 
 
 hie king’s reputation, was the neglect of his own and 
 his father’s adherents, whom he suffered to remain in 
 poverty and distress, aggravated by the cruel disap- 
 pointment of their sanguine hopes, and by seeing fa- 
 vour and preferment bestowed on their most invete- 
 rate foes. The act of indemnity and oblivion was 
 generally denominated, and in many cases too justly, 
 an act of indemnity to the king’s enemies, and of ob- 
 livion to his friends. 
 
 The king having demanded a repeal of the triennial 
 act, the parliament abrogated the law, and satisfied 
 themselves with a general clause, that parliaments 
 should not be inaugurated above three years at most. 
 The commons likewise passed a vote that the indigni- 
 ties offered to the English, by the subjects of the 
 United States, were the greatest obstructions to all 
 foreign trade. This was the first open step towards a 
 war with the Dutch. Charles did not confine himself 
 to memorials and remonstrances. Sir Robert Holmes 
 was secretly despatched with a squadron of twenty- 
 two ships to the coast of Africa, where he expelled 
 the Dutch from cape Corse, and seized their settle- 
 ments at cape Verde and in the isle of Goree. He 
 then sailed to America, where he possessed himself 
 of Nova B^'^ic. since called Ncw-York, which James 
 the First nad granted by patent to the earl of Stirling, 
 but which had never been planted except by the 
 Hollanders. 
 
 When the States complained of these hostile meas- 
 ures, the king pretended to be ignorant of Holmes’s 
 enterprise 3 and the Dutch, finding their applications 
 for redress likely to be eluded, despatched de Ruyter 
 with a fleet to retaliate on the English. De Ruyter 
 i CC 11 11161 no opposition in Guinea. All the 
 
 ■* new acquisitions of the English, except cape 
 Corse, were recovered from them 3 and they were al- 
 so dispossessed of some old settlements. 
 
 The Dutch, however, tried every expedient before 
 they would proceed to extremities 3 and their meas- 
 ures were at that time directed by John de Witt, a 
 minister equally eminent for ability and integrity. He 
 caused a navy to be equipped, surpassing any that had 
 ever before been prepared in the ports of Holland. 
 
 As soon as the intelligence arrived of de Ruyter’s 
 
u 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 '•Ff'il entBr P r * ses > Charles declared war against tha 
 k * -* States. The English fleet consisted of one 
 hundred and fourteen sail, besides fire-ships and 
 ketches, and was commanded by the duke of York, 
 and under him by prince Rupert, and the Earl of 
 Sandwich. Obdam, the Dutch admiral, had nearly ail 
 equal force, and on meeting he declined not the com- 
 bat. In the heat of action, when engaged in close 
 fight with the duke of York, Obdam's ship blew up. 
 This accident disconcerted the Dutch, v ho fled to- 
 wards their own coast. Tromp alone, son of the fa- 
 mous admiral killed in the former war, bravely sus- 
 tained with his squadron tne efforts of the EngHsh, 
 and protected the rear of his countrymen. The van- 
 quished had nineteen ships sunk or taken j the vic- 
 tors lost only one. In this action, the duke of York 
 behaved with great bravery 5 the Earl of Falmouth, 
 lord Muskerry, and Mr. Boyle, were killed by one 
 shot, at his side, and covered him with their brains 
 and gore. 
 
 The abilities of de Witt were employed in reviving 
 the declining courage of his countrymen 5 and he 
 soon remedied all the disorders occasioned by the late 
 misfortune. The king of France, who was engaged 
 in a defensive alliance with the States, resolved to 
 support the Dutch in this unequal contest. 
 
 The English, however, experienced a more dread- 
 ful calamity than even that of a war. The plague had 
 broken out in London, and carried off ninety thousand 
 persons 5 and the king was obliged to summon a par- 
 liament at Oxford. 
 
 The king of France had ordered his admiral, the 
 duke of Beaufort, to proceed from Toulon, and sup- 
 port his allies ; and the French squadron, consisting 
 of above forty sail, was now supposed to be entering 
 the channel. The Dutch fleet, under the command 
 of De Ruyter, to the number of seventy-six sail, 
 
 1066] 
 
 was at sea, in order to join the French. The 
 
 duke of Albemarle and prince Rupert commanded the 
 English fleet, which did not exceed seventy-four sail. 
 Albemarle, who despised the enemy too much, des- 
 patched prince Rupert with twenty ships to oppose 
 the duke of Beaufort ; and with the remainder, he set 
 tail to give battle to the Dutch, Never did a more 
 
CHARLES II. 
 
 85 
 
 memorable engagement take place: whether we com 
 Eider its long duration, or the desperate courage with 
 which it was fought. 
 
 On the first day the wind blew so hard that the Eng- 
 fish could not use their lower tier of guns, and their 
 sails and rigging were injured by the Dutch chain-shot, 
 a new invention ascribed to de Wi f t 3 but the battle 
 was contested till darkness parted the combatants. 
 On the second day, during the action, sixteen fresh 
 ships joined the Dutch fleet, while the English had 
 not more than twenty-eight in a situation for fighting 
 This obliged Albemarle to retreat towards the English 
 coast, which he did with an undaunted countenance, 
 protesting to the earl of Ossory, son to the duke of 
 Ormond, that he would rather blow up his ship and 
 perish than stike to the enemy. The Dutch had come 
 up with the English, and were about to renew the en- 
 gagement, when the squadron of prince Rupert was 
 descried, crowding all their sail to reach the scene 
 of action. Next morning the battle began afresh, 
 and continued with great violence till suspended by 
 a mist. The English retired first into their own har- 
 bours. 
 
 De Ruyter now posted himself at the mouth of the 
 Thames 3 but the English, under prince Rupert and 
 Albemarle, were not long in coming to attack him. 
 This engagement was again fierce and obstinate, and 
 three Dutch admirals fell 3 but De Ruyter maintained 
 the combat, and kept his station, till darkness put aii 
 end to the contest. Next day, finding the Dutch fleet 
 scattered, he was obliged to submit to a retreat, which 
 yet he conducted with so much skill as to render it 
 equally honourable to himself as the greatest victory. 
 Full of indignation, however, at yielding the superior- 
 ity to the English, he frequently exclaimed, “My 
 God ! what a wretch I am ! among so many thousand 
 bullets, is there not one to put an end to my. misera- 
 ble life V’ The Dutch, by the greatest exertions, saved 
 themselves in their harbours 3 and the English now 
 rode incontestable masters of the sea. 
 
 A calamity, however, happened in London, which 
 occasioned the greatest consternation. A most dread- 
 ful lire broke out in the city, and spreading in spite of 
 every endeavour to check its destructive progiess 
 
86 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 consumed about four hundred streets and thirteen 
 thousand houses. During three days and nights tht» j 
 
 fire continued to advance ; and it was at last extin- 
 guished only by the blowing up of houses Popular 
 prejudice ascribed this calamity to the catholics ; and 
 though no proof ever appeared to authorize such a ca- 
 lumny, it is sanctioned by the inscription on the mon- 
 ument, which records the conflagration. 
 
 As the Dutch were every day becoming more formi- 
 dable, Charles began to be sensible, that ail the ends 
 for which the war had been undertaken were likeiy to 
 prove abortive. This induced him to make the first 
 advances towards an accommodation, and matters were 
 in a state of forwardness, when the king, by impru- 
 dently discontinuing his preparations, exposed Eng- 
 land to a great affront and even to great danger. 
 
 The penetrating mind of De Witt discovered the op- 
 portunity for retrieving the honour of the States ; and 
 he embraced it. The Dutch fleet under De Ruyter, 
 appeared in the Thames, and bursting the chain which 
 had been drawn across the Medway, advanced as far 
 as Upnore castle, and burnt several ships. They next 
 sailed to Portsmouth and PV mouth, and insulted Har- 
 wich. The whole coast was in alarm ; and had the 
 French joined the Dutch fleet and invaded England, 
 the most serious consequences might have ensued. 
 
 The signing of the treaty of Breda, however, saved 
 England from this danger; and the acquisition of 
 New-York was the principal advantage which the 
 English reaped from a war, in which the national 
 character for bravery had appeared with so much 
 lustre. 
 
 To appease the people for their disappointments, 
 some sacrifice was necessary; and the prejudices of 
 the natir a pointed out the victim. The sale of Dun- i 
 
 kirk, the disgrace at Chatham, and the unsuccessful 
 conclusion of the war, were all attributed to Claren- 
 don. The king himself, who had always revered 
 rather than loved the chancellor, was glad to be freed 
 from a minister who, amidst the dissolute manners of 
 the court, maintained an inflexible dignity, and would 
 not suffer his master's licentious pleasures to pass 
 without reprehension. The memory of his former 
 services could not dela.v his fall ; and the great sea/ 
 
CHARLES II. 87 
 
 was taken from him, and given to sir Orlando Bridg- 
 man. 
 
 The duke of York in vain exerted his interest in be- 
 half of his father-in-law. The commons voted an im 
 peachment against him ; and Clarendon, finding that 
 neitlrer his innocence nor his past services were suffi- 
 cient to protect him, retired into France, where he 
 lived six years after the parliament had decreed his 
 banishment. He employed his leisure chiefly in re- 
 ducing to order the history of the civil war, for which 
 he had before collected materials, and which is a per- 
 formance that does honour to his memory. 
 
 The king’s councils, which had always been neg 
 ligent and fluctuating, now became actually 
 criminal.’ Men, in whose honour and integrity 
 the nation confided, were excluded from any delibera- 
 tions ; and the whole secret of government was in- 
 trusted to five persons, Clifford, Ashley, Buckingham, 
 Arlington, and Lauderdale, called the Cabal, a word 
 which the initial letters of their names happened to 
 compose. 
 
 The dark counsels of the cabal, though from the 
 first they gave anxiety to all men of reflection, were 
 not sufficiently known but by the event. They inspir- 
 ed the king with a jealousy of parliaments, and advis- 
 ed him to recover that authority in the nation, which 
 nis predecessors, during so many ages, had possessed ; 
 and they insinuated to Charles, that it would be for his 
 interest, to detach himself from the triple alliance, 
 not long before concluded between England, Holland 
 and Sweden, and form a close intimacy with France. 
 It was, however, by the artifices of his sister, the 
 duchess of Orleans, that the king was prevailed on to 
 relinquish the most settled maxims of honour and 
 policy, and to finish his engagements with the French 
 monarch as well for the destruction of Holland, as for 
 a subsequent change of religion in England. 
 
 About this time, Blood, a disbanded officer of the 
 protector’s, who had been attainted for engaging in a 
 conspiracy in Ireland, meditated revenge on the duke 
 of Ormond, the lord-lieutenant. He seized the duke 
 in the streets of London, but Ormond was saved by his 
 servants. Buckingham was at first suspected of being 
 the author of this attempt; and the marquis of Ossor 
 
 
68 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLANP 
 
 coming to court, and seeing Buckingham near the 
 king, said to him, “ My lord, I know well that you are 
 at the bottom of the late attempt upon my father; but, 
 I give you warning, that if by any means he come to 
 a violent end, I shall consider you as the assassin, and 
 wherever I meet you, I will pistol you, though you 
 stood behind the king’s chair : and 1 tell you this in 
 his majesty’s presence, that you may be sure I will 
 not fail in the performance.” 
 
 Soon after, Blood formed the design of carrying off 
 the crown and regalia from the tower, and was very 
 near succeeding in this enterprise. Being secured, 
 however, and examined, he refused to name his ac- 
 complices. “The fear of death,”, he said, “shall 
 never force me either to deny a guilt, or betray a 
 friend.” The king was moved by an idle curiosity to 
 see a person so remarkable for his courage and his 
 crimes. Blood now considered himself sure of par- 
 don ; and he told Charles, that he^had been engaged 
 with others to shoot him, but that his heart had been 
 checked w ith the awe of majesty at the moment of ex- 
 ecution. He added, that his associates had bound 
 themselves by the strictest oaths to revenge the death 
 of any one of the confederacy. Whether the king 
 was influenced by fear or admiration, he pardoned the 
 villain, and granted him an estate of five hundred 
 pounds a-year in Ireland; while old Edwards, the 
 keeper of the jewel-office, who had been wounded in 
 defending the crown and regalia, was forgotten and 
 neglected. 
 
 Under pretence of maintaining the triple league, 
 which at that very time he ‘had resolved to break, 
 Charles obtained a large supply from the commons. 
 This, however, was soon exhausted by debts and ex- 
 penses ; and, as it seemed dangerous to venture on 
 levying money, without consent of parliament, the 
 king declared that the staff of treasurer was ready for 
 any* one who could devise the means of supplying his 
 present necessities. Ashley dropped a hint to Clif- 
 ford, w'hich the latter adopted and carried to the king, 
 who granted him the promised reward, and also a peer 
 a^e, for what ought to have brought him to the gal- 
 JL-ws. This expedient was the shutting up of the etr 
 
CHARLES II. 89 
 
 chequer, and retaining all the payments which should 
 be made into it.* 
 
 This breach of domestic honour was followed by 
 foreign transactions of a similar complexion. On 
 the most false and frivolous pretexts, Charles is- 
 sued a declaration of war against the Dutch 3 and this 
 was seconded by another from Louis XIV. To op- 
 pose this formidable confederacy, De Witt exerted 
 himself in the utmost ; but his merits had begotten en- 
 vy, and the popular affection began to display itself in 
 favour of William III. prince of Orange, then in the 
 twenty-second year of his age, whom De Witt himself 
 had instructed in all the principles of government and 
 sound policy, and who was brought forward as his ri- 
 val. 
 
 The struggle between the two factions retarded ev- 
 ery measure. However, at length, a raw army of sev 
 enty thousand men was raised, and the prince was ap« 
 ointed both general and admiral of the common- 
 wealth 3 bui. his partisans were still unsatisfied, as 
 long as the perpetual edict remained in force, by 
 which he was excluded from the stadtholderate. 
 
 Devoted solely to the interests of his country, De 
 Witt disdained all party-spirit, and hastened the equip- 
 ment of a fleet, which put to sea under the command 
 of De Ruyter, who was strongly attached to him. This 
 armament consisted of ninety-one ships of war, and 
 forty-four fire-ships 3 and with these De Ruyter sur 
 prised at Solebay the combined fleets of France and 
 England. The earl of Sandwich had warned the duke 
 
 * It may he necessary to observe, that bankers used to car- 
 ry their money to the exchequer, and advance it upon the 
 security of the funds, by which they were afterwards reimburs- 
 ed, when the money was levied on the public. The bankers, 
 by this traffic, 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 dearlv 
 paid for, by this egregious breach of public faith. The meas- 
 ure v/as so suddenly taken, that-none had warning of the dan- 
 ger. A general confusion prevailed in the city, followed by 
 the' ruin of many. Distress every where took place, with a 
 •stagnation of commerce, by which the public was universallj 
 affected ; and men, full of the most dismal apprehensions, were 
 at a loss to account for such unprecedented and iniquitous 
 « ouiisels, by which the public credit was destroyed * 
 
30 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 of York of his danger, and received only for answer, 
 that there was more of caution than of courage in his 
 apprehensions; but on the appearance of the enemy, 
 he alone, with his squadron, was prepared for action. 
 Sandwich commanded the van, and rushed into battle 
 with the Duteh. He beat off one ship, and sunk 
 another. He also destroyed three fire-ships which 
 endeavoured to grapple with him ; and though his own 
 vessel was torn almost in pieces with shot, and nearly 
 six hundred Out of a thousand men lay dead on the 
 deck, he still continued the contest. Another fire- 
 ship, however, having laid hold of his vessel, her de- 
 struction was now inevitable, and he was advised by 
 his captain to retire; but he preferred death to the 
 appearance of deserting his post. 
 
 During this fierce engagement with Sandwich, Da 
 Ruyter attacked the duke of York, who fought with 
 such fury for above two hours, that of thirty-two ac- 
 tions, in which the Dutch admiral had been engaged, 
 he declared this was the most severe. The battle 
 continued till night, when the Dutch retired, and were 
 not followed by the English, and the loss sustained on 
 both sides was nearly equal. 
 
 Louis advanced with his troops into Holland, and 
 overran the country almost without opposition. Am- 
 sterdam alone seemed to retain some courage. The 
 -sluices were opened, and the neighbouring country 
 laid under water. All the provinces now followed the 
 example, and scrupled not, in this extremity, to restore 
 to the sea those fertile fields which had formerly been 
 won from it. 
 
 The combined potentates, finding at last some ap- 
 pearance of opposition, endeavoured to seduce the 
 prince of Orange, who in consequence of the murder 
 of De Witt, had obtained the whole ascendancy in 
 public affairs. They offered him the sovereignty of 
 Holland, and the protection of England and France, 
 to insure him as well against foreign invasion, as the 
 insurrection of his own subjects. All proposals, how- 
 ever, were generously rejected ; and, when Bucking- 
 ham urged the inevitable destruction that hung ovei 
 the United Provinces, and asked him, whether he did 
 riot see whether tne'commonwealth was ruined, he ie- 
 \.li I. “There is one certain m«?ans by which I can 
 
CHARLES II. 
 
 yi 
 
 be sure never to see my country’s uin : I wil. die in 
 the last ditch. 77 
 
 In the mean time, the other nations of Europe re- 
 garded the subjection of Holland as the forerunner of 
 their own slavery. The emperor began to put him- 
 self in motion; and Spain sent some forces to the as- 
 sistance of the states ; but the ally on which the Dutch 
 chiefly relied for support, was the English parliament, 
 which the king’s necessities at last obliged him to as- 
 semble. The parliament, however, granted a supply, 
 but refused to express the smallest approbation of the 
 war; and they afforded Charles the prospect of this 
 supply, only that they might be allowed to proceed in 
 the redress of grievances. 
 
 The money granted by parliament served to equip 
 a fleet of which prince Rupert was declared admiral ; 
 for the duke of York w'as set aside by the test act, 
 which passed during the present session. Three dif- 
 ferent, but indecisive actions, were fought at sea ; the 
 last was the most obstinate. The victory, however, 
 in this battle, w r as as doubtful as in all the actions 
 fought during the present wai. 
 
 The parliament of England being again assembled, 
 discovered greater symptoms of jealousy than before, 
 and remonstrated against a marriage which the duke 
 of York, who had for some time been a widower, was 
 negotiating with a catholic princess, of the house of 
 Modena. What, however, chiefly alarmed the court, 
 was an attack on the members of the cabal, to whose 
 pernicious counsels the parliament imputed all their 
 grievances. This produced a change in the ministry, 
 somewhat in favour of the nation ; but the duke hav- 
 ing concluded the proposed match, and the war with 
 Holland being more unpopular than ever, Charles 
 found that he could obtain no more supplies, while the 
 lf741 P resent measures were pursued. He resolved, 
 -* therefore, on a separate peace, which was nego- 
 tiated under the Spanish ambassador, and was conclud- 
 ed on terms honourable to England, and to the great 
 joy of the people. 
 
 The war, however, still continued between Holland 
 and France, and the events to which it gave rise were 
 regarded by the English people with extreme anxiety. 
 Parliament viewed with much jealousy the measurer 
 
92 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 of government, and the king’s secret attachments to 
 France. This jealousy was increased by a bill intro- 
 . rn—i duced into the house of peers, by the earl of 
 -* Lindesey, the object of which was, to oblige 
 the members of both houses, and all who possessed 
 any office, to swear, that it was unlawful, on any pre 
 tence whatever, to take arms against the king, and 
 that they would no4*at any time endeavour any altera 
 turn in the established government, either in church 
 or state. Great opposition was made to this bill, 
 which was debated for seventeen days, and was carried 
 only by two voices in the house of peers. In the 
 commons it was likely to meet with still greater op- 
 position 3 but a quarrel arising between the two hous- 
 es, respecting a breach of privilege, the king finding 
 that no business could be completed in consequence 
 of this altercation, prorogued the parliament. 
 
 At this period, the king was the undisputed arbi/er 
 of Europe ; and though he was sensible, that so long 
 as the war continued he should enjoy no tranquillity at 
 home, he could not bring himself to impose a peace 
 by openly joining either party. 
 
 The parliament again assembled, after'an adjourn- 
 ment of more than a year, and Charles made strong 
 professions of future economy, and offered his con- 
 sent to any laws for the farther security of reli- 
 gion and property. At first the commons pro- 
 ceeded with some degree of temper, and granted the 
 sum of five hundred and eighty-six thousand pounds 
 for building ships 3 but hearing of the defeat of the 
 prince of Orange by marshal Luxemburgh, and of the 
 capture of Valenciennes, Cambray, and St. Omer, by 
 Louis, they addressed the king, representing the dan- 
 ger to which England was exposed, from the increas- 
 ing greatness of France, and praying, that by such 
 alliances as he should think fit to enter into, he would 
 endeavour to secure both his own dominions and the 
 Spanish Netherlands. Charles, considering this appli- 
 cation as an attack on his measures, replied in general 
 terms, that lie would use all means for the preserva- 
 tion of Flanders, consistent with the peace and safety 
 of his kingdoms. This answer was regarded as an 
 evasion, or rather a denial 3 and the commons, Vnstead 
 of granting a supply, which the king had demanded, 
 
CHARLES II. 
 
 93 
 
 voted an address, wherein they besought his majesty 
 to enter into a league, offensive, and defensive, with 
 the states-general of the United Provinces, against 
 the growth and power of the French king, and for the 
 preservation of the Spanish Netherlands, and to make 
 such other alliances with the confederates as should 
 appear fit and useful to that end. On these conditions 
 they promised him effectual supplies ; but Charles 
 pretended to consider this address as an encroach- 
 ment on his prerogative ; and after reproving the com- 
 mons in severe terms, he immediately adjourned both 
 houses. 
 
 Had not the king been privately sold to France, this 
 was the critical moment in which he might have pre- 
 served the balance of power in Europe, and regained 
 the confidence of his subjects. This opportunity, how- 
 ever, was neglected ; and the conduct of Charles was 
 afterwards justly regarded with jealousy and distrust. 
 But in order to allay, in some measure, the violent 
 discontents which prevailed in the nation, the king 
 encouraged proposals of marriage from the prince of 
 Orange to the princess Mary, eldest daughter of the 
 duke of York, who had no male issue, and who was 
 consequently heir-apparent to the throne, after her 
 father. 
 
 Charles graciously received his nephew, the prince 
 of Orange, at Newmarket; and the latter was intro- 
 duced to the princess, whom he found extremely ami- 
 able both in her person and manners. In a short time 
 the marriage took place, and gave infinite satisfaction 
 to ali parties; but, notwithstanding the double tie by 
 which the king was now bound to consult the inter- 
 ests of the States General, nothing could detach him 
 from the French alliance ; and he is said to have re- 
 ceived from Louis the sum of two millions of livres 
 as the price of prolonging the adjournment of parlia- 
 ment, which, it was feared, would have urged the ne- 
 cessity of joining the allies in a vigorous prosecution 
 of the war. 
 
 At length after various negotiations, a treaty of gen- 
 16781 era * P eace was s i? ne d at Nimeguen, where a 
 ■* congress had long been held by the ministers 
 of the different powers. By this treaty, France se 
 cured the possession of Franchecomte, and of sev 
 eral towns in the Netherlands. 
 
H 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 A strong spirit of indignation existed among ihe 
 English against their sovereign, who had acted a part 
 entirely subservient to the common enemy, and by 
 whose supineness and irresolution Louis had been 
 enaoled to make such important acquisitions. In Scot- 
 land, too, religious differences ran high ; conventicles 
 multiplied in the west; the clergy of the established 
 church were insulted ; and the covenanters even met 
 in arms at their places of worship. To repress the 
 rising spirit of presbyterianism, a new parliament had 
 been assembled at Edinburgh, some years before ; arfd 
 Lauderdale, who had been appointed commissioner, 
 had sufficient influence to get some acts passed which 
 were favourable to the prerogative; but the severity 
 of his measures against the covenanters, raised up a 
 party against him, of which duke Hamilton was the 
 head. 
 
 In fact, both the language and the conduct of Charles 
 daily tended to increase the prejudices and suspicions 
 of his subjects. Arbitrary power and popery were 
 apprehended as the scope of all his designs ; and 
 while the nation was in this jealous disposition, it is 
 no wonder that every report against the catholics 
 should be readily believed. 
 
 One Kirby, a chemist, informed the king, that ttiere 
 was a design against his life ; and that two men, call- 
 ed Grove and Pickering, had engaged to shoot him, 
 and sir George Wakeman, the queen’s physician, to 
 poison him. This intelligence, he said, had been 
 communicated to him by doctor Tongue, a restless 
 divine, who, being examined, declared to Danby, the 
 treasurer, that the papers which contained information 
 of the conspiracy had been thrust under his door. 
 
 The king concluded that the whole was an impos- 
 ture ; and the matter would probably have been con- 
 signed to oblivion, had not the duke of York, on hear- 
 ing that priests and jesuits, and even his own confes- 
 jor, had been implicated in the business, insisted that 
 a regular inquiry should be made by the council into 
 the pretended conspiracy. Kirby and Tongue were 
 sought after, and were found living in close intimacy 
 with. Titus Oates, who was said to have conveyed the 
 first intelligence to Tongue. This man, in whose 
 breast was lodged a secret involving the fate of kings 
 
( ' “ — — . i 
 
 CHARLES II. 93 
 
 was allowed to remain in such necessity, that Kirb} 
 supplied him with daily bread ; and, as he expected 
 more encouragement from the public, than from the 
 king or his ministers, he judged it proper, before lie 
 was presented to the council, to give his evidence 
 before sir Edrnundsbury Godfrey, an active magistrate. 
 
 The intelligence of Oates tended to this purpose, 
 that the pope, having assumed tlte sovereignty of 
 England and Ireland, on account of the heresy of the 
 prinoe and people, had delegated his authority to the 
 Jesuits, who had supplied, by commissions, all the 
 chief offices, both civil and military. 
 
 It would be useless to'enter into all the details of 
 this pretended plot. Suffice it to observe, that Oates 
 was one of the most infamous of mankind; and that, 
 before the council, he betrayed his impostures in such 
 a manner, as would have discredited the most consist- . 
 ent story, and the most reputable evidence. The plot, 
 however, soon became the source of terror to the 
 people; and Danbv, out of opposition to the French 
 interest, encouraged the story ; and by his suggestions, 
 one Coleman, who had been secretary to the late duch- 
 ess of York, and had been implicated in this affair, 
 was ordered to be arrested. 
 
 Among the papers of Coleman were found several 
 passages, which contained very free remarks relative 
 to the sentiments and principles of the king, and which 
 contributed to diffuse through the nation* a panic on * 
 account of the popish plot; and the people, regarding 
 the remarks of Coleman as a confirmation of the truth ) 
 
 of Oates 7 story, confounded a business which had no 
 relation to it, with the originally hatched conspiracy. 
 
 The murder of sir Edrnundsbury Godfrey, which 
 was never accounted for, completed the general delu- 
 sion, and rendered the prejudices of the nation abso- 
 utely incurable. While the nation was in this fer- 
 ment, the parliament assembled ; and the cry of the 
 plot was immediately echoed from one house to the 
 other. A solemn fast was voted ; and addresses pass- 
 ed for the removal of popish recusants from Lon- 
 don. The lords Powis, Stafford, Arundel, Peters, and 
 Bellasis, were impeached for high-treason ; and both 
 houses, after hearing the evidence of Oates, voted, 
 u That the lords and commons are of opinion, that 
 
96 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 there hath been, and still is, a damnable and hellish 
 plot, contrived and carried on by the popish recusants, 
 for assassinating the king, for subverting the govern- 
 ment, and for rooting out and destroying the protest- 
 ant religion ” Oates was applauded and caressed, and 
 encouraged by a pension of 1200 pounds a year. 
 
 Such bounty brought forth new witnesses. Wil- 
 liam Bedloe, a m5n, if possible, more infamous than 
 Oates, appeared next on the stage. At first, he gave 
 intelligence only of Godfrey’s murder, which, he.said, 
 had been perpetrated in Somerset-house, where the 
 queen lived, by papists, some of whom were servants 
 in her family. Nfext day, when examined before the 
 lords, he gave an ample account of the plot) and he 
 made his narrative agree as well as he could with 
 that of Oates, which had been published; but, in or- 
 der to heighten the effect, and render himself more 
 acceptable, he added other circumstances still more 
 dreadful and extraordinary. 
 
 Though the king ridiculed the plot, and all who be- 
 lieved it, yet he found it necessary to adopt the popu- 
 lar opirrion before the parliament,. A bill had been 
 introduced for a new test, in which popery was de- 
 nominated idolatry; and all members who refused 
 this test were to be excluded from both houses. The 
 duke of York, in the most pathetic manner, r noved, 
 that an exception might be admitted in his favour; 
 and he protested, that whatever his religion might be, 
 it should only be a private thing between God and his 
 own soul, and never should appear in his public con- 
 duct. Notwithstanding this appeal, he prevailed only 
 by two voices. 
 
 The public ferment was increased by the treachery 
 of Montague, who had been ambassador at Paris, and 
 who had procured a seat in the house of commons. 
 He laid before the house a letter from the treasurer 
 Danbv, countersigned by the king, in which appeared 
 the most palpable proofs of Charles’s intrigues with 
 the French court. Danby was immediately impeach- 
 ed by the commons, but the peers refused to commit 
 him ; and a great contest being likely to arise between 
 the two houses, the king thought it advisable, first to 
 prorogue, and afterwards to dissolve the parliament. 
 
 The want of money, however, compelled Charles to 
 
CHARLES II. 
 
 97 
 
 16191 summon a new parliament 5 but being soon 
 
 1 ■* alarmed at their refractory disposition, in order 
 to appease his people and the parliament, he desired 
 the duke of York to withdraw beyond sea, that no 
 farther suspicion’ of popish councils might remain. 
 The duke readily complied ; but first required an or- 
 der for that purpose from the king, lest his absenting 
 himself should be considered as a proof of fear oi 
 guilt ; and he also desired that his brother would sat- 
 isfy him, as well as the public, by declaring the ille- 
 gitimacy of the duke of Monmouth. 
 
 This nobleman was a natural son of the king’s by 
 Lucy Walters, and born about ten years before the 
 restoration. He possessed all the qualities which 
 could engage the affections of the people; and, in 
 proportion as the duke of York was the object of ha- 
 tred, on account of his religion, Monmouth rose high- 
 er in the public favour. Some even flattered hi.n with 
 the hopes of succeeding to the crown; and the story 
 ,>f a contract of marriage between the king and his 
 mother was industriously spread abroad, and eagerly 
 received by the people. Charles, however, to put an 
 end to all intrigues of this kind, as well as to remove 
 the duke of York’s apprehensions, in full council made 
 a declaration of Monmouth’s illegitimacy, on which 
 York willingly complied with the king’s desiro, and 
 retired to Brussels. 
 
 Charles, however, could not obtain the confidence 
 of the parliament. The impeachment of Danby was 
 revived, and the king, in order to screen his minister, 
 granted him a full pardon ; but it was pretended that 
 no pardon of the crown could be pleaded in bar of an 
 impeachment by the commons ; and so resolute was 
 parliament in support of its pretensions, that Danby 
 was committed a close prisoner to the Tower. 
 
 It being expected that a bill for excluding the duke 
 of York from the throne would be brought into parlia- 
 ment, Charles projected certain limitations, by which 
 the successor, if a papist, would be deprived of the 
 chief branches of royalty. These concessions, how- 
 ever, were rejected ; and a bill was brought in for the 
 absolute exclusion of the duke from the crown of Eng- 
 land and Ireland. It was therein declared, that the 
 sovereignty of these kingdoms, upon the king’s death 
 
 VOL. II. 7 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 93 
 
 or resignation, should devolve to the person next in 
 succession after the duke, and that all w.ho supportc d 
 his title should be punished as rebels and traitors. 
 This important bill passed the lower house by a ma- 
 jority of 79. 
 
 Soon after, the standing army, and the king’s guards 
 were voted by the commons to be illegal ; and that 
 bulwark of personal and national liberty, the habeas 
 corpus act, which provided against arbitrary impris- 
 onment, was passed the same session. 
 
 In the mean time, the impeachment of the five pop- 
 ish lords, with that of the earl of Danby, was carried 
 on with great vigour ; but a dispute arising between 
 the two houses, about allowing the bishops to vote on 
 the trial of Dauby, afforded the king a favourable pre- 
 text for dissolving the parliament. 
 
 This vigorous measure disappointed the malcon 
 tents j but even the recess of parliament afforded no 
 interruption to the prosecution of the catholics accus- 
 ed of the plot. Whitbread, provincial of the jesuits, 
 Fenwic, Gavan, Turner, and Harcourt, all of the same 
 order, were condemned and executed on the most in- 
 coherent and doubtful evidence. Langhorne, an em- 
 inent lawyer, by whom all the concerns of the jesuits 
 were managed, was als.o convicted ; and the first check 
 which the informers received, was on the trial of sir 
 George Wakeman, the queen’s physician. The ac- 
 quittal of Wakeman was a great mortification to the 
 prosecutors of the plot, and fixed an indelible stain 
 on Oates, Bedloe, and their abettors. 
 
 The discontents in England excited the attention of 
 the Scottish covenanters, who, regarding Sharp, the 
 primate, as an apostate from their principles, and an 
 unrelenting persecutor, dragged him from his coach, 
 and put him to death. This atrocious action gave rise 
 to a violent persecution against the covenanters, who, 
 finding themselves deeply involved in guilt, made 
 themselves masters of the city of Glasgow, dispos- 
 sessed the established clergy, and issued proclama- 
 tions, declaring that they fought against the king’s su- 
 premacy, against popery and prelacy, and against a 
 popish successor. 
 
 The king, apprehensive of the consequences of this 
 insurrection, despatched Monmouth into Scotland 
 
CHARLES II. 99 
 
 with a small body pf English cavalry. That noble 
 man being joined by the Scottish guards, and some 
 regiments of militia, marched with great celerity 
 against the enemy, who had taken post near Bothwell 
 castle. Their army never exceeded eight thousand 
 men ; and, being without officers and experience, they 
 were speedily routed, with the loss of seven hundred, 
 killed, and one thousand two hundred taken prison- 
 ers. Monmouth treated these with great humanity, 
 and an act of indemnity was soon after passed. 
 
 Charles falling ill at Windsor, such an affectionate 
 regard was shown him, and such consternation seized 
 all ranks of men, that, to use an expression of sir 
 William Temple's, the king’s death was regarded as 
 the end of the world. The duke of York had been 
 privately sent for ; but, when he arrived, the king was 
 out of danger. The journey, however, was attended 
 with important consequences. He prevailed on the 
 king to disgrace Monmouth whose projects were now 
 known and avowed 3 and he obtained leave himself to 
 "retire into Scotland, on pretence of quieting the ar 
 prehensions of the English, but, in reality,, with 
 view of securing his interests in that kingdom. 
 
 From the favour and encouragement which the par- 
 liament had given to informers, the nation had got into 
 a vein of credulity. One Dangerficld, a man of the 
 most infamous character, was the author or denouncer 
 of a new plot, called the meal-tub plot, from the place 
 where some papers relative to it were found. The 
 bottom of this affair it is difficult, and not material, to 
 discover. It only appears, that Dangerfield, under 
 pretence of betraying the conspiracies of the presby- 
 terians, had been countenanced by some catholics of 
 condition, and had even gained admission to the duke 
 of York. Which side he originally intended to cheat 
 is uncertain; but finding the nation more inclined to 
 believe in a pc Msh than a presbyterian plot, he fell in 
 with the prevailing humour. 
 
 The duke of Monmouth returned without leave, and 
 making a triumphant procession through many parts 
 of the kingdom, increased the present ferment. Great 
 endeavours were used to obtain the king’s consent for 
 the meeting of parliament. The crown was attacked 
 by tumultuous petitions. Wherever the court party 
 
too 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 prevailed, addresses were framed, expressing the deep* 
 est abhorrence of popular encroachments. Hence the 
 161,01 nat * on was distinguished into petitioners and 
 -* abhorrcrs. Besides these appellations, which 
 were soon forgotten, this is the epoch of the epithets 
 Whig and Tory,* which have been bandied about 
 for nearly a century and a half, with little appropriate 
 meaning, and frequently to the injury both of individ- 
 uals and the public. 
 
 After a long interval, the king resolved to assemble 
 the parliament.; but all the mollifying expressions 
 which he used in addressing that assembly, had no ef- 
 fect on the commons, who proceeded in their former 
 career, and seemed bent on renewing the bill for ex- 
 cluding the duke of York from the succession ; and 
 the friends of Monmouth hoped that the exclusion of 
 that prince would advance their patron to the throne. 
 In the commons, the bill passed by a great majority ; 
 but in the house of peers, where the king expected to 
 oppose it with success, the court-party prevailed, and 
 it was rejected after a long and a violent debate. 
 
 The commons discovered much ill-humour on this 
 disappointment, and resumed the impeachment of the 
 catholic lords ; and as viscount Stafford, from his age 
 and infirmities, was least able to defend himself, he 
 became the first victim. He protested, that the only 
 treason of which he had ever been guilty, had been 
 entering into schemes for procuring a toleration to the 
 catholics, at least a mitigation of the penal laws en- 
 acted against them. The populace, who had exulted 
 at his trial and condemnation, were melted into tears 
 at the tender fortitude which he displayed on the 
 scaffold. 
 
 This was the last blood that was shed on account of 
 the popish plot. The commons, however, still found 
 new occasions to exercise their talents against the 
 court; and besides insisting on the exclusion, they 
 proceeded to bring in other bills of an alarming na- 
 ture. The king, seeing no hopes of restoring the 
 
 * The court-party reproached their antagonists with le- 
 sembling the fanatical conventiclers in Scotland, who had ob- 
 tained the name of whig s ; and the country party found a re- 
 semblance between the courtiers and the popish banditti in Ire- 
 land, to whom the appellation of lory was affixed, lienee the 
 origin of these two terms of reproach. 
 
CHARLES II 
 
 101 
 
 Commons to a better temper, came to the resolution 
 ol proroguing them ; but the house having got intelli* 
 gence of his design a short time before it was put in 
 execution, in the most tumultuous manner passed 
 some extraordinary resolutions, which were indirectly 
 subversive of the throne. 
 
 Soon after this session was closed. Charles sum- 
 moned a new parliament, and, in order to prevent 
 those tumults, which attended their assembling at 
 Westminster, from the vicinity of a populous city, he 
 directed them to meet him at Oxford. Against this, 
 Monmouth and fifteen peers protested, on the ground 
 that the two houses would be there exposed to the 
 swords of the papists and their adherents. These 
 insinuations inflamed the people still more; the lead- 
 ers came to parliament, attended not only by their 
 servants, but by numerous retainers; and the assem- 
 bly at Oxford resembled more a Polish diet than an 
 English parliament. m 
 
 The commons consisted nearly of the same mem- 
 bers, and fell instantly into the same measures, the 
 impeachment of Danby, the inquiry into the popish 
 plot, and the bill of exclusion. So violent were they 
 on this last article, that no expedient, however plausi- 
 ble, could be hearkened to. One of the king’s minis- 
 ters proposed, tha^the duke should be banished five 
 hundred miles from England, and on the king’s de- 
 mise, the next heir should be constituted regent with 
 regal power; yet even this expedient, which would 
 have left the duke of York only the bare title of king, 
 failed to satisfy the house. Charles, seeing no proba- 
 bility of a better temper in the commons, without 
 sacrificing his brother, dissolved the parliament; and 
 resolved to depend on economy and retrenchment for 
 alleviating the necessities under which he laboured. 
 
 As the king no longer dreaded the clamours of the 
 country party, he permitted the duke of York to pay 
 him a visit. The duke chose to take his passage by 
 lfi Q 2I sea 3 anc * t ^ ie m w h* c h he embarked struck 
 -* on a sand-bank, and was lost; but he escaped, 
 with a few of his party, in the barge. It is said, that 
 while many persons of rank and quality were drown- 
 ing, and, among the rest, Hyde, his brother-in-law, the 
 duke was very clamorous to save the dogs and tl» 
 nricst'* 
 
IQ 2 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Through the influence of the crown, two sheriffs, 
 North and Rich, were chosen in the city, on account 
 of theii devotion to the court ; but as the contest 
 might be renewed every year, a project was formed to 
 make the king master at once, not only of the city, 
 but of all the corporations in England. A writ of quo 
 warranto* was issued against the city, which, it was 
 pretended, had forfeited all its privileges, on account 
 of some irregularities in its proceedings several years 
 before ; and though the cause of the city was ably 
 defended against the attorney and solicitor generals, 
 ihe judges decided against it. After sentence had 
 been pronounced, the citizens petitioned the king, 
 who agreed to restore them their charter, but obliged 
 them to submit to the following regulations: That no 
 mayor, sheriff, recorder, common-sergeant, town-clerk, 
 or coroner, should be admitted to the exercise of his 
 office without his majesty’s approbation : that if the 
 t king disapproved twice of the mayor or sheriffs elect- 
 ed, he may, by commission, appoint those magistrates ! 
 that the mayor and court of aldermen may, with his 
 majesty’s leave, displace any magistrate : and that n<> 
 alderman, in case of a vacancy, shall be elected with- 
 out the consent of the court of aldermen, who, if 
 they disapprove twice of the choice, may fill the va- 
 cancy. 
 
 All the corporations in England, from this prece- 
 dent, saw how ineffectual it would be to contend with 
 the court, and, therefore, most of them were induced 
 to surrender their charters into the king’s hands. Con- 
 siderable sums were exacted for restoring the 
 
 1683 ] 
 
 charters j and all offices of power or profit, by 
 
 the restrictions introduced, w r ere now left at the dis- 
 posal of the crown. The conduct of Charles in these 
 proceedings was a most violent infraction of personal 
 and national liberty, and sufficiently proves the arbi- 
 trary and tyrannical principles by which he governed. 
 Every friend to liberty must allow, that the nation, 
 whose constitution had been thus violated, was justi- 
 fied in employing expedients for recovering the seca- 
 /itv of which it had been so unjustly deprived. 
 
 There was a party, who, even before this last in- 
 
 * That is, an inquiry into the validity of its charter 
 
CI-IAIILES 11. 
 
 103 
 
 fquitous proceeding, which laid the whole constitution 
 at the mercy of the king, meditated plans of resistance 
 to the measures of the court. The duke of Mon- 
 mouth, lord Russel, and lord Gray, solicited, not only 
 the capital, but the nobility and gentry of several 
 counties, to rise in arms, and oppose the succession 
 of the duke. The whole train was ready to take fire j 
 but was prevented by the caution of lord Russel, who. 
 in opposition to Shaftesbury, the prime mover, induc- 
 ed Monmouth to delay the enterprise. Shaftesbury, 
 enraged at this delay, abandoned all hopes of success, 
 and withdrew to Holland, where he died soon after, 
 little regretted by his friends, or noticed by his ene- 
 mies. 
 
 At last, a regular project of insurrection was formed. 
 The council consisted of Monmouth, Russel, Essex, 
 Howard, Algernon Sidney, and John Hampden, grand- 
 son to the great parliamentary leader. These men en- 
 tered into an agreement with Argyle and the Scottish 
 malcontents, who engaged to bring the covenanters 
 into the field. The conspirators, however, differed 
 widely in their views. Sidney and Essex were for a 
 republic; Monmouth entertained hopes of obtaining 
 the crown for himself ; and Russel and Hampden were 
 attached to the ancient constitution, and wished only 
 \ redress of grievances, and the exclusion of the duke 
 of York. Howard, s who was a man of no principle, was 
 ready to espouse any party, to which his interest might 
 lead him. But, discordant as they seemed, in their 
 characters and views, they were all united in a com- 
 mon hatred of the heir-apparent. 
 
 While these schemes were concerting among the 
 leaders, an inferior order of conspirators held frequent 
 meetings, and carried on projects quite unknown to 
 Monmouth, and the cabal of six; and the only persons 
 of this confederacy, who had access to the leaders of 
 the party, were Ferguson, and colonel Rumsey, an old 
 republican officer. These persons indulged in the 
 most criminal discourse ; and proposed to assassinate 
 Charles at a farm called the Rye-house, which lay on 
 the road to Newmarket, whither the king commonly 
 went once a-year ; but the house in which his majesty 
 lived there happening to take fire, obliged him tr 
 *eave that place, sooner than he intended, and thus tk* 
 execution of the design was prevented. 
 
J04 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Among the conspirators was one Kciljng, who, be- 
 ng under a criminal prosecution, in order to obtain a 
 pardo.n, betrayed his associates to secretary Jenkins. 
 Search being made after the conspirators, colonel 
 Rumsey, and West, a lawyer, finding the perils to 
 which they were exposed, surrendered themselves, 
 and turned evidence. Rumsey made known the meet- 
 ings of the leaders; and orders were issued for arrest- 
 ing the great men engaged in the conspiracy. Mon- 
 mouth absconded; Russel was sent to the Tower; 
 Gray was arrested, but escaped; and Howard, a profli- 
 gate man, being taken, in hopes of pardon and reward, 
 revealed the whole plot. Essex, Sidney, and Hamp- 
 den, were immediately apprehended; and some of the 
 inferior conspirators being convicted, paid the forfeit 
 of their lives. 
 
 The condemnation of these criminals was prepara- 
 tory to the trial of Lord Russel, a nobleman illustrious 
 for his virtues, arid highly popular, against whom 
 Rumsey, Shephard, and Howard, appeared. It was 
 proved, that an insurrection had been resolved on, and 
 the surprisal of the king’s guards taken into consider 
 ation by the prisoner; but still, with regard to law 
 there remained an important difficulty. By an act 
 passed soon after the restoration, to consult on a re- 
 bellion, during Charles’s lifetime, was declared trea- 
 son ; but it was required, that the prosecution should 
 be commenced within six months after the crime had 
 been committed. The facts sworn to by Rumsey and 
 Shephard were beyond the six months required by 
 law; and to the other circumstances, Howard was the 
 only evidence, whereas by the statute of Edward III., 
 the crime of treason must be proved by two witnesses. 
 
 R.ussel perceived this irregularity, and desired to 
 have the point argued by counsel ; but the chief-jus- 
 tice told him, that this favour could not be granted, 
 unless he previously confessed the facts; and the arti- 
 ficial confounding of the two species of treason was 
 the principal, though not the only hardship, of which 
 this unfortunate nobleman had reason to complain on 
 his trial. His veracity would not allow him to deny 
 the conspiracy for an insurrection ; but he solemnly 
 protested, that he had never entertained any design 
 against the life of the king. After a short delibera 
 lion, the jury brought him in guilty. 
 
CHARLES II. 
 
 105 
 
 Applications were made to the king for a pardon 5 
 and even money to a very considerable amount, was 
 offered to the duchess of Portsmouth by the earl ol 
 Bedford, father to Russel 5 but Charles was inexora- 
 ble. 
 
 Lady Russel, daughter and heir of the earl of South- 
 ampton, a woman of the most exalted merit, threw 
 herself at the king’s feet, and pleaded with many tears 
 the services of her father as an atonement for the er- 
 ror of her husband. Finding her supplications ineffec- 
 tual, she summoned up all the fortitude of her soul, 
 and even endeavoured, by her example, to strengthen 
 the resolution of her unfortunate lord. With a tender 
 and decent composure, they took leave of each other 
 on the day of his execution. u The bitterness of 
 death is now past,” said he, as he turned from her. 
 To the last he maintained the same dignified compo- 
 sure, the same good-humoured equanimity for which 
 he had been always distinguished. He was the most 
 popular among his own party, and admired for his vir- 
 tues even by the opposite faction 5 and his melancho- 
 ly fate united every heart, sensible of humanity, in a 
 tender compassion for him. 
 
 Algernon Sidney, the apostle of liberty, was next 
 brought to trial. This gallant person, son to the earl 
 of Leicester, had been deeply implicated in the civil 
 wars ; but he opposed the usurpation of Cromwell 
 with zeal and courage 5 and, after the restoration, he 
 chose voluntary banishment, rather than submit to a 
 government and family which he abhorred. At length, 
 he returned to England, and applied for the king s 
 pardon, which he obtained. 
 
 Howard was again the only witness against Sidney 3 
 but, as the law required twf>, a strange expedient was 
 adopted to supply the deficiency. In searching the 
 prisoner’s closets, some discourses on government 
 were found, in which he maintained principles, fav- 
 ourable indeed to liberty, but such as tiie most dutiful 
 subjects have been known to embrace, and which, ev- 
 en if they had been published, could not have infring- 
 ed any positive law. These papers, however were 
 said to be equivalent to a second witness 3 and the vi 
 olent and inhuman judge Jefferies easily prevailed on 
 a prejudiced jury to give a verdict against Sidney 
 
106 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 He complained, with great reason, of the iniquity of 
 the sentence ; and he died glorying in the good old 
 cause,’ 7 in which from his youth, he said, he had en- 
 listed himself. 
 
 Howard was also the sole witness against Hampden, 
 who, therefore, was indicted only for a misdemeanor ; 
 and sentence being obtained against him, the exorbi- 
 tant fine of forty thousand pounds was imposed on 
 him. 
 
 On the day that Russel was tried, Essex, a man emi- 
 nent for his virtues and abilities, was found in the 
 Tower with his throat cut. Whether he committed 
 suicide, or was murdered by others, has never been 
 clearly ascertained. 
 
 On the detection of this conspiracy, loyal addresses 
 I (^04.-1 arrived from all parts of the kingdom ; and, in 
 -• order to increase his present popularity, Charles 
 judged it proper to give his niece, the lady Anne, in 
 marriage to prince George', brother to the king of 
 Denmark ; but, though the king had recovered his for- 
 mer popularity in the nation, and was enabled to gov- 
 ern without a parliament, it is certain he was neither 
 happy nor satisfied. The violent temper of his broth- 
 er gave him apprehension and uneasiness ; and, in op- 
 posing some of the duke’s hasty counsels, he was 
 heard one day to say, “ Brother, I am too old to gc 
 again on my travels : you may, if you choose it. 77 It 
 was evident, that the king meditated some change of 
 measures; and it was believed, that he intended to 
 send the duke of York to Scotland, to recal Monmouth, 
 to assemble his parliament, and to dismiss his obnox- 
 ious ministers ; but amidst these wise and virtuous de- 
 signs, he vvas seized with an apoplectic fit, and, after 
 languishing a few days, expired in the fifty-fifth year 
 of his age, and the twenty-fifth of his reign. Having 
 always enjoyed a good constitution, his death begat 
 suspicion of*poison ; but when all circumstances are 
 considered, this suspicion appears without foundation. 
 His loss, however, was sincerely lamented by hi* 
 people, as well on account of their affection for him, 
 as of their dread of his successor. 
 
 During the few days of the king’s illness, he show 
 ed a total indifference to the devotions and exhorta- 
 tions of the clergy of the established church, but re. 
 
JAMES II. 
 
 103 
 
 chived the sacrament from the hands of catholic 
 priests; and in his cabinet were found two papers, 
 which contained arguments in favour of the Romish 
 communion, and which the duke of York had the im- 
 prudence immediately to publish. 
 
 Charles, when considered as a companion, appears 
 the most amiable and engaging of men ; he had a ready 
 wit, was well-bred, and good-natured. When, how- 
 ever, we view his public character, he evidently sinks 
 in our estimation. As a sovereign, his conduct was 
 dangerous to his people, and disgraceful to himself. 
 Negligent of the interests of the nation, careless of 
 its glory, averse to its religion ; jealous of its liberty, 
 lavish of its treasures, and sparing only of its blood, 
 he exposed it by his measures to the danger of a civ- 
 il war, and even to the ruin and ignominy of a foreign 
 conquest. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Reign of James II. 
 
 The first act of James’s reign was to assemble the 
 16851 P riv y- council > an( ^ declare his resolution to 
 maintain the established government in church 
 and state ; but in the first exercise of his authority, 
 he showed the insincerity of his professions. All the 
 customs, and the greater part of the excise, had been 
 settled by parliament on the late king during life, and 
 consequently the grant had expired ; but James, with- 
 out regarding the laws, issued a proclamation, order- 
 ing payment of the customs and excise as before ; and 
 he also went openly, and with all the ensigns of digni- 
 ty, to mass. By this imprudence he displayed at once 
 his arbitrary disposition, and the bigotry of his princi- 
 ples. 
 
 However little inclined James might be to an Eng- 
 lish parliament, he found it absolutely necessary to 
 summon one ; but his speech to that assembly was cal 
 culated rather to awaken their fears than to work on 
 their affections. He required them to settle his rev- 
 enue, and that during his life, as had been done to his 
 
108 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Drother. *' There is, indeed,” added he, u one pops 
 lar argument against complying with my demand. Men 
 may think, that by feeding me, from time to time, with 
 such supplies as they think convenient, they will 
 better secure frequent meetings of parliament; but 
 as this is the first time I speak to you from the 
 throne, I must plainly tell you, that such an expedient 
 would be very improper to employ with me, and that 
 the best way to engage me to meet you often, is al- 
 ways to use me well.” 
 
 The parliament was thus placed in a very critical 
 situation, either of opposing James at once, or of com- 
 plying with his wishes; and the commons voted the 
 same revenue to his present majesty during life, as 
 had been enjoyed by the late king. The lords were 
 no less compliant; and they endeavoured to break in 
 pieces the remains of the popish plot. Oates, who 
 had been tried and convicted of perjury, was sentenc- 
 ed to perpetual imprisonment, besides being publicly 
 whipped, and five times a-year exposed in the pillory 
 The impudence of this man still supported him, and 
 le made solemn appeals to heaven for the truth of his 
 estimony.* 
 
 The conviction of Oates was noticed by the house 
 of peers ; and the popish lords Powis, Arundel, Bella- 
 sis, and Tyrone, together with the earl of Danby, were 
 free 1 from their impeachment; but the course of par- 
 liamentary proceedings was interrupted by the news 
 erf Monmouth’s arrival in the west, with three ships 
 from Holland. Parliament immediately passed a bill 
 of attainder against Monmouth, and voted, that they 
 would adhere to James with their lives and fortunes ; 
 and they granted the king a supply of four hundred 
 thmisand pounds for suppressing the rebellion. 
 
 The unfortunate Monmouth, pursued by the severity 
 of James, even in his retirement on the continent, and 
 urged by the impatient humour of Argyle, who set out 
 for Scotland in his cause, was driven contrary to his 
 judgment as well as inclination, to make a rash and 
 premature attempt. Landing at Lyme, in Dorset, 
 with scarcely a hundred followers, the popularity of 
 
 * On the accession of king William, Oatos recovered his lib- 
 erty, and a pension of four hundred pounds a-year settled o* 
 
 him. 
 
JAMES II. 
 
 109 
 
 nis name soon drew to his standard above two thou- 
 sand horse and foot. At Taunton he assumed the re- 
 gal title ; and he was proclaimed king at Bridgewater, 
 Wells, and Frome; but he allowed the expectations 
 of the people to languish without attempting any con- 
 siderable undertaking. 
 
 Hearing that Argyle had been defeated, Monmouth 
 fell into despondency 5 but his foliowers showed more 
 courage, and seemed determined to adhere to him in 
 every fortune. The negligence of Feversham, the 
 royal general, invited Monmouth to attack the king's 
 army at Sedgemoor, where, after a combat of three 
 hours, the rebels gave way. About one thousand five 
 hundred fell in the battle and pursuit ; and the unhap- 
 py Monmouth fled from the field, above twenty miles, 
 till his horse sunk under him. He then changed 
 clothes with a peasant, in order to conceal himself ; 
 but at last, he was found lying in the bottom of a ditch, 
 and covered with fearn. His body, depressed with fa- 
 tigue and hunger, and his mind, by the memory of 
 past misfortunes, and the prospect of future ills, he 
 ourst into tears when seized by his enemies, and seem- 
 ed still to indulge the fond hope and the desire of life. 
 He wrote to James in the most submissive terms, con 
 iuring him to spare the issue of a brother; and the 
 king finding such symptoms of contrition and despon- 
 dency in the unhappy prisoner, admitted him into his 
 presence in hopes of extorting a discovery of his ac- 
 complices , but Monmouth would not purchase life, 
 however loved, at the price of so much infamy. Find- 
 ing all efforts vain, he prepared himself for death, 
 with a spirit worthy of his rank and character, and was 
 attended to the scaffold by the tears of the people, 
 with whom he had ever been a favourite. 
 
 This victory, if it had been managed with prudence, 
 would have tended to confirm the power and authori- 
 ty of the king; but the cruelty with which it was pros- 
 ecuted bv the savage colonel Kirk, and the infamous 
 judge Jefferies, hastened the ruin of James. Besides 
 those who were butchered by the military command- 
 ers, two hundred and fifty-one victims are said to have 
 been executed ; and all the rigours of justice, unabat- 
 ed by any appearance of clemency, were fully display- 
 ed by the barbarous Jefferies. 
 
110 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 I 
 
 In Scotland, the fate of Argyle had been decided 
 before that of Monmouth. The parliament of that 
 country acknowledged the king's authority to be ah- 
 solute ; and with such a servile train, the patriotic 
 virtues of Argyie coul(J stand no chance of obtaining a 
 pardon. He was seized, and carried to Edinburgh, 
 where, after enduring many indignities, he was pub- 
 licly executed. 
 
 Elated with this tide of short-lived prosperity, James 
 began to undervalue the authority of an English parlia- 
 ment ; and in a speech to that assembly, he observed, 
 that he had employed many catholic officers, in whose 
 favour he had dispensed with the law, which requires 
 the test to be taken by every one possessed of any 
 public office ; and he also declared, that, having re- 
 ceived the benefit of their service, he was resolved 
 neither to expose them afterwards to disgrace, nor 
 himself to the want of their assistance. The com- 
 mons voted an address to the king against the dispens- 
 ing power 5 but this address was ill received by 
 James, who returned a haughty reply. At their next 
 meeting, the commons proceeded to the considera- 
 tion of a supply, and went so far in their submissions 
 as to establish funds for paying the sums voted. The 
 king, therefore, had, in effect, obtained almost a com- 
 plete victory over the lower house, which ceased to 
 be the guardian of the liberties and property of the 
 people. 
 
 In the upper house, however, Compton, bishop of 
 London, in his own name and that of his brethren, 
 moved that a day should be appointed for taking the 
 king's speech .into consideration ; and notwithstand- 
 ing the opposition of Jefferies, the chancellor, the 
 bishop's motion prevailed. James was so much irri- 
 tated, that he proceeded immediately to prorogue, and 
 finding that he could not break the firmness of the 
 leading members, he finally dissolved the parliament. 
 
 The open declaration of James, to dispense with 
 the tests, had di.Tused an universal alarm throughout 
 the nation, had alienated the church, and even dis- 
 gusted the army. The former horror against popery 
 was revived; and this was further increased by Louis 
 XIV., having, about the same time, revoked the edict 
 of Nantes, in consequence of which nearly fifty thou 
 
JAMES II. 
 
 Ill 
 
 sand refugees passed over into England ; and, from 
 their representations, all men dreaded the projects 
 tvhich were supposed to be formed by the king for 
 abolishing the protestant religion. 
 
 Though J-arnes had failed in prevailing on the par- 
 liament, he was successful in establishing his dispens- 
 ing power, by a verdict of the judges. Four catholic 
 16861 ’ orc * s vvere also brought into the privy-council 5 
 -* the king was openly zealous in making con- 
 verts; and men plainly saw, that the only means of 
 acquiring his majesty's confidence, was the sacrifice 
 of their religion. Those who had any regard to de- 
 cency, any attachment to the liberties of their coun- 
 try, or to the protestant faith, now withdrew from the 
 ministry, or were dismissed, and their places were fill- 
 ed witii renegadoes, who squared their belief by their 
 interest. 
 
 All judicious persons of the catholic communion 
 easily foresaw the consequences of these violent 
 measures ; but James was entirely governed by the 
 rash counsels of the queen, and of his confessor, fath - 
 er Peters, a jesuit and privy-counsellor. The king 
 issued a proclamation, suspending all the penal laws 
 in ecclesiastical affairs, and granting a general liberty 
 of conscience to all his subjects. In order to facili- 
 tate the reception of this edict of toleration, James 
 began to paj court to the dissenters ; but his inten- 
 16871 ^ ons were so obvious, that he found it impossi- 
 ble to obtain the confidence of the nonconform- 
 ists ; and if the dissenters had been blinded by his 
 professions, the measures pursued in Scotland, and 
 also in Ireland, were sufficient to discover the secret. 
 
 James, however, did not long affect to conceal his 
 designs. He publicly sent the earl of Castlemaine 
 ambassador-extraordinary to Rome, in order to express 
 his obeisance to the pope, and to bring about a recon- 
 ciliation with the holy see ; but the pontiff, rightly 
 concluding 1 that a scheme conducted with such indis- 
 cretion could never succeed, treated the ambassador 
 with neglect, and thought it sufficient to send a nuncio 
 to Englan.d, who was solemnly received at Windsor, 
 in opposition to an express act of parliament, by which 
 it was made treason to hold any correspondence with 
 the pope. 
 
12 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 By virtue of his prerogative. James had suspended 
 /he penal laws, and dispensed with the test;, and he 
 would gladly have obtained the sanction of parliament 
 to these acts of power; but, finding that impossible, 
 he forebore to convene that assembly, and proceeded 
 to strengthen the catholic party by every expedient. 
 The cnurch and the universities had hitherto been 
 shut against the catholics ; and though the university 
 of Oxford had lately made a solemn profession of pas- 
 sive obedience, yet when the king sent a mandate for 
 appointing one P armer, a convert to popery, president 
 o r Magdalen college, one of the richest foundations in 
 Europe, the fellows chose Dr. Hough, a man whose 
 virtue and firmness rendered him not only proper for 
 the office, but for the times. On inquiry, Farmer was 
 found guilty of the most scandalous vices; and a new 
 mandate was issued in favour of Parker, lately created 
 bishop of Oxford, a man also of a prostitute character, 
 who atoned for his vices by his willingness to embrace 
 the catnolic religion ; but the society representing 
 that by the statutes, Parker could not be chosen, the 
 president and all the fellows, except two who com- 
 plied, were expelled the college ; and Parker w as ap- 
 pointed president. 
 
 The next measure of the court rendered the breach 
 between the king and the ecclesiastics incurable 
 James had published a second declaration of indul 
 lfP^l £ cnce > w hich he ordered to be read in all the 
 J churches, immediately after divine service. 
 The clergy in general determined to oppose this vio- 
 lence done to their consciences ; and Lloyd, bishop 
 of St. Asaph; Ken, of Bath and Wells; Turner, of 
 Ely; Lake, of Chichester; White, of P3terborough , 
 and Trelaw'ney, of Bristol, met privately with the pri- 
 mate, and drew up a petition to the king, that he 
 would not insist on their reading the declaration. For 
 this the prelates were committed to the Tower ; and 
 the crown lawyers were directed to prosecute them 
 for the seditious libel, which, it was pretended, they 
 had composed and uttered. 
 
 The bishops, however, notwithstanding the mach 
 mations of the court, were acquitted; and the 
 joy which the intelligence of this event diffused 
 throughout the kingdom is indescribable. The army 
 
JAMES 11. 
 
 m 
 
 encamped on Hounslow-heath soon caught the coni i- 
 gion ; and James, who had that day reviewed the 
 troops, and was in the general's tent, was surprised u» 
 hear a general uprbar in the camp: inquiring the 
 cause, he was told by lord Feversham, “ it was noth- 
 ing but the rejoicing of the soldiers for the acquittal 
 of the bishops." “ Do you call that nothing ?" re- 
 plied he, “ but so much the worse for them." Noth- 
 ing, however, could check the main career of James. 
 He struck out two of the judges who had appeared t > 
 favour the bishops; and he issued orders to prosecute 
 all those clergymen who had not read his declaration 
 and to the honour of the established church be it re- 
 corded, that only two hundred complied with his edict. 
 
 A few days before the acquittal of the bishops, the 
 queen was delivered of a son, to the great joy of the 
 king and all zealous catholics; but so violent was the 
 animosity against the court, that calumny ascribed to 
 lames the design of imposing on the world a supposi- 
 /ious child. He was baptized by the name of James, 
 and was afterwards known by the title of “ the pre- 
 tender." 
 
 The prince of Orange, who had married the prin 
 cess Mary of England, eldest daughter of th° king, 
 had maintained a very prudent conduct: and James 
 strongly solicited the consent of the prince to the re- 
 peal of the penal statutes and of the test; but the 
 latter declared his refusal to concur in these meas- 
 ures, unless the same should be sanctioned by parlia 
 ment. This declaration gave courage to the protes- 
 tants, while it excited the indignation of James, who 
 prepared to make war on the United States. Many 
 persons of consequence and talents, flying from Eng- 
 land, offered their services to William, and requested 
 his active interference. 
 
 The prince, after duly weighing the matter, and find- 
 ing the whigs, the tories, the churchmen, and the 
 non-conformists, forgetting their animosities, all leagu- 
 ed in the design of resisting their deluded sovereign, 
 yielded to the very respectable and numerous appli- 
 cations that had been made to him ; and having secret- 
 ly augmented the Dutch navy, levied troops, and rais- 
 ed considerable sums of money, he waited for a fa- 
 
 VOL. II. g 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 m 
 
 vourable opportunity of embarking for England, whick 
 regarded him as its sole protector. 
 
 Louis, who had penetrated the designs of the prince, 
 conveyed the intelligence to James; but the king 
 treated the information with contempt, and refused 
 the assistance which the French monarch offered on 
 this occasion. At last, however, when convinced that 
 he might soon expect a powerful invasion from Hol- 
 land, James opened his eyes, and found himself on the 
 brink of a frightful precipice. He now began to re- 
 tract those fatal measures which had created him so 
 many foreign and domestic enemies; but when intel- 
 ligence arrived, that a great disaster had befallen the 
 Dutch fleet, he recalled, for some time, the conces- 
 sions which he had made. 
 
 Meanwhile, a declaration from the prince of Orange 
 was dispersed over the kingdom, and met with univer- 
 sal approbation. All the grievances of the nation 
 were there enumerated ; and to redress these, the 
 prince said, that he intended to come over into Eng- 
 land with an armed force. 
 
 After a prosperous voyage, he landed his army safely 
 in Torbay, on the fifth day of November, and, march- 
 ing to Exeter, caused his declaration to be there pub- 
 IfiPRl Bsned. By degress, all England was in com- 
 
 ° ■* motion ; and every day showed some effect of 
 that universal combination into which the nation had 
 entered against the measures of the king; but the 
 most dangerous symptom was the disaffection of the 
 army, all the officers of which seemed disposed to 
 regard only the interests of their country and their 
 religion. Lord Cornbury carried over three regi 
 ments to the prince ; and several officers informed 
 Feversham, the general, that they could not in con- 
 science draw their swords against the Dutch. Even 
 lord Churchill, who had been raised from the rank of 
 a page, and owed his whole fortune to the bounty of 
 the crown, influenced by principle alone, deserted his 
 master, and carried with him the duke of Grafton, nat- 
 ural son to the late king. 
 
 James, however, received a still more fatal blow in 
 the defection of George, prince of Denmark, his son- 
 in-law, and his daughter Anne, who both joined the 
 prince. When intelligence of this reached the king 
 
JAMES II. 
 
 115 
 
 the unfortunate sovereign burst into tears. 11 God 
 help me,” cried he, in the extremity of his agony, 
 u ray own children have forsaken me !” His last acts 
 of authority were to issue writs for a new parliament, 
 and to send Halifax, Nottingham, and Godolphin, as 
 commissioners, to treat with the prince of Orange. 
 He even hearkened to imprudent counsel, by which 
 he was prompted to desert the throne. Alarmed by 
 the general disaffection, and impelled by his own fears 
 and those of others, James precipitately embraced 
 the resolution of escaping into France 5 and, having 
 previously sent off the queen and the infant prince, 
 he himself disappeared in the night-time, and hasten- 
 ed to embark and follow them. 
 
 By this rash act, the reins of the government were 
 thrown up, and the populace became masters 3 and 
 rising in a tumultuous manner, they destroyed the 
 mass-houses, and rifled the places in which the catho- 
 lics had lodged their most valuable effects. Jefferies, 
 the chancellor, who had disguised himself, was dis- 
 covered, and treated with the greatest severity, in 
 consequence of which he died soon after. Feveisham 
 no sooner heard of the king’s flight, than he disbanded 
 his troops, without either disarming or paying them. 
 
 In the mean time, however, James had been seized 
 at Feversham, and obliged to return to London, where 
 the populace, moved by compassion, or actuated by 
 loyalty, received him with shouts and acclamations 
 During his abode at Whitehall, little attention was 
 paid him 3 and desiring permission to retire to Roch- 
 ester, a town near the sea-coast, his request was im- 
 mediately granted. He privately embarked on board a 
 frigate which waited for him, and arrived safely at 
 Ambletouse, in Picardy, whence he hastened to St. 
 Germain’s. Louis received him with the greatest 
 generosity and respect, a circumstance more honour- 
 able to him than his most splendid victories. 
 
 Thus ended the reign of James 3 a prince who pos- 
 sessed many of the qualities which form a good citi- 
 zen, but whose bigotry and arbitrary principles ren 
 dercd him odious as a king In domesti ^ life his con- 
 duct was irreproachable 5 and even while he was sa- 
 crificing every thing to the advancement of popery, 
 his frugality of the public money was remarkable, and 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 il6 
 
 n is jealousy of the national honour commendable ; 
 Dut his invasion of the rights and liberties of the peo- 
 ple tarnished every other virtue, and his disregard to 
 the religion and constitution of his country could not 
 be compensated by any other qualities. In principle, 
 he was a despot and a bigot ; and his abdication of the 
 throne, and consequent exclusion, have proved the 
 happiness of this kingdom. 
 
 Thus the prince of Orange, with little effusion of 
 blood, effected the deliverance of England, and de- 
 throned a king possessed of a formidable navy and a 
 numerous army. Still a more difficult task remained, 
 to obtain for himself that crown which had fallen from 
 the head of his father-in-law. To claim it by right of 
 conquest would have been destructive to the princi- 
 ples of liberty, which he professed to establish ; and 
 he wisely resolved to leave the settlement of this im-' 
 portant affair to the guidance and direction of the na- 
 tion. 
 
 In the convention which was assembled, it was ev- 
 IfiftQI i^ent w hig party chiefly prevailed, and 
 
 ° J the commons sent up a vote to the peers, “ That 
 king James II. having endeavoured to subvert the con- 
 stitution of the kingdom, by breaking the original con- 
 tract between the king and the people; and having, 
 by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons, vi- 
 olated the fundamental laws, and withdrawn himself 
 out of the kingdom, has abdicated the government, 
 and that the throne is thereby vacant.” This vote, 
 when carried to the upper house, met with great op- 
 position ; and the last clause, which declared the 
 tnrone vacant, was omitted; but the commons still 
 insisted on their original vote, and some peers desert- 
 ing to the whig interest, the whole was passed, and 
 received the sanction of both houses. 
 
 During these debates, the prince had maintained a 
 respectful silence ; but, at length, he expressed his 
 sentiments on the present situation of affairs. He ob- 
 served, that some insisted on appointing a regent, and 
 that others we-e desirous of bestowing the crown on 
 the princess Mary alone ; that though he pretended 
 not to interfere in their deliberations, he thought it 
 incumbent on him to inform them that he was deter- 
 mined not to be the regent nor would he accept a 
 
> 
 
 I 
 
 WILLIAM AND MARY. Ill 
 
 crown which depended on the life or will of another; 
 and, therefore, if they were inclined to either of these 
 two plans of settlement, it would be wholly out of his 
 power to give them any further assistance. 
 
 The princess seconded the views of her husband, 
 and the princess Anne agreeing to be postponed in 
 the succession to the crown, facilitated the public set- 
 tlement. The principal parties being thus agreed, the 
 convention passed a bill, settling the crown on the 
 prince and princess of Orange, the sole administra 
 tion to remain in the prince ; the princess Anne to 
 succeed after the death of the prince and princess of 
 Orange; and her issue after those of the princess, 
 but before those of the prince by any other wife. Ta 
 this settlement the convention annexed a declaration 
 of rights, in which the powers of royal prerogative 
 were more narrowly circumscribed, and more exactly 
 defined, than at any former period. 
 
 Soon after, similar resolutions having been passed 
 by the Scottish convention, William and Mary were 
 proclaimed in both kingdoms. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Reign of William and Mary. 
 
 The revolution, as it is called, formed a new epoch 
 in the constitution, which now assumed a different 
 aspect ; and it may be affirmed, without any danger of 
 1 T 891 exaggeration, that, since that period, the Brit- 
 -* ish have enjoyed a system of government the 
 most perfect and the most free that was ever establish- 
 ed in the world. 
 
 While, however, William and Mary were thus 
 peaceably established on the throne of Great Britain, 
 a very different scene presented itself in Ireland. The 
 catholics in that country saw with reluctance the 
 events which had taken place, and testified their ad 
 hcrence to James. 
 
 The earl of Tyrconnel, the lord deputy, disguised 
 his sentiments, ana amused William with false hopes 
 of submission, till James should be nb^e to supply 
 
 j 
 
J18 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 nim with reinforcements from France ; which lie ear- 
 nestly solicited by private messages. 
 
 In the mean time, the whigs, who were the prevail- 
 ing party in the state, determined that the revenue for 
 the maintenance of the king’s household, and the sup* 
 port of his dignity, should be granted from one year 
 to another only, in order that William, finding himself 
 constantly dependent on parliament, might endeav- 
 our to merit a renewal of the grant by a just and pop- 
 ular government. The king, however, was disgusted 
 with these restraints, which he considered as marks 
 of distrust; and the tories seized this occasion to fo- 
 ment his jealousy against their adversaries. William 
 recommended to parliament a bill of indemnity, as 
 the most effectual means of putting an end to all con- 
 troversies and distinctions ; but this was defeated for 
 some time by the address of the whigs, who were sen- 
 sible that the bill would open a way to the preferment 
 of the tories. The two parties, however, were now 
 so equally balanced in parliament, that the bill for 
 restoring corporations to their ancient rights passed 
 by one vote only, with the rejection of two clauses 
 against those who had been concerned in the surren- 
 der of charters. 
 
 The king found himself so perplexed between two 
 factions, which he equally feared, that he had resolved 
 to leave the government in the queen’s hands, and re- 
 tire into Holland ; but he was dissuaded from this pur- 
 pose by the marquis of Caeimarthen and other noble- 
 men whom he consulted ; and finding the tories more 
 compliant, he began to gratify them at the expense of 
 the whigs. The latter were foiled or out-voted in 
 several favourite schemes ; and the earl of Shrews- 
 bury resented this so highly, that he resigned his office 
 of secretary of state. 
 
 William having who.ly given himself up to the pol- 
 itics of the tories, was soon gratified with the heredi- 
 tary excise during life, and the customs for four years. 
 The bill of indemnity, so earnestly recommended by 
 the king, was also passed, with the exception of thirty 
 persons. 
 
 At this period, the great scheme which William had 
 projected, of a confederacy against France, began t# 
 take effect. The emperor negotiated an alliance 
 
WILLIAM AND MARY. 
 
 119 
 
 offensive and defensive, with the States-general ; and 
 Spain and England were invited to accede to the 
 treaty. William, who was at the head of this confed- 
 eracy, found no difficulty in persuading the English to 
 undertake a war against their ancient rivals ; and tho 
 commons unanimously resolved, that in case his majes- 
 ty should think fit to engage in hostilities with France, 
 they would enable him to carry on the war with vig- 
 our. This was very agreeable to the king; and war 
 was immediately declared against the French monarch. 
 
 Louis XIV., who had long rendered himself the ter- 
 ror and the scourge of Europe, was not dejected by 
 this confederacy against him. He supplied James 
 with a considerable fleet for the invasion of Ireland, 
 and the ex-prince, with about twelve hundred British 
 subjects, and several of the most distinguished French 
 officers, landed at Kinsale, on the 22d of March, 1689. 
 The earl of Tyrconnel had assembled an army of thir- 
 ty thousand foot, and eight thousand horse, for the 
 service of his master; and the whole kingdom, except 
 the city of Londonderry, received James with sub- 
 mission. 
 
 Finding his affairs in England in a desperate state, 
 and that he had been deceived by those in whom he 
 had confided, William determined to pass over into 
 that island in person. A general engagement took 
 place on the banks of the Boyne, in which the Irish 
 iron I were entirely defeated ; and James retired to 
 J Dublin, whence he fled a second time into 
 France : but the hopes and the spirits of his party 
 were not yet vanquished. 
 
 A French fleet being discovered off Plymouth, the 
 earl of Torrington, the English admiral, reinforced 
 with a Dutch squadron, put to sea, in order to inter- 
 cept the enemy, if an. attempt should be mace to sail 
 up the channel. After the hostile fleets had continu- 
 ed in sight of^each other for five days, lord Torring- 
 ton bore down upon the enemy off Beachey Head ; and 
 an engagement ensued, in which ihe English were de- 
 feated, with the loss of two of their own ships, and 
 of six vessels belonging to the Dutch. A camp was 
 immediately formed in the neighbourhood of Torbay 
 where the French seemed to threaten a descent ; but 
 their fleet, after setting fire to the small village of 
 
120 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Teignmouth, and burning a few coasting-vessels, re 
 turned to Brest. 
 
 The news of the victory obtained by the Frencb 
 fleet effaced all thoughts of submission on the part of 
 the Irish, and an offer of indemnity from William, to 
 those who would lay down their arms, produced little 
 effect. This, however, only increased the misery of 
 that unhappy country, which suffered from both par- 
 ties ; but, at length, the French forces embarked for 
 their own country ; and William, having constituted 
 the lord Sydney and Thomas Coningsby lords-justices 
 of Ireland, and left the command of the army with 
 count de Solmes and baron de Ginkle, returned to 
 England, with prince George of Denmark. 
 
 Next year the Irish rebels were entirely reduced 
 16911 an( * a ca P' lu ^ at * on was executed, extending to 
 J all the places in that kingdom which had not 
 yet submitted. By it the catholics were restored to 
 the same rights and privileges as they had enjoyed 
 under Charles II. $ and twelve thousand of the deter- 
 mined adherents of James were allowed to transport 
 themselves to France. 
 
 The conquest of Ireland being thus effected, the 
 French king resolved to invade England during the 
 absence of William, who had sailed for Holland, in 
 order to promote the measures of the grand confeder- 
 acy. Louis seemed warmly engaged in the interest 
 of James ; and the jacobites* in England were assur- 
 ed, that their lawful sovereign would revisit his Brit' 
 ish dominions at the head of thirty thousand men. 
 
 Accordingly, a considerable body of French forces 
 and many fugitive Irish and Scots assembled, between 
 Cherbourgh and La Hogue, commanded by James in 
 person ; while a French fleet, of sixty-three ships of 
 the line, under admiral Tourville, was appointed to 
 convoy the troops. Admiral Russel, wuth a fleet of 
 ninety-nine ships of the line, English and Dutch, be 
 sides frigates and fire-ships, set sail for the coast of 
 France. On the 19th of May, 1692, the hosti’e fleets 
 met off La Hogue ; and after a bloody contest of near- 
 ly twelve hours, victory declared in favour of thf 
 
 * A term given to the partisans of James, or the adherent 
 •f the ex-family. A 
 
WILLIAM AND MARY. 
 
 121 
 
 English. The French lost fifteen ships of the line ; 
 and this defeat reduced James to the greatest de- 
 Bpondence, and overwhelmed his friends in England 
 with despair. 
 
 The war, however, was continued on the continent 
 for some years, with various success : but at last it 
 was terminated by the treaty of Rhyswick, with 
 -1 no advantage to England beyond honour and in- 
 dependence, and with the burden of a national debt 
 which has since increased to an enormous amount. 
 
 The terrors of a standing army produced a genera 
 ferment in the nation : and the king was extremely 
 mortified, when the commons voted, that the number 
 of standing forces should be reduced to ten thousand 
 The earl of Sunderland, who had advised the unpopu 
 lar measure of a standing army, dreading the ven 
 geance of the commons, resigned his office. 
 
 William at this time revolved in his mind the set- 
 tling of the succession to the throne of Spain, which 
 would shortly be vacated by the death of Charles II. ; 
 and he, therefore, directed that sixteen thousand men 
 should be retained in the service. When the new 
 parliament met, the commons were so irritated at the 
 king’s presuming to maintain a greater number of 
 troops than their predecessors had. voted, that they 
 passed a resolution that the army in England and 
 Wales should be disbanded by a fixed day, with the 
 exception of seven thousand men, who were judged 
 sufficient for guards and garrisons. 
 
 William was highly indignant at the conduct of his 
 ministers and the parliament*, but when the bill was 
 ready for the royal assent, he went to the house of 
 peers ; and having sent for the commons, he told 
 them, that though he considered himself unkindly 
 treated, in being deprived of his Dutch guards, yet as 
 nothing could be more fatal to the nation, than a dis- 
 trust between him and the parliament., he had come 
 to pass the bill, according to their desire. 
 
 The opening of a new parliament promised more 
 17011 cor diality, and the commons in can address de- 
 -* sired his majesty to enter into such negotia- 
 tions with the States-General, and other potentates, a? 
 might most effectually conduce tr the mutual safety 
 of Great Britain and the United Provinces, as wei ! 
 
122 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 as to the preservation of the peace of Europe. They 
 also settled the succession, in case the princess Anne 
 should die without issue, on Sophia of Hanover, and 
 her heirs, being protestants. 
 
 The treaty of partition, however, into which Wil- 
 liam had entered with the court of France, for the di- 
 vision of the Spanish dominions, on the death of the 
 reigning sovereign, gave great offence. Among the 
 competitors for that crown, the dauphin, who had mar- 
 ried the king of Spain's daughter, was to be allowed 
 to possess the greatest part of Italy ; and other allot- 
 ments were made, which tended to lessen the danger 
 of one person succeeding to too extensive dominions. 
 In order to frustrate the objects of the confederacy, 
 the king of Spain by will nominated the duke of An- 
 jou, second son of the dauphin, heir to all his domin- 
 ions j by which means he detached the French- mon- 
 arch from the union he had formed. 
 
 The parliament, in order to evince their resent- 
 ment at the clandestine treaty of partition, ordered an 
 impeachment of lord Somers, the earl of Orford, and 
 the earl of Halifax, but the commons not appearing to 
 prosecute, the three lords were acquitted ; and Wil- 
 liam, encouraged by a petition from the county of 
 Kent, and the general voice of the people, entered 
 into a league with the emperor and the States-General, 
 the principal objects of which were the recovery of 
 the Spanish Netherlands, as a barrier for Holland, and 
 of Milan for the emperor. 
 
 King James expired at St. Germain's, and was in- 
 terred, at his own request, in the church of the Eng- 
 lish Benedictines in Paris, without any funeral solem- 
 nity. Before his death he was visited by the French 
 monarch, who declared that he would acknowledge his 
 son as king of England. Accordingly, when James 
 died, the pretended prince of Wales was proclaimed 
 king of England, and treated as such at the court of 
 Versailles. 
 
 In his speech to the parliament, William enlarged 
 on this indignity offered to the nation by the French 
 Aing; and explained the dangers to which England 
 was exposed by that monarch placing his grandson on 
 the throne of Spain. In an address to his majesty, 
 the commons voted that no peace should be conclu 
 
WILLIAM AND MARY. 
 
 12S 
 
 ded with France, till reparation should be made to the 
 king and nation, for owning and declaring the pretend 
 ed prince of Wales, king of England, Scotland and 
 Ireland. They also voted a large supply ; and they 
 agreed, that the proportion of the land forces, to act 
 in conjunction with the allies, should be forty thou- 
 sand men, and that forty thousand seamen should be 
 employed for the service of the ensuing year. 
 
 The health of William had been declining for some 
 time; but he endeavoured to conceal the inroads 
 which he felt were making in his constitution, in or- 
 der that the allies might not be discouraged from en- 
 gaging in a confederacy of whioh he was considered 
 the chief. In riding to Hampton court from Kensing- 
 ton, his collar-bone was broken by a fall from his 
 170*1 k° rse j and this hastened his dissolution. He 
 expired on the eighth day of March, of a fever 
 and asthma, in the thirteenth year of his reign. His 
 amiable consort, Mary, had fallen a victim to the 
 small-pox a few years before. 
 
 William III. was in his person small and slender. 
 He had an aquiline nose, a large forehead, and a grave 
 aspect. His genius was penetrating, and his judg- 
 ment sound; but in his manners he was distant, and 
 better qualified to gain respect than love. He was 
 religious, temperate, just, and sincere. England, in 
 some respects, gained very much by the revolution, 
 while in others, it was a severe sufferer. The system 
 of borrowing money on remote funds, which began 
 in this reign, has been attended with the most perni- 
 cious consequences ; and a standing army, which was 
 first sanctioned by parliament in the time of Wil- 
 liam, now seems interwoven with the constitution ; 
 but when we consider the noble stand which William 
 made for the freedom of Europe, against the ambi- 
 tious projects and dangerous influence of France, we 
 must acknowledge, that he possessed qualities of the 
 first order, which entitle him to the applause and re- 
 spect of mankind. 
 
 In 1694, the bank of England, and the salt and 
 ■tamp-otfices, wero established. 
 
124 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Reign of Queen Anne : 
 
 Anne, princess of Denmark, the eldest surviving 
 17023 daughter of James the Second, ascended the 
 * throne on the death of William, with the gen- 
 eral satisfaction of all parties. She was now in the 
 thirty-eighth year of her age, and by her husband, 
 George, prince of Denmark, had a numerous offspring, 
 all of which died in infancy, except the duke of Glou- 
 cester, who, after giving promises of future worth, 
 was seized with a malignant fever, which put an end 
 to his existence in the eleventh year of his age. 
 
 Anne had received great mortifications in the late 
 reign ; but she conducted herself with so much dis- 
 cretion, that little or no pretence for censure or re 
 sentment could be alleged. The facility of her dis 
 position, however, rendered her the dupe of interested 
 and artful dependents ; and it was owing to this, that 
 a serious misunderstanding had taken place between 
 her and the late king and queen, which continued till 
 the death of the latter. Anne had been taught to 
 consider the tories as friends of the monarchy, and 
 the true sons of the church ; and they had always 
 professed an inviolable attachment to her person and 
 interest. 
 
 The death of William excited the greatest conster- 
 nation throughout Holland j but the anxiety of the 
 States-General was relieved, by the arrival of the earl 
 of Marlborough, who assured them that her majesty 
 would adhere to all the stipulations which had been 
 entered into by the late king. 
 
 In her first speech to parliament, Anne made the 
 most conciliatory declarations of her views and prin 
 ciples; and in return, they settled on her, during life, 
 the same revenue as had been enjoyed by the late 
 king. When the bill, received the royal assent, the 
 queen assured them, that one hundred thousand pounds 
 of this revenue should be applied to the public service 
 of the year. 
 
 When the subject of the intended war was debated 
 in the queen’s privy-counsel, the earl of Rochester, 
 maternal uncle to the queen, proposed that the ring 
 
ANNE. 
 
 
 »ish should act only as auxiliaries, and that the chief 
 Durden of the war should be borne by the continental 
 allies, who had most to fear from the power of France; 
 but the earl of Marlborough observed, that France 
 could never be reduced within due limits unless the 
 English entered as principals in the quarrel. The 
 opinion of Marlborough prevailed ; and he was also ap- 
 pointed captain-general of her majesty's forces, to be 
 employed in conjunction with the troops of the allies. 
 
 The Dutch too, to whom the earl had been sent 
 ambassador-extraordinary, gave him the same appoint- 
 ment over their forces ; and the allies having promis- 
 ed to furnish their quotas of troops, every thing was 
 concerted for commencing the war, the avowed ob- 
 ject of which, as far as concerned England, was to put 
 the house of Austria in possession of the throne of 
 Spain, and to procure a barrier for the Dutch in the 
 Netherlands. 
 
 Marlborough, at the head of sixty thousand men, 
 17021 took the field in the month of July, and obliged 
 -* the duke of Burgundy, who commanded the 
 French army, to retire before the allied troops, and to 
 leave Spanish Guelderland exposed. The town and 
 castle of Werk surrendered; Venlo capitulated ; and 
 Ruremonde was reduced after an obstinate defence. 
 Boufflers, whom Burgundy had left in the commaand, 
 confounded at the rapidity of Marlborough's success, 
 retired towards Liege ; but, at the approach of the 
 confederates, he directed his march towards Brabant ; 
 and Marlborough took that city by assault, in which 
 the allies found considerable public booty. 
 
 Meanwhile, the combined fleets of England and 
 Holland, under the command of sir George Rooke, 
 after an unsuccessful attack on Cadiz, captured the 
 Spanish galleons at Vigo, with riches to the amount 
 of seven million pieces of eight. 
 
 Marlborough, who arrived in England about the lat- 
 ter end of November, received the thanks of the house 
 of commons for his great and signal services, which 
 were so acceptable to the queen, that she created him 
 a duke, and complimented him with a grant of five 
 thousand pounds per annum out of the post-office 
 About the same time, the pariiamcnt settled the year- 
 ly sum of one hundred thousand pounds on George 
 
126 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 prince of Denmark, the queen's consort, in case he 
 should survive her. 
 
 In the next campaign, the duke of Marlborough, be- 
 17031 Una ^* e to provoxe marshal Villeroy to haz- 
 J ard a battle, was obliged to content himself 
 with the capture of Bonne, Huy, I imburgh, and Guel- 
 dres. The duke was restricted in his enterprises 
 by the deputies of the States-Gcneral, who began to 
 be influenced by the intrigues of the Louvestein fac- 
 tion. 
 
 In the beginning of next year, the duke of Marlbo- 
 17011 roil ah assembl'd his army at Maestricht ; and 
 -* having concer ted the plan of operations with 
 the States, he crossed the Rhine at Coblentz. After 
 effecting a junction with prince Eugene and the im- 
 perialists, the allied army, on the second day of July, 
 attacked the Bavarians in their intrenchments at Don- 
 avert ; and, after an obstinate resistance, succeeded 
 in defeating the enemy, who left six thousand men 
 dead on the field of battle. 
 
 The elector of Bavaria, being joined by marshal 
 Tallard, crossed the Danube. The duke of Marlbo- 
 rough and prince Eugene found the enemy advanta- 
 geously posted upon a hill near Hochstndt, their right 
 being covered by the Danube and the village of Blen- 
 heim, their left by the village of Lutzingem, and their 
 front by a rivulet, the banks of which were steep, and 
 the bottom marshy. Notwithstanding these difficul- 
 ties, the generals resolved to attack the French and 
 Bavarians, whose army amounted to sixty thousand 
 men. Marshal Tallard commanded on the right, and 
 threw twenty-seven battalions, with twelve squad- 
 rons, into the village of Blenheim, where he supposed 
 the allies would make their chief effort ; their left 
 was conducted by the elector of Bavaria, assisted by 
 Marsin, a French general of experience. 
 
 The duke of Marlborough, taking advantage of the 
 injudicious arrangement of his opponent, ordered the 
 villages to be attacked bv his infantry, -and with his 
 horse in person fell on the French cavalry, command- 
 ed by marshal Tallard. After several charges, the 
 French horse were totally subdued, and driven into 
 the Danube, where most of them perished ; and ten 
 battalions of foot were at the same time charged on 
 
ANNE. 1 21 
 
 all sides, and cut to pieces The elector of Bavaria 
 made a resolute defence against prince Eugene, but, at 
 length, was obliged to give way. The confederates 
 being now masters of the field, surrounded the village 
 of Blenheim; and the twenty-seven battalions and 
 twelve squadrons, despairing of forcing their way 
 through the allies, surrendered themselves prisoners 
 of war. 
 
 Never was a victory more complete. Ten thousand 
 French and Bavarians were left dead on the field of 
 battle ; the greater part of thirty squadrons of horse 
 perished in the Danube ; and thirteen thousand were 
 made prisoners ; and the enemy lost their camp equip- 
 age, baggage, and artillery. Marshal Tallard was ta- 
 ken prisoner. The allies concluded the campaign, 
 with the capture of Landau and Trierbach. 
 
 Sir George Rooke, who had been sent with a squad- 
 ron to Barcelona, made a sudden and successful at- 
 tack on Gibraltar, and took possession of that impor- 
 lant fortress, which has ever since belonged to Eng- 
 land. 
 
 In the campaign of 1705, the object of the duke of 
 Marlborough was to penetrate to France by the Mo- 
 selle ; but his operations were ill-seconded by prince 
 Louis of Baden, who was suspected of treachery, or 
 who was actuated by envy of the duke's military rep- 
 utation. in the mean time, the French invested and 
 took Huy, and besieged Liege; but Marlborough re- 
 turning into the Netherlands, retook Huy, and obliged 
 the French to abandon their enterprise against Liege. 
 The English general, inflamed with a desire of achiev- 
 ing some action of importance, attacked the enemy in 
 their lines, defeated the Bavarian cavalry with great 
 slaughter, and obliged the infantry also to give way. 
 
 Meanwhile, an English fleet, with five thousand 
 troops, under the command of the earl of Peterbo- 
 rough and sir Cloudesley Shovel, being joined by a 
 Dutch squadron at Lisuon, and reinforced by a body 
 of horse from the earl of Galway’s army in Portugal, 
 having taken the archduke Charles on board, directed 
 its course to Catalonia. The troops were disembark- 
 ed at Barcelona, and Charles landed amidst the accla- 
 mations of a countless multitude, who threw them- 
 selves at his feet, exclaiming, £t Long live the king |;r 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 m 
 
 Barcelona was compelled to capitulate ; and the whole 
 province of Catalonia declared for Charles, who now 
 assumed the title of king of Spain, and took up his 
 winter quarters in the heart of that country. 
 
 Villeroy, having received orders to act on the offen- 
 17061 s * ve > P asse ^ ^e Doyle, advanced to Tirlemont, 
 •* and from thence to Ramilies, where he met the 
 united army of the allies. Both sides prepared for 
 •battle. The duke of Marlborough ordered lieuten- 
 ant-general Schultz, with twelve battalions, and twen- 
 ty pieces of cannon, to attack the village of Ramiiies, 
 which was strongly fortified with artillery. 
 
 The main body of the enemy was speedily driven 
 from the field ; and the confederates obtained a com- 
 plete victory. About eight thousand French and Ba- 
 varians were killed or wounded; and the allies cap- 
 tured the enemy’s baggage and artillery, about one 
 hundred and twenty colours or standards, six hundred 
 officers, and six thousand private soldiers. 
 
 The entire conquest of Brabant, and almost all 
 Spanish Flanders, was the immediate result of the 
 battle of Ramilies. Louvaine,. Mechlin, Brussels, Ant- 
 werp, Ghent, and Bruges, submitted without resis- 
 tance ; Ostend was obliged to capitulate ; and the cap- 
 tures of Menin, Dendermonde, and Aeth, speedily fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 In Spain, the French were also unsuccessful : and 
 king Philip was obliged to raise the siege of Barcelo- 
 na. The earl of Galway, advancing into Estremadura, 
 took Alcantara, and marched to Madrid, which the 
 English and Portuguese entered without resistance. 
 
 In Italy, the French were defeated by prince Eu- 
 gene, at Turin, and the duke of Savoy entered his 
 capital in triumph. The duke of Orleans retreated in- 
 to Dauphine ; while the French garrisons were expel- 
 led from every place they occupied in Piedmont and 
 Italy, with the exception of Cremona, Valenza, and 
 the castle of Milan, which were blockaded by the 
 confederates. • 
 
 In return for the great services which he had ren- 
 dered his country, the commons, in an address, be- 
 sought her majesty to consider the means by which 
 the memory of the duke of Marlborough’s noble ac- 
 tions might De perpetuated. The queen informed 
 
ANNE. 
 
 129 
 
 them by a message, that she intended to grant to the 
 duke, and his heirs, the interest of the crown in the 
 honour and manor of Woodstock and the hundred of 
 Wootton ; and she desired the assistance of the house, 
 in clearing from incumbrance the lieutenancy and 
 rangership of the park, with the rents and profits of 
 the manor and hundred, which had already been alien 
 ated for two lives. Accordingly, a bill was brought 
 in and passed, enabling the queen to bestow the afore 
 said honour and manor on the duke of Marlborough 
 and his heirs ; and her majesty was desired to advance 
 the money for clearing the incumbrances. The queen 
 not only complied with this address, but likewise or 
 dered the comptroller of her works to build on Wood 
 stock-park, the magnificent palace or castle of Blen- 
 heim, as a monument of the signal victory obtained 
 by the duke of Marlborough near the village of that 
 name. 
 
 Previously to this, the queen, with the concurrence 
 of parliament, had alienated that branch of the reve- 
 nue which arose from the first-fruits and tenths paid 
 by the clergy, and vested it in trustees for the aug- 
 mentation of small livings. At the same time, the 
 statute of mortmain was repealed, so far as to allow 
 all persons to bestow by will, or grant by deed, what 
 they should think fit for the increase of benefices. 
 
 The union between England and Scotland, which 
 was effected about this time, was an event more glori- 
 ous and beneficial than the most splendid success of 
 the British arms. This measure, however, imperi- 
 ously urged by wisdom, was violently opposed by pop- 
 ular prejudice in Scotland ; but, at length, the two 
 kingdoms were united under one legislature, and one 
 17071 g overnrnent ) and the union, though unpromising 
 -* in its origin, has been productive of happiness 
 and prosperity vto both kingdoms. 
 
 In the mean time, Louis, whose pride had been 
 greatly humbled by the victories of the duke of Marl- 
 borough, and tjie exertions of the English, offered 
 peace on the following terms : That Milan, Naples, 
 and Sicily, should be given to the archduke ; that a 
 barrier in the Netherlands should be allowed to the 
 Dutch 5 and that the duke of Savoy should be indem- 
 nified for the ravages committed in his dominions. 
 
 VOL. II. 9 
 
130 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 In return for these concessions, he demanded the qui- 
 et possession of the throne of Spain, the Indies to hia 
 grandson, Philip V., and the restitution of Bavaria to 
 its native prince. 
 
 These offers, however, were rejected, and the char- 
 acter of the duke of Marlborough was at this time so 
 high in the nation, that both houses of parliament re- 
 newed their thanks to him, passed a bill to perpetuate 
 his titles in the female as well as in the male line, and 
 readily voted supplies for prosecuting the war. 
 
 But, notwithstanding all his grace’s abilities and in- 
 fluence, he could not escape the envy which too fre- 
 quently attends on transcendant talents and uninter- 
 rupted success. Mrs. Masham, a distant relation of 
 the duchess of Marlborough, who had, from this con- 
 nexion, obtained the office of woman of the bed-cham- 
 ber, succeeded to that ascendancy over the mind of 
 her sovereign, which the duchess had long maintained. 
 This favourite was more obliging than her benefac- 
 tress, who had frequently opposed the wishes of the 
 queen; and in political intrigues, she acted as auxiliary 
 to Mr. Robert Harley, who had been appointed secre 
 tary of state, and who determined to destroy the cred- 
 it of the duke of Marlborough and the eari of Godol- 
 phin. His intention was to unite the tories under his 
 own auspices, and expel the whigs from the adminis- 
 tration ; and, in this scheme, he was assisted by Henry 
 St. John, afterwards lord Bolingbroke, a man of ele- 
 gant taste and an aspiring mind, whose talents, how- 
 ever, were rather specious than profound, and whose 
 principles were loose and unsettled. 
 
 The duke of Marlborough and the earl of Godol- 
 phin, apprized of the secret intrigues which Mr. Har- 
 ley carried on with Mrs. Masham, informed the queen, 
 that they cou’.d serve her no longer, if that minister 
 were continued in his office of secretary. The queen 
 endeavoured to appease their resentment, but in vain; 
 and she was obliged to remove Mr. Harley from hia 
 office; but her majesty was indignant at the con- 
 duct of the duk°; and the earl of Godolphin, from 
 whom she withdrew her confidence. 
 
 At this period, the nation was alarmed with a 
 threatened invasion from France, in favour of the 
 Pretender, or the chevalier St. George, as he was 
 
V 
 
 / 
 
 ANNE. 131 
 
 called. The queen communicated to the commons the 
 advice which she had received of the destination of 
 the French armament ; and both houses immediately 
 joined in a loyal and affectionate address on this occa- 
 sion : the habeas corpus act was suspended ; the Pre- 
 tender and his adherents were proclaimed traitors and 
 rebels; and a bill was passed, discharging the clans 
 of Scotland, where it was expected the Chevalier 
 would land, from all vassalage to those chiefs who 
 should arm against her majesty. 
 
 Preparations for this expedition were made at Dun- 
 kirk, where a fleet was assembled under count Four- 
 bin, and a body of land forces embarked ; and this ar- 
 mament, after leaving Dunkirk, directed its course for 
 Scotland. Sir George Byng, who had received advice 
 of its departure from the coast of France, pursued the 
 enemy with an English squadron so closely, that both 
 fleets arrived in the Frith of Forth almost at the same 
 time ; when the French commander, despairing of 
 success, and unwilling to try the issue of a battle, 
 took advantage of a land-breeze, and sailed away. 
 The Pretender desired to be set on shore at Inver- 
 ness ; but this being found impracticable, the Chevalier 
 and his general returned to Dunkirk. 
 
 The duke of Marlborough, with his usual success, 
 17081 defeated the French near Oudenarde. In this 
 -* battle, the French had about three thousand 
 men killed in the field, and seven thousand taken 
 prisoners. After obtaining this victory, the allies in- 
 vested Lisle, the strongest place in Flanders, and the 
 bulwark of the French barrier. Prince Eugene com- 
 manded, and the duke of Marlborough covered and 
 sustained the siege. The garrison was numerous, and 
 was commanded by a marshal of France ; but nothing 
 could resist bravery and skill united. The enemy 
 assembled all their forces, and marched to the relief 
 of the place, but were only spectators to its fall. The 
 duke obliged the eiector of Bawaria, to raise the siege 
 of Brussels ; and retook Ghent and Burges, which had 
 been lost by treachery. 
 
 On the twerty-eighth of October of this year, died 
 George prince of Denmark, a personage who possess- 
 ed ali the amiable qualities of his consort, but who 
 was devoid of great talents and ambition. At his 
 
132 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 death, the earl of Pembroke was created lord-high 
 admiral, the eirl of Wharton was promoted to the 
 government of Ireland, and lord Somers appointed 
 president of the council. Notwithstanding the ad- 
 vancement of these whig noblemen, the duke of 
 Marlborough continued to decline in his credit with 
 tiie queen, who privately consulted, and placed her 
 chief confidence in Mr. Harley, though the latter 
 held no ostensible situation in the administration. 
 
 Meanwhile the duke of Savoy, by making himself 
 master of the important fortresses of Exilles, La Pe- 
 rouse, the valley of St. Martin, and Fenestrells, had 
 not only secured a barrier to his own frontiers, but 
 opened a way into the French provinces on the side 
 of Dauphine; while the possession of Lisle exposed 
 that monarchy on the side of the Netherlands. 
 
 During this campaign, major-general Stanhope, with 
 three thousand men, having landed on the island of 
 Minorca, took fort St. Philip in three days 5 and the 
 garrison of fort Fornelies having surrendered them- 
 selves prisoners to admiral sir John Leake, the whole 
 island submitted to the English government. 
 
 By this time the pride of Louis was humbled, and 
 he once more made proposals of peace to the Dutch ; 
 but the States immediately communicated his propo- 
 sals to the courts of Vienna and London ; and the 
 emperor appointed prince Eugene of Savoy, and Great 
 Britain the duke of Marlborough, as their respective 
 plenipotentiaries. The allies, however, rendered in- 
 solent by conquest, made demands which were con- 
 sidered extravagant by the French monarch, who, gath- 
 ering resolution from despair, published them and his 
 own concessions; and the people, animated with the 
 desire of defending their king and country, displayed 
 extraordinary efforts in preparing to resist the tremen- 
 dous power of the enemy. 
 
 The allies on their side, were equally active. Marl- 
 borough and prince Eugene proceeded to Flanders ; 
 and the allied army assembled on the plain of Lisle, 
 to the number of one hundred and ten thousand men. 
 Tourney soon fell, and the siege of Mons was formed. 
 The French army, amounting to one hundred and 
 170 Q 1 tvvent y thousand men, were posted in the neigh- 
 ' bourliood of Malplaquet. In the night of tho 
 
ANNE. 
 
 133 
 
 tenth of September, the two armies arrayed tiem- 
 selves in order of battle ; and about eight o'clock the 
 next morning, one of the most furious contests that 
 had taken place in this war commenced. The battle 
 was maintained with the most determined courage on 
 both sides. The" French fought with an obstinacy 
 bordering on despair, till seeing their lines forced, and 
 their general dangerously wounded, they retreated in 
 good order, and took post between Quesnoy and Va- 
 lenciennes. The field of battle was abandoned to the 
 confederates, with about forty colours and standards, 
 sixteen pieces of artillery, and a number of prisoners} 
 but it was the dearest victory the allies had ever pur- 
 chased. About twenty thousand of their best troops 
 were killed in the engagement, while the enemy did 
 not lose half that number. The battle of Malplaquet, 
 however, was followed by the surrender of Mons ; and 
 this achievement terminated the campaign. Some 
 attempts at negotiation were again made by Louis; 
 but in proportion to his concessions, the allies rose in 
 their demands. 
 
 During this campaign the military operations in 
 Spain and Portugal were unfavourable to the allies. 
 The castle of Alicant, garrisoned by two English regi- 
 ments, had been besieged during a whole winter. At 
 length, the commander of the besieging forces ordei- 
 ed the rock on which the castle was situated to be 
 undermined; and colonel Syburgh, the governor, was 
 informed, that it was intended to spring the mine, if 
 he did not surrender in twenty-four hours. Syburgh, 
 however, refused to comply ; and the rock being split 
 by the explosion, the colonel and several officers were 
 swallowed up in the opening, which immediately clos- 
 ed upon them ; but, notwithstanding this terrible acci- 
 dent, the garrison persisted in its defence, till the ar- 
 rival of general Stanhope, who procured an honoura- 
 ble capitulation. 
 
 Henry Sacheverell, a man of very moderate talents, 
 but of a busy and meddling disposition, in a sermon 
 preached at St. Paul's on the fifth day of November, 
 took occasion to inveigh with bitterness against the 
 ministry, the dissenters, and the low church : he de- 
 fended the doctrine of non-resistance, and declaring 
 religion to be in danger, exhorted the people to stand 
 
134 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 up in defence of the church. This sermon being 
 printed, was speedily dispersed over the kingdom $ 
 and Mr. Dolben, son of the late archbishop of York, 
 complained of it to the house of commons, in conse- 
 quence of which Sacheverell was taken into custody 
 and impeached. 
 
 The 'attention of the whole kingdom was fixed on 
 this extraordinary trial, though neither the man nor 
 his publication deserved any other than silent con- 
 tempt. The trial continued for three weeks 5 and a 
 vast multitude attended Sacheverell every day to and 
 from Westminster-hall, praying for his deliverance as 
 if he had been a martyr. The queen’s sedan was 
 surrounded by the populace, who exclaimed, ‘‘God 
 bless your majesty and the church j we hope your maj 
 esty is for Sacheverell.” They abused and insulted 
 all who would not join in the cry of “ the church and 
 Sacheverell 3” destroyed several meeting-houses, and 
 plundered the dwellings of eminent dissenters. 
 
 Sacheverell was found guilty by a majority of sev- 
 enteen voices 5 he was prohibited from preaching for 
 the term of three years 3 and his sermon was ordered 
 to be burnt in the presence of the lord-mayor and the 
 sheriffs of London, before whom it had been deliver- 
 ed. The lenity of the sentence, which was in a great 
 measure owing to a dread of the popular fury, was 
 celebrated as a triumph over the whigs. 
 
 The French king, sensible that the misery of his 
 17101 P eo pl e daily increased by the continuance of 
 the war, again made overtures for peace ; but 
 finding that the allies would not listen to reasonable 
 or honouraDle terms, and hoping that the approaching 
 change in the English ministry might be productive 
 of advantage to him, he resolved to await the events 
 of another campaign. The duke of Marlborough, 
 however, still continued his successes. He took Dcu- 
 ay. Bethune, Venant, and Aire, which opened a free 
 passage into the heart of France. On the Rhine, the. 
 campaign produced no military event ; and, in Spain, 
 both parties were by turns conquerors and conquered 
 
 In England, the effects of those intrigues which bail 
 been formed against the whig ministers, began to ap- 
 pear. The trial of Sacheverell had excited a popular 
 spirit of aversion to those who favoured the dissent 
 
ANNE 
 
 I3j 
 
 fra ; and the queen expressed her attachment t ) the 
 tories, by mortifying the duke of Marlborough, whose 
 interest was not sufficient to prevent the dismission of 
 his own son-in-law, the earl of Sunderland, from the 
 office of secretary of state. Harley became sole min- 
 ister, and was created earl of Oxford and Mortimer. 
 
 The new ministry, however, had not yet determined 
 lo supersede Marlborough in the command of the ar- 
 my. In the next campaign, prince Eugene acted in 
 Germany, and the duke of Marlborough was again op- 
 posed by Marshal Villars, who had assembled a nu- 
 merous army, and which he encamped in a 
 * ■* strong position behind the river Sanset. Villars 
 
 boasted, that the French lines were impregnable ; but 
 the duke of Marlborough entered these lines without 
 the loss of a single soldier; and he afterwards reduc- 
 ed the strong town of Bouchain in the very sight of 
 the French army, which was superior to his own, and 
 made the garrison, consisting of six thousand men, 
 prisoners of war. 
 
 This was the last memorable military service per- 
 formed by the duke of Marlborough. The ministers 
 took every method which envy and malice could sug- 
 gest, to exasperate the nation against the duke, who 
 had supported so nobly the glory of England, humbled 
 the pride and checked the ambition of France, secur- 
 ed the liberty of Europe, and, as it were, chained vic- 
 tory to his chariot-wheels. Of Marlborough it has 
 been justly observed, that he never laid siege to a 
 town which he did not take, or fought a battle which 
 he did not win. His understanding was as injurious 
 to France as his military abilities ; and he was equally 
 famous in the cabinet as in the field. 
 
 Such, however, is the violent conduct of faction, 
 that this consummate general and statesman was ridi- 
 culed in public libels, and reviled in private conversa- 
 tion. He was represented as guilty of fraud, avarice, 
 and extortion, and traduced as the meanest of man- 
 kind. Even his courage was called in question ; and 
 he was accused of insolence, ambition, and miscon- 
 duct. When his enemies had become ministers the 
 same parliament, which had so often before voted him 
 thanks for the great and important services he had 
 performed, now determined, by a large majority, that 
 
136 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 some of his practices had been unwarrantable and ille- 
 gal ; and on the strength of these resolutions, origi- 
 nating solely from party motives, the queen dismissed 
 him from all his employments, and the command was 
 given to the duke of Ormond. 
 
 By the death of Joseph, emperor of Germany, his 
 brother, the archduke Charles, became possessed of 
 all the hereditary states of the empire ; and soon after 
 being elected emperor, the object of the war was cer- 
 tainly changed ; for his accession to the thrones of 
 both Germany and Spain would have effectually de- 
 stroyed that balance of power, for the maintenance of 
 which so much blood had been spilt. 
 
 A congress was, therefore, appointed at Utrecht; 
 and, after negotiations had been long carried on at 
 that place, peace was signed, March 31, 1713, by all 
 the belligerent powers, except the emperor. By the 
 treaty of Utrecht, Spain and the Indies were confirm- 
 ed to Philip; but the Netherlands and the Spanish 
 dominions in Italy were separated from that monarchy. 
 Naples, Sardinia, and Milan were bestowed on the 
 emperor; and Sicily, with the title of king, was given 
 to the duke of Savoy. The Dutch had a barrier assign 
 ed them against France in the Netherlands; while all 
 that Great Britain gained, after so glorious a war, and 
 so many splendid victories, was the demolition of 
 Dunkirk, and the possession of Gibraltar and Minorca. 
 
 The ambition of St. John, lord viscount Boling- 
 broke, would not allow him to act a subordinate part 
 under Harley, earl of Oxford , and the former had in- 
 sinuated himself into the confidence of Mrs. Masham, 
 whom the latter. had displeased. By means of that 
 lady, Bolingbroke was confirmed in the good opinion 
 of the queen, while Oxford in proportion lost the fa- 
 vour of his sovereign. The queen, harassed by dis- 
 cordant counsels, and perceiving her constitution giv- 
 ing way, was supposed by some to form real designs 
 of securing the succession to her brother; and it was 
 strongly suspected, that Bolingbroke was attached to 
 the same interest, and encouraged her majesty with 
 the most flattering hopes of success. 
 
 After the peace had received the sanction of parlia- 
 ment, the two rivals, unrestrained by the tie of com- 
 mon danger, gave a loose to their mutual animosity; 
 
1 
 
 ANNE. 
 
 137 
 
 and a very acrimonious dialogue passed, on the 27th 
 of July, between Mrs. Masham, Oxford, and Boling- 
 broke, in the presence of the queen. Soon after, Ox- 
 ford was deprived of his badge of office ; but as no 
 provision had been made for supplying his place, con 
 fusion and disorder ensued at court. 
 
 The fatigue of attending a long cabinet-council helc 
 on this occasion, and the altercation which passed 
 between the ministers at the board, so agitated and af- 
 fected the queen’s spirits, that she was immediately 
 seized with an apoplectic disorder, which baffled all 
 the power of medicine. Her majesty continued in a 
 17141 l ethar S 5c insensibility, with short intervals, till 
 her death, which took place on the first day of 
 August, in the fiftieth year of her age, and the thir- 
 teenth of her reign. 
 
 Anne was of the middle size, and well proportion- 
 ed; her countenance was round, her features regular, 
 her complexion ruddy, and her hair a dark brown. In 
 domestic life, she was a pattern of conjugal affection, 
 and a tender mother. She wanted, however, the vig- 
 our of mind requisite to preserve her independence, 
 and to free her from the snares of favourites ; but the 
 virtues of her heart were never doubted ; and notwith- 
 standing the party feuds which embittered her repose, 
 and disturbed her reign, she was personally beloved 
 by her people. In a word, though her abilities were 
 unequal to the high station which she filled, and her 
 attachment to favourites was injurious to her govern- 
 ment and the nation, she was a humane and munifi- 
 cent sovereign, and well deserved the title, which her 
 ■ubjccts gave her, of u the good queen Anne.” 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Reign of George 1. 
 
 If providence had granted a longer life to Anne, 
 tnd the daring and ambitious St. John had continued 
 to influence her councils, there seems reason to sup- 
 pose that attempts would have been made to restor€ 
 the hereditary line. Certain it is, that the friends of 
 
 
133 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 the Pretender derived great hopes from the ministry 
 of Bolingbroke ; but. the sudden death of the queen, 
 by destroying the expectations of the jacobites, put an 
 end to their present machinations, and^thus removed 
 the fears and apprehensions of the whigs. 
 
 Agreeably to the Act of Settlement passed in th 8 
 17141 ieign of William, George I., elector of Hano- 
 -* ver. descended by his mother from Elizabeth, 
 daughter of James I., was proclaimed king in due 
 form, the very day of the queen's death, and the sub- 
 mission of the three kingdoms was as universal, as if 
 no pretended claim existed. 
 
 At the time of his ascending the throne of Great 
 • Britain, George was in the fifty-fifth year of his age. 
 In about six weeks, he landed at Greenwich, where 
 he was received by the lords of the regency ; and, on 
 the twentieth day of October following, he was croon- 
 ed at Westminster, with the usual solemnity. 
 
 The hopes and fears of both the whigs and tories 
 were great at this time; but the new sovereign had 
 been prepossessed against the latter ; and his majesty 
 effected an instantaneous and total change in all im- 
 portant offices under government. The duke of Or- 
 mond was dismissed from his command, which the 
 king restored to the duke of Marlborough, with seve- 
 ral new appointments ; the earl of Nottingham was 
 declared president of the council ; the great-seal was 
 given to lord Cowper; the privy-seal to the earl of 
 Wharton ; and the vice-royalty of Ireland to the earl 
 of Sunderland. Lord Townshend and Mr. Stanhope 
 were appointed secretaries of state ; Mr. Pulteney sec- 
 retary at war ; and Mr. Walpole, who had undertaken 
 to manage the house of commons, was made paymas- 
 ter to the army. The post of secretary for Scotland 
 was bestowed on the duke of Montrose ; and the duke 
 of Argyle was appointed commander in chief of the 
 forces in that country. Thus the whigs obtained an 
 ascendancy both in and out of parliament. 
 
 Meanwhile, the malcontents in England were con 
 siderably increased by the king's attachment to the 
 w.higs ; and dangerous tumults were raised in differ 
 ent parts of the kingdom. The Pretender took this 
 opportunity to transmit copies of a printed manifesto 
 to various noblemen of the first distinction. In this 
 
GEORGE I 
 
 13 9 
 
 declaration, he mentioned the good intentions of his 
 sister towards him, which had been prevented by het 
 death; and observed, that his people had proclaimed 
 for their king a foreign prince, contrary to the laws of 
 hereditary right, which no act could abrogate. 
 
 When the parliament met, the earl of Oxford, the 
 duke of Ormond, the earl of Strafford, and lord Boling- 
 broke, were impeached, on account of the parts which 
 they had acted in regard to the peace of Utrecht. 
 Bolingbroke fled to the continent, and was followed 
 by Ormond ; but though Oxford, Prior, and some oth- 
 ers, were taken into custody, they all escaped punish- 
 ment. Ormond and Bolingbroke, not surrendering 
 themselves within the time appointed, the house of 
 lords ordered their names to be erased from the list 
 of peers ; and inventories were taken of their person- 
 al estates. It is impossible to reflect on the ruin of 
 the noble family of Ormond, in the person of a brave 
 and humane nobleman, whose only crime was obedi- 
 ence to the commands of his sovereign, without feel 
 ing the greatest indignation against those who were 
 the promoters of such iniquitous proceedings. 
 
 The spirit of discontent daily increased in England } 
 and notwithstanding the proclamations against riots, 
 several tumults were raised in the cities of London 
 and Westminster. A trifling incident served to aug- 
 ment the public ferment. The shirts allowed to the 
 first regiment of guards, commanded by the duke of 
 Marlborough, were so coarse, that the soldiers could 
 scarcely be persuaded to wear them. Some of the 
 shirts were thrown into the garden of the king's pal- 
 ace, and into that which belonged to the duke of 
 Marlborough ; and a detachment, in marching through 
 the city, produced them to the people, exclaiming, 
 “ These are the Hanover shirts." 
 
 Tumults were raised in Staffordshire, and other 
 parts of the kingdom ; and the house of commons pre- 
 sented an address to the king, desiring that the laws 
 might be executed with vigour against rioters. They 
 also passed a new act, by which it was decreed, that 
 if any persons, to the number of twelve, unlawfully, 
 assembled, should continue together one hour after 
 having been required to disperse by a justice of peace 
 or other officer, and had heard the proclamatioc 
 
140 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 against riots read in public, they should be deemec 
 guilty of felony without benefit of clergy. 
 
 The king having informed both houses that a rebel- 
 lion had actually commenced, and that the nation was 
 threatened with a foreign invasion, the parliament im 
 mediately passed a law, empowering his majesty to 
 secure suspected persons, and to suspend the habeas 
 corpus act. About this period, the royal assent was 
 given to an act for encouraging loyalty in Scotland. 
 By this law, the tenant who continued peaceable, 
 while his lord took arms in favour of the Pretender, 
 was invested with the property of the lands he rented ; 
 on the other hand, it decreed that the lands possessed 
 by any person guilty of high-treason should revert to 
 the superior of whom they were held ; and a clause 
 was added for summoning all suspected persons to 
 find bail for their good behaviour. By virtue of this 
 clause, all the heads of the jacobite clans, and other sus- 
 pected persons, were summoned to Edinburgh ; and 
 those who neglected to appear, were declared rebels. 
 
 The disaffected, both in Emgland and Scotland, held 
 private consultations with the jacobites ; and the Chev- 
 alier St. George was assured, that the whole nation 
 was dissatisfied with the new government. Resolving 
 to take advantage of this favourable disposition, the 
 Chevalier applied to the French king, who supplied 
 him with the means of fitting out a small armament in 
 the port of Havre ; but the death of Louis, which hap- 
 pened at this time, was highly detrimental to his in- 
 terests ; and the duke of Orleans, on whom the regen- 
 cy of the kingdom devolved, adopted a new system of 
 politics, and entered into the strictest alliance with 
 the king of Great Britain. 
 
 The partisans of the Pretender, however, had gone 
 too far to recede. The earl of Mar, assem- 
 bling three hundred of his vassals, proclaimed 
 the Chevalier at Castletown, and cn the sixth of Sep- 
 tember, set up his standard at Brae-Mar. Then assum- 
 ing the title of lieutenant-general of the Pretender’s 
 forces, he published a declaration, exhorting the peo- 
 ple to arm for their lawful sovereign 3 and this was 
 followed by a manifesto, in which the national griev- 
 ances were enumerated and aggravated, and the pe> 
 pie promised redress. 
 
GEORGE I. 
 
 141 
 
 Meanwhile; the duke of Argyle set out for Scot 
 and, as commander-in-chief of the forces in North 
 Britain ; and the earl of Sutherland set sail for that 
 country, to raise his vassals in defence of his liege 
 sovereign. Other heads of clans did the same ; and 
 it was soon evident, that the voice of Scotland was 
 far from being general in favour of the Pretender. 
 
 In the North of England, however, the Earl of Der- 
 wentwater and Mr. Foster took the field with a bod} 
 of horse, and being joined by some gentlemen from 
 the borders, proclaimed the Chevalier in Warkworth, 
 Morpeth, and Alnwick. After an ineffectual attempt 
 on Newcastle, they retired northwards, and being 
 reinforced by a body of troops under lords Kenmuir, 
 Carnwath, and \Yintown, the insurgents advanced to 
 Kelso, where they were joined by Mackintosh, who 
 had crossed the Forth with a body of highlanders. 
 
 A council of war being called, the rebels determin- 
 ed to re-enter England by the western border. At 
 Brampton, Foster opened his commission of general, 
 and proclaimed the Pretender. They continued their 
 march to Penrith, where the sheriff, assisted by lord 
 Lonsdale and the bishop of Carlisle, had assembled 
 the posse comitatus of Cumberland, amounting to 
 twelve thousand men, who fled at the approach of this 
 small army. From Penrith, the insurgents proceeded 
 by the way of Kendal and Lancaster to Preston, of 
 which they took possession without opposition. 
 
 General Willis marched against the rebels, with six 
 regiments of horse and one battalion of foot, and had 
 advanced to the bridge of Ribble, before Foster re- 
 ceived intelligence of their approach. At first, the 
 king’s troops met with a warm reception, but being 
 reinforced next day with three regiments of dragoons, 
 under general Carpenter, the town was invested on all 
 sides. The rebels now proposed to capitulate, but 
 the general refusing to treat, they surrendered at dis- 
 cretion. The noblemen and leaders were secured, 
 and sent prisoners to London. Some of them were 
 tried by the martial-law and executed ; and the com- 
 mon men were imprisoned at Chester and Liverpool, 
 till the pleasure of government respecting them should 
 be known. 
 
 The very day on which the rebels surrendered at 
 
m 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Preston, was fought the battle of Dumblaine, between 
 the duke of Argyle and the earl of Mar. The duke's 
 army was far inferior in point of numbers; but he ob 
 tained the advantage, though both sides claimed the 
 victory. 
 
 In this desperate situation of his affairs, the Chev- 
 alier, embarking in a small vessel at Dunkirk, landed 
 at Perhead on the twenty-second of December, and 
 proceeded to Fetterosse, where, being joined by the 
 earls cf Mar and Marischal, and about thirty noble- 
 men and gentlemen of the first quality, he was pro- 
 claimed king. His declaration, dated at Commercy, 
 was printed and circulated through all the adjacent 
 counties; and he received addresses from the episco- 
 pal clergy, and the laity of that communion in Aber- 
 deenshire. On the fifth of January he made his pub- 
 lic entry into Dundee ; and, on the 17th, he arrived at 
 I71P1 Scone, where he assumed all the functions of 
 ■* royalty, and fixed his coronation for the 23d of 
 the same month. 
 
 This dream of royalty, however, was of short dura- 
 tion. In a council, at which all the chiefs of his par- 
 ty assisted, it was determined to abandon the enterprise, 
 as they were destitute of money, arms and ammuni- 
 tion, and as they were beginning to be hemmed in by 
 the king's army. The Chevalier, being hotly pursued 
 Jt>y the duke of Argyle, was glad to embark on board a 
 French vessel which lay in the harbour of Montrose, 
 from whence he sailed to France, accompanied by 
 Mar, Melfort, Drummond, Bulkle.y, and other persona 
 of distinction. 
 
 The rebellion being thus suppressed, the commons 
 impeached the nobility who had been engaged in this 
 affair; but of them the earl of Derwentwater and lord 
 *Cenmuir alone suffered death ; and few of the lower 
 •anks were executed in comparison with the number 
 found guilty. About one thousand, who submitted to 
 fhe king's mercy, petitioned for transportation, and 
 were sent to America. 
 
 The ministry, sensible of the unpopularity of theii 
 measures, and fearing the effects of a new parliament, 
 determined to repeal the triennial act, and by a new 
 . law to extend the term of parliaments to seven 
 •* years Accordingly, on the 10th of April, the 
 
GEORGE I. 
 
 142 
 
 duke of Devonshire brought a bill into the house of 
 lords for enlarging the continuance of parliaments, 
 which was supported by all the whig party 3 and though 
 it was strenuously opposed by the earls of Nottingham, 
 Abingdon, and Pauiet, it passed by a great majority} 
 and, in the lower house, it met with the same success. 
 
 The Spanish king having taken Sardinia, and invad- 
 ed Sicily, Great Britain, France, Holland, and the 
 emperor, formed a quadruple alliance against his cath- 
 olic majesty. Bremen, and Verdun, which had been 
 purchased with the money of England, were secured 
 to Hanover, contrary to the act of settlement in the 
 reign of king William. Admiral sir George Byng sail- 
 ed, v’.«,h twenty ships of the line, for the Mediterra- 
 nean 3 and, on the eleventh of August, he met with, 
 17181 ca P e Passaro, on the southeast point of Sic- 
 J ily, the Spanish fleet, consisting of twenty-sev- 
 en sail. An engagement ensued, in which sir George 
 took or destroyed the greatest part of the hostile ar- 
 mament. 
 
 The Spaniards now formed a scheme in favour of 
 the Pretender, and sent a squadron, with six thousand 
 regular troops and twelve thousand stand of arms, un- 
 der the duke of Ormond, to invade Great Britain. The 
 Spanish fleet, however, was dispersed by a violent 
 storm, which defeated the intended expedition 3 but 
 two frigates arrived in Scotland, with the earls Ma- 
 rischal and Seaforth, the marquis of Tullibardine, and 
 three hundred Spaniards. These being attacked by 
 general Wightman, were entirely defeated. Soon af- 
 ter, lord Cobham made a descent on Spain, and took 
 Vigo 3 and his catholic majesty acceded to the quad- 
 ruple alliance, which, indeed, was chiefly in favour of 
 the emperor, who was desirous of adding Sicily to his 
 other Italian dominions. 
 
 On the royal recommendation to the commons to 
 17101 t,a ^ e t * ie nat * ona l debt into consideration, a 
 * scheme was formed, called the South-Sea act, 
 which was productive of the greatest mischief and 
 infatuation. The scheme was projected by sir John 
 Blount, who had been bred a scrivener, and who pro- 
 posed to discharge the national debt, by reducing all 
 the funds into one. The bank and South-Sea compa- 
 ny bade against each other; and the terms of the Jat 
 
I 14 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 1720] 
 
 ter were so advantageous, that government closed wit! 
 them. 
 
 While the matter was in agitation, the stock of the 
 company rose from one hundred and thirty to nearly 
 four hundred 5 and though the Mississippi scheme of 
 Law had ruined many thousand families in France, in 
 the preceding year, the people of England 
 were so infatuated that the example did not 
 operate as a warning. Blount imposed on the whole 
 nation, which was seized with a kind of delirium 
 The projector and his associates pretended, that Gib- 
 raltar and Port Mahon would be exchanged for some 
 places in Peru, by which means the English trade to 
 the South-Sea would be protected and enlarged: the 
 directors opened their books for a subscription of one 
 million, at the rate of three hundred pounds for one 
 hundred capital stock ; and such was the eagerness of 
 the multitude to subscribe, that in five days two mil- 
 lions were entered in the books, and stock advanced 
 to double the price of the first payment. 
 
 By a promise of high dividends, and other artifices, 
 the South-Sea stock was raised to one thousand. Ex- 
 change-alley was daily filled with an infatuated crowd 
 of all ranks ; but in the course of a few weeks the 
 stock fell to one hundred and fifty ; and the ebb of this 
 tide of hope was so violent, as to overwhelm in ruin 
 an infinite number of families. Public credit sustain- 
 ed a terrible shock. The principal actors in this ne- 
 farious undertaking were punished by parliament, and 
 measures were adopted for giving some redress to the 
 injured parties. 
 
 In the beginning of May, it was reported, that the 
 king had received from the duke of Orleans informa- 
 tion of a conspiracy against his person and govern- 
 17721 ment - 1° consequence, a camp was immedi- 
 J ately formed in Hyde park ; all military officers 
 were ordered to repair to their respective posts; 
 troops were sent from Ireland; the states of Holland 
 were desired to have their auxiliary forces ready to be 
 embarked ; and some suspected persons were app; e 
 hended in Scotland. 
 
 Among the individuals supposed to be implicated in 
 this treasonable conspiracy were Atterbury, bishop 
 of Pochester; the earl of Orrery, the lords North and 
 
GEORGE I. 
 
 i4o 
 
 Grey, Cochrane and Smith, from Scotland ; Christo- 
 pher Layer, a young gentleman of the Temple ; George 
 Kelly, an Irish clergyman j Cotton, Bingley, and 
 Fleetwood, Englishmen 3 and one Naynoe, an Irish 
 priest All these were taken into custody, and com- 
 mitted to different prisons. 
 
 On the meeting of the new parliament, his majesty 
 informed them of the nature and extent of the plot, 
 which, he slid, if it had not been timely discovered, 
 would have involved the whole nation, and particular- 
 ly the city of London, in blood and confusion. The 
 parliament suspended the habeas corpus act for a year 3 
 but the opposition in the house of commons was so 
 violent, that Mr. Robert Walpole, the prime-minister, 
 endeavoured to rouse their apprehensions by inform- 
 ing them of a design to seize the bank and exchequer, 
 and to proclaim the Pretender on the Royal Exchange. 
 To corroborate the whole, an original and printed 
 copy of a declaration, signed by the Pretender at Luc- 
 *a, was laid before the house. In this curious paper 
 the Chevalier expatiated on the grievances of Eng 
 land and very gravely proposed, that if king George 
 would relinquish the throne of Great Britain, he 
 would, in return, bestow on him the title of king in 
 his native dominions, and secure to him the succes- 
 sion to the British sceptre, whenever, in due course, 
 his natural right should take place. 
 
 The commons prepared a bill for raising one hun- 
 dred thousand pounds on the real and personal estates 
 of papists, towards defraying the expenses incurred 
 by the late rebellion and disorders ; and all persons 
 of that faith in Scotland were called upon to register 
 their names and real estates. 
 
 These acts were followed by the trial, conviction, 
 and execution of Layer. Against the lords who had 
 been arrested, no evidence appeared, or at least wag 
 produced ; but Atterbury, bishop of Rochester, had 
 rendered himself too conspicuous to escape punish- 
 ment. On mere conjecture and hearsay evidence, a 
 bill of pains and penalties passed the lower house 
 against him, and was sent up to the lords, when the 
 trial commenced. Nothing could be proved against 
 him, except the uncertain evidence of the clerks of 
 the post-office 3 yet the bishop was deprived of all 
 
 VOL. II. 10 
 
/4d 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 offices, benefices, and dignities, and rendered incapa 
 ble of enjoying any for the future : he was also banish 
 ed the realm, and subjected to the penalty of death 
 in case he should return ; and all persons who should 
 correspond with him in his exile, were declared guil- 
 ty of a capital offence. 
 
 The remainder of the reign of George the First pre- 
 sents little to excite attention. Intricate and contra- 
 dictory treaties, most of which were inimical to the 
 interests of this country, form the principal subjects 
 of this portiori of English history. 
 
 The king was suddenly seized with a paralytic dis- 
 order, on the road from Holland to Hanover, and was 
 conveyed in a state of insensibility to Osnaburgh, 
 17271 w ^ ere he ex pi re d on Sunday, the 11th day of 
 June, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, and 
 the thirteenth of his reign. 
 
 George 1. was plain in his person, and simple in his 
 address. His deportment was grave and composed, 
 though he could be easy and familiar in the hours of 
 relaxation. Before he ascended the throne of Grea* 
 Britain, he was considered an able and experienced 
 general, a just and merciful prince, and a consummate 
 politician. With these qualities, his disposition to 
 govern England, according to the regulations of the 
 British constitution, cannot be disputed ; and if ever he 
 appeared to deviate from these principles, we readily al- 
 low, that the blame does not attach to him, but to his 
 ministers, by whose venal suggestions he was misled. 
 
 George l. married the princess Sophia Dorothy, 
 daughter of the duke of Zell, from whom he separated 
 before he came to England. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Reign of George II. 
 
 On the 14th day of June, an account was received 
 of the late king’s death, when the prince of Wales 
 repaired from Richmond to Leicester-house, where a 
 17271 P r i y y- council was held, and next day, George 
 -* II. was proclaimed king with the usual solem 
 
xjEORGE II. 
 
 147 
 
 Aities. Ills majesty declared his firm purpose to pre* 
 serve liie constitution in church and state, and to ad 
 here; to those alliances into which his father had en 
 cored. At the same time, i.e took and subscribed the 
 oath for the security of the church of Scotland, as 
 required by the act of union ; and he continued all 
 the great officers of state in their places. 
 
 In his speech to both houses, on the opening of the 
 parliament, the king professed a fixed resolution to 
 merit the love and affection of his people, by main- 
 taining them in the full enjoyment of their religious 
 and civil rights, and by studying to lessen the expens- 
 es of government on every occasion. 
 
 Sir Robert Walpole followed these gracious assur- 
 ances, by moving that the entire revenue of the civil- 
 list, which produced about eight hundred thousand 
 pounds per annum, should be settled on the king dur 
 ing life ; and though Mr. Shippen and other patriots 
 opposed any increase of the royal revenue, as incon- 
 sistent with the trust reposed in them, the motion was 
 carried by a great majority; and a liberal provision 
 was made for the queen, in case she should survive 
 Uis majesty. In short, the two houses- of parliament 
 seemed to vie with each other in expressing their at- 
 tachment to the new king ; and, for a time, all parties 
 appeared to be united in affection to his person, and 
 in submission to the proposals of his ministers. 
 
 Sir Robert Walpole, though he disclaimed any in- 
 tention of promoting a general excise, expatiated on 
 the benefits which would accrue to the nation by a 
 partial measure of that nature, and prevent number- 
 less frauds on the public and the fair trader. The 
 speech of the minister was followed by a motion, that 
 a partial excise on tobacco should be levied. This 
 measure met with a violent opposition, as well from 
 the consideration of the train of dependants it would 
 produce, as from the dread of its extension to 
 other articles ; and the ferment became so great 
 throughout the nation, that though the minister had a 
 triumphant majority of sixty-one in the house of com- 
 mons, he was obliged to waive the advantage, and 
 abandon the scheme. 
 
 Ever since the treaty of Seville, in 1729, the Soan- 
 tards in America had almost incessantly insulted and 
 
 1733] 
 
M8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Jistressed the commerce of Great Britain They 
 disputed the right of the English to cut logwood in the 
 bay of Campeachy, and gather salt on the island of Tor- 
 tugas, though that right was acknowledged in all the 
 treaties concluded between the two nations. The 
 captains of their armed vessels, called guarda-costas, 
 made a practice of boarding and plundering English 
 ships, on pretence of searching for contraband goods; 
 and various other acts of cruelty and injustice were 
 committed. In particular, one captain Jenkins, mas- 
 ter of a Scottish merchant-ship, was boarded by the 
 commander of a Spanish guarda-costa, who insulted 
 Jenkins with the most opprobrious invectives, and tore 
 off one of his ears, which he bade him carry to his king, 
 and tell him that the Spaniards would serve him in the 
 same manner, if an opportunity should present itself. 
 
 These outrages were loudly and justly complained 
 of. Petitions from different parts of the kingdom were 
 presented to the lower house 5 and the relief of par- 
 liament was earnestly implored against these acts of 
 violence. Sir John Barnard moved, that all the me- 
 morials and papers relative to the Spanish depreda- 
 tions should be laid before the commons ; and though 
 Sir Robert Walpole proposed some alteration, he was 
 obliged to comply. 
 
 The minister, however, was either fond of peace, 
 or afraid that war would endanger his administration. 
 Every endeavour, therefore, to prevent a rupture with 
 Spain was industriously employed ; and at last a con- 
 17^81 ven ^ on was concluded and ratified, by which 
 -* the king of Spain bound himself to pay, within 
 a limited time, the sum of ninety-five thousand pounds, 
 to be employed in discharging the demands of British 
 subjects oh the crown of Spain. This measure, how- 
 ever, excited great indignation ; and Mr. William Pitt, 
 who afterwards rendered nimself so illustrious by his 
 eloquence, his virtues, and his talents, declaimed 
 against the convention, as insecure, unsatisfactory. 
 anJ dishonourable to Great Britain. 
 
 The Spaniards not fulfilling the agreement into 
 which they had entered, letters of marque and repri- 
 sal were granted against Spain ; a large fleet was as- 
 sembled at Spithead ; the land forces were augmented; 
 and an embargo was laid on all merchant vessels. Af- 
 
GEORGE II. 
 
 ns 
 
 I7WI ter anot ^ er fruitless attempt to negotiate, war 
 -* was at last formally declared. 
 
 Admiral Vernon having affirmed, in the house of 
 commons, that he could take Porto Bello, on the 
 Spanish Main, with six ships, was despatched thither, 
 and actually performed this hazardous service, almost 
 without opposition. On the arrival of this news, the 
 two houses of parliament joined in an address of con- 
 gratulation on the success of his majesty’s arms; and 
 the commons granted all the necessary supplies for 
 carrying on the war. 
 
 The minister, however, was become extremely un- 
 popular. War was not the sphere of sir Robert Wal- 
 pole. Expensive expeditions were projected, without 
 producing any corresponding effect; and the enemy 
 was unmolested in proceeding from one port to anoth- 
 er. In consequence, the minister was attacked in the 
 house of commons with much asperity ; and though 
 he contrived to retain his situation, it was evident 
 that his administration was verging towards a close. 
 
 Charles VI., emperor of Germany, and the last 
 male sovereign of the house of Austria, died at 
 Vienna, and was succeeded in his hereditary 
 dominions by his eldest daughter, the archduchess 
 Maria Theresa, married to the grand duke of Tusca- 
 ny ; but, though this princess became queen of Hun- 
 gary, by virtue of the pragmatic sanction, the restless* 
 ambition of her neighbours would not suffer her to 
 enjoy those possessions which had been guarantied by 
 all the powers of Europe. Frederick, the young and 
 aspiring king of Prussia, was no sooner informed of 
 the emperor’s death, than he laid claim to Silesia, 
 which ne entered at the head of twenty thousand men. 
 At the same time, the elector of Bavaria refused to 
 acknowledge the archduchess as queen of Hungary 
 and Bohemia, alleging, that he himself had legitimate 
 pretensions to these dominions. Thus a war was kin- 
 dled in Germany , and the archduchess made requi- 
 sition of twelve thousand men, stipulated by treaty to 
 be furnished her by England. 
 
 In the present posture of affairs, men could be less . 
 conveniently spared than money ; and sir Robert Wal- 
 pole moved, that two hundred thousand pounds should 
 be granted in aid to the quei n of Hungary. The mo 
 
150 
 
 HISTORY OB ENGLAND. 
 
 tion passed, though not without opposition ; and the 
 house resolved, that three hundred thousand pounds 
 snould be granted to his majesty to enable him to as- 
 sist the archduchess. 
 
 An attempt was made on Carthagena by sir Chalon- 
 er Ogle, and admiral Vernon ; but it failed of' success, 
 and was attended with the loss of many men, the 
 greatest part of whom were martyrs to the season, and 
 the climate. Another unsuccessful expedition to Cuba 
 p .ished the losses and the disgraces of this campaign. 
 The nation complained loudly of these miscarriages j 
 and the general discontent had a great effect on the 
 election of members for the new parliament. Not- 
 withstanding all the ministerial influence, the party of 
 opposition evidently prevailed. The adherents of the 
 minister began to tremble ; and sir Robert Walpole 
 knew, that the majority of a single vote would commit 
 him prisoner to the Tower. After endeavouring in 
 vain to bring over the prince of Wales to his party, 
 17411 P rudentl y meditated a retreat ; and the king 
 ■* having adjourned both houses of parliament, in 
 the mean time sir Robert Walpole was created earl 
 of Oxford, and resigned all his employments, after be- 
 ing a minister for twenty years. 
 
 The change in the ministry was celebrated with 
 public rejoicings ; yet, if the character of Walpole be 
 candidly appreciated, we ahall find less to censure 
 than to praise. That he carried his measures by ve- 
 nal influence must be allowed, and this is the great- 
 est stain that attaches to his character ; but those who 
 suffered themselves to be corrupted, were at least 
 equally blameable. When, however, we contemplate 
 his aversion to war, and his disinterested conduct, 
 when so much was at his disposal, we cannot deny 
 him the tribute of our applause. 
 
 In the new administration, the duke of Newcastle 
 17121 and ^ r * reamed their former situa- 
 
 tions. Mr. Sandys succeeded sir Robert Wal- 
 pole as chancellor of the exchequer ; and the earl of 
 Wilmington was appointed first lord of the treasury, 
 in the room of the ex-minister. Lord Carteret became 
 secretary of state for the foreign department ; and Mr 
 Pulteney, who refused any official situation, was swom 
 of the privy-council, and soon after created earl of 
 Bath. 
 
georgl: ii. 
 
 151 
 
 It soon, however, appeared, that those who had de- 
 claimed the loudest for the liberties of their country, 
 had been actuated solely by sordid or ridiculous mo- 
 tives. The people complained, that, instead of a 
 change of men and measures, the old ministry was 
 strengthened by this coalition ; and they branded the 
 new converts as apostates and betrayers of their coun- 
 try. 
 
 The parliament voted one hundred thousand sea- 
 men and landmen for the service of the year 5 five 
 hundred thousand pounds to the queen of Hungary; 
 and they provided for the subsidies to Denmark and 
 Hesse Cassel. As the king had determined to make 
 a powerful diversion in the Netherlands, sixteen thou- 
 sand men were embarked for the continent, under the 
 command of the earl of Stair; and several thousands 
 of Hanoverians, Hessians, and Austrians, were taken 
 into British pay. 
 
 The troops which the king of Great Britain had as- 
 sembled in the Netherlands, marched for the Rhine, 
 and encamped at Hoech on tiie river Maine. The 
 duke of Cumberland had already come to make his 
 first campaign, and his majesty arrived in the camp on 
 the 9 th of June. The king found his army, amount- 
 ing to about forty thousand men, in a critical situa- 
 tion ; and receiving intelligence that a reinforcement 
 of twelve thousand Hanoverians and Hessians had 
 reached Hanau, he resolved to march to that place, as 
 well with a view to effect a junction, as to procure 
 provisions for his forces. Soon after he had begun his 
 march, he perceived the French drawn up in order of 
 battle at the village of Dettingen ; and he now found 
 himself enclosed on all sides by the enemy, insomuch 
 17401 that a retreat was impossible. Thus environed, 
 -* the confederates must either have fought at a 
 great disadvantage, or been obliged to surrender, if 
 the duke de Grammont had not rashly descended into 
 the plain. The French charged with impetuosity, and 
 the allies received the shock with great intrepidity 
 and deliberation. The king himself displayed much 
 personal courage ; and the duke of Cumberland was 
 wounded. The French were at last repulsed, and 
 obliged to cross the Maine, with the loss of five thou 
 sand men. 
 
152 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The French, who had now become principals in the 
 war, projected an invasion of Great- Britain, and made 
 preparations for that purpose at Boulogne and Dun- 
 Kirk, under the inspection of the young Pretender; 
 but sir John Norris appearing with a fleet superior to 
 17441 ^ iat w h* c h was to convey the French forces, 
 -* the expedition was laid aside for that season. 
 However, in the Netherlands, the enemy had consider- 
 able success under marshal count Saxe, a natural son 
 of Augustus, king of Poland, by the countess Konings- 
 mark. 
 
 In the next campaign, a very numerous army was 
 174^1 assem bled under marshal Saxe ; and the French 
 ■* king and the dauphin arriving in the camp, the 
 strong town of Toujnay was invested. The duke of 
 Cumberland assumed the command of the allied 
 army ; and though the confederates were greatly infe- 
 rior in number to the enemy, they resolved to attempt 
 the relief of Tournay. On the 28th of April, they 
 came in sight of the French army, strongly encamp- 
 ed under cover of the village of Fontenoy. On the 
 30th of April they attacked the French in their in- 
 trenchments ; and though the attempt was considered 
 rash and imprudent, the allied army at first had the 
 advantage ; but the destructive fire of the enemy's bat 
 teries, to which they were exposed both in front and 
 flank, at last obliged them to retreat. The allies lost 
 about twelve thousand men, and the French nearly 
 the same number; but the consequences of this furi- 
 ous battle were all against the English and the allies. 
 Tournay was compelled to surrender ; Ghent was sur- 
 prised and taken; Ostend, Dendermonde, Oudenarde, 
 Newport, and Aeth, were successively reduced ; while 
 the allied army lay entrenched behind the canal of 
 Antwerp. 
 
 The pretender, Charles, son of the chevalier de St. 
 George, fired with ambition and the hope of ascending 
 the throne of his ancestors, resolved to risk an inva- 
 sion of Great Britain. Being furnished with a sum of 
 money, and a supply of arms, he embarked on board 
 of a small frigate, accompanied by the marquis of Tul- 
 lybardine and a few Scottish and Irish adventurers 
 and was joined by the Elizabeth, a French ship of war, 
 as his convoy. Their design was to sail round Ire 
 
GEORGE II. 
 
 id 3 
 
 .and, and to land on the western coast of Scotknd; 
 but being met by the Lion, an English ship of the line, 
 an engagement ensued between the Lion and the Eliz- 
 abeth, in which the latter was so disabled, that she 
 was obi ged to. return to Brest) and the young Pre- 
 tender was deprived of a great quantity of arms, and 
 the assistance of about one hundred officers, who had 
 embarked in that vessel for the expedition. Charles, 
 however, in the frigate, continued his course to the 
 western isles of Scotland, and on the 27th of July, 
 landed on the coast of Lochabar, where he was soon 
 joined by twelve hundred men, under their respective 
 chiefs or leaders. 
 
 The administration was now sufficiently alarmed. 
 The king was at this time in Hanflver. The lords of 
 the regency despatched a messenger to his majesty 
 with the news, and offered a reward of thirty thousand 
 pounds for the apprehension of Charles. Loyal ad- 
 dresses flocked in from all parts. The principal no- 
 blemen tendered their services to the government; 
 and the former discontents seemed to be forgotten in 
 the fears of the present moment. 
 
 The prince advanced to Perth, where the chevalier 
 de St. George was proclaimed king of Great Britain ; 
 and, the rebel army being considerably augmented, 
 Charles, on the IGth of September, took possession of 
 the town of Edinburgh. Here he caused his father 
 again to be proclaimed, and fixed his residence in the 
 royal palace of Holyrood-house. 
 
 Sir John Cope, commander-in-chief of the forces in 
 North Britain, informed of these transactions, assem- 
 bled all the troops he could muster, and, on the 20th 
 of September, encamped at Preston Pans, in the vi- 
 cinity of Edinburgh. Next morning he was attacked 
 by the Pretender, with about two thousand four hun- 
 dred highlanders, who charged sword in hand ; and in 
 less than ten minutes, the king's treops were totally 
 routed, with the loss of about five hundred men. By 
 this victory, Charles was supplied with a train of field 
 artillery, and found himself possessed of all Scotland, 
 except the fortresses. 
 
 The Pretender continued to reside in the palace of 
 Holyrood-house ; but after being joined by the lords 
 Kilmarnock, Elcho, Balmerino, and many other per 
 
154 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 f.ons of distinction, and receiving considerable sup 
 plies from France, he resolved to make an irruption 
 into England. Accordingly, on the 6th of Novem- 
 ber, he entered Carlisle, whence he advanced to Pen- 
 rith, and continued his route through Lancaster and 
 Preston to Manchester, where he was joined by about 
 two hundred English jacobites, under the command 
 of colonel Townley. Crossing the Mersey at Stock- 
 port, Charles passed through Macclesfield and Con- 
 gleton to Derby j at which last place a council was 
 held, and it was determined to return into Scotland 
 The retreat was effected with all the artillery and mil 
 itary stores, in spite of two hostile armies, ^ne under 
 general Wade, and the other under sir John Ligonier 
 stationed to intercept the rebels j but the most re 
 markable circumstance in this expedition was the 
 great moderation and forbearance which the Preten- 
 der’s army exercised, in a country abounding with 
 plunder. No violence oi outrage was committed, not- 
 withstanding the extremities to which they must have 
 oeen reduced. 
 
 The duke of Cumberland, being now invested with 
 the chief command, set out for the north, and over- 
 took the rear of the rebels at the village of Clifton, in 
 the vicinity of Penrith, where a skirmish took place 
 Carlisle, which the Pretender garrisoned, submitted 
 to the duke in a few days. Charles, however, after 
 levying heavy contributions on Glasgow, which had 
 displayed its attachment to the government, proceed- 
 ed to invest the castle of Stirling. General Hawley, 
 commander of the king’s forces in that quarter, march- 
 ed to Falkirk, with the intention of bringing the reb- 
 174fl e ^ s to an act ‘ on * The latter, however, began 
 ■* the attack on the 17th of January j and their 
 first volley threw the royal forces into disorder. The 
 rebels following up their blow, the royal army aban 
 doned Falkirk, and retired in confusion to Edinburgh, 
 leaving part of* the tents and artillery in the hands of 
 the enemy. 
 
 The duke of Cumberland, having put himself at 
 the head of the troops in Edinburgh, advanced to Aber- 
 deen, the rebels fleeing all the way before him ; and 
 after crossing the deep and rapid river Spey without 
 opposition, he was at length informed, that the enemy 
 
GEORGE II. 
 
 155 
 
 were encamped on the plains of Culloden, about nine 
 miles from the royal army. On the 16th of April, the 
 duke of Cumberland left Nairn early in the morn- 
 ing, and, after a march of nine miles, perceived the 
 enemy-drawn up in order of battle, to the number of 
 four thousand men. The royal army, which was 
 much more numerous, was immediately formed into 
 three lines. 
 
 The action commenced about one o'clock in the af- 
 ternoon. The artillery of the rebels was badly serv- 
 ed, and did little execution j but that of the king's 
 troops made a dreadful havoc among the enemy. Im- 
 patient of this fire, about five hundred of the clans 
 charged the duke's left wing with their usual impetu- 
 osity ; and one regiment was thrown into disorder by 
 the attack of this body ; but two battalions advancing 
 from the second line, supported the first, and galled 
 the enemy by a close and terrible discharge. At the 
 same time, the dragoons under Hawley, and the Argy 
 elshire militia, pulling down a park wall, which guard- 
 ed the flank of the rebels, fell upon them, and made 
 a horrible slaughter. In less than half an hour, they 
 were totally routed, and the field covered with the 
 slain. 
 
 Thus, in one short hour, all the hopes and ambition 
 of the Pretender sunk together, and instead of thrones 
 and sceptres, he saw himself a miserable outcast. To 
 the eternal disgrace of the conquerors, they spread ter- 
 ror wherever they came ; the whole surrounding 
 country 'was one sad scene of slaughter, desolation 
 and plunder ; and, in a few days, there was neither 
 man nor house to be seen within the circuit of fifty 
 miles ! The unfortunate Charles was now chased by 
 armed troops from hill to dale, from rock to cavern, 
 and from mountain to mountain. At length, after ma- 
 ny escapes and distresses, he found means to embark 
 on board a small vessel, which conveyed him in safe- 
 ty to Morlaix in Bretagne. 
 
 Punishment now awaited those who had escaped 
 death in the field of battle. Seventeen rebel officers 
 were executed at Kennington Common, near London 
 Lords Kilmarnock, Balmerino, and Lovat, suffered de- 
 capitation on Tower-hill, as did also Mr. Ratcliffe, the 
 titular earl of Derwentvvater, on his former sentence 
 in 1716. 
 
156 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The French had fitted out two squadrons at Brest, 
 one to make a descent on the British colonies in 
 America, the other to assist the operations of their 
 arms in the East Indies. These squadrons, however, 
 were intercepted and attacked by admirals Anson and 
 Warren, and nine ships were taken, on board of which 
 was found a great quantity of bullion, which was land- 
 ed at Spithead, and conveyed in twenty wagons 
 through the streets of London to the bank. Soon af- 
 ter, admiral Hawke defeated a French fleet, and 
 -* took seven ships of the line and several frig- 
 ates ; and, in the course of this year, the British cruis- 
 ers were very successful in capturing the vessels of 
 
 1748] 
 
 the enemy. 
 
 At the close of the session of parliament, the king 
 informed both houses, that the preliminaries for 
 a general peace had been actually signed at 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, by the ministers of Great Britain, 
 France, and the United Provinces, on the basis of a 
 general restitution of conquests. 
 
 By the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in which the earl 
 of Sandwich and sir Thomas Robinson were the Brit- 
 ish plenipotentiaries, it was stipulated, that thedutch- 
 ies of Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla, should be ced- 
 ed to Don Philip, heir-apparent to the Spanish throne, 
 and his heirs ; but, in case of his succeeding to the 
 crown of Spain, that then these dominions should re- 
 vert to the house of Austria : that the fortifications of 
 Dunkirk to the sea should be demolished : that the 
 king of Prussia should be secured in his possession of 
 Silesia, which he had conquered : and that the queen 
 of Hungary should be guarantied in her hereditary do- 
 minions. No mention was made of the right of the 
 English to sail in the American seas without being 
 subject to a search, though this claim was the original 
 cause of the difference between Great-Rritaiu and 
 Spain. In short, it would be difficult to point out one 
 advantage which this country gained by a war that had 
 cost so many millions of money. 
 
 As several nations on the continent had reformed 
 their calendar according to the computation of Pope 
 Gregory the Thirteenth, and much confusion in mer 
 cantile transactions had arisen, the parliament decreed, 
 that the new year should begin on the first day of Jan 
 
GEORGE II. 
 
 151 
 
 t752] 
 
 uary, and that eleven intermediate nominil 
 
 days, between the second and fourteenth of 
 September, should this year be omitted, so that the 
 day succeeding the second should be denominated and 
 accounted the fourteenth. 
 
 As soon as the French had recovered a little from 
 the effects of the late war, they began to erect forts 
 on the back of the British settlements in North-Amer- 
 ica, and they also attempted to seize Nova-Scotia. 
 The English government receiving only evasive an- 
 swers from the court of France, on the subject of the 
 encroachments in America, ordered the governors of 
 that country to expel the French by force from their 
 settlements on the river Ohio. In consequence, colo- 
 nel Washington, who afterwards made himself so fa- 
 mous in the cause of American independence, was 
 despatched from Virginia with four hundred men, and 
 occupying a post on the banks of the Ohio, was at- 
 tacked by the French who compelled him to surren- 
 der the fort. It was now evident, that war was inevi- 
 table. France continued to send reinforcements of 
 men, and Supplies of ammunition, to Quebec, for the 
 purpose of prosecuting her ambitious projects 5 and 
 the ministry of Great Britain exhorted the governors 
 of the provinces in North-Ainerica to repel the incur- 
 sions of the enemy. 
 
 Admiral Boscawen being sent with a squadron of 
 ships to protect the province of Nova-Scotia, captur- 
 ed two French vessels, the Alcide and the Lys. About 
 the same time, general Braddock, wh$> had been sent 
 to Virginia, took upon him the command of the 
 forces destined to act against the French on the 
 Ohio ; and, on the 9th of July, while advancing with- 
 out proper caution, he was suddenly attacked by a gen- 
 eral fire, both in front and flank, from an invisible en- 
 emy, concealed behind the trees and bushes. The 
 van-guard immediately fell back, and horror and con- 
 fusion seized the ranks. The general himself was 
 killed by a musket-shot; and the few remaining sol- 
 diers instantly fled, and left their baggage and ammu- 
 nition in the hands of the enemy. 
 
 Sir William Johnson, who had been appointed to 
 the command of an expedition against Crown Point, 
 being attacked by the French and Indians near Oswe- 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 1 J 5 
 
 go, <',;i tb e south-east side of the lake Ontario, defeat* 
 eJ Die enemy with great loss, but was unable to pro- 
 ceed on the ulterior object of his orders. 
 
 In this year happened a terrible catastrophe, which 
 united all parties in one common sentiment of hu- 
 manity. On the 1st of November, an earthquake de- 
 stroyed the greatest part of the city of Lisbon, with an 
 immense number of its inhabitants, while the surviv- 
 ors, destitute of the necessaries of life, were exposed 
 to misery and famine. On this occasion, the parlia- 
 ment of Great Britain generously voted one hundred 
 thousand pounds for the distressed Portuguese. 
 
 The next year, a treaty between his Britannic ma- 
 jesty and the king of Prussia was signed, by which 
 they mutually engaged not to suffer any foreign troops 
 to enter Germany. On the other hand, the 
 
 ° ■* queen of Hungary, though she owed every thing 
 to Great Britain, concluded a treaty of mutual guaran- 
 tee and support with France $ and she refused to his 
 Britannic majesty the auxiliaries that she had agreed 
 to furnish, on account of her dangerous neighbour the 
 king of Prussia. 
 
 Mr. Pitt, and Mr. Legge, the most popular mem- 
 bers of administration, disapproving of the political 
 measures which had been adopted, as ruinous and air- 
 surd, were dismissed from office \ and the seals were 
 soon after transferred from sir Thomas Robinson to 
 Mr. Fox, whose abilities were universally acknowl- 
 edged. 
 
 The French equipped a formidable squadron of ships 
 at Brest, and assembling a number of land-forces and 
 transports, threatened Fmgland with an invasion. Tc 
 meet the attack, several thousands of foreign mercen- 
 aries were called upon to assist this country, on the 
 presumption that the menaces of France w'ould be 
 carried into effect 3 but, under the pretence of an in- 
 vading armament, the French prepared an expedition, 
 which too w'ell succeeded. 
 
 A formidable fleet sailed from Toulon with forces 
 to invade Minorca ; and when admiral Byng, who had 
 been sent out too late, arrived at Gibraltar, he found 
 that the enemy had landed, and were besieging Fort 
 St. Phiiip, which was defended by general Blakeney. 
 The admiral being reinforced by a detachment from 
 
GEORGE II. 
 
 152 
 
 the garrison at Gibraltar, proceeded to Minorca, and 
 perceived the British colours still flying at the castle 
 of St. Philip. However, before a landing could be 
 effected, the French fleet, under La Galissoniere, ap- 
 peared j but though an engagement ensued, both com- 
 manders seemed averse to the continuance of the 
 battle; and the French admiral, taking advantage of 
 Byng’s hesitation, sailed away. 
 
 In a council of war, which was held immediately 
 after this indecisive engagement, it was unanimously 
 agreed, that it was impracticableto relieve the castle 
 of St. Philip, and that it would be advisable to return 
 to Gibraltar, which might require immediate protec- 
 tion. General Blakeney receiving no assistance, at 
 length capitulated on honourable terms. 
 
 The ministry, irritated against admiral Byng, who 
 had complained that the English fleet had been too 
 long delayed, and that the ships under his command 
 were unfit for service, took no steps to lessen the odi- 
 um which popular prejudice attached to him ; on the 
 contrary, they were pleased to find the blame trans- 
 ferred from themselves, and that the admiral’s imput- 
 ed misconduct exonerated them from censure. 
 
 The unfortunate admiral was brought to trial, and 
 the court determined, that during the engage- 
 ment off Minorca, he did not use his utmost en- 
 deavours to take, seize, and destroy, the ships of the 
 French king, nor exert his utmost power for the relief 
 of the castle of St. Philip; and, that the punishment 
 attached to this sentence was death ; but, as they be- 
 lieved that his misconduct arose neither from coward- 
 ice nor disaffection, they earnestly recommended him 
 to mercy. 
 
 All the friends and relations of the unhappy man 
 exerted their influence to obtain a remission of his 
 sentence, which popular clamour alone had extorted 
 from his judges ; but the sovereign was told, that the 
 death of Byng was necessary to appease the fury of 
 the people; and, in spite of every application, a war- 
 rant was signed for his execution. Thus abandoned 
 to his fate, the unfortunate admiral was not wanting 
 to himself on this trying ocasion. Conscious of the 
 uprightness of his intentions, he advanced, to the quar- 
 ter-deck with a firm and deliberate step, and throwing 
 
1G0 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 down his hat, kneeled on a cushion, tied one hand* 
 kerchief over his eyes, and dropped another as a sig- 
 nal to his executioners, when five balls passed through 
 his body, and he fell dead without a struggle. 
 
 Notwithstanding this sacrifice, the clamours against 
 the administration continued to increase 5 and the 
 ministry found it necessary to admit into a participa- 
 tion of office Mr. Pitt and Mr. Legge, who were alike 
 distinguished for their spirit and integrity ; but adverse 
 as these two patriots were to his majesty's scheme of 
 continental politics, they could not agree with their 
 colleagues, and were dismissed from their situations. 
 Addresses, however, poured in from all parts, in fa- 
 vour of the discarded ministers ; and the king thought 
 proper to reinstate Mr. Pitt in his former situation 
 of secretary of state, and Mr. Legge in the office of. 
 chancellor of the exchequer. 
 
 Public affairs were adverse at the commencement 
 of this administration. An unsuccessful attempt was 
 made against R.ochefort ; but what was infinitely more 
 disastrous, the duke of Cumberland, unable to contend 
 with the great military talents of Marshal d’Etrees, 
 was obliged to capitulate at Closter Seven, by which 
 Hanover was left in the hands of the French, and an 
 army of thirty-eight thousand Hanoverians were dis- 
 armed and disbanded. This inglorious convention 
 seems to have been the crisis of the war, which un- 
 der the guidance of other ministers, produced the most 
 splendid events. 
 
 In America, after the return of lord Loudon to Eng 
 land, the chief command devolved on major-general 
 Abercrombie. On the 27 th of July, Louisburg and 
 Cape Breton surrendered to the British under major- 
 17^1 S enera l Amherst; and Fort du Quesne, which 
 * the French had evacuated* was garrisoned un- 
 der the name of Pittsburgh, in compliment to the 
 minister. The English also concluded a treaty with 
 the Indian nations, inhabiting the country between the 
 Xpalachian mountains and the lakes; and such was 
 the spirit of enterprise, which now animated the cab- 
 inet, that the conquest of Canada was projected as 
 the business of a single campaign. 
 
 To accomplish this important object, major-general 
 W'oife, who had already distinguished himself by hi9 
 
GEORGE £ 1 . 
 
 161 
 
 military talents, was directed to undertake the siege 
 of Quebec, while general Amherst, after reducing 
 Ticonderoga and Crown Point, was to cross the lake 
 Champlain, and join Wolfe under the walls of the cap- 
 ital of Canada. 
 
 The British forces under general Wolfe arrived in 
 the river of St. Lawrence, and encainped near the 
 falls of the Montinorenci. M. de Montcalm, the 
 French commander, though his troops were superior 
 in number to the invaders, had taken every precaution 
 of defence, which the nature of the country afforded. 
 The city of Quebec was tolerably fortified ; and Mont- 
 calm, having reinforced the troops of the colony, with 
 this army occupied an advantageous situation from the 
 river St. Charles to the falls of the Montmorenci. 
 
 On the last day of July, the British general made 
 dispositions for an assault, under cover of the fire from 
 the ships in the river 5 but the English grenadiers, im- 
 petuously attacking the enemy’s entrenchments in dis- 
 order, were repulsed with great loss, and Wolfe was 
 obliged to retreat. 
 
 This mortifying check preyed on the spirits of the 
 gallant Wolfe, who could not brook the most distant 
 prospect of censure or disgrace, and who declared that 
 he would rather die than fail of ultimate success. At 
 length, a new plan of operations was concerted for 
 landing the troops in the night within a league of Cape 
 Diamond, in hopes of ascending the heights of Abra- 
 ham, which rise abruptly w r ith a steep ascent from the 
 banks of the river, that they might gain possession of 
 the grounds on the back of the city, where it was but 
 slightly fortified. 
 
 This plan was put in execution 5 and the troops were 
 disembarked during the night, with secrecy and si- 
 lence ; but the precipice still remained to be ascend- 
 ed. With infinite labour and difficulty, the Loops 
 reached the summit of the heights of Abraham, and 
 the general drew them up in order of battle as they 
 arrived. When M. de Montcalm understood that the 
 English had gained these heights, he found himself 
 under the necessity of risking an engagement, in order 
 to save the town, and accordingly advanced his men 
 with great intrepidity. A furious contest ensued, and 
 general Wolfe, who stood in the front of the line, ear 
 
 VOL. II. 11 
 
i62 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ly received a shot in the wrist, to which he paid little* 
 regard j but, advancing at the head of the grenadiers, 
 another ball pierced his breast, and compelled him to 
 quit the scene of action. As he reclined on the arm 
 of an officer, he was roused by the exclamation, u They 
 run! They run!” — “ Who run?” said the brave 
 Wolfe, with great eagerness. "The French,” replied 
 the officer. "Then/' said he, "I die contented •” 
 and almost immediately expired in the arms of vie 
 tory. 
 
 The French general, M. de Montcalm, was also 
 mortally wounded in the battle, and died soon after ; 
 but the advantage remained wholly on the side of the 
 English. Quebec was obliged to surrender, and at 
 length the conquest of all Canada was completed, by 
 the capture of Montreal under general Amherst. 
 
 Success indeed attended the British arms in every 
 quarter of the globe. Fort Louis and the isle of Go- 
 ree, in Africa, submitted to the British ; as did also 
 Gaudaloupe, in the West-Indies. Cherbourg was taken 
 by commodore Howe, and Havre de Grace bombarded 
 by admiral Rodney. 
 
 In the Mediterranean, M. de la Clue was defeated 
 by admiral Boscawen, who took four of his ships ; ana 
 another fleet under M. de Conflans was attacked off* 
 Quiberon-bay by sir Edward Hawke, when a furious 
 battle ensued, and night alone saved the French from 
 175Q1 destruction. In this last engagement, twe 
 
 -* of the enemy’s best ships were sunk, one struck 
 her colours, two were stranded and destroyed, and the 
 Soleil Royal, the flag-ship of the French admiral, was 
 burnt by her own crew, to prevent her from falling into 
 the hands of the English. 
 
 In Germany the war was carried on with great vig- 
 our, and the glory of the British arms raised to the 
 highest pitch ; and though the efhpress of Russia had 
 acceded to the alliance. concluded between the courts 
 of Versailles and Vienna, the king of Prussia, aided 
 by his Britannic majesty, continued to make head 
 against the numerous armies of those powers. 
 
 Such was the general posture of affairs, when George 
 died, on the 25th day of October, in the 77th 
 -* year of his age, and the 34th of his reign. He 
 was at his palace of Kensington ; and having risen at 
 
GEORGE II. 
 
 iui 
 
 jiis usaal hour, he observed to his attendants, that as 
 the weather was fine, he would walk out. In a few 
 minutes after, being left alone, he. was heard to fa!! ; 
 and, being lifted on the bed, he desired, in a faint 
 voice, that the princess Amelia might be called 3 but 
 before she could arrive, he expired. 
 
 George the Second was in his person rather below 
 the middle size. In his disposition he is said to have 
 been prone to anger, yet soon appeased 3 in other re- 
 spects, he was mild and humane. He was personally 
 brave, and fond of war as a soldier. Though his for- 
 eign politics cannot be commended, his internal gov- 
 ernment deserves unqualified praise. 
 
 In this reign, the hopes of the Stuart party and fam- 
 ily being baffled, and the legitimacy of the Guelphs 
 generally recognised, the constitutional government, 
 as adjusted at the Revolution, began to display its ex- 
 cellencies and faults, and to acquire its full force. 
 
 Parliaments were regularly converted, for the de- 
 spatch of all business connected with the improve- 
 ment of the laws, and the regulation of the revenue : 
 and the prerogatives of the sovereign, and the rights 
 of the legislature, were duly recognised and balanced. 
 
 The king chose his ministers, and these were ame- 
 nable to parliament j while the latter was kept in good 
 humour by the influence anc patronage of the minis- 
 ters. The office of prime-minister began now to dis- 
 tinguish our councils. The first who merited the 
 name was sir Robert Walpole, a favourite confidential 
 minister of George the first and Second 3 and the na- 
 tion, under him and his successors, presented the 
 spectacle of a sovereign contented with the splendour 
 of his crown, and with the manifestation of his power, 
 under the advice and responsibility of his ministers 3 
 of a parliament whose majorities were governed by 
 the influence of thenninister, and the moderation and 
 plausibility < f his measures 3 and of a people obedient 
 to the laws, the operation of which they had The- pow- 
 er of controlling by juries formed from their own 
 body. 
 
 Such a state of society continued through an entire 
 generation, begat confidence at home and respect 
 abroad. The public securities rose in value, com 
 merce increased, domestic improvements were made 
 
>61 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 and the capabilities of the nation in arts, arms, Ano 
 industry, began to develop themselves, and prepare 
 the way for the more decisive events of the succeed- 
 ing reign. 
 
[ 165 ] 
 
 CONTINUATION, 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE III. 
 
 TO THE 
 
 CORONATION OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Reign of George III. 
 
 On the decease of George II., the eldest son of Fre- 
 17601 ( * er * c > P r * nce of Wales, succeeded his grandfa- 
 
 1 J ther, under the most favourable auspices ; as 
 the third of his name and family. 
 
 This young and native sovereign, whose character 
 and alTabihty of deportment rendered him the object 
 of esteem, was greeted by the enthusiasm of the peo- 
 ple. “ Born and educated in this country ” said his 
 majesty, in his first speech to parliament, “ I glory in 
 the name of Briton.” 
 
 The parliament, with the general approbation, vo- 
 ted the clear yearly sum of 800,000Z. for the main- 
 tenance of his majesty’s household and the support 
 of the royal dignity, in lieu of the civil-list revenues, 
 which had been formerly appropriated for the sover- 
 eigns of this country. This was followed by a wise 
 and liberal regulation, by which the judges were ren- 
 dered independent of the crown, and which, as it pass- 
 ed on the recommendation of the king, justly gained 
 his majesty universal applause. 
 
 The war, however, was prosecuted with unabated 
 vigour. The island of Belleisle surrendered to com- 
 modore Keppel and general Hodgson. In the East 
 Indies, the French were devested of all their posses- 
 sions of importance j and. Pondicherry, their capital 
 settlement, was reduced by colonel Coote and admi- 
 ral Stevens. In the West Indies, Martinico, and some 
 other islands, were added to the list of British con 
 quests. 
 
166 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 During these transactions, Mr. Pitt, with thatsagac 
 ity and intuitive foresight which characterize an able 
 statesman, anticipating the hostile designs of Spain, 
 proposed an immediate declaration of war against 
 that kingdom 3 but this measure being opposed by his 
 colleagues in office, and finding that the earl of Bute, 
 who had been governor to his majesty, had acquired 
 an ascendency in the royal favour, he disdained to 
 act a subordinate part, resigned the seals, and retir 
 ed with a pension and a peerage for his lady. 
 
 Lord Bute, who had been previously appointed one 
 of the principal secretaries of state, was now supposed 
 to influence the decisions of government 3 but, before 
 the end of the year, the ministry found it necessary 
 to adopt the measure recommended by Mr. Pitt, and 
 to declare war against Spain. Havannah, Manilla, 
 and all the Philippine islands, became, in consequence, 
 the reward of British valour. 
 
 Amidst these successes, however, the restoration 
 of peace was equally desired by the victors and the 
 vanquished 5 and after some time had been spent in 
 17 GS 1 ne g ol i at i° n > a definitive treaty was signed a f 
 J Paris on th3 10 th of February, and peace sol 
 emnly proclaimed in London, on the 22 d of the follow 
 ing mouth. By this treaty, Great-Britain obtained 
 the extensive province of Canada, East Florida, West 
 Florida, the Grenadas in the West Indies, and some 
 inferior acquisitions ; but restored all the other con- 
 quests made during the war. These terms were con- 
 sidered in England as degrading to the nation 3 and 
 clamours were raised against the administration of 
 lord Bute, who had never been a favourite with the 
 people. 
 
 About this time, too, the daring spirit of John 
 Wilkes, Esq., who sat in parliament for Aylesbury, 
 contributed to hasten the downfall of the premier. 
 This man published a paper called “ The North Brit- 
 on/ 7 in which he attacked the minister with great as- 
 perity, and indulged in the grossest scuriility against 
 the whole Scottish nation. Churchill, the poet, em- 
 ployed his satirical powers in the same cause 3 and 
 the ferment excited by those two able, but profligate 
 characters, was so great, that the earl of Bute thought 
 proper to resign his office of first lord of the treasury, 
 
 / 
 
GEORGE III. 161 
 
 m which he was succeeded by Mr. George Gren 
 ville. 
 
 One of the first acts of the new minister was the 
 prosecution of Mr. Wilkes, who, in the North Briton, 
 No. 4o, had asserted, that his majesty’s speech, which 
 he atfected to consider as the minister’s, contained a 
 falsehood. In consequence of this violation of all 
 decorum, Mr. Wilkes was apprehended by virtue of a 
 general warrant, his papers were seized, and he was 
 committed to the Tower. In the court of common 
 pleas, however, Mr. Wilkes was acquitted of the 
 charge exhibited against him j and, lord chief justice 
 Pratt declared, that general warrants were illegal. 
 
 Mr. Grenville possessed integrity and abilities, but 
 he wanted a sound discriminating judgment. In order 
 to raise a revenue from the American colonies, he 
 projected a stamp-act, which, being resisted by the 
 Americans, was afterwards repealed ; but the attempt 
 and its failure laid the foundation for that fatal contest, 
 which at length terminated in the independence of the 
 American colonies. 
 
 The name of the princess of Wales having been 
 17651 orn ^ te( ^ in bill for appointing a regency, in 
 ‘ ■* consequence of his majesty’s illness, the king, 
 after recovering from his indisposition, determined to 
 change his ministers ; and the marquis of Rockingham 
 was placed at the head of a new administration. The 
 highly respectable character of the marquis, however, 
 could not secure the new ministers a continuance in 
 office. Possessing a great share of moderation in 
 principles, their opponents effectually made head 
 against them; and the duke of Grafton became first 
 lord of the treasury 5 while Mr. Pitt, who was now 
 raised to the dignity of earl of Chatham, accepted the 
 office of privy-seal. 
 
 Mr. Charles Townshend, the chancellor of the ex- 
 nrn chequer, who possessed eminent talents foi 
 J business, but too much versatility of disposition, 
 unhappily revived the design of taxing America, though 
 taxation and representation cannot constitutionally be 
 separated 5 and, while the earl of Chatham was confined 
 by extreme illness, he brought in a bill for imposing a 
 duty on tea, and some other articles imported into the 
 colonies. Against this design, the Americans formed 
 
163 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 R general combination for not receiving any of the 
 commodities thus taxed, from the mother country ; 
 and, the acts were again repealed, except as far as 
 related to the duties on tea. This concession, however 
 gave little satisfaction to the Americans, who consid- 
 ered the late acts as unconstitutional, and proposed a 
 general union of the colonies for defending their natu- 
 ral rights. 
 
 Meanwhile Mr. /Townshend died, and li is place of 
 chancellor of the exchequer was filled by lord North. 
 Some other changes also took place ; and the earl of 
 Chatham, who had long been treated with disregard 
 either on account of his infirmities, or his unconiply 
 ing disposition, resigned his office of privy-seal, ar.d 
 from this time lived unconnected with the affairs of 
 government, though he frequently took an active part 
 in the interesting debates which agitated this period. 
 
 The discontents which had been produced in Amer- 
 171^1 ica by the insidious, not to say unjust designs 
 J of the ministry, were about to break out into c 
 flame, that spread into a general conflagration. Laws 
 having been passed for quartering troops in the colo- 
 nies, and for rendering the governors of the different 
 provinces solely dependant on the crown, the Amen 
 cans, in order to show their aversion to the measures 
 of the British government, and their determination to 
 resist, destroyed a large quantity of tea at Boston, and 
 • obliged ships laden with the same commodity to return 
 from other places without landing their cargoes. In 
 consequence of these proceedings, acts were passed 
 for shutting up the port of Boston, and for altering 
 the constitution of Massachusetts Bay and Quebec. 
 
 This violent stretch of power exciteci the utmost 
 indignation in America ; and the colonies entered into 
 a solemn league and covenant to suspend all commer- 
 cial intercourse with Great Britain, till the obnoxious 
 acts were repealed. Meanwhile, measures were adopt- 
 ed for holding a general congress of the American 
 colonies ; and a bold and spirited remonstrance, solic- 
 iting a redress of grievances, was addressed to the 
 king. All remonstrances and petitions, however, being 
 equally disregarded, and every avenue to accommoda- 
 tion, except by implicit submission, shut up, the 
 Americans determined to have recourse to arms, as 
 
GEORGE III 169 
 
 the only means left for defending their unalienable 
 rights. 
 
 On the 19th of April, general Gage, commander-in 
 chief, having been informed that the Americana 
 1 * had collected military stores at Concord, sent a 
 
 detachment to seize them. The detachment was 
 attacked at Lexington, and many were killed on both 
 sides 5 but the loss on the side of the British far ex- 
 ceeded that of their opponents. 
 
 The torch of civil war being thus lighted up, the 
 colonists flew to «rms as if by concert, and assumed 
 the title of u the United States of America , 77 whose 
 affairs were to be managed by a congress. This body 
 of representatives instantly passed resolutions for 
 raising an army, for issuing a paper currency for its 
 payment, and for prohibiting all importations to those 
 places which still remained faithful in their allegiance 
 to the crown of Great-Britain. 
 
 A few weeks after this engagement, the British 
 army in America was strengthened by a large rein- 
 forcement, which arrived from England, under the 
 command of generals Howe, Burgoyne, and Clinton. 
 MartiaLlaw was now proclaimed; but the congress 
 was not easily, intimidated ; and, voting that the com- 
 pact between the crown and the inhabitants of Massa- 
 chusetts Bay was dissolved, they recommended that 
 province to resume its chartered rights. 
 
 As further hostilities were now mutually expected, 
 the Americans, that they might secure Charlestown, 
 sent a detachment of men at night to erect some 
 considerable works on Bunker’s Hill. When these 
 operations were discovered in the morning, a heavy 
 ft re commenced from the ships; and the Americans 
 were with difficulty driven from their intrenchments 
 by generals Howe and Pigot. In this action, which 
 was very severe, the loss of the British in killed and 
 wounded amounted nearly to half their number, and 
 17751 ^ nc ^ u< ^ e< ^ many officers. After this affair, the 
 ■* colonists threw up works on another hill oppo- 
 site ; and the British troops were closely invested in 
 the peninsula. 
 
 The general congress published a very animated 
 declaration, in which their reasons for taking up arms 
 were assigned, an 1 the objects for which they con- 
 
170 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 tended were distinctly pointed out. They aJso np 
 pointed George Washington general and commander 
 in chief of the American forces. This gentleman had 
 acquired some experience in the last war, when he 
 commanded different bodies of provincials; and his 
 conduct and military skill fully justified the partiality 
 of his countrymen. Another petition to the king was 
 also voted by congress, in which they earnestly be- 
 seeched his majesty to adopt some method of putting 
 a stop to the unhappy contest between Great-Britain 
 and the colonies; but this petition, though presented 
 by Mr. Penn, late governor, and one of the proprietors 
 of Pennsylvania, did not obtain an answer. 
 
 In the mean time, the Americans, prepared for eve- 
 ry event, and animated with the enthusiasm of a peo- 
 ple contending for liberty, no longer confined them- 
 selves to defensive operations. Ticonderoga and 
 Crown Point had already been taken by a party of 
 Americans; and it was determined to fit out an expe- 
 dition against Canada, under generals Montgomery 
 and Arnold ; but in an attempt against Quebec, Mont- 
 gomery fell, and Arnold, after being dangerously 
 wounded, was compelled to make a precipitate retreat 
 
 The state of the royal army at Boston had now 
 become deplorable. By a masterly stroke, Washing- 
 ton compelled the British to abandon the town; and 
 all the English troops, with such loyalists as chose 
 to accompany them, were precipitately embark- 
 J ed and conveyed to Halifax. Next day, general 
 Washington entered Boston in triumph. 
 
 Soon after, congress, in a solemn declaration, with- 
 drew all allegiance from the king of Great Britain 
 and assumed for the colonies the style and character 
 of “Free and independent States.” They also pub- 
 lished articles of confederation and perpetual union 
 between the provinces ; while in proportion as the 
 prospect of bringing them to submission was lessened 
 the arrogance and infatuation of the British ministry, 
 at the head of whom was lord North, seemed to in- 
 crease. 
 
 An unsuccessful attempt w as made upoi Charles 
 town, in which the English suffered severely ; but 
 about the same time, general Howe obtained posses 
 6ion of New-York and general Clinton and sir Pete: 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 171 
 
 F.tiker took Rhode-Island. General Howe, and his 
 brother, admiral lord Howe, were regarded with par- 
 tiality by the Americans ; and some overtures of re 
 conciliation were made by the two brothers; but the 
 manifesto which they published, offered only pardon 
 to the colonists, and produced no beneficial purpose. 
 
 The ill success of the Americans, however, was 
 productive of those internal effects which operate as 
 strongly as external force ; and at this period, if terms 
 of concession had been offered by Great Britain, the 
 constitutional supremacy of the mother country might 
 probably have been acknowledged ; but the time of 
 conciliation was neglected, and the infatuation of min- 
 isters prevailed. 
 
 In the next campaign, the Americans were defeated 
 oy general Howe in the battle of Brandywine ; and 
 the English entered Philadelphia in triumph. On the 
 other hand, general Burgoyne, who had set out 
 
 ' -* from Quebec with an army of ten thousand 
 men, in order to form a line of communication be- 
 tween New-york and Canada, after driving the Ameri- 
 cans before him for some time, was at last surrounded 
 at Saratoga by general Gates, and obliged to lay down 
 his arms. 
 
 The success of the Americans now determined the 
 17781 court Fr an ce to declare in favour of the new 
 republic; and so gloomy was the prospect of 
 Great Britain, that ministers sent commissioners to 
 America to treat of peace ; but this attempt at con- 
 ciliation was of no essential service. 
 
 Hostilities commenced with France, by a naval en- 
 gagement between admirable Kepple and count a’Or- 
 villiers ; and victory would have been decisive in fa- 
 vour of the British, .if sir Hugh Palliser had obeyed 
 the signals of the admiral. Both officers were tried 
 before a court-martial. Palliser, though found guilty, 
 was only slightly censured ; while admiral Kepple was 
 honourably acquitted. 
 
 Meanwhile, Pondicherry in the East, and the island 
 of St. Lucia in the West Indies, were captured by the 
 English ; but Dominica, St. Vincent, and Grenada, 
 were taken by the French, who assisted the Ameri 
 cans with a fleet, commanded by the count d 7 Fstaign. 
 In attempting the relief of Grenada, an indecisive 
 
172 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 17791 en g a ? ement took place between admiral Byron 
 with a fleet of twenty-one ships, and the count 
 d’Estaign, who had twenty-five or twenty-six ships of 
 the line, besides twelve frigates, under his command. 
 After this action, the French admiral, in conjunction 
 with the Americans, attempted the reduction of Sa- 
 vannah, but was frustrated by general Prevost. In 
 Europe, the French made a descent with a considera 
 ble force on Jersey, but were repulsed by the promp- 
 titude of major Pearson, the English commandant, 
 who fell in the moment of victory, at the head of his 
 small corps. 
 
 Before the close of this session, his majesty an- 
 nounced to parliament that Spain had joined the alii 
 ance against England ; and this new enemy joining the 
 French with thirty ships of the line, the combined 
 fleets of those two neighbouring powers for some 
 time rode triumphant in the British channel, and men- 
 aced the English coast with impunity. Spain also 
 took New-Orleans on the Mississippi, and closely in- 
 vested Gibraltar. 
 
 Admiral sir George Rodney, being appointed to the 
 17801 nava l command in the West-Indies, ob- 
 
 -* tained a complete victory over a Spanish fleet 
 of eleven sail off Cape St. Vincent; and after reliev- 
 ing Gibraltar, he proceeded to execute his ulterior or- 
 ders, and had three indecisive engagements with the 
 French fleet in the West-Indies. 
 
 In June, the same year, happened one of the most 
 dreadful riots in London which history records. It 
 arose from the fanaticism of an association of protest- 
 ant sectaries, who fancied that religion was in danger, 
 on account of some just and equitable indulgences 
 which the legislature had recently granted to the Ro- 
 man catholics. A mob, collected by a procession of 
 this association, pulled down or burnt several popish 
 chapels, broke open many of the prisons, and liberated 
 both felons and debtors. In a few days, however, the 
 riots were quelled, and lord George Gordon, the presi- 
 dent of the association, was committed to the Tower. 
 
 From the agitations of war and faction, we turn 
 with pleasure to the progress made by science and ihe 
 arts, under the munificent patronage of George the 
 Third. Byron, who was commissioned in 1764 to ex- 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 173 
 
 plore the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and circumnav- 
 igate tne globe, corrected by his observations the er- 
 rors of former charts, and discovered several islands 
 in the South Pacific. A few years after, captain Wal- 
 lis sailed on a similar expedition, and, on the 19th of 
 June, 1767, perpetuated his name by the discovery of 
 Otaheite, (or King George’s Island,) in the South Pa- 
 cific, and of other islands in the same ocean Carte- 
 ret also traversed the Pacific, and circumnavigated 
 the globe. Each of these navigators contributed an 
 accession of geographical knowledge. 
 
 To Captain James Cook, however, more than to 
 any other individual since the time of Columbus, we 
 are indebted for extending the boundaries of geograph- 
 ical science. In his first voyage to the Pacific ocean, 
 in 1770, he discovered the Society Islands, determin- 
 ed the insularity of New Zealand, and explored the 
 eastern coast of New-Holland. In his second voyage, 
 in 1773, he discovered New Caledonia, the island of 
 Georgia, and an unknown coast, which he named 
 Sandwich Land. In 1776, another voyage of discove- 
 ry being proposed by the government, the Resolution 
 and Discovery were fitted out for that purpose, and 
 captains Cook and Clerke were appointed to this ex- 
 pedition. This last voyage was particularly distin- 
 guished by the extent and importance of its discove- 
 ries. Besides several small islands in the South Pa- 
 cific, Cook discovered the group of islands called the 
 Sandwich Islands, explored the western coast of 
 America from the latitude of forty-three to seventy 
 degrees north, and ascertained the proximty of the two 
 great continents of Asia and America. In September, 
 1780, the Resolution and Discovery returned to Eng- 
 land from this voyage round the world, but to the 
 grief of every person who respected worth and tal- 
 ents, without captain- Cook, who had been unfortu- 
 nately killed by the natives of Owyhee, one of the 
 Sandwich Islands which he had discovered. 
 
 This year was also memorable for the armed neu- 
 trality entered into by the northern powers, for the 
 purpose of resisting the English in exercising the 
 right of searching neutral vessels, on the principle 
 that 11 free bottoms make free goods.” It being dis- 
 covered that the States-General had concluded a trea 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 174 
 
 ty with the American government, England declaied 
 war against Holland. 
 
 The Dutch island of St. Eustatius, and the settle- 
 ments ofDemarara, Berbice,and Issequibo, submitted 
 to the British; and a severe engagement took place 
 between admiral sir Hyde Parker and the fleet of Hol- 
 land off the Dogger Bank, but without any decisive is- 
 sue on either side. 
 
 In America, alternate successes and reverses at- 
 tended the arms of Britain ; but even victory was fa- 
 tal to England, while defeats were doubly injurious, 
 and rendered the colonists certain of a prosperous is- 
 sue. Indeed, the cause of Britain in this contest with 
 her American colonies daily declined, and became 
 more desperate. Earl Cornwallis, who had distin- 
 guished himself on various occasions, was at length 
 1 TP 1 1 surroun d e d by general Washington, assisted by 
 -* the marquis de la Fayette, and obliged to sur- 
 render the whole of his forces, amounting to seven 
 thousand men, to the combined French and American 
 army, at York Town, in Virginia; an event which ter- 
 minated the hopes of the British government in Amer- 
 ica, and ended the war. 
 
 About the same time, St. Eustatius was recovered 
 from the English ; and the Spaniards made themselves 
 masters of YVest Florida. The siege of Gibraltar was 
 also carried on with vigour ; but the place was very 
 ably defended by the heroic governor, general Elliot. 
 
 In the East-Indies, Hyder Ally, the confederate of 
 France, took Arcot by assault, and cut to pieces, or 
 made prisoners of a detachment under colonel Bail- 
 lie. Sir Eyre Coote, however, defeated Hyder in two 
 subsequent engagements, relieved Vellore, and re- 
 trieved the fortune of the war in the Carnatic. 
 
 After the surrender of earl Cornwallis to genera} 
 Washington, the influence of the- British ministry was 
 at an end ; and a change of measures appearing abso- 
 17°21 lutel y necessary, a complete revolution in the 
 
 ° -* cabinet took place on the 27th of March under 
 the auspices of the marquis of Rockingham, who was 
 appointed first lord of the treasury. The earl of Shel- 
 burne and Mr. Fox were appointed secretaries of 
 state. 
 
 Peace was now ardently desired by all ranks of peo- 
 
GEORGE III 
 
 175 
 
 p’e in this country; and the new ministry consented 
 tliat the independence of America should be allowed, 
 and entered into measures for effectuating a general 
 treaty of pacification. For this purpose, Mr. Gren- 
 ville was sent to Paris, with full powers to treat with 
 all the belligerent nations, and orders were despatch- 
 ed to the commanders in chief in America, to ac- 
 quaint them with the pacific views of the British cab- 
 inet, and with the offer of independence to the Unit- 
 ed States. 
 
 After the capture of lord Cornwallis and his army, 
 the English suffered a series of losses in America. 
 The French took Nevis, St. Christopher’s, and Mont- 
 serrat; the Bahama islands surrendered to the Span- 
 iards; and Jamaica was threatened by the fleets of 
 Spain and France, on board of which was an army of 
 twenty thousand men. This formidable armament, 
 however, was prevented from uniting by the prompti- 
 tude and bravery of admiral Rodney, who engaged and 
 totally defeated the French under count de Grasse, 
 before it could form a junction with the Spanish fleet. 
 The French admiral, in the Ville de Paris of 120 guns, 
 was taken, with two seventy-four gun ships, and one 
 of sixty-four guns. Two other ships of the line were 
 lost in the action ; and a few days after, sir Samuel 
 Hood captured two more French ships of the line and 
 two frigates. This decisive and glorious victory, 
 which was achieved on the 12th of April, put a stop to 
 the intended project against Jamaica ; and admiral 
 Rodney, in reward for his services, was gratified with 
 a peerage and a pension. 
 
 The valour of the British arms was most remarkably 
 displayed at Gibraltar, where the English, under that 
 brave veteran general Elliot, acquired immortal hon- 
 our, and converted one of the most formidable at- 
 c . tacks that had ever been made in the history 
 * of sieges, to the destruction of the assailants, 
 and the frustration of all the hopes of the ene- 
 ' my. The enthusiasm and gallantry of Elliot 
 and his garrison were emulated by lord Howe and the 
 fleet. To the admiration of all Europe, that brave ad- 
 miral, with thirty-four sail of the line, passed the 
 straits in the faoe of a superior enemy, and threw sue 
 crurs in the fortress. 
 
176 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 This was the last transaction of importance during 
 the continuance of the war in Europe ; and thus the 
 military career of Britain, after her repeated misfor- 
 tunes, terminated with great splendour. All the bel- 
 ligerent powers were now inclined to listen to over- 
 tures of pacification. The happy prospect, however, 
 of peace and prosperity was obscured for a time by the 
 death of the marquis of Rockingham, from whose ad- 
 ministration the nation had formed great expectations. 
 He was succeeded by the earl of Shelburne, and Mr. 
 Fox resigned his office of secretary of the northern 
 department. 
 
 The new ministers, however, continued the nego- 
 tiation for peace ; and as the independence of Ameri- 
 ca was virtually recognised, the war with the colonies 
 had in fact terminated. At length, on the 30th of 
 November, 1782, provisional articles between Eng 
 land and America, were signed at Paris. By this trea 
 ty, the sovereignty and independence of the Unit- 
 ed States were fully acknowledged. So great, in- 
 deed, were the concessions of ministers on this occa- 
 sion, that they neglected the interest of the loyalists 
 in America, whose estates had been confiscated, and 
 who were thus thrown on the generosity of the Brit- 
 ish. 
 
 In our treaties with the French, the Dutch, and the 
 J7P31 Spaniards, the same improvident facility was 
 -* apparent 5 and these treaties, when submitted 
 to parliament, extorted the severest animadversions. 
 By this calamitous war, Great Britain lost the best 
 part of her transatlantic colonies, and, besides many 
 thousands of valuable lives, expended or squandered 
 nearly 150 millions of money. The address of thanks 
 for the peace was carried in the house of lords by a 
 majority of 72 to 59, but lost in the house of commons 
 by a majority of 224 to 208. 
 
 It was now discovered that Mr, Fox, in his animos- 
 ity to the earl of Shelburne, had formed a coalition 
 with his former political antagonist, lord North. This 
 unnatural and unprincipled coalition, which excit 
 ed general indignation, was defended by Mr. Fox 
 on the strange plea, that the question of American in- 
 dependence being now at rest, he had no desire tc 
 perpetuate his enmity to a statesman whom he had 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 177 
 
 Found honourable as an adversary, and of whose open- 
 ness and sincerity as a friend he had no doubt. 
 
 Their united opposition prevailed, and a change 
 took place in the ministry. The duke of Portland was 
 placed at the head of the treasury, lord John Caven- 
 dish was made chancellor of the exchequer, and lord 
 North and Mr. Fox were appointed joint secretaries 
 of state. The coalition administration became the 
 theme of universal and passionate execration ; and 
 when public confidence is once lost, it can never be 
 completely regained. 
 
 Mr. Pitt, the son of the immortal earl of Chatham, 
 and who afterwards rivalled his father’s glory, made a 
 motion for a parliamentary reform, and proposed to 
 add one hundred members to the counties, and abol- 
 ish a proportionable number of the obnoxious bor- 
 oughs. This plan, though certainly the most judi- 
 cious that has yet been proposed for the independence 
 of parliamentary representation, was negatived by a 
 >rge majority. 
 
 Soon after the meeting of parliament in November, 
 Mr. Fox introduced a bill for regulating the affairs of 
 the East-India Company. This famous bill proposed 
 to deprive the directors and proprietors of the entire 
 administration, not only of their territorial, but also 
 of their commercial affairs, and to vest the manage- 
 ment and direction of them in seven commissioners 
 named in the bill, and irremovable by the crown, ex- 
 cept in consequence of an address of either house of 
 parliament. It passed through the lower house by a 
 great majority, but was lost in the upper, after very 
 animated debates, in which its unconstitutional prin- 
 ciples were fully exposed. 
 
 • The king, being informed of the nature and tenden- 
 cy of this bill, considered himself duped and deceiv- 
 ed ; and the coalition ministry, which had been deserv- 
 edly unpopular, were suddenly dismissed. Mr. Pitt, 
 then a very young man, was declared first lord of the 
 treasury and chancellor of the exchequer ; the mar- 
 quis of Caermarthen, and Mr. Thomas Townsend, 
 created lord Sydney, were nominated secretaries of 
 state ; and lord Thurlow was appointed to the office 
 of lord-chancellor. The intelligence of this change 
 was received by the nation with transports of joy, 
 
 VOL. ii. 12 
 
178 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The discarded ministers, however, still maintained 
 their influence in the house of commons ; and the sin- 
 gular spectacle was exhibited of a minister retaining 
 his situation in defiance of the votes of the com* 
 mons, and of an opposition restraining the power 
 of the executive, by prohibiting the issuing of pay- 
 ments from the bank or the exchequer, for the pub- 
 lic service. At length, after strong and repeated con- 
 Marcli tcsts between the two factions, during which 
 d- 1 the minister found himself frequently in a mi- 
 1784 norit y> ll,e Parliament was dissolved by procht- 
 ° * mation, and a new one convened. So com- 
 plete was the rout of the coalition party, that of one 
 hundred and sixty members who lost their seats, at the 
 general election, nearly the whole were the friends 
 either of Mr. Fox or lord North. 
 
 The arrangements of a plan for the future govern- 
 ment of India, was the most important business to 
 which the attention of the new parliament was first di- 
 rected. The bill which Mr. Pitt introduced for that 
 purpose, was carried through tiie house of commons 
 by a great majority j and in the upper house, though 
 strongly opposed, it passed with a few dissenting 
 votes. 
 
 In the next session, Mr. Pitt brought forward his 
 17°M P^ an * or a re ^ orm * n the representation, var}ing 
 u ■* in some measure from his former project, but 
 in every respect temperate and judicious. The re- 
 sult of this plan was to give one hundred members to 
 the popular interest, and to extend the elective fran- 
 chise to more than one hundred thousand persons, 
 who, by the existing laws, were excluded from vot- 
 ing for members of parliament. After a debate of 
 considerable length, in which Mr. Fox bestowed on 
 the plan a just and liberal tribute of praise, the bill 
 was rejected by a majority of 274 to 174. Mr. Pitt 
 was equally unsuccessful in attempting to settle the 
 commerce of England and Ireland on a mutual and 
 
 equitable footing. His propositions, which werje 
 amended in the house of lords, passed in England 
 with difficulty ; but, in the Irish parliament, they were 
 rejected with marked disapprobation. 
 
 Among the various measures agitated by parliament 
 during the next session, was a plan for extinguishing 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 179 
 
 ,ne national debt. This celebrated plan was founded 
 178G1 on a re P ort f rame d by a select committee, who 
 -* had been appointed to examine the annual in- 
 come and expenditure of the state. By this report 
 it appeared, that the public income for the year 1785 
 exceeded the annual expenditure by £900,000. This 
 surplus the minister proposed to increase to one mil 
 lion, and to appropriate the annual sum of one million 
 to the liquidation of the national debt. This annual 
 million Mr. Pitt proposed to be vested in the hands 
 of certain commissioners, to be by them applied regu- 
 larly m the purchase of stock. In the progress of the 
 bill, Mr. Fox suggested an amendment, which was 
 grate, ally received by the minister — that whenever a 
 new loan should in future be made, the commissioners 
 should be empowered to accept of the loan, or such 
 proportion of it as should be equal to the cash then in 
 their hands 3 and that the interest and douceur annex- 
 ed to it should be applied to the purposes of the sink- 
 ing 'hnd. The bill finally passed, with great and de- 
 served approbation 3 and this measure has been in 
 general pursued under almost every change of circum 
 stances, and amidst unexampled difficulties. 
 
 During the following year, the republican party in 
 Holland having obtained an accession of strength, and 
 being secretly favoured by the court of France, re- 
 ^071 nouneed the authority of the Stadtholder, under 
 
 0 -* the pretext that he sacrificed the interests of 
 his country to predilection for the English. The ac- 
 tive interference, however, of the king of Prussia, in 
 defence of the prince of Orange, to whom he was 
 nearly related by marriage, restored the authority of 
 the Stadtholder, while the dignified tone and vigorous 
 preparations of the British minister intimidated the 
 French from assisting the republicans. 
 
 This year is also remarkable for the impeachment 
 of Warren Hastings, Esq., late governor-general of 
 Bengal. The trial of this gentleman continued for 
 seven years, and, terminated in his honourable ac- 
 quittal. The disgraceful procrastination of his trial, 
 .and the acrimony with which it was conducted, led 
 many to compassionate a man, who, held up as a great 
 public delinquent, seemed destined to lead a life of 
 impeachment, and to have become the object of a re 
 
180 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ientless persecution. If there were errors in the 
 conduct of Warren Hastings, they were more than 
 compensated by his exertions and moral intentions j 
 and it may safely be affirmed, that in the administra- 
 tion of India, he in general deserved praise rather 
 than censure, and that his character will be always 
 venerated in this country, which was essentially ben- 
 efitted by his services. 
 
 The next session was memorable for the first dis* 
 17881 cuss * on * n parliament on the subject of the in 
 -* human traffic in slaves. Mr Wilberforce, who 
 had announced his intention of moving for the. aboli- 
 tion of that abominable trade, was unavoidably absent 
 from indisposition ; but, at the suggestion of sir Wil- 
 liam Dolben, some regulations were enacted for re- 
 straining the cruelties practised on board the slave- 
 ships. 
 
 The same year being the centenary of the glorious 
 revolution of 1688, the 5th of November, the day of 
 king William's landing, was celebrated by rejoicings in 
 various parts of the kingdom. 
 
 Soon after the recess of parliament, the king, who 
 had been rather indisposed, was advised to try the 
 mineral waters of Cheltenham, where he appeared to 
 recover his health ; but on his return to London, late 
 in the summer, his illness returned with new and 
 alarming symptoms ; and it could no longer be con- 
 cealed, that the malady with which he was afflicted 
 was a mental derangement, that rendered him wholly 
 incapable of public business.* 
 
 It now became necessary to appoint a regent to ex- 
 ercise the royal functions till the health of his maj- 
 esty should be restored ; and Mr. Fox claimed this 
 high office in the name, and on the behalf of the heir- 
 apparent, as appertaining to his royal highness of 
 right. On the other hand, Mr. Pitt and his adherents, 
 who formed by far the piost numerous body, both in 
 and out of parliament, maintained, that the heir to the 
 crown was merely a subject; that it was little short 
 of treason against the constitution to urge his right to 
 the regency, and that it belonged entirely to the two 
 remaining branches of the legislature to supply the 
 temporary deficiency. 
 
 Long and violent debates ensued in parliament, on 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 SCI 
 
 the restraints under which the minister thought it ne 
 cessary to subject the prince of Wales, as regent, in 
 the exercise of his authority. A last, the regency- 
 bill was about to pass,* when, to the unspeakable ioy 
 of the nat nn, as well as of every member of his august 
 17JW1 famil y> his majesty, on the iOth of March, sent a 
 -* message to parliament, to acquaint them with 
 his recovery, and his ability to attend to the public bu- 
 siness of the kingdom. These tidings diffused an uni- 
 versal and heartfelt satisfaction. Every town, every vil- 
 lage, exhibited its testimonies of loyalty and affection 
 to the best of sovereigns at the instant ; anckthese were 
 renewed on the 23d of April, when his majesty, in 
 solemn procession, went to St. Paul's cathedral, to 
 return thanks to Heaven for his recovery. 
 
 In the month of July in this year, one of the most 
 unexpected and extraordinary revolutions took place 
 in France that the annals of history record. The de- 
 ranged state of the finances of France, and the mild 
 disposition and moderate principles of Louis XVI , 
 the reigning sovereign, inducing him to assemble the 
 notables of his kingdom, an opportunity was taken to 
 subvert the monarchy, and to reduce the king to 3 
 state of degradation, which prevented him not only 
 from doing wrong, but from rendering any essential 
 service to the state. The bastile, which had long 
 been used for the most despotic purposes, was sud- 
 denly levelled to the ground, and the prisoners liber 
 ated ; while a national assembly, chosen by the peo- 
 ple, wrested from the king the privilege of making 
 war or peace, and abolished all titles of peerage and 
 distinction of orders. The frame of government was 
 entirely changed, and a limited hereditary monarchy 
 was established, in which the legislative authority was 
 rendered superior to the executive, the latter being 
 allowed only a suspensive vote. The person, of the 
 king was declared inviolable, and the throne indivis- 
 ible. 
 
 Some British adventurers having established a set- 
 
 * The parliament of Ireland invited the prince of Wales t« 
 accept the regency without, any limitation, while tho British 
 legislature imposed many restrictions, 
 
*82 HISTORY OF EinuLAIND. 
 
 tlement at Nootka or King's Sound,* on the north 
 west coast of America, for the purpose of trading 
 with the natives for furs, the Spaniards, who claim 
 ed the exclusive sovereignty of this coast, from Cape 
 
 17D0] 
 
 Horn to the sixtieth degree of north latitude, 
 
 seized on the fort, and captured such English 
 vessels as were found trading in those parts. This con- 
 duct produced remonstunces to the court of Spain ; 
 but the Spaniards being unwilling to make any atone 
 ment. for the act of violence of which they had been 
 guilty, both nations prepared for war. The matter, 
 however, was»at last settled by a convention, by which 
 Spain conceded every point in dispute, though the 
 Spanish flag at the fort and settlement of Nootka was 
 never struck. 
 
 By an act passed in the next session of parliament, 
 Canada was divided into two distinct governments, to 
 each of which a legislative counsel and assembly were 
 appointed, after the model of the British constitution. 
 The councils were nominated by the sovereign, and 
 .he houses of assembly were chosen by the people. 
 The habeas corpus act, became a fundamental law of 
 the constitution of Canada ; and the British parliament 
 were restrained from imposing any other taxes than 
 such as were necessary for the regulation of trade and 
 commerce. This wise and salutary measure has been 
 productive of the best effects, and will probably secure 
 the dependence of that province on Great Britain, by 
 the strong tie of gratitude and interest. 
 
 In the course of this year, England was nearly in- 
 volved in hostilities with Prussia. Thai power, leagu- 
 ed with Austria, had for some time carried on a war 
 against the Turns. The Germans, however, were 
 very unsuccessful in this unjust warfare ; but the Rus- 
 sians defeated the Turks in every battle, and took from 
 them several strong places, particularly Oczakow and 
 Ismael. At the latter, the Turks made a gallant re- 
 sistance ‘j but the savage Suwarroff, who commanded 
 the Russians, caused about thirty thousand of the in- 
 habitants to be put to death, and thus fixed an indelible 
 stain on his character. 
 
 These successes, and the cruelties which accom 
 panied them, alarmed the British court, and a large 
 
 * First discovered by captain Cook, in his last voyage roun* 
 
 |h» world 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 133 
 
 fleet was fitted out, in order to prevent Russia from 
 obtaining the navigation of the Black Sea ; but the 
 majorities which the minister was able to command 
 in parliament on this occasion, being very inconsider- 
 able, and the popular voice being decidedly against 
 the policy of going to war with Russia, the armament 
 was laid aside, after an enormous expense had been 
 incurred, and the Porte concluded a peace with the 
 czarina on her own terms. In justice, however, to 
 administration, it should be observed, that the meas- 
 ures which they adopted on this occasion were found- 
 ed in wisdom and sound policy 5 and that, if their de- 
 signs had not been counteracted by the violence of 
 faction in parliament, whose sentknents prevailed 
 among the great mass of the people, it seems probable 
 the partition of Poland, and other encroachments and 
 revolutions which followed, might have been pre- 
 vented. 
 
 The events which had taken place in France had 
 excited much interest in this country, and provoked 
 discussions which occasioned the supporters of the 
 French revolution to be regarded as inimical to the 
 British constitution, while the opponents of that meas- 
 ure were considered as the faithful guardians and de- 
 fenders of our excellent establishment in church and 
 state. It was, indeed, natural that the dawn of liberty 
 in a country long enslaved should be hailed with joy 
 by the generous sympathy of Britons, who had long 
 enjoyed the blessings of civil and religious liberty j 
 but it was not to be expected, that the anarchy and 
 violence which prevailed in France would have been 
 ’•egarded with any other feelings than those of detes- 
 tation and abhorrence, and that the friends of the 
 British constitution would have evinced their appro- 
 bation of principles, which they saw perverted, and 
 applied to the most dangerous purposes. 
 
 On the anniversary of the 14-th of July, the day on 
 17Q11 ' v hich the bastile had been demolished, the par- 
 -* tisans of liberty in this country agreed to cele- 
 orate that event by festive meetings in several of the 
 orincipal towns and cities of the kingdom. This was* 
 certainly an act of indiscretion, as the French revolu 
 tion hau incurred great odium by the events which 
 had lately taken place in France, and as the spirit of 
 
J34 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 party prevailed in a most violent degree at this time 
 in England. In Birmingham, where great animosity 
 had long subsisted between the high-church party and 
 the dissenters, at the head of whom was the justly 
 celebrated philosopher, Dr. Priestley, the meeting was 
 attended with the most lamentable consequences. 
 The persons who there assembled to commemorate 
 the French revolution, were intuited by a furious 
 mob, who shouted “ church and king/ 7 and who broke 
 the windows of the hotel in which the company were 
 assembled. Incited and inflamed by their leaders, the 
 mob dispersed over the town and its vicinity, set on 
 fire the meeting-houses, and the dwellings of the most 
 eminent dissenters, and giving a loose to every kind 
 of intemperance, became equally formidable to both 
 parties. The mansion of Dr. Priestley was consumed, 
 with his valuable library and philosophical apparatus; 
 and thus a man, whose talents would have been an 
 honour to any country, was treated by these Vandals 
 as a foe to the human race, and ultimately obliged to 
 take shelter in America. No effectual effort was ein 
 ployed to check these infamous and disgraceful pro 
 ceedings, till the arrival of some troops of dragoons 
 from Nottingham, when, after four days of tumult and 
 devastation, order and tranquillity were restored. Ma- 
 ny of the rioters were brought to trial, and three of 
 them capitally punished. 
 
 In the East Indies, earl Cornwallis, who had been 
 appointed governor-general of Bengal, carried on with 
 equal conduct and good fortune the war against Tip- 
 poo Saib, in which this country had been involved by 
 the intrigues of the French. After overcoming all 
 impediments, he formed the siege of Seringapatam, 
 the capital of Mysore, and obliged Tippoo to conclude 
 a peace on the terms offered to him, and to give his 
 two sons as hostages for the performance of its condi- 
 tions. 
 
 When parliament met, Mr. Pitt, to the agreeable 
 179^1 sur P r ‘ se l ^ e nation, proved that the finances 
 were in such a flourishing state, that govern- 
 ment would be enabled to lighten the burdens of the 
 people, by taking off taxes to the amount of two hun 
 dred thousand pounds a-year, and, at the same time, 
 to appropriate double that sum for the reduction oi 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 135 
 
 the national debt. He also observed, that the general 
 itate of affairs' in Europe promised a continuance of 
 peace, and that he expected an immediate reduction 
 of the naval and military establishments. These bril* 
 liant prospects, however, were obscured before the 
 conclusion of the year. 
 
 The continental powers, jealous of the principles 
 which had been developed in the French revolution, 
 held a secret convention at Pilnitz, in Lusatia, where 
 it was determined to prepare for war against France. 
 The haughty demands of restitution urged by the 
 emperor, left no other alternative to the French peo- 
 ple than to declare war against Austria ; and Prussia 
 joining against France, it was evident that Great Brit- 
 ain could not long be kept out of the vortex. The 
 combined armies of Austria and Prussia entered 
 France under the duke of Brunswick, accompanied 
 by the Prussian monarch in person j and, under the 
 sanction of the two courts, was issued a proclamation, 
 which denounced the most dreadful vengeance against 
 the French nation, and threatened to punish as rebels 
 to their king, and destroyers of the public tranquillity, 
 all such as were found in arms against the troops of 
 r the allied powers. 
 
 This savage and impolitic manifesto, which seemed 
 purposely calculated to complete the ruin of the 
 French king, filled up the measure of the popular 
 fury. The palace of the Thuilleries w^as attacked 
 by the Parisian populace; and, being resolutely de- 
 A u „jo fended by the Swiss guards, a most bloody 
 I 790 * conflict ensued, which terminated in the total 
 defeat and destruction of the guards, and the 
 complete triumph of the Parisians. The king, with 
 the queen, at the commencement of the engagement, 
 had made a precipitate retreat to the hall of the na- 
 tional assembly, and that unfeeling body committed 
 them close prisoners to the temple. Soon after, Lou- 
 is XVI. was formally deposed, and the abolition of 
 royalty in France decreed by the national convention. 
 Massacres, unparalleled in the annals of civilized na- 
 tions, were perpetrated under the sacred name of lib- 
 erty. The prisons were forced open ; and all those 
 Se t 2 naurdered, w ho had been confined for imputed 
 
 P ’ ’ sentiments of royalty. In short, ‘.he party -vhich 
 
186 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 had usurped all power in France, were guilty of atroc- 
 ities, which to relate in simple terms, would turn hu- 
 manity pale. On this occasion, the princess Lam- 
 balle was one of the many victims to their infernal 
 vengeance ; and her fate was attended with such cir- 
 cumstances of horror as could scarcely enter into the 
 imagination of man. 
 
 After the deposition of Louis, our ambassador was 
 recalled from Paris ; and though Chauvelin, the French 
 ambassador, still remained in London, he was not ac- 
 knowledged in any official capacity. Not only were 
 the Austrian and Prussian armies compelled to evacu- 
 ate France, but the French general Dumourier over- 
 ran the Low Countries in a series of triumphs; and, 
 before the year had closed, the whole" of the Austrian 
 Netherlands, with the exception of Luxembourgh and 
 Liege, had submitted to the arms of the republican 
 : nvaders. In the exultation occasioned by these suc- 
 cesses, the convention passed their famous decree, 
 offering fraternity and assistance to all nations engag- 
 ed in a struggle for liberty; and, on the capture of 
 Antwerp, they declared the navigation of the Scheldt 
 free, which this country was bound by treaty to resist 
 
 These decrees were justly obnoxious to the Britisn 
 ministry, as encouraging sedition and revolt in every 
 monarchical government, and treating with contempt 
 the rights of neutral nations. A royal proclamation 
 appeared, in which it was declared, that evil disposed 
 persons in this country were acting in concert with 
 others in foreign parts, in order to subvert the laws 
 and constitution ; and avowing his majesty’s design 
 of forthwith embodying a part of the militia. Con- 
 siderable alarm was spread through the sound part of 
 the nation, of which description the majority was im- 
 mense ; and both public bodies and private individuals 
 testified their zeal for preserving the public peace and 
 supporting the constitution of their country. Numer- 
 ous associations were formed against republicans and 
 levellers; loyal addresses poured in from all parts; 
 and the pulpit and the press were alike employed in 
 recommending social order, and in disseminating those 
 principles which had raised Britain to a state of unex 
 implcd political happiness. 
 
 When the parliament met, the infamous fraternizing 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 181 
 
 decree of Fran se having excited just alarm and indig- 
 nation, a bill was passed, by which his majesty should 
 be empowered to order aliens to quit the kingdom, as 
 circumstances might justify or policy require. It was 
 now sufficiently evident, that hostilities between 
 Great Britain and France would not be long deferred. 
 
 A sentiment of horror pervaded the nation, when 
 intelligence was received of the condemnation and 
 public execution of the unfortunate Louis XVI., the 
 |-q «1 mildest and most inoffensive of a long line of 
 -* kings, who suffered death by the punishment of 
 the guillotine, on the 21st of January. The parlia- 
 ment being sitting, advantage was taken of the sensa- 
 tion which this, melancholy event produced, to unite 
 all parties in the vigorous prosecution of a war, for 
 which preparations had long been making. Chauvelin, 
 the accredited minister of Louis XVI., was ordered 
 to quit the kingdom ; and the French republic, regard- 
 ing his dismission as a direct act of hostility, declared 
 war against the king of Great Britain and the prince 
 of Orange, as Stadtholder of the United Provinces. 
 
 The necessity of this war, which was actively un 
 dertaken by this country without any formal declara- 
 tion, was warmly disputed in parliament; and it was 
 affirmed that hostilities with France, on the grounds 
 alleged by ministers, were neither for the honour nor 
 the interest of Great Britain. The English troops, 
 under the command of the duke of York, having join- 
 ed those of Austria and Prussia, the combined armies 
 defeated the French generals, Valence, Miranda, 
 Dumourier, and Dampierre, and took the cities of 
 Valenciennes, Conde, Mentz, and Quesnoy. It was 
 resolved in a council of war, that the British, Hano- 
 verians, and Dutch, should separate from the main ur 
 my, and attack West Flanders. Accordingly, the 
 British forces, under the duke of York, made an at- 
 tempt on Dunkirk ; but the English army was com- 
 pelled to retreat, with the loss of all its heavy artil- 
 lery. 
 
 Meanwhile, the fury of the jacobins in France rous- 
 ed ihe people in several provinces to resistance; and 
 lord Hood being cruising in the Mediterranean, the 
 inhabitants of Toulon entered into a negotiation with 
 him, and delivered into his possession the town and 
 
183 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 the shipping ; but the republicans, collecting a large 
 irregular force, attacked the place with such impetu- 
 osity, that the English were obliged to withdraw, 
 after destroying nine of the enemy’s ships of the line 
 and some frigates. 
 
 Though this campaign was on the whole successful 
 on the side of the allies, yet its termination was by 
 no means equally auspicious as its commencement. 
 They had preserved Holland, and recovered the Neth- 
 erlands ; but the tide of success was now turned 
 against the confederates, who, acting without any reg- 
 ularly concerted plan, showed alternate vigour and 
 irresolution. 
 
 At home, revolutionary doctrines were industrious- 
 ly propagated, and seditious societies formed; and 
 several persons of talents, who had lent their aid in pro- 
 moting schemes dangerous to the constitution, were 
 arrested and brought to trial. By the severity of the 
 laws of Scotland, some of them, being convicted of 
 sedition in that country, were sentenced to be trans- 
 ported to Botany Bay, which was accordingly carried 
 into execution ; but in England, the promoters of 
 disorder and confusion, who had been indicted for 
 high treason, were all eventually acquitted. The 
 merits of the judgments on the delinquents in Scot-, 
 land afterwards underwent a discussion in parliament. 
 
 A message from the king to both houses of parlia- 
 17941 ment announced the avowed intentions of the 
 -* enemy to invade this country. A great aug- 
 mentation of the militia, and an addition of volunteer 
 fensible corps, were accordingly voted. The ardour 
 with which young men of all ranks entered into these 
 military associations, for the purpose of defending 
 their country, equally damped the resolution of do- 
 mestic traitors and foreign foes ; and the preparations 
 which had been made for invading England, began to 
 slacken, and were at last wholly discontinued. 
 
 On the continent, the arms of the allies, from a 
 want of cordial co-operation, had experienced many 
 reverses ; but the English were consoled by the splen 
 y . did naval victory obtained by lord Howe ovet 
 *1794' the French fleet, which had ventured from 
 Brest harbour, for the purpose of protecting a 
 large convoy from America. In this action, which 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 139 
 
 was warmly contested, the French suffered a total de- 
 feat, with the loss of six ships of the line taken, ana 
 one sunk. The French fleet consisted of twenty-six 
 sail of the line, and the English of twenty-five. 
 
 In the West Indies, Martinico, St. Lucie, and Gua- 
 daloupe, were successively captured ; and in the 
 East, Pondicherry, Chandernagore, and Mahie, fell 
 under the power of the English. In short, signal as 
 had been the disasters of the allied armies on the 
 continent, in almost every enterprise in which the 
 British were singly engaged, they were completely 
 successful. 
 
 An accession was made to the British empire by 
 the annexation of Corsica to the crown of England ; 
 but policy, or necessity, in a short time compelled 
 this country to abandon an island, which would ever 
 have been attended with more expense than advantage. 
 
 When the victories of the French in the Nether- 
 lands had removed their apprehensions from foreign 
 enemies, their attention was directed to internal tyr- 
 anny. After the jacobins had triumphed over the 
 girondists, they were themselves divided into two par- 
 ties. Those called the faction of the cordeliers, be- 
 ing opposed to the views of Robespierre, who had 
 made rapid strides to single despotism, were arrested 
 by his orders, and put to death. The French people, 
 however, no sooner considered the atrocities of which 
 Robespierre had been guilty, than a powerful party 
 was formed against him; and the fall of the tyrant 
 put an end to the reign of terror in France ; but under 
 every successive faction, the arms of the republic pre- 
 vailed on the continent, and at once Germany, Spain, 
 and Italy, felt their irresistible force. The United 
 Provinces were speedily overrun by a French army ; 
 and the stadtholder, with his family, sought refuge in 
 England. 
 
 In this year, Poland, overwhelmed by a foreign des- 
 potism, was blotted out from the number of European 
 kingdoms, and its territories were divided between 
 Prussia, Austria, and Russia, the three powers that 
 conspired and effected its ruin. 
 
 The splendid successes of the French in the last 
 17951 ? am P a ’*g n » had disposed most of the neighbour- 
 1 ing powers to acknowledge the republic. Prus« 
 
190 
 
 HISTORY - OF ENGLAND. 
 
 sia and Spain concluded a treaty with France 3 and 
 Holland being fraternized by the French^ the Dutch, 
 from long treacherous friends, became the open ene- 
 mies of this country. Warm debates took place in 
 the British parliament on the subject of peace j but 
 the warlike proposals of ministers were still support- 
 ed by great majorities. At this period of the contest, 
 the nation seemed wearied and dispirited 3 but another 
 victory by sea, gained by lord Bridport, off port POri- 
 ent, tended to encourage the people, and to convince 
 them that they were invulnerable on their native ele- 
 ment. The engagement began early in the morning, 
 and continued till three in the afternoon, by which 
 time three ships of the line had struck their colours. 
 The rest of the French squadron, keeping close in 
 shore, escaped into POrient. 
 
 In the spring of this year, his royal highness the 
 prince of Wales contracted a matrimonial alliance 
 with his cousin, the princess Caroline Amelia, daugh- 
 ter of the duke of Brunswick. This marriage, which 
 gave great joy to the people, eventually proved a source 
 of much domestic misery and national inquietude. In 
 the following year, the princess gave birth to a daugh 
 ter 3 and, soon after, a formal separation of the parents 
 took place. 
 
 Various circumstances had inspired the English 
 people with a spirit of discontent. The cruel and il- 
 legal practices of crimps for the recruiting service 
 had occasioned several violent tumults 5 and the in- 
 creasing scarcity of provisions aggravated the public 
 ill-humour. The reforming societies began to act 
 with great boldness 3 and that denominated the Cor- 
 responding Society held several public meetings, one 
 of which, in the fields near Copenhagen House, was 
 computed to be attended by fifty thousand persons, 
 and was distinguished by the daring addresses made to 
 the people. On the first day of the meeting of parlia- 
 ment, his majesty was grossly insulted in passing to 
 the house of lords by a furious mob, who clamorously 
 demanded peace, and the dismission of Mr. Pitt. 
 
 In consequence of this outrage, two bills passed 
 both houses of parliament : one for the better security 
 of his majesty's person, by extending the laws of 
 treason} the other, for the prevention of seditioui 
 
I 
 
 GEORGE III. 191 
 
 meetings. These bills, however, did not pass without 
 strong opposition. 
 
 This year, that valuable settlement, the Cape of 
 Good Hope, and part of Ceylon, were wrested from 
 the Dutch: but an expedition to Quiberon, in which 
 were embarked about three thousand French emi- 
 grants, entirely failed. 
 
 An overture was made by the British government 
 to negotiate a peace with France ; but it was so cap- 
 tiously, not to say insolently received, that it was im- 
 possible to take any farther steps for the attainment 
 of this object. The truth seems to be, that the two 
 governments were less inclined to a pacification than 
 the people, who were anxious to be relieved from a 
 war, the evils of which were severely felt, and the 
 eventual advantages of which they did not compre- 
 hend, or did not think sufficient to compensate the 
 pressures under which they laboured. 
 
 During the last campaign, the French had been less 
 successful than in the former year: but the directory 
 made vigorous prepaiations for placing the numerous 
 armies of the republic in a most formidable posture ; 
 and the success of the French arms was not surpassed 
 in any former period. In Italy, the republican troops 
 17961 were commanded by general Bonaparte,* whose 
 * advance into that country was an almost unin- 
 terrupted career of victory. He defeated the impe- 
 rialists at Lodi, and compelled nearly the whole of 
 Italy to sue for peace. In Germany, too, the campaign 
 began successfully on the side of the French j and 
 generals Moreau and Jourdan penetrated to the very 
 heart of the empire 3 but they were afterwards repel- 
 led by the archduke Charles, who drove back the in- 
 vaders. 
 
 Hence the love of peace became more and more 
 felt by the British and the Austrians, who now alone 
 
 * Napoleon Bonaparte was a native r.f Corsica, where he 
 was born in 1769. With the most intrepid courage, and an as- 
 piring ambition, he possessed talents of the first order, which 
 raised him to the summit of power in France, and rendered 
 him formidable to all the neighbouring nations. After seating 
 himself on the throne of the Bourbons, the whole of Europe, 
 with the exception of Great Britain, submitted to the will of 
 this wonderful man. 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 m 
 
 9 
 
 remained of the grand confederacy which had been 
 formed against France ; but in proportion as the ene- 
 my was successful, he increased in his demands, and 
 refused to listen to equal teims of accommodation. 
 To evince the sincerity of their desire for peace, the 
 British ministry sent lord Malmesbury as plenipoten- 
 tiary to Paris to open a negotiation with the French 
 republic. A mutual restitution of conquests was the 
 basis on which his lordship was empowered to treat; 
 but the French refusing to restore the Netherlands, 
 ordered lord Malmesbury to quit Paris in forty-eight 
 hours, and the French territory with as much expedi- 
 tion as possible. Whether either of the two govern- 
 ments was really desirous of peace at this time, seems 
 very doubtful. 
 
 At the close of this year, the French, encouraged by 
 reports of disaffection in Ireland, attempted, with thir- 
 teen ships of the line, and a large body of troops, to 
 make a descent at Bantry-bay ; but the winds dispers- 
 ing the armament, the comnrander-in-chief, who had 
 arrived at his place of destination, returned to Brest 
 with the loss of one ship of the line and two frigates. 
 
 In SaldarTna bay, a Dutch fleet of seven sail of the 
 line, which had sailed in hopes of retaking the Cape 
 of Good Hope, was captured by admiral Elphinstone ; 
 and thus ended a campaign, in which Britain was uni- 
 formly successful on her own element. 
 
 The aspect of affairs, however, was gloomy and dis- 
 mal. The rapid and enormous increase of the 
 J national debt had created an alarm among the 
 proprietors of the public funds; and the bank having 
 advanced immense and extraordinary sums to govern- 
 ment, it was found expedient to stop the payment in 
 specie. This strong measure, which necessity atone 
 could justify, caused a great sensation ; but it appear 
 ing that the bank had still a great surplus property 
 confidence was restored ; and the notes of the bank 
 passed as freely as ever, though the prohibition cf 
 payment in cash was ordered to be continued. 
 
 Scarcely had the public alarm from the bank subsid 
 ed, when other dangers occasioned equal dread and 
 consternation. A serious mutiny broke out among the 
 Beamen of the channel fleet lying at Spithead,; but on 
 obtaining an increase of pay, which the circumstance! 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 193 
 
 of the Lillies and their own merits rendered necessary, 
 order and discipline were speedily re-established. 
 
 It was hoped, that the concession of government 
 would have prevented any fresh insurrection; but a 
 mutiny broke out at the Nore, much more outrageous 
 and full of danger. New and extravagant demands 
 were dictated to the Admiralty, delegates were cho- 
 sen to conduct the meeting, and one Richard Parker 
 was appointed admiral of the mutinous fleet. The 
 firmness of government, however, and the enactment 
 of two bills, denouncing death against all who should 
 seduce any of his majesty's seamen from their duty, 
 or hold any communication wPh ships in a state of 
 mutiny, at length overawed those misguided men. 
 The red flag of mutiny was struck ; and many of the 
 ringleaders, among whom was Parker, suffered deserv- 
 ed punishment. 
 
 To these disgraceful proceedings in the channel, the 
 successful bravery of our seamen against the enemy 
 forms a striking contrast. Admiral sir John Jervis, 
 commanding fifteen sail of the line-, fell in with a 
 Spanish fleet of twenty-seven sail off Cape St. Vin 
 cent ; and, after an engagement of five hours, in which 
 the grea*. superiority of British tactics, skill, and brave 
 ry, was displayed, captured four of the number. The 
 honour of a peerage was deservedly bestowed on the 
 gallant admiral, with the title of earl St. Vincent, in 
 allusion to the scene of this glorious achievement. 
 
 After this victory, rear-admiral Nelson, who had 
 particularly distinguished himself in the action, was 
 sent with a flotilla to make a nocturnal attack on the 
 town of Santa Cruz, in the island of Teneriffe. This 
 attempt, however, was unsuccessful : the gallant ad- 
 miral lost an arm; and one hundred and fifty men 
 were either killed or wounded in the assault. 
 
 Admiral Duncan, who had long been engaged in 
 Oct 11 blocking U P the Dutch fleet in the Texel, 
 1797 ' havin'g returned to England to refit, the ene- 
 my ventured to sea. Duncan hastily return- 
 ing, disposed his squadron in such a manner as to pre- 
 vent the Dutch from escaping without a conflict. The 
 action was extremely obstinate; but, at last, nine of 
 the largest ships, and two admirals, were the trophies 
 of British prowess. For this service, the gallant ad 
 VOL II J3 
 
194 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 miral was raised to a peerage, by the style and title of 
 iord viscount Duncan, of Camperdown, off which 
 place this victory was achieved. 
 
 Meanwhile, the British government attempted to 
 renew the negotiation for peace ; and lord Malmesbu- 
 ry was again commissioned to proceed to Lisle j but 
 the French requiring that England' should restore all 
 the possessions which had been taken from France, 
 Spain, and Holland, without offering any compensation 
 on the part of those powers, the British plenipotentia- 
 ry found it necessarj to return. 
 
 About this time, however, the Austrians being com- 
 pletely discomfited in Italy, the emperor was induced 
 to sign a definitive treaty with the French republic, at 
 Campo Formioj and thus Great Britain was left singly 
 to combat with an enemy, strengthened by a large ac 
 cession of territory and population, after all the oth 
 er powers had been successively withdrawn, or intim 
 idated from our alliance. 
 
 Ireland, which had long been agitated by foreign 
 1 TQR I an ^ domestic enemies, became this year the 
 ■* scene of an unnatural rebellion. The United 
 Irishmen, who had formed a conspiracy against gov- 
 ernment, being disappointed in their expectations of 
 receiving assistance from France, prepared for an ex- 
 tensive insurrection, without waiting for a co-opera- 
 tion from the continent. Stimulated by some persons 
 of rank and consequence among them, they were 
 guilty of the most savage atrocities ; and a few of the 
 principal traitors being themselves betrayed, their 
 wretched adherents, finding concealment no longer 
 possible, broke out into open rebellion. 
 
 It would be painful to enter into the details of the 
 cruelties and murders which were perpetrated in that 
 unhappy country. In this unnatural contest, in which 
 one part of the British empire warred with the rest, 
 numbers of the insurgents fell ; while the survivors of 
 the United Irishmen wreaked their vengeance on the 
 unhappy prisoners that fell into their hands. 
 
 At last earl Camden was recalled, and the marquis 
 Cornwallis, who, to the highest personal character 
 united splendid military talents, was appointed to the 
 vice-royalty of Ireland. By offering pardon to all, ex 
 sept to the leaders in the rebellion, he p*evailed on 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 155 
 
 Ao greatest part of the insurgents to surrender their 
 arms, and take the oath of allegiance to his majesty ; 
 and the rest were defeated or awed by the king’s 
 troops. 
 
 The French;, with a small body of forces, endeav- 
 oured to revive the rebellion ; and, surprising our 
 troops by tneir sudden appearance, gained a temporary 
 advantage, but were soon overpowered and captured by 
 lord Cornwallis. A French squadron of one ship of 
 the line and eight frigates, with troops and ammunition 
 on board, destined for Ireland, was taken and dispers- 
 ed by sir John Borlase Warren ; and the whole French 
 equipment, with the exception of two frigates, fell 
 ultimately into the hands of the English. 
 
 Meanwhile, Bonaparte had sailed from Toulon with 
 an armament, consisting of thirteen ships of the lin’e, 
 six frigates, and transports, having on board an army 
 of thirty thousand men. Malta capitulated to this ar- 
 mament, by the treachery of some of the chiefs of that 
 island; and steering its course for Egypt, the French 
 debarked their forces in that country, whicli they 
 speedily overran, notwithstanding the spirited opposi- 
 tion of the Mamelukes. 
 
 Admiral Nelson, who had been detached by lord St. 
 Vincent, in quest of the enemy, with thirteen sail of 
 the line and one fifty-gun ship, found the French fleet 
 Au^ 1 at anc h° r the bay of Aboukir. A severe 
 and obstinate engagement ensued ; and, after 
 a dreadful conflict, a complete victory re- 
 warded the skill and gallantry of the British admiral, 
 his officers, and men. Besides the French flag-ship 
 of 120 guns, one 74 was burnt ; one of 80 guns and sev- 
 en of 74, were captured; two ships of the line and 
 two frigates escaped by flight, but were soon after 
 taken. If Bonaparte had not possessed great talents 
 and a fertile genius, this victory, which deprived his 
 army of all communication with Europe, would have 
 completely paralyzed the expedition to Egypt. For 
 this service the admiral was created lord Nelson of thr^ 
 Nile, and received a pension of 20001. besides other 
 honours and rewards which were bestowed on him by 
 some of the sovereigns of Europe. 
 
 The grand seignior now declared war against F ranee j 
 and Paul, the new empeior of Russia, in whose char- 
 
96 
 
 HISTORY OF EJN GLAND. 
 
 acter passion and frivolity were chiefly predominant, 
 displayed his detestation of French principles, and 
 was subsidised by England. The emperor of Germa- 
 ny also joined the confederacy against France ; and 
 the republic had again to contend with another pow- 
 erful alliance. 
 
 Meanwhile, the assessed taxes not having proved so 
 productive as had been expected, the minister had re- 
 course to a tax on income, requiring one tenth on all 
 incomes exceeding two hundred pounds a-year. 
 
 A measure, however, which will immortalize the 
 memory of the premier, and deserve the lasting grati- 
 tude of both countries, was his projected union with 
 Ireland; which, after being canvassed with great at- 
 tention in England, and violently opposed in Ireland, 
 was at last carried into effect, on principles peculiarly 
 favourable to the real interests of the latter country. 
 
 The arms of Russia speedily gave a new turn to the 
 war in Italy, the English recovered Naples for its for- 
 mer sovereign ; and sir Sidney Smith, by his bravery 
 and ab.e conduct, repelled an invasion of Syria, head- 
 ed by Bonaparte himself. 
 
 The peifidy and duplicity of Tippo Saib having oc- 
 17991 casione d a nevv war India, general Harris, 
 -* with equal success and ability, made himself 
 master of Seringapatam, in storming which the tyrant 
 of the Mysore fell in action, and with him the empire 
 which had been established by his father Hyder Ally 
 The greater part of his dominions were seized by the 
 East-India Company, and his family were sent to Cal- 
 cutta. 
 
 While the allies were engaged in endeavouring to 
 make an impression upon France, Great Britain un- 
 dertook an expedition to detach the Batavian republic 
 from its connexion with the French; and a powerful 
 armament was sent to Holland, under the command 
 of the duke of York. On the 27th of August, sir 
 Ralph Abercrombie, with the British and Russian 
 ’ mops, landed at the Helder, and defeated the forces 
 opposed to them, after a short and sharp conflict. Soon 
 after, however, the duke of York assuming the com 
 mand, the enemy having assembled in great force, and 
 the season being too far advanced to suffer them la 
 tonlinue in the field, in a hostile country, the English 
 
GEORGE III. i/i 
 
 were obliged to abandon the enterprise with great loss. 
 
 Meanwhile Bonaparte left the army which he com- 
 manded in Egypt, and embarking in an armed vessel, 
 reached France in safety. The divisions and intrigues 
 in the French directory, aided by the popularity which 
 he had acquired, enabled him to seize the reins of 
 government; and dissolving the council of five hun 
 died, he established a new constitut.on, the executive 
 part of which was vested in himself as first consu , 
 with two subordinate consuls as his colleagues. 
 
 On his accession to the consular government, Bona- 
 parte addressed a letter to the king of Great Britain, 
 and requested his majesty to concur with him in restor 
 ing peace to the world; but these overtures being re- 
 jected under the plea that his continuance in power 
 might be as unstable as his predecessors, he prepared 
 June 14 t0 cari T on Ihe war w Rh vigour. At Maren- 
 1€00 ’ »°’ £ ave ^ dst,r ‘ ans a most signal defeat, 
 ' and obliged the emperor to conclude the 
 treaty of Luneville. Malta having submitted to the 
 arms of England, after a blockade of two years, the 
 French entered into a treaty for evacuating Egypt ; 
 but the British government unhappily refusing to rati- 
 fy this convention, which had been formed under the 
 auspices of sir Sidney Smith, the French general in 
 that country recommenced hostilities; and in order 
 to expel the enemy from that province, without which 
 our India possessions could not have been secure, sir 
 Ralph Abercrombie was sent into Egypt with a power- 
 ful army. On the 21st of March, 1801 , that gallant 
 veteran defeated the French general, Menou, with 
 great loss, but was mortally wounded in the action, 
 and died a few days after, equally beloved and revered 
 for his private virtues as for his military talents. Gen- 
 eral Hutchinson, who succeeded to the command, 
 •completed the reduction of Egypt. 
 
 Meanwhile, as the union between Great Britain and 
 Ireland had been fixed by the legislature to commence 
 and be in force from the first day of the nineteenth 
 century, the imperial parliament of both islands me. 
 18011 at Westminster, on the 22d of January. The 
 ' emperor of Russia had not only withdrawn him- 
 self from the confederacy against France, but listening 
 to the counsels of Bonaparte, had stimulated Denmark 
 
198 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 and Sweden to enter into an armed neutrality against 
 this country. When all Europe was thus combined 
 against Britain, and almost every port shut against us, 
 Mr. Pitt and his principal coadjutors resigned their 
 situations. The minister, apprehending, as has been 
 supposed, that his continuance in office might prove 
 an impediment to the restoration of peace, or, consid- 
 ering, as is more probable, and has been asserted, that 
 his pledge to the catholics at the time of the union, 
 required either the fulfilment of his promise o* the 
 sacrifice of his place, relinquished all his employ 
 ments. Mr. Addington, speaker of the house of com- 
 mons, was appointed first lord of the treasury and 
 chancellor of the exchequer; lord Hawkesbury, sec- 
 retary of state for the foreign department; and earl 
 St. Vincent, first lord of the admiralty. 
 
 The king of Prussia earnestly Dromoted the north- 
 ern confederacy, and sent an army into Hanover; but 
 a British fleet, under admirals sir Hyde Parker and 
 lord Nelson, being despatched to open the Baltic, an 
 18011 en » a o ement took place at Copenhagen, which 
 -1 had been strongly fortified, when the result was 
 a complete victory on the part of the English, chiefly 
 obtained by the intrepid conduct of lord Nelson. Af- 
 ter this bloody battle, an armistice v.ds agreed on , 
 and the emperor Paul being succeeded by his son 
 Alexander, the northern confederacy was dissolved, 
 and peace was restored between England and the na- 
 tions of which it was composed. 
 
 The chief difficulty in regard to a pacification with 
 France being removed by the evacuation of Egypt by 
 the French, preliminaries of peace were signed on 
 the 1st of October, to the unbounded joy of the united 
 18011 ki n gdom. The terms, however, were far from 
 ■* giving universal satisfaction, and many saw in 
 them the seeds of a new war at no great distance ; 
 but, after various delays and difficulties, a definitive 
 treaty was signed at Amiens, cn the 27th of March 
 180°>1 flowing. By this treaty, Great Britain restor- 
 -* ed to France and her allies, every possession 
 or colony which she had taken from them during the 
 war, except the Spanish island of Trinidad, and the 
 Dutch settlement of Ceylon. Egypt was to be rest- r 
 ed to the Porte ; and the integrity of the Turkish eu? 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 199 
 
 pirc was guarantied. The French were to evacuate 
 the territories of Naples and of Rome. Malta was to 
 be restored to its own order of knights. 
 
 It was soon, however, evident that the treaty of 
 Amiens would not be productive of any long period 
 of tranquillity. The restless ambition of Bonaparte, 
 which, whilst it could not suffer neighbouring nations 
 Ho repose in peace and security, was at last fatal to- 
 himseif. No man, either of ancient or modern times, 
 can be compared with this extraordinary person, who, 
 as if regarding Europe as too confined a theatre for 
 his ambition, grasped at the dominion of the whole 
 world, and whose unparalleled life seems to resemble 
 a fiction and romance, rather than a history of real 
 actions. 
 
 His assumption of the presidency of the Italian re- 
 public, and the convention which he had formed with 
 Spain, were objects of jealousy to the British govern- 
 ment; but the subjugation of Switzerland was a wan- 
 ton aggression, which excited indignation in the breast 
 of every friend of liberty ; and the aims at dominion 
 which were every where visible, withheld the English 
 ministry from surrendering Malta, unconditionally. 
 This procured a rupture between the two countries, 
 lor.oT and war was proclaimed by Gr^at Britain against 
 J France, on the 18th of May. 
 
 One of the first measures of Bonaparte, after the 
 renewal of hostilities, was to seize on the electorate of 
 Hanover; but the invasion of England appeared at 
 this time* the principal object which occupied his at- 
 tention. A flotilla was prepared for conveying the 
 military hordes of France to the British shores ; ex- 
 tensive camps were formed in the vicinity of the har- 
 bours ; and the troops were kept in constant readiness 
 for embarkation. Such, however, werp the exertions 
 made to receive the boasted invaders of England, that 
 volunteer associations were every where formed ; men 
 of all ranks and professions, animated with one com- 
 mon feeling of indignation, devoted a great portion of 
 their time to preparations for the defence of their 
 country ; and the whole kingdom presented the ap 
 pearance of one wide tented field. 
 
 The regular military force of Great Britain was also 
 augmented beyond all former precedent, and stationed 
 
200 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 in different parts of the kingdom ; while our fleets 
 blockaded the enemy's ports ; and confined their 
 squadrons and flotillas within the protection of their 
 own batteries. 
 
 Meanwhile, a new insurrection broke out in Dublin, 
 which occasioned some alarm, but which was speedi- 
 ly repressed; but lord Kilwarden, and his nephew 
 Mr. Wolfe, unfortunately passing at the time, were 
 dragged out of their carriage by the insurgents, and 
 barbarously put to death. 
 
 This year, the French government transferred Lou- 
 isiana to the United States of America for the sum of 
 three millions of dollars. 
 
 The majorities on the side of ministers being great 
 1R041 reduced, by the opposition of Mr. Pitt, who 
 -* had hitherto supported the administration, Mr. 
 Addington resigned the office of chancellor of the ex 
 chequer and first lord of the treasury, and was succeed- 
 ed by Mr. Pitt. At the same time the duke of Port- 
 land was appointed president of the council ; and lord 
 Eldon lord chancellor. 
 
 Various attempts against the enemy's flotillas on 
 their own coasts were unsuccessful. The most con- 
 siderable of this kind, was an undertaking by lord 
 Keith, with a fleet of men of war and other ships, to 
 destroy about one hundred and fifty French vessels, 
 moored on the outside of Boulogne pier. The instru- 
 ments chiefly depended on for this purpose, were cer- 
 tain exploding vessels called catamarans, which, how- 
 ever, entirely disappointed the expectations that had 
 been formed. 
 
 Though Spain had not declared war against Britain, 
 yet the English government considered that power as 
 wholly under the control of Bonaparte ; and a British 
 squadron was, therefore, sent to intercept the Span- 
 ish frigates which conveyed specie from America to 
 Cadiz. An engagement ensued, in which one of the 
 Spanish vessels blew up; and the rest, with the treas 
 ure, fell into the hands of the English ; but this act of 
 the British government can scarcely be considered 
 otherwise than as a violation of the law of nations. 
 
 The aggressions of Bonaparte in Germany and Italy 
 provoked another coalition among the European pow 
 ers; and the “mighty army of England," which v\a? 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 201 
 
 laid to be intended for the invasion of this country, 
 18051 an< * had remained nearly two years sta- 
 
 tionary &nd inactive, was withdrawn from the 
 shores of the channel ; but the fatal battle of Auster- 
 litz destroyed the hopes of Russia and Austria, and 
 compelled the latter power to accept such terms of 
 accommodation as France thought fit to dictate. 
 
 Meanwhile Goree, which had been taken by the 
 French, was recaptured; and the Dutch settlement 
 of Surinam capitulated to a force under the command 
 of sir Charles Green and commodore Hood. Bona- 
 parte, on whom the people of France had conferred 
 the rank and title of emperor of the French, made an 
 overture to the king, in which he expressed a wish for 
 peace, and deprecated the continuance of hostilities 
 as tending to a useless effusion of blood. The reply 
 of the British government declared, that the king, 
 though ardently desirous of peace, was convinced that 
 this object could be attained only by arrangements 
 which should provide for the future safety and tran- 
 quillity of Europe, and, in consequence, till he had 
 communicated with the continental powers, with 
 whom he was engaged in confidential relations, he 
 felt it impossible to give a more particular answer to 
 the overture. 
 
 The misfortunes of our allies on the continent were 
 in some degree compensated by the brilliant success 
 which attended the fleets of Great Britain. A fleet 
 of twelve French, and six Spanish ships of the line, 
 had sailed for the West Indies, under the command 
 of admiral Villeneuve; and lord Nelson, with only 
 eleven sail of the line, pursued the French admiral, 
 who, terrified by the intelligence of his approach, has- 
 tened back to Europe, and, near cape Finisterre, was 
 encountered by sir Robert Calder, who ook two of 
 his large ships. 
 
 Soon after, the combined fleets of France and Spain, 
 amounting to thirty-three sail of the line, again sailed 
 under the same admiral, with the intention of giving 
 battle to lord Nelson. The British admiral, however, 
 had been reinforced with seven ships, which augment- 
 ed his fleet to the number of twenty-seven sail of the 
 line. On the 21st of October, lord Nelson, to his 
 great joy , descried the mighty armament of the ene- 
 
202 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 my, about seven miles east of cape Trafalgar. The 
 last memorable signal of the British admiral, u Eng- 
 land expects every man to do his duty, 7 ’ was received 
 with acclamations from the whole fleet. About noon, 
 the dreadful contest began, by the leading ships of the 
 British column breaking through the enemy’s line. In 
 this bloody battle, lord Nelson was mortally wounded 
 by a muskeUball, fired from the shrouds of the Re- 
 doubtable, to which the admiral’s ship, the Victory, 
 was opposed, after having compelled Villeneuve to 
 strike his flag on board the Bucentaur. The British 
 hero, however, did not close his eyes in death till he 
 had received assurance of a decisive victory, when, 
 faintly smiling, he exclaimed, “ God be praised ! 77 and 
 expired. In this engagement, nineteen of the enemy’s 
 ships were captured by the English. The patriotic 
 hero, by whom this victory had been achieved, was in- 
 terred in the most magnificent manner, at the public 
 expense ; the title of earl Nelson was conferred on 
 his brother, with a suitable income ; and monuments 
 to the memory of him who had been the pride and the 
 glory of his country, arose in all the principal towns 
 of the empire. 
 
 Meanwhile, the arms of Britain were crowned with 
 new triumphs in India, where sir Arthur Wellesley, 
 now duke of Wellington, defeated Scindiah, a power- 
 ful Mahratta chieftain, and obliged him to cede a 
 large tract of country to the British ; and, before the 
 close of the year 1805, a peace was concluded with 
 Holkar, another Mahratta chief, who was also depriv- 
 ed of a very considerable extent of territory. 
 
 France and Prussia concluded a treaty, by which 
 Hanover was transferred to the latter power ; and 
 Frederic William occupied nearly the whole of that 
 electorate, the property of his old ally, with his troops. 
 
 The total failure of the continental coalition greatly 
 augmented the gloom which prevailed in England in 
 consequence of the alarming illness of Mr. Pitt. This 
 distinguished statesman, whose infirm state of health 
 had been increased by anxiety and disappointment 
 I80n ex P* re d on ^e 23d of January, after having di 
 ° ■* rected the affairs of this country for a longer pe- 
 
 riod than any former minister. Under his tiuspices ( 
 ,»he maritime supremacy of England was confirmed b* 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 .203 
 
 x series cf most splendid victories; tut the public 
 burdens were enormously augmented. He laboured 
 successfully to preserve Great Britain from the conta- 
 gion of revolutionary principles ; and he exerted him- 
 self with equal zeal, but with less success, to resist 
 the military despotism by which France threatened to 
 subjugate the continent. In short, he was a statesman 
 of great ability and strength of mind, who rendered 
 momentous services to his country ; and it must be 
 allowed, that never was the force of the British char- 
 acter tried by greater dangers, or graced by more 
 splendid achievements, than under the administration 
 of William Pitt. 
 
 On the death of this distinguished and disinterested 
 statesman, lord Grenville was appointed first lord of 
 the treasury ; Mr. Fox, secretary of state for foreign 
 affairs ; lord Henry Petty, chancellor of the exchequer ; 
 and Mr. Windham, secretary of state for the depart- 
 ment of war and the colonies. 
 
 About ten days after these appointments, a negotia- 
 tion took place with France, which was no less singu- 
 lar in its commencement than fruitless in its result. 
 A Frenchman, calling himself Gevrilliere, disclosed 
 to Mr. Fox a plan for the assassination of Bonaparte i 
 but that minister dismissed the wretch with indigna- 
 tion, and informed the French government of the med- 
 itated crime. This extorted from Bonaparte a well 
 merited compliment to the honour and generosity of 
 Mr. Fox; and a negotiation for peace between the two 
 countries commenced ; but after being continued for 
 a considerable length of time, the continental policy 
 of France prevented a satisfactory issue. 
 
 One of the first measures of the new ministers was 
 an increase on the income-tax, which, already odioMs 
 and oppressive, was raised from five to ten per cent, 
 on all incomes exceeding fifty pounds. 
 
 In the house of commons, Mr. Fox moved a reso- 
 lution, which was carried into effect, and which may 
 be said to have closed the parliamentary career of that 
 great statesman. This resolution proposed to take 
 effectual measures for abolishing the Slave Trade ; 
 and an address from both houses was carried to the 
 king, beseeching him to obtain by negotiation the con- 
 cuirence of foreign powers in the abolition of the 
 same iniquitous traffic. 
 
204 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The Cape of Good Hope again surrendered to th 6 
 British 5 but an attempt on Spanish South America, 
 though at first successful, finally proved abortive. In 
 Italy, however, the British arms were triumphant, and 
 sir John Stuart defeated at Maida a French army un- 
 der general Regnier, with great loss 3 but this brilliant 
 victory, which was achieved with a comparatively 
 small force, produced no permanent change in the 
 state of the kingdom of Naples, though it preserved 
 Sicily from invasion. Naples had been seized on by 
 the French emperor, and Joseph Bonaparte was pro- 
 claimed king of that country. 
 
 The emperor Napoleon carried into effect a scheme 
 for subverting the ancient constitution of the German 
 empire, by establishing what was called the confede- 
 ration of the Rhine. The members of this confede- 
 ration were the emperor of the French, the kings of 
 Bavaria and Wirtemberg, and several other German 
 princes. Separating themselves from the Germanic 
 empire, these princes chose Bonaparte for their pro- 
 tector, and established a federal alliance, by which 
 they engaged to furnish a certain contingent of troops, 
 in case of a continental war. Conformably to an ar- 
 rangement with Napoleon, Francis resigned his office 
 and title of emperor of Germany, and annexed his 
 German provinces to the empire of Austria. 
 
 On the 13th of September died that illustrious states- 
 IPOfil nian anc * to human race, Charles James 
 
 J Fox, whose last moments were embittered, by 
 finding that the ambition of Bonaparte deprived him 
 of the pleasure dearest to his heart, — that of termi- 
 nating the sufferings of distracted Europe, and restor- 
 ing to his country the blessings of peace. As a sena- 
 tor, Mr. Fox was distinguished alike for the compre- 
 hensiveness of his views, the liberality of his princi 
 pies, and the persuasive and convincing power of his 
 eloquence 5 as a minister, he displayed in the man- 
 agement of public affairs, the same noble simplicity 
 which characterized his conduct in private life 5 and, 
 as a man, his great and amiable qualities acquired him 
 the cordial affection of his lriends, and the generous 
 admiration of his adve-saries. 
 
 On the death of this lamented statesman, lord How 
 ick was appointed secretary of foreign affairs, and Mr 
 Thomas Grenville became first lord of the admiralty 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 20a 
 
 The fate of Prussia proved the danger to which all 
 the old governments were exposed. After Napoleon 
 was engaged in hostilities with Great Britain and 
 Sweden, he rendered himself formidable to all Eu- 
 rope, by the promptness and energy of his conduct. 
 Frederic William discovered that the French Empe- 
 ror, who had guarantied to him the possession of Han- 
 over, was offering the restoration of that electorate as 
 the basis of negotiation with the English court. In- 
 dignant at the danger of losing this acquisition, he re- 
 solved to try the hazard of war 3 arid, after successive 
 actions, in which the Prussians were uniformly de- 
 feated, a tremendous conflict took place on the 14 th 
 of October, in the plains between Weimar and Auer- 
 stadt. The issue of this engagement, in which Fred- 
 IROfil er * c William suffered a total defeat, laid Prus- 
 ■* sia at the mercy of Bonaparte, who took pos- 
 session of Berlin, and completely subjugated that 
 country. Between the French and Russian armies a 
 series of bloody contests also took place, in which 
 the former were uniformly victorious 3 and, at length, 
 peace was signed at Tilsit by the emperors of France 
 and Russia. 
 
 Napoleon now controlled the whole of the contin- 
 ent. His brother Louis was created king of Holland 3 
 his brother Joseph, king of Naples 5 and his brother 
 Jerome was in person created king of Westphalia, 
 with territories ceded by Prussia and other neighbour- 
 ing states. Napoleon himself was not only emperor 
 of France, but also king of Italy 5 and Spain was en- 
 tirely subservient to the policy of that ambitious and 
 daring, though able ruler. 
 
 Whilst at Berlin, Bonaparte issued a decree, inter- 
 dicting all commerce and correspondence between 
 the countries under his control and the British Islands, 
 which he declared to be in a state of blockade. 
 
 The well known reluctance of the king to extend 
 the privileges of the catholics, did not prevent lord 
 Grenville and his associates from introducing a bill 
 into parliament, for the purpose of empowering per- 
 sons of that persuasion to fill the highest ofljces in the 
 army and the navy. The king expressed his decided 
 objection to this measure, and demanded from his 
 ministers a written pledge, that they would neve> 
 
506 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 again bring forward any proposal connected with the 
 catholic question. As the ministers could not assent 
 to this, they resigned their situations, and a new ad 
 ministration was formed. The duke of Portland waa 
 appointed first lord of the treasury; Mr. Perceval, 
 chancellor of the exchequer; lord Eldon, lord chan 
 cellor ; lord Liverpool, secretary for the home depart* 
 ment; lord Castlereagh, secretary for the war depart- 
 ment; and Mr. Canning, secretary for foreign affairs. 
 
 A new parliament was assembled, which fully es- 
 18071 ^blished the strength of the new ministers; 
 
 -* and the first important measure was a plan for 
 increasing the regular army from the militia, and sup- 
 plying the deficiencies arising from such a transfer, 
 by a supplementary militia. In the beginning of this 
 year, the island of Cura9oa surrendered to the Eng 
 lish. 
 
 A confederacy of the northern powers against Brit- 
 ain being now apprehended, the ministers sent a pow- 
 erful armament against Denmark, which was compel- 
 led to surrender her fleet to the English, after the 
 bombardment of her capital. This measure justly ex- 
 cited the indignation of Europe, and gave to the ene 
 mies of Great Britain, a plausible pretext for theii 
 hostility. 
 
 In consequence of the decree of Bonaparte from 
 Berlin, the English ministers issued orders, subjecting 
 all ports and places in Europe, from which the British 
 flag was excluded, and all those in the colonies of his 
 majesty’s enemies, to the restrictions consequent on 
 actual blockade, declaring all trade in the produce or 
 manufactures of such countries or colonies to be un- 
 lawful, and authorizing the capture of all vessels en- 
 gaged in that trade. To these orders Bonaparte pub- 
 lished a rejoinder at Milan, in which he decreed, that 
 all ships which should be searched by a British ves- 
 sel, or should pay any tax to the English government, 
 were denationalized, and might be lawfully captured 
 wherever found. 
 
 These conflicting ~egulations respecting the trade 
 of neutrals,, occasioned an act in the American con- 
 gress, imposing a strict embargo on all vessels belong- 
 ing to the American states, and commanding all for 
 cign ships to quit the harbours of the United States 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 207 
 
 The designs of Bonaparte against Spain became 
 daily more manifest; and a treaty was concluded at 
 F ontainebleau for the partition of Portugal. A French 
 army was already on i\s march to Lisbon, when the 
 Nov 29 P° rtu g uese fleet set sail from the Tagus, 
 
 18*07 ; P™ nce regent and the whole royaj 
 
 family on board, and proceeded to Rio de Ja- 
 neiro, escorted by an English squadron. The French 
 army under Junot, already on the heights above Lis- 
 bon, took possession of that capital, and subjected the 
 inhabitants to military law. 
 
 Madeira was placed under the protection of the 
 English ; and the Danish islands in the West Indies, 
 St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix, surrendtied to a 
 British squadron under sir Alexander Cochrane. 
 
 The French had obtained possession of the princi- 
 pal fortresses in Spain ; and the approach of Murat, 
 with a powerful army to the capital, increased the 
 alarm of the Spanish people. Charles IV. abdicated 
 che crown in favour of his son, the prince of the 
 Asturias, who commenced his reign under the title 
 of Ferdinand the Seventh ; but this arrangement did 
 not suit the policy of France, and, the father and son 
 quarrelling, Charles transferred to Napoleon the sover- 
 eignty of Spain, who, having persuaded Ferdinand to 
 meet him at Bayonne, compelled him to renounce the 
 crown in favour of his family. Charles, his queen, 
 1C081 an( * ^odoy, prince of the peace, retired to 
 -* Rome; and Joseph Bonaparte was installed 
 King of Spain and the Indies; while Joachim Murat, 
 the brother-in-law of the French emperor, was made 
 king of Naples. 
 
 These transactions, however, did not take place 
 without causing great commotions and much effusion 
 of blood in Spain; and the Spanish people, exasperat- 
 ed by the cruelties committed by the French in that 
 country, declared war against France, and sent depu- 
 ties to implore the assistance of England. This re- 
 quest was readily granted, and a force of ten thousand 
 men sailed to Corunna, under the command of sir 
 Arthur Wellesley ; but on communicating with the 
 Spanish leaders in that district, it was determined to 
 proceed to Portugal, where the troops were disem- 
 barked in Mondego-bay. Junot, collecting his whole 
 
£08 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 force, attacked the British army in a strong position a i 
 Vimiera; but, after an obstinate contest, the French 
 were defeated with the loss of between three and four 
 thousand men. Sir Hew Dalr*ymple r who arrived from 
 Gibraltar to assume the command of the British army, 
 
 J concluded a disgraceful convention at Cintra, by which 
 
 the French troops were sent to France, at the expense 
 of the English government, without being considered 
 as prisoners of war. 
 
 The command of the British army in Portugal de- 
 volved on Sir John Moore, who arrived with a rein- 
 forcement of twelve thousand men. That officer had 
 been intrusted with an expedition for the assistance ot 
 Sweden, against which war had been declared by 
 Russia, Prussia, and Denmark ; but through the capri- 
 cious and violent conduct of the Swedish monarch, 
 he had been constrained to return without landing his 
 troops. 
 
 Meanwhile, the disasters which befel the French 
 armies in Spain, intimidated Joseph Bonaparte, who, 
 j after a residence of ten days in Madrid, decamped 
 
 from that capital, taking with him the regalia and 
 crown jewels, and some other valuables from the pal- 
 aces and treasury. On this occasion, the Spaniards 
 contemptuously observed, that 11 Joseph had put into 
 his pocket the crown, which he durst not wear upon 
 his head.” 
 
 The French emperor, indignant at the concuct of 
 the Spaniards, and the discomfiture of his armies, an- 
 nounced to his legislative body, that, placing him- 
 self at the head of his troops, he would crown his 
 brother at Madrid, and plant his eagles on the for- 
 tresses of Portugal. Accordingly, a large and over- 
 whelming force entered Spain 5 and the undisciplined 
 troops of that country were easily defeated by the 
 hosts of French veterans, commanded by the most 
 able generals, and animated by the presence of Napo- 
 leon. 
 
 By the representations and remonstrances of Mr. 
 
 Frere, the English minister at Madrid, sir John 
 
 Moore had been urged to direct his march to that 
 
 capital ; but hearing that Madrid had surrendered to 
 
 the French, and that Napoleon was marching against I 
 
 him with a great body of forces, the English general 
 

 GEORGE III. 
 
 203 
 
 1809] 
 
 found himself compelled to retreat. Tne distresses 
 which the British army suffered Jti this retreat were 
 dreadful. With few intervals of repose, which the 
 French forces allowed them, they traversed two hun- 
 dred and fifty miles in a mountainous country, in the 
 middle of a severe winter, and by roads almost impas- 
 sable. At length, after a most painful and harassing re- 
 treat, in which they lost several thousand men, 
 the British army reached Corunna on the 12th 
 of January ; and on the 16th of that month, when the 
 embarkation of the troops was about to commence, 
 they were attacked by the French, under the com- 
 mand of marshal Soult. The British, however, though 
 inferior in number, exhausted by harassing marches 
 and deprived of their artillery, which had been em- 
 barked, repulsed the enemy, and achieved a victory 
 under the most adverse circumstances *, but, in this 
 engagement, the English lost their brave commander, 
 vho was killed by a cannon-ball, and who, in his last 
 moments, expressed a hope that his country would do 
 him justice. 
 
 Sir Arthur Wellesley being again appointed to the 
 command of the army in the peninsula, landed with 
 reinforcements in Portugal. Soult was driven from 
 Oporto; and Sir Arthur Wellesley, joined by the 
 Spanish general Cuesta, hastened to meet marshal 
 Victor in the south. The allied army was strongly 
 posted at Talavera, where it was attacked by Victor. 
 An obstinate engagement ensued, in which the French 
 were defeated with the loss of ten thousand men. 
 This victory occasioned great joy in England; and sir 
 Arthur Wellesley was honoured with a peerage, by 
 the title of lord viscount Wellington. 
 
 After *his battle, the enemy collected in great force / 
 under marshals Ney, Soult, and Mortier, and the Brit- 
 ish army was obliged to retreat into Portugal. In the 
 other districts of Spain, the French arms were tri- 
 umphant; and, at the close of the campaign, the 
 principal armies of the patriots had been successively 
 defeated and dispersed. 
 
 The island of Martinico was taken by the English ; 
 and lord Cochrane destroyed or rendered unservicea- 
 ble ten French ships in Basque roads. 
 
 War being again declared between \ustria and 
 
 v OL. II. 14 
 
 »• 
 
210 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 France, the hostile armies were put in motion ; and 
 battles were fought «t Abensberg, at Eckmuhl, and at 
 Ratisbon all in favour of the French. In the battle 
 of Asperne, however, Bonaparte was unsuccessful 
 against the archduke Charles ; but at Wagram, a short 
 time after, he obtained a decisive victory over the 
 Austrians, and compelled the emperor again to sue 
 for peace, which he granted. 
 
 An expedition was fitted out for making a descent 
 on the Dutch island of Zealand; and an armament, 
 consisting of a military force of nearly forty thousand 
 men, under the command of the earl of Chatham, and 
 a fleet of thirty-nine sail of the line, and thirty-six 
 frigates, under the direction of sir Richard Strachan, 
 sailed from England. After a vigorous siege, Flushing 
 was compelled to surrender; but the ulterior objects 
 of this expedition completely failed; and the occupa- 
 tion of the low and marshy islands of Walcherin and 
 South Beveland proved greatly destructive to the 
 troops, who were seized with a pestilential fever. 
 
 The reduction of Zante, and the consequent surren- 
 der of the Ionian islands, effected by the joint efforts 
 of lord Collingwood and sir John Stuart, may be reck- 
 oned among the more fortunate events of this year. . 
 
 A partial change of administration took place, in 
 consequence of the resignations of lord Castlereagh, 
 Mr. Canning and the duke of Portland. Mr. Perce- 
 val united in his own person the offices of first lord 
 of the treasury, and chancellor of the exchequer; the 
 marquis Wellesley was appointed secretary for foreign 
 affairs; and lord Liverpool secretary at war. 
 
 The next session of parliament commenced with 
 violent debates on the disastrous expedition to Walche- 
 18101 r ‘ n 5 an( ^ ^ or< ^ Chatham thought proper to resign 
 -* his office of master general of the ordnance. 
 
 In Spain, the cause of independence was still un- 
 successful ; but Cadiz, which had become the seat of 
 government, being protected by a combined British 
 and Spanish fleet, and occupied by a considerable 
 military force, bade defiance to any attack of the 
 enemy. 
 
 Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida fell successively into 
 Ihe hands of the French. At Buzaco, however, the 
 English obtained a victory, but afterwards retired to 
 
GEORGE m. 
 
 21 . 
 
 tl.e strong lines of Torres Vedras; and Marshal Mas- 
 6ena, the French general, fixed his head quarters at 
 Santarem. 
 
 Napoleon divorced the empress Josephine, and mar- 
 ried the archduchess Maria Louisa, daughter to the 
 emperor of Austria. Europe beheld with astonish- 
 ment this alliance, which was not less disgraceful to 
 the emperor Francis, than injurious in France to the 
 popularity cf Bonaparte. 
 
 The sovereignty of Holland was resigned by Louis ; 
 and the Seven United States were annexed to the 
 French empire In Sweden, the states elected the 
 French marshal Bernadotte crown-prince of that coun- 
 try. 
 
 In the West Indies, the English took the island <:f 
 Guadaloupe; and in the Indian Ocean, the French isl- 
 ands of Bourbon and the Mauritius. They also took 
 Amboyna from the Dutch. 
 
 In consequence of the return of the king’s malady, 
 18111 ^ ie P r ' nce °*^ Wales was appointed regent, sub- 
 ■* ject to all the restrictions which, on a former 
 occasion, had been proposed by Mr. Pitt. On the 6th 
 of February, his royal highness was installed as re- 
 gent; and he declared his intention not to remove 
 from their stations those whom he found his majesty’s 
 official servants, lest any act of his might interfere 
 with his royal father’s recovery. 
 
 The commercial distress of the nation necessarily 
 demanded the attention of parliament ; and a bill was 
 passed, empowering the treasury to issue exchequer 
 bills to the amount of six millions sterling, the same 
 to be reimbursed in three quarterly instalments ; but 
 the effects of this bill were less beneficial than had 
 been expected. The legislature also passed a bill, for 
 preventing the current gold coin from being paid for a 
 greater value than its current value, for preventing 
 bank of England notes trom being received at a value 
 inferior to that which they represented, and for s .ay- 
 ing proceedings in any distress by the tender of such 
 notes. 
 
 The difficulty of obtaining the necessary supplies 
 of provisions in a desolated country, and at such a dis- 
 tance from his resources, compelled Massena to quit 
 his strong camo at Santarem. He was closely pur- 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 sued by lord Wellington, who found means to force 
 part of his army into occasional actions, in which 
 great numbers of the French were killed or taken 
 orisoners. In order to relieve Almeida, which lord 
 Wellington had invested, Massena attacked the Brit- 
 ish army, but was repulsed, and obliged to retire to 
 Salamanca. 
 
 Lieutenant general Graham defeated the French at 
 Barosa, where the enemy lost an eagle, six pieces of 
 cannon, and upwards of three thousand men, in killed, 
 wounded and prisoners. Marshal Beresford, who was 
 investing Badajoz, which the Spanish, governor had 
 pusillanimously surrendered to the c^emy, defeated • 
 the French under marshal Soult, in the battle of Albu- 
 era, in which the enemy lost about eight thousand 
 men in killed and wounded. 
 
 In the east of Spain, the French arms were triumph- 
 ant. Tarragona, reduced after an obstinate defence, 
 suffered every cruelty which could be inflicted by the 
 conquerors. 
 
 The Dutch island of Batavia, in the East Indies, sur- 
 rendered to an English force under sir Samuel Auch- 
 muty. 
 
 The affairs of Great Britain were now approaching 
 to a crisis. The contest in Spain was still doubtful ; 
 a dispute existed with America, in regard to the orders 
 in council, and threatened an open rupture with that 
 country ; and France was preparing, for the subjuga- 
 tion of Russia, which refused to comply with the trea- 
 ty of Tilsit, by excluding the British from all 
 commerce with the continent, a mightier arma- 
 ment than had ever been collected in Europe. At 
 home, the decline of trade produced severe distress 
 among the people ; and a spirit of discontent and in- 
 subordination manifested itself in several of the manu- 
 facturing districts. 
 
 The parliament passed two bills, by one of which the 
 crime of frame-breaking was made a capital offence ; 
 and by the other, additional powers were given to 
 magistrates for a limited time, for the purpose of pre- 
 serving the public peace in the disturbed counties. 
 
 On the 11th of May as Mr. Perceval was entering 
 IRl^l tbe lobb y tbe bouse of commons he was shot 
 bv a person of the name of Bellingham, and 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 213 
 
 died almost immediately. This man professed to have 
 sustained injuries from the Russian government, 
 which the British ministers being unable to redress, 
 he determined to put one of them to death, that his 
 case might be brought before a court of justice. The 
 murderer made no attempt to palliate his crime, which 
 he expiated with his life. Ample provision was made 
 by parliament for the widow and children of Mr. Per- 
 ceval ; and men of all parties lamented his untimely 
 fate, and bore testimony to his upright and amiable 
 character. 
 
 After much delay, a new administration was formed 
 in which lord Liverpool was appointed first lord of the 
 treasury, lord Sidmouth (formerly Mr. Addington) 
 secretary of state for the home department, and Mr. 
 Vansittart chancellor of the exchequer. 
 
 One of the first acts of the present government was 
 a revocation of the orders in council, as far as regard- 
 ed American property ; but before intelligence of this 
 repeal cou.ld be received in America, the United 
 States had declared war against Great Britain. The 
 republicans commenced hostilities by an irruption in- 
 to upper Canada, but were defeated, and obliged to 
 surrender to the British. For their disgraces by land, 
 however, the Americans received some compensation 
 by their successes at sea. 
 
 In the peninsular war, the French arms were tri- 
 umphant in the east of Spain ; but, in the west, they 
 suffered great reverses. Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz 
 feli into the hands of the allies; and so important did 
 the capture of the former place appear to the Span- 
 iards, that the Cortes conferred on lord Wellington 
 the rank of a grandee, with the title of duke of Ciudad 
 Rodrigo. 
 
 Marshal Marmont, who had assumed the command 
 of the French army, was completely defeated by lord 
 Wellington at Salamanca. This was the greatest vic- 
 tory that the English general had yet achieved, and 
 sufficiently showed that the military talents of his 
 lordship were superior to those of his adversary who 
 was one of the most distinguished of the French mar- 
 shals. The effects of this victory were felt in differ 
 1S121 ent P arts Spain Astorga capitulated, the 
 *’ blockade of Cadiz was raised, Bilboa evacuated. 
 
214 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND; 
 
 and Seville recovered. Lord Wellington advaiicd 
 and laid siege to Burgos ; but failing in his attempt u 
 take it, and the French army, which had been rein 
 forced, threatening the allies, his lordship retreated, 
 and established his head-quarters at Freynada, on tike 
 Portuguese frontier. In admiration of his talents and 
 achievements, the cortes invested him with the author- 
 ity of commander-in-chief of the Spanish armies. 
 
 Napoleon’s enterprise against Russia, which, in the 
 boldness of its object, as well as the magnificent scale 
 on which it was conducted, surpassed every expedi 
 tion undertaken by any European power, threatened 
 the conquest of that mighty empire. The French 
 force emp'oyed in this undertaking, has been estimated 
 18P1 at four hundred thousand effective men. On the 
 24 th of June, Napoleon with his formidable.ariny, 
 passed the Nieinen, and entered the Russian territory. 
 The plan of his adversaries was, to resist the progress 
 of the invader without risking a general engagement, 
 today waste the country through which he should aim 
 to penetrate, and to harass him as he advanced, and 
 cut off his supplies. Bonaparte attacked the main 
 Russian army at Smolensko, which the Russians des- 
 pairing of regaining, they retreated ; but the invaders, 
 on their entrance, found the city burning and in ruins. 
 The conqueror now hastened towards Moscow, of 
 which, after the sanguinary battle of Borodino, he ob- 
 tained possession. 
 
 On the entrance of the French emperor into that 
 devoted place, which the invaders had fondly hoped 
 would have afforded some repose for their toils, the 
 city was found on fire ; and a violent wind arising soon 
 after, ihe conflagration became general, and the whole 
 extent of that ancient capital, for many miles, appear- 
 ed like a sea of flame. Two thirds of the city were 
 destroyed. 
 
 Napoleon was now in the greatest difficulty. Hiss 
 stores were exhausted, and his supplies intercepted 
 by the Russian armies; and his soldiers, dispirited 
 and discontented, were enfeebled by the fatigue and 
 distress to which they had been exposed. A retrea / 
 was now inevitable. The horrors of this retreat, ot 
 rather flight, exceed the powers of description. 'The 
 route of the army might be traced, in many places, by 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 U 
 
 fhe dead bodies of those who perished from cold, hun- 
 ger, or fatigue ; and of the numerous hosts that com- 
 posed tne invading army, not more than fifty thousand 
 men recrossed the Russian boundary. 
 
 *The new parliament of Great Britain and Ireland 
 assembled under happier auspices than the most san- 
 guine politician could have ventured to anticipate. 
 The session was opened by the prince regent, who ex- 
 
 f iressed his firm reliance on the determination of par- 
 iament to continue every aid in support of a contest, 
 which had first given to the continent of Europe the 
 example of persevering and successful resistance to 
 the power of France. A grant of one hundred thou- 
 sand pounds was voted to lord Wellington, and anoth- 
 er of two hundred thousand pounds for the relief of 
 the sufferers in Russia. A bill was passed, by which 
 the East India Company was to continue in posses- 
 sion of all its former territories in India, with the later 
 acquisitions, continental and insular, to the north of 
 the equator, for the further term of twenty years from 
 the 20th of April, 1814. The exclusive right of a 
 commercial intercourse with China, and of the trade 
 in tea, was preserved to the company 3 but his majes 
 ty’s subjects in general were permitted to trade to and 
 from all ports within the limits of the company’s char- 
 ter, under certain provisions. 
 
 One of the first effects of the late Russian campaign 
 18181 was to rouse the other powers of Europe from 
 -* their state of subjection to the dominion of 
 France. Prussia united her arms to those of Russia; 
 and Austria did not long delay to follow the example. 
 Sweden, subsidised by Great Britain, joined the allies. 
 The battle of Leipsic was completely decisive against 
 the French, and the Dutch availing themselves of 
 this opportunity of throwing off the galling yoke of 
 France, recalled from his long exile the prince of 
 Orange, who entered the Hague amidst the acclama- 
 tions of the people. The influence of Bonaparte in 
 Germany, was now nearly annihilated 3 and the com- 
 plete deliverance of Europe from the yoke of France 
 seemed no longer doubtful. 
 
 The disasters of their countrymen in German} par- 
 alyzed the efforts of the French in Spain. The skill 
 and activity of lord Wellington prevented them frona 
 
216 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGL \ND. 
 
 securing the line of the Douro ; and at Vittoria, he 
 completely defeated the French, commanded by Jo- 
 seph Bonaparte, under whom marshal Jourdan acted 
 as major-general. After suffering this defeat, the 
 French retired by Pampeluna, and pursued their re* 
 treat over the Pyrennees into France. Joseph Bona- 
 parte fled in confusion, and thus terminated his pos- 
 session of the Spanish monarchy. 
 
 In the east of Spain, the success of the allies was 
 less flattering; and sir John Murray, who had landed 
 an army of fifteen thousand men from Sicily, attempt- 
 ed the siege of Tarragona; but, though the town had 
 been partly dismantled, and was feebly garrisoned, 
 the British general, on tne report of Suchet’s approach 
 from Valencia, hastily abandoned the siege, and left 
 his cannon in the batteries. 
 
 Early in January, the allied armies in Germany 
 passed the Rhine and entered France at different 
 points. For some time, Napoleon appeared irreso- 
 lute ; but when the invaders had reached Champagne, 
 j.. he became convinced of the necessity of acting 
 -* with vigour. At Brienne, he attacked marshal 
 Blucher, whom he compelled to retreat: but at La 
 Rothiere, he was obliged to retire in his turn. The 
 allies now advanced to Troyes, which was entered by 
 the prince of Wurtemburg ; Chalons on the Marne 
 was evacuated by Macdonald; and Chalons on the 
 Saone was taken by the Austrians. Bonaparte, on 
 the verge of ruin, made the most surprising and ener- 
 getic efforts for his recovery. Unable to oppose an 
 adequate resistance to the allied armies in every quar- 
 ter, he determined towioncentrate his forces, and, 
 by bearing vigorously on particular points, to aim at 
 destroying their communication with each other. In 
 pursuance of this plan, he attacked the Prussian army 
 under Blucher, and compelled him to retreat to Cha- 
 lons on the Marne. He next directed his attention to 
 prince Schwartzenberg, who had been advancing o? 
 Paris, by way of the Seine, and forced him to retire. 
 
 During these transactions, negotiations for peace 
 were carried on at Chati'ilon. The British envoys 
 were the earl of Aberdeen and lord Cathcart, undei 
 the direction of lord Castlereagh ; Caulaincourt was 
 the representative of Napoleon; and plenipotentiaries 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 217 
 
 . were also appointed by the Russian, Austrian, and 
 Prussian courts. The ultimatum of Bonaparte, how 
 ever, to maintain the integrity of the French empire, 
 were deemed inconsistent with the balance of power 
 in Europe, and on that account the conferences ter- 
 minated. 
 
 In the mean time, the marquis of Wellington, after 
 crossing the Bidassoa, gradually proceeded in the south 
 of France. His army forced the passage of the Gave 
 de Pau at Orthes, and next day crossed the Adour, A 
 division under marshal Beresford entered Bordeaux, 
 which declared for the Bourbons, and the chief inhab- 
 itants welcomed the British troops as deliverers. 
 Soult was defeated by the marquis of Wellington at 
 Tarbes, and afterwards at Toulouse. 
 
 The allied armies in the north of France continued 
 to advance, and, notwithstanding the extraordi lary 
 exertions and abilities displayed by Napoleon, they 
 succeeded, by a convention entered into with marshal 
 Marmont, in obtaining possession of the city of Paris. 
 A special senate appointed a provisional government, 
 which declared, that Napoleon Bonaparte had violated 
 the compact which united him to the French people, 
 and had thereby forfeited his right to the throne of 
 France. 
 
 Under these circumstances, on the 4th of April a 
 treaty was concluded at Fontainbleau, by which Bon- 
 aparte, on certain conditions, abdicated, for himself 
 and his heirs, the thrones of France and Italy'. The 
 18141 was possessed by him in full 
 
 * sovereignty, and an annual revenue of two mil- 
 lions of francs, charged on the great book of France ; 
 and to his consort, Maria Louisa, were assigned the 
 Duiehies of Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla. On the 
 20th of the same month, Napoleon began his journey 
 to the isle of Elba, accompanied by four commission- 
 ers from the allied powers. 
 
 Louis XYT1I. embarked at Dover, and was joyfully 
 welcomed at Calais j but in the capital, the acclama- 
 tions of the loyal people produced no response from 
 the soldiery. One of the first acts of Louis was to 
 issue a declaration forming the basis of the constitu 
 tional charter, by which the libertiej of the French 
 nation were to be secured. 
 
218 
 
 HISTORY O ENGLAND. 
 
 Peace was concluded between France and the allied 
 powers, Austria, Russia, Great Britain, and Prussia. 
 By this treaty, the continental dominions of Franco 
 w ere, generally speaking, restricted to the limits which 
 bounded them on the 1st of January, 1792. Her colo- 
 nies, with a few exceptions, were restored. England 
 retained Malta, the Cape of Good Hope, and the small 
 island of Heligoland, besides some islands in the East 
 and West Indies. 
 
 In the beginning of June, the emperor of Russia 
 and the king of Prussia visited England, attended by 
 marshal Blucher, the hetman Platoff, and other distin- 
 guished officers. The visit of these illustrious stran- 
 gers was celebrated in London, and other parts of the 
 kingdom with extraordinary rejoicing and festivity. 
 
 The duke of Wellington’s return was hailed with 
 no less joy than the arrival of the allied sovereigns. 
 On taking his seat for the first time in the house of 
 lords, his various patents of honour, as baron, viscount, 
 earl, marquis, and duke, were successively recited ; 
 and the thanks of the house, which had been voted 
 the evening before, were addressed to him by the 
 lord chancellor. To support these high honours, the 
 Sj§m of three hundred thousand pounds was voted for 
 the purchase of a palace and domain suitable to his 
 dignity. Proportionate honours and emoluments were 
 assigned to his gallant companions in arms ; and gen 
 era’s Graham, Hill, and Beresford, were raised to the 
 peerage. 
 
 While peace was thus happily restored to Europe, 
 the war between Great Britain and the United States 
 of America still raged with much animosity, devasta- 
 tion, and bloodshed. At length, however, on the 24th 
 J8141 December, a treaty of pacification was ef- 
 ° ‘ fected between the two countries at Ghent; 
 
 and for the first time, after the period of a quarter of 
 a century, with the exception of the feverisn truce 
 of Amiens, a general peace prevailed in both hemis- 
 pheres, and for the present the temple of Janus was 
 closed. 
 
 The return of Bonaparte from Elba created a strong 
 feeling throughout Europe. This extraordinary man 
 landed in the south of France, with a few followers, 
 on the 1st of March, and was every where received 
 
GEORGE III. 
 
 219 
 
 |o« c | with extravagant joy. On the 20th of the same 
 -* month, Louis XVIII. fled from Paris, and on 
 the evening of the same day, Napoleon entered that 
 capital, and resumed the government. 
 
 His first attempt was to conciliate the allies, to 
 whom he proposed to maintain the peace which had 
 been concluded with Louis at Paris; but the allies 
 rejected the proposition, and began immediately to 
 put their armies in motion, with the avowed design 
 of once more displacing him, and restoring the Bour- 
 bons. The English and Prussians were first assembled 
 in the Netherlands under Wellington and Blucher; 
 and Napoleon, at the head of 150,000 men, advanced 
 against them, on the 12th of June. At Charleroi, he 
 encountered the Prussians, who, after great loss, re- 
 treated upon Wavre, where they were followed by the 
 French right wing under Grouchy. On the next day, 
 the left division of the French army had a severe 
 conflict with the English and Dutch at Quatre Bras, 
 after which the British division retreated to Waterloo, 
 where, meeting with reinforcements, was fought one 
 June 18 severest ' engagements recorded in his- 
 
 l^jA’tory. The French made the attack about 
 noon, and persevered with great fury durii^ 
 the whole day. About four in the afternoon, a Prus- 
 sian army, under Bulow, arrived on the field, and as- 
 sisted in checking the .'mpetuosity of the French; at 
 seven o’clock, the remainder of the Prussians under 
 Blucher arrived from Wavre ; and assailing the French 
 on their rear to the right, a general confusion in their 
 army took place’, and at nine o’clock they fled in dis- 
 order towards Charleroi, leaving 30,000 killed and 
 wounded, and all their cannon and materials of war 
 in the hands of the victors. 
 
 The Prussians continued the pursuit throughout the 
 night. On the side of the allies, the total of killed 
 and wounded was not inferior to that of the French, 
 and among them were many officers of distinction, 
 who had acquired great celebrity during the previous 
 wars. 
 
 The English and Prussian armies now advanced rap 
 idly into France, and invested Paris, and in a few days 
 the French provisional government entered into a 
 convention. Louis XVIII., w ho in the interim had 
 
220 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 resided at Ghent, at the same time entered his capi 
 tal ; and though there was still a considerable French 
 force in the field and in garrisons, it was reduced to 
 submission in a short time by the armies of Austria 
 and Russia, which had also penetrated France. 
 
 Meanwhile Bonaparte, who, after abdicating at Paris 
 in favour of his son, had proceeded to Rochfort for 
 the purpose of embarking for America, finding it im- 
 practicable to elude the vigilance of the British cruis- 
 ers, went voluntarily on board a British man-of-war, 
 which immediately sailed for Torbay. The decision 
 of the British government, in concert with the allies, 
 was, that he should be conveyed to the island of St. 
 Helena, in the southern Atlantic, there to reside as a 
 state prisoner, under the inspection of commissioners 
 appointed by each of the confederate powers. 
 
 By the arrangements of the congress, to which lord 
 Castlereagh was deputed on the part of the English 
 government, the seven Ionian islands were placed un- 
 der the protection of Great Britain ; to whose sove- 
 reign was also confirmed the title of king of Hanover. 
 
 While these important events were passing in Eu- 
 rope, the arms of Britain had achieved some valuable 
 conquests in Asia. A dispute had arisen between the 
 East-India Company and the Nepaulese, concerning 
 their boundaries; and the Nepaulese, who were a 
 brave and hardy race, endeavoured to force their pre- 
 tensions by the sword ; but they were overcome by 
 the British troops, directed by the marquis of Hast- 
 ings, and the whole tract of territory in dispute was 
 ceded to the East-India Company. 
 
 An important revolution took place at this time in 
 Ceylon. The king of Candy, who possessed the inte- 
 rior of the island, having alienated the hearts of his 
 subjects by a series of cruelties, and provoked the 
 hostility of his powerful neighbours, was dethroned 
 and his family excluded from the crown. A treaty 
 was signed in a solemn assembly of adikars and other 
 chiefs of the provinces, by which the dominion of 
 the Candian empire was vested in the king of Great 
 Britain, with a reservation to those chiefs of their 
 rights and immunities. 
 
 An event, which gave universal satisfaction, was 
 the marriage of the princess Charlotte of W iles, pro- 
 
GEORGE 1L1. 
 
 221 
 
 (816] 
 
 •imptive heiress to the British throne, to the 
 
 i8l7] 
 
 prince Leopold of Saxe-Cobourg. A naval expe- 
 dition was this year undertaken against Algiers, which 
 had refused to abolish Christian slavery. The dey 
 commenced hostilities by the seizure and imprison- 
 ment of the British vice-consul, and by a most horri- 
 ble massacre of Christians engaged in the coral fishe- 
 ry at Bona. Lord Exmouth attacked Algiers with a 
 formidable armament j and the dey, after a tremen- 
 dous conflict, was compelled to accede to the terms 
 of the English admiral. 
 
 In England, great distress prevailed, particularly in 
 the manufacturing districts, in which the people suf- 
 fered from a depreciation of wages, consequent on an 
 almost total stagnation of trade. The public mind 
 was agitated by rumours of plots and conspiracies, 
 and at Derby, a number of persons were tried for high 
 treason, and three of them being found guilty, under- 
 went the dreadful sentence of the law. 
 
 The hopes founded on the happy union of the prir.ce 
 regent’s only daughter with the prince of Co- 
 bourg, were fatally blighted on the 6th of No- 
 vember, by the death of that amiable princess, at a 
 short period after her delivery of a still-born male in- 
 fant, to the unspeakable grief of the royal family, and 
 the general sorrow of the whole nation. 
 
 After a long and severe illness, queen Charlotte, 
 consort of George III., died on the 17th of November. 
 In consequence of her death, the duke of York was 
 appointed guardian of the king’s person, with a 
 salary of ten thousand pounds a year. 
 
 The spirit of discontent, which had already appear- 
 ed in the manufacturing districts, now became alarm- 
 ing. A meeting of the people was held at Manchester, 
 on the 16th of August, for the purpose of petitioning 
 for a reform in parliament, to the number of 60,000, 
 carrying various banners. Mr. Hunt, the chair- 
 man, and some others, were arrested on the 
 hustings, and a party of yeomanry cavalry begin- 
 ning io strike down the banners, a scene of dreadful 
 confusion arose ; numbers were trampled under the 
 feet of men and horses ; many persons, even females, 
 were cut down by sabres ; some were killed, and be- 
 tween three ard four hundred were wounded and 
 
 1818] 
 
 1819] 
 
mi 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 maimed. The interference of an armed yeomanry foi 
 die prevention rather than for the suppression of riot, 
 produced a strong sensation throughout the country • 
 and addresses on this unfortunate affair were prepared 
 >n the principal cities and towns in the kingdom. 
 
 At the close of the year, it was announced, that the 
 bodily health of the king had partaken cf some of the 
 infirmities of age ; and on Saturday, the 2‘Jth of Jan- 
 18^01 uai 7> thirty-five minutes past eight in the 
 -• evening, his majesty expired without a strug- 
 gle, in the eighty-second year of his age. Thus ter- 
 minated, in its sixtieth year, the reign of George the 
 Third, a sovereign who deserved to be emphatically 
 styled the father of his people. Their loyalty and af- 
 fection were always considered by him as tne best 
 and most permanent security of his throne j and by 
 his own example, he promoted among them the prac- 
 tice of those duties which alone could enable them 
 to enjoy the blessings of civil and religious liberty, 
 as guarantied by the constitution. His habitual piety, 
 and constant trust in Providence, greatly strengthened 
 the natural courage and firmness which he possessed, 
 and for which, on occasions of personal danger, he 
 was so eminently distinguished. If, in matters of state 
 policy, he sometimes evinced a tenaciousness of pur- 
 pose, which seemed to border on obstinacy, this must 
 be attributed to his strong sense of the obligations un- 
 der which he considered himself bound, in discharge 
 of the important trust committed to him. He was 
 punctually assiduous in the exercise of his royal func 
 lions, and exemplary in the fulfilment of all the social 
 duties. Temperance and exercise secured to him for 
 a long period the enjoyment of uninterrupted health. 
 The English sceptre may have been swayed by sove- 
 reigns endowed with more splendid qualities than 
 those of George the Third ; but it may be greatly 
 doubted whether any of his predecessors, since Ed 
 ward the Sixth, has borne his faculties so meekly, or 
 been “so clear in his grea 4 office.” 
 
GEORGE IV. 
 
 223 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The Reign of George IV. 
 
 (A.D. 1820.) The accession of a monarch, who 
 had been actually in the possession of sovereign 
 power for so many previous years, produced no im- 
 portant political changes. George IV. was publicly 
 proclaimed on the 31st of January in London and 
 Westminster, and matters went on for some time in 
 their ordinary course. On the 23d of February, the 
 metropolis was astounded by intelligence of a plot 
 being discovered for the assassination of his majes- 
 ty’s ministers. The Cato-street conspiracy, as it 
 was called, from the little street near the Edgeware- 
 road, where the conspirators used to assemble, was 
 planned by Thistlewood, who had been before ac- 
 quitted on a charge of treason, and some other men 
 of desperate fortunes. Their design was to obtain, 
 on some pretence, admission to Lord Harrowby’s, 
 when the ministers were assembled at a cabinet din- 
 ner, and there murder the entire party. But all 
 their plans were betrayed to government by a spy, 
 and a strong body of police, accompanied by a de- 
 tachment of the guards, burst into their rendezvous 
 at the moment that they were preparing for the ex- 
 ecution of their designs. After some resistance, in 
 which Smithers, a police officer, was killed, they 
 were overpowered, and the greater part made pris- 
 oners ; Thistlewood made his escape, but was sub- 
 sequently taken at a house in Moorfields. Suoh 
 was the poverty and misery of these wretched mad- 
 men, who proposed to subvert a powerful govern- 
 ment, that when they were searched, not even a 
 shilling was found among the whole party. They 
 were soon after brought to trial : Thistlewood and 
 four others were executed, some more transported, 
 and government, satisfied with these examples, gave 
 up the prosecution against the rest. Preparations 
 were now commenced for the coronation Of his 
 majesty, and immediately after this ceremony, he 
 paid a visit to Dublin, and was received by the Irish 
 people with a burst of loyal affection such as was 
 
224 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 probibly never before witnessed. After a short 
 visit, he embarked at Kingstown in the presence of 
 a countless multitude, who rent the air with accla- 
 mations, and with blessings on the head of the first 
 English sovereign who had visited Ireland without 
 hostile intentions. Shortly after his return, the 
 king made an excursion to Hanover, the cradle of 
 his race ; and after a brief stay returned to Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Great distress was experienced throughout the 
 British islands by the depreciation of agricultural 
 produce, and consequent difficulty of paying rents. 
 In Ireland, the mutual discontents of the land- 
 holders and peasantry led to several outrages on 
 the part of the latter, perfectly disgraceful to a civ- 
 ilized country. By a little vigorous exertion, how- 
 ever, these violences were repressed, and compara- 
 tive tranquillity restored. The distress of the 
 lower classes, which indeed -almost exceeded credi- 
 bility, was relieved by a general and generous 
 subscription in England, which arrested the prog- 
 ress of a pestilential disease, produced by famine 
 and distress. 
 
 A time of profound peace furnishes but few inci- 
 dents worthy of being recorded by the historian ; 
 during such a period a nation is silently employed 
 in improving its resources and repairing the injuries 
 which had been inflicted by war on its finances. 
 The unparalleled contest in which England had 
 been so long engaged, imposed on her rulers a task 
 of no ordinary difficulty ; the immense debt which 
 had been accumulated, required a large taxation to 
 pay its interest ; and though many exertions have 
 been made to relieve the country from such pres- 
 sure, no extensive reduction can reasonably be ex- 
 pected for a very long period. (1822.) After the 
 termination of the parliamentary session, the king 
 proceeded to visit the Scottish capital, and was re- 
 ceived by his northern subjects with the utmost 
 enthusiasm. The festivities were, however, soon 
 interrupted by the melancholy news of the death of 
 the marquis of Londonderry, the secretary for for- 
 eign affairs, who had committed suicide in a fit of 
 temporary insanity. After an interval of more than 
 
GEORGE IV. 225 
 
 • 
 
 a month, Mr. Canning was appointed his successor, 
 and received the seals of office at a time when a 
 minister possessing his talent and his energy was 
 most wanting to the country. 
 
 A sanguinary struggle for the liberation of Greece 
 from the Turkish yoke had commenced some time 
 previously, but had long produced no result but 
 terrific massacres. The principal members of the 
 holy alliance viewed the insurrection of the Greeks 
 with secret dislike ; but the sympathies of the 
 greater part of the people of Europe were awakened 
 in their favor, and several volunteers from England 
 and other countries tendered their assistance to the 
 insurgents. (1824.) Lord Byron, whose poetry had 
 created a powerful feeling in favor of the Greeks, 
 proceeded to aid them by his personal exertions, 
 but unfortunately fell a victim to a fever at Misso 
 longhi, in Western Greece. 
 
 From the time that the union between England 
 and Ireland had been effected, attempts were annu- 
 ally made for the repeal of the remaining restrictive 
 laws against the Roman Catholics; repeated fail- 
 ures by no means diminished the hopes of the 
 Catholic leaders and their friends ; and in Ireland 
 they formed a permanent association for the further- 
 ance of their objects. (1825.) The members of the 
 Catholic Association were not always very measured 
 in their language, or temperate in their attacks on 
 government, and it was judged expedient to sup- 
 press meetings which were pregnant with danger. 
 A bill for extending the law in Ireland against 
 illegal societies was introduced into parliament, and 
 as it was expected that catholic emancipation would 
 immediately follow, it passed with but little opposi- 
 tion. This hope was, however, doomed to be disap- 
 pointed, the catholic question was indeed carried 
 in the lower house, but it was lost in the lords prin- 
 cipally on account of the exertions made by his 
 royal highness the Duke of York. 
 
 (A.D. 1827-) Death and disease among the great 
 and noble of the land, produced some important 
 changes in the councils of Great Britain. On the 
 5th of January, his royal highness the Duke of 
 York died, sincerely and generally lamented, more 
 VOL. II. 15 
 
225 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 especially by the army ; for his conduct ever since 
 his restoration to the office of commander-in-chief, 
 had deservedly procured for him the endearing ap- 
 pellation of “ the soldier’s friend.” On the 17th of 
 Februarv, the Earl of Liverpool, Prime Minister of 
 England, was seized with a fit of apoplexy, which 
 terminated his political existence, though his natu- 
 ral life was prolonged to the close of the succeeding 
 year. He was succeeded by Mr. Canning, whose 
 commanding eloquence and enlightened views had 
 made him almost irresistible in the house of com- 
 mons. But the additional fatigues imposed upon 
 this highly-gifted statesman, and the fierce opposi- 
 tion he had to encounter, proved too much for a 
 constitution already enfeebled by neglected disease ; 
 he died on the 8th of August, in the fifty-eighth 
 year of his age. Mr. F. Robinson, having been 
 elevated to the peerage, by the title of Lord Gode- 
 rich, was next appointed premier ; but his adminis- 
 tration was loose and unsettled, and the cabinet 
 which he had formed soon fell to pieces. The Duke 
 of Wellington was then called by his majesty to 
 preside over the councils of Britain, and aided by 
 Mr. Peel, he succeeded in forming a ministry, prom- 
 ising more firmness and stability than that which it 
 succeeded 
 
 (A.D. 1828.) After the resignation of Lord Gode- 
 rich, Mr. Huskisson and some other friends of the 
 late Mi*. Canning, had joined in the Duke of Wel- 
 lington’s administration, but they found that little 
 harmony could exist in such a coalition. At length 
 Mr. Huskisson, having voted against ministers, 
 tendered his resignation, which to his great surprise 
 and mortification was accepted, nor could all his 
 subsequent efforts alter the inflexible spirit of the 
 Duke of Wellington. The time of the house of 
 commons was wasted in the discussion of this and 
 similar disputes ; but one act of the session made 
 an important change in the forms of the constitu- 
 tion. The test and corporation acts, which required 
 the receiving of the sacrament of the Lord’s sup- 
 per, according to the rites of the church of England, 
 as a necessary qualification for office, were repealed 
 after a brief parliamentary struggle ; and the hopes 
 
GEORGE IV. 
 
 227 
 
 of the Roman Catholics, for the repeal of the laws 
 by which they were excluded from parliament, were 
 greatly raised by this event. A motion in their 
 favor was made by Sir Francis Burdett, and carried 
 by a majority of six ; but it terminated ineffectively, 
 as a similar motion was negatived in the house of 
 peers. 
 
 (A.D. 1829.) The commencement of the ensuing 
 session of parliament was expected by all parties 
 with the utmost anxiety ; and it was not without 
 surprise, that both parties found catholic emancipa- 
 tion recommended in the speech from the throne. 
 A bill to give effect to this recommendation passed 
 both houses by triumphant majorities, though not 
 without encountering a vigorous opposition, and 
 received the royal assent on the 13th of April. 
 
 From the date of this important change in the 
 constitution, to the close of the reign, nothing of 
 great importance occurred in England; but in 
 France the dissatisfaction of the people with their 
 rulers became daily more manifest. An expedition 
 was undertaken against Algiers, probably with the 
 hope of diverting the attention of the French peo- 
 ple from politics, to what had been so long their 
 favorite passion, — military glory. (A.D,. 1830.) 
 The expedition was eminently successful ; Algiers 
 was captured, and the entire presidency subjected 
 .to the power of France : but the discontents of the 
 French people continued to rage with as much vio- 
 lence as ever. 
 
 The illness of the king in the commencement of 
 the year 1830 threw a damp on public affairs, and as 
 its fatal tendency became more apparent, specula- 
 tions were rife on the probable political conduct of 
 his successor. After a tedious sickness, which he 
 sustained with great fortitude and resignation, 
 George IV. died at Windsor Castle, on the 25th of 
 June. 
 
223 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Reign of William TV, 
 
 Rarely has the accession of a new sovereign 
 afforded such general satisfaction, as was manifested 
 by all classes, when the Duke of Clarence ascended 
 the throne with the title of William IY. Unlike 
 his predecessors, his habits were economical and 
 his manners familiar; he exhibited himself to his 
 people, conversed with them, and shared in their 
 tastes and amusements ; within a few weeks he at- 
 tained an unprecedented degree of popularity, and 
 was reverenced by his subjects as a father, and loved 
 by them as a friend. No change was made in the 
 ministry ; but as his majesty was connected by mar- 
 riage with some of the leading whigs, it was gen- 
 erally believed that the policy which rigidly excluded 
 that party from office during the two preceding 
 reigns, would not be maintained in full force. The 
 hopes of a coalition between the Wellington admin- 
 istration and the whigs were, however, soon dis- 
 pelled ; the opposition to the ministry, which had 
 been almost nominal during the preceding sessions, 
 was more than usually violent in the debate on the 
 address ; and though the formal business of both 
 houses was hurried through with all possible des- 
 patch, the whigs were pledged to a virtual declara- 
 tion of war against the cabinet before the proroga- 
 tion of parliament. 
 
 The parliament was dissolved on the 24th of July, 
 but before it could be again convened, the revolu- 
 tionary movements in neighboring countries pro- 
 duced important effects on the public mind, and. in 
 some degree convulsed all Europe. 
 
 Several insurrectionary movements took place in 
 Germany ; the Duke of Brunswick was deposed, 
 and replaced by his brother; the King of Saxony 
 was forced to resign in favor of his nephew, and the 
 Elector of Hesse was compelled to grant a constitu- 
 tional charter to his subjects. Poland next became 
 the theatre of war ; its Russian emperor, the Arch- 
 duke Constantine, was expelled, and the indepen- 
 
WILLIAM IV. 229 
 
 dence of the country proclaimed ; but after a long 
 and sanguinary struggle, the gallant Poles were 
 forced to yield to the gigantic power of Russia. 
 
 In England, the rural districts, especially Kent 
 and the northern countries, exhibited alarming 
 signs of popular discontent; but the agitation in 
 Ireland was of a still more dangerous character, 
 and seemed to threaten the dismemberment of the 
 empire. Great anxiety was felt for the opening of 
 parliament, and the development of the line of pol- 
 icy which the ministers would adopt at such a crisis. 
 It was with surprise that the people learned from 
 the premier, on the very first night of the session, 
 that not only he was unprepared to bring forward 
 any measure of reform, but that he would strenu- 
 ously oppose any change in parliamentary represen- 
 tation. The unpopularity which the Duke of Wel- 
 lington seemed almost to have courted by this 
 declaration, was studiously aggravated by the acts 
 of his opponents ; and when the king had accepted 
 the invitation of the Lord Mayor to dine with the 
 citizens on the 9th of November, a letter was sent 
 to the Duke of Wellington by a city magistrate, 
 warning him that he would be insulted, perhaps in 
 jured, by the mob, if he did not come protected by 
 a military escort. The ministers in alarm resolved 
 to put a stop to the entire proceedings, and on the 
 8th of November, to the great astonishment of the 
 public, it was announced, not only that the king’s 
 visit would be postponed, but that there would be 
 neither the usual civic procession in honor of the 
 new Lord Mayor, nor the dinner in the Guild-hall, 
 for which great preparations had been made, in con- 
 sequence, as was alleged, of some seditious con- 
 spiracy. The first effect of the announcement was 
 a general panic ; the funds fell four per cent, in one 
 day, and the whole country was filled with anxiety 
 and alarm. But when it was discovered that no 
 serious grounds existed for the apprehensions which 
 had been excited, all who had a share in exciting it 
 were assailed with a tempest of indignant ridicule, 
 which even a stronger cabinet than that of the Duke 
 of Wellington could not have resisted. When the 
 ministerial measure for the arrangement for the 
 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 230 
 
 civil list was introduced, Sir Henry Parnell moved 
 a resolution which implied that the ministers no 
 longer possessed the confidence of parliament. 
 After a calm debate, marked by unusual moderation 
 on both sides, the resolution was carried in a full 
 house by a majority of twenty-nine votes ; the Duke 
 of Wellington and his colleagues instantly re- 
 signed, and Earl Gray received his majesty’s com- 
 mands to form a new administration. 
 
 Great anxiety was felt about the nature of the 
 reform which the ministers would propose. Their 
 measure was developed to the house of commons 
 by Lord John Russell, on the 1st of March, 1831, 
 and it was found to include a greater amount of 
 change than had been anticipated, either by friends 
 or enemies. All boroughs not containing two thou- 
 sand inhabitants were totally disfranchised, those 
 that had less than four thousand were restricted to 
 returning one member, and the rights of represen- 
 tation of which these were deprived, were given to 
 large manufacturing towns, four districts of the 
 metropolis, and to divisions of the large countries. 
 Similar changes were proposed in the representa- 
 tion of Scotland and Ireland. 
 
 A measure which involved so important a change 
 in the constitution, was one which necessarily pro- 
 voked protracted discussions. The debate on its 
 introduction lasted seven nights ; the second reading 
 of the bill was carried only by a majority of one. 
 The ministers were subsequently defeated on two 
 divisions, and were compelled either to resign their 
 situations or dissolve the parliament. His majesty 
 carried his resolution into effect to support the cab- 
 inet by dissolving the parliament in person, and an 
 appeal was then made to the people, on the most 
 important constitutional question that had been 
 raised since the accession of the house of Hanover. 
 
 The event of the elections more than answered 
 the expectations of the most ardent reformer. When 
 the new parliament met, it appeared that fully two- 
 thirds of the representatives were pledged to sup- 
 port the minister. The progress of the Reform Bill 
 through the house of commons though slow was 
 certain, and on the 22d of September it was sent up 
 
WILLIAM IV. 
 
 231 
 
 to the lords. Its fate in the upper house was very 
 different ; it was rejected on a secon/I reading by a 
 majority of forty-one. This decision produced vio- 
 lent and even dangerous excitement : but the 
 promptitude with which the house of commons, on 
 the motion of Lord Ebrington, pledged itself to the 
 support of the ministers and their measure, calmed 
 the agitation in the metropolis and the greater part 
 of the country. Serious riots, however, took place 
 at Derby and Nottingham, which were not quelled 
 until considerable mischief had been perpetrated ; 
 Bristol suffered still more severely from the excesses 
 of an infuriate mob, and the disturbances were not 
 suppressed until an immense quantity of public and 
 private property had been wantonly destroyed. 
 
 In the midst of this political excitement the 
 country was visited by a pestilential disease called 
 the Asiatic cholera, which proved very destructive, 
 though its ravages were not so great in England as 
 in some parts of the continent. This must, under 
 Providence, be atttibuted to the judicious measures 
 adopted by the government, and to the zealous ex- 
 ertions of all the gentlemen connected with the 
 medical profession throughout the empire. In Ire- 
 land Agrarian insurrections were added to the hor- 
 rors of pestilence ; the peasants, driven to despera- 
 tion by famine and oppression on the one hand, and 
 stimulated by the violent harrangues of itinerant 
 demagogues on the other, committed several atro- 
 cious outrages, which could not be restrained by the 
 ordinary operations of constitutional law. France 
 and Italy were also disturbed by insurrectionary 
 movements, which were, however, soon suppressed ; 
 and the revolution of Belgium was completed, by 
 its being formed into a monarchy under Prince Leo- 
 pold of Saxe Coburg, whose chief recommendation 
 was his connection with the royal family of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 These circumstances induced the ministers to 
 convene parliament for the third time within the 
 year ; the Reform Bill was again introduced, and 
 after the second reading had been carried by a deci- 
 sive majority, the houses adjourned till the com- 
 mencement of the following year. When they re- 
 
232 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 assembled, the Reform Bill was carried steadily 
 through its remaining stages in the lower house, 
 and once more brought into the house of peers, 
 where its fate was regarded with great anxiety. 
 Several of its former opponents, called waverers, 
 had resolved to vote for the second reading, with 
 the hope that the measure might be greatly modi- 
 fied in committee, and by their aid the bill passed 
 this important stage by a majority of nine. But 
 the ministers had no reason to boast of this suc- 
 cess ; more than twenty of those who had supported 
 the second reading were pledged to resist the most 
 important clauses, and by their aid, a motion for 
 instruction to the committee on the bill, which vir- 
 tually took all control over the measure out of the 
 hands of its proposers, was carried by a majority of 
 thirty-five. Lord Grey, in conjunction with his col- 
 leagues, proposed to the king a new creation of 
 peers ; his majesty refused his assent to so extreme 
 a measure, ana all the members of the cabinet in- 
 stantly resigned. The king then applied to the 
 Duke of Wellington to form a new administration, 
 and his grace undertook the task under circum- 
 stances of greater difficulty than had yet been en- 
 countered by a British statesman. Opposed by the 
 bulk of the nation and by a large majority in the 
 house of commons, the duke soon discovered that 
 it would be out of his power to form a ministry ; he 
 therefore resigned the commission, and advised the 
 king to recall his former advisers. Lord Grey re- 
 turned to power, having secured the success of the 
 Reform Bill by a compromise with its opponents. 
 It was agreed that the ministers should not create 
 peers, but that the leaders of the opposition should 
 secede from the house until the Reform Bill became 
 the law of the land. Under these circumstances 
 the measure was passed without any impediment 
 through its remaining stages, &nd on the 7th of 
 June it received the royal assent. 
 
 (A.D. 1833 — 7.) The revolution in France, the 
 excitement attending the agitation of the Reform 
 Bill in England, the difficulty which impeded tho 
 arrangement of the affairs of Belgium, and the war 
 in Poland, threatened consequences fatal to the 
 
WILLIAM IV. 
 
 233 
 
 peace of Europe ; it was only by slow degrees that 
 the agitated waves were stilled, and appearances 
 more than once threatened a renewal of the storm. 
 Louis was zealously supported by the middle classes 
 in France, but he was exposed to the plots of the 
 Carlists and republicans, who were equally hostile 
 to the continuance of a government so adverse to 
 their favorite schemes. A Carlist insurrection in 
 the south of France, and a republican riot at the 
 funeral of General Lamarque in Paris, threatened 
 to involve the nation in the perils of a civil war ; 
 but the republicans were unable to withstand the 
 firmness of the national guard, and the capture of 
 the Duchess of Berri put an end to the war in the 
 south of France. 
 
 The influence of Russia was exercised in resisting 
 the progress of liberal opinion in Germany, but was 
 more alarmingly displayed in the east of Europe. 
 Mohammed Ali, the pacha of Egypt, threw off his 
 allegiance to the sultan, and sent his son Ibrahim 
 to invade Syria. The superior discipline of the 
 Egyptian troops rendered their victories easy, and 
 Ibrahim might have advanced to the suburbs of 
 Constantinople, and perhaps have taken that city, 
 had not the sultan sought protection from the Czar. 
 A Russian armament delivered the Ottoman empire 
 from the impending peril, but the acceptance of 
 such aid rendered the sultan a dependant on the 
 court of St. Petersburg. 
 
 Such was the state of Europe when the British 
 parliament was dissolved, and a new election held 
 pursuant to the provisions of the Reform Bill. In 
 England and Scotland the ministers had very large 
 majorities, but in Ireland a new party mustered in 
 considerable force, consisting of members pledged 
 to support the repeal of the union. One of the 
 earliest measures which engaged the attention of 
 the reformed parliament, was a coercion bill for 
 suppressing the Agrarian disturbances in Ireland, 
 and checking the political agitation by which these 
 tumults were in some measure encouraged. The 
 bill passed the lords without difficulty ; but in the 
 lower house it encountered so fierce an opposition, 
 that the ministers were compelled to abandon some 
 
234 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 of the most obnoxious clauses. With the coercion 
 bill a measure for the regulation of the Irish church 
 was very closely connected. The Irish church 
 stands in the unpopular predicament of possessing 
 a wealthy national establishment, while the great 
 majority of the people belong not merely to a differ- 
 ent, but to a hostile faith ; impediments have con- 
 sequently been offered to the collection of its reve- 
 nues, and there has scarcely been any popular 
 disturbance in Ireland during the greater part of 
 a century, which has not been more or less remotely 
 connected with the tithe-question. Under these 
 circumstances, the conservative party generally 
 supported the claims of the church in their full effi- 
 ciency ; the moderate reformers proposed, that after 
 provision had been made for all necessary ecclesias- 
 tical uses, the surplus should be applied to some 
 object of public utility, such as national education ; 
 and a third party, stronger in zeal than numbers, 
 regarded the property of the church as a fund that 
 might be seized for the purposes of the state. The 
 ministers steered a middle course between the ex- 
 treme parties, and of course gave perfect satisfac- 
 tion to neither ; they abolished ten bishoprics, but 
 they abandoned the clause for applying the snrplus 
 to purposes not purely ecclesiastical, in order to 
 facilitate the passage of the bill through the house 
 of lords. The motion was rendered more agreeable 
 to the Irish clergy, than it would otherwise have 
 been, by the grant of a million sterling as a loan, 
 in lieu of the arrears of tithes which they were una- 
 ble to collect. 
 
 The renewal of the charter of the bank of Eng- 
 land, led to some important discussions on the 
 financial state of the country ; but much more im- 
 portant was the change made in the constitution of 
 the East India Company. While that body was se- 
 cured in its political rights over the vast empire 
 which it had acquired in Hindostan, it was deprived 
 of its exclusive privileges of commerce, and the * 
 trade with India and China was freely opened to all 
 the subjects of the British crown. Equally great 
 was the change made in the constitution of the 
 British West India colonies by the total abolition of 
 
WILLIAM IV. 
 
 m 
 
 negro slavery ; the service of the negro was changed 
 into a compulsory apprenticeship for a limited time, 
 and a compensation of twenty millions sterling was 
 granted to the proprietors of the slaves. 
 
 Notwithstanding the importance and value of 
 these changes, the reformed parliament was far 
 from satifying the expectations which had been 
 rather too sanguinely formed by the people. 
 
 # In the United States some discussions arose, in 
 which the interests of England, as a commercial 
 country, were materially involved. The tariff sanc- 
 tioned by congress, imposing heavy duties on the 
 import of manufactuaed goods, was strenuously op- 
 posed by the southern states, especially the Caroli- 
 nas, and an appeal to arms was threatened. 
 
 The agitation in Ireland for the repeal of the 
 union was continued during the recess ; and soon 
 after the meeting of parliament, Mr. O’Connell in- 
 troduced the subject into the house of commons. 
 His motion was rejected by a majority of five hun- 
 dred and twenty against fifty-eight, but at the same 
 time parliament pledged itself “ to remove all just 
 cause of complaint, to promote all well-considered 
 measures of improvement.” But on the nature of 
 these measures the cabinet was divided, and the 
 majority having evinced a disposition to appropriate 
 the surplus ecclesiastical revenues to secular pur- 
 poses of general utility, the Earl of Ripon, the 
 Duke of Richmond, Mr. Stanley, and Sir James 
 Graham, resigned their offices. Their places were 
 soon supplied, but the changes were very distasteful 
 to the house of lords, and the new Irish tithe-bill 
 was rejected by a decisive majority. 
 
 The anomalous position of the government gave 
 general dissatisfaction ; the cabinet was assailed 
 with equal violence by the conservative and the ex- 
 treme section of the reformers, and the king soon 
 began to show that he was by no means satisfied 
 with the conduct of his ministers, especially the 
 lord chancellor, who, during a tour in Scotland, had 
 made some inconsistent and extraordinary speeches 
 at various public meetings. On the death of Earl 
 Spencer, Lord Althorp was obliged to vacate his 
 office of chancellor of the exchequer, and the king 
 
233 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 took this opportunity of dismissing the Melbourne 
 administration. Sir Robert Peel was appointed 
 premier, but as he was absent on the continent, the 
 Duke of Wellington undertook the management of 
 public affairs till his return. 
 
 After Sir Robert Peel’s return, and the formation 
 of his cabinet, the parliament was dissolved, and a 
 new election brought the strength of parties to a 
 fery severe test. In England the partizans of Sii^ 
 Robert Peel’s administration had a small majority ; 
 but in Ireland, an unfortunate affray at Rathcor- 
 mack, arising from an attempt to enforce the pay- 
 ment of tithes, so exasperated the Catholic popula- 
 tion, that the ministerial candidates were almost 
 everywhere unsuccessful. When the parliament 
 assembled, the ministers were beaten at the very 
 outset in the choice of a speaker ; Mr. Abercromby, 
 the opposition candidate, having been preferred to 
 the ministerial candidate, Sir Charles Sutton, by a 
 majority of ten. Several other motions were de- 
 cided against the ministers, but none that involved 
 a necessity for resignation, until Lord John Russell 
 proposed a resolution, that any measure introduced 
 regarding Irith tithes should be founded on the 
 principle of appropriating the surplus revenue to 
 purposes of general utility. The motion was car- 
 ried by a majority of twenty-three ; Sir Robert Peel 
 and his colleagues immediately resigned, and the 
 Melbourne cabinet was restored, with the remarka- 
 ble exception of Lord Brougham, whose place, as 
 chancellor, was supplied by Lord Cottenham. 
 
 A bill for reforming the corporations of England, 
 founded on the report of commissioners appointed 
 to investigate the condition of these bodies, was 
 immediately introduced by the Melbourne adminis- 
 tration, and passed without difficulty through the 
 house of commons. Some important changes were 
 made in the measure during its progress through 
 the house of lords ; but the ministers deemed it 
 better to accept these modifications than to risk the 
 loss of the bill. 
 
 During the struggle between the nicely-balanced 
 parties in England, the aspect of continental affairs 
 was favorable to the continuance of peace. An at- 
 
 ‘ 
 
WILLIAM IV. 
 
 237 
 
 tempt was made on the life of the king of the 
 French, and various plots were formed by enthusi- 
 astic republicans to effect a revolution ; but the 
 friends of order rallied round the throne, and the 
 only result of these attacks was to increase the 
 strength of the government. Spain was distracted 
 by the horrors of a disputed succession. A little 
 before the death of Ferdinand VII., the Salic law, 
 which had been introduced by the Bourbon dynasty, 
 was set aside in favor of that monarch’s infant 
 daughter; and she succeeded to the throne after 
 her father’s decease (1838). 
 
 The commencement of the parliamentary session 
 in 1836, showed that the differences between the 
 majority of the lords and the majority of the com- 
 mons were far from being reconciled. They were 
 at issue principally on the line of policy that ought 
 to be pursued towards Ireland, and on the measures 
 for regulating the established church in England 
 and Ireland. It was proposed that the Irish corpo- 
 rations should be reformed according to the plan 
 which, in the preceding year, had been adopted for 
 similar bodies in England ; and a bill embodying 
 this principle received the sanction of the lower 
 house : the lords, however, insisted that the state 
 of society in Ireland was such that municipal insti- 
 tutions were not adapted to that country, and re- 
 solved that the corporations should be altogether 
 abolished. To this amendment the commons re- 
 fused to agree, and the bill was consequently lost. 
 A similar fate awaited the Irish tithe-bill ; the lords 
 rejected the appropriation clause, and the commons 
 would not accept the measure without it. Laws, 
 however, were passed for the commutation of tithes 
 in England, for the registration of births, deaths, 
 and marriages, and for regulating episcopal sees, 
 the opposing parties having each yielded a little to 
 ensure unanimity. 
 
 In Upper Canada the refractory house of assem- 
 bly was dissolved, and at the new election a major- 
 ity of members favorable to the British government 
 was returned. But in Lower Canada the demands 
 of the French party were not only renewed but in- 
 creased ; and the governor, after a vain effort to 
 
233 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 conciliate the house of assembly, put an end to the 
 session. 
 
 The parliamentary session of 1837 produced few 
 measures of importance ; on Irish measures the 
 houses maintained their opposite opinions, and of 
 course nothing was done ; in matters of ecclesiasti- 
 cal policy the result was precisely the same ; the 
 only matter in which there was any appearance of 
 unanimity, was in the adoption of resolutions for 
 administering the government of Lower Ganada in 
 opposition to the refractory house of assembly. A 
 gloom was thrown over these and other discussions 
 by the increasing illness of the king, whose disease 
 at an early period prognosticated its fatal termina- 
 tion. His majesty died on the morning of the 20th 
 of June, sincerely regretted by every class of his 
 subjects. During his reign of nearly seven years, 
 the nation enjoyed tranquillity both at home and 
 abroad ; it was the only reign in the annals of Eng- 
 land during which there was no execution for trea- 
 son and no foreign war. 
 
VICTORIA, 
 
 239 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The Reign of Victoria. 
 
 Victoria, the only daughter of Edward, Duke of 
 Kent, succeeded her late uncle, and her accession 
 to the throne was hailed with more than ordinary 
 enthusiasm.. All parties vied with each other in 
 testifying their affectionate allegianee to their 
 youthful sovereign, called at the early age of eigh- 
 teen to rule over the destinies of a mighty empire. 
 The formal busiqpss of parliament was completed 
 with all possible despatch, and at the close of the 
 session the parliament was dissolved. Although 
 there was a keen trial of strength between the rival 
 political parties, the elections were unusually tran- 
 quil ; and at their close it appeared that the tri- 
 umphs of the opposing parties were very nearly bal- 
 anced. Public attention was next directed to the 
 preparations made for entertaining her majesty at a 
 civic banquet on the 9th of November. They were 
 on a scale of unrivalled magnificence, and her 
 majesty’s procession to the Guild-hall was one of 
 the most pleasing pageants ever displayed in Eng- 
 land. No change was made in the cabinet ; and 
 when parliament assembled towards the close of the 
 year, it appeared that the ministers retained their 
 majority in the house of commons, and that the op- 
 position to them in the house of lords had become 
 more moderate. The state of Lower Canada was 
 one of the most pressing subjects for the considera- 
 tion of the legislature ; the opponents of the gov- 
 ernment had taken up arms, and raised the standard 
 of rebellion. But it soon appeared that their meas- 
 ures were ill-concerted ; after a brief struggle, most 
 of the leaders abandoned their followers and sought 
 shelter in the United States. Immediately after 
 the reassembling of parliament in January, 1838, 
 measures were introduced for the temporary govern- 
 ment of Canada, its constitution having been sus- 
 pended by the revolt ; and the Earl of Durham was 
 appointed governor of all the British colonies in 
 North America, with power, as lord commissioner, 
 
IIISTOHY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 m 
 
 to arrange the differences between her majesty’s 
 government and her discontented subjects. At 
 present everything seems to promise a long and 
 prosperous reign. The desultory war in Spain does 
 not seem likely to disturb the general tranquility of 
 Europe, and the increasing facilities of national in- 
 tercourse, together with the growing diffusion of 
 intelligence, have led the rulers and the people on 
 the continent to set a higher value on the blessings 
 of peace. At home, the rancour of party violence 
 has sensibly abated ; the internal improvements of 
 the country, especially its rail-roads, are making 
 rapid progress ; manufactories are springing up, 
 which would astonish our ancestors, could they 
 return to the places which were once their homes ; 
 and our ships,* in constantly increasing numbers, 
 visit every region, spreading civilization wherever 
 they go, and making us more and more acquainted 
 mth the features and products of our planet. 
 
 THE END. 
 
I 241 ] 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 SUCCESSION OF SOVEREIGNS. 
 
 THE SAXON HEPTARCHY. 
 
 I he kingdom of Kent contained only the county of Kent ; its 
 
 1 Hengist, began 
 
 kings 
 . 454 
 
 2 Esko 
 
 
 3 Octa 
 
 512 
 
 4 Ymbrick . . . . 
 
 . 534 
 
 5 Ethelbert . . . 
 
 . 568 
 
 6 Ed bald .... 
 
 
 7 Ercombert ... 
 
 . 640 
 
 8 Egbert .... 
 
 
 9 Lothaire .... 
 
 
 were, 
 
 10 Edrick . . . 
 
 
 084 
 
 11 Withdred . . 
 
 m # 
 
 685 
 
 lo C Eadbert. and ", 
 1Z 1 Edelbert < 
 
 ^ • 
 
 725 
 
 13 Ethelbert alone 
 
 
 743 
 
 14 Aldric . . . 
 
 
 760 
 
 15 Ethelbert Pren 
 
 
 794 
 
 16 Cudred . . - 
 
 # t 
 
 799 
 
 17 Ba.dred . • . 
 
 
 805 
 
 This kingdom began 454, ended 823. Its first Christian king 
 was Eihelbert. 
 
 The kingdom of South Saxons contained the counties of Sus- 
 sex and Surrey ; its kings were, 
 
 1 Ella, began .... 491 
 
 2 Cissa 514 
 
 3 Chevelin 590 
 
 4 Ceolwic 592 
 
 5 Ceoluph 597 
 
 This kingdom began 491, ended 685. Its first Christian king 
 was Adelwach. 
 
 The kingdom of East Saxons contained the counties of Essex 
 and Middlesex j its kings were, 
 
 1 Erchcnwin, began 
 
 . 527 
 
 5 Sigeber'. the Little 
 
 623 
 
 2 Sledda .... 
 
 3 Sebert .... 
 
 f Sexred > 
 
 
 6 Sigebert the Good . 
 
 7 Swithelme . . . 
 
 . 653 
 . 655 
 
 4 < Seward > . . 
 
 . 616 
 
 8 Sighere and Sebbi . 
 
 . 665 
 
 LSigebert J 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 16 
 
 9 Sebbi . . . 
 
 . 683 
 
 V ^llllgSU / 
 
 Z Gluicelm 5 
 
 7 Canowalch . 
 
 8 Adelwach . 
 
 611 
 
 643 
 
 648 
 
242 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 in C Sigherd and 7 RQA I 12 Ccolfred . . . . 
 
 iU I Seofrid £ . by4 13 Suithred - - - - 
 
 11 OfTa 700 I 14 Sigered 
 
 This kingdom began 527, ended 827. Its first Christian 
 was Sebert. 
 
 700 
 
 746 
 
 709 
 
 king 
 
 The kingdom of Northumberland contained Yorkshire, Dur- 
 ham, Lancashire, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Nor- 
 thumberland j its kings were, 
 
 1 Ella, or Ida, 
 
 began 
 
 m 
 
 547 
 
 17 
 
 Cenred . .' 
 
 
 
 2 Adda . . 
 
 
 
 # 
 
 559 
 
 18 
 
 Osrick . . 
 
 
 
 3 Ciappea 
 
 
 
 
 566 
 
 19 
 
 Ceolulphe . 
 
 . . 
 
 . 730 
 
 4 Theodwald 
 
 
 
 
 572 
 
 20 
 
 Egbert . . 
 
 
 
 5 Fridulph 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 573 
 
 21 
 
 Oswulph . 
 
 . 
 
 . 758 
 
 6 Theodorick 
 
 
 
 
 579 
 
 22 
 
 Edilwald . 
 
 . . 
 
 . 759 
 
 7 Athelrick . 
 
 
 
 
 586 
 
 23 
 
 Alured . . 
 
 
 
 8 Athelfrid . 
 
 • 
 
 
 # 
 
 593 
 
 24 
 
 Atheldred . 
 
 , , 
 
 . 774 
 
 9 Edwin . . 
 
 • 
 
 
 # 
 
 617 
 
 25 
 
 Alswald I. . 
 
 • # 
 
 . 779 
 
 10 Osric . . 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 633 
 
 26 
 
 Osred II. . 
 
 , , 
 
 . 789 
 
 11 Oswald . . 
 
 • 
 
 
 0 
 
 634 
 
 27 
 
 Ethel red restored 
 
 . 790 
 
 12 Oswy . . 
 
 • 
 
 
 # 
 
 643 
 
 28 
 
 Osbald . . 
 
 
 . 796 
 
 13 Ethel ward . 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 653 
 
 29 
 
 Ardulph 
 
 , # 
 
 . 797 
 
 14 Egfrid . . 
 
 
 
 
 670 
 
 30 
 
 Alswald 11. 
 
 # # 
 
 . 807 
 
 15 Alkfryd . . 
 
 
 
 
 685 
 
 31 
 
 Andred . . 
 
 
 
 13 Osred 1. 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 705 
 
 
 
 
 
 This kingdom began 547, ended 827. 
 
 was Edwin. 
 
 Its first Christian king 
 
 The kingdom of Mercia contained the counties of Huntingdon, 
 Rutland, Lincoln, Northampton, Leicester, Derby, Notting- 
 
 ham, Oxford, 
 
 Chester, Salop, Gloucester, Worcester, 
 
 Staf- 
 
 ford, Warwick 
 
 Buckingham, Bedford, and Hertford. 
 
 lts 
 
 kings were, 
 
 
 
 
 1 Creda, began 
 
 . - - 585 
 
 10 Ethelbald - - - - 
 
 716 
 
 2 Wibba 
 
 . . - 595 
 
 11 OfTa ------ 
 
 757 
 
 3 Cheor’as - - 
 
 - - - 616 
 
 12 Egfryd - - - - - 
 
 704 
 
 4 Penda - - - 
 
 - - - 625 
 
 13 Cenolf - - - - - 
 
 705 
 
 5 Peada - - - 
 
 - - - 656 
 
 14 Kenelme - - - - 
 
 89 
 
 6 Wolfhere 
 
 - - - 659 
 
 15 Ceolwolf - - - 
 
 819 
 
 7 Ethel red 
 
 - - - 675 
 
 16 Burnulf - - - - 
 
 821 
 
 8 Retired - - 
 
 - - - 704 
 
 17 Ludecan - - 
 
 823 
 
 9 Ceolred - - 
 
 - - - 709 
 
 18 Wiglafe - - - . 
 
 825 
 
 This kingdom began 582, ended 827. Its first Christian king 
 was Peada. 
 
 The kingdom of East Angles contained the counties of Suf- 
 folk, Norfolk, Cambridge, and th« isle of Ely 5 its kings 
 were, 
 
 l Uffa, began - - - 575 I 3 Redwald - - - - 509 
 
 9 Titillus - - - 578 j 4 Erpenvvald - - - 624 
 
APPENDIX. 243 
 
 5 Sigcbert - 
 
 - - - - 63G 
 
 « iftL] 
 
 » --- 644 
 
 7 Ethel here 
 
 ' - - - - 654 
 
 8 Ethwaid 
 
 - - - - 659 
 
 9 Adwulf - 
 
 - ... 664 
 
 10 
 
 Alswald - - - 
 
 - • 683 
 
 11 
 
 ( Beorna and 7 
 
 - - 749 
 
 | Ethelbert £ 
 
 12 
 
 Beorna alone - 
 
 - - 758 
 
 13 Ethelred - - - 
 
 - - 761 
 
 14 
 
 Ethelbert - - 
 
 - - 790 
 
 l'his kingdom began 575, ended 792. Its first Christian king 
 was Bedwald. 
 
 The kingdom of West Saxons contained the counties of orn- 
 wall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wilts, Hants, and Berks : 
 its kings were, 
 
 1 Cherdic, began 
 
 - - 519 
 
 2 Kenrick ... 
 
 - - 534 
 
 3 Chevline - - - 
 
 
 4 Ceolric - - - - 
 
 
 5 Ceoluph - - - 
 
 
 5 Kingills 7 
 
 6 lUuinthelin 3 
 
 - 611 
 
 7 Ceonowalch - - 
 
 - - 643 
 
 8 Adebvalch - - 
 
 - - 648 
 
 9 fcexburga - - 
 
 - - 672 
 
 • 0 C Censua, Escwin, 
 
 7 and Cent win 3 
 
 674 
 
 11 Ceadwald - - - - 
 
 686 
 
 12 lna 
 
 688 
 
 13 Adelard ----- 
 
 726 
 
 14 Cud l ed ----- 
 
 740 
 
 id C Sigebert and 7 
 
 15 i Cenulf 5 ‘ 
 
 754 
 
 16 Brithrick - - - - 
 
 784 
 
 17 Egbert 
 
 800 
 
 This kingdom began 519, ended 828. Its first Christian 
 king was Kingills. 
 
 The Saxons, though they were divided into seven 
 kingdoms, were, for the most part, subject only to one 
 monarch, who was styled king of the English nation ; 
 the most powerful giving the law unto the others, and 
 succeeded as follows : 
 
 HENGIST, first monarch of Britain, landed in the 
 Isle of Thanet, 449 ; laid the foundation of the 
 monarchy in 455; defeated Vortimer at Crayford, in 
 Jan. 457 ; massacred 300 British nobles on Salisbury 
 plain, May 1, 474. He bore in his standard the 
 white horse, blazoned in the same manner, as now 
 borne by the dukes of Brunswick. He was born at 
 Angria, in Westphalia, reigned 34 years, died in 484. 
 ELLA, second monarch, landed at Shoreham, in Sus- 
 sex, in 477 ; assumed the title of king of the South 
 Saxons, in 491 ; died in 499. 
 
 CHERDIC, third monarch, arrived in Britain, and 
 overcame Arthur, near Chard, in Somersetshire, 
 519 ; began the kingdom of the West Saxons the 
 same year ; died in 534. 
 
 KENR1CK, second king of the West Saxons, fourth 
 
244 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 monarcn, eldest son of Cherdic, succeeded in 534 
 and died in 560. 
 
 CHEVELINE, third king of the West Saxons, and 
 fifth monarch, succeeded his father, 560; seized 
 on Sussex in 590; abdicated in 591 ; and died, in 
 banishment, in 592. 
 
 ETHELBERT I., fifth king of Kent, and sixth mon- 
 arch, in 592; St. Augustine first arrived in his do- 
 minions, who, with his followers, were entertained 
 by the king at Canterbury, where they settled; to 
 whose doctrine Ethelbert became a convert. He 
 gave Augustine an idol temple, without the walls 
 of the city, as a burial place for him and his succes- 
 sors, which was converted into the first monastery. 
 The king was the first that caused the laws of the 
 land to be collected and translated into Saxon. He 
 died Feb. 24, 617, and was buried at Canterbury. 
 
 REDWALD, third king of the East Angles, seventh 
 monarch, 616; he died 624. 
 
 EDWIN the Great, king of Northumberland, succeed- 
 ed as eighth monarch in 624. He was the first 
 Christian, and the second king of Northumberland. 
 He lost his life in a battle at Hatfield, Oct. 3, 633. 
 
 OSWALD, third king of Northumberland, and ninth 
 monarch, in 634. He was slain at Maserfield, in 
 Shropshire, Aug. 1, 642. 
 
 OSWY, fourth king of Northumberland, tenth mon- 
 arch, on Oct. 13, 634. He defeated Penda, the 
 Mercian, and Ethelred, king of the East Angles, 
 Nov. 6, 655. He died Feb. 15, 670. 
 
 WOLFHERE, sixth king of the Mercians, eleventh 
 monarch, in 670; died 674, and was buried at Peter- 
 borough. 
 
 ETHELRED, seventh king of Mercia, and twelfth 
 monarch, in 675. He desolated part of Kent, and, in 
 677, destroyed Rochester, and many religious foun- 
 dations ; to atone for which he became a monk, 
 703, andd^ed abbot of Bradney, in 716. 
 
 CENRED, c*»ohew, eighth king of Mercia, and 
 thirteenth monaich, in 704, reigned four years, and 
 following his uncle’s example, became a monk. 
 
 CEOLRED, son to Ethelred, ninth king of the Mer- 
 cians, and fourteenth monarch, in 709, was killed in 
 battle with the West Saxons in 716 ; and was buried 
 at Litchfield. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 245 
 
 LTHELBALD I., tenth king of the Mercians, fif 
 teenth monarch, in 716 3 built Croyland abbey, in 
 Lincolnshire. He was slain by his own subjects, 
 when he was leading his troops against Cuthred, 
 the West Saxon, at Secondine, three miles from 
 Tamworth, »n Warwickshire, and was buried at 
 Repton, in Derbyshire, in 756. 
 
 OFFA, the eleventh king cf the Mercians, and the 
 sixteenth monarch, 757. He was born lame, deaf, 
 and blind, which continued till he arrived at man 
 hood. He took up arms against Kent, slew their 
 king at Otteford, and conquered that kingdom. He 
 caused a great trench to be dug from Bristol to 
 Basingwerk, in Flintshire, as the boundary of the 
 Britons, who harboured in Wales, 774. Offa first 
 ordained the sounding of trumpets before the kings 
 of England, to denote their appearance, and require 
 respect. He admitted his son, Egfryd, a partner 
 in his sovereignty 3 and, out of devotion, paid a visit' 
 to Rome, where he made his kingdom subject to a 
 tribute, then called Peter-pence, and procured the 
 canonization of St. Alban. At his return he built 
 St. Alban’s monastery, in Hertfordshire, 793. He 
 died at Offley, June 29, 794, and was buried at Bed- 
 ford, in a chapel since swallowed up by the river 
 Ouse. 
 
 EGFRYD, twelfth king of the Mercians, and seven- 
 teenth monarch, July 13, 794 3 but died Dec. 17 fol- 
 lowing, and was buried at St. Alban’s. 
 
 CENOLE, thirteenth king of the Mercians, and eight- 
 eenth monarch, in 795. He conquered Kent, and 
 gave that kingdom to Cudred, 798. He built Winch- 
 comb monastery, in Gloucestershire, where he led 
 the captive Prince, Pren, to the altar, and released 
 him without ransom or entreaty. He died in 819, 
 and was buried at Winchcomb. 
 
 EGBERT, seventeenth king of the West Saxons, and 
 nineteenth, but first sole monarch, of the English. 
 He conquered Kent, and laid the foundation of the 
 sole monarchy in 823, which put an end to the Sax- 
 on Heptarchy, and was solemnly crowned at Win- 
 chester 3 when, by his edict, he ordered all the 
 South of the island to be called England, 827. He 
 died Feb. 4, 837, and was buried at Winchester. 
 
246 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ETHELWOLF, eldest son of Egbert, succeeded li is 
 father, notwithstanding, at the time of Egbert s 
 death, he was bishop of Winchester. In 846 he or- 
 dained tithes to be collected, and exempted the 
 clergy from regal tributes. He visited Rome in 
 847, confirming the grant of Peter-pence, and agreed 
 to pay Rome 300 marks per annum. His son Ethel- 
 bald obliged him to divide the sovereignty with 
 him, 856. He died Jan. 13, 857, and was buried at 
 Winchester. 
 
 ETHELBALD II., eldest son of Ethelwolf, succeed- 
 ed in 857. He died Dec. 20, 860, and was buried at 
 Sherborn, but removed to Salisbury. 
 
 ETHELBERT II., second son of Ethelwolf, succeed 
 ed in 860, and was harassed greatly by the Danes, 
 who were repulsed and vanquished. He died in 
 866 , was buried at Sherborn, and was succeeded 
 by 
 
 ETHELRED I., third son of Ethelwolf, in 866 , when 
 the Danes again harassed his kingdom. In 870, they 
 destroyed the monasteries of Bradney, Crowland, 
 Peterborough, Ely, and Huntingdon, when the nuns 
 of Coldingharn defaced themselves to avoid their 
 pollution 5 and, in East Anglia, they murdered Ed- 
 mund, at Edmundsbury in Suffolk. Ethelred over- 
 threw the Danes, 871, at Assendon. He had nine 
 set battles with the Danes in one year, and was 
 wounded at Wittingham, which occasioned his 
 death, April 27, 872, and was buried at Winborne in 
 Dorsetshire. 
 
 ALFRED, the fourth son of Ethelwolf, succeeded in 
 872, in the 22d year of his age ; was crowned at 
 Winchester, and is distinguished by the title of Al- 
 fred the Great. He was born at Wantage, in Berk- 
 shire, 849, and obliged to take the field against the 
 Danes within one month after his coronation, at 
 Wilton, in Oxfordshire. He fought seven battles 
 with them in 876. In 877 another succour of 
 Danes arrived, and Alfred was obliged to disguise 
 himself in the habit of a shepherd, in the isle of A1 
 derney,.in the county of Somerset, till, in 878, co. 
 lecting his scattered friends, he attacked and de 
 feated them in 879, when he obliged the greatest 
 part of their army to quit the land j in 897 they went 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 24? 
 
 tip the river Lea, and built a fortress at Ware, 
 where king Alfred turned off the course of the river, 
 and left their ships dry, which obliged the Danes to 
 remove. He died Oct. 28, 901. 
 
 EDWARD the Elder, his son, succeeded him, and 
 was crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames, in 901. In 
 911, Leolin, prince of Wales, did homage to Ed- 
 ward for his principality. He died at Farringdon, 
 in Berkshire, in 924, and was buried at Winches- 
 ter. 
 
 ATHELSTAN, his eldest son, succeeded him, and 
 was crowned with far greater magnificence than 
 usual, at Kingston-upon-Thames, in 929. In 937 he 
 defeated two Welsh princes, but soon after, on their 
 making submission, he restored them their estates. 
 He escaped being assassinated in his tent, 938, 
 which he revenged by attacking his enemy, when 
 five petty sovereigns, twelve dukes, and an army 
 who came to the assistance of Analf, king of Ireland, 
 were slain ; which battle was fought near Dunbar, 
 in Scotland. He made the princes of Wales tribu- 
 tary, 939; and died Oct. 17, 940, at Gloucester. 
 
 EDMUND I., the fifth son of Edward the Elder, suc- 
 ceeded at the age of 18, and was crowned king at 
 Kingston-upon-Thames, 940. On May 26, 947, in 
 endeavouring to part two who were quarrelling, he 
 received a wound, of which he bled to death and 
 was buried at Glastonbury. 
 
 EDRED, his brother, aged 28, succeeded in 947, and 
 was crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames, the 17th of 
 August. He died in 955, and was buried at Win- 
 chester. 
 
 EDWY, the eldest son of Edmund, succeeded, and 
 was crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames, in 955. 
 He had great dissensions with the clergy, and ban- 
 ished Dunstan, their ringleader, which occasions 
 little credit to be given to the character the priests 
 give him. He died of grief in 959, after a turbulent 
 reign of four years, and was buried at Winchester. 
 
 EDGAR, at the age of 16, succeeded his brother, and 
 was crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames, in 959, and 
 again at Bath, 972. He imposed upon the princes 
 of Wales a tribute of wolves’ heads, that for three 
 years amounted to 300 each year. He obliged eight 
 
248 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 tributary princes to row him in a barge on the river 
 Dee, in 974. He died July I, 975, and was buried 
 at Glastonbury. 
 
 EDWARD the Martyr, his eldest son, succeeded him, 
 being but 16 years of age ; was crowned by Dun- 
 stan at Kingston-upon-Thames, in 975. He was 
 stabbed by the instructions of his mother-in-law, a9 
 he was drinking at Corfe-castle, in the isle of Pur- 
 beck, in Dorsetshire, on March 18, 979. He was 
 first buried at VVareham, without any ceremony, but 
 removed three years after, in great pomp to Shaftes- 
 bury. 
 
 ETHELRED II. succeeded his half-brother, and was 
 crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames, on April 14, 
 979. In 982, his palace, with great part of London, 
 was destroyed by a great fire. England was ravag- 
 ed by the Danes, who, in 999, received at one pay- 
 ment about 16,000/. raised by a land-tax called 
 Danegelt. A general massacre of the Danes, on Nov. 
 13, 1002. Swein revenged his countrymen’s deaths, 
 1003, and did not quit the kingdom till Ethelred 
 had paid him 36,000 /. which he the year following 
 demanded as an annual tribute. In the spring of 
 1008 they subdued great part of the kingdom. To 
 stop their progress, it was agreed to pay the Danes 
 48,000/. to quit the kingdom, 1012. In the space of 
 twenty years they had 469,687/. sterling. Soon af- 
 ter Swein entered the Humber again, when Ethel- 
 red retired to the Isle of Wight, and sent his sons, 
 with their mother Emma, into Normandy, to her 
 brother, and Swein took possession of the whole 
 kingdom, 1013. 
 
 SWEIN was proclaimed king of England in 1013, and 
 no person disputed his title. His first act of sove- 
 reignty was an insupportable tax, which he did not 
 live to see collected. He died Feb. 3, 1014, at 
 Thetford. in Norfolk. 
 
 CANUTE, his son, was proclaimed March, 1014, and 
 endeavoured to gain the affection of his English 
 subjects, but without success, retired to Denmark, 
 and 
 
 ETHELRED returned, at the invitation of his sub 
 jects. Canute returned, 1015, soon afier he left 
 England, and landed at Sandwich. Ethelred retired 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 249 
 
 to the north, but by evading a battle with the Danes, 
 he lost the affections of his subjects, and retiring to 
 London, he expired April 23, 1016. 
 
 EDMOND IRONSIDE, his son, was crowned at 
 Kingston-upon-Thames, April, 1016 j but by a dis- 
 agreement among the nobility, Canute was likewise 
 crowned at Southampton. In June following, Ca- 
 nute totally routed Edmund, at Assendon, in Essex, 
 who soon after met Canute in the isle of Alderney, 
 in the Severn, where a peace was concluded, and 
 the kingdom divided between them. Edmund did 
 not survive above a month after, being murdered 
 at Oxford, Nov. 30, 1106, before he had reigned a 
 year. He left two sons and two daughters; from 
 one of which daughters James I. of England de- 
 scended, and from him George IV. 
 
 CANUTE was established 1017; made an alliance 
 with Normandy, and married Emma, Ethelred’s wid- 
 ow, 1018; made a voyage to Denmark, attacked 
 Norway, and took possession of the crown, 1028; 
 died at Shaftesbury, 1036, and was buried at Win- 
 chester. 
 
 HAROLD I. his son, began his reign, 1036 ; died, 
 Aprii 14, 1039; and was succeeded by his younger 
 brother. 
 
 HARDICANUTE, king of Denmark, who died at 
 Lambeth, 1041 ; was buried at New Winchester, 
 and succeeded by a son of queen Emma, by her first 
 husband, Ethelred II. 
 
 EDWARD the Confessor, was born at Islip, in Oxford- 
 shire, began his reign in the 40th year of his age. 
 He was crowned at Winchester, 1042; married Edi- 
 tha, daughter of Godwin, earl of Kent 1043 ; remitted 
 the tax of Danegelt, and was the first king of England 
 that touched for the king’s evil, 1058; died Jan. 5, 
 1066, aged 65; was buried in Westminster-abbey, 
 which he rebuilt, where his bones were enshrined 
 in gold set with jewels, 1206. Emma, his mother, 
 died 1052. He was succeeded by 
 
 HAROLD II. son of the earl of Kent, who began in 
 1066; defeated by his brother Tosti and the king of 
 Norway, who had invaded his dominions at Stam- 
 ford, Sept. 25, 1066 ; but was killed by the Nortnaua 
 at Hastings, Oct. 14 following. 
 
— = ==—=—==7 
 
 I 
 
 250 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 SOVEREIGNS FROM THE CONQUEST. 
 
 Kings * i Began their 
 
 Names. ! Reign. 
 
 Reign'd] 
 
 yJi.dI 
 
 Deaths. 
 
 Where 
 
 buried. 
 
 VV. Conn. 
 W. Rufus 
 Henry . . 1 
 Stephen 
 
 No 
 
 1066 Oct. 14| 
 1087 Sept. 9 
 1100 Aug. 2 
 1135 Dec. 1 
 
 rman Ft 
 20 10 26 
 12 10 24 
 35 3 29 
 18 10 24, 
 
 im 
 
 60 
 
 43 
 
 67 
 
 49 
 
 ily. 
 
 Burst leap. 
 Slain acci- 
 dentally. 
 
 Caen. 
 
 Winchester 
 
 Reading. 
 
 Feversham 
 
 Henry . . 2 
 Richard . 1 
 John 
 
 Henry . . 3 
 Edward . 1 
 Edward . 2 
 Edward . 3 
 Richard . 2 
 
 The Sa 
 1154 Oct. 25 
 1189 July 6 
 1199 April 6 
 1216 Oct. 19 
 1272 Nov. 16 
 1307 July 7 
 1327 Jan. 25 
 1377 June 21 
 
 xon Lin 
 34 8 111 
 9 9 0 1 
 17 6 13| 
 56 0 28 
 34 7 21 
 19 6 18 
 50 4 27 
 22 3 8 
 
 e r 
 55 
 43 
 
 1“ 
 
 65 
 
 67 
 
 43 
 
 65 
 
 33 
 
 estored. 
 
 Slain with 
 an arrow. 
 
 Deposed Sf 
 murdered. 
 Dep.& mur. 
 
 Fontevrault. 
 
 Fontevrault. 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 Westminstei 
 
 West minster 
 
 Gloucester. 
 
 Westminster 
 
 Westminster 
 
 Henry . . 4 
 Henry . . 5 
 Henry . . 6 
 
 The Fa 
 1399 Sept. 29 
 1413 Mar. 20 
 1422 Aug. 31 
 
 mily of Lancaster. 
 
 13 5 20i46, 
 
 9 5 11 331 
 
 38 6 4]49|Dep.^mur. 
 
 Canterbury. 
 
 Westminsto. 
 
 Windsor. 
 
 Edward . 4 
 Edward . 5 
 Richard . 3 
 
 The Family i 
 1461 March 4|22 1 5 
 1483 April 9 0 2 13i 
 1483 June 22| 2 2 0| 
 
 >/ 
 
 41 
 
 12 
 
 1 42 
 
 York. 
 
 Smothered. 
 In Battle. 
 
 (Windsor. 
 
 (Tower. 
 
 (Leicester. 
 
 Henry . . 7 
 Henry . . 8 
 Edward . 6 
 Q. Mary 
 —Elizabeth 
 
 The i 
 1485 Aug. 22 
 1509 April 22 
 1547 Jan. 28 
 1553 July 6 
 1558 Nov. 17 
 
 Families 
 23 8 0 
 37 9 6 
 6 5 8 
 5 4 11 
 44 4 7 
 
 V 
 
 52 
 
 55 
 
 l5 
 
 42 
 
 69 
 
 nited. 
 
 Westminster 
 
 Windsor. 
 
 Westminster 
 
 Westminster 
 
 Westminster 
 
 James . . 1 
 Charles . 1 
 Charles . 2 
 James . . 2 
 Wm.&Ma. 
 Q,. Anne 
 
 He 
 
 1603 Mar. 24 
 1625 Mar. 27 
 1649 Jan. 30 
 1685 Feb. 6 
 1689 Feb. 13 
 1702 Mar. 8 
 
 iuse of £ 
 
 22 9 3 
 
 23 10 3 
 36 0 7 
 
 4 0 7 
 13 0 23 
 12 4 24 
 
 Itui 
 
 58 
 
 48 
 
 54 
 
 67 
 
 |?9 
 
 irt. 
 
 Beheaded. 
 
 Abdicated. 
 
 Westminster 
 
 Windsor. 
 
 Westminster 
 
 Paris. 
 
 Westminster 
 
 Westminstei 
 
 George . 1 
 George . 2 
 George . 3 
 George . 4 
 
 Hoi 
 
 >1714 Aug. 1 
 1727 June 11 
 1760 Oct. 25 
 1820 Jan. 31 
 
 ise of One 
 i2 10 l0l67 
 33 4 14 77 
 59 3 5! 82 
 Crowned Ji 
 
 Iph. 
 
 ily 19, 1821 
 
 Hanover. 
 
 /Festminster 
 
 IFindsor. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 II. 
 
 251 
 
 EMINENT AND REMARKABLE PERSONS WHO 
 HAVE FLOURISHED IN BRITAIN. 
 
 Abercromby, sir Ralph, killed in Egypt, 1801 
 Addison, Joseph, born 1672, died June 17, 1719. 
 Akenside, Dr. Mark, born 1721, died June 23, 1770 
 Aiban, St. the first English martyr, died 303. 
 
 Anson, admiral, died 17G2, aged 62. 
 
 Arkwright, sir Richard, inventor of the spinning jen- 
 nies, died Aug. 3, 1792. 
 
 Arne, Michael, the musician, died 1785. 
 
 Bacon, Roger, born 1214, died 1294. 
 
 Francis, lord Verulam, sent to the tower, 1622 ; 
 
 died, April 9, 1626, aged 57. 
 
 Becket, Thomas, chancellor to Henry II. 1157 ; made 
 archbishop of Canterbury, 1162; murdered in the 
 cathedral church at Canterbury, Dec. 29, 1170. 
 Berkeley, bishop of Cloyne, died 1753, aged 73. 
 Bernard, sir John, died 1764, aged 80. 
 
 Blackstone, Judge, born 1723, died Feb. 14. 1780. 
 Blair, Dr. Hugh, died Dec. 27, 1800, aged 83. 
 
 Blake, admiral, born 1589, died 1657. 
 
 Bolingbroke, lord, died 1751, aged 73. 
 
 Boulton, Matthew, the machinist, born 1728, died 
 Sept. 1809. 
 
 Boyle, Robert, the philosopher, died 1691, aged 65. 
 Bruce, Robert, Scottish general and king, died 1329. 
 Buckingham, duke of, killed at Portsmouth by Felton, 
 Aug. 23, 1628, aged 35. 
 
 Banyan, John, born 1628, died 1688. 
 
 Burke, Edmund, died July 8, 1797, aged 68. 
 
 Burleigh, lord Exeter, 1560, died 1598. 
 
 Burnet, bishop of Sarum, born 1643, died 1715. 
 
 Butler, Samuel, author of Hudibras, born 1612, died 
 1680. 
 
 Camden, the historian, died Nov. 2, 1623, aged 72. 
 Caxton, William, the first printer in England, 1474, 
 died 1491, aged 70. 
 
 Chaucer, Geoffry, born 1328, died 1409. 
 
 Chicheley, Henry, archbishop of Canterbury, died 
 1443. 
 
 Churchill, Rev. Charles, born 1731, died 1764. 
 

 / 
 
 252 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. 
 
 Clarendon, Hyde, earl of, bom 1612 5 banished Dec 
 12. 1667; died Dec. 7, 1674. 
 
 Clarke, Rev. Dr. Samuel, born 1675, died May 17 
 1729. 
 
 Coke, lord chief iustice, born 1549, died 1634. 
 Congreve, William, born 1672, died 1729*. 
 
 Cook, captain James, the navigator, born Oct. 27 
 1728; killed Feb. 14, 1779. 
 
 Cornwallis, marquis K. G. born 1738, died in India 
 1805. 
 
 Cowley, Abraham, born 1618, died 1667. 
 
 Cowper, William, poet, died 1800. 
 
 Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, born 1489. 
 
 burnt at Oxford, March 21, 1556. 
 
 Cromwell, lord, beheaded July 28, 1540. 
 
 Defoe, Daniel, political writer, died 1731. 
 
 Drake, sir Francis, born 1545; set sail on his voy- 
 ■ age round the world, 1577 ; died Jan 28, 1595. 
 
 Dryden, John, born August 9, 1613, died May 1, 1700. 
 Evelyn, John, natural philosopher, born 1629, died 
 1706. 
 
 Fairfax, sir Thomas, born 1644, died 1671. 
 
 Fielding, Henry, English writer, born 1707, died 1754, 
 aged 47. 
 
 Flamstead, John, astronomer, born 1646, died 1719 
 Foote, Samuel, died Oct. 21, 1777, aged 56. 
 f Fox, George, founder of the Quakers, died 1681. 
 
 . Garrick, David, born at Hereford, 1716, died Jan. 20 
 
 \ 1779. 
 
 Gay, John, English poet, died 1732. 
 
 Gibbs, James, architect, died 1754. 
 
 Glover, Richard, English writer, born 1712, died 1785 
 Goldsmith, Oliver, born 1731, died April 4, 1774. 
 Gray, Thomas, the poet, born 1716, died July 30 
 1771. 
 
 Gresham, sir Thomas, died 1580. 
 i Hale, sir Matthew, born 1609, died Dec. 25, 1676. 
 
 Hampden, John, born 1594, killed in battle June 24 
 1643. 
 
 Holinshed, the historian, died 1580. 
 
 Home, John, born 1724, died Sept. 4, 1808. 
 
 Hotspur, Henry Percy, killed July 22, 1403. 
 
 Howard, Mr. the philanthropist, born about 1725, died 
 Jan. 20., 1790. 
 
fF- 
 
 APPENDIX. 253 
 
 Howe, lord viscount, slain in America, July 8, 1752, 
 aged 34. 
 
 Hume, David, philosopher and historian, born 1711, 
 died Aug. 25, 1776. 
 
 Hogarth, William, died 1765, aged 64. 
 
 Johnson, Dr. Samuel, born Sept. 18, 1709, died Dec. 
 14, 1784, aged 78. 
 
 Jones, Inigo, the celebrated architect, born 1572, died 
 1651. 
 
 - — , sir William, died in Bengal, April 27, 1797, aged 
 47. v 
 
 Knox, John, the reformer, born 1505, died 1572. 
 
 Latimer, bishop of Worcester, burnt at Oxford, Oct. 
 1555. 
 
 Leland, John, the antiquarian, died 1552, aged 45. 
 
 Low tli, Dr. Robert, bishop of London, learned writer 
 died 1787. 
 
 Lucius, the first Christian king of Britain, reigned 77 
 years, founded the first church in London, at St. 
 Peter's, Cornhill, 179. 
 
 Lydgate, John, the historian, lived in 1440. 
 
 Macklin, Mr. Charles, the comedian, died July 11 
 1797, aged 97. 
 
 Maitland, William, the historian, died 1757. 
 
 Mallet, David, dramatic author, died 1765. 
 
 Marlborough, John, duke of, died June 16, 1722, agen 
 72. 
 
 Marvel, Andrew, the patriot, born 1620, died 1678. 
 
 Maskelyne, Neville, English astronomer, died 1772. 
 
 Maskelvne, Rev. Nevil, astronomer royal, born Oct. 
 6, 1782, died Feb. 9, 1811. 
 
 Monk, general, born 1608, died January 4, 1669-70. 
 
 Monmouth, duke of, beheaded 1685, aged 35. 
 
 Moore, sir John, killed in the battle of Corunna, Jan 
 16, 1809. 
 
 More, sir Thomas, born 1480, beheaded July 6, J535 
 aged 55. 
 
 Mozart, Wolfang Amadeus, musical composer, born 
 Jan. 27, 1756, died Dec. 5, 1792. 
 
 Murphy, Arthur, died June 18, 1805, aged 77. 
 
 Nelson, adm. lord viscount, duke of Bronte, killed in 
 battle in the glorious victory off Trafalgar, Oct. 2I ; 
 1805, buried at the public expense, in St. Paul’s ca 
 thedral, Jan. 10, 1806. 
 
254 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
 
 Newton, sir Isaac, born Dec. 25, 1642, died March 20, 
 1726-7. 
 
 Northumberland, Dudley, beheaded for attempting ta 
 put Lady Jane Grey on the English throne, 1553. 
 
 Oldcastle, Sir John, hanged and burnt without Tem- 
 ple-bar, 1418 ; the first protestant martyr. 
 
 Ormond, duke of, impeached June 21, 1715; retired 
 to France August following; died in France, and 
 was buried May 22, 1749. 
 
 Ossian flourished as a poet in 300. 
 
 Palliser, Sir Hugh, died March 19, 1796, aged 75. 
 
 Paris, Matthew, the historian, died 1259. 
 
 Partridge, John, the astrologer, born 1644, died 1715. 
 
 Percival, Spencer, prime minister of England, assas- 
 sinated May 11, 1812. 
 
 Pitt, William, earl of Chatham, died May 11, 1778, 
 aged 70, and buried at the public expense in West- 
 minster Abbey June 9, following. 
 
 , William, son of tne foregoing, and prime minis 
 
 ter of England, died January 23, 1GO6. 
 
 Plot, Dr. Robert, - antiquarian and historical write 
 born 1641, died 1696. 
 
 Pomfret, Rev. Mr. the Poet, died young, 1709. 
 
 Pope, Alexander, the poet, died 1744, aged 55. 
 
 Pretender, the old, born June 10, 1688, died 1776. 
 
 , the young, his son, born Nov. 31, 1720, 
 
 died January 31, 1788, without male issue. 
 
 Prior, Matthew, died Sept. 18, 1721, aged 56. 
 
 Raleigh, sir Walter, beheaded October 29, 1618, aged 
 65. 
 
 Randolph, Thomas, English historian, born 1605, died 
 1634. 
 
 Rapin, de Thoyras, English historian, died May 16, 
 1725, aged 64. 
 
 Richardson, Samuel, moral writer, died 1761, aged 
 72. 
 
 Russel, lord William, beheaded July 21, 1683. 
 
 Reynolds, sir Joshua, died Feb. 24, 1792, aged 69. 
 
 Sacheverel, Rev. Dr. silenced, March 23, 1710, di- 
 ed 1723. 
 
 Sancroft, archbishop of Canterbury, born 1616; com 
 mitted to the Tower, tried, and acquitted, 1688 
 deprived, 1689; died Nov. 26, 1693, aged 77. 
 
 Selden, John, born 1584, died Oct. 30, 1654. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 2D 5 
 
 Shakspeare, bom 1564, died April 3, 1616. 
 
 Sharp, Granville, one of the first who set on foot 
 the inquiry into the African Slave Trade, died July 
 ^ 8, 1813. 
 
 Shenstone, William, English poet and miscellaneous 
 writer, died 1763. 
 
 Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, born Oct. 1751, died July 
 ^ 7, 1816. 
 
 Shovel, sir Cloudsley, lost on the rocks of Scilly, Oct. 
 
 22 . 1707, aged 56. 
 
 Sidney, sir Philip, born 1554, killed in battle Sept j 
 
 22, ‘1586. 
 
 — , Algeron, beheaded Dec. 7, 1683. 
 
 Smollet, Dr. Tobias, the historian, died Sept. 17, 
 
 1771. 
 
 Spelman, sir Henry, the antiquarian, died 1641, aged 
 80. 
 
 Spence, Thomas, political economist, died Oct. 1814 
 Spencer, the poet, born 1510, died 1598. 
 
 Steele, sir Richard, died September 1, 1729, aged 53. 
 
 Stillingfleet, bishop of Worcester, died 1699. 
 
 Temple, sir William, died January, 1699, aged 69. 
 
 Thomson, James, died Aug. 27, 1748, aged 46. 
 
 Thurlow, lord, died Sept. 12, 1806, aged 71. 
 
 Tillotson, archbishop of Canterbury, died 1694, aged 
 63. 
 
 Tooke, John Horne, born 1736, died March 18, 1812. 
 
 Trenchard, John, born 1662, died 1723. 
 
 Tyler, Wat, the rebel, killed, 1381. 
 
 Vernon, admiral, died 1757, aged 73. 
 
 Walker, the Rev. Mr. defended Londonderry, 1689 ; 
 
 slain at the battle of the Boyne, 1690. 
 
 Wallace, sir William, eminent Scotch general, killed 
 1304. 
 
 Waller, Edmund, English poet, died 1687, aged 81. 
 
 Walpole, sir Robert, earl of Oxford, born 1674: died 
 1745. 
 
 Warwick, earl of, the king-maker, defeated and slain 
 at the battle of Barnet, Apnl 14, 1461. 
 
 Watts, Dr. Isaac, born 1673, died 1748. 
 
 West, James, the antiquarian, died July 2, 1772. 
 
 Whitbread, Samuel, died by his own hand, July 6 
 1815. 
 
 Wickliffe, opposed the Dope’s supremacy, 1377 $ di- 
 
256 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ed 1384; and 40 years after burnt for boing a her 
 etic. 
 
 Wijkes, John, the patriot, died December 26, 1797, 
 aged 70. 
 
 William, prince, son of Henry I. lost in his passage 
 from Normandy, 1120. 
 
 Williams, sir Charles Hanbury, English historian and 
 poet, died 1759. 
 
 Wilson, Arthur, the historian, born 1596, died 1652. 
 
 Wolfe, general, killed before Quebec, September 13, 
 17b9, aged 33. 
 
 Wolsey, minister to Henry VIII. 1513, died Novem- 
 ber 18, 1530, aged 59. 
 
 Woollet, William, the engraver, died May 23, 1785, 
 aged 50. 
 
 Wycherly, William, born 1640, died January 1, 1715- 
 16. 
 
 Wykeham, William of, eminent English prelate, bish 
 op of Winchester, died 1404. 
 
 Young, Dr. Edward, died 1765, aged 81. 
 
 III. 
 
 BATTLES IN ENGLISH HISTORY. 
 
 Shropshire, when Caracta- 
 cus was taken prisoner, 
 51 after Christ. 
 
 Stamford, in Lincolnshire, 
 the first between the 
 Britons and Saxons, in 
 449. 
 
 Hellston, in Cornwall, and 
 in the Isle of Shepey, 
 between Egbert and the 
 Danes, 834. 
 
 The Isle of Thanet, where 
 the English were de- 
 feated, and the Danes 
 settled, 854. 
 
 Assenden, where the Danes 
 were defeated by Al- 
 fred and Ethelred, 871. 
 
 Wilton, where the English 
 were defeated by the 
 Danes, 872. 
 
 Bury, between Edward 
 the Elder, and his cous- 
 in Ethelward, 905. 
 
 Malden, beween Edward 
 and the Danes, 913. 
 
 Stamford) between Ed- 
 ward, the Danes, and 
 Scots, 923. 
 
 Widendane, between A- 
 thelstan, the Irish, and 
 Scots, 938. 
 
 Asnden, between Canute 
 and Edmund, 1016. 
 
 Battle-bridge, between 
 Harold II. and Harlin- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 257 
 
 ger, Sept. 25, 1066. 
 
 Hastings, where king Har- 
 old was slain, Oct. 14, 
 1066. 
 
 Alnwick, 1092. 
 
 Northallerton, Aug. 22, 
 1138. 
 
 Alnwick, 1174. 
 
 Ascalon, Sept. 16, 1191. 
 
 Lincoln, May 19, 1217. 
 
 Lewes, May 14, 1264. 
 
 Evesham, Aug. 5, 1265. 
 
 Dunbar, April 27, 129G. 
 
 Falkirk, July 22, 1298. 
 
 Bannockourn, June 25, 
 1314; when the English 
 were defeated. 
 
 Halidon-hill, near Ber- 
 wick, when 20,200 of 
 the Scots were slain Ju- 
 ly 29, 1333L 
 
 Crcssy, Aug. 26, 1346. 
 
 Durham, when David king 
 of Scotland was taken 
 prisoner, Oct. 17, 1346. 
 
 Nevil’s cross, in Durham, 
 1347. 
 
 Poictiers, when the king 
 of France and his son 
 were taken prisoners, 
 Sept. 19, 1356. 
 
 Otterborn, between Hot- 
 spur and earl Douglas, 
 July 31, 1388. 
 
 Shrewsbury, July 22, 1403. 
 
 Monmouth, March 11, and 
 May 11, 1405. 
 
 Agincourt, Oct. 25, 1415. 
 
 Beauge, where the duke 
 of Clarence and 1500 
 English were killed, A- 
 pril3, 1421. 
 
 patay, under Joan of Arc, 
 June 10, 1429. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 St. Alban’s, May 22, 1455. 
 Bloreheath, Sept. 22, 1459. 
 Northampton, July* 19, 
 1460. 
 
 Wakefield, Dec. 31, 1460 
 Towton, March 29, 1461. 
 St. Alban’s, 14G1. 
 Mortimer’s Cross, 1461 
 Hexham, May 15, 1463. 
 Banbury, July 26, 1469. 
 Stamford, March 13, 1470. 
 Barnet. April 14, 1471. 
 Tewkesbury, May 4, 14M, 
 Bosworth, Aug. 22, 1485. 
 Stoke, June 6, 1487. 
 Blackhteath, June 22, 1497. 
 Flodden, Sept. 9, 1513, 
 when James IV. was kil- 
 led. 
 
 Solway, Nov. 24, 1542. 
 Hopton-heath, March 19, 
 
 1642. 
 
 Worcester, Sept. 23, 1642. 
 Edgehill, Oct. 23, 1642. 
 Brentford, in 1642. 
 Barham-moor, March 29, 
 
 1643. 
 
 Lansdown, July 5, 1645. 
 Round-away-down, July 
 13, 1643. 
 
 Newbury, Sept. 20. 1643. 
 Alresford, March 29, 1644. 
 Cropedy-bridge, June 6, 
 
 1644. 
 
 Marston moor, July 2,. 
 1644. 
 
 Newark, in 1644. 
 Newbury, Oct. 27, 1644. 
 Naseby, June, 1645. 
 
 Alford, July 2, 1645. 
 Kingston, in Surrey, 1647 
 Worcester, Sept. 3, 1651. 
 Sedgemocr, Aug. 6, 1685. 
 Both well-bridge, June 22 
 ifi&i 
 
 17 
 
258 ' 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Boyne, in Ireland, July 1, 
 1690. 
 
 Fleuras, July 12, 1690. 
 Blenheim, Aug. 2, 1704. 
 Tirlemont, 1705. 
 
 Ramifies, Whitsunday, 
 1706. 
 
 Almanza, in Spain, 1707. 
 Oudenard, June 30, 1708. 
 Malplaquet,Sept. 1 1, 1709. 
 Almanza, July 16, 1710. 
 Denain, in 1712. 
 
 Preston, Nov. 12, 1715. 
 Dumblain, Nov. 13, 1715. 
 Dettingen, June 15, 1743. 
 Fontenoy, April 30, 1745. 
 Preston-Pans, Sept. 21, 
 1745. 
 
 Falkirk, Jan. 17, 1746. 
 Roucoux, April 12, 1746. 
 Culloden, April 17, 1746. 
 Fort du Quesne, July 9, 
 1755. 
 
 Lake St. George, Sept. 8, 
 1755. 
 
 Calcutta, June, 1756, and 
 in 1759. 
 
 Plassey, Feb. 5, 1757. 
 Minden, Aug. 1759. 
 Niagara, July 24, 1759. 
 Quebec, Sept, 15, 1759. 
 Lexington, near Boston, 
 April 19, 1775. 
 Bunkers-hill,June 17, 1775 
 Long-Island, Aug.27, 1776. 
 White Plains, Nov.30, 1776 
 Brandy-Wine Creek, Sep. 
 13, 1777. 
 
 Saratoga, Oct. 7, 1777. 
 Germantown, Oct. 14,1777 
 Rhode Island, Oct.14, 1778 
 Camden, Aug. 16, 1780. 
 Guildford, March 16, 1781. 
 Ycrk Town, Oct. 29, 1781. 
 
 Seringapatam, 1791. 
 
 Tournay, Maj 8, 1793. 
 
 Valenciennes, May 23 
 1793. 
 
 Cambray, Aug. 9, 1793. 
 
 Lincelles, Aug. 18, 1793. 
 
 Dunkirk, Sept. 7, 1793. 
 
 Quesnoy, Sept. 7, 1793. 
 
 Toulon, Oct. 1, 1793. 
 
 Cateau, March 28, 1794. 
 
 Landrecy, April 24, 1794. 
 
 Cateau, April 26. 1794. 
 
 Ostend, May 5, 1794. 
 
 Tournay, May 18 1794. 
 
 Maestricht, Sept. 18, 1794. 
 
 Nimeguen, Nov. 4, 1794. 
 
 Quiberon, July 21, 1795. 
 
 Kilcullen, Ireland, May 
 22, 1798. 
 
 Naas, May 23, 1798, at 
 Stratford upon Slaney ; 
 at Backestown, May 25 ; 
 at Dunleven, May 25 ; 
 at Taragh, May 26 5 at 
 Carlow, May 27 ; at Mo 
 nasterevan, the same 
 day ; at Kildare, May 
 28 5 at Ballacanoe and 
 at Newtonbury, June 1 ; 
 at New Ross, June 5; 
 at Antrim the same day ; 
 at Acklow, June 9 ; at 
 Ballynahinch, June 13; 
 at Ovidstown, June 19; 
 at Bally narush, June 20. 
 
 Seringapatam, May 4,1792 
 
 Maida, July 6, 1806. 
 
 Vimiera, Aug. 21, 1808. 
 
 Corunna, Jan. 16, 1869. 
 
 Oporto, May 11, 1809. 
 
 Talavera de la Reyna, Ju 
 ly 27, 1809. 
 
 Buzaco, Sept. 27, 1810. 
 
 Barossa, March 5, 1811. 
 
 ! 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 25$ 
 
 Albuera, May 16, 1811. 
 Buenos Ayres and Monte 
 Video, May 18, 1811. 
 Ciudad Rodrigo. Sept. 25, 
 
 1811. 
 
 Salamanca, July 22, 1812. 
 Fort George, on the Ni- 
 agara, May 27, 1813. 
 Burlington Heights, June 
 6, 1813. 
 
 Vittoria, June 21, 1813. 
 Pyrenees, July 28, 1813. 
 St. Jean de L.uz, Nov. 1G > 
 1813. 
 
 Black-rock, Dec. 30, 1813 
 Toulouse, April 10, 1814. 
 Chippeway, July 5, 1814. 
 Baltimore, Sept. 12, 1814. 
 Ligny, June 16, 1815. 
 Waterloo, June 18, 1815. 
 
 IV. 
 
 SEA-FIGHTS, since the Spanish, Armada. 
 
 Between the English 
 fleet and the Spanish ar- 
 mada, 1588. 
 
 In the Downs, with the 
 Dutch, June 19, 1652. 
 
 Again, Sept. 28, Oct. 28, 
 Nov. 29, 1652. 
 
 Off Portsmouth, wheu ad- 
 miral Blake took 11 
 Dutch men of war, and 
 30 merchant ships, Feb. 
 10, 1653. 
 
 Off the North Foreland, 
 when the Dutch lost 
 20 men of war, June 2, 
 1653. 
 
 On the coast of Holland, 
 when they lost 30 men of 
 war, and admiral Tromp 
 was killed, July 29, 
 1653. 
 
 At the Canaries, when 
 Blake destroyed the gal- 
 leons, April, 1657. 
 
 Off Harvvick, when 18 cap- 
 ital Dutch ships were 
 taken, and 14 destroyed, 
 June 3, 1665. 
 
 The earl of Sandwich took 
 12 men of war and two 
 East India ships, Sept. 
 4, 1665. 
 
 Again, when the English 
 lost nine and the Dutch 
 15 ships, June 4, 1666. 
 
 At Southwold-bay, when 
 the earl of Sandwich 
 was blown up, and the 
 Dutch defeated by the 
 Duke of York, May 28, 
 1672. 
 
 Off Beachy-head, when 
 the English and Dutch 
 were defeated by the 
 French, June 30, 1690. 
 
 Off La Hogue, when the 
 French fleet was entire 
 ly defeated, and 21 large 
 men of war destroyed, 
 May 19, 1692. 
 
 The Vigo fleet taken by 
 the English and Dutch, 
 Oct. 12, 1702. 
 
 Between the French and 
 English, Aug. 24, 1704 
 
 At Gibraltar, when the 
 
260 
 
 HISTORY OF -ENGLAND. 
 
 Frencn lost 5 men of 
 war, November 5, 1704. 
 
 French fleet destroyed by 
 sir George Byng, July 
 31, 1718. 
 
 Off Toulon, Feb. 9, 1744. 
 
 Off Cape Finisterre, when 
 the French fleet was ta- 
 ken by admiral Anson, 
 May 3, 1747. 
 
 Off Ushant, when admiral 
 Hawke took seven men 
 of war of the French, 
 Oct. 14, 1747. 
 
 Off Belleisle, when he 
 took 14 sail of victual- 
 lers, July 14, 1756. 
 
 French beaten off Cape 
 Lagos, by admiral Bos- 
 cawen, Aug. 18, 1759.’ 
 
 Ofl' Quiberon Bay, when 
 Hawke defeated the 
 French, Nov. 20, 1752. 
 
 Off Ushant, a drawn bat- 
 tle, between Keppel and 
 Dorvilliers,July 17, 1778 
 
 Near Cape St. Vincent, 
 between admiral Rod- 
 ney and admiral Don 
 Lagara, when the latter 
 was defeated and taken 
 prisoner, Jan. 8 , 1780. 
 
 Near Cadiz, when admi- 
 ral Rodney defeated the 
 Spaniards, Jan. 16, F 18 O. 
 
 Dogger Bank, between ad- 
 miral Parker and the 
 Dutch, August 5, 1781. 
 
 When admiral Rodney de- 
 feated the French going 
 to attack Jamaica, and 
 took five ships of the 
 line, and admiral count 
 de Grasse, April 12, 
 1782. 
 
 The same day admira, 
 Hughes destroyed the 
 fleet of France, under 
 admiral Suffrein, in the 
 East Indies. 
 
 Lord Howe totally defeat- 
 ed the French fleet, took 
 six ships of war, and 
 sunk several, June 1, 
 1794. 
 
 The French fleet defeat- 
 ed, and two ships of war 
 taken, by admiral Ho* 
 tham, March 14, 1795. 
 
 The French fleet defeat- 
 ed by lord Bridport, 
 June 25, 1795, and threo 
 ships of war taken, near 
 L’Orient. 
 
 The Dutch fleet under ad- 
 miral Lucas, in Saldan- 
 na Bay, Africa, consist- 
 ing of five men of war 
 and several frigates, sur- 
 rendered Aug. 19, 1796. 
 
 The Spanish fleet defeated 
 by sir J. Jarvis, and four 
 line of battle ships ta- 
 ken, Feb. 14, 1797. 
 
 The Dutch fleet was de 
 feated by admiral Dun- 
 can, on the coast of Hol- 
 land, where their two 
 admirals and 15 ships 
 of war were taken or de- 
 stroyed, Oct. 11, 179 7 . 
 
 The French fleet of 17 
 ships of war, totally de- 
 feated, and nine of them 
 taken, by sir Horatio 
 Nelson, Aug. 1, 1798, 
 near the Nile in Egypt. 
 
 The French, off the coast 
 of Ireland, consisting of 
 
APPENDIX. 2G1 
 
 nine ships, by sir J. B. 
 Warren, Oct. 12, J 783, 
 when he took five. 
 
 rile Dutch fleet in the 
 Texel surrendered to 
 admiral Mitchell, on his 
 taking the Helder, Aug. 
 29, 1799. 
 
 The Danish fleet of 28 
 sail, taken or destroyed 
 by lord .Nelson, off Co- 
 penhagen, April 2, 1801. 
 
 Between the French and 
 English, in the Bay of 
 Gibraltar: Hannibal, of 
 74 guns, lost, July 5, 
 1801. 
 
 Sound, betwee-n Denmark 
 and Sweden, passed by 
 the English fleet, when 
 Copenhagen was bom- 
 barded, April 2, 1801. 
 French and Spanish fleets 
 totally defeated off Cape 
 Trafalgar,, lord Nelson 
 killed in the action, Oct. 
 21, 1805. 
 
 French fleet taken by sir 
 R. Strachan, Nov. 4 
 
 1805. 
 
 French fleet defeated in 
 the West Indies, by sir 
 T. Duckworth, Feb. 6, 
 
 1806. 
 
 V. 
 
 DATES OF IMPROVEMENTS AND INVEN- 
 TIONS. 
 
 Am-BALLOONS introduced into England, and Mr. Lu* 
 nardi ascended from Moorfields, Sept. 15, 1784 • 
 Blanchard and Dr. Jeffries went from Dover to Ca- 
 lais, Jan. 7, 1785. 
 
 Apricots first planted in England, 1540. 
 
 Archery introduced into England, before 440. 
 
 Artichokes first planted in England, 1487. 
 
 Asparagus first produced in England, 1608. 
 
 Bajze manufacture first introduced into England at 
 Colchester, 1608. 
 
 Beer. — A le invented, 1404, B. C. ; ale-booths set up 
 in England, 728, and laws passed for their regula- 
 tion. — Beer first introduced into England, 1492 ; in 
 Scotland, as early as 1482. By the statute of James 
 I. one full quart of the best beer or ale was to be 
 sold for one penny, and two quarts of small beer for 
 cr.c penny. In 1822 the duties on beer were 2,786,- 
 5191. and on malt, 5,013,697/. 
 
 Bills in\ented by Paulinus, bishop of Nola, in Cam* 
 pagnia, about 400. The first tuneable set in Eng* 
 
262 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 land were hung up in Croyland abbey, in Lincoln 
 shire, 960 ; baptised in churches, 1030. 
 
 Bible first translated into the Saxon language, 939 ; 
 into the English language, by Tindal and Coverdale, 
 1534; first translation by the king ? s authority, 1536. 
 
 Blankets first made in England, 1340. 
 
 Books ; a very large estate given for one on cosmog 
 raphy, by king Alfred; were sold from 10 ?. to 30?. a 
 piece, about 1400. 
 
 Bows and arrows introducer^ 1066. 
 
 Bread first made with year* a’bout 1650. In the yeai 
 1754 the quartern loaf w* s sold for 4c?. ; three years 
 afterwards, in the year r>57, it rose to 10cZ., and ir. 
 March, 1800, to Is. 5c?., when new bread was forbid- 
 den, under the penalty of 5s. per loaf, if the baker 
 sold it until 24 hours old. 
 
 bridge, the first stone one, in England, at Bow, near 
 Stratford, 1087. 
 
 Buckles invented about 1680. 
 
 Calicos first made in Lancashise, in 1772. 
 
 Candles, tallow, so great a luxury, that splinters of 
 wood were used for lights ; first began to be used, 
 1290. No idea of wax candles, 1300. 
 
 Cannon invented, 1330; first used by the English, 
 1346 ; first used in England, 1445 ; first made of iron 
 in England, 1547 ; of brass, 1635. 
 
 Cauliflowers first planted in England, 1703. 
 
 Celery first introduced in 1704. 
 
 Chairs, sedan, first used in London, 1634. 
 
 Cherry-trees first planted in Britain, 100 beforeChrist ; 
 brought from Flanders and planted in Kent, 1540. 
 
 Chimneys first introduced into buildings in England, 
 1200, only in the kitchen, or large hall; smoky, 
 where the family sat round a large stove, the fun- 
 nel of which passed through the ceiling, 1300. 
 
 China made in England, at Chelsea, in 1752; at Bow, 
 in 1758; and in several parts of England, in 1760; 
 by Mr. Wedgwood, 1762. 
 
 Chocolate introduced into Europe, from Mexico, in 
 1520. 
 
 Cloth, coarse woollen, introduced into England, 1191 r 
 first made at Kendal, 1390 ; medleys first made, 
 1614. 
 
 Coaches first used in England. 1580; an act passed to 
 
 ! 
 
DO 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 203 
 
 y 
 
 prevent men riding in coaches, as effeminate, in 
 1601 ; began to be common in London, 160b. 
 
 Coals discovered near Newcastle, 1234; first dug at 
 Newcastle by a charter granted the town by Henry 
 III. 5 first used, 1280; diers, brewers, &c. in the 
 reign of Edward I. began to use sea-coal for fire, in . 
 1350, and he published a proclamation against it, 
 1398, as a public nuisance. Imported from New- 
 castle to London in 1350 ; in general use in Lon- 
 don, 1400. 
 
 offee first brought into England, in 1641. 
 offee-trees were conveyed from Mocha to Holland 
 in 1616 j and carried to the West Indies in the year 
 1726; first cultivated at Surinam by the Dutch, 1713: 
 its culture encouraged in the plantations, 1732. 
 
 Coin first made round in England, in i 10 1 ; silver 
 halfpence and farthings were coined in the reign of 
 John, and pence the largest current coin ; gold first 
 coined in England, 1087 ; copper money used only 
 in Scotland and Ireland, 1399*, gold coined in Eng- 
 land, 1345; groats and half-groats the largest silver 
 coin in England, 1531 ; in 1347, a pound of silver 
 was coined into 22 shillings, and in 1352, a pound 
 was coined into 25 shillings; in 1414, they were in- 
 creased to thirty shillings; and in 1500, a pound of 
 silver was coined into 40 shillings. In 1530 they 
 were extended to 62, which is the same now ; the 
 money in Scotland, till now the same as in England, 
 began to be debased, 1354; gold first coined in Ven- 
 ice, 1346 ; -shillings first coined in England, 1068; 
 crowns and half-crowns first coined, 1551 : copper 
 money introduced into France by Henry HI. 1580 ; 
 the first legal copper coin introduced, which put an 
 end to private leaden tokens, universally practised, 
 especially in London, 1609 ; copper money intro- 
 duced into England by James I. 1620; milling coin • 
 introduced, 1662; halfpence and farthings first coin- 
 ed by government, August 16, 1672; guineas were 
 first coined, 1673; silver coinage, 1696; broad pie- 
 ces of gold called in by government, and coined in- 
 to guineas, 1732; five-shillings and three-penny 
 pieces in gold were issued in 1716 and 1761. Sove. 
 reigns were first coined in 1820. 
 
 Cow-pox, inoculation by, as a security against small 
 pox, introduced by Dr. Jenner, 1800. 
 
 y 
 
264 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Creed, Lord’s prayer, and ten commandments, Aral 
 translated into the Saxon tongue, 746. 
 
 Currants first planted in England, 1533. 
 
 Cider, called wine, made in England, 128 L 
 
 Distaff spinning first introduced into England, 1505. 
 
 England, so named by Egbert, 829 5 first divided into 
 counties, tithings, and hundreds, 890 ; the first geo- 
 graphical map of it, 1520. 
 
 Fairs and markets first instituted in England by Alfred, 
 about 88 fi. The first fairs took their rise from 
 wakes ; when the number of people then assembled 
 brought together a variety of traders annually on 
 these days. From these holidays they were called 
 f erics, or fairs. 
 
 Fans, muffs, masks, and false hair, brought into Eng- 
 land from France, 1572. 
 
 Figures inarithmitic introduced into England, in 1454. 
 
 Fruits and flowers, sundry sorts before unknown, 
 brought into England in the reigns of Henry VII. 
 and VIII. from about 1500 to 1578, as the musk and 
 damask roses, and tulips ; several sorts of plum-trees 
 and currant-plants. 
 
 Gardening introduced i. to England from the Nether 
 lands, from whence vegetables were imported, till 
 1509 ; musk melons and apricots cultivated in Eng- 
 land ; the pale gooseberry, with salads, garden-roots, 
 cabbages, &c. brought from Flanders, and hops from 
 Artois, 1520, the damask rose brought here by Dr. 
 Lineacre, {physician to Henry VIII. ; pippins 
 brought to England by Leonard Mascal, of Plum- 
 stead, in Sussex, 1525 ; currants, or Corinthian 
 grapes, first planted in England, 1555; brought from 
 the Isle of Zant, belonging to Venice ; the musk- 
 rose, and several sorts of plums, from Italy, by lord 
 Cromwell; apricots brought here by Henry VIII. 's 
 
 • gardener ; tamarisk plant from Germany, by Arch- 
 bishop Grindal ; at and about Norwich the Flem- 
 ings first planted {towers unknown in England, as 
 gillyflowers, carnations, the Provence rose, &c. 
 1567 ; woad, originally from Thoulouse, in France?; 
 tulip roots first brought into England from Vienna, 
 1578 ; also beans, peas, and salads, now in common 
 use, 1660. 
 
 Gas, use of, introduced in London for lighting street#, 
 1814. * 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 265 
 
 Glass introduced into England by Benedict a monk, 
 674; glass-windows began to be used in private 
 houses in England, 1180; glass first made in England 
 into bottles and vessels, 1567 ; the first plate glass 
 for looking-glasses and coach- windows made at Lam' 
 beth, 1673; in Lancashire, 1773; window-glass first 
 made in England, 1557. 
 
 Grapes brought to England, and planted first in 1552. 
 
 Gunpowder first made in England, 1418. 
 
 Hats first made in London, 1510. 
 
 Hemp and flax first planted in England, 1533. 
 
 Heraldry had its rise, 1100. 
 
 Hops, first used in malt liquors in England, 1525. 
 
 Horse-shoes introduced into general use in 800; first 
 made of iron 481. 
 
 Inoculation first tried on criminals, 1721. 
 
 Iron first cast in England, 1544. 
 
 Knives first made in England, 1563. 
 
 Lamp for preventing explosion by fire-damp in coal* 
 mines, invented in 1815. 
 
 Lanterns invented by king Alfred, 890. 
 
 Leaden pipes for conveying water invented, 1236. 
 
 Life-boats invented, 1802. 
 
 Linen first made in England, 1253. Table linen very 
 scarce in England, 1386. 
 
 Lithographic printing brought into England, 1801. 
 
 Magic lantern invented by Roger Bacon, 1252. 
 
 Magnifying glasses invented by Roger Bacon, 1260. 
 
 Mulberry trees first planted in England, 1609. 
 
 Muslins first manufactured in England, in 1781. 
 
 Navigable canal, the first in England, 1134. 
 
 Navy of England, at the time of the Spanish Ar- 
 mada, was only 28 vessels, none larger than frigates. 
 James I. increased 10 ships of 1400 tons, of 64 guns 
 the largest then ever built. The list of the royal 
 navy of England was, in the years . . 1808 and 1817 
 King's ships in ordinary .... 176 370 
 
 in commission . 627- 124 
 
 —building at different places 66 36 
 
 Total, 869 530 
 
 Needles first made in England 1545. 
 
 Newspapers. — First published in England, by order 
 of queen Elizabeth, and was entitled the English 
 
266 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Mercury one of which is remaining in the British 
 Museum, dated July 28, 1588. 
 
 A. private newspaper, called the Weekly Courant, wag 
 printed in London, in 1622. 
 
 A newspaper was printed by Robert Barker, at New 
 castle, in 1639. — The Gazette was first published at 
 Oxford, Aug. 22, 1642. 
 
 After the revolution; the first daily paper was called the 
 Orange. Intelligencer, and from that time to 1662, 
 there were 26 newspapers. 
 
 In 1709, there were 18 weekly and one daily paper, 
 the London Courant. 
 
 In 1795, there were 38 published in London, 72 in 
 the country, 13 in Scotland, and 35 in Ireland j in 
 all, 158 papers. 
 
 In 1809, there were 63 published in London, 93 
 in the country, 24 in Scotland, and 37 in Ireland ; 
 making a total of 217 newspapers in the United- 
 Kingdom. 
 
 New-style introduced into England, 1752. 
 
 Paper, the manufacture of, introduced into England at 
 Dartford, in Kent, 1588 ; scarcely any but brown pa- 
 per made in England till 1690} white paper first 
 made in England, 1690.' 
 
 Parish registers first introduced by lord Cromwell’s 
 order, 1538. 
 
 Park, the first in England, made by Henry I. at Wood- 
 stock, 1123. 
 
 Penny-post set up in London ana suburbs, by one Mur- 
 ray, an upholsterer, 1681. 
 
 Pins were first used in England by Catharine Howard 
 queen of Henry VIII. 
 
 Port-holes in ships of war introduced, 1545. 
 
 Posts, regular, established between London and most 
 towns of England, Scotland. Ireland, &c., 1635. 
 
 Post-horses and stages established, 1483. 
 
 Post-offices first established in England. 1581 ; and 
 made general in England, 1656 j and, in Scot.and 
 1695.-— Increased as follows : — 
 
 1644 it yielded £5,000 
 
 1664 21,900 
 
 1697 90,505 
 
 1714 145,227 
 
 1744 235,495 1 1822 
 
 1764 it yielded £432,018 
 
 1791 481,880 
 
 1807 1,670,423 
 
 1815 2,349,519 
 
 1,958,806 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 267 
 
 Tho first mail conveyed by stage-coaches began Aug. 
 1785. 
 
 Potatoes first brought to England from America, by 
 Hawkins, in 15G3; introduced into Ireland by sir 
 Walter Raleigh, in 1536. 
 
 Printing brought into England by William Caxton, a 
 mercer of London, 14? 1, who had a press in West- 
 minster abbey till 1494. 
 
 Roads in England first repaired by act of Parliament, 
 1524. 
 
 Sail-cloth first made in England, 1590. 
 
 Saltpetre first made in England, 1625. 
 
 Scenes first introduced into theatres, 1533. 
 
 Shillings first coined in England, 1505. 
 
 Ship. — The first double-decked one built in England, 
 was of 1000 tons burden, by order of Henry VII., 
 1509; it was called the Great Harry, and cost 
 1-1,0001.; before this, 24-gun ships were the largest 
 in our navy, and these mad no port-holes, the guns 
 being on the upper decks only. 
 
 Shoes, of the present fashion, first worn in England, 
 1633. 
 
 Side-saddles first used in England, 1380. 
 
 Silk manufactured in England, 1604. — First worn by 
 the English clergy, 1534. — Broad-silk manufacture 
 from raw silk introduced into England, 1620. — 
 Lombe’s famous silk-throwing machine erected at 
 Derby, 1719. 
 
 Soap first made at London and Bristol, 1524. 
 
 Steam-boat established between Norwich and Yar- 
 mouth, Nov. 1813. — Steam-boat capable of convey- 
 ing 300 persons, commenced its passage between 
 Litnehouse and Gravesend, Feb. 1815. 
 
 Stereotype printing invented by William Ged, a gold 
 smith of Edinburgh, 1735. 
 
 Stirrups first used in the sixth century. 
 
 Stone buildings first introduced into England, 674. 
 
 Sunday-schools first established in' Yorkshire, 1784 
 became general in England and Scotland, in 1789. 
 
 Tea, coffee, and chocolate, first mentioned in the stat 
 ute books, 1660. 
 
 Thread first made at Paisley, in Scotland, in 1722. 
 
 Tiles first used in England, 1246. 
 
 Tobacco first brought into England, 1583. 
 
268 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Towers, high, first erected to churches, in 1000 . 
 Turkeys came into England, 1523. 
 
 Watches first brought to England from Germany, 1577 
 Water first conveyed to London, by leaden pipes 
 1237. 
 
 Weavers, two, from Brabant, settled at York, 1331. 
 
 Weavers, diers, cloth-drapers, linen-makers, silk- 
 throwsters, Slc. Flemish, settled at Canterbury, 
 Norwich, Sandwich, Colchester, Maidstone, South 
 amoton, &.c, on account of the duke of Alva’s per 
 secution, 1567. 
 
 Weights and measures fixed to a standard in England, 
 1257. 
 
 Wine first made in England, 1140. 
 
 Woollen-cloth first made in England in 1331 ; medley 
 1614 ; first died and dressed in 
 
 cloths first made, 
 
 England, in 161 1. 
 
 Workers, cloth, 70 families of, from the Netherlands, 
 settled in England, by Edward lll.’s invitation 
 1330. ° A ^ 
 
 r 
 
 
 VI. 
 
 DISCOVERIES AND SETTLING OF BRITISH 
 COLONIES. 
 
 America, North, first dis- 
 covered by Sebastian 
 Cabot, 1497 5 settled, in 
 1610. 
 
 Anguilla, iD the Carib- 
 bees, first planted, 1650. 
 
 Antigua settled, 1632. 
 
 Baffin’s Bay discovered, 
 1622. 
 
 Bahama isles taken pos- 
 session of, 1718. 
 
 Barbadoes discovered and 
 planted, 1614. 
 
 Barbuda planted, 1628. 
 
 Bengal conquered, 1758. 
 
 Bermuda isles settled, 
 1612. 
 
 Boston, in New-Er.glanJ, 
 built, 1630 
 
 Botany Bay settlement, 
 17S7. 
 
 Caledonia, in America, 
 settled, 1699. 
 
 Canada taken by England, 
 1759. 
 
 Cape Breton taken and 
 kept 1753. 
 
 Cape of Good Hope tak 
 en, 1798. 
 
 Carolina planted, 1629. 
 
 Ceylon taken, 1804. 
 
 Christopher’s, St. settled, 
 1626. 
 
 Georgia erected, 1739 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 269 
 
 Helegoland taken, 1808. | 
 
 Helena, St. settled, 1651. | 
 
 Hudson's Bay discovered, 
 1607. 
 
 Jamaica conquered, 1656. 
 
 Maryland province plant- 
 ed, 1633. 
 
 Montserrat planted by 
 England, 1632. 
 
 Nevis planted by England, 
 1628. 
 
 New -England planted, 
 1620. 
 
 Newfoundland discover- 
 
 | cd, 1497, settled, 1614 
 | Nevv-Jersey, in America 
 planted, 1637. 
 
 New-York settled, 1664. 
 
 Nova-Scotia settled, 1622 
 
 Pennsylvania charta fo 
 planting, 1680. 
 
 Sierra Leone coast set 
 tied, 1790. 
 
 Surinam planted by Eng 
 land, 1640. 
 
 Tobago conquered, 1781. 
 
 Virginia, settlement of. 
 1636. 
 
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